On October 20, 1998 in the United States, "Black Sabbath" released their "Reunion" album. After years of lineup changes and the band members pursuing different projects, "Reunion" marked the triumphant return of the classic "Black Sabbath" lineup, with Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. The double live album draws on the Birmingham NEC concerts of December 4 and 5, 1997, with Geoff Nicholls on keyboards. Thom Panunzio produced and engineered the live recordings, which Bob Marlette mixed. The set also includes two new studio tracks. Its live recording of "Iron Man" earned the band their first Grammy, for Best Metal Performance in 2000. In the late '70s, "Black Sabbath's" original lineup experienced significant turmoil, resulting in the departure of Osbourne in 1979. His exit led to "Sabbath" experimenting with various singers and lineups throughout the '80s and '90s, while Osbourne embarked on a highly successful solo career. Despite these separate paths, there was always a lingering sense that one day, the classic lineup might reunite. Ozzy briefly rejoined his former bandmates for a single performance on 13 July 1985 at the Live Aid benefit concert in Philadelphia, and again in 1992 for the climax of his "No More Tours" farewell tour, but the fans always hoped for a full-fledged "Black Sabbath" reunion. By the late '90s, the cultural influence of "Black Sabbath" had never been stronger, with countless metal and hard rock bands citing them as the godfathers of heavy metal. Their original records, from "Black Sabbath" (1970) to "Never Say Die!", had stood the test of time. Fans and critics alike longed for the original lineup to return and reclaim their throne as the pioneers of doom-laden, riff-heavy rock. After years of rumors and anticipation, that long-awaited reunion finally came to fruition in 1997, with the band announcing a series of live performances, culminating in the recording of "Reunion", a live album that would solidify their return. "Reunion" captured "Black Sabbath" performing in front of a rabid audience eager to witness the rebirth of metal's founding fathers. From the opening notes of "War Pigs", it's clear that "Black Sabbath" hadn't lost their magic. Osbourne's voice, while not as raw as in the early '70s, still carried the haunting power and unique charisma that made him a rock icon. His connection with the crowd was undeniable, joking with them between songs and reviving his infamous role as the "Prince of Darkness". Tony Iommi's guitar work, always the backbone of "Sabbath's" sound, was as menacing as ever. His crushing riffs on songs like "Paranoid", "Children of the Grave", and "Iron Man" reaffirmed his status as one of the most influential guitarists in rock history, particularly on deeper cuts like "Into the Void" and "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", where his brooding, doom-laden tones echoed throughout the venue. Geezer Butler's bass playing provided the dark, rumbling undercurrent that had always defined "Sabbath's" sound. His basslines, particularly on "N.I.B.", showed his unmatched skill at combining groove and heaviness. Meanwhile, Bill Ward's drumming, though slightly more restrained than in his younger days, remained a driving force, particularly in the intricate rhythms of "Fairies Wear Boots" and "Black Sabbath". Ward's presence was especially significant, as he had struggled with health issues over the years, making his participation in "Reunion" a powerful symbol of the band's full-circle return. The album also includes two new studio recordings, "Psycho Man" and "Selling My Soul", produced by Bob Marlette. These were the band’s first new studio recordings with Osbourne since "Never Say Die!" in 1978. The original quartet does not play on both tracks, however: "Selling My Soul" uses a drum machine instead of Ward. Both songs connect the band’s familiar heaviness with the more polished production of the late 1990s. "Psycho Man" kicks off with a classic Iommi riff, dark and heavy, reminiscent of the band's early work. Osbourne's vocals during the first verse are on the lowest side of his vocal range. "Selling My Soul" slows things down a bit, with a more atmospheric, mid-tempo groove, showcasing Iommi's mastery of melody within heavy music. "Reunion" was more than just a live album - it was a statement. It marked the definitive comeback of one of the most influential bands in heavy music. Released at a time when the metal scene was going through significant changes with the rise of nu-metal and alternative metal, "Reunion" was a reminder of where it all began. The success of "Reunion" also paved the way for more tours and, eventually, a new studio album, "13" released in 2013. In 2023, the 25th-anniversary edition of "Reunion" revisited the live recordings with remastered audio and added Danny Saber remixes of the two studio songs. It is an expanded archival edition, not a new studio album. For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

On October 20, 1980, "Boy", the debut album by "U2", was released. Four Dublin boys, vocalist Bono, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr., entered the studio in July 1980, the oldest of them just 20 years old, and emerged with one of the most honest and moving debut albums of the post-punk era. "Boy" doesn't sound like an album by a band that already knows where it's going. It sounds like a band discovering its voice while recording, with all the energy, confusion and fear that accompany the transition from childhood to adulthood. Martin Hannett was originally supposed to produce the album. He was the man who shaped the sound of "Joy Division" and produced the first "U2" single for Island Records, "11 O'Clock Tick Tock". But the band had not enjoyed working with him, and the label abandoned the idea in the face of their objections. Hannett himself was also deeply affected by the suicide of "Joy Division" singer Ian Curtis in May 1980. To find a replacement, Island sent "Three", the EP "U2" had released the previous year, to Steve Lillywhite. He liked what he heard, but thought the recording sounded poor. He travelled to Ireland to see them perform in a small school hall and was impressed enough to agree to produce one single, "A Day Without Me". The chemistry worked, and Lillywhite ended up producing the band's first three albums. With Paul Thomas engineering, the album was recorded between July and September 1980 at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, which would become a recording home for "U2" throughout the 1980s. Lillywhite was unimpressed by the place. He found the wooden room acoustically dead and better suited to quiet folk recordings than to the energy of rock. Frustrated with the drum sound on the previous single, he found a creative solution. He recorded Larry Mullen Jr. in the studio stairwell, with microphones suspended overhead to capture its lively reverberation. Other textures came from breaking bottles and running cutlery along the spokes of a spinning bicycle wheel. The drums could only be recorded in the evening, after the receptionist had gone home, because the telephone rang throughout the day and sometimes even interrupted takes after hours. The musicians faced challenges of their own. The band struggled to maintain a steady tempo, so Lillywhite and assistant engineer Kevin Moloney spent nights cutting tape to create precise drum loops. Adam Clayton recorded bass parts repeatedly until they met the producer's standards. Bono, who had yet to finish some of the lyrics, filled in missing lines while his bandmates recorded guitars and percussion. Unhappy with the results he got using headphones, he switched to singing with a handheld microphone in the control room, listening to the music at high volume. Little wonder that Lillywhite would later describe his influence on the sound of "Boy" as greater than that of any other producer on a "U2" album. The guitar sound was, of course, The Edge's domain. He played a Gibson Explorer through Vox amplification and Memory Man delay effects, building his parts around ringing chords and sustained harmonies. His musical reference points included "Television" and "Marquee Moon", the early work of "Siouxsie and the Banshees", and German bands such as "Neu!" and "Kraftwerk". The atmospheric guitar textures also invite comparisons with "Echo & the Bunnymen" and their later albums "Porcupine" and "Ocean Rain", although those records followed "Boy". The energy, meanwhile, remained close to punk. "Boy" is not a concept album, but adolescence is its central theme. Innocence, sexual awakening, the fear of death and the exile from the past that time imposes on us all run through it. That idea is there on the cover, in the face of six-year-old Peter Rowen, the younger brother of Bono's friend Guggi, a member of "Virgin Prunes". Peter had already appeared on the sleeve of the EP "Three" and would later return on "War". Bono imagined a child's face emerging from whiteness, like a photograph still developing, an apt metaphor for a band still taking shape. In North America, however, the label feared the image might be misinterpreted. The album appeared there with an alternative sleeve featuring stretched, distorted photographs of the band. Remarkably, that design remained in use until the 2008 reissue. The album opens with "I Will Follow", the single that became an emblem of this early period. The Edge's ringing guitar riff and the headlong drums gave "U2" one of their first