Elvenking ~ Reader Of The Runes – Divination

 

This may be hard to follow, but, take Renaissance & merge them with Dream Theater & you will have ELVENKING.  Starting off the album with that nice slow folk feel which then plummets you straight into the hard progressive metal that you will just love. The music is top notch & the vocals are right in line with the music. Most songs are 5 minutes or shorter until you get to the end where “Reader Of The Ruins Book 1” takes you on an almost 11 minute ride, again starting off nice and easy, then, slamming you into that great song that you were just waiting for. I look forward to hearing more ELVENKING. I rate this 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars. Possibly more with more listens.

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Rosalie Cunningham ~ Rosalie Cunningham

 

 

The guitarist for this album really likes his fuzz box, as you can hear on the opening song “Ride On My Bike” & the song that follows that one. You may know Rosalie Cunningham from the band PURSON, but if not, take a listen to this album & you’ll hear more than what this singer did in that band. The main focus is on the singer however, you’ll hear a lot of beautiful instrumentation on this album. From the piano, to the guitars, to the horns, just let yourself go with this & groove with the flow of the music. Mixing progressive rock with psychedelic & pop, and that is what you will find on this album. “Riddles and Games” reminds me of the COWSILLS in the beginning of that song. Favorite songs for me are “Nobody Hears” & the epic “A Yarn From A Wheel”, which spans out to almost 14 minutes, with different stuff coming at you in different passages of the song, including the lovely fuzz tone again. I give this 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars.

Greg Holden ~ World War Me

 

Take a bit of Rock mix it with a smidge of alternative & add POP & you’ll get the new album from Greg Holden, titled World War Me. It seems to me that this album is a very much about life. Probably about his own life, which do make some of the greatest songs to come out in the world. There are other songs about other things, like “I’m Not Your Enemy” which is more about how we need more peace & love in the world, instead of hatred. This album was all Greg Holden. He played the instruments, sang & recorded it all. Favorite songs on this album for me are “Chase The Money” & “The Power Shift”. I expect we’ll be hearing more from Greg Holden. This gets 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars. Each song is really, really good. Keep up the great work.

Magic Pie ~ Fragments Of The Fifth Element

 

From the first notes played on this album, you know that you’re in for a good time. The musicianship of this Norwegian band really took me by surprise. A happy surprise. There are only 5 songs on this album, but 2 of them are longer songs. “Touched By An Angel” is 8 minutes long, while “The Hedonist” is almost 23 minutes long. The band was formed in 2001, and this is their 5th release in 18 years. I can’t wait to hear the next album. The music was upbeat & peppy & I didn’t want this album to end. Whether the songs were 5 minutes long or even longer, this album just kept me grooving throughout the whole album. I can’t really compare them with any other band, but, maybe ACT or a progressive version of Hall & Oates, come to mind. I give this 5 out of 5 Music Guru stars.

Nik Turner ~ The Final Frontier

 

This Nik Turner album sounds just like a Hawkwind album might sound like. It has other influences in there, but, I hear a lot of Hawkwind with a bit more to it. There are 9 songs on this album, and if you like Space Rock, then you’re in for the ride of your life. After all Nik was a Hawkwind veteran, and as you listen to this, you’ll see just how much he contributed to the band. Most songs are in the 5 minute range, all except “The Final Frontier Part 1”, which clocks in at 8:33. If you’re a big fan of Hawkwind, you will love this album. For me, I give it 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars, as I need to be in the mood to listen to Space Rock. When I am, I’m listening to this again.

Jorn ~ Live On Death Road

 

I’ve never really listened to Jorn before. I’m not sure that I wanted my first experience with them to be a live album. I can’t say anything bad about this,  but live albums don’t really move me unless there is something really different about the music. The music was good, the voice is, of course, very good. Jorn do cover other band’s songs in addition to their own. They cover Christopher Cross’s “Ride Like The Wind”, which I have seen Mr. Cross perform that live. I liked Chris’s version better. They also cover Ozzy Osbourne’s “Shot In The Dark”. This is pretty close to Ozzy’s version, so it’s a good cover. Also, out of the Ozzy camp, Jorn do a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Mob Rules”. Also another cover of Dio’s  “Rainbow In The Dark”. Jorn has done other covers in the past & he does cover them really well. For a fan of progressive metal, this album will work out fine. For the rock fan, this will also suit you just fine. I look forward to hearing more Jorn in the future. I give this 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars.

Lucy In Blue ~ In Flight

 

The psychedelic progressive rockers come from Iceland. This album took me back to the 1960’s with a good feeling of great music. It seems like a mixture  of Porcupine Tree & possibly some alternative rock thrown in for good measure. The music was really good, the vocals were really good as well. The album has 8 songs, of which, 6 are of the 5:00 mark or less.  2 other songs were longer. The longest song was the title track. “In Flight”, takes you on a psychedelic journey for almost 10 minutes & is probably my favorite song on the album. I rate this 5 out of 5 Music Guru stars.