I really like the cover of Smashing Pumpkins' 9th studioalbum! The music is progressive hardrock/rock/pop with Billy Corgan's unique nasal vocals making much of the melody in the songs. Good first 4 songs but then it looses tempo and after 9 songs I have fallen asleep. There are no bad songs though, it's just too soft to keep my interest up. It's very spacy and big sounding and I really like the incredibly intense drumwork on the whole album.

1)Quasar (7,0) Progressive and chaotic song with wild weird drumming. Cool.

2)Panopticon (7,0) Sames as above but more melodic.

3)The celestials (8,0) First melodic acoustic and then a very good hardrock song.

4)Violete rays (7,0) Nice melodic piece.

5)My love is winter (7,0) Same as above.

6)One diamond, one heart (5,5) Synth-beat with spacy guitars.

7)Pinwheels (5,0) First a long pling-plong-play with synhesizers and then acoustic progressive pop.

8)Oceania (6,0) 9 minutes of halfboring but halfcharming progressive popmusic.

9)Pale horse (5,5)

10)The chimera (7,5)

11)Glissandra (6,5)

12)Inkless (6,5)

13)Wildflower (4,0)

Score: 6,35

Billy Corgan-vocals, guitars and keyboards (b.1967)

Jeff Schroeder-guitars (b.1974)

Nicole Fiorentino-bass (b.1979)

Mike Byrne-drums (b.1990)

On Birmingham's Magnum 2nd album they developed their style of symphonic, progressive melodic hard rock into a great bunch of good sounding songs on this superb album! It was produced by former Ten Years After-bassist Leo Lyons who successfully had produced 3 albums for UFO. This time they toured as support to Blue Öyster Cult but the album failed to chart. Incredible! Maybe Magnum's music were already dated in 1979, or they were maybe ahead of their time? Some years later they would achieve great success, but they deserved it already many years before. This is a must have for fans of melodic stadium hard rock.

Drummer Kex Gorin sadly passed away in 2007.

1)Great adventure (8,0) A more mature band than the debut album, but in the same style as before.

2)Changes (6,5) Magnum goes looking for a hit with this pop-refrain-melodic hardrocker. It could've been a world hit but wasn't.

3)The battle (7,5) A good rocker.

4)If I could live forever (9,0) Great intro, superb mix of melodic refrains and heavy riffs and strong vocals.

5)Reborn (9,0) Absolutely great melodic progressive hardrock with delicious feeling for details!

6)So cold the night (8,5) Another one!

7)Foolish heart (7,0) Strong melodic refrain-rocker. But a little weak as it was supposed to reach the charts...

8)Stayin' alive (8,5) Very Meat Loaf-ish melodic powerballad. Very good!

9)Firebird (9,5) This is just sooo great! One of the strongest refrains ever and the mix between progressive and melodic is just incredible.

10)All of my life (8,5)

Score: 8,20

Bob Catley-vocals (b.1947)

Tony Clarkin (Anthony Michael Clarkin)-guitars (b.1946)

Colin "Wally" Lowe-bass

Kex Gorin-drums (1949-2007)

