Jason GONZALEZ: "Springboard To Oblivion"

Rating: 5/10

JAG Enterprises/Bus Records 2011

Review by Kimmo Toivonen

Jason Gonzalez is an independent artist who might not be very well known, but he has still managed to sell nearly 30.000 copies of his previous album "On The Edge Of Time". Not too bad at all! I reviewed that album by back in 2001, and my verdict was fairly positive back then. I guess Jason has changed his style, since "Springboard To Oblivion" doesn't really work for me. But let's take a closer look...

The CD-R I've got in the mail doesn't seem to have the same running order of the songs as the digital version available at CDBaby, but I'll try to work around that... My CD starts strongly enough with the cool, dark pop rock of "I Would Walk Away". A nice chorus and a vibe that reminds me a bit of Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)". Then everything starts to go downhill... the whiny "Beautiful People" has a truly annoying chorus and a 70'ies hippie feel, while "I'm Over You" starts with nice, moody piano, but soon falls flat with a dull hook. "Dreams" has an interesting sounding intro too, but the semi-rap verses or the limp chorus are disappointing. All the previous songs sound tolerable next to "Feel My Senses Reel" which is just too weird for me. If this song was introduced to me as an alternative pop song from the eighties by some oddly named band like "Echo And The Bunnymen" I would have believed it. The video would have had people dressed as mushrooms and teapots in it.

The good thing about "Feel My Senses Reel" is that the remaining songs don't sound so bad at all. Gonzalez gets somewhat back on track and forgets the quirky college radio pop style, and returns to melodic, semi-acoustic pop-rock. Even though the last five songs aren't exactly melodic rock masterpieces, at least they don't make me want to throw away the disc. Nice, mellow songs and decent performances, although Jason's vocals sound a bit thin at times. What's surprising and kind of cool is the fact that he hasn't tweaked his vocals to note-by-note perfection with autotune. Sometimes his singing isn't to my liking but at least it sounds like a human singing, not a robot...

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PENDRAGON: "Passion"

Rating: 8/10

Madfish (Snapper Music) 2011

Review byReview by: Martien Koolen

Their previous album "Pure" was one of the musical highlights of the year 2008 and now Nick Barrett, Clive Nolan (Arena), Peter Gee and Scott Higham return with the new album "Passion". This album is filled with dark, mysterious songs, all with a harder rock edge and it takes a couple of spins to really appreciate this album. The CD opens with the title track, which is an up tempo prog rock song with typical Pendragon trade marks; however I truly miss a guitar solo..

The second track called: "Empathy" is an epic and clocks over 11 minutes and this is
probably the highlight of this album. A great, very diverse song with an addictive chorus, a cool melodic guitar solo and some really heavy, bombastic passages. Pendragon experiments a lot
on this track and ends this song with a lot of orchestration. "Feeding Frenzy" is the heaviest and most intense track of the album, but it is also a bit dull at certain times altought the track features a lot of riffs, hooks and nice vocals; unfortunately again no guitar solo!
The longest song on this album is called: "The Green And Pleasant Land" and this one is a real Pendragon song filled with those typical breathtaking melodies, lots of tempo changes, an instrumental diverse middle part and a rather weird end.

"It's A Matter of Not Getting Caught" is the shortest track on the album and it features a harp and a lot of sound effects; but all in all to me this is just a filler; nothing special really. "Skara Brae" is another melodic song filled with the distinctive guitar sound of Barrett, while the last track is again unfortunately rather mellow, tough the guitar solo at the end lifts this song to a higher level.

Conclusion: a great Pendragon album with only three excellent songs, so in my
opinion "Pure" was a lot better!

The DVD that comes along with the limited edition is really worth looking at as Nick
guides you through the entire recording process and tells a lot about the band and their music.
For fans of melodic prog rock "Passion" is a must!

DAVID MARK PEARCE: "Strange Ang3ls"

Rating: 6/10

Label: AOR Heaven 2011

Review by Alan Holloway

If you’ve never heard of David Mark Pierce, it’s not a big surprise, as his biggest contribution to your record collection would be with the Oliver Wakeman Band. He’s one of those guitarists that other guitarists know, and I guess that this, his debut album, is an attempt to get himself known (and liked, of course) by the wider album buying public. That would be you, then.

