Blue Manic dive right into the four minute and forty-eight second riveting blues/rocker, “Stoned,” guitars sparkling, resplendent in raw energy. It’s a harder edge than when they performed live at Club Bohemia on Thursday. August 4, 2016, the band more earthy from the stage, the volume showing the quartet’s tendencies for loud. The intro goes fifty-one seconds before the story unfolds with rhythm guitarist Max taking on the lead vocal chores and explaining it in no uncertain terms, Blue Manic exploring a variety of avenues as Corey Downs pounds away on the drums, aided and abetted by the bass of one Jared Greiff. Mike Tate (who sings on other tunes) and Grebe are responsible for the dual guitar blasts. At the 3:25 mark “Stoned” becomes an almost different tune, guitars screaming in a frenzy as the group jams for a minute and twenty three seconds bringing this unique composition to its conclusion. Impressive, and hard hitting.
• • Bio from the band’s Facebook page.
Blue Manic is a new alternative rock group based out of Allston, MA. Blue Manic’s fuzzy guitars, balanced vocals, and assertive percussion produce a unique and aggressive mix of grunge rock that’s firmly based in the blues. Formed in late 2014, Blue Manic was born out of each member’s desire to meld rock, blues, and psychedelic influences to create something that pushed the boundaries of what they’ve done before. The members’ backgrounds include diverse experience playing in new wave, blues, funk, and jazz groups, and they continue to work on writing and solidifying their catalogue to reach a brand new audience.
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BARRY MANILOW LIVE (1977)
Barry Manilow Live 1976
Review by Joe Viglione
The classic double live album at the height of his early fame in the 1970s, Could It Be Magic/Mandy, I Write the Songs, Looks Like We Made It, It’s A Miracle, Daybreak. He was the second coming of Johnny Mathis, a cross between Mathis and Liberace, and this 1977 LP – following Frampton Comes Alive (1976,) Bob Seger’s Live Bullet (1976,) J Geils Band Blow Your Face Out (1976) – was the Middle of the Road following the hard rockers into the world of double discs. It’s an essential collection as it captures Manilow at a specific point in time and shows the necessity of splashing live performances across two discs (three would have been even more preferable. Historically, in the era before compact discs, record labels didn’t want to issue double vinyl. The costs were higher, more publishing to pay, more cardboard, more mother stampers, all the things that make vinyl more costly than compact disc.
Joe Viglione is the Chief Film Critic at TMRZoo.com. He has written thousands of reviews and biographies for AllMovie.com, Allmusic.com, Gatehouse Media, Al Aronowitz’s The Blacklisted Journal, and a variety of other media outlets. Joe also produces and hosts Visual Radio, a seventeen year old variety show on cable TV which has interviewed Jodie Foster, director/screenwriter David Koepp, Michael Moore, John Cena, comics/actors Margaret Cho, Gilbert Gottfried, Gallagher, musicians Mark Farner and Don Brewer of Grand Funk Railroad, Ian Hunter of Mott The Hoople, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Felix Cavaliere of The Rascals, political commentator Bill Press and hundreds of other personalities.
