Glenn Williams
MUSIC WRITER IN JAPAN
ALBUM
IMAGINARIUM
THE RISE OF MEDICI
Crime Records
The Rise Of Medici is concept album telling the story of the House of Medici in Italy in the 15th century. Briefly put, Cosimo de' Medici married an Italian noblewoman, the Contessina de' Bardi and her family added nobility, prestige, and military support to Medici’s finances which gave rise to their power in Florence. There’s a lot more to it than that but you can discover that for yourselves once you have been gobsmacked by this magnificent opus. It is, in a word, stunning.
The term ‘Rock Opera’ comes was coined in the mid-sixties and was most famously attached to The Who’s Tommy album in 1969. Since then it has been liberally applied to place an album in a category, the vast majority of which have no relation to opera – as we think of it in music - at all. Imaginerium have truly grasped the genre, flipped it and put the Opera back in. Correctly put, this is a new genre; Operatic Rock. It’s Rock that borders on Metal; orchestral that crosses over to Prog.
This album is littered with drama. It’s in the melody and the lyrics, it’s in the glass-shattering vocals and the orchestral arrangements. It’s an album that deserves to be and needs to be listened to in its entirety to fully appreciate but that’s not a difficult task – far from it – as it swoops and weaves musically. Treachery opens with a simple medieval tune and then throws you into a whirlwind of instruments. Catch your breath from that in the reflections of Fall From Grace because you’ll need it for the frantic and panic-ridden Will I Never Return. The one outstanding factor all the way through though are the vocals. The three singers constantly outdo each other but in a non-competitive way. They strive to be at their best and achieve it every time. The musicianship and production, needless to say, rise to occasion and deliver a stage for them to perform on.
In summary, I cannot find one single dull moment or fault in this entire piece and would love to hear this performed at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan or the Verona Arena. It would be awesome, in the true sense of the word.
Track List
Festina Lente
Duty Of Love
House Of Dreams
The Tide Will Change
Never Close Your Eyes
Glass throne
Treachery
Fall From Grace
Will I Never Return
Fortunes Reverse
Return Ff Medici
Legacy
Bonus CD
Fortunes reverse - Clive & Laura Mix
Duty of Love - Bonus Mix
Legacy - Duet with Andy & Laura
Never close your Eyes - Harp Mix with Laura
Fall from grace - Duet Elena & Laura
Fortunes reverse - Guitar mix
Festina Lente - Laura Mix
The tide will change - Instrumental Mix
Interview with Eric
Interview with Laura
Interview with Clive
ALBUM
RICHARD DIGANCE
IT'S NOT THE SAME ANYMORE
Self release
One of the things you always get from Mr. Digance, is a set of songs that are at one with his audience. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it’s guaranteed so whilst the title of this album echoes the sentiment in some of the lyrics on this album, rest assured that he is still at the top of his game, still the same. Loaded with nostalgia, modern observations and people of the past, lyrically, there is no one better at telling a story and he has a knack of creating a set of chords that married with his marvellous picking, emphasizes the melody and the subject. It’s no wonder he is in such high demand on the biggest stages around Britain.
Richard’s forty-fifth album (‽) starts with him lamenting how the English shops have changed from when he was young. It’s a set of lyrics anyone from England over sixty years old can relate to and empathise with. The same is true of the humorous I Can't Put My Socks On Anymore and the closing We Were Rebels, both resonate with his audience because that’s exactly how they are and were. Richard connects because he remembers and can write how things were. Nowhere is this more remarkable than in Tommy Cooper, a song about England’s eminent comedian who collapsed from a heart attack on stage, live on national television. Twelve million people watched the show that night and any one of us that watched the show can recall every second through Richard’s tribute.
There’s no massive production. In the places where he has added something other than his voice and guitar, it is a simple stroke to the canvas with impact, Florence And The Battlefield Angels being the perfect example. It starts with the recollection of a Crimean war soldier, the misery, pain and torment they all went through until Florence Nightingale and her nurses arrived. Richard then pulls us into today with a roll call of Florence Nightingales thirty-eight nurses as battle sounds gradually increase behind. Then we go back to the soldier and finally back to Richard who codas the song with a link to today’s nurses and the recent pandemic. It’s a very moving piece.
There’s no one quite like Richard Digance. A singer song writer who can make you smile, cry, recollect, laugh and learn all in one album and these thirteen songs have all of that and more and the best thing is that after you’ve heard this one and really enjoyed it, there are forty-four more for you to get stuck into. 😊
Track List
It's Not The Same Anymore
The Planets Are In Line Tonight
Absolutely Anything
After Lockdown
If You Want
Doris Digance The Artist
I Can't Put My Socks On Anymore
Charlie And His White Caravan
Tommy Cooper
Say You're Sorry
The Unknown Soldier
Florence And The Battlefield Angels
We Were Rebels