As a guitarist, there’s no doubting Pierce’s credentials. The instrumental track “Everytime It Rains” comes midway through the album and soars beautifully with a highly original structure. Up that point it’s all been rather tame, with the album delivering songs that are good without being anything special. Even though vocals are handled by ex Talisman chap Goran Edman as well as Asia’s John Payne, the songs don’t put up much of a challenge. There’s nothing here that makes you want to call someone over and say “Listen to this!”, just track after track that you will probably enjoy with feet a-tapping and head a-nodding, just not too much. There are certainly some lively solos from the main man, but these tend to be the highlights of each track, rather than complimenting them.

I don’t really want to bring ark David Pearce down, as he is obviously a talented addition to the roster of UK guitarists, but the songwriting here is just not explosive enough to contain his guitar playing talent. The melodic rock boxes are firmly ticked, but in the end I couldn’t hum more than 2 tracks after a dozen listens. Close, but no cigar.

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ARABIA: "Welcome To The Freakshow"

Rating: 7/10

Label: Z Records 2011

Review by Alan Holloway

I must confess that I never heard Arabia’s debut about ten years ago, with my sole experience of them being this years Z Rock festival, at which they pulled off a really good set. I say “they”, but Arabia 2011 is basically vocalist John Blaze and whoever happens to be onstage/in the studio with him. It matters no, though, as at Z Rock he was surrounded by some great musos that made me look forward to hearing the album, so job done.

Musically, Arabia are a melodic rock band that borrow heavily from the likes of Alice Cooper (especially the title track). There’s a lot of melody here, but teamed with a darker undercurrent, making you sing along one minute and look over your shoulder the next. The highlight of the album is the nasty and nice “Scarecrow”, a murderous five minutes helped out by an atmospheric and effective intro. I don’t know why I like this serial killer story so much, but it gives the album a nice peak in the middle, with Blaze putting as much venom and evil in his voice as he can. As I said before, Alice Cooper fans will lap this up, and it‘s going to sound awesome live. There’s even a great ballad here, “No Place Like Home”, that survives being the second track only through sheer quality.

“Welcome To the Freakshow” is a solid album, no doubt about that. It’s quite dark, but full of good choruses nonetheless. It’s unlikely to send anyone into fits of excitement, but it’s certainly well worth checking out, and I’d definitely recommend you give John Blaze and his new chums a look when they play some live dates as well.

STATUS QUO: "Quid Pro Quo"

Rating: 7/10

Label: Ear Music 2011

Review by Alan Holloway

Everyone has to like a little bit of Quo. It’s a tradition, or and old charter or something. Even if it’s just a wee shake of the head when “Caroline” comes on (actual tune: ner ner ner ner ner ner etc) then you, officially, like Quo. A bit, anyway.

This, their three hundred and seventy fifth (possibly, if you count all the lives and bootlegs) album, is easily reviewed with the following four words: It’s a Quo album. You want more? Okay, it’s a GOOD Quo album. Still not convinced? Tell you what - get yer ears round the opening track “Two Way Street”, a prime slice of Quo at their full tilt best and a perfect reintroduction for all those that find this wrapped up as a Father’s Day gift this weekend. There’s thirteen more tracks, all with that unmistakable Quo sound, some fantastic, some just good, but none are duffers. They even, for some reason, tack on a rather pointless re-recording of “In the Army Now” at the end, but as it doesn’t mean sacrificing any other track it’s okay.

Mind you, fourteen new Quo tracks is not all you get here, as the disc has been packaged with the “Official Live Bootleg”, which cobbles together another ten tracks recorded, unsurprisingly, live on stage. It’s a bit of a greatest hits package, although it is good to hear “Beginning Of The End” from their rather great last album “In Search Of The Fourth Chord”. Never look a gift boogie on the mouth, however, and with that said it’s a well produced bonus that will get a lot of play time in any fan’s house (once they’ve filed it amongst all the other live discs they’ve got).

Whilst I’m not a big Quo devotee, I’ve always enjoyed their style of music when they do it well, and “Quid Pro Quo” (how have they not called an album this before?) is Status Quo doing their schtick as well as you could expect after all these years. If you’re in the UK they’ve done the quite marvellous trick of having it retailed exclusively in Tesco stores, so it’s unlikely you’re not near a place you can pick it up for eight quid or so, and if you’ve ever been a Quo fan you owe it to yourself to do just that.

