New Albums - Page 151

Paul McCartney has returned with his first album of all new material in six years, appropriately entitled New. While the title track actually carries Macca’s classic sound, the 71-year old bassist’s latest effort features textures and songs that are both familiar and foreign to his signature style. McCartney worked with four producers – Mark Ronson, Paul Epworth, Giles Martin and...

The surge of jazz fusion in the ’70s produced some incredible music, especially the work of the virtuosic Brecker Brothers. Led by trumpeter Randy Brecker and saxophonist Michael Brecker, their self-titled debut blew listeners away with an electric sound that melded genres and spawned the classic track “Some Skunk Funk.” “When the band started back in the day, the original...

Korn has released The Paradigm Shift, the band’s eleventh studio album and the first to feature guitarist Brian “Head” Welch since 2003. Blending elements of their old and new styles, bassist Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu says the mix is the best of both worlds. “The new record is everything we’ve wanted to be,” Fieldy shared. “Everybody is doing what they want...

King Crimson’s Tony Levin, the Aristocrats’ Marco Minneman and Dream Theater’s Jordan Rudess teamed up to make a prog rock album of epic proportions, appropriately entitled Levin Minnemann Rudess. The project started with producer Scott Schorr and Levin, who provides bass, Chapman Stick, and cello to the effort. “The producer of the album, Scott Schorr, was looking to do a...

Rush has released a 7-disc box set of their studio albums from Atlantic Records including a remixed version of their controversial 2002 album Vapor Trails. The Studio Albums 1989-2007 brings together Presto, Roll The Bones, Counterparts and Test For Echo, as well as their covers EP Feedback and 2007’s Snakes & Arrows. Each of the albums reproduces the original artwork...

Dream Theater has released their twelfth album, Dream Theater. Not only is this the band’s first self-titled release, it is also the first to fully feature the band’s newest drummer, Mike Mangini, who replaced Mike Portnoy in 2010. Dream Theater’s longest tenured members, bassist John Myung and guitarist John Petrucci are also joined by vocalist James LaBrie and keyboardist Jordan...

Last year, Megadeth celebrated the 20th anniversary of their iconic album Countdown to Extinction with a reissue and tour during which the band played the the whole thing in order. One year later, the group has released Countdown To Extinction: Live, a snapshot of the anniversary tour that was captured at the Fox Theatre in Los Angeles in December 2012....

At face value, it may not seem like Elvis Costello and The Roots would be a natural pairing, but their new collaborative album Wise Up Ghost is proof that their musical visions sync up in a special way. The project started on the set of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, where drummer Ahmir ”?uestlove” Thompson and The Roots are the...

They’re here now, they were here then, and their music will live on forever. That’s the premise of the new Earth, Wind & Fire album, Now, Then & Forever. The band’s first first studio album in eight years, the release stays true to their classic sound with danceable tracks supported by the bass lines of Verdine White. “The album gave...

Dave Holland started his solo career 40 years ago with the release of Conference of the Birds. Having just Miles Davis’ group, the bassist, composer and new bandleader embarked on a four-plus decade run. Prism, Holland’s first new album in three years is here, via his own label, Dare2 Records, which he began in 2005. The album features his band...

Austrian bassist Bernhard Lackner has released his fourth solo album entitled Transition. The album sprang from a time of change in the bassist’s life, who moved back to Europe after spending several years in the United States. “After living in the USA for about 7 years I moved back to Austria,” Lackner explained. “This move put me into a “transitional”...

The supergroup known as Portnoy Sheehan MacAlpine Sherinian has released Live in Tokyo. The multi-format release showcases bassist Billy Sheehan, drummer Mike Portnoy, guitarist Tony MacAlpine and keyboardist Derek Sherinian performing live at Zepp Tokyo on November 14, 2012. Live in Tokyo offers up 16 tunes spanning songs including “Shy Boy” from Sheehan’s band Talas, MacAlpine’s “The Stranger”, Sherinian’s “Apocalypse...