Another batch of awesome albums coming your way folks! This week we are dealing with heavy hitters like Bob Dylan, Diana Krall, and Blind Guardian. If you are a little confused about the John Carpenter being in this set of releases then you are not alone. I myself was a little surprised to see his name on an album cover that wasn't actually a soundtrack. Turns out that Carpenter has a whole album worth of compositions from over the years. He was able to compile them together and attach it with an eerie album cover. Then again, that's not too far fetched for Carpenter. And to round it off, we got some Murder By Death releasing their seventh studio album. One way or another, you are going to have a good time with these tunes.
And what a better time to plug these fine establishments such as your local record store. While we continue to see a decline is physical music stores, you can still show some love and buy a copy of the album. If online is more your liking, then visit a online retailer. Or if you decide to go paperless (and CDless), then purchase it from a trusted digital source. Cheers!
Musically speaking, all of the songs on Shadows In The Night never come off as anything less than fabulous. Dylan’s current touring band is the best he’s ever had, and it’s wonderful to hear how when given fresh material, they rise to the challenge. The way they boil down the complexity of the original orchestral arrangements to suit a five-piece band is astounding. Tony Garnier’s stand-up bass and Donnie Herron’s lap steel that fills in for the original Nelson Riddle string arrangements deserve special mention. The whole band plays like they have nothing to prove, but even though they maintain a low profile, if you tune in and really listen, the instrumentation is as fine and nuanced as you could hope to hear anywhere. -Paste Magazine
(Diana Krall - Wallflower)
Krall's renditions rank among those successes because she's understated, never fussing with the melodies but allowing her arrangements to slink by in a deliberate blend of sparseness and sophistication. It's an aesthetic that helps transform the Eagles' "I Can't Tell You Why" and 10cc's "I'm Not in Love," singles that are as successful as much for their production as their song, into elegant torch songs, yet it doesn't do much for Kreviazuk's pedestrian "Feels Like Home," nor does it lend itself to the loping country of "Wallflower," which may provide the name for this album but feels like an uninvited guest among these majestically melodic middle-of-the-road standards. -All Music
(John Carpenter - Lost Themes)
Released by Sacred Bones, Lost Themes is Carpenter’s first standalone record. It is not a collection of cues, but a set of independent compositions that echo the sinister tones of the director’s film work. Each track is a sort of mini-score unto itself, shuffling a theme through a variety of moods and variations. To call Lost Themes a John Carpenter solo album is a bit misleading, though. The record is a collaborative effort that was casually jammed into existence by the director, his son Cody (of the band Ludrium), and godson Daniel Davies. As a result, if you’re coming to Lost Themes looking for the vintage Carpenter sound, you will have to adjust your expectations a little. -Pitchfork
(Murder By Death - Big Dark Love)
Like each Murder By Death album, Big Dark Love requires repeated spins to provide the listener with all its rewards. It’s a dense, subtly layered document, and while it may not be their best, it could be the most ambitious installment of their oeuvre. Exploring the different manifestations of love in a range of pro-and-con scenarios is a bold endeavor, but a line in “It Will Never Die” sums up the equally ridiculous and sublime experience: “It’s a feeling of terror / But there’s also beauty in there”. -Pop Matters
(Blind Guardian - Beyond The Red Mirror)
With all that in mind, records like Beyond the Red Mirror demonstrably put the miserably unjust lie to rating systems. This album is immense, intense and a brilliant artistic achievement from a band that’s getting gray around the temples. Given the scope, artistry, and vision that has been invested in this musical journey, I feel uncomfortable giving it a numerical rating. Since my back is to the wall, I have to say this: Beyond the Red Mirror is Blind Guardian‘s best record since A Night at the Opera and is a monumental achievement of composition and arrangement that—like the aforementioned record—is held back by its production and suffers somewhat from overreach. Still, I really enjoy it as a whole and appreciate the hard work that was put into it, and I think we should all take a minute to recognize what a spectacularly talented and unique contribution to metal Blind Guardian is and how damned lucky we are to have them. -Angry Metal Guy
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