June 2015

QUEEN - Your 50 greatest songs

"It's the singer, not the song" is one of the many rock wisdoms, and there seems to be more than just a grain of truth in it. Without wishing to diminish the achievements of guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon: Without Freddie Mercury, Queen would have been a great rock band at best. His performance made Queen an all-embracing spectacle in the first place. No matter if he gave the hardrock of the early years theatricality or the ambitious works of the middle and late years the perfect vocal polish.

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CARLOS SANTANA - The Sound of the World

Bill [Graham, concert promoter; note] called the whole band to a meeting. That was sometime in July 1969, when he lived in the Mill Valley, the white side of the Bay Area, where the fine pissants lived. We drove to him and admired the villas. He had prepared a nice buffet for us outside. We were totally impressed. Then he sat down and explained to us what it was all about. Usually he was in a hurry, but this time he took his time: he had a lot to say. "Some groups are not doing very well right now. Hendrix isn't selling, Jim Morrison's in trouble for exposing himself.

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WARREN HAYNES - The man from the mountains

Warren Haynes is a workaholic. Or would it be better to say Warren Haynes are workaholics? It is hard to imagine that this man's inconceivable workload can be mastered by a single person. There are not only the albums and constant tours of his main band Gov't Mule, his acoustic shows as a solo artist, his numerous guest appearances with the Grateful Dead follow-up bands, with Gov't Mule he also performs a special cover program twice a year, which is only rehearsed for one show at a time.

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GRATEFUL DEAD - The Naked and the Dead

The exact day on which it was formed under the new name can no longer be traced. What is certain is that at the beginning of December 1965 the largely unknown band Warlocks, which had come together in May of the same year, changed its name to Grateful Dead. Much to the chagrin of concert promoter Bill Graham, who had become aware of the group the month before and had taken it under his wing.

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SYMPHONY X - Hell on Earth

The focus of the interview with guitarist Michael Romeo is first of all on the health situation of the band. After bassist Michael Lepond apparently had his Crohn's disease well under control in recent years, the news that drummer Jason Rullo had to be admitted to a hospital with heart failure in spring 2013 shocked him. The 47-year-old bandleader with Italian ancestors fortunately gives the all-clear.

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ANEKDOTEN - Creative high-altitude flights just under the radar

At the renowned Burg-Herzberg-Festival anecdotes are welcome guests - this summer as well. On 30 July they will be the last band on the opening day to enter the stage and ring in their live comeback in Germany. In an interview with eclipsed, band boss Nicklas Barker reflects on the roots of his group and names the reasons for the long break.

eclipsed: The release of "Until All The Ghosts Are Gone" coincides with your unofficial 25th anniversary, because the core cast of anecdotes has existed since 1990. What were the most important stages of your career?

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DAVE SCHMIDT - News from Sulatron Research

Dave Schmidt candidly mentions the chaos that currently reigns over him, and one cannot get rid of the impression that this disorderly state persists persistently and sustainably - but that it is also a source of his almost untameable creativity. Schmidt is currently giving the scene four high-calibre releases via Sulatron Records: a new live album by Electric Moon, the second album by the Russian band Polska Radio One, Krautzone will follow with separate CD and vinyl releases, and finally - what a surprise! - the first Zone Six studio album in 11 years.

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STEVE HACKETT - This is the supper of the mighty one

Not many know it yet, but there is a beautiful live recording for band and orchestra of Genesis' epic "Supper's Ready". Recorded and filmed in January in Iceland, the result is stunning. The band is called Todmobile, an award-winning prog band, founded in the late 80s in Reykjavik. The orchestra is the Northern Symphony Orchestra. Guest star: Steve Hackett! I've never been to Iceland before, and when Steve visited me in Los Angeles last December and told me that he was going to play some concerts with a local prog band there, I was fascinated and amazed.

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Shadows of the past - It's his well-known life themes that JAMES TAYLOR will not let go of in 2015 either

Although James Taylor has been clean and secluded for thirty years in the woods of Massachusetts, his time as a junkie, Beatles protege and member of the Laurel Canyon scene also catches up with him on his comeback album. Luckily

eclipsed: "October Road", your last studio work, was released in 2002. Why the long break?

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ASIA - Waiting for Wetton

Geoff Downes would love to start working on a new Asia album right away. But he's currently hanging in the air again. His songwriting partner, singer/bassist John Wetton, has just been operated on. A tumor weighing almost a kilo was pulled out of him. So the live document "Axis XXX Live San Francisco" from the last tour with Steve Howe of the band fits well into the stuff.

eclipsed: How's John?

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