American radio favourites, reaching No. 20 on Billboard's rock chart. Behind that energy lies a deeply personal story. Bono wrote the lyrics in memory of his mother, Iris, who died when he was 14, and later described the song in terms of the unconditional love between mother and child. It is also the only song "U2" have played on every tour since their debut album, and its video was the band's first. The bottle and bicycle-spoke effects add another distinctive texture to the recording. "Twilight" leads us deeper into adolescence, followed by "An Cat Dubh" (Irish for "The Black Cat"), written and recorded in the studio and concerned with sexual awakening. From there, "Into the Heart" explores the separation from the past imposed by the passage of time. On "Out of Control", we hear a young band erupting with apparently unrestrained energy, but beneath the surface the song confronts mortality. It is one of two tracks re-recorded from the EP "Three", the other being "Stories for Boys". At barely a minute and a half, "The Ocean" emerged in the studio and reflects youthful ambition, briefly easing the momentum before the album moves on. "A Day Without Me" is where the partnership with Lillywhite began. Released as a single about two months before the album, it failed to chart, yet played an important role in the band's history. Carter Alan of Boston's WBCN heard it in a record shop, fell in love with it and added it to his playlist, helping introduce "U2" to American listeners. The lyrics suggest psychological distress, although Bono explained in 1982 that some listeners heard it as a song of escape. The closing stretch continues with "Another Time, Another Place", followed by "The Electric Co.", one of the album's most propulsive and vividly alive performances. Its subject is mental illness, inspired by a friend of Bono who had been hospitalised. "Shadows and Tall Trees" closes the album, taking its title from a chapter of William Golding's "Lord of the Flies". Some early vinyl and cassette copies include an unlisted 30-second instrumental after the closing song, drawn from "Saturday Night", an early version of "Fire" from the next album, "October". The excerpt returned on the 2008 remaster; the deluxe edition also included the full "Saturday Night". "Boy" was released in Britain on October 20, 1980, and in the United States on March 3, 1981. It reached No. 52 in the UK and No. 63 on the Billboard 200, but its commercial life extended well beyond that first release. As the band's popularity grew, it returned to the American charts and eventually earned platinum certification there for one million copies, as well as gold certification in Britain. After its release, "U2" took the Boy Tour through continental Europe and the United States. In March 1981, during a show at a club in Portland, Oregon, Bono's briefcase disappeared from backstage. Inside were lyrics and ideas for the next album, "October". "Boy" is one of the few "U2" albums whose songs have all been performed live at least once. Like the idea behind its sleeve, it captures a band before the picture has finished developing, and that is precisely what makes it feel so alive. Everything "U2" would later become is already resonating here, in a guitar riff, a stairwell, a snare drum, or one boy looking straight into the camera. For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

"Pearl Jam's" second album received its wide release on October 19, 1993, two years after the breakthrough of "Ten" This album is the red tip of a match as it catches fire... It is a piece that was worked with a hammer and chisel and then polished with number 3 sandpaper... If the band members claimed that on the first album, the production was excessive and the polishing was too smooth, here they take it in their own direction and do it their way (actually the way of most of them, because Eddie didn't like the studio). This is the first time that PJ has worked with producer Brendan O'Brien, a producer who knows how to take them in the direction they want and create with them together as a band. This album was created under enormous pressure and against everything that the band wanted to happen, this is the well-known dissonance of "Pearl Jam", the desire to make good music, but without the success that came along with it or rather without the consequences of the success. "Ten" brought them exactly the opposite, although it took some time, but his breakthrough was meteoric and had a direct impact on the second album. Regardless of whether it was good or bad, the second album was destined for commercial success due to the momentum of the first album. Just to make it clear, the album "Vs." broke the sales record for an album in the first week (or rather five days), and it held this title for 5 years !!! "Vs." also debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 (and if you read our review of "RUSH's" "Counterparts" album, you know that it stole the number one spot from the album that was released on the same day), and held it for 5 weeks. All this sounds amazing and phenomenal but this is exactly what the band did not want to happen... dissonance?? We already said that!! (Photo: Gie Knaeps) A short background When the band members came to record the album in March 1993 after a non-stop tour and the insane success of the previous album, they first wanted to do everything not to flow this wave of success. Part of the approach resulted in the fact that, although the album contained several successful singles, the band did not release a single music video for them, and in another case even omitted a song from the album (the song "Better Man" that would eventually appear on the next album), simply because producer Brendan O'Brien thought it would become a hit As part of the enormous pressure the band experienced following the meteoric success of the debut album, Eddie Vedder experienced great difficulties in writing, and in one of the interviews, he even claimed that this was the album he had the least fun writing. Brendan tried to relieve some of the pressure by dragging the band members to play "softball" every day before the recordings. Imagine the band members every morning after the morning coffee going out for a short game to release pressure and only then entering the recordings. Another thing he did was get the PJ members to record together as a band. In a way, it was "Pearl Jam's" first album as a band, because of the collective recording process and group development of material, some of which had already taken shape earlier. To this, must be added the reinforcement player - drummer Dave Abbruzzese who joined the band in August 1991, shortly before the release of "Ten" and was part of the tour. We talked about Dave's influences on the band, we mentioned him several times in our podcast and we will talk more about him later. (Photo: Paul Bergen) Another interesting detail is that the band recorded the album in a different way than was customary at the time, each time they worked on only one song and did not move on until they finished it, not only the writing but also the recording, arrangement, and mixing and only then did they allow themselves to move on to the next song. Eddie, who is known for his total dedication, his social and political views, and his attitude toward the music industry, felt very uncomfortable during the recordings. The recordings took place in a modern and well-equipped studio with a pampering and relaxed atmosphere that was very suitable for Dave (this is where the relationship starts to crack) and perhaps also for the other members of the band, but not for Eddie. He didn't like Stone Gossard coming to recordings in a robe and flip-flops, he thought that in such an environment you don't create rock music but elevator music or dinner music, and at a certain point, he turned to Brendan and asked him to disappear for a few weeks. Eddie took his car and drove to San Francisco, he slept in the car for several weeks just to get out of his comfort zone. It's the discomfort that makes Eddie creative. Before we get to the songs, let's talk a little bit about the album cover, which is also rough. We talked about dissonance right... So the cover is a photo that Jeff Ament took on a farm in Hamilton Montana of a sheep, as Ament described it in interviews poking its head through a fence. The band members said they chose the photo because it represented what they were feeling at the time. That they are all slaves to the music industry, and that success has turned them into wounded and imprisoned animals unable to break through the barriers of the music industry. The name of the album was also supposed to represent the same concept. Initially, the band gave the album the name, "Five Against One" taken from the first line of the song "Animal" - "One, two, three, four, five against one". This sentence refers to the five band members against one... Against the industry... Against themselves. The name was changed at the last minute, so there are still several tapes circulating in the world that bear the original name and not the final name which is "Vs". (Photo: Joe Giron) And now for the main course Cases where a band succeeds in producing two consecutive masterpieces are rare, certainly when it comes to the first two albums and even more so when the band in general hates everything related to success. So whether the Fantastic Five intended it or not, they released a second masterful album in a row, a bomb album that maintains