Reviews of Prog Rock, Classical Music, Art Rock and Jazz
Wednesday 3 June 2026 Polygon Portal, Soho. London ★★★★★ Source: Polygon Portal Last night, I had an experience that could have come from a Steven Wilson album when I returned to my hotel after the launch of his ninth solo album. The Harmony Codex, his seventh studio album, is partly based on his own short …
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This is an analysis of the second half, and title track, of Steven Wilson's eighth solo album, The Overview. For an introduction to the album, click here. For an analysis of the first half of the album, 'Objects Outlive Us', click here. The Earth Seen from Apollo 17. Source: Wikimedia Commons THE OVERVIEW Perspective Perspective …
Continue reading "Steven Wilson – The Overview – Album Review Part Three: ‘The Overview’ "
Wednesday 19 June 2024 O2 Apollo Manchester **** Early Pink Floyd imaginatively reinvented Last Wednesday morning, the first tickets went on sale for performances in Manchester by a music legend/national treasure now in his eighties, Sir Paul McCartney. That evening, another musical institution - also in his eighties - Nick Mason, was in town with …
Continue reading "Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets – Live Review"
When art briefly triumphed over commerce in album cover design **** The writer Ian MacDonald described the Beatles song Revolution 9 as 'the world’s most widely distributed avant-garde artefact.' The collage of sound, influenced more by German experimental composer Karlheinz Stockhausen than by Chuck Berry, sneaked into many homes under the anonymous white cover of The …
Continue reading "Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) – Documentary Review"
**** New 5.1 mix places the listener in the middle of a dystopian farmyard. Pink Floyd recorded Animals in 1976 and it was released early the following year. It sits uncomfortably in the band's catalogue, preceded by the pristine, aching absences of Wish You Were Here and followed by the sprawling psychodrama of The Wall. …
Continue reading "Animals by Pink Floyd (2018 Surround Sound Remix) – Album Review"
Friday 6 May 2022 O₂ Apollo Manchester Nick Mason's band are more than just an echo of the past ***** Pink Floyd's drummer Nick Mason announced that the band shared a stage in Manchester with Jimi Hendrix 55 years ago in 1967. It seems unlikely that the original band will ever tour again, not least …
Continue reading "Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets – Live Review"
The Apollo, Manchester Saturday 27 November 2021 Classic Pink Floyd songs brought to life with an Australian twist **** The last time Pink Floyd played an indoor concert venue in Manchester was nearly 50 years ago at the Palace Theatre on 10 December 1974. It seems unlikely that the three surviving members will ever play …
Continue reading "The Australian Pink Floyd Show – Live Review"