Let’s Play Ball!!!

Here it is late Winter 2017 and I am thinking about baseball. The Super Bowl is over and the NBA season is slowly grinding to completion. Spring Training has begun and my thoughts are turning to baseball.  I am sure that Chicago Cubs fans are still basking in the afterglow of winning The World Series. …

The Music of Valensia, A Queen Fan’s Dream

Valensia is an ultra talented singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.  Unfortunately he has spent most of his music career in relative obscurity.  Musically he combines the influence of 1970's Queen, Kate Bush, The Beatles and 1980's pop music; i.e. Duran Duran, The Police, and Culture Club. Vocally he sounds like an amalgam of Freddie Mercury and …

Song Spotlight: All God’s People, By Queen

I love the adventurous guitar driven music that Queen made in the 1970's. They explored so many diverse music genres including opera, vaudeville, progressive rock, classical, jazz, pop, heavy metal, blues and gospel, among others. I also love the commercial, keyboard assisted music the band made in the 1980's. The music may have been more …

Is It Time For Steve Hackett To Stop Revisiting Genesis?

I love the music of Genesis immensely, they have been one of my favorite bands since the early 1980's. Their music was my introduction to progressive rock. To this day they remain my favorite progressive rock band. I also love the music of former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett. He has established himself as a forward …

Tony Banks And Marillion’s Fish

What a classic pairing of two progressive rock greats. Over the course of two albums Tony Banks collaborated with one time Marillion singer Fish on three songs. Those albums were Tony Banks' solo albums Soundtracks (1986) and Still (1991). It is said that Fish auditioned for Genesis after Phil Collins departed in 1996. True or …

Steve Hackett, A Birthday Appreciation

I want to acknowledge the 67th birthday of one of my biggest musical heroes, Steve Hackett. His music has been such a huge part of my life for over thirty five years. I first became aware of him in 1981 after hearing the Genesis album A Trick Of The Tail. After fully exploring the music …

Song Spotlight: I Am, By Michael Sweet

I can not say enough about the very talented Michael Sweet. The man can seemingly do it all. Over the last few years he has successfully lead Stryper while simultaneously working on his solo career. At 53 years old he seems to have found a new gear. He is a singer extraordinaire, a criminally underrated …

Goodbye Richard Hatch

             I just want to acknowledge the passing of actor Richard Hatch, best known for his role on the original Battlestar Galactica.  The show aired on television in 1978, a year after the great success of Star Wars: A New Hope.  All these years later it remains one of my …

Song Spotlight: Haven’t We Been Here Before, By Styx

Styx's 1983 concept album Kilroy Was Here accomplished a few things. It brought the band new found popularity with the highly successful music video for the song Mr. Roboto. At the same time it split the band's fan base. To this day many Styx fans dislike the musical direction that the band took with Kilroy …

Xiphea: A New Voice For Symphonic Metal

Xiphea is a Symphonic Metal band out of Germany. Formed in 2011, the band has released three CDs so far: Masquerade (2013), From The Uncharted Island (2014) and Once Upon A Time (2016). They play a melodic, yet heavy, style of Symphonic Metal with hints of Power Metal. The band refers to their brand of …