a high level throughout and that doesn't have a single weak song. It opens with a fast-paced and sweeping bass-drum duel embellished with a random guitar line for the first 30 seconds of the song, a sort of stretching exercise before a sprint, and then... "Ready... Set... "Go" !! The song explodes right in our faces with 8 consecutive snare beats and this frantic song gets this album off the ground. It's amazing to think that the Abbruzzese was the one who came up with the riff that led to this crazy song, which will also be released as the first single from the album. One day when all the members were doing a jam session, Dave pulled out a guitar and started playing the riff, and then Stone asked him what he was playing when suddenly Jeff joined in and Eddie started singing and the rest is history. Eddie hinted that this song is about his car, but there are those who claim that it is a song about child abuse and they draw their conclusion from the lines "Don't go on me versus "Don't you want me", as if the child is asking the parent why he is abusing him. And if you put all your energy into sprinting, then it's a shame because it's going to be a long-distance run that continues with the crazy beat of "Animal" and one of the most beautiful and bouncy riffs this band has ever written. When this opening is played there is not even one foot left on the floor and not one head standing still. This song started with an instrumental part that Stone recorded as a demo and called "Weird A". Mike McCready's guitar solo on the song was also an unintended consequence. He played a solo for the band's guitar technicians not knowing that it would eventually be included on the album. The lyrics that start with five against one talk about the difficulty the band has with the music industry as we mentioned above. We downshift and change to acoustics with "Daughter" one of the most beautiful and moving songs on the album which was released as the second single. The song talks about a girl with learning difficulties and her mother who doesn't understand the problem her daughter has. The first seeds of the song were planted during the "Ten" album tour when Gossard played to Vedder on the bus the chord progression that would later become the song. This defining moment can be seen in the 2011 documentary "PJ20" by director Cameron Crowe. By the way, the short instrumental break in this song serves as fertile ground for improvisations by the band members at concerts. The first seeds that explain the reason for Dave being fired from the band after this album can be found in the fourth track of the album "Glorified G". The song was written by Eddie after he found out that Dave had purchased a gun. Dave and Eddie treated the dizzying success differently, Dave enjoying it while Eddie aggressively disliked it. As part of dealing with success, Dave decided to purchase a gun one day. Ament revealed this to Eddie during the writing for the album and Eddie was shocked. He approached Dave and asked him if he really bought a gun. Dave sarcastically replied that he actually bought two. Eddie immediately sat down and wrote the words "Got a gun, fact I got two/That's OK, man, 'cause I love God/Glorified" The song "Dissident" is the fourth single released from the album. The song was almost ready in 1992, even before the sessions for the recording of the album and it talks about betrayal and the feeling of guilt that comes after it. Ament's hypnotic bass line in the song "W.M.A." lays the foundation for a protest song against the violent force used by the police. The album's booklet includes an excerpt about a man named Malice Green, a black man who was killed by the Detroit police in 1992. However, in interviews with Vedder, he stated that the song is based on another case of police violence that he witnessed with his own eyes. The song "Rearviewmirror" takes us on the highway and increases our pulse again with the fast and frantic rhythm and the circular, monotonous, and mesmerizing line of this song, in which Vedder describes escaping a harmful situation. If we learn from the composition, this escape was not easy at all for Eddie because every time we press the pedal and speed up, the breaks come, with the cutting riffs, and the guitars chuckle and slow us down before we go back and speed up. But don't worry, this breakup has a happy ending because Eddie's race car opens up afterburners towards the climactic ending leaving the past behind in smoke that can be seen through the rearview mirror... and it's just unbelievable that this crazy song wasn't released as a single but just a sidekick to the song "Dissident". We return to acoustics with the track with the longest name in history "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town", is a deliberate result of the band members suddenly realizing that most of their song titles have one or two words. This magical song was written mainly by Vedder and it talks about an exciting meeting between two people who haven't seen each other for a long time, the woman who stayed in the same town all these years, and the man who reunited with her in the end. And yes, this album also includes all the songs with one word in the title, "Blood", "Rats", "Leash", and "Indifference", but we need to make the long story short. Before ending, another part of the widening rift deserves mention: the band’s 1994 dispute with Ticketmaster over ticket prices. In SPIN’s oral history, Dave Abbruzzese said he disagreed with that campaign while supporting inexpensive shows. Personal and musical differences also emerged; he was dismissed in August 1994. The disagreement should not be reduced to a wish to make more money. This sentence will probably put us in the minority, but in our humble opinion, this is the last good album of the band as a studio album, until the release of the album "Gigaton" in 2020. This album brings back our youthful love for the band and its first albums. It has a collection of amazing and immortal songs, which both stand as individual masterpieces in their own right and create a masterful album, as was the case with the band's first two albums. 2026 update: Jeff Ament released the photo book "Since Forever" on September 25. Created with his brother, designer Barry Ament, it gathers more than 250 photographs of the band’s formative years, adding visual context to the era and to the photographer behind the "Vs." cover. Listen to the album on: Spotify, Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

On October 19, 1978, "Trouble", the debut full-length album by the band "Whitesnake", was released. In 1976, with the final and dramatic breakup of heavy rock legends Deep Purple after their final show in Liverpool, charismatic frontman David Coverdale found himself at a critical crossroads. At just twenty-four, after contributing to three studio albums that redefined the fusion of blues, funk and hard rock, including the masterpieces "Burn" and "Stormbringer" from 1974 and "Come Taste the Band" from 1975, Coverdale decided to strike out on his own from the recording studios of Germany, far from the pressures of the British music industry, battered by the punk revolution. His first two solo albums, 1977's "White Snake" and 1978's "Northwinds," featured a deep, white soul singer who drew inspiration from American roots music, rhythm and blues, and legendary British bands like "Free" and "Bad Company." It was during the recording of these solo albums that Coverdale formed a fateful connection with slide guitarist Micky Moody, formerly of the band "Juicy Lucy," who became his closest musical partner. When Coverdale went on tour in early 1978 under the name "David Coverdale's Whitesnake", he assembled a tight-knit group around him that included the talented guitarist and singer Bernie Marsden, who had previously played in "UFO" and "Paice Ashton Lord", the brilliant Scottish bassist Neil Murray who came from Gary Moore's fusion band "Colosseum II", and the energetic drummer Dave Dowle. The turning point that transformed the project from a backing band for a solo singer into a full-fledged British hard rock monster occurred in the summer of 1978. Following the promising success of the four-track EP "Snakebite" released in June of that year and featuring the thrilling cover version of Bobby "Blue" Bland's R&B classic, "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City", the band was signed to the EMI record label. Toward the end of the July 1978 sessions at Central Recorders in London, a musical earthquake occurred when Coverdale's keyboardist and close friend from his "Deep Purple" days, maestro Jon Lord, officially joined the band, replacing keyboardist Pete Solley. Lord's addition, with his roaring and majestic Hammond organ sound, gave "Whitesnake" a special weight, prestige, and harmonic depth that immediately placed it in a league of its own. The man who knew Coverdale and Lord best of all was entrusted with the producer's chair, legendary producer and sound engineer Martin Birch. Birch, who had already signed his name to historic classics by "Deep Purple", "Rainbow" and "Wishbone Ash" and would later become the sound architect for "Black Sabbath" and "Iron Maiden", captured the six-piece's lively, warm and raw chemistry in the studio in a brief, intensive recording period. The name chosen for the album, "Trouble", carried a double and amusing meaning for Coverdale, who, during the intense recording days in London, celebrated the birth of his first