Music Reviews

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Music Reviews

Supergrass: Diamond Hoo Ha

Parke Puterbaugh | Jul 15, 2008

Diamond Hoo Ha Astralwerks

Music •••^½Sound •••

The glam-rock triumvirate of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Mott the

Music Reviews

Surround Review: King Crimson

Parke Puterbaugh | Feb 02, 2012

“Superb. The music is brought to life.”

That’s Robert Fripp’s own assessment of Steven Wilson’s 6-channel mix of Discipline. I have to agree.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Music Reviews

Tedeschi Trucks Band: Made Up Mind

Mike Mettler | Oct 09, 2013

Performance
Sound

The potent combo of married co-bandleaders guitarist/vocalist Susan Tedeschi and slide-guitar maestro Derek Trucks and nine (or so) of their closest friends hits its stride on group album number three, Made Up Mind. Mind shows how TTB has finally forged the right blend of improv interplay prowess and gutbucket roots rock.

Music Reviews

Tee Grizzley: “Blow By Blow” + “You Hear Me” In Dolby Atmos On Apple Music

Mike Mettler | Oct 17, 2024

Detroit-bred rap superstar Tee Grizzley has joined forces with a number of powerhouse flow partners on his new 24-track LP Post Traumatic, which was released in full on October 4 after being teased with a number of hardcharging singles drops throughout the balance of 2024.

A-level guests on Tee’s fifth studio album include the likes of Future, 42 Dugg, Mariah The Scientist, and even his brother, Baby Grizzley. Synth loops and loping 808s permeate some of its backing tracks—cool choices due in no small part to one of the album’s key producers, Pi’erre Bourne (Drake, Playboi Carti).

Music Reviews

Temple of the Dog: 25th Anniversary Expanded Edition

Mike Mettler | Feb 10, 2017

Performance
Sound

The Seattle music scene was devastated. Andrew Wood, the promising and charismatic frontman of Mother Love Bone, was found dead of a heroin overdose in March 1990. His bandmates and close friends were in despair, and the one catharsis they found to deal with their pain in the ensuing year was in making new music together. As a result, out of the wake of Wood’s passing was born a 1991 Seattle supercollective dubbed Temple of the Dog, who became best known for their massive grunge-era alt-rock MTV hit, “Hunger Strike.”

Music Reviews

The 20th Century’s Greatest Hits

Robert Ripps | Dec 10, 2001

Tune in a classical FM radio station or attend a symphony orchestra concert, and chances are you'll hear very little music composed after 1900.

Music Reviews

The Alan Parsons Project: Eye In the Sky 35th Anniversary Collector's Edition

Mike Mettler | Apr 19, 2018

Performance
Sound

It’s quite fitting that when Alan Parsons—the well-respected English producer and engineer whose enviable behind-the-board C.V. includes the likes of The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Hollies, Al Stewart, Pilot, and Ambrosia—finally ventured out on his own as a titular recording artist in the mid-’70s, his collective work was dubbed The Alan Parsons Project.

Music Reviews

The Allman Brothers Band: Idlewild South: Super Deluxe Edition

Mike Mettler | Jun 10, 2016

Performance
Sound

When the last notes of “Trouble No More” rang out at The Beacon Theatre in New York in the wee hours of the morning on October 29, 2014—closing an epic show comprised of three full sets and a two-song encore that had commenced over 4 hours previously on the night of October 28—most agreed The Allman Brothers Band had capped their long, storied 45-year career by hittin’ all the right notes. With thousands of performances under their collective belts, the Allmans triumphantly closed out the tab on being one of the most thrilling, adventurous, and aurally exciting live bands of the rock era.

Music Reviews

The Allman Brothers: Trouble No More - 50th Anniv. Collection

Mike Mettler | Aug 21, 2020

Performance
Sound

When the final notes of "Trouble No More" rang out in the early morning hours of October 29, 2014 at The Beacon Theatre in New York City, the unthinkable was finally upon us, for that meant The Allman Brothers Band were truly no more. After five-plus decades as the consummate road warriors, America's premier jam band was hanging up its collective boots for good at the venue they'd held an annual residency at for a quarter-century.

Music Reviews

The Art Of Listening

Mike Mettler | Sep 18, 2012

“Anything that we sit down in, we’re good at.” This is Steven Wilson, 5.1 mixmaster nonpareil, discussing two of the gold medals that Great Britain won in the Summer Olympics — one in cycling, the other in rowing. If there were Olympic medals given for achievement in surround-sound mixing, then Wilson would own more golden hardware than Michael Phelps has collected a dozen times over.

Music Reviews Reference Tracks

The Band: Live at the Academy of Music 1971

Mike Mettler | Dec 24, 2013

Performance
Sound

Besides knocking the psychedelic movement off of its puffy cloud at the end of the ’60s with the seminal roots-based rustic albums Music From Big Pink (1968) and The Band (1969), The Band was also known for being a supernaturally gifted live act, having honed its stagecraft through many arduous but rewarding years on the road. Highlights from a magical four-night stand at New York’s Academy of Music were set in stone—or rather, on wax and disc—with 1972’s Rock of Ages. The album was a critically acclaimed best seller and a triumph in the eyes of everyone it touched. Well, almost everyone.

Music Reviews

The Band: The Last Waltz, 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition

Mike Mettler | Mar 17, 2017

Performance
Sound

If The Band didn’t slow down and get off the road—and get off the road soon—they were going to wind up killing themselves, to a man. “It’s a goddamn impossible way of life,” says Band leader/guitarist/chief songwriter Robbie Robertson of being stuck on the wheel of a crushing, never-ending tour cycle. That urgent “stop the road, I want to get off” mentality was one of the main driving forces behind The Band masterminding a farewell concert for the ages at the Winterland Arena in San Francisco during Thanksgiving 1976, dubbed from the get-go-then-get-gone as The Last Waltz.

Music Reviews

The BBB Featuring Bernie Dresel - The Pugilist

David Vaughn | Mar 04, 2022

Performance
Sound

In all honesty, I had never heard the name Bernie Dresel until I was sent The Pugilist, the latest disc from his jazz band, The BBB Featuring Bernie Dresel, to review. The outfit is a collection of studio musicians who play together at Los Angeles-area jazz clubs, but chances are you've heard their various talents before. For example, Dresel has 25 movie credits to his name, with A-list soundtracks such as Mission: Impossible III, Star Trek (2009), and Spider-Man: Far from Home, just to name three. Other members of the band also have extensive backgrounds with various Hollywood productions, and this ultimately brought them together back in 2014.

Music Reviews

The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds – 50th Anniversary Collectors Edition

Mike Mettler | Aug 08, 2016

Performance
Sound

For certain musicians, creativity is sometimes fueled by a deep desire to impress their peers. That was certainly the case with Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and Paul McCartney of The Beatles, two members of an exclusive cross-continent mutual-admiration society who made adventurous music for the masses with an additional “can you top this” flair.

Music Reviews

The Beach Boys: Sail On Sailor – 1972 Deluxe Edition Box Set

Mike Mettler | Jan 26, 2023

Performances
Sound

In the early-1970s, two new VIP members of The Beach Boys not sporting the surnames Wilson, Love, or Jardine came to the forefront of the band — namely, guitarist/vocalist Blondie Chaplin and guitarist/drummer Ricky Fataar. Though their tenure in The Beach Boys was short-lived, the energy and creative verve these two artists of South African descent injected into this consummate California band’s era-transitional gambits were noticeably palpable for a decade, often overshadowed by the sheer magnitude of their groundbreaking 1960s recordings.

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