LED ZEPPELIN - The no-name myth
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 explore how this album came to be and how it achieved its unique status.
KRAUTROCK - Part 4
We start the second half of our six-part Krautrock series with the second big sweep after the comprehensive opening special in eclipsed 12/2020-01/2021, the electronic musicians (issue 02/2021) and the flirt between jazz and Krautrock (eclipsed 03/2021). Diversity is the keyword for this issue, in which we name the epicentres of the new Krautrock culture, the labels that have given the KrautROCKers a home and which branches the herbaceous folkers and the bands inspired by 70s progressive have taken.
LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT - "Even Faster, Even Longer, Even Crazier!"
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. On the occasion of the release of the comeback work "Liquid Tension Experiment 3" we spoke with bassist Tony Levin and keyboardist Jordan Rudess.
THE BLACK CROWES - "In 1990, the music of 1972 was the most uncool music of all 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 - The Changing of the Guard
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. Today's youth - says bassist Sam Kiszka in an interview with eclipsed - ultimately wants its own heroes, mouthpieces and songs
BLACKMORE'S NIGHT - A Light In The Black
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 ..
WHEEL - "I'm probably a masochist who likes to be spanked."
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 - "Guys, we're still needed!"
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. "Golden voice" Danny Bowes accepted the hymns of praise of the editors British-loosely.
On her new studio album ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN surprises with soft tones
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.
RIVERSIDE re-release their emotional debut "Out Of Myself" - and remember
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 to the early days of Riverside, but first we focus on the present and the near future.
SUZI QUATRO -The first lady of rock is in her element on her new album
Suzi Quatro has been a PR pro for more than five decades, and she makes clever use of her skills by throwing headline-grabbing morsels at the non-music media like "Angus Young pinched my butt" or "I've had the corona virus, too." She knows it makes good headlines and draws attention to the now 70-year-old singer and bassist's new album. Yet the latest work, "The Devil In Me," speaks for itself. It's snotty, rocks mightily for the most part, and Quatro in particular, who entered the music business in the sixties with her sisters as The Pleasure Seekers and Cradle in Detroit, still has a monster pipe that gives the songs power and identity
The Hamburg band OUGENWEIDE is a legend in folk circles to this day
In 1970, a formation with the idiosyncratic name Ougenweide was founded in the far north of the republic. 15 years later they breathed their last. Although there was a one-time reunion in 1996 with the album "Sol" - but without the authoritative female Ougenweide voice Minne Graw and musically quite far from the former concept and also not very convincing: too much esoteric steam, too little gripping medieval rock was heard.
FLYING CIRCUS celebrate their anniversary with a self-titled "Best-of"-collection
It could have all been so festive and beautiful: in 1990, the blues-progrock formation Flying Circus was founded in Grevenbroich near Düsseldorf. And now, on the occasion of their thirtieth anniversary, they wanted to go on an anniversary tour, with a "best-of" album in their luggage, on which 15 songs from the seven studio productions released so far can be found: partly re-recorded, partly remixed, partly in the original version. This record, simply named after the band, has recently been on sale. However, only in the 31st year after the formation of the quintet
THE VINTAGE CARAVAN defy all odds
Sweat is obviously part and parcel of The Vintage Caravan: They owe their reputation as an excellent live band among other things to very movement-intensive concerts, bassist Alexander Örn Númason is a semi-professional trail runner, the studio sessions for the fifth album "Monuments" turned out to be an endurance sport. And the Icelanders can chat enduringly as well.
EVERGREY use their newfound freedom and play to their old strengths
2020 was a year that meant standstill for many people. But not for Tom S. Englund. Privately, the Swede entered the harbor of marriage, musically there were two topics in the room: On the one hand, the debut of Silent Skies was released, a project for which Englund teamed up with pianist Vikram Shankar. On the other hand, the new Evergrey album "Escape Of The Phoenix" was created.
REFLECTION CLUB deliver a kind of sequel to Ian Anderson's masterpiece
"Thick As A Brick" (1972) by Jethro Tull is one of the great concept albums of progressive rock, inspiring and fascinating with its elegant mix of classical, folk and jazz tones as well as the highly intelligent story, garnished with the invented small-town newspaper "St. Cleve Chronicle", to this day. So in 2012, creator Ian Anderson also served up "Thick As A Brick 2", a sequel to the hit album. A project composed of Crystal Palace, Margin and Jethro Tull Experience musicians now pays homage to the original with a pastiche.
TWANGMEN hold the universe together with irrepressible power and joy of playing
From the Austrian Vorarlberg comes a colorful troupe called Twangmen. In 2011 they gave a first sign of life with the EP "Double Peace". With "Triskele And Cascades" they now deliver their first full album. The basic trio of Martin "Medy" Mayer (guitar), Daniel Seeger (bass) and Flow Frick (drums) has, according to the latter, "been playing together in various combinations since their teenage years". And what makes the instrumental band Twangmen so special? What is their special sound, their "twang"?
...and much more!