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ALYSON AVENUE: "Changes"

Rating: 9/10

Avenue Of Allies 2011

Review by Kimmo Toivonen

Yeah, this is the band that Anette Olzon used to front before she was chosen to replace Tarja Turunen in Nightwish. That new job of hers raised the public's interest towards the band, their two albums were reissued and I would imagine the renewed interest prompted the band to return to active duty. Without Anette though, behind the microphone is nowadays another fine female vocalist by the name of Arabella Vitanic.

If you are familiar with the band's previous work, you'll know what to expect: female-fronted AOR that will remind you of Erika, Heart, Robin Beck and other similar artists. Nothing new under the sun but remarkably well delivered. Productionwise this album blows the previous two out of the water, partly thanks to Chris Laney's involvement in the production. When it comes to the songs, this might be the band's best selection of them as well.

The album kicks off with the hard-edged "Liar", which has some strangely "Nightwishy" elements, especially in the vocal melodies. A fine song nevertheless. "Will I Make Love" features Michael Bormann (ex-Jaded Heart/Bloodbound/Zeno etc) dueting with Arabella, and they do sound good together. "Changes" is another heavier track, courtesy of Shiva's Mats Edström, and features Rob Marcello (Danger Danger) on lead guitar. Good, but not one of my favourites. "Amazing Days" is a favourite, even though it sounds like it's been modeled after Erika's breakthrough hit "Together We're Lost"... the melodies aren't that close, but the keyboards, the structure... the "original" is an all-time favourite of mine, so I can't help but liking this "tribute" too.

Next up, "Don´t Know If Love Is Alive" a mid-tempo tune with very Heart-like verses but a bland chorus fails to impress, and I'd say is the only dud on this album. All remaining tracks are solid melodic rock material, it's one AOR "hit" after another. "Into The Fire" and "Somewhere" stand out, but not that much. There may have been some "Changes", but they're only for the better - Alyson Avenue is alive and kickin'!

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PHILIP SAYCE: "Ruby Electric"

Rating: 7/10

Label: Provogue 2011

Review by Alan Holloway

Often cited as a blues rocker, but in reality much more, Philip Sayce is a Welsh born Canadian who should get together with Mikki Free, as the two of them both seem to be haunted by the ghost of Jimi Hendrix at times. His career hasn’t exactly been stellar, having worked with Uncle Kracker and Melissa Etheridge, but with this, his third album, he should be getting a lot more attention for what he can do when unencumbered by someone else’s game plan.

“Ruby Electric” is divided into two volumes, which are ostensibly studio and live, but volume 1 does have a live cut on it, so feel free to be confused. It’s not a double album, mind, just a single one of two halves. Volume 1 contains some really cool, accessible tracks, most notably the upbeat, retro vibe of the title track and the slow burning but powerful “Were You There”. Volume two kicks in and kicks ass with a plethora of blues inspired rock outs, where Sayce successfully stakes his claim as a talented guitar monster. As with many of his contemporaries, his voice is good but nothing extraordinary, whilst his playing is full of life and blisters. This is blues music with big brass bluesy balls to it, not the dull stuff that seems to go on so long you lose the will to live. Philip Sayce likes to make his guitar howl, people, and listening to the live section of this album made me want to call up the society for the protection of guitars and grass him up.

Suffice to say, Philip Sayce can rock out with the best of them. The live section of the album is more enjoyable than the studio section, but that’s sort of to be expected with hotshot young guitarists. This, guitar freaks, is the Good Shit, so lie back and enjoy it.

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LIONVILLE: "Lionville"

Rating: 9/10

Avenue Of Allies 2011

Review by Kimmo Toivonen

It's not only Frontiers who can put together these AOR "project albums", the people of Avenue Of Allies label have stepped up to the plate, ready to hit a homerun with their project LIONVILLE. The musical backbone of the project is one Stefano Lionetti, a Genova-based musician. Most of the music is written by him, with a couple of exceptions, but more of that later. The musicians on the album include such AOR luminaries as Tommy Denander, Bruce Gaitsch and Alessandro Del Vecchio, and the production is handled by Alessandro Del Vecchio as well. The star of the album might still be the main lead vocalist, Lars Säfsund of Work Of Art and Enbound fame.

There's a fine line between generic and great AOR music. Most of the new music released in the genre offers nothing more than recycled melodies and lyrics, and in a way, that's the case with Lionville too. There's a strong sense of familiarity in these songs, but thankfully there's a certain spark of excitement that makes them fall mostly on the "great" side of the fine line. Let's face it, everything's been done before and it's been like that for years - the trick is to take influences, mould them and present them as a new, fresh piece of music. Lionetti and co. manage to do just that quite a few times.

