BY MIKE METTLER — DECEMBER 31, 2016
Whether you choose to digest your music via high-resolution audio downloads, 180-gram LPs, streaming services, and/or full-on 5.1 surround sound, this past year delivered a wonderfully wide spate of full-length aural goodness. In reverse order, here are The SoundBard’s Top 31 long-players of 2016.
31. MSTRKRFT: Operator. (Last Gang). Vintage Roland […]
BY MIKE METTLER – NOVEMBER 22, 2016
Could it be any more fitting that Pink Floyd is the band to again raise the bar for box set presentation with their massive, 27-disc The Early Years 1965–1972 collection, out now via Pink Floyd/Columbia? The Early Years features (yes) over 49 hours of remastered and restored audio tracks […]
BY MIKE METTLER – NOVEMBER 18, 2016
When composer/producer Enigma dropped MCMXC a.D. in 1990, he literally turned the electronic music genre on its ear with his innovative use of Gregorian chants on “Sadeness (Part I),” an international dance smash that featured vocals in both Latin and French. That, coupled with the far-reaching impact of […]
BY MIKE METTLER – OCTOBER 28, 2016
All systems pointed to a resounding, emphatic exultation of “YES” as ARW — the collective acronym for vocalist Jon Anderson, guitarist/vocalist Trevor Rabin, and keyboard guru Rick Wakeman — converged their mighty collective talents into an uplifting and sonically spectacular show at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New […]
BY MIKE METTLER – OCTOBER 17, 2016
Thomas Dolby has made a science out of knowing just how to fuse technology and self-analysis into his music for decades. And that’s not too surprising, coming from the vocalist and keyboard/synth maestro who brought us pioneering electronic-pop hits like “She Blinded Me With Science,” “Hyperactive!,” “One of […]
BY MIKE METTLER – OCTOBER 13, 2016
Roger Waters will return to North America in 2017 with a pioneering new tour, Us + Them, featuring classic Pink Floyd, some new songs, and solo work – and all in live quad, to boot. The tour runs through the summer of 2017, and is promoted by AEG Live’s […]
BY MIKE METTLER – OCTOBER 10, 2016
Clint Black knows what he wants, and he knows how to get it. And while the acclaimed country singer/songwriter is all for the immediacy of digital music, he also feels that it comes at a cost. “MP3s are convenient, but the music is greatly degraded,” he told me recently. […]
BY MIKE METTLER – SEPTEMBER 20, 2016
Emerson, Lake & Palmer have always been at the forefront of sonic exploration, hi-res audio, and surround sound, going all the way back to the quad version of the live 1974 Welcome Back My Friends LP and especially the Dolby Surround mix supervised by John Kellogg for the first-ever studio version […]
BY MIKE METTLER – AUGUST 24, 2016
There are guitar gods, and then there’s Steve Vai. Vai catapulted the art of guitar playing into new realms the instant he became the designated “impossible guitar parts” player in Frank Zappa’s band while he was still a teenager. From there, he replaced Yngwie Malmsteen in Alcatrazz, was […]
BY MIKE METTLER — AUGUST 20, 2016
ev*o*lu*tion noun. An unfolding, a process of development, as from a simple or complex form, or of gradual, progressive change. See also: The Tragically Hip.
In honor of The Hip playing the final show of their brief Man Machine Poem Summer 2016 Tour tonight in their hometown of Kingston, Ontario […]
