La Vie Electronique Vol. 16 (5CD)

"One of the great things about Jeff Beck is his utter unpredictability. It's also one of the most maddening things about him, too, since it's as likely to lead to flights of genius as it is to weird detours like Beck, Bogert & Appice. It's hard to tell what exactly attracted Beck to the rhythm section of Vanilla Fudge and Cactus -- perhaps he just wanted to rock really loud and really hard, beating Led Zeppelin at their own game. Whatever the motivation, the end result was the same -- a leaden album, with occasional interesting guitar work smothered by heavy riffs and rhythms that don't succeed on a visceral level. It's a loud, lumbering record that may be of interest for Beck archivists, provided they want to hear absolutely everything he did." - All Music Guide

"Klaus Schulze - the master of electronic music - will release with ""La Vie Electronique Vol. 15"" recordings from the years 1997 to 2000. With this edition the series 'La Vie Electronique"" comes to an end for the present. On CD 1 is the last of the 25 CDs in the JUBILEE EDITION set in 1997. Klaus recorded it during April 1997 in his studio. This long track is, as Klaus puts it: ""...for playing along to. The listeners and fans can add their own melodies and sounds. Harmony is in C. They can play to it in c minor, g minor and f minor"". Disc 2: The first two tracks (L'opera aperta & La tolleranza) are the second part and the encore of Klaus' solo concert in Bologna, Italy, on the 15th of December 1998 at the ""Teatro delle Celebrazioni"". The third track was especially recorded by Klaus for the ULTIMATE EDITION box in late October 1999. Disc 3: These three tracks are a collaboration with an old friend, the cello player Wolfgang Tiepold. Most of the Schulze aficionados know (and love) Schulze's vintage albums with Wolfgang. He visited Klaus in his studio again in summer 1999, twenty years after the two did some good things in concerts and on some albums (mainly ""X"" on which Tiepold also conducted the small orchestra for the famous Ludwig track)."

Domestic jewel box version includes the bonus track "I Wish I Could"."At the very least, THRESHOLD may well be the UK's answer to DREAM THEATRE; progging on since 1988, 2014 sees a follow-up to 2012's "March of Progress", titled "For the Journey". Their brand of Prog Metal (let's face it, every band does it differently) involves less of a focus on instrumental technical showy-offy-ness, and emphasizes the heaviness of individual riffs, and the soaring atmospherics and ambience."Watchtower on the Moon" is teetering on the edge between classic prog motifs, and spacey, futuristic, sci-fi permutations. Upbeat, with a (largely) followable jive, a strong, groovy riff carries the first half of the track, slightly downplayed to best put the vocals out there, and what stellar vocals they are. The blend of delivery of catchy hooks, power and diction, that programs the 'Prog' name with unadulterated listenability. Interestingly enough, as the song evolves, instrumentals are brought to the forefront, and the fabrics of time signatures are toyed with, allowing melodic interplay between guitar and keyboard to flourish. "Turned to Dust" is quite the heavy piece, if not the heaviest on the album; the riffs punch through with a percussive power belied by the flamboyant melody arrangements, and also happens to contain my favorite chorus on the album."Autumn Red" is a smooth, liquid display Prog excellence, the chisel struck by the juxtaposingly heavy riffs; the "keyboards from the 70s' used to great effect, perhaps raking up nostalgia in the PINK FLOYD fans among us. Lyric enthusiasts among us will be drawn to this track; as I perhaps didn't emphasize enough, Damian is the man for the job, delivering poetry into a new artform; pure, melodic diction that embosses the expansive tapestry set by the band. "Siren Sky" is easily my favorite piece; perhaps one of the more "metal" track on the album. The first instance of riffage surged forth tall waves of pure 'epic'. Never a dull moment on this track, the riffs prepared on the piece are emotive like no other on the album; I'm legitimately without words.Easily in my top 3 of this year's Progressive releases, it is no wonder that veterans of the genre are behind this mastery." - Metal Temple

Ever wonder what happened to Roye Albrighton after he split from Nektar? The answer is Snowball. First of two albums from this German "supergroup" of sorts. Snowball was formed by two Passport members - Curt Cress and Kristian Schulze. They enlisted stellar bassist Dave King and brought Roye Albrighton onboard to handle vocals and guitar. The results, not surprisingly, sounds a lot like Passport with Roye Albrighton out in front! There is a distinct jazz rock with a touch of funk thing going on - just like Passport did at the time. Great soloing from Schulze and Cress...is Cress...one of the best drummers in the world. On the instrumental tracks its interesting to hear Albrighton so easily integrate his rock approach into the band's decidely fusion leanings. Highly recommended.

