Parlophone has reissued a limited edition of “Clutching at Straws,” the fourth studio album from the British progressive rock quintet’s Marillion. The 4 CD + 1 Blu-ray deluxe box set contains a truly wonderful 5-1 mix created by Andy Bradfield and Avril Mackintosh who was the original mixing engineer for producer Chris Kimsey in Advision studios back in 1987. With her intimate knowledge of the album, Mackintosh has joined together with Bradfield providing a new take on the songs, bringing new energy and life into both the 5-1 and new stereo mixes. Clutching At Straws turned out to be Marillion’s final studio release with original singer Fish, delivering three top forty hits,… Continue Reading

After getting past my initial focus on the pop elements and move away from the Latin sound, I came to absolutely appreciate this powerful new release from Santana. I admit to expecting more of their trademark Afro-Latin sound which has become so recognizable, but that lingers only somewhat on the bands 2019 release “Africa Speaks. Instead they have melded their identifying sound among many other styles on this slick production by Rick Rubin. The album has been condensed from a creative bounty of 49 songs, all recorded over ten days at Shangri-La in Malibu, many in a single take. The album title takes on the persona of the heavily inspired African melodies and polyrhythms performed by the… Continue Reading

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of their debut album “Cracked Rear View,” Hootie & the Blowfish has released a new deluxe edition set that contains 3CD’s + 1 DVD with a 5.1 Dolby Digital AC3 48k surround sound mix of the album, a 96kHz / 24-bit LPCM stereo mix, five bonus stereo only tracks and the original music videos available both in surround and stereo. Cracked Rear View is one of the biggest selling debuts of all time, clocking up over 14 million sales since its release in July 1994. Across the pond, it remains their most popular album in the UK, reaching number 12 on the British charts and managing a respectable six months in the Top 100. The Don Gehman-produced album hit high up on… Continue Reading