Shortly after each other Steve Hackett (12.2.), Peter Gabriel (13.2.) and Tony Banks (27.3.) celebrate their 70th birthday in these days, in October follows Mike Rutherford (2.10.). Together with Phil Collins, just turned 69, they form the classic 70s line-up of Genesis. While Hackett and Collins only joined the group later, the other three met at an elite boarding school, where music offered them a free space in the midst of conservative structures. eclipsed traces the band's early years, from their first musical steps to the release of "Trespass", their first prog album.
Neil Peart is dead. The drummer and lyricist of Rush died on January 7th in Santa Monica, California at the age of 67 from a brain tumor. The multi-award-winning drummer and book author had already left the band in 2015 for health reasons. Rush had thereupon declared the end of their career. Throughout his life Peart was a researcher, a seeker.
After two groundbreaking demos (also under the predecessor name Aslan), Psychotic Waltz's 1990 debut "A Social Grace", the debut of the century, thrilled the metal underground with brilliant guitars, hypnotic lyrics and melodies - and even flute interludes. After their fourth album "Bleeding" (1996) the band broke up completely. Only at the beginning of 2011 the sensational live return in original line-up followed. With "The God-Shaped Void", the band from El Cajon, a suburb of San Diego, is now back on record with a prog metal exclamation mark.
January is definitely not a month for water sports in England. A perfect time for hobby surfer Nick Barrett to promote the new Pendragon album "Love Over Fear". It took about six years to complete, and it represents a new turnaround in the band's history: away from the somewhat harder pace taken in 2005, back towards neo-prog.
eclipsed: Your new album is finished. How does it feel?
Founded in October 1969 by Martin Turner and Steve Upton and guitarists Ted Turner and Andy Powell, who had joined them through an advertisement, WISHBONE ASH became one of the driving forces of the British rock scene in the early 70s. Their trademark, the double lead guitar sound, rarely encountered at the time, quickly made them a live attraction. In the 51st year of their existence, eclipsed spoke with the only remaining original member Andy Powell about the band's history and the new album "Coat Of Arms".
The Night Flight Orchestra once again offers classic rock board service of the upper class. Always on the lookout for the perfect song, the Swedes on their fifth album "Aeromantic" walk more and more in the musical footsteps of their home country's most famous band - and not only because their recording studio contained the drums of their studio drummer Per Lindvall.
Al Di Meola can look back on a successful career, in which he not only catapulted acoustic guitar playing to a new level, but also enriched jazz with numerous dimensions. On March 13th his new album "Across The Universe" will be released. After "All Your Life (A Tribute To The Beatles)" from 2013, this is already the second work in which he interprets the songs of the Fab Four. Has Al Di Meola's source of inspiration dried up, or are there other reasons for editing foreign compositions?
eclipsed: How did you get the idea for the first Tribute?
The two masterminds of RPWL, Kalle Wallner and Yogi Lang, traditionally take creative time out between albums of their main band, which they each fill with solo projects. Guitarist Wallner does this with Blind Ego, who first appeared in 2007 with the album "Mirror". After the last tour for the studio album "Liquid" (2016), the band underwent a line-up change, and this line-up is now also active on the brand new album "Preaching To The Choir".
The Swedish retro-rockers have been quite successful in recent years, for example they were allowed to provide tour support for Deep Purple, whose sound was also the inspiration for their chart album "A Dream Of Lasting Peace" in 2017. Now they are back with "The Secret Of Our Time". It is well known that they are convinced advocates of analogue equipment and recordings. But now, in the face of current global crises regarding ecology and digitalisation, they are also thematically mobile thanks to analogue intellect. Siena Root are demanding their listeners.