Richard Bailey-keyboards and flute

Phil Everly, along with his brother Don Everly, are considered the must influential vocal duo pop music has ever known.  Working together as the Everly Brothers, they created such seamless and glorious harmonies that no less than members of the Byrds, the Beatles, and the Beach Boys have preached their influence ever since.  Born in Chicago, Illinois to a musical family, Phil learned to play the guitar at an early age.  Family patriarch, Ike Everly was a respected professional musician himself, so the boys were introduced to music as a way of life while still in their childhood.  Ultimately settling in Knoxville, Tennessee, the Everly family performed as a group throughout the area for many years.  By the early ’50s, Phil and Don were working as a duo, making an early believer out of Chet Atkins who helped then secure their first recording contract with Columbia Records.  Their first single, “Keep A’ Lovin’ Me,”  performed less than spectacularly, so Columbia dropped them.  Before they knew it, Acuff-Rose Publishing snatched Phil and Don up as songwriters while Roy Acuff helped land them a deal with Cadence Records. From there, the Everly Brothers’ career skyrocketed.  Their first release for Cadence, “Bye Bye Love” shot to #2 on the pop charts, #1 on the country charts, and #5 on the R&B charts.  What followed that million-seller was a string of hits that helped define the era.  Records like “Wake Up Little Susie,” “All I Have To Do Is Dream,” and “Cathy’s Clown”  earned the duo more than $35 Million dollars by 1962 – an astonishing sum at that time.  After the British Invasion hit the U.S in 1964, the Everly Brothers’ shine diminished as teenagers scrambled for the new sound by the likes of the Beatles, who ironically, might not have ever crossed the Atlantic if it weren’t for Phil and Don.  By the dawn of the ’70s, the Everly Brothers had split up to pursue solo careers.  Phil worked with likes of  Warren Zevon and Roy Wood, and later scored a hit with “Don’t Say You Don’t Love Me No More,” a tune he wrote and performed with actress, Sondra Locke in the Clint Eastwood hit film, Every Which Way But Loose.  In 1983, the Everly Brothers reunited for an acclaimed concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London.  The show was recorded and the subsequent album returned the duo to the charts.  Phil and Don continued to record and perform as a duo and individually well into the 2000s.  In all, they scored 35 Billboard Top 100 singles, a record that still stands to this day.  They  were also recognized with nearly every musical award you could think of including being part of the first group of ten artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.  On January 3, 2014, it was announced that Phil Everly died of pulmonary disease.  He was 74.

Richard Coughlan was an English drummer who spent almost his entire career as the drummer for influential Canterbury scene prog rock band, Caravan.  With a career that more or less started when he was 10 years old, Coughlan has been called one of rock’s longest tenured musicians.  After playing in different bands during his teens, Coughlan found himself playing for the Wilde Flowers, a Canterbury progressive rock band whose members eventually went on to form either Soft Machine, or in Coughlan’s case, Caravan, the genres two most influential bands.  Formed in 1968, Caravan became the first British act to sign to prestigious American label, Verve.  Over the next decade or so, the band built a loyal legion of fans thanks in part to their ability to blend jazz and psychedelic rock.  Also called art rock, Caravan’s sound can be credited for paving the way for the likes of Genesis, Roxy Music, David Bowie, and later, Muse and Radiohead.   Caravan remained active – with different members coming and going – with Coughlan remaining in the fold until he died following a fight with pneumonia on December 1, 2013.  He was 66.

Bob Casale was a founding guitarist for influential new wave band, Devo.  Formed with his brother, Gerald Casale, brothers, Mark Mothersbaugh and Bob Mothersbaugh, andAlan  Myersin 1972, Devo went on to become one of the most popular bands of the era thanks to such hits as “Girl U Want,” “Freedom Of Choice,” “Working In A Coal Mine,” and “Whip It.”  The latter was one of the most recognizable songs of the ’80s and helped propel the album Freedom Of Choice to Platinum in the US.  The song’s video was one of the most popular on MTV at the time.  The band continued to release album throughout the ’80s but slowed down as the public’s taste changed during the ’90s and 2000s.  In 2010, they released Something For Everybody to critical acclaim. It reached #30 on the Billboard album charts, their first charting album since 1988.  Also in 2010, Devo performed during a televised broadcast from the Vancouver Winter Olympics.  Bob Casale died of heart failure on February 17, 2014.  He was 61.

Another great cover on Groundhogs 2nd album and were still in the 1960's when this band continued their bluesy journey, mixing in, for the time, mordern elements of rock and psychadelia in a very raw mix, that reminds of other white bluesbands of the era, like Led Zeppelin, but with an unmistakibly own weird twist. On this album they played more harder rock than blues, compared to the 1st album but I think the best songs are the bluesy ones here. This in not an album I would listen to again, like all the early Groundhogs-albums.

1)B.D.D. (7,0) One of the band's most known songs. Guitar and vocals played and sung simutainesly in a good bluesrocker an not as unpolished as other songs. Nice long guitarsolo.

2)Daze of the weak (6,5) First a slow blues but then it turns into a frentic guitarsolo and crazy highenergy drumming.