daughter Jessica, one of the reasons he later gave for the album’s title. The album opens with a bang with "Take Me with You," a racing hard rock track written by Coverdale and Moody, driven by a sharp double guitar riff, Dowle's relentless drumming, and a searing slide solo that makes it clear from the start that "Whitesnake" is here to conquer the big stages. The song immediately became the band's regular show opener and one of the most prominent symbols of their classic era. It is immediately followed by "Love to Keep You Warm", a song that showcases the band's bluesy, sensual and sophisticated side, with rich vocal harmonies and a fascinating dialogue between Moody and Marsden's guitars and Jon Lord's piano and organ. On "Lie Down", also subtitled "A Modern Love Song" and released as the album's first single in September 1978, the band combines upbeat, accessible rock and roll with typical British humor, with Marsden sharing lead vocals with Coverdale on the verses, a vocal dynamic that reminded many fans of Coverdale's heyday alongside Glenn Hughes in "Deep Purple". One of the intriguing surprises on the first side of the record is a daring cover of the Beatles classic by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, "Day Tripper." Rather than sticking to the original 1965 pop-rock structure, "Whitesnake" breaks the song down into its elements and rebuilds it as a heavy, rolling, and rough hard-blues piece, where Moody and Marsden's twin guitars take the iconic riff into entirely new territory. The first side closes with "Nighthawk," also known as "Vampire Blues," a fast-paced, hard-driving rock piece born from the collaboration between Coverdale and Marsden, featuring Neil Murray's virtuoso, flexible bass line and Lord's electrifying organ playing. The album's second side opens with "The Time Is Right for Love," one of the band's most cohesive and compelling songs of their early work. The song, co-written by Coverdale, Marsden and Moody, combines a melodic, addictive guitar riff with a sweeping, anthemic chorus that largely foreshadows the sound that would lead the band to their huge successes over the next decade. Immediately following comes the title track "Trouble", a mesmerizing, melancholic, and emotionally charged mid-tempo ballad where Coverdale's warm, rugged baritone voice shines in all its glory. Here, the guitar alliance between Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody is revealed in its full force, weaving together double guitar harmonies in the vein of "Thin Lizzy" and "Wishbone Ash" alongside a melodic and moving solo that pierces straight to the heart. The band's musical diversity is further expressed in Moody's short, virtuosic instrumental, "Belgian Tom's Hat Trick", which displays dizzying technical mastery and a tight rhythmic groove, and immediately follows with "Free Flight", an atmospheric, dreamy song in which Bernie Marsden rarely occupies the lead vocalist position throughout the track, while Coverdale gives him the stage. The album closes with a crushing punch with "Don't Mess with Me", a fast, heavy, and uncompromising boogie-blues rocker that all six members of the band jointly sign, a collective statement of intent that seals the album with explosive energy. The cover of "Trouble" appeared in different designs. The original British sleeve used the snake graphic that became associated with the band, while the American sleeve showed a white snake emerging from a purple egg. In the "Box ’O’ Snakes" liner-note interview, Coverdale and Marsden recalled that the egg design was the American record company’s choice. Upon its release in October 1978, "Trouble" peaked at number 50 on the UK Albums Chart and laid the foundation for the masterpieces that would follow, including 1979's "Lovehunter", 1980's "Ready an' Willing" and "Live... in the Heart of the City", 1981's "Come an' Get It" and 1982's "Saints & Sinners". Long before the glittering MTV music video era and the multi-platinum hits of the late 1980s, "Trouble" stands as the pure, definitive document of classic "Whitesnake", an album where rootsy British blues, deep soul and fine hard rock fused into a timeless creation. For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

On October 19, 1993, "Sepultura" released its fifth album, "Chaos A.D.", in the United States. This album is the band's fifth and it marks a change in its musical direction with the entry of Brazilian and groove metal motifs. This change can already be heard in the opening song "Refuse/Resist" which emphasizes heavier and slower riffs. The song opens with a recording of the rhythmic fetal heartbeat of Max Cavalera’s son Zyon, captured before his birth. These heartbeats predicted something for the future, because Zyon stayed with rhythm and became a drummer. The change in the musical style is attributed, among other things, to the fact that this is the band's first album in which some songs use D standard guitar tuning, a whole step below standard E, which creates a heavier and "doomy" sound. An example of this can be found in the song "Nomad" which features slow and heavy riffs that were described by guitarist Andreas Kisser as Sepultura's response to "Metallica's" "Sad but True". This album includes quite a few songs with political and protest themes, such as "Refuse/Resist" which we mentioned, whose title alone sounds like a protest slogan in a demonstration and whose video clip speaks for itself, "Slave New World" which refers to censorship, and of course "Territory" which addresses conflict and struggles for power, and whose video was shot in Israel. The album also addresses mass violence. "Amen" concerns the 1993 Waco siege and fire involving David Koresh’s community in Texas; "Manifest" concerns the massacre of prisoners at Carandiru in Brazil; "Kaiowas" pays tribute to Brazil’s Kaiowá people. In an interview, Max described its inspiration as a story of mass suicide in protest at threatened displacement. This describes the songwriter’s account, rather than independently verifying the historical event. An interesting story about "Kaiowas". This is an instrumental track which Max defined as a combination of "Led Zeppelin" and "Sonic Youth". This song was recorded live accompanied by acoustic instruments at "Chepstow Castle", an ancient medieval castle located in Wales. In this song, Max Cavalera and Andreas Kisser are in charge of the guitar roles, and Igor Cavalera and Paulo Jr. handle the percussion. When the band recorded this song they were sure they would never play it live due to the complexity of recreating the drum patterns on stage. However, the band changed their minds after watching a video of a performance by the American band "Neurosis" in which the band members put down their guitars and started playing drums. The band decided to give it a chance and after one rehearsal that sounded good enough, they did not stop playing the song live. It is interesting to note that during the sessions for the band's album they recorded several cover versions for songs of bands such as "New Model Army" the English punk rock band, "Titãs" and "Ratos de Porão" the Brazilian rock band and "Final Conflict" an American hardcore band. Igor who was a fan of "New Model Army" persuaded the band to add the song "The Hunt" to the album and the rest of the songs appeared as b-sides or on compilation albums. There is no doubt that this album is a milestone in the band's musical development, which continues to formulate the unique sound that characterizes it from the other metal bands that were active at the time. During the "Celebrating Life Through Death" farewell tour, the band released "The Cloud of Unknowing" on April 24, 2026. It is a four-track EP, not a full-length studio album, and the band’s first release with drummer Greyson Nekrutman, who replaced Eloy Casagrande. For listening: Spotify (Expanded Edition), Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

On October 19, 1973, "Pin Ups", David Bowie's seventh studio album, was released. In the summer of 1973, David Bowie was at the top of the music world, but also at an artistic and personal boiling point. On the evening of July 3 of that year, on the stage of the Hammersmith Odeon in London, he stunned his fans and some of his band members when he announced the retirement of Ziggy Stardust, the alien character who had made him a superstar following the masterful albums "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" from 1972 and "Aladdin Sane" released in April 1973. Bowie, who felt that the character he had created was beginning to take over his sanity, was looking for a way to shake off the heavy stardust, close a defining chapter in his career, and at the same time give the audience and the record company RCA an album that would maintain his tremendous commercial momentum heading into the holiday season. The solution he found was brilliant and unexpected, a return to the roots of British rock that shaped his youth in mid-1960s London. Heading to the Château d'Hérouville near Paris in July 1973, Bowie and his trusted producer Ken Scott gathered at the legendary studio where Elton John had recorded. But the atmosphere in the French castle was far from idyllic. Bassist Trevor Bolder and virtuoso guitarist Mick Ronson discovered that drummer Mick Woodmansey had been removed from the band without their knowledge due to internal tensions and a crisis of trust with Tony Defries' management company. In his place, veteran British drummer