"Here By My Side" starts the show in an upbeat fashion, sounding like an escapee from Nelson's "After The Rain" album. In my books that's a good thing, this song has all the right ingredients of a summertime AOR classic. Very Bad English-like keyboards start the next song "With You", which is another smooth and solid AOR track, if not quite as good as the opening track. The Toto-isms of "Center Of My Universe" don't really appeal to me, but the hard-hitting (well, in an AOR sorta way) "Thunder In My Heart" is an instant success for me. Apparently it's a song from an eighties' soundtrack, originally sung by John Farnham. Co-written by Lenny Macaluso, Gloria Sklerov & Joe Esposito , the song sounds unmistakebly like the sporty anthems that Stan Bush has recorded, and I was sure I'd find Stan's name in the credits. I didn't.

The Richard Marx/Bruce Gaitsch composition "The World Without Your Love" is a nice, moody ballad, but the real highlights of the album are elsewhere. "Power Of My Dreams" is one of those, an energetic melodic rocker with Lionetti sharing vocals with Säfsund. "The Chosen Ones" is another excellent duet, Säfsund dueting with Arabella Vitanic, the new Alyson Avenue singer. The song is blessed with a rather awesome chorus and some tasty guitarwork from Tommy Denander, who also co-wrote the track. I've got to mention the bouncy "Dreamhunter" too, if only for a thinly disguised tribute to "Don't Stop Believin'"...

The remaining few songs are all ok, slightly closer to generic than great but enjoyable enough, and Säfsund's stellar performance is worth some extra points. All things considered, I've got to say that we have one of the better AOR releases of 2011 here.

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION: "2"

Rating: 8/10

Label: Mascot Records 2011

Review by Alan Holloway

It doesn’t seem that long since Black Country Communion gave us their quite sublime debut album, and I have to admit I was actually quite excited to hear the incredibly poorly named “2”. With Joe Bonamassa in full rock mode, and Glenn Hughes ditching the jazz stuff, BCC have a solid a base to build on as any band, boosted by the powerhouse drums of Jason Bohnam as well as Dream Theatre’s Derek Sherinan on keyboards. It really would be a crime if they couldn’t make it work a second time, so I’m glad we don’t have to call in the cops, as “2” is another sack of big brass balls and pointy sticks.

As with the debut, there’s plenty of kick ass rock here, starting with a great opening duo of “The Outsider” and “Man In the Middle”. “Hadrian’s Wall” mixes soulful hippy nonsense with massive riffs, and it’s good to hear Sheinan’s keyboards making more of an impact than on the debut. Once again, BCC don’t scrimp on the value for money aspect, and there’s ah hour of good music here, with only 3 tracks coming in at under five minutes. “An Ordinary Son” pootles on for 8 minutes and never gets dull, but my favourite is the album closer “Cold”, which sees Hughes flex those vocal muscles like only he can. Bonamassa gets to demonstrate his own talents throughout the album, and it has to be said that Kevin Shirley has done a much better job this time round, with Sherinan’s improved sound giving any of the songs a real Deep Purple feel, notably “I Can See Your Spirit”, which features a lovely hammond organ-a-like solo in the middle.

“2” is another success from BCC, although I still prefer the debut. Along with Chickenfoot, they are a prime example of a bunch of talented blokes getting together and getting it just right. Once again, they have managed to remind me just why I got into rock music all those years ago.

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KING OF HEARTS: "1989"

Rating: 7/10

Avenue Of Allies 2011

Review by Kimmo Toivonen

Back in 1989 guitarist Bruce Gaitsch put together a band that was going to make it big. Kelly Keagy on drums and vocals, George Hawkins Jr. on bass and vocals and Tommy Funderburk on lead vocals, with David Cole producing, a hit album was in the making. Then it all turned sour, the record deal and the proposed major tour didn't happen... and that was it. The album was shelved, and it took ten years before anyone got to hear it - it was released in Japan in 1999. Now the album has been reissued by Avenue Of Allies, and AOR/westcoast fans have a chance to get a copy of this rare album for a reasonable price.

