These two slightly later efforts are actually more consistently interesting than the duo's first two albums, mostly because they stop trying to sound like the Beatles or the Everly Brothers, and sound more distinctive and soulful - that's doubly true of the material off of the True Love Ways album. They rely more on their voices, which show more flexibility - P&G were never going to be blues singers, but they're far less embarrassing and more directly attuned to what they're singing here, which includes Otis Blackwell's "All Shook Up" and Leadbelly's "Good Morning Blues." The results are sometimes successful within the context of the duo's work; "Cry to Me" is a good cover and one of their better records of this era, even if the Rolling Stones did it better, and their cover of Smokey Robinson's "Who's Loving You" is astonishing. The sound is consistently good-to-excellent, though the notes are sketchy.

After beginning as a vocalist for numerous house music producers, Karen Souza participated in the successful series Jazz and 80’s and its successors. Now, Karen has launched her solo career with Essentials, a summary of her career as a jazz singer, where her unique and seductive voice draws you in. This album brings us recreations of classics such as Every Breath You Take (The Police), Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? (Culture Club), Creep (Radiohead) and Tainted Love (Soft Cell), which have become classics over the past few years. Essentials is a different album, where jazz appears at its most elegant, thanks to Karen´s amazing voice.

Italian progressive metal unit DGM released their eleventh studio album, "Life," on November 17th, 2023, via Frontiers Records. The follow-up to the band’s 2020 excellent outing, "Tragic Separation," delivers pretty much everything expected from a DGM record and raises the question: why is this band so underrated? With “Life” the band around Simone Mularoni proves once again that they belong on the same list as Dream Theater or Symphony X.
All the trademark elements of DGM’s sound can be found in this new album with sweeping choruses, technical passages, lightning-fast fretwork, big vocals and bombastic transitions, but the care and the dedication to the songwriting emerges in phenomenal songs which carefully encompass everything that goes from the heaviest progressive metal to a more classic hard rock sound…

As Kiss approach 40 years of ridiculously dumb rock & roll fun, it makes sense that their 20th studio album, Monster, is more self-referential than anything. Following 2009's Sonic Boom, the album marks the second set of tunes by a revamped "original" Kiss lineup, with Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons joined by new guitarist Tommy Thayer and re-emerging drummer Eric Singer donning the makeup and personas originated by Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, respectively. Dressing up these semi-random players in the classic comic book costumes is just step one in re-creating the feel of Kiss' 1970s over the top heyday.

Thirteen examples of pleasant, mid-tempo, mildly amplified psychedelic pop, most of them owing some considerable debt to the influence of the Beatles' Rubber Soul and Revolver (though not their production), with some of the nutsy brand of humor that Giles, Giles, & Fripp later traded in. This is basically Paul McCartney-influenced psychedelia, not only in the tone and texture of the lead vocals, but the retro style of songs like "I'm So Happy," with some vaguely progressive touches that make one think of the more ornate tracks off of Bee Gees' 1st. "Montgolfier" is a folky/trippy, deliberately antiquated cut that intersects somewhere midway between the early psychedelic Bee Gees and the early work of Amazing Blondel.

Pendragon's release of "The Masquerade Overture" represents one of the 90's strongest prog releases yet! This brilliant recording sets new heights for neo-prog acts in terms of complete recordings. "The Masquerade Overture" really does capture the essence of concept-like story line and takes the listener into a completely new world. The mix of opera, orchestra and the symphonic tendency of Pendragon seems to work to perfection on this release. There are some nice and tasty guitar / bass parts scattered throughout all of the songs. Nick Barrett adds some great vocals throughout which give it that unmistakeable Pendragon feel.