Aynsley Dunbar, who had previously played with Frank Zappa and John Mayall, was recruited, bringing with him technical power and a more aggressive approach. They were joined by the brilliant pianist Mike Garson and saxophonist Ken Fordham, and the album recordings became the official and final swan song of the core of Bowie's legendary backing band. The idea behind "Pin Ups" was a personal and theatrical salute to the London club scene of 1964 to 1967, and in particular to the famous Marquee Club where the young Bowie spent time as an enthusiastic mod boy who thirstily absorbed every chord of the British Invasion, rhythm and blues and early psychedelia. In the album booklet, Bowie defined the songs as favorites of that period, but in reality he and Mick Ronson were not satisfied with a nostalgic faithful reconstruction of the original. The two dismantled the songs of the Sixties into their elements and reassembled them in the image of the dense, polished and heavy glam rock of 1973, with Ronson's roaring electric guitars, Garson's avant-garde piano and Bowie's own prominent saxophone giving the songs a dramatic and almost avant-garde envelope. The album opens with an electric storm with "Rosalyn", originally a wild rhythm and blues gem by "The Pretty Things" from 1964. In Bowie and Ronson's version, the song becomes a dizzying proto-punk attack, in which Dunbar's feverish drumming and Ronson's cutting riffs push Bowie into a hysterical, uninhibited vocal delivery. It is immediately followed by "Here Comes the Night", the hit by "Them" led by Van Morrison, which here undergoes a fascinating theatrical transformation with a rich saxophone arrangement and dramatic rhythm changes that take the song from its original melancholy into an ostentatious cabaret show. The third track, "I Wish You Would" by "The Yardbirds", demonstrates Ronson's close connection to British guitar heritage, combining bluesy harmonica and electric violin that create constant tension. One of the album's highlights and the most brilliant performances of Bowie's early career is the remake of "Pink Floyd's" early psychedelic hit from the Syd Barrett era, "See Emily Play". Bowie, who admired Barrett and considered him a major inspiration for shaping his artistic image, transformed the short song with Ronson and Garson into an elaborate symphonic fantasy. Garson's mesmerizing piano, electronic games in stereophonic space, and Ronson's melodic guitar solo end with a brief string coda, which seals the song with an atmosphere that is both magical and bizarre. It's followed by "Everything's Alright" by "The Mojos", where Bolder and Dunbar lead a tight, bouncy rock 'n' roll groove that highlights the production's rich vocal harmonies. Side one is capped by the ballad "I Can't Explain", "The Who's" debut single. In contrast to the fast, youthful energy of Pete Townshend and his friends, Bowie drastically slows the tempo, transforming the song into a slow, heavy, sensual glam anthem, supported by a monumental guitar riff and meaty saxophone. The second side opens with "Friday on My Mind", the pop-rock classic by the Australian band "The Easybeats" who were active in London. Here the musicians demonstrate breathtaking virtuosity in the complex transitions between the somber verses and the explosive chorus, with Ronson leading the song with multi-layered guitar work that combines powerful distortion with perfect melodic precision. It is followed by the biggest hit from the album, "Sorrow", first recorded by "The McCoys" in 1965 and popularized by "The Merseys" in 1966. Bowie gives the song a velvety, deep and pathos-filled vocal performance in the style of a classic crooner, within a rich arrangement combining elegant strings and saxophone. The single took first place in the Australian charts and reached third place in the British charts, becoming one of Bowie's most recognizable songs of the early 1970s. Later on, the second side sees Bowie return to "The Pretty Things" with "Don't Bring Me Down", a rough and sensual performance in which acoustic and electric guitars blend with almost whispered vocals. The tenth track, "Shapes of Things", is the album's second salute to "The Yardbirds", where Ken Scott's production intensifies the song's militaristic and psychedelic dimension with dense guitar layers and Dunbar's devastating drumming. Bowie immediately returns to "The Who" with "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere", where Ronson delivers a show of feedback and wailing guitars in homage to Townshend's pioneering spirit. The album closes with "Where Have All the Good Times Gone" by "The Kinks", written by Ray Davies. The choice to end the album with a song that deals with nostalgia and longing for good old days was no coincidence; it symbolized Bowie's departure from the innocent era of the sixties and also the final closing of the Ziggy Stardust era. The cover of "Pin Ups" features Bowie with Twiggy, photographed in Paris by Justin de Villeneuve. The session was originally intended for Vogue. According to Bowie’s official archive, Bowie requested the photograph for the album because he believed the record would circulate more widely than the magazine. The mask-like makeup gives the image its striking, otherworldly character. Upon its release, "Pin Ups" was a huge commercial success, rocketing straight to number one on the UK album charts, where it stayed for five consecutive weeks, and became one of Bowie's best-selling records of the 1970s. Even if some critics saw it as a light interlude between his great original works, the test of time has proven that it is a fascinating historical and musical document. The album not only rescued a series of British rock gems from oblivion and gave them eternal life, but also closed the era of full studio albums featuring the surviving core of Bowie's Spiders backing band, just before Bowie reinvented himself with the album "Diamond Dogs" and continued his endless journey into the unknown. For the album’s fiftieth anniversary, a half-speed-mastered vinyl edition was released on October 20, 2023, cut by John Webber at AIR from restored transfers of the original master tapes. For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

What happens when "Rush" decides to have some fun with grunge ??? On October 19, 1993 "Rush" released their 15th studio album "Counterparts". It's one of the band's most successful albums in the US, which immediately after its release jumped to second place on the Billboard charts. Why only second place? Because that very day "Vs.", the second album of "Pearl Jam", came out and stole the first place from "Rush". Now you're probably wondering how one of Rush's most successful albums in the US relates to "grunge"? So let's release it right here. "Rush" really had fun on this album with grunge and alternative. Anyone who does not believe, please jump straight to the end of the review and click play on "Animate", wait for the 0:57 second, and tell us if you do not hear a guitar-bass-drum riff that could easily be a part of the album "Ten" of "Pearl Jam". And if that still does not work out for you, then listen to the lead riff in the song "Stick It Out" or the powerful chord transitions in the opening of the song "Cold Fire". So how come "Rush", the queen of prog metal of the 70s and the princess of the synthesizers from the 80s, comes to play grunge and alternative in the 90s? 1993 was a year in which the grunge revolution was in full swing. The music industry was simply dominated by bands from Seattle or the like, and "Rush" understood that the music market has changed beyond recognition since releasing their previous album, two years earlier. They understand that to stay relevant they must do it again. They must reinvent themselves and change their musical style once more and adapt to the music era. The band members come together and make a conscious decision to change their sound, but still remain spontaneous while writing. They later confirmed that during the writing process they were influenced by "Primus" who warmed them up on the tour of the album "Roll The Bones" as well as by "Pearl Jam". Alex Lifeson also noted in an interview after the album's release, that there was an agreement among the band members that the guitar would have a more dominant role than the keyboards, something that has not happened since the album "Moving Pictures". At the same time, behind the scenes, musical disagreements arose between Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee. Alex Lifeson asked Geddy Lee not to use the keyboards at all, but Lee brought them with him to the studio, which clouded the atmosphere. Lee explained that he intended to use the keyboards as an addition, a complementary "decoration" to the music, as was done on the previous album, but Alex Lifeson thought Geddy Lee was backing away from the agreement and wants the keyboards to be a major and essential part. As you can tell from listening to the album, the result is more in line with Geddy Lee's version, as the guitar roles in the album almost completely overshadow the keyboards, which serve as an accompaniment in the background and nothing more. Ultimately in this album, there is a perfect balance between the conscious decision to write music that will suit the period, and the consent and desire of the band members to be spontaneous. This perfect balance is what will make the album one of the band's most successful in the US. The rhythm count of Neil Peart which