New records from Ray

Record Review: Song for a Friend and Makes Me Think of Home by Ray Wilson

It is rare for an artist to release two studio albums in the same year, something that would normally leave them short of material, but Ray Wilson has done exactly that in 2016. July saw the appearance of Song for a Friend, followed in October by Makes Me Think of Home, meaning he has put out no fewer than twenty new songs in just a few months. Although these two albums are quite different in feel and were released separately, Wilson had originally intended them to form a double album (provisionally titled Backseat Drivers) and I bought them both at the same time so to me it makes sense to review them together.

Nora Kudrjawizki's World of Violin

A look through my music library can be an interesting experience. Alongside some world-famous artists that everyone knows are a growing number of obscure and unfamiliar names, and my ambivalence towards the modern mainstream chart scene means I take great delight in seeking out rare gems from lesser-known artists. You may have thought Ray Wilson was an unknown, but he is practically an A-lister compared with the subject of this piece, the delightful Nora Kudrjawizki. I guess that name means nothing whatsoever to you, and until recently it meant nothing to me either. Allow me to enlighten you.

The lovely Nora. So much more than just a pretty face.

A Genesis revelation

Retro Record Review: Genesis Classic: Live in Poznan by Ray Wilson and the Berlin Symphony Ensemble (2011)

 

 

My musical tastes are increasingly starting to favour artists many of my friends and contemporaries have never heard of, and today's subject is a particularly esoteric album that I would be surprised if any readers are even aware of, yet alone have ever actually heard. In my previous piece in defence of Ray Wilson, I made mention of his Genesis Classic shows with the Berlin Symphony Ensemble. Having seen various YouTube clips of these performances, I recently discovered that an official recording is available and have now purchased it.

Ray Wilson may not be a household name like his Genesis predecessors and hasn't appeared in the UK charts for many years, but he still has a cult following (which is especially strong in his adopted home country of Poland) and has been far from idle since leaving the band almost two decades ago. Alongside a solo career and a revival of Stiltskin, his other recent project has been the Genesis Classic, an innovative fusion of Genesis hits with classical instruments, and after years of listening to the band's own live and studio versions this album is a refreshingly different take and really is a revelation.

Jeff Lynne: is he Alone in the Universe?

Record Review: Alone in the Universe by Jeff Lynne's ELO

November 2015 saw the release of Alone in the Universe, the new album by Jeff Lynne, the creative force behind the Electric Light Orchestra, which is the first to bear the ELO name since the disappointing and largely forgotten 2000 album Zoom. After some years in the wilderness, the band have recently come to prominence again as a result of a critically-acclaimed concert for the BBC in Hyde Park during 2014. I am a fairly recent convert to the music of ELO, having heard much of their work without really knowing it was theirs, and have become very fond of their greatest hits compilation, Light Years, so I was curious to find out what Lynne's new music was like and asked for this album as a Christmas present. It isn't entirely what I would have expected from ELO and left me a little disappointed as a result, but is nevertheless an enjoyable little album and a welcome return for one of the greats of the seventies.

Calling All Stations

Retro Record Review: Calling All Stations by Genesis (1997)

 

Think of Genesis as a band and, depending which camp you fall into, you will either think of the vocals of Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins, so an album featuring neither of them seems unthinkable. Such a thing does however exist: the band's final studio album Calling All Stations was released in 1997 by the triumvirate of Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks and Ray Wilson, and it is the 2007 remastered version of this album I have recently purchased and review here as an antidote to all those Christmas songs currently being played to death on the radio.

"Who's Ray Wilson?" I can hear you asking. He is the forgotten man of Genesis, who had the unenviable task of replacing Phil Collins after his departure in 1996 to concentrate on his solo career, and was only a member for little over a year so his brief contribution seems to be largely ignored. I feel this is a shame really as Calling All Stations is a fine album in its own right but was not a massive commercial success and is so overshadowed by the fame of Gabriel and Collins as to be virtually invisible.

Welcome to Cass County

Record Review: Cass County by Don Henley

The release of new material by Don Henley is an all-too-rare occurrence so September 25 2015 was a momentous day for fans as his much-anticipated fifth solo album Cass County finally went on sale. Henley fans have been waiting a very long time for this as it has been fifteen years since his last solo release Inside Job and eight years since the Eagles' Long Road Out Of Eden, and in those eight years all three of Henley's bandmates have released new albums: Timothy B. Schmit's Expando, Glenn Frey's After Hours and Joe Walsh's Analog Man, leaving Henley as the last Eagle to commit to a new release. So what is this long-awaited album like and does it live up to the weight of expectation? Read on to find out what I think...

On a Wing and a Prayer

Retro Record Review: On a Wing and a Prayer by Gerry Rafferty (1992)

Although I have a large music collection, one album in particular stands out as a favourite that I keep coming back to for another listen. The late great Gerry Rafferty may be best known for his 1978 hit 'Baker Street' and his earlier work with Stealers Wheel, but he wrote and sang much more great material right up until his death in 2011. I enjoy listening to most of Gerry's work and there are very few tracks I dislike, but his seventh solo album On a Wing and a Prayer, released in 1992, is a particular favourite of mine.