3)Times (5,0) This is rather weird with crazy vocals and guitarplaying.

4)Mistreated (5,0) Hard riffing and nice melodic but weird vocal-melody.

5)Express man (7,5) A good blues.

6)Natchez burning (7,5) Slow blues.

7)Light was the day (2,0) Very very weird instrumental with guitar and drum-chaos.

Score: 5,79

Tony McPhee-vocals, guitars, harmonium and mellotron (b.1944)

Pete Cruickshank-bass (b.1945 in India)

Ken Pustelnik-drums (b.1946)

British bluesrockband Groundhogs were formed as early as 1963 and toured heavily during the 60's. The name Groundhogs came from a John Lee Hooker-song, "Groundhog's blues". The band backed Hooker on a 1964 tour in the UK and did so with other bluesartists like Little Walter, Jimmy Reed and Champion Jack Dupree. The Groundhogs released a single in 1965 and this album is their 1st.

The music on this album is definitely rooted in blues. Like many other white bands in the end of the 60's they played the blues harder, with more distortion and just...louder. Groundhogs reminds of fellow bands Yardbirds, Fleetwood Mac, Johnny Winter, J. Geils Band etcetera, but they are not as good in my opinon. There are some okey songs here but I feel that it gets too monotonous, noisy, amateurish and too rough. But I like their weird twist of blues and rock, they sound like no other band.

Harmonicaplayer Steve Rye died in 1992, 46 years of age.

1)Rocking chair (6,0)

2)Early in the morning (5,0) (Muddy Waters-cover)

3)Waking blues (4,0)

4)Married men (7,0)

5)No more doggin' (6,0)

6)Man trouble (6,5)

7)Come back baby (6,0)

8)You don't love me (6,5)

9)Still a fool (3,5)

Score: 5,61

Tony McPhee-vocals, guitars, bass and synhesizer (b.1944)

Peter Cruickshank-bass (b.1945 in India)

Ken Pustelnik-drums (b.1946)

+

Jo Ann Kelly-guitars and vocals

Steve Rye-harmonica and vocals (1946-1992)

One of my all time favourite bands, british Magnum, with their 1st album which was recorded already in 1976 but released in 1978 by Jet Records. At the time they were compared to Styx, Jethro Tull, Yes and Kansas who also played melodic rock and hard rock but with a definitive progressive twist with strong songs and choruses. Before the album was released Magnum had toured with for example Judas Priest. The album reached nr. 58 on the british charts.

The band started as a house band at the Rum Runner night club in Birmingham. (Later to hold Duran Duran as their house band). Joining Tony Clarkin and Bob Catley were Kex Gorin on drums and Bob Doyle on bass. Doyle was replaced by Dave Morgan in 1972. (Later to be a member of ELO). Colin "Wally" Lowe bacame Magnum's 3rd bassist in 1975 and the band was expanded by Richard Bailey on keyboards. After the album was released they toured as opening act to Whitesnake.

I like this album very much, it may feel a bit amateurish here and there but, hey this is an debut album! It has a raw  production and the songs are as good as on any following Magnum-album. Maybe the song Invasion could be better but overall this is a good album to play whenever!

Drummer Kex Goring died of cancer in 2007.

1)In the beginning (8,0) Charming, somewhat amateurish progressive hardrock with nice melodies and changes. Really good second part of the song.

2)Baby rock me (7,0) A straight rocker.

3)Universe (7,5) Barclay James Harvest-like calmer song with nice melodic choruses.

4)Kingdom of madness (7,5) Good rocker containing flute.

5)All that is real (7,5) A calmer part and then progressive rock. Very good singing.

6)The bringer (8,0) Great riff!

7)Invasion (6,0) Too badly recorded.

8)Lords of chaos (7,0) These songs promise for more and better music to come.

9)All come togheter (7,5) Simply a good hardrocker!

Score: 7,33

Bob Catley-vocals (b.1947)

Tony Clarkin (Anthony Michael Clarkin) -guitars (b.1946)

Colin  Lowe-bass

Kex Gorin-drums (1949-2007)

Richard Bailey-keyboards and flute