Dinosaur Jr. is one of my favourite bands of all time and J Mascis is the most underrated guitar player ever, so you know going in to reviewing this amazing live set that us fanatics have on bootleg already that I am going to fawn over the new Cherry Red Records release of The Black Session – Live In Paris 1993. This was recorded shortly after Where You Been (their breakout record) dropped. Lou and Murph already left the band, but even with all of those changes Dino Jr. is in tip top form, ploughing though all of their best pre–Been tracks with a couple from the new record thrown in as well.
Quest sludges though as the opener that leads to their always amazing cover of The Cure’s Just Like Heaven, which is one of the best cover songs of all time. The band rips it up on Your Living All Over Me’s The Lung with J’s amazing guitar work and the all-time classic Freak Scene is delivered in its finest form. Get Me is one of the new tracks (I learned something writing this, I had no idea it was the first single from the record) and is one of the slower burns from the untouchable record and it sounds great in this set.
Quest sludges though as the opener that leads to their always amazing cover of The Cure’s Just Like Heaven, which is one of the best cover songs of all time. The band rips it up on Your Living All Over Me’s The Lung with J’s amazing guitar work and the all-time classic Freak Scene is delivered in its finest form. Get Me is one of the new tracks (I learned something writing this, I had no idea it was the first single from the record) and is one of the slower burns from the untouchable record and it sounds great in this set.
Another new one at the time, Drawerings is also included in the setlist which is an interesting addition considering the what are the best-known songs from that album, but of course it is nonetheless a perfect inclusion and works with the vibe of the show. The last three tracks include two classics from Bug, Keep The Glove and Budge, and closes with Thumb from my favourite Dino Jr. Record, Green Mind.
If you like Dino Jr., then The Black Session is a must listen. If you are a crazy fan like me your probably have heard this as a bootleg but listen again and again in all of its Cherry Red re-release glory. Killer stuff for an all-time band. 9/10
Lillian Axe - The Box Volume Two: The Quickening (Cherry Red Records)
Lillian Axe has been a round for five decades, which is crazy to type, but also why the band is able to release not one, but two box sets of their material. I first got into the band back in 1992 which the release of my favourite and their classic album, Poetic Justice. 1992 was not the best year for bands that were unfairly or not labelled or bunched in with hair bands (see: Kick, Saigon) so Poetic Justice was a suitable name for this very overlooked record and ultimately career.
If you like Dino Jr., then The Black Session is a must listen. If you are a crazy fan like me your probably have heard this as a bootleg but listen again and again in all of its Cherry Red re-release glory. Killer stuff for an all-time band. 9/10
Lillian Axe - The Box Volume Two: The Quickening (Cherry Red Records)
Lillian Axe has been a round for five decades, which is crazy to type, but also why the band is able to release not one, but two box sets of their material. I first got into the band back in 1992 which the release of my favourite and their classic album, Poetic Justice. 1992 was not the best year for bands that were unfairly or not labelled or bunched in with hair bands (see: Kick, Saigon) so Poetic Justice was a suitable name for this very overlooked record and ultimately career.
The band’s core base of fans stayed loyal however, allowing the band to continue till this day, releasing a total of ten albums and multiple live records and compilations. This review covers boxset number two, The Quickening, from the amazing Cherry Red Records, which is the second half of the band’s career, from 2010’s Deep Red Shadows and includes the two full lengths released up until 2012 as well as a boatload of rarities, demos, and live material that fans of the band will go nuts for.
These later period records have a heavy almost grungy edge to them, I particularly enjoy the 2021 album XI The Days Before Tomorrow with the track Death Comes Tomorrow being one of my all-time favourites from the band. I also really dig the two-disc acoustic set and the live bonus tracks show how great of a live band Lillian Axe is. The demos disc, like most material similar, is really for mega fans only, but it is a very cool look into how some of the band’s best songs came to be.
Cherry Red Records is a reissue/box set juggernaut and the Lillian Axe boxes are just another amazing example of how great they are in their niche. The Lillian Axe Material is great too and this would serve as a nice way to dig into the band’s second half. Some of it is for big fans only, but overall, this is a great few into an extremely underrated band. 8/10
Van Der Graaf - Vital – Van Der Graaf Live Remastered (Esoteric Records)
Cherry Red Records just keeps giving us gifts, now providing us with re-presses and remasters of two records from one of the most important prog bands of all time, Van Der Graaf Generator (or without the Generator, depending on the time period).
Ship Of Fools is just done super heavy (relative to VDG material) and the title track to the next remaster coming, Still Life, has the strings up front and the expressive vocals leading the ten-minute classic. Overall, you get ten prog classics, my favourite being the medley of A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers and The Sleepwalkers which is 14 minutes of prog perfection and Urban-Killer-Urban with its driving bass and groovy version of progressive rock.
