DRIFTING SUN: Safe Asylum (2016). A small "review"...

  I learned about Drifting Sun almost 1.5 years ago, with the release of the album Trip the Life Fantastic. Upon the release of that album, I wrote a small review, which you can read here is you want:

http://gfreedomathina.blogspot.gr/2015/04/drifting-sun-trip-life-fantastic-2015.html

 Furthermore, we had Pat Sanders - the mastermind and leader of Drifting Sun – as our guest in Prog & Roll back then, together with Dan Storey (guitar/bass), and we did a small presentation of the album.

  Just a couple of weeks ago, Drifting Sun released their new album named Safe Asylum.

The procedure I will follow will be almost the same with their previous album; so here I am, writing a small “review” again, and furthermore on next Sunday the 5^th of June, we will have Pat Sanders as our guest in Prog & Roll once more.

          Now let’s take a closer look at the album:

  Safe Alylum has a fantastic cover, made by A Russian artist as Pat told us, but I don’t remember the name to be honest. But in comparison with “Trip” this is better by far! As for the music, it is clear to me that the band tried to create something different this time, in comparison with their previous album. ‘Trip the Life Fantastic’ was a lighter and more melodic album, with Pat’s piano being the leading instrument in most occasions. It was including shorter compositions and more “catchy” melodies. Safe Asylum is darker, with longer and more complex compositions. Because of that, it needs a few more listening in order to appreciate it. With every listening the album “grows” in you, and then it is very hard to leave it aside. There are some similarities with the previous album of course, like for example the beautiful melodic passages and the strong guitar riffs and solos.

  Safe Asylum includes 8 tracks (plus 2 bonus in the limited edition). 3 of them were included in last year’s EP release, under the name ‘Alice’. These 3 songs are: Alice, Vagabond and Emphasis.

  I am not going to get into details and write about each song separately, but I will mention my most favourite songs, which are the following: The Hidden Truth, Intruder, Desolation-Retribution, Wonderland and Gods. The latter is the highlight of the album. (In my opinion, of course).

  Although Safe Asylum is a rather different album in comparison with ‘Trip’, it is equally good if not better. Definitely a very serious piece of work that deserves your attention!

Recommended to the fans of modern Progressive Rock, Neo-Prog and to all those who can appreciate a well-structured album, with beautiful melodies and strong emotions in it.

              My Rating would be 4.0 out of 5.0 stars.

By clicking on the following links you will be able to listen to a couple of songs from the album. 

Enjoy! :-)

Thank you for visiting...

DRIFTING SUN: Gods 

DRIFTING SUN: Desolation 

Tomorrow's Prog & Roll radio show is cancelled

I'm writing this post to inform you that tomorrow's Prog & Roll radio show is being cancelled, due to our extremely busy schedule.
We tried to change some things in order to be able to do the show, but it was impossible and I'm very sorry for that.
Prog & Roll will be online again on Sunday the 5th of June, with Driftng Sun as special guests.
Thank you very much!
Have a nice weekend. :-)

HAWKWIND Live in Greece. The concert's setlist...

A few days ago, the legendary Hawkwind visited Greece for a couple of concerts.
They gave 2 great shows, supperted by the usual phychedelic visual effects, and as it seemed the audience enjoyed the whole thing. 
The band played for almost 1.5 hours.
In case you have in mind to go and see them live in the near future, take a look at the setlist first:

All Hail The Machine
The Machine
Thursday
Utopia
Synchronised Blue
Watcher
Assault And Battery
The Golden Void
Shot Down In The Night
Hassan I Sahba
Silver Machine

TV Series: 11.22.63 (By Stephen King) (2016)

 I had no idea about this series, until a friend recommended it to me. Because I saw that it was a one shot series, and only 8 episodes, I decided to sit down and watch it. Also, the name of Stephen King was a very important factor in my decision.

Although I don’t consider myself as a “fan” of Steven King anymore, I have read and watched many of his works during the years. I surely believe that he is a very talented writer, but I stopped following him many years ago. 

  11.22.63 is based on one of his books, that I had no idea about its existence (until now at least) . The main story is about a man who has time-travelled to the 60's. And what would you do if you are an American and could time travel to the 60's? Well, try to save JFK of course!

I will try not to write too many things, because I don’t want to reveal any of the surprises or the turns of the plot and spoil it for you.

  One of the interesting facts, is that “Mr. Amberson” discovers a “time hole” that can bring him back to the 60’s, but only at a specific date and place. Also, despite the time he is spending back in time, when he returns, he discovers that only a few minutes have passed in real time. Further than that, he will soon realize that every time he’s coming back and tries to return to the 60’s the past resets, and everything is the same once more. The only thing he could do in order to change the past, is to go back, try to change whatever he can, return to present and never go back again. But as he will soon find out, every time he is trying to change something from the past, the past resists, and puts him in a lot of troubles and dangers, even for his own life.

  I really enjoyed watching this series, which I finished in just 3 days. Stephen King left his marks almost everywhere, and I loved watching the small details he placed here and there. In the last episode for example, when Mr. Amberson and his girlfriend Sadie Dunhill try to enter the building where Lee Oswald is hiding in order to kill JFK. As they enter, they run to the staircase, and for a brief moment you can see written on the wall the word “Redrum” with red letters. (This is taken from ‘The Shining’).

I won’t continue writing this post, because there is no need to say anything else, but WATCH IT!