First a word of warning to the westcoast fans - "1989" isn't a softrock album with jazzy overtones. It's actually a surprisingly gutsy melodic rock album, with more in common with Bruce Springsteen than Toto or Player etc. The talent of the band shines through, with Gaitsch showcasing his talent as a versatile guitarist, and the vocals of Tommy Funderburk aren't any less impressive. Kelly Keagy's vocal talent is well known thanks to Night Ranger and his solo work, but also George Hawkins Jr proves to be a good vocalist. Keagy gets to sing two songs and Hawkins one, the others are taken care by Funderburk.

The rather rockin' nature of the songs was a positive surprise for me, as I was half expecting this to be more of a wimp soft rock album. The energetic opener "Working Man" is a good example of the band's sound - it's guitar-based melodic rock, smooth when needed but overall rather down-to-earth. Other standouts include "Remember When", the band's title song "King Of Hearts" and the fine ballads "Don't Call My Name" and "Lovin' Arms". Sure, some of the more edgy tracks are a bit dull when it comes to the melodies, "Everyday" and "Was It Good For You" for instance, but in the end, not a bad album.

Bruce Gaitsch Website

Random Eyes: "Light Up"

Rating: 7/10

Random Eyes 2011

Review by Kimmo Toivonen

"Light Up" is the third album from Random Eyes, and the second one I've heard. I thought the band's previous album was a bit over-the-top when it came to the arrangements, at times it was almost chaotic. The good news is that this album is less cluttered, the band seems more focused and what's more, they've come up with a few really special tracks.

The first single of the album is the title track, which is also the opening track. It has a very appealing positive vibe and the album couldn't really get a better start. It's the kind of a song that should work very well live, bouncy "hands-in-the-air" number with a good chorus. "Decadence" is a darker, heavier track with a frantic beat, yet highly melodic chorus. The closest thing to a ballad on the album is "Hold Me", a strangely fascinating song with vocalist Christian Palin pushing his voice to the edge...and probably a bit over it, but never mind. The album's standout for me is "Tell Me" with its' absolutely stunning hook mixed with modern-ish production values.

After a flying start, the Random Eyes engine seems to run out of fuel. The remaining six tracks cannot hold my attention as strongly as the first four tracks. "Blind Man", "Stand Your Ground" and "Eclipse" have their moments, but somehow their hooks aren't sharp enough to cause serious damage. "Megalomanic" sticks out like a sore thumb, as it features the infamous Cookie Monster or at least someone impersonting it (Mr. Palin himself perhaps?) , while "Chaos Theory" or "Vendetta"... I don't know, they just don't work for me. Both have sort of big, anthemic choruses which I tend to like, but somehow they don't make me want to sing along. "Uninviting" melodies I guess, in search of a better word. Strangely enough, "Vendetta's" chorus reminds me of Petra's "Keninaiah", but it comes across like a duller version of it.

Anyway, let's concentrate on the positive things again - the first half of the album is very good, the production by Tero Kinnunen (Nightwish) is stunning and the band has a sound of its' own. They really don't sound too much like any other band, which is quite an achievement in the metal/hard rock genre.

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SIMULACRUM: "Promo EP"

Rating: EP

Simulacrum 2011

Review by Martien Koolen

Regular readers of this site may know that I am a prog metal fan and some of my favourite bands are Dream Theater and Symphony X. SIMULACRUM is a new young prog metal band from Finland and these guys from Turku really surprise me with their first EP. The band was founded 12 years ago by Christian Pulkkinen and the name of the band was adopted a couple of years later. The EP contains four tracks and the music is true prog metal and I mean REAL prog metal! However these guys really have a distinct sound and originality like I have not heard before in a long time.

The mini album opens with Master And The Simulacrum and this song features a lot of musical diversity and immediatlely shows the astonishing musicality and playing skills of these young Finnish rockers. Follow up The Depraved is rather heavy with a dominant role for singer/shouter Niklas Broman, while Battle Within takes me back to the seventies as it reminds me of Kansas although the keys and guitar solos actually sound rather experimental and even jazzy at certain points. Last but not least Simulacrum comes up with the darkest song of the entire EP called The Beginning Of Nothing; a true prog metal gem which should really amaze listeners who like the rather unknown band Outworld.

These guys really know how to handle their instruments and this EP is extrremely good stuff for die-hard prog metal fans like me...

Simulacrum was already band of the month in Inferno metal magazine and I really think these guys have a great future ahead of them.
Their first complete album is already finished and I can't hardly wait to hear it and to see these guys in the flesh. Higly recommended!!

