International Progressive Rock band Nine Stones Close, with members from the UK, Ireland, Switzerland and the Netherlands, will release their second album of the year, “Adventures in Anhedonia,” on November 07, 2024, via FREIA Music. This new release follows “Diurnal,” which garnered critical acclaim upon its release in June.
“Adventures in Anhedonia” is a deeply personal album, lyrically reflecting on the mental health and well-being of individuals, based on the personal experiences and traumas of guitarist Adrian Jones. Adrian shares: “It really reflects what’s been happening to me over the past years, the effect it’s had on me, and how I have tried to deal with some of it.”
Musically, the album takes a distinct direction from “Diurnal,” capturing the emotional weight of the lyrical themes while still maintaining the signature Nine Stones Close sound. The band has also revealed the album’s cover artwork, another stunning piece by long-time visual collaboratorAntonios Seijas.
The Rock Star Chronicles by Ray Shasho, is a splendid book written by a music enthusiast who has poured their heart and soul into it. It’s a story of a boy who loved rock music, and his obsessive passion of it earned himself the name Rock Raymond. He went to school but instead was schooled in all matters of music while his peers were buried chin-deep in coursework. He then became a radio DJ and has now compiled a book on all interviews he held with Rock gods who raided the airwaves back in the 70s and 80s. It’s a compilation of interviews with outstanding vocalists, legendary guitarists and crazy drummers in the rock music scene. Each interview gives a reader an in-depth view into their personal lives and the philosophies that guide their lives which all serve to humanize these great icons. For readers who are old enough to call themselves baby boomers this book will bring old memories back to life. Millennials, on the other hand, may think of this book as a literal work of the Carpool Karaoke show.
The Rock Star Chronicles is a book I didn’t know I was waiting for. To come across a book that will talk me into trying something new. One brave enough to incite me to venture into new frontiers. This book made me a believer- I am now a bona fide Rock and Roll music fan.
Ray Shasho masterfully gets the interviewees talking. He smartly coaxes answers from them with crafty questions designed to get a story rolling out of them. The artists talk about diverse issues ranging from music, politics, and their social engagements. Having been on the music seen all his life, Ray Shasho knows the buttons to press, how to get them comfortable about talking about their lives.
The book’s cover is befitting of its subject matter with the leather look offering a royal background to the golden letter print. It speaks to how high a level rock music holds in the pecking order- arguably, modern music as we know it has originated from blues and rock music. The second noteworthy thing is the use of high-definition pictures to reference the musician being interviewed in every sub-chapter. This ensures that the book is for both original rock and roll lovers and aspiring new ones. Together is makes for a refreshing and consistently enjoyable read.
I recommend this book to rock music enthusiasts, aspiring musicians wondering what it takes and all readers curious to learn new things by going back in time.
Faithful to any Neal Morse prog album, ‘No Hill for A Climber’ features two epics (the 28 minutes ‘No Hill For A Climber’ and ‘Eternity In Your Eyes’, which clocks in at 22 minutes) as well as three shorter songs: ‘Ever Interceding’, ‘All The Rage’ and ‘Thief’. The latter, Morse admits, is his current favorite: “It’s so different… it’s in all these different sections, and I’m really happy with the way each part has come out. It’s pretty crazy.
There’s even a really cool King Crimson-style instrumental bit in the middle that Chris Riley originally came up with at the Radiant School a couple of years ago.” For all of these reasons, Morse believes that the whole album is unique, but notes that “if I was going to compare its structure to an album I've done in the past, it might be along the lines of ‘Bridge Across Forever’ or Spock's Beard’s ‘V’; it’s not that it sounds at all like those albums, it’s just structurally similar. It has voices and playing styles and soundscapes that many people will have never heard before!
Everyone you work with changes you a ittle bit, so even I sound a little different on this one, but I hope that everyone will love it!” Throughout his long career, Neal Morse has often been a musical collaborator, usually with some of the greatest prog musicians across the world. This time, Morse has brought that collaborative spirit closer to home. The new album by Neal Morse & The Resonance – entitled ‘No Hill for A Climber’ will be releasedNovember 8th, 2024, and the title is taken from a resonant line in Barbara Kingsolver’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Demon Copperhead. Neal Morse is an American singer, musician and composer based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1992, he formed the progressive rock band Spock's Beard with his brother Alan and released an album which was moderately successful. In 1999, he joined Dream Theater's co-founder and then drummer Mike Portnoy, together with Flower Kings' Roine Stolt and Marillion's Pete Trewavas they formed the super-group Transatlantic.
In 2002, Neal Morse became a born-again Christian, left Spock's Beard and began a Christian rock solo career, releasing many progressive rocks concept albums about his new religious faith. In the meantime, he continued to play with Transatlantic and formed three new bands with Portnoy, Yellow Matter Custard, Flying Colors and The Neal Morse Band. One of his most recent projects included two critically acclaimed solo releases with D'Virgilio, Morse & Jennings.
