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Saturday, October 19, 2013

TRANSATLANTIC To Release 'Kaleidoscope' In January




Progressive-rock supergroup TRANSATLANTICRoine Stolt (THE FLOWER KINGS), Pete Trewavas (MARILLION), Neal Morse (ex-SPOCK'S BEARD) and Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, DREAM THEATER), will release its fourth studio album, "Kaleidoscope", on January 27, 2014 via InsideOut Music.
The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. Into The Blue
02. Shine
03. Black As The Sky
04. Beyond The Sun
05. Kaleidoscope

TRANSATLANTIC will embark on a six-week world tour that will see them joined once again by PAIN OF SALVATION's Daniel Gildenlöw as a fifth touring member. As part of the extensive tour, the band will also headline the Progressive Nation At Sea 2014 cruise from February 18 until February 22 alongside 22 other leading prog acts, including ADRIAN BELEW POWER TRIO, DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, KING'S X, ANATHEMA, SPOCK’S BEARD and many more. This unique performance will see the band performing a very special encore of classic YES material with the legendary Jon Anderson on vocals.

GEOFF TATE: 'I Hardly Have Noticed A Difference' In Fan Support Since QUEENSRŸCHE Split



During a brand new interview with WashingtonTimes.com, QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate was asked if he has noticed any sort of fan backlash due to the split with the other original members of QUEENSRŸCHE. "I hardly have noticed a difference, really," he said. "It's been really kind of smooth sailing. The shows have been well-attended and the energy at the shows is really intense with the band and the interaction with the audience. It's probably actually a little more emotional now than it has been. I think change is probably a good thing."
Asked if it is strange playing QUEENSRŸCHE songs without the other original members of the band, Tate replied: "Oh, not at all, no. Actually, it's a lot more organic now and there's a real camaraderie in the band now. This group of people, we have a real positive kind of energy surrounding the band now that I find really very pleasing. I think that translates to an audience when you're up on stage together and everyone in the band is happy and excited to be there. That translates to the audience. They pick up on that energy too, you know?"
Tate also revealed that he has been "in the studio for the last couple months" working on a new record. He added: "I don't know when it's going to come out yet, probably after the first of the year sometime. I'm not sure yet. [It's] going great, though. A lot of the music's cool. [laughs] I'm enjoying it."
Tate's QUEENSRŸCHE now features Tate along with guitarist Kelly Gray (QUEENSRŸCHE 1998-2001), keyboardist Randy Gane and the band's latest additions, guitarist Robert Sarzo (QUIET RIOT, HURRICANE) and drummer Simon Wright (AC/DC, DIO, RHINO BUCKET).
The Todd La Torre-fronted version of QUEENSRŸCHE's new, self-titled album sold around 13,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 23 on The Billboard 200 chart. The record arrived in stores on June 25 via Century Media Records.
"Frequency Unknown", the latest album from the Geoff Tate-fronted version of QUEENSRŸCHE, opened with around 5,500 units to debut at No. 82.
"Queensrÿche" marks the debut release from the lineup comprised of Todd La Torre (vocals; ex-CRIMSON GLORY), Michael Wilton (guitar), Parker Lundgren (guitar), Eddie Jackson (bass) and Scott Rockenfield (drums).

DEEP PURPLE: 'Knocking At Your Back Door' Performance Clip From 'Perfect Strangers Live'




1984 saw the long-awaited reunion of the classic DEEP PURPLE Mark II lineup of Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice. It was the first time they had been together since 1973. They recorded a brand new studio album, "Perfect Strangers", and headed out on tour. The band's show in Melbourne, Australia was professionally filmed and is the only full-length concert recording of the band at this time.
The "Perfect Strangers Live" DVD — due out October 14 via Eagle Vision — is a stunning concert with the band in incendiary form. The setlist mixes then new tracks from the "Perfect Strangers" album with favourites from the early seventies culminating in the brilliant "Smoke On The Water" finale. This is without doubt one of the finest DEEP PURPLE concerts ever filmed and a must have for their legions of fans.
"Perfect Strangers Live" is 141 minutes long and features the following tracks:
01. Highway Star
02. Nobody’s Home
03. Strange Kind Of Woman
04. A Gypsy’s Kiss
05. Perfect Strangers
06. Under The Gun
07. Knocking At Your Back Door
08. Lazy (including Ian Paice drum solo)
09. Child In Time
10. Difficult To Cure
11. Jon Lord Keyboard Solo
12. Space Truckin' (with Ritchie Blackmore guitar solo)
13. Black Night
14. Speed King
15. Smoke On The Water
Bonus feature: Tour documentary

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Keyboard Icon Erik Norlander Announces 2013 West Coast Tour Dates




Keyboard Icon Erik Norlander Announces 2013 West Coast Tour Dates
The progressive rock synthesizer maestro takes The Galactic Collective out west this fall

Erik Norlander will perform his most recent album, The Galactic Collective, at several west coast concerts this November. Norlander will be joined by his recording mates, Mark Matthews (bass) and Nick LePar (drums), along with guitarist Moni Scaria with whom Norlander has toured and recorded with the ASIA Featuring John Payne project. The first date is November 8, 2013 in Mexicali, Mexico where both Norlander and Scaria played in November 2012 with ASIA Featuring John Payne and shot the live portion of their video for the band's "Seasons Will Change" single. At that concert, the Mexicali Prog organizers asked Norlander to come back with his solo band, and now one year later, it will be a reality. The next day, November 9th, Norlander and band will travel to Tijuana with the Mexicali Prog organization to continue the Baja Weekend celebration. Then the band moves north to the San Francisco Bay Area for the Nor Cal Prog Festival on November 16th in San Mateo, California. 

