PINK FLOYD
flight with unknown destination
On August 4th 1967 the first longplayer of the underground size Pink Floyd appeared in Great Britain with "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn". In the same year the singles "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play" had already caused a sensation. This year was one of the most groundbreaking in the history of the band. Floyd expert Glenn Povey documents this time in the following exclusive excerpt from his exquisite biography "Echoes", which has just been published in England.
RINGO STARR
"I'm the greatest!"
The Fab Four as a blessing - and curse: 37 years after the end of the Beatles, Ringo Starr is still fighting for his artistic recognition. Even if with a lot of humor and great self-confidence. After 13 solo albums, of which only "Ringo" (1973) and "Goodnight Vienna" (1974) were successful, the 67-year-old, who had to struggle with alcohol problems in the late 80s, is now releasing his first comprehensive best-of album. His next studio work is scheduled for January. Title: "Liverpool 8".
INTERPOL
Depth, Seriousness, Intimacy
The first Interpol concert on German soil in over a year and a half lasted barely more than an hour. In a former church in Cologne, the US quartet gave live impressions of their current album "Our Love To Admire". Also here it offers rock music somewhere between Radiohead and Joy Division. The day after the show we talked to guitarist Daniel Kessler at the Cologne "Interconti".
SUZANNE VEGA
Living and dying in New York
From the beginning of her career more than 20 years ago, Suzanne Vega has been known as a fragile folk fairy - at the latest since she gave birth to her daughter Ruby in 1994 - and has been called a fragile folk fairy ever since.
TANGERINE DREAM
Between Herb and Cosmos
Tangerine Dream and the synthesizer - an inseparable unity. The music of TD would be inconceivable without the initially reverently admired magic box with its myriads of sounds. A relationship from which both sides profited: alongside Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream are among the great pioneers who made electronic music popular. Countless artists from New Wave to Techno referred to the sounds "Made in Germany". In the 40th year of its existence, Tangerine Dream have long been a trademark that has always set its own standards.
HEAVEN AND HELL
Glorious times
In 1980 "Heaven And Hell" was released, one of the best hard rock albums of all times. In 2007 Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and drummer Vinny Appice, who joined the band on the following tour, revived the Dio era of Black Sabbath under exactly this banner.
SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM
Sinful Fun Birds
Help, the deconstructionists are loose! The US anarchy troop Sleepytime Gorilla Museum is once again pulverizing our ideas of progressive rock music with relish on their third album. What he has reassembled from the elementary particles on "In Glorious Times" is beyond all listening experience.
Keep the text up! - Cult songs and their meaning
LEONARD COHEN - CHELSEA HOTEL NO. 2
A SONG ABOUT AN ADVENTURE WITH A FAMOUS WOMAN IN A FAMOUS HOTEL IN A FAMOUS CITY - LEONARD COHENS "CHELSEA HOTEL NO. 2" IS ABOVE ALL ONE THING: A GREAT ODE TO BOREDOM.
THE WHITE STRIPES
Don't believe the hype!
Sure, they're media favorites, sell millions of CDs and wear cool clothes. But with the White Stripes there's a lot behind the hype facade that doesn't reveal itself at first glance..
PORTUGAL. THE MAN
Hard Berlin School
There are areas where most people have fantastic ideas - simply because few people have ever been there. Alaska, for instance. Accordingly curious are the glances that Portugal. The Man reap when the speech comes to their home. Singer and guitarist John Gourley, born in Nest Wasilla, has some curious stories in store.
SYMPHONY X Summit
storm
Symphony X have put their fans to a hard test in the last five years: no new songs, hardly any live activities in Europe. Technical problems in the studio and the morbus Crohn's disease of bassist Michael Lepond put a spoke in the wheel of the band. Therefore, in the progmetal scene hardly any album has been so eagerly awaited as the seventh studio work of the band from New Jersey.