“Neal Morse does it again with a brilliant new release entitled ‘No Hill for A Climber.’ Morse invited a divergent group of local musicians to record, and the end product was epic. Simply, this album has all the fundamentals needed for a Grammy and best album of the year.”
Jesus Christ: The Exorcist - Live at Morsefest 2018 (2020)
Life & Times in Milan - June 8th, 2016 (2021)
With The Neal Morse Band
Alive Again (2016)
The Similitude of a Dream: Live in Tilburg 2017 (2018)
Morsefest 2017: Testimony of a Dream (2018)
The Great AdvenTour: Live in Brno 2019 (2020)
Morsefest 2019 (2021)
Morsefest 2021 (2022)
Morsefest 2020 (2023)
An Evening Of Innocence & Danger: Live in Hamburg (2023)
With Spock's Beard
Official Live Bootleg/The Beard is Out There (1996)
Live at the Whisky and NEARfest (1999)
Nick 'n Neal live in Europe – Two Separate Gorillas (2000)
Don't Try This at Home (2000)
Don't Try This @ Home Either (2000)
There & Here (2001)
Europe '98 (2010)
Snow Live (2017)
Offenbach 1-Nov-98 (2019)
Live at the Astoria - Jun 16, 2001 (2021)
With Transatlantic
Live in America (2001)
Live in Europe (2003)
Whirld Tour 2010: Live in London (2010)
More Never is Enough: Live @ Manchester & Tilburg 2010 (2011)
KaLIVEoscope (2014)
The Final Flight: Live At L'Olympia (2023)
With Yellow Matter Custard
Main article: Yellow Matter Custard § Discography
One Night in New York City (2003)
One More Night in New York City (2011)
With Flying Colors
Live in Europe (2013)
Second Flight: Live at the Z7 (2015)
Third Stage: Live in London (2020)
Morsefest 2019 (2021)
Compilations and rarities
Merry Christmas from the Morse Family (2000)
The Transatlantic Demos (2003)
Sing It High: A Collection of Singles (2007)
One Demos (2007)
Neal's Mystery Box (2019)
Advent Calendar 2019 (2019)
Inner Circle Sampler (2020)
Hope and a Future (2020)
Testimony Demos (2020)
Question Mark Demos (2020)
Sola Scriptura Demos (2020)
With Spock's Beard
From the Vault (1997)
The First Twenty Years (2015)
The Demos 1995-2000 (2020)
With Transatlantic
SMPT:e - As Mixed By Roine Stolt 1999 (2003)
With The Prog World Orchestra
A Proggy Christmas (2012)
NEAL MORSE
APPEARS
OCTOBER 18TH 2024
ON INTERVIEWING THE LEGENDS
WITH RAY SHASHO
THE ROCK STAR CHRONICLES
BOOK TRAILER
BOOK REVIEW
-By Literary Titan (5) STARS
The Rock Star Chronicles by Ray Shasho, is a splendid book written by a music enthusiast who has poured their heart and soul into it. It’s a story of a boy who loved rock music, and his obsessive passion of it earned himself the name Rock Raymond. He went to school but instead was schooled in all matters of music while his peers were buried chin-deep in coursework. He then became a radio DJ and has now compiled a book on all interviews he held with Rock gods who raided the airwaves back in the 70s and 80s. It’s a compilation of interviews with outstanding vocalists, legendary guitarists and crazy drummers in the rock music scene. Each interview gives a reader an in-depth view into their personal lives and the philosophies that guide their lives which all serve to humanize these great icons. For readers who are old enough to call themselves baby boomers this book will bring old memories back to life. Millennials, on the other hand, may think of this book as a literal work of the Carpool Karaoke show.
The Rock Star Chronicles is a book I didn’t know I was waiting for. To come across a book that will talk me into trying something new. One brave enough to incite me to venture into new frontiers. This book made me a believer- I am now a bona fide Rock and Roll music fan.
Ray Shasho masterfully gets the interviewees talking. He smartly coaxes answers from them with crafty questions designed to get a story rolling out of them. The artists talk about diverse issues ranging from music, politics, and their social engagements. Having been on the music seen all his life, Ray Shasho knows the buttons to press, how to get them comfortable about talking about their lives.
The book’s cover is befitting of its subject matter with the leather look offering a royal background to the golden letter print. It speaks to how high a level rock music holds in the pecking order- arguably, modern music as we know it has originated from blues and rock music. The second noteworthy thing is the use of high-definition pictures to reference the musician being interviewed in every sub-chapter. This ensures that the book is for both original rock and roll lovers and aspiring new ones. Together is makes for a refreshing and consistently enjoyable read.
I recommend this book to rock music enthusiasts, aspiring musicians wondering what it takes and all readers curious to learn new things by going back in time.
