Fleetwood Mac: The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions

As you know by now, I tend to review things here that I like. Some of you might even argue that I go overboard at times, recommending music I’ve grown to love with a truckload full of emotionally charged adjectives and adverbs. Be that as it may: I’m about to do it again.

So, sit back, pour yourself a good stiff drink … and read on.

I’ve gone on record before saying that the early Fleetwod Mac had perhaps the best two working guitarists in the business at the time (and certainly in hindsight as well; even more so, really) and, after having listened to “The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions” for I don’t know how many times these past weeks and months, I will now go on record saying that in my book the pairing-up of Peter Green and Danny is perhaps the most successful one musically that I’ve enjoyed for several decades and that Danny Kirwan, despite his more than sad career later on, was/is perhaps the best guitarist I’ve ever heard. Continue Reading →

The Siegel-Schwall Band

After having worked my rear end off these past weeks and after having gotten up too darn early today, on this year’s 23rd of December, to get some last minute rush jobs done, I have to say that the Christmas spirit has been about as far away from my own life as possible much of this past month.

Looking back at 2006, which I’ve been doing these past days as well, I have to say it wasn’t a good year, at all. I had some major problems, had to admit to myself that I had made one major mistake these past years, I lost a good friend, and many other things didn’t turn out at all.

Mind you, there were many good things as well, but they were few and far between and didn’t really come in larger numbers until the end of the year, and although things have started picking up again, to have to write off an entire year (probably even the ones before) and file it (them) under “Life sucks and then you die” (a motto which I used to jokingly refer to all the time) does not put one into any sort of Christmas spirit. Indeed, it kills just about any spirit.

Along came The Siegel-Schwall Band. Continue Reading →

Chris Rea: “Blue Guitars”

I have to admit that I have never held a project in my hands like this one. I do have boxed sets collecting an artist’s entire output that can’t match this one, I have label compilations that don’t reach the number of tunes on this collection and I have some lavishly-produced boxes that somehow don’t impress as much as this one does.

Hell, the entire background to this boxed set is about as unique as they come. Continue Reading →