was captured on the recording, opens up "Animate", the first in a grunge-alternative sequence that opens the album. Geddy Lee thought Neil Peart's count had a human touch that well conveyed the atmosphere in the studio so it stayed. Interesting to note that Peart plays on this album on an American Ludwig Maple Classic set, which greatly influences the special sound. Immediately after the count, Neil Peart enters with a basic R&B rhythm of 4/4. Immediately after Alex Lifeson joins with the arpeggio chords and Geddy Lee with the dominant and sweeping bass line, while in the background you can hear the keyboards used only as an accompaniment, just as Geddy Lee intended. Geddy Lee plays deliberately with a "faltering" bass amp. This old amplifier was found to be in the studio and was repaired with the help of the recording technician, especially to get an immature and rough sound. At 3:19 we go down a bit towards the entrance to the transition section which includes a beautiful solo by Alex Lifeson and also the word "Counterparts" which represents the name of the album. We harden the sound with the grunge, rough and heavy riff leading the song "Stick It Out" which was also the first single released from the album and reached number one on Billboard’s Album Rock Tracks chart. The clip for the song gained a lot of screen time on MTV and undoubtedly contributed a lot to the relative success of the album. This song evolved from a guitar riff that Alex Lifeson played to Geddy Lee and Geddy really liked it. The band stuck to the forceful riff that makes up most of the song, but added several elements to it that made it more interesting. The third track "Cut to the Chase" opens with Alex Lifeson's "airy" guitar and we already feel the transition from grunge to alternative, especially with the powerful chords in the chorus. Alex Lifeson's solo is one of the most special and beautiful on the album. Amazing to think it was taken from a demo Alex Lifeson made on a digital ADAT recorder. Alex thought this version was the best. If you listen carefully you will be able to hear a piano that accompanies parts of the song. The album downshifts gear with the fourth track "Nobody's Hero" one of the most beautiful and moving songs on the album that Neil Peart wrote inspired by the death of his friend from AIDS. The song is mostly based on the acoustic guitar of Alex Lifeson and the bass of Geddy Lee and includes an accompaniment by string orchestration arranged and conducted by the legendary Michael Kamen. The lyrics to the fifth song "Between Sun & Moon" are the result of another collaboration between Neil Peart and Pye Dubois, who co-wrote with Neil Peart the lyrics to the songs "Tom Sawyer" and "Force Ten" in the previous decade. The musical side of the song evolved from a jam between Geddy Lee and Alex. Alex Lifeson played Geddy the riff and Geddy thought that this does not sound like Alex Lifeson's playing but rather "the Rolling Stones". Indeed, the two agreed that Keith Richards and Pete Townshend were the inspiration for writing the song. The song "Double Agent" was described by Geddy Lee as "a perfect exercise in self-indulgence." This is the last song the band wrote for the album and Geddy noted that they just wanted to go wild and play whatever they wanted. Geddy Lee also noted that this is the most "nerdy" song they have come out with (probably because of the speech segment in the middle) but he also said he is very pleased with the result. Quite amazingly, the sound of the guitar riff in this song is a kind of window that allows a glimpse into the future, as it is very reminiscent of the sound that the band will have on their albums from the 2000s. The song "Cold Fire" is one of the most beautiful songs on the album. Its power is its dynamic. It opens with a fast guitar riff and from there to a melodic and calm section and back all over again. The band members noted that they had the hardest time finishing this song and that it was rewritten several times, until producer Peter Collins helped them reach the final and satisfactory result. Lee was so pleased with the result that he rated the song as the best on the album in terms of composition. This song reached number two on Billboard’s Album Rock Tracks chart. It is interesting to note that this album includes an instrumental track called "Leave That Thing Alone" which at least in terms of the name is a sequel to the instrumental track "Where's My Thing?" From the previous album. After the release of the album, the band embarks on a limited tour in Canada and the US only. After the tour ended, the band members took a relatively long break, Geddy Lee spent time with his family and Alex Lifeson worked on his solo project "Victor". This album proves that Rush is a band that manages time and time again to adapt itself to the music era and style and thus remained always relevant, just like a chameleon that changes colors according to the place and time it operates and in doing so not only survives but gets better over the years. 2026 update: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson returned to the stage with the "Fifty Something" tour, celebrating the band’s legacy and honouring Neil Peart, with drummer Anika Nilles. This continues the band’s live activity rather than constituting a new studio album. For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

A Sneak Peek... "Disturbed" released their seventh studio album, "Evolution", on October 19, 2018, and its title reflects a change in direction! The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. It was the band’s first album since their debut, "The Sickness", not to reach No. 1, ending a run of five consecutive chart-topping albums. Kevin Churko produced the album at The Hideout in Las Vegas, having also worked with the band on "Immortalized". David Draiman described this as the band’s "Black Album", comparing his ambitions to "Metallica’s" black album. He wanted a record on which every track could become a hit and open new doors for the band. We do not think the stylistic change is as substantial as "Metallica’s", but there is a change here. Speaking of style... The band members said that for the recordings of the album they were inspired by classic rock albums they grew up on. Inspired, they tried to create freely, without restrictions, restraints, or instructions. Draiman described the sessions as deeply emotional. The album also reflects the loss of fellow musicians, including Chester Bennington of "Linkin Park" and Vinnie Paul of "Pantera". From the band's remarks at the time of the album's release: In the announcement, the band described the album as their most adventurous and stylistically varied work to date, with a distinct identity and mood for each song. The Apple Music link opens the deluxe edition, featuring a live performance of "The Sound of Silence" with Myles Kennedy. The Spotify link opens the standard ten-track edition. Listen on: Spotify, Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

On October 18, 1999, "Still Life", the fourth studio album by the Swedish prog-death metal band "Opeth", was released. This is the first album by "Ophet" in the classic lineup that included Mikael Akerfeldt (vocals and guitar), Peter Lindgren (guitar), Martin Mendez (bass) and Martin Lopez (drums), and it is still considered by fans to be one of the band's best. The late 1990s were a critical and tortuous period for "Opeth". After stunning the global metal scene with dark masterpieces like "Orchid" and "Morningrise", and demonstrating groundbreaking songwriting and conceptual abilities on 1998's "My Arms, Your Hearse", the band found themselves at a turning point artistically and personally. Repeated conflicts with previous label Candlelight Records pushed Ockerfelt, along with loyal guitarist Peter Lindgren, bassist Martin Mendez, and virtuoso drummer Martin Lopez, to look for a new home. The move to the important British metal label Peaceville Records marked the beginning of the band's true golden age. The creative answer to these tensions was provided by a complex, theatrical, and emotionally charged concept album (the band's third in a row) called "Still Life". Unlike typical concept albums that stray from the mainstream, Okerpelt chose to weave a dramatic and dark storyline into a powerful sound that connects the rough Scandinavian death metal with the progressive British rock of the 70s (such as "Camel" and "King Crimson"). The plot tells the story of an exiled hero who is exiled from his hometown due to his beliefs, and returns to the city after years of absence, in order to be reunited with his beloved Melinda. A reunion between the two reignites the flame of forbidden love, and arouses the wrath of the religious establishment. Melinda confesses her love for the hero, which leads to her murder. As a result, the hero embarks on a violent journey of revenge against those responsible for the act, leading to the inevitable tragedy of execution and spiritual redemption. The album opens with the epic "The Moor" - a ten-minute mammoth that opens with mesmerizing acoustic guitar sections, before exploding into heavy riffs, a brilliant vocal blend of monstrous growls and Ockerfelt's clean, melancholy vocals. It is immediately followed by "Godhead's Lament", which is packed with powerful dynamic shifts and rocking melodic solos by Lindgren and Ockerfelt, leading straight into the haunting acoustic ballad "Benighted", which demonstrates the band's quiet emotional