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Pete Prown
Kiesel JB5 Classic
The look and feel of Kiesel’s JB5 Classic align well with what a bassist expects when they gaze upon it – modern take on a Fender Jazz, with similar cuts and contours. Unless you’re that last bassist on earth to have picked up a Jazz (or one of the million clones), you know it. Sitting or…
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Pete Prown
Xotic ProVintage 5-String
Over the last few years Xotic has grown its rep thanks to top players who have endorsed its Leo-inspired guitars and basses. Now Xotic’s new import ProVintage series endeavors to bring the company’s noted build quality to a mid-price segment. Built in Indonesia, the ProVintage 5-String has its pickups installed, its neck Plek’d, and the…
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Pete Prown
Alembic Essence Zebrawood 4
Alembic basses are the stuff of low-end legend, famed for magical tones in the hands of Stanley Clarke, Jack Casady, and John McVie, among others. The newer Essence 4 series is meant to capture that Alembic experience with a body lighter than the company’s hefty axes of the 1970s. Like most Alembics, the Essence 4…
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Pete Prown
Deep Purple
A Fire in the Sky
There have been innumerable Deep Purple compilations, but this clever set includes at least one track from every Purp album. Three guitar legends are spotlighted – Ritchie Blackmore, Steve Morse, and Tommy Bolin, as well as bassists Roger Glover and Glenn Hughes – which makes for a more holistic view of the band’s 50-year history.…
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Pete Prown
Too Rolling Stoned
The Rolling Stones
Once reviled as a self-indulgent, drug-addled wreck, the Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties Request has been reconsidered in recent years and is now regarded as a one-off gem. Lodged between their early R&B-fueled hits and country-blues revival later in the decade, this LP is a snapshot of 1967 pop – it’s messy, whimsical, ridiculous, and at…
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Pete Prown
Cheetah Chrome
The Dead Boys Live Again
As the punk rebellion exploded in 1977, the New York scene became dominated by the Ramones, Television, Patti Smith, Richard Hell & the Voidoids, and (newly transplanted from Cleveland) a group called the Dead Boys. More than 40 years later, two original members – guitarist Cheetah Chrome and drummer Johnny Blitz – have re-created the…
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Pete Prown
Relic the Hague’s Scumbag
Rock-and-Roll Animal
On the surface, the Scumbag is a simple rock beast. With a 25.5″-scale neck, maple fingerboard, and bolt-neck construction, it has the design and spunky nature of a Strat or Tele. Another nod to the past is the guitar’s “snake head” headstock, a throwback to Leo Fender’s 1949 Broadcaster/Telecaster prototype. With its squared-off three-and-three design,…
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Pete Prown
Simo
Rise and Shine
Blues-rock phenom J.D. Simo and his band continue to push boundaries as they explore everything from slow-burn soul and psychedelia to greasy funk-blues that would make Albert King smile. This album also has a nice lo-fi audio, lending to sonic mystery of the proceedings. “People Say” rides a low-down groove, the perfect setting for JD…
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Pete Prown
Marillion
Misplaced Childhood
Progressive rock suffered an ignominious death in the ’80s, perhaps deservedly. That didn’t stop a few British bands from pushing onward, notably Marillion, which found a sweet spot on its third album, 1985’s Misplaced Childhood. Reissued here as a mega-deluxe box, listeners can enjoy the era in microscopic detail, including the remastered original album; two…
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Pete Prown
Steve Howe
A Virtuoso Career
A few years back, Steve Howe released the highly recommended Anthology, covering much of his solo career. This second anthology is a sprawling, three-CD set that aims to fill in the gaps, covering nearly four decades of ensemble work via 56 tracks. The box opens with mid-’60s pop, revealing a teenaged Howe in bands like…
