50 years ago Led Zeppelin put the finishing touches to their legendary fourth album. With songs like "Stairway To Heaven", "Rock And Roll" and "The Battle Of Evermore" it not only became the best-selling record of Jimmy Page & Co. - the untitled album has long been considered a majestic monument of 70s rock. Countless fans and generations of musicians still revere it as an opus magnum and a never-ending source of inspiration. We examine how this album came to be and how it achieved its unique status.
At the mention of the name LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT, the hearts of many instrumental prog fans beat faster. This all-star band, recruited from members of Dream Theater (John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess), King Crimson (Tony Levin) and Transatlantic (Mike Portnoy), has stood since 1998 for musical high-performance sports and at the same time for melodies that remain in the memory for a long time.
With their debut "Shake Your Money Maker", The Black Crowes had a furious start into the new decade in 1990. Somewhat belatedly, a limited deluxe edition including single B-sides and previously unreleased studio and live recordings is now being released to mark the 30th anniversary.
Greta Van Fleet's debut "Anthem Of The Peaceful Army" was a first tremor, with "The Battle At Garden's Gate" now follows a bang: an album with which the quartet from Frankenmuth, Michigan, prepares to change the guard in rock music - with anthems for a new generation that mature genre icons like the Stones, Led Zep or The Who have long since ceased to reach. After all, today's youth - says bassist Sam Kiszka in an eclipsed interview - want their own heroes, mouthpieces and songs.
For just under a quarter of a century, Deep Purple/Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore has been part of the music scene with his wife Candice Night in medieval garb. By devoting himself to live hard rock in recent years with a newly formed Rainbow lineup, the musical pressure on Blackmore's Night has been lessened. This also seems to have had an effect on their new album "Nature's Light". Candice Night at least seems very deeply relaxed - and definitely takes a look beyond the horizon of medieval pop ..
The rock band Wheel may come from Finland, but their frontman James Lascelles is a real Brit who, by the way, doesn't mince his words. On their second album, a stimulating mixture of new artrock and progmetal with very political lyrics, they again show themselves strongly influenced by atmospheric-progressive music à la Tool.
Thunder, for 32 years now an integral part of the blues-soaked classic English hard rock scene, have since their founding already provided many a genre highlight. Their first two albums "Backstreet Symphony" and "Laughing On Judgement Day" have remained unsurpassed. Now, with the grandiose "All The Right Noises", they are going all the way again. "Gold Voice" Danny Bowes took the editors' praise in a British-casual manner.
The Dutchwoman is known for her versatility, her musical biography accordingly dazzling. Many will remember her as the frontwoman of The Gathering, and she has also drawn attention to herself through numerous collaborations with Devin Townsend, Arjen Lucassen, Anathema and Within Temptation. With her prog project Vuur (Dutch for "fire") and solo she rocks the stages of European clubs and has already released six albums under her own name. Why "The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest" has become less rocky and much more intimate instead, she explains in an eclipsed interview
When "Out Of Myself" spills over to Germany via the American label Laserʼs Edge in 2004 and from then on circulates as a real insider tip in the prog scene, the album is already more than a year old ... Together with singer/bassist Mariusz Duda we look back at the early days of Riverside, but first direct the focus on the present and the near future.
eclipsed: Mariusz, how are you dealing with the rigors of the Corona pandemic?