The November live dates promote Norlander's two latest multi-disc releases, The Galactic Collective - Live in Gettysburg and The Galactic Collective - Definitive Edition, both available at www.thetank.com and fine prog rock retailers everywhere. The Galactic Collective is a re-imagining of Norlander's favorite instrumental songs written for his band Rocket Scientists, his chanteuse spouse Lana Lane and his many solo albums including Threshold, Into the Sunset, Music Machine and Seas of Orion. Norlander will bring the music of The Galactic Collective to the stage in these rare west coast appearances and participate in meet-and-greet sessions after each show.

Erik Norlander is a keyboardist and songwriter with over 30 albums created under his production wing. His style is reminiscent of the great Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman and Jon Lord,but still very original and forward-moving in its own right. His use of vintage and modern synthesizers both on stage and in the studio is a rarity in today's pre-programmed digital music scene, and this love of analog synthesizers has made Norlander a recurring spokesman and performing artist for The Bob Moog Foundation and has landed him features in the pages of Keyboard magazine in three separate issues. Norlander has toured the world from South America to North Africa, from Europe to Japan, even releasing a live DVD from St. Petersburg, Russia following his landmark concert there. 

Concert Dates
Friday, November 8, 2013
Lob Bar
Plaza Mundo Divertido, 21000 Mexicali, Baja California
Tel. (+54) 686-582-4448

Saturday, November 9, 2013
Hotel Pueblo Amigo
Via Oriente 9211, Zona del Rio C.P. 22320, Tijuana, Baja California
Tel. (+54) 664-624-2700

Saturday November 16, 2013
Nor Cal Prog Festival
The Open Door Church
4150 Piccadilly Lane
San Mateo, California

Web sites:

DREAM THEATER Guitarist: I Wouldn't Be Where I Am Today In My Life And My Career Without My Wife



 
Bryan Reesman of Attention Deficit Delirium recently conducted an interview with guitarist John Petrucci of progressive metallers DREAM THEATER. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Attention Deficit Delirium: Your wife, Rena Sands, plays guitar in the JUDAS PRIESTESS tribute band. Is there ever a chance that you two might do a musical project together?
Petrucci: We would love to. We talk about doing that. It just depends on what the style would be and just finding the time to do that. She's such a great guitar player. We're celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary. We just got from back from Vegas actually.
Attention Deficit Delirium: Congratulations.
Petrucci: Thank you. When we first met, music is the thing that we really connected with and has always been a big part of our lives. We now have three kids, all teenagers who play music, and this is something that we're all really connected to. That would be unbelievable to do something together.
Attention Deficit Delirium: Artists often have a hard time handling relationships because of our crazy schedules. How have you two managed to make things work for 20 years?
Petrucci: It takes a lot of understanding. I think [due to] the fact that my wife is a musician and is in the same career, she completely knows what's involved and is the type of person who is just unbelievably supportive. When you think about how much time I have to be away because of touring…as you said it's an unconventional kind industry situation, and I'm in the studio for 10 to 12 hours a day. Meanwhile we had three kids, twins first, so she spent all that time raising them. I'm 100,000,000% convinced that I wouldn't be where I am today in my life and my career without her and that level of understanding, support and strength. It's unbelievable. It really is. The fact that she's able to give me feedback and that we can talk about things creatively and share ideas as I'm writing is just amazing. It's really, really cool.
Attention Deficit Delirium: I'm enjoying the new DREAM THEATER album a lot. When the band started, it was a mixture of progressive complexity along with melodic elements that made it radio friendly. The mid-period of DREAM THEATER got more into epic songs and complexity, but it seems like the last couple of releases have gotten back to mixing these off-kilter time signatures and crazy riffs with catchy choruses. I wrote that in my recent studio report, and there were some fans who were turned off that idea, but I think it's a good thing. Was this a conscious return to that style of songwriting, or did it just come about naturally?
Petrucci: It's definitely something that we wanted to focus on a lot. As far as the style of the band and the way that we come across, it's important to us that that always stays intact. We're a progressive band with a metal sound, and the musical style is very powerful. We try to push the boundaries, but having said that, the most important thing is the songwriting. At the end of the day, it's the compositions, it's whether or not your music reaches people. It's communication. It's always been an important element of our music — the melodic side that you said, the catchy chorus side but also the overall melodic content — how the vocals hit you, how the song message hits you — I think that separates the men from the boys in a lot of aspects as far as writing in a progressive style. The songs need to be catchy, they need to be relatable, they need to be strong, and we did focus more on that this time, there's no doubt about it. We did go in saying we're going to make a strong and bold album. It's going to be everything that we love to do, but we're going to take extra special attention on the compositional songwriting elements so that within that structure the songs are even that much more powerful emotionally.