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Book Review: The Night Bastard
Colosseum - Live by Mott the Dog ** 2 Star Rating This is a band born out of the British Blues era, who then got into the Jazz Fusion scene with a vengeance. Definitely trend setting in their style of composition, inspiring a whole generation of bands to follow in their footsteps, with different degrees of success. The band was Jon Hiseman’s vehicle for his freedom of musical expression, after both he and the superb sax player Dick Heckstall-Smith had been firstly in the Graham Bond Organization (where Hiseman had replaced the Cream bound Ginger Baker) and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (which is a bit misleading as at the time they were themselves dabbling in Jazz Rock). They decided to launch their wings with their own band impressively titled Colosseum in 1969 with the very young David Greenslade on keyboards, Tony Reeves on bass & James Litherland on guitar & vocals. The long & uncertain yellow brick road to stardom was undertaken, and after two comparatively successful albums, Tony Reeves & James Litherland left to discover their own particular Nirvana & were replaced by the much traveled Mark Clarke on bass, the much more rock orientated Clem Clempson on guitar & the unlikely choice of Chris Farlowe on vocals. These shifts in lineup were obviously very disturbing to the musical content; so much talent in one band can actually be a handicap, and expectations of their loyal fans for the band to retread past glories, written when half the band had not even heard of Colosseum also never made for easy inter band relations. So after one more album they fragmented into many different parts, Jon Hiseman to form Colosseum II with Gary Moore, Dick Heckstall-Smith to sessions, Dave Greenslade to lead the British progressive rock movement with his own double keyboard band Greenslade, Mark Clarke to Rainbow & Uriah Heep, Chris Farlowe to Atomic Rooster & Clem Clempson to live his Rock ‘n’ Roll dreams in Humble Pie. This live album was released post-humously and although not perhaps having the brilliance of the first two albums still shows 6 top class musicians in their prime. The band certainly give us some fine moments, particularly in “Walking In The Park” & first encore “Stormy Monday”, where they forget their differences & just have a good old blow, unfortunately Chris Farlowe’s buffoonery in mid song (breaking into Sunny boy, and the band painfully not following him) leaves you in no doubt that here is one round peg trying to fit into a square hole. Perhaps not a fitting climax to a great band, but I shall leave you with the great drummer’s reason for unleashing this on the public: “From the inside Colosseum can be a pretty exhilarating experience and one which I have always wanted to share.” Close your eyes, turn it down to deafening and these tracks will put you in the driver’s seat. Jon Hiseman - Drums Track Listing 1. Rope Ladder To The Moon
Movie Review: Jurassic Part III By Poppy Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neil) is desperate to continue his research into dinosaurs. He devoted his entire life to the study of dinosaurs, but he never imagined he’d have to be face-to-face with them ... again. He’s invited by wealthy adventurer Paul Kirby (William H. Macy) and his wife Amanda (Tea Leoni) to act as host on an aerial tour of Isla Sorna, which has been a breeding ground for dinosaurs. Accompanied by his prot้g้ (Alessandro Nivola), Grant suspects that something’s not right when the pilot prepares to actually land on the island; although he argues, a giant creature forces the plane down. Once again stranded on an island inhabited by genetically cloned dinosaurs, Grant finally discovers his deceptive hosts’ true reason for inviting him on this journey. This excursion was never intended to simply be an aerial tour but, in fact, a search and rescue mission. The Kirby’s are actually a middle class, divorced couple reunited for the sole purpose of finding their 14-year-old son Eric (Trevor Morgan), who disappeared while vacationing with Amanda’s boyfriend. Now, as they attempt to locate Eric and find a way to escape with their lives, the marooned group must encounter terrifying new creatures undisclosed by InGen, including the massive Spinosaurus, which can hunt both on land and underwater, and the flying Pteranodons. The first movie was good, the second OK, the third should not have happened! Directed by Joe Johnston Cast: Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant
Updated every Friday Updated by
Chinnaporn Sungwanlek, assisted by Boonsiri Suansuk. |
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Cotterill
uses a multi-point approach in the book, with several threads all going at
the same time. Plots and sub-plots follow and intertwine. Short chapters
keep the anticipation going and forces you to keep reading to see just
what has happened next to each player in the suspense drama.
Mott’s CD review:
