Mike Mettler

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The S&V Interview
Jon Anderson, Soothsayer of Wonderous Stories
Mike Mettler  |  Aug 06, 2020  |  2 comments
Forgive the imagery, but Jon Anderson is like the Energizer bunny of progressive music—he just keeps on going and going. The legendary founding Yes vocalist/lyricist forges ever onward like a man perpetually possessed by his muse, whether he's adding to his own solo canon or collaborating on shared-name releases with the likes of violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, Flower Kings guitarist/vocalist Roine Stolt, or his former fellow Yesmates in the short-lived but quite well-loved musically acrobatic acronym known alternately as ARW, or YES Featuring Jon Anderson - Trevor Rabin - Rick Wakeman.
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Stream On
5 Podcasts to Enhance Your Appreciation of Music
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 30, 2020  |  0 comments
If there’s one thing the ongoing pandemic has taught us, it’s that the “too much time on my hands” concept no longer applies. Here are five music-centric podcasts and a sixth smorgasbord selection to enhance your appreciation of music and the ways it’s made.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
5 More Top Concert Blu-ray Discs
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 24, 2020  |  2 comments
"I miss going to concerts."

It's a common refrain these days. Perhaps you've even said it yourself out loud on occasion to no one in particular but yourself, and/or to whomever you're jointly commiserating and quarantining with, and/or have typed it out as a comment-cum-lament underneath one of those incessant social media "memories" reminders that really only serve to bum you out about what you're missing—not to mention what you most decidedly won't be able to replicate in a comparable fashion in the near future.

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The S&V Interview
Steve Howe, Perpetual Sound Chaser
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 17, 2020  |  3 comments
"I'm a Soundist."

Forward-thinking guitar legend Steve Howe, the maestro of many iconic, nimble guitar riffs that have literally defined a generation or two of aurally challenging songs by the likes of Yes and Asia, is describing his raison d'être. "I'm a sound recorder, in a way," he continues. "I'm like Chet Atkins and Les Paul, who were both sound scientists. They were recording engineers and producers as much as I am, or as much as I hope to be."

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Music Disc Reviews
Star Wars: A New Hope - 40th Anniversary 3LP Collector's Edition
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 03, 2020  |  1 comments
Performance
Sound
Packaging
In a galaxy far, far away—well, to be more precise, it was actually in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh—I received a home-made C-60 compact cassette for my 11th birthday in October 1978. My audiophile grandfather had dubbed Charles Gerhardt conducting the National Philharmonic Orchestra's performance of music culled from composer John Williams' original scores for Star Wars on Side 1 and Close Encounters of the Third Kind on Side 2.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
ZZ Top: That Little Ol' Band From Texas
Mike Mettler  |  Jun 26, 2020  |  0 comments
Picture
Sound
Extras
ZZ Top ain't been nicknamed That Little Ol' Band From Texas for nothing, you know. But just in case you don't, please bear witness to this highly informative 2019 Banger Films documentary, which delves Rio Grande-deep into the true origins of this tight-knit blues 'n' boogie trio. (Incidentally, said trio also happens to comprise the longest-running unchanged lineup in rock history—51 years and counting, as of presstime.)
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Stream On
Yet Another Ten Must-See Rockumentaries
Mike Mettler  |  Jun 25, 2020  |  1 comments
Welcome back my friends, to the sheltering that never ends! Well, I suppose that assessment technically depends on just how good your home state has been in adhering to our respective pandemic guidelines, but I digress. Regardless of whether you're following a strict lockdown or beginning to safely venture out and about (albeit while wearing a mask, please!), we can all still agree there's nothing quite like spending some quality screen time with top-shelf streaming content, no matter what's going on outside as summer gets into full swing.
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsMusic Disc Reviews
10 Top Concert Blu-ray Discs
Mike Mettler  |  May 21, 2020  |  16 comments
One thing our ongoing pandemic lockdown continues to remind many of us music lovers of on a daily basis is just how much we all miss attending live concert events.
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsMusic Disc Reviews
Hail! Hail! Rock 'N' Roll
Mike Mettler  |  May 15, 2020  |  1 comments
Picture
Sound
Extras
It would be easy to characterize Chuck Berry, who passed away at age 90 in 2017, as one cantankerously acrimonious fellow, but after revisiting Taylor Hackford's astute 1987 documentary Hail! Hail! Rock 'N' Roll, now available on Blu-ray for the first time via Shout Select, I'm reminded of how captivating, creative, and downright business-savvy the pioneering, guitar-playing singer/ songwriter actually was.
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Music Disc Reviews
Best 5.1 Surround Sound Music Tracks
Mike Mettler  |  May 07, 2020  |  26 comments
Okay, you got me. I freely admit before all my fellow music lovers and audiophiles alike that I had a very specific ulterior motive when I noted in a recent Remaster Class column that the title track to Yes' September 1972 magnum opus Close to the Edge was my "second-favorite 5.1 mix." Following my primary intention of encouraging listeners to marvel at the fully enveloping scope of that song's truly amazing surround sound mix, I figured the next thing anyone reading said comment might wonder would be along the lines of, "Yeah, cool cool cool, that's great and all—but what's No. 1?"
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