Reading Geddy Lee’s book, he mentions Van Der Graaf multiple times as one of his favourites and a band that was super influential to him as a musician and to Rush. You can hear why on this live remaster, which Cherry red has done total justice too and should help to open the band up to a whole new crowd. But if not, the prog freaks will really dig this too. 8/10
Esben Willems - Glowing Darkness (Majestic Mountain Records)
Esben Willems is the drummer for universally loved stoner doom band Monolord as well as showing up on other cool projects, like the Slayer doom covers band, Slower. Willems branches out on his own on his debut record, brought to us by the mighty Majestic Mountain Records, Glowing Darkness, which is quite a different album than what you would expect out of Monolord but is a refreshing and fun listen of sparce, up tempo stoner rock that fans of his will really enjoy.
Willems stretched himself on Glowing Darkness, playing all the instruments no matter how comfortable he felt from a skills standpoint. This is where my sparse comment came from; it is so endearing that he took this project on all by himself, given all of the musicians he could have tapped to help. Cabaret Street has a pop/kraut rock feel to it and bounces along nicely until the fuzzy guitar joins in. These songs are all short and catchy, with minimal complexities, which is the point, a perfect example being the track Dear Demon.
These later period records have a heavy almost grungy edge to them, I particularly enjoy the 2021 album XI The Days Before Tomorrow with the track Death Comes Tomorrow being one of my all-time favourites from the band. I also really dig the two-disc acoustic set and the live bonus tracks show how great of a live band Lillian Axe is. The demos disc, like most material similar, is really for mega fans only, but it is a very cool look into how some of the band’s best songs came to be.
Cherry Red Records is a reissue/box set juggernaut and the Lillian Axe boxes are just another amazing example of how great they are in their niche. The Lillian Axe Material is great too and this would serve as a nice way to dig into the band’s second half. Some of it is for big fans only, but overall, this is a great few into an extremely underrated band. 8/10
Van Der Graaf - Vital – Van Der Graaf Live Remastered (Esoteric Records)
Cherry Red Records just keeps giving us gifts, now providing us with re-presses and remasters of two records from one of the most important prog bands of all time, Van Der Graaf Generator (or without the Generator, depending on the time period).
We are going to cover the live release, Vital, first, which is a double CD set of a mix of two shows from the band recorded in January of 1978. The band had gone though some changes at this point, including personal and dropping the generator, but this recording is the band at their heaviest and most emotional. Vital was their goodbye to the 70s and really to this version of the band as they broke up soon after, and you can feel the shedding of something emulating from every note on this album.
Ship Of Fools is just done super heavy (relative to VDG material) and the title track to the next remaster coming, Still Life, has the strings up front and the expressive vocals leading the ten-minute classic. Overall, you get ten prog classics, my favourite being the medley of A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers and The Sleepwalkers which is 14 minutes of prog perfection and Urban-Killer-Urban with its driving bass and groovy version of progressive rock.
Reading Geddy Lee’s book, he mentions Van Der Graaf multiple times as one of his favourites and a band that was super influential to him as a musician and to Rush. You can hear why on this live remaster, which Cherry red has done total justice too and should help to open the band up to a whole new crowd. But if not, the prog freaks will really dig this too. 8/10
Esben Willems - Glowing Darkness (Majestic Mountain Records)
Esben Willems is the drummer for universally loved stoner doom band Monolord as well as showing up on other cool projects, like the Slayer doom covers band, Slower. Willems branches out on his own on his debut record, brought to us by the mighty Majestic Mountain Records, Glowing Darkness, which is quite a different album than what you would expect out of Monolord but is a refreshing and fun listen of sparce, up tempo stoner rock that fans of his will really enjoy.
Willems stretched himself on Glowing Darkness, playing all the instruments no matter how comfortable he felt from a skills standpoint. This is where my sparse comment came from; it is so endearing that he took this project on all by himself, given all of the musicians he could have tapped to help. Cabaret Street has a pop/kraut rock feel to it and bounces along nicely until the fuzzy guitar joins in. These songs are all short and catchy, with minimal complexities, which is the point, a perfect example being the track Dear Demon.
The 23-minute run time and the one-man band DIY feel reminds me of a stoner rock Bob Pollard type deal, not it quality but in approach and feel. I really like the quirky Embrace The Fall and the equally quirky title track. There is a fuzzy indie rock feel to Space Bob and a Moe Tucker Velvet Underground feel (drummer synergy) to Fortune Teller. The heaviest most rocking track is the closer, Across The Everything, will quench the thirst of fans looking for something more along the lines of what they usually expect from something Willems is involved with.
Esben Willems stepping out of his comfort zone on Glowing Darkness is fun and endearing, but if you are expecting Monolord type stuff then you will be going into this with the wrong mindset. This is a fun short stoner indie trip where Esben does what he wants on his terms with really enjoyable and interesting results. 7/10
Esben Willems stepping out of his comfort zone on Glowing Darkness is fun and endearing, but if you are expecting Monolord type stuff then you will be going into this with the wrong mindset. This is a fun short stoner indie trip where Esben does what he wants on his terms with really enjoyable and interesting results. 7/10
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