Weird lot, this London based Indie/ Alternative Rock quartet, which was originally started in early 2009 as a solo project by singer/ guitarist/ sampler (and apparently also producer) Guy Connelly, formerly a member with the bands The Fallout Trust and The Corrections.
Weird name for a man, but just to make things quite clear : Anne Soldaat is a person of the male persuasion, and a Dutch guitarist and singer/ songwriter of some repute to boot!
It’s a bit strange, reviewing this album for Concrete Web, since this is definitely not your average rock album, on the contrary, this album has more in common with folk music than with rock.
However I’ve always had a fondness for banjo music, since hearing the ‘Dueling Banjo’s’ song in the 1972 movie Deliverance. I know this might sound strange for someone who’s been into rock music for over 30 years, but doesn’t everyone have some weakness ?
Timo Kotipelto you all know as frontman and vocalist of Stratovarius, while Jani Liimatainen is known as guitarist of Sonata Arctica.
The two of them have been playing lots of acoustic shows that seem to have drew great critics, which made them take the decision to put some songs on an album. Initially self-financed they ultimately found a company that would release the album on a much wider scale.
Triggerfinger I guess, needs no introduction. Their reputation precedes them. This is a band you have to see, to feel live. Which implies that a live album really does them no justice.
They are known to play loud, and this has greatly affected the sound on this CD. If you ask me the sound quality is rather poor, it’s almost as if you’d be listening to some obscure bootleg, which is not the case, since this album was recorded over 3 days of concerts in the ‘Amsterdamse Melkweg’ in November 2011.
Active for nearly 15 years, Riverboat Gamblers play on their sixth studio album once again a healthy mix of punk, grunge and rock’n’roll... A fair share of true rockers, like the exquisite “Comedians” and “Bite my tongue” make it next to impossible to sit still. But there is also a melancholy side to the band, as can be heard on “Gallows bird”.. Some tracks like “Heart conditions” and “Loser neck” are quite catchy and would be ideal to be released as singles.
I must admit it. When Fish left Marillion, I no longer followed this band, although several attempts were made, but I found the sound of the band stood of fell with Fish, despite the fact that the band more or less kept the same line-up, except for the drummer.
Having heard that this new album, their seventeenth already- nobody seems to have taken any notice, but this band goes around for about 33 years already - seemed to be a very good one, I made one more attempt.