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PAGAN'S MIND: "Heavenly Ecstasy"

Rating: 9/10

Label: SPV/Steamhammer 2011

Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom

Straight to the point (yeah, right!), have a go at this if you fancy a great and fun mixture of Kamelot, Queensryche and Ultravox!!! Really? Ultravox??? Well, hold your horses, I'm not saying it's "Vienna" Part: 2 for feck's sake... and I'm not entirely sure it's one of their influences or simply just down to coincidence? However, several of the tracks on their rather excellent, "Heavenly Ecstasy", are somewhat comperable to the 'Midge Ure' piano/keyboard drama and pompous behaviour (obiter dictum). It's perhaps just a brief reflection and rather redundant to the overall sound of Norway's Pagan's Mind??? Let's face it, comparisons are sometimes a bore and providing there's an identity of their own in there, why bother??? Well, it's just to bring the "average" music fan up to speed, I guess?

The main base and structure of the album is built on 'power' and with their top notch combination of harmonies and crunchy riffs, they're as fine mix-metal band as imaginable. They're apparently inspired by the success of fellow Norwegian 'Khan' and his 'Kamelot' (I believe it's his former band now?)?, but wish to incorporate several other melodic and prog influences as well. The album begins with "Contact", a spacey intro which merely works as an introduction to the superb, "Eyes Of Fire". This is Pagan's Mind at their best, the use of piano/keyboard is quite stunning and the dark and crunchy riff is a nice counterpart. "Intermission" reeks of Kamelot at their best to be honest and "Into The Aftermath" simply kills.

"Walk Away In Silence" is the sound of Queensryche and "Revelation To The End" takes the drama out of 'Ure' and simply add on power and modern metal. "Live Your Life Like A Dream" is a highly pompous track/semi-ballad with a chorus that goes straight to/for the heart. The bottomline, clearly their 'magnum opus' and highly recommended if you enjoyed the band in the past or acts such as Kamelot, Queensryche (Empire, Rage For Order), and merely a hint of the vivid world of 'Midge Ure'.

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DEEP PURPLE: "Phoenix Rising" DVD +CD

Rating: DVD

Label: Edel/Playground 2011

Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom

"When they were Gods" - Seriously, sneak a peak of the footage of "Phoenix Rising" and you'll quickly notice how God/Jesus-like the two front-figures of the band (David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes) appears on your screen. Hughes sporting a truly awful white trainer/Elvis Presley suit will obviously not add to his "God" agenda, but the voice, and the manic impression (all hail God-Glenn). The latter obviously down to his cocaine addiction at the time. Keeping in mind that he was sent home (by the band) eighty per cent into the recording of the album, "Come Taste The Band", due to a intoxicated meltdown in September, 1975.

Merely a couple of months after the "Hughes" accident, Deep Purple MKIV goes to Japan and the lost concert is finally avaliable on this essential DVD/CD release. For the first time on DVD, restored in HD, the 30 minute concert recorded live at The Budokan Hall on December 15, 1975. Coverdale huff and puff like a rabid wolf on stage and it's a shame we only get five (5) songs [Burn, Love Child, Smoke On The Water, You Keep On Moving, Highway Star]. The brand new 80 minute music documentary "Gettin Tighter" with interviews, live music and archive footage. Glenn Hughes and Jon Lord open the lid to all the problems that beset the band as they toured the world in late 75'/early 76'. Drugs and death being the main thing as crew members died and some of purple's entourage got arrested on suspicion of murder (Hughes was involved too according to some?). Extras are the electronic press kit from 'Come Taste The Band' and Jakarta, December 1975 interviews and lots of goodies.

The CD contains over 70 minutes of live "rarites" and never before released versions of the MKIV line-up. The following tracks are recorded at 'Longbeach': Burn, Lazy, Homeward Strut, and Stormbringer. From Japan: Gettin' Tighter, Love Child, Smoke on The Water/Georgia On My Mind, You Keep On Moving. This fine 'Deluxe Version' comes with a 36 page photo booklet with vintage articles (great stories from the 75/76 tour) and never before seen pictures. There's also a neat 26 page miniature reproduction of an original 1976 Deep Purple magazine. Very nice, very posh. You'll end up captured and amazed by the footage and stories (Hughes & Lord are quite the storytellers) and I can only imagine what it's like to have been a fan of the band in the seventies. Recommended!

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