One of the best mini TV series I watched lately.

As for my rating, I would give a number between 8.50 – 9.00

                   IMDB’s rating is 8.5

By clicking on the following link you will be able to watch the trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXUx__qQGew 

Prog & Roll radio show (22/5/2016). A small "review" and the complete playlist.

Hello all!
Last night one more Prog & Roll show was online at the usual time, and in this post you can read a few things about it.
 As I already announced in a previous post here, during last night's show we did a small pre-release presentation of Mike Kershaw's forthcoming album. The album's title is 'What lies Beneath' and the official release date is the 27th of May. We had Mike Kershaw on the chatbox as our special guest, together with lots of people from many countries once more. (We had listeners from Greece, Canada, Egypt, France, UK and Germany). But he was not the only musician there. We also had Stefan Hepe the drummer of Gandalf's Fist, and Benjamin Bell from Fusion Orchestra 2 and Patchwork Cacophony in our chatbox.
During the 2 hours of the show, we had a very interesting chat with him, and we played 4 songs from his new album. 
The playlist was mostly a cool and melodic one, with the exception of the 3rd part. During the 3rd part we did a tribute to the career of Ronnie James Dio and the bands he worked with. 
Further than that, at the start of the 3rd part we did our music quiz once more, and this time the 2 winners won as a prize a signed copy of Mike's new CD.
As for the songs we played, you can see them here:

1st Part: WISHBONE ASH: Sometime World / ASHBURY: The Warning / WOLF PEOPLE: Silbury Sands / MIKE KERSHAW: Two Eyes / DEAD HEROES CLUB: Road to Jerusalem.

2nd Part: MIKE KERSHAW: The City of my Dreams / MAGIC PIE: Illusion & Reality (Part. 4) / ADVENTURE: Caught in the Web (Part. 2) / MIKE KERSHAW: Wounds.

3rd Part: PAT BOONE: Holy Diver (music quiz) / ELF: Nevermore / RAINBOW: Stargazer / BLACK SABBATH: I / DIO: Don’t Talk to Strangers.

4th Part: BEARDFISH: Can you see me now / NICE BEAVER: In Close Proximity / MIKE KERSHAW: Gunning for the Gods.

I would like to thank all those you tuned in last night, hoping you had some nice time. A special thanks to Mike Kershaw, Stefan Hepe and Benjamin Bell for supporting us and our show.

I would like to inform you that on Sunday the 29th of May we will not have a show. Prog & Roll will be back on Sunday the 5th of June, with Drifting Sun as our special guests. 

PROG & ROLL Presents: Pre-release presentation on Mike Kershaw's new album.

I'm writing this post, in order to inform you that on this Sunday's Prog & Roll radio show we will have the English musician/composer/singer Mike Kershaw as guest on the chatbox. We know Mike for some time now, because on many occasions he visited our show as a listener. But this time he will be our special guest, and we will make a small "presentation" on his forthcoming album 'What Lies Beneath'. The album's official release date is the 27th of May, from Bad Elephant Music.
 During the show Mike will be chatting with us and the people in the chatbox, and we will play 4 songs from his forthcoming album, among other songs of course.
 Because I listened to the album quite a few times already, I have to say that it is a very good work and a very pleasant album, to say the least.
So, join this Sunday's Prog & Roll in order to be able to get a first taste of this album, almost 1 week before its original release date.
I should remind you that Prog & Roll is a live show, and the broadcast is in English and Greek language. Prog & Roll begin at 20.00 (UK time), and lasts for 2 hours.
If you want to listen, just click on the following link at the time I mentioned above.
www.justincaseradio.com
I Hope to "see" you there.
Thank you! :-)

TV Series: WAR & PEACE (2016)

 I recently watched this BBC TV series, and I thought of writing a few things about it here in my blog.

  Before anything else, I should mention that I never read Tolstoy’s book, and I’m not a very big fan of those classical dramas. Despite that, I watched all 6 episodes in almost 3 days, and I have to admit I really enjoyed it. 

  Before starting writing this, I read many reviews and I got confused. There are some exceptionally good reviews, and some disastrous ones. As far as I saw, the series received many 4 & 5 star ratings and many 1 & 2 stars. I guess it has to do with each person’s point of view. In my opinion the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

I could start making lists with the rights and wrongs of this series, but I don’t think there’s a point to that. You have to watch it and have your own opinion.

But I think I should mention some things I liked or disliked. On the “plus” side, were the very rich production, the costumes, the palaces and manors and of course the fantastic photography. As for the things I didn’t like very much is that some of the actors seemed too “British” for being Russian, and that I would personally like some more extended battle scenes.

  Something I believe is really important about these classic adaptations is that they give the younger audience the chance to know why war and peace is one of the most important stories written so far. It is already known that most of the young population doesn't like to read books especially the long ones. That’s why these kind of TV series and films are important, because they can deliver a story similar to a book and in some occasions even better.

  As an overall impression, I believe it is a very good series, (if you are not a Tolstoy fanatic reader), that can be watched very fast (only 6 episodes), and with every passing episode it becomes better and better.

This is not a review, only some thoughts of mine about the series. If you want to read some real reviews, you can find dozens on the internet.

By clicking on the following link you will be able to watch a trailer of the series.

As for my rating, it would be between 7.5 – 8.0 (out of 10.00)

                      IMDB’s rating is 8.2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-BCmUeHE5c