Just received this CD and although the arrangements sound good, as does the overall production, it occurred to me several of these songs seemed very familiar from "back in the day." As it turns out I was right! Some key tracks were NOT written by Solan Tsangaras as he claims, but by Pierre Guillerme and Artie Ramirez while they were in an ill-fated band called "AUDION," and these songs were learned by this guy calling himself, "Uncle Fester," who’s now taking the credit for writing them himself! Well piracy and thievery happen all the time in the music industry, but CD Baby should be made aware that their site is promoting the music of this pirate, Solon Tsangaras. I dug up an old copy of Metal Forces Magazine (#13)June'85 on page 35 which reviewed Audion's 4 track Demo of these very songs except for Traveller and the Audion Boogie (which Solon changed to "Express Drive South" to divert attention away from its obvious correlation to Audion themselves). It's nice to have chosen Audion's music to COVER, but to take credit for the writings of these songs is unforgivable. At the very least, Mr. Tsangaras should have credited the ACTUAL writers of the songs he stole, namely Pierre Guillerme (who sadly died of Leukemia in Jan., '86) and Artie Ramirez. Songs like Metropolis have been given a polished, new feel, as Solon has been practicing it for more than 20 years now, but that doesn't take away from the fact he learned the song from Audion creators, Pierre and Arthur. Another victim of Solon's piracy is the tune, "Traveler," written by Artie Ramirez, and “Destiny” which was written by both Pierre Guillerme and Artie Ramirez. Whatever happened to giving credit where credit is due? Did Solon think that since Pierre is DEAD and Artie left the band that Audion's songs were, "Up for grabs"? Did he think that he "Inherited" the songs? As an avid Audion fan since before Solon joined the band, I know personally that a great number of these songs were written by Audion members BEFORE Solon even joined the band! That being said, the Sofa Kingdom album does sound good, and the only flaw I see is that they didn't give proper credit to the actual writers of the songs and Solon Tsangaris robbed the writers of their due credit. The songs Solon DID write HIMSELF are pretty good, though, so I’m not putting down his musical talent, just his sense of morals and ethics. This guy Solon seems to be a real opportunist, one who takes advantage of whatever situation he may find himself in, disregarding the rights of others, and will do whatever he wants to benefit himself. What harm would it have done to give proper credit to the actual writers of these songs, or even just a simple notation of “thanks” SOMEWHERE on the jewel case liner notes. Good tracks on this CD include all the original Audion material i.e. Metropolis, Traveler, Express Drive South (aka the Audion Boogie), and Destiny. “The Operation” which also appears at the end as an unlisted Bonus tracks is great. Anthony Pierro’s guitar playing is outstanding and Rich Santiago’s drumming is steady and true, but one wonders if Solon’s band members are aware of his Audion past, and the fact that some of the songs they perform were “lifted” from other, uncredited artists. All that said, I still must give this CD a 3 Star Rating, minus one star for plagiarism.
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Uncle Fester is a terrific band who is just totally rockin'. Be it hard rock, classic rock or just wonderfully uplifting music. Sofa Kingdom has some spectacular guitar, bass, drum and vocals. They achieve a sound with bits of blues rock and heavy metal, yet have some beautiful mellow moments. They even show their humorous side (Wait, I'll Get the Car and The Operation). All I can say is whatever they do, it sounds really good.
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