power. The second half of the album ramps up the drama and suspense with the mesmerizing classic "Moonlapse Vertigo", in which master drummer Martin Lopez demonstrates absolute mastery of complex jazz rhythms under walls of distortion. From there, the album continues into one of the greatest moments in the "Opet's" catalog - "The Face of Melinda". The song begins as an intimate, whispering acoustic blues-rock ballad, in which Okerfelt narrates in the first person about his moving meeting with Melinda, until it gradually builds to a heavy, thunderous crescendo that closes the song in tears. The final moments of the tragedy are provided by "Serenity Painted Death", one of the album's fastest and most aggressive tracks, full of tearing riffs and a feverish growl that describes the rage over Melinda's death, as well as the signature masterpiece, "White Cluster". In nine minutes of breathtaking progressive journey, the band deploys its entire arsenal of instruments, from rich symphonic sections, through double guitar melodies that strike a blow to the heart, to a cathartic and heartbreaking ending that leaves the listener speechless. The iconic album cover, illustrated by artist Travis Smith, also perfectly captures the spirit of the album's concept story. A lone gothic figure against a dark night sky, reflecting loneliness, grief, and sublime beauty. Upon its release, "Still Life" received phenomenal praise from music critics and fans alike, becoming an undisputed milestone that proved that death metal could be a high art form, as literary and sensitive as any classical work. In the test of time, it is one of the most central, polished and beloved albums in the history of the band and even the world of metal. For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

On October 18, 1999, "Marillion.com", the eleventh studio album by the band "Marillion", was released. The late 1990s were a time of pathfinding and profound upheaval for British neo-prog pioneers "Marillion". After parting ways with major label EMI in 1995 following the dark masterpiece "Afraid of Sunlight", the Aylesbury quintet tried to find their place in a changing musical world under a distribution deal with Castle Communications. Their tenth album, 1998's Radiation, represented a radical attempt to simplify their familiar symphonic sound in favor of a rough, dry production influenced by indie and Britpop, a move that left many of the band's longtime fans confused and divided. At the same time as the musical upheaval, a quiet revolution was taking place beneath the surface that would change the fate of the band and the face of the music industry as a whole. In 1996, the band set up its official website, and in 1997, an unprecedented miracle occurred when its fans in the United States banded together online and raised sixty thousand dollars from their own pockets to finance the band's American tour, a move that laid the first foundations for the modern crowdfunding model. Out of deep gratitude to the online community that saved their career and opened up a direct and unmediated channel of communication with the audience, vocalist Steve Hogarth, guitarist Steve Rothery, keyboardist Mark Kelly, bassist Pete Trewavas, and drummer Ian Mosley decided to give their eleventh album the symbolic name "Marillion.com". Work on the album began in December 1998 and continued until August 1999 at the band's home studio, The Racket Club in Buckinghamshire, with recording engineer Stewart Every. After months of intensive writing and recording, the band felt they were too close to the material and were struggling to come up with a final mix that would do justice to the musical wealth gathered in the studio. In a bold and decisive move, they enlisted the help of two brilliant prog sound minds, the first being veteran producer Nick Davis, who had worked with "Genesis" and took on the mixing of three more accessible and rhythmic songs, and the second was rising musician and producer Steven Wilson, leader of the band "Porcupine Tree", who was entrusted with five of the album's nine tracks at No Man's Land, including the complex and lengthy pieces on it. Steven Wilson's involvement proved to be a real highlight. He gave the album a three-dimensional depth, crystal clarity and a delicate balance between contemporary electronics and the cinematic and emotional progressive that characterized "Marillion" at its peak. The album opens with "A Legacy", a quiet and contemplative acoustic song written by the band's long-time lyricist John Helmer, and gradually develops from an intimate atmosphere into a rich and melodic electric ending reminiscent of the spirit of the 70s. It is immediately followed by "Deserve", a rhythmic, cynical and sharp piece in which Steve Hogarth reckons with celebrity culture and materialistic emptiness, accompanied by a dominant bass role from Pete Trewavas and a fiery and surprising saxophone solo from guest jazz player Ben Castle alongside Neil Yates' trumpet. The album's atmospheric and cinematic dimension reaches exciting heights on the third track "Go!", one of the brightest gems in the band's 1990s catalog. Over a gentle, floating rhythm by Ian Mosley and dreamy keyboard carpets by Mark Kelly, Steve Hogarth sings in a fragile and touching voice about longing for freedom and the desire to escape the shackles of everyday life, before Steve Rothery's Les Paul guitar soars into a melodic solo, soaring and chilling in the spirit of the classic sound of David Gilmour from the band "Pink Floyd". The album's lighter, more optimistic side is expressed in "Rich," a heartwarming, energetic pop-rock love song in which Hogarth declares that true wealth is not measured in money but in human connection, followed by the mesmerizing piano ballad "Enlightened," wrapped in an airy, delicate mix by Steven Wilson. The band then displays a sharp British sense of humor in "Built-in Bastard Radar" and the nostalgic, warm song "Tumble Down the Years," two more texts penned by John Helmer that examine relationships with a sober, smiling eye. But the album's beating heart and creative peak are reserved for the two monumental pieces that seal it and together span over twenty-five minutes. The first is "Interior Lulu", a masterful fifteen-and-a-quarter minute progressive epic mixed by Steven Wilson that immediately became one of the band's most beloved works. The song, whose lyrics were co-written by Steve Hogarth and John Helmer, delves into the depths of the soul and modern loneliness, and moves virtuously from a dark, minimalist and tense opening, through powerful and dramatic rock outbursts, to a symphonic and sublime second part where Mark Kelly's keyboards and Steve Rothery's guitar engage in a breathtaking dialogue. The album concludes with the mesmerizing piece "House", a ten-minute piece born from a studio jam and initially named by the band members as a working title inspired by the trip-hop band "Massive Attack." Over a mesmerizing drum loop, melancholic piano, and Neil Yates's muffled and mysterious trumpet, the band builds a nocturnal, sensual, and bewitching atmosphere that depicts an empty house loaded with memories of a love that has fallen apart, a brave and modern ending that marked the band's future direction. The album cover, designed by photographer and designer Carl Glover in conjunction with Bill Smith Studio, also echoed the band's close connection to its fan base. In the special edition slipcase that accompanied the album, fans were invited to submit their personal passport photos via the website, and 732 of them were incorporated into the visual mosaic that adorned the packaging. Upon its release, "Marillion.com" reached No. 53 in the UK Albums Chart and No. 4 in the UK Independent Albums Chart, and marked the end of the band's distribution deal with Castle Communications. More importantly, it served as the musical and conceptual bridge that led directly to the historic revolution of their next album, 2001's "Anoraknophobia," in which the band invited their fans to pre-finance the album's production before even entering the studio, forever changing the rules of the global music industry. In the face of time, "Marillion.com" stands as one of the band's most diverse, courageous and exciting albums of the 1990s, one in which the band embraced the digital future without losing their progressive soul. A deluxe edition of "Marillion.com" followed on June 19, 2026, with a new stereo mix by Michael Hunter. The CD/Blu-ray set also includes a 5.1 mix, the band’s London concert from November 20, 1999, and a documentary about the album. This is an expanded reissue of the 1999 record, not a new studio album. For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