"The second, along awaited album from the italian multi-talented band is finally out! And "it's not so far" (in italian language "Non è poi così lontano" is a Perigeo work) from the expected!During the preceding months the band has given to fans information about their hard work in studio, but nothing let us know what would be their new musical orientation, though they were noticing it would be different from the debut one!Now we know at last! Though it's not so far from the first one, with a similar melancholic ansiogenic mood and the same powerful expressivity, there's a great melodic research and this gives easy pleasure to the listener, notwithstanding the harmonic and structural complexity. Let me tell you, this is only from talented and inspired musicians: the others entangle themselves in boring and uselessly complex structures.The opening track 'Wait For Me' starts with a powerful intro in Echolyn - Änglagård style, but it suddenly changes in a melancholic mood when Calandriello starts his beautiful singing.It's very difficult to find out what are the more representative tracks since the whole work is very high level. Surely the opener 'Wait For Me' has its big impact, as 'I Feel Like Snowing', the crimsonian 'Pleasure of Drowning', the dramatic 'Open Window' and the intense 'Not Now', this last sometimes recently performed LIVE. The whole work is enriched with musical and sound effect refinements which often bring pleasing surprise to the listener. For a NOT lazy listener this is a pleasure.. hasn't it?Calandriello, in my opinion, reaches his highest in intensity and melodic inspiration, the sound effects and the registers of Botta's keyboards are charming and refined, Zago's guitar work, in counterpoints, accompaniment or solo, has always the right tune and visionary intensity, Malacrida's refined drumming is a powerful support for Cassani's complex bass patterns.King Crimson is reborn in Italy? Not so true! Though the crimsonian inspiration is alive and well, as painful moods, ostinatos, harmonic and structural constructions, NAGS are actually the melodic counterbalance of another italian band where Zago and Botta are involved: Yügen.Sadly in the last days NAGS announced that Zago will not take part to the project anymore. We all hope that Gian Marco Trevisan, the one who will take his heavy inheritance, will be able to grant to the band the same visionary and technical support in future compositions.The last track 'Farewell' is Botta's special gift to Zago." - ProgArchives

Disc 1, “Machine de plaisir”: The original tape of had the working title "Meditation 2" and this long track was also recorded in 1993 for the "Guttemplers”, same as “The Music Box” in LVE 12. The feeling for time is so basic for Klaus' work. His beat is as alive as his breathing. His rhythm is both, continually attentive and exceptionally well integrated, as you can hear in large parts of this track. There is a feeling of unhurriedness in his work and yet there is intensity underneath and through it all.Disc 2: “Arthur Stanley Jefferson” was recorded in February 1993 in KS' studio. Originally, it was the third free tape for the "Guttemplers”. “Himmel und Erde”, recorded by Klaus in January 1993, was first released on a Russian limited edition CD sampler in the same year, and seven years later I put it among the “Lone Tracks”, the last of the fifty CDs of The Ultimate Edition. Also from1993, “Vas Insigne Electionis” was especially done for a planned sampler, but not used then. One year later it was given for free to the Dutch KLEM organisation, who did a limited edition CD sampler for their members. Six years later I also added it to the “Lone Tracks” of The Ultimate Edition. The very short track “Tag des offenen Denkmals” (Heritage Open Days) was done as tv trailer for a tv documentary on account of the European Heritage Days. Klaus recorded it on the 21st of July 1993. This small piece was first included in our Jubilee Edition set in 1997.Disc 3: ”Borrowed Time” was played and recorded by Klaus in 1993 and completed and mixed in April 1994 at his studio. The reason for doing this long music was because of the work on the soundtrack for the American-Hungarian movie "Living on Borrowed Time”. Just a few minutes of the music were actually used in the film (as well as some special - shorter - cuts, released as “Angry Young Moog” in Jubilee Edition). Normally, Klaus is not a man for short tracks, so for “Borrowed Time” he started to play, and as so often, he got lost, forgetting completely about the movie and its need for short pieces. Luckily he had not just played but also recorded the whole thing, and then he mixed and stored it... and three years after I could use it in Jubilee Edition.