(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 63: Restless Listening

More Uriah Heep…I’d say I have a problem but damn if Wake The Sleeper isn’t a great rock album. And the new Steven Wilson mix of Deep Purple’s Made in Japan sounds incredible, especially in Dolby Atmos. But I’ll spare you those this week, because my lack of sleep and concentration found me wandering the YouTube videos and magazine articles (yeah, I subscribe to Prog Magazine) for new and old bands to discover, so this week’s playlist acts a reminder for me to dig deeper in these new to me bands and artists.

ChrisAugust 16, 2025Leave a comment

Megadeth: Endgame (2009)

I guess this is how the story ends, to quote a song title from Endgame, the 12th album from thrash metal legends Megadeth? If true, and the forthcoming album and tour is to be Dave Mustaine’s last (under that moniker, at least), it’s good to see him not only leaving on his own terms, but with a body of work that — while it may include a few stinkers — contains more than enough killer albums to justify calling the “legend” tag and anchor their standing in the Big 4 of Thrash forever. And in Consuming the Tangible fashion, rather than mark the occasion with a bona-fide classic, I wanted to put the spotlight in Endgame, which doesn’t get nearly the praise it deserves as a top-tier Megadeth release.

ChrisAugust 15, 2025August 15, 2025Leave a comment

Blind Golem: A Dream of Fantasy (2021)

I said I’d been listening to a lot of recent Uriah Heep lately, but I’ve also been listening to a lot of reasonable facsimiles of Uriah Heep, too. Specifically Blind Golem, a band out of Italy who takes the classic hard rock band’s influence to heart so much so that Ken Hensley is not only featured on the album, but prominently displayed on the fantasy driven album art, to boot. A Dream of Fantasy takes the driving guitars, heavy organ, and proto-metal prog thunder and gives it a bit of that modern European polish for an effective tribute that also manages to make a solid statement on its own.

ChrisAugust 14, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

Uriah Heep: Salisbury (1971)

Despite my love and recent purchases of the later, most current iteration of Uriah Heep – Living the Dream and Into the Wild are killer modern rock records – there’s nothing like that classic, early 70s incarnation. Like their debut, sophomore record Salisbury has a different track order depending on if you have the UK or the US version, and while the original UK would have been a better selection (you can’t beat opening with “Bird of Prey”), you can’t throw a rock in a record store here without hitting at least three copies of the US pressing for under $8. On the upside, wicked cover art, though.

ChrisAugust 11, 20251 Comment

Playlists

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 62: What’s New?

Small steps. Repeated Deep Purple spins morphed into repeated Uriah Heep spins (the new stuff feels like a similar flavor to new DP), and rather than bear down and get another review out this week, I enjoyed taking bit of air and just listening to some of the new stuff that came in the house. I guess technically there is a fourth review, so if you dig stoner metal you can check out my review of the new Borracho over at Nine Circles. Otherwise, here’s what I’ve been spinning (or streaming) in my personal time.

ChrisAugust 9, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

Steve Hackett: Please Don’t Touch (1979)

If Voyage of the Acolyte was anything, it was the expected thing from Steve Hackett. A synthesis of his progressive rock chops honed from his time in Genesis and his penchant for more pastoral, classical arrangements. And beautiful guitar playing, of course. So the surprise of the left turn he takes on his sophomore solo album makes Please Don’t Touch perhaps makes the album more of a delight than I anticipated. Hackett recorded in the United States, working with a number of incredible vocalists and a killer’s row of backup musicians, and the variety of styles on display makes this a delight, my current go-to record for lifting the spirits.

ChrisAugust 6, 2025Leave a comment

Consuming the Tangible

We are what we consume

Month: August 2025