On October 18, 1985, "Love", the second studio album by the band "The Cult", was released. In the mid-1980s, when the British music scene was dominated by polished synth-pop on one side and dark, alienating new wave on the other, few bands dared to look back at the golden age of classic rock without sounding dated. "The Cult", which began as Southern Death Cult and later shortened to Death Cult, were deeply rooted in post-punk and goth rock on their debut album, 1984's Dreamtime. But on their second album, Love, the band sparked a sonic and conceptual revolution that became one of the defining moments of British rock that decade. The band's creative core, charismatic vocalist Ian Astbury and virtuoso guitarist Billy Duffy, realized that the limitations of the goth scene were too narrow to accommodate their musical ambitions. The two shared a deep love for the rock giants of the 1960s and 1970s, most notably Led Zeppelin, The Doors and Jimi Hendrix, alongside influences from Native American mysticism, Eastern spirituality and psychedelic romance. To translate this broad vision into a rich, warm and powerful sound, the band recruited producer Steve Brown, who had previously worked with artists such as Wham! and Alison Moyet, a choice that initially seemed surprising to alternative rock fans but turned out to be a huge breakthrough. The recordings were made in July and August 1985 at the legendary "The Manor" studios in Oxfordshire. During the work on the album, the band experienced a shake-up in the position of drummer, Nigel Preston, who played on the iconic lead single "She Sells Sanctuary", was fired due to instability, and his place on most of the album's tracks was taken by the brilliant session drummer Mark Bazzycki from the band "Big Country", who gave the songs a theatrical, precise and incredibly dynamic momentum, alongside the excellent bassist Jamie Stewart who anchored the rhythm section. The album opens with a bang with "Nirvana", a song that declares from the very first second that "The Cult" is no longer a gloomy fringe band. "Billy Duffy's" resonant and open riff on his white grushka guitar, combined with delay effects and choruses that create a psychedelic wall of sound, leads "Ian Astbury's" powerful and theatrical vocals that celebrate love, freedom and spiritual transcendence. Immediately following it comes "Big Neon Glitter", a rhythmic and mesmerizing section where Stewart's dominant bass and Bazzyczycki's complex drumming create a dark urban groove that explodes into a wide-ranging chorus. The title track, "Love", is a masterful work of tension-building. It opens with tribal drumming and a dusty Western guitar line, as Astbury adopts a shamanic delivery reminiscent of Jim Morrison at his peak, before the song soars into a melodic, sweeping guitar storm. In the same mystical and psychedelic spirit, "Brother Wolf, Sister Moon" also stands out, a slowly building acoustic and dreamy epic that showcases the band's most sensitive, poetic and spiritual side, with atmospheric guitar work that hovers over the emotional vocals. There is no doubt that the album's heart and commercial and artistic peak lie in its immortal pair of hits. The first of these is "Rain", a dark, sensual, danceable rock anthem that opens with a pulsating bass line and builds to an unforgettable, sawing guitar riff. The song perfectly combines the energy of alternative club dance floors with the power of stadium rock, and has become one of the band's greatest hallmarks. The second, and most associated with the band to this day, is "She Sells Sanctuary." Duffy's iconic opening, in which he plays a hypnotic, effects-laden melody on a single string before Preston's drums burst in, is considered one of the greatest guitar openings "in rock" history. The entire song is an eruption of pure ecstasy, a sweeping whirlwind of sounds that became the anthem of an entire generation and stayed in the British charts for months. The second half of the album continues to demonstrate extraordinary depth and variety. "The Phoenix" is a long, psychedelic, and sweeping piece where Duffy's guitar wails in a free Hendrix-esque spirit, while "Hollow Man" brings back the direct, explosive energy with a sharp riff and infectious chorus. The third single from the album, "Revolution", presents an anthemic, melancholic, and wide-hearted rock ballad, reminiscent in its structure of the great classics of the late sixties and incorporating female backing vocals that enhance the emotional drama. The album closes in a more gothic and gloomy atmosphere with "Black Angel", a slow, hypnotic, and lush track that brings the band's dark roots full circle, but wraps them in the rich and monumental production that characterizes the entire work. Upon its release, "Love" was a huge commercial and critical success. The album reached number four in the UK Albums Chart, sold millions of copies worldwide, and opened the door for the band to enter the American market, leading to their transition to the refined hard rock of "Electric" two years later. Above all, "Love" remains the perfect balancing act in "The Cult"'s" career, a rare moment where darkness and light, goth and psychedelia, alternative intimacy and stadium power merged into a timeless masterpiece. For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

Written by: Moti Kupfer Release date - 18.10.1993 Neil Finn has said that he tries to put himself in unusual and difficult situations as often as possible, hoping to capture a sense of struggle in his music. In June 1993, the New Zealand government recommended that the British Queen appoint Neil and Tim Finn Officers of the Order of the British Empire for their longstanding contribution to New Zealand music. "Crowded House" grew out of "Split Enz", initially under the name "The Mullanes", after Neil Finn's middle name, Mullane. After signing with "Capitol", they changed their name to "Crowded House", inspired by the small Hollywood Hills house they shared while recording their debut album. The Finn brothers, who played and sang in "Split Enz" and "Crowded House", became two of New Zealand's best-known musicians, particularly after their third album, "Woodface", yielded such beautiful songs as "Fall at Your Feet", "Four Seasons in One Day" and "Weather With You". Despite that success, Tim Finn left the band toward the end of 1991, after their onstage partnership failed to work as well as they had hoped. Keyboardist Mark Hart, who had already contributed to "Woodface", soon took his place on tour. He subsequently became a permanent member, completing the lineup alongside Neil Finn, bassist Nick Seymour and drummer Paul Hester. When Neil Finn and "Crowded House" began planning their next album, "Together Alone", released on October 18, 1993, they were looking for a change of direction. Finn explained that they had made all their previous albums between Los Angeles and Melbourne, and that the desire for a complete change took them to New Zealand's west coast. The band went further, replacing longtime producer Mitchell Froom with Martin Glover, known as Youth, and the choice was no coincidence. Glover brought a youthful enthusiasm and passion to a group of musicians who had reached something of a crisis and were searching for their way forward. Finn explained that they wanted to isolate themselves so they could think only about the music, free from other considerations. They were drawn to New Zealand's "Karekare" beach because it felt as far removed from the music industry as they could get. The relative distance from civilization had its effect, and some of the album's songs took on a darker, more contemplative character, in both their lyrics and their sound. Hester recalled days when they would look outside and see mist rolling in from the sea, transforming the valley from a sunny landscape into somewhere dark and shrouded in fog. The album opens with "Kare Kare", a tribute to the beach where they stayed while recording "Together Alone". A long, isolated stretch of coastline, many miles from the nearest shops, it left a powerful impression. The lyrics convey the band's sense of disorientation during those first days there. The album features intricate guitar and keyboard arrangements, alongside a Māori choir and log drummers. On the first single, "Distant Sun", Neil Finn uses celestial imagery to consider our place in the universe and how it relates to our relationships with one another. On "Nails in My Feet", which we consider one of their finest songs, if not their very best, the elusive lyrics suggest both strength and inner struggle. The narrator feels constrained by something or someone. There is also a tension between closeness and suffocation, without necessarily tying the words to any particular disagreement within the band. Drummer Paul Hester struggled with depression for years. He died by suicide in 2005. "Black and White Boy", whose lyrics move between elation and despair, has often been associated with him, although that connection remains an interpretation. "Pineapple Head" beautifully captures the complexity of human emotions. To us, it serves as a poignant reminder that it is all right to feel vulnerable, lost or uncertain at times. Its unusual imagery actually originated in things Neil's son, Liam Finn, said while delirious with a fever. On "Private Universe", Neil returns to childhood memories and his home in Melbourne, describing the private space a person builds for themselves. Finn explained that the song has no clear narrative, but rather a deep sense of atmosphere and the alternative reality that music can offer. Bassist Nick Seymour created the album cover, which depicts a red car carrying Jesus and Buddha, with another figure in the back. Only that passenger's arm, clad in a striped sleeve, is visible. The figure was intended to represent Muhammad, concealed behind a curtain out of respect for the prohibition on depicting him. After "Together Alone", the members of "Crowded House" recorded a few more songs and released the greatest hits collection "Recurring Dream" in 1996, before saying farewell to their audience at a concert in Sydney. The band returned in 2007. For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram and/or subscribe to our website