Status Quo 40th Anniversary Auction, Album and Uk Tour Announced

It's a massive 40 years since Status Quo debuted with the psychedelic hit "Pictures of Matchstick Men"

To celebrate they will auction artistic album cover remakes of their records, painted by Brian Wilson, Alice Cooper and Rolf Harris.

They will also release "Pictures: 40 Years of Hits", a fully remastered collection

The 4CD version is fully remastered and will come accompanied with a 120 page Art book featuring the works to go under the hammer at auction.

Status Quo have also announced a mammoth UK Winter tour.

Two Albums to Avoid ! Holy Dio A Tribute to Ronnie James Dio (2000) Status Quo In Search of the Fourth Chord (2007)

I bought two albums this week, both of which were duds; both of which seemed to hold much promise and both were really dreadful

First, Holy Dio: A Tribute to Ronnie James Dio (2000)



This held so much promise, some of the best contemporary prog metal bands (Blind Guardian, Fates Warning, Gamma Ray, Stratovarius, Hammerfall) covering the best metal vocalist of all time. What could go wrong ! This album simply proves that few can reach the heights of Dio, with the vocals falling short of pretty much every track. There are some fantastic metal covers out there (Sebastian Bach Black in Back is great, Demons and Wizards the Immigrant Song), but these are not included

Secondly, Status Quo In Search of the Fourth Chord (2007)

It entered the Uk Charts at #18, produced by Quo veteran Pip Williams, tantalising title........you only have to play the first track however to realise that it's a complete waste of time. The lyrics are amateurish at best, the vocals on track one sound stilted, like Rossi has never made an album before. I could only bring myself to flick through the rest. Time to retire boys !

Images: Century Media/Fourth Chord