MARCO DE ANGELIS – The River www.theriver.it

Marco De Angelis is an Italian solo artist an one of the few people in Italy who can play the Chapman Stick according to his bio. This is a concept piece based on the multiple interpretations of the river seen through two river banks and applied to human life.

The music is like 90′s Pink Floyd with plenty of Gilmouresque soloing. On vocals is Marcello Catalano whose soothing melodic style suits the songs well, reminds me of IQ’s Peter Nicholls. Picks would be the radio friendly ‘Tell Me Why’ (De Angelis makes good use of female backing vocalists to complement the music) and ‘One Love’.

Enjoyable enough and certainly well produced, worth a listen for those who like the more pop end of progressive music. ***

Review by Jason Ritchie

DAN SAVIK – Heading West

This album appears to have surfaced back in late 2012 to little fanfare which is a shame as this is a decent West Coast AOR release. Dan Savik has a soothing vocal, nothing at all rocky on this disc and he is joined by Peter Friedstedt, who AOR anoraks may recall from a album with Toto vocalist Joseph Williams a few years ago.

‘Closer’ is like a Joseph Williams solo song, you can picture the sun beating down on you as you listen to this one. Little diversions now and then with a pedal steel adding a contemporary music feel to ‘We Have Love’. No great surprise as many AOR/melodic rock singer/songwriters took the country path when grunge appeared in the early 90′s.

Nothing to taxing and as West Coast AOR goes this stands up well to other albums in that genre. ***1/2

Review by Jason Ritchie

OH CAPTURE – Advance Creature

Bristol based four piece Oh Capture are about to release their debut EP having formed just two years ago. Opening track “Beds of Many Ghosts” is musically strong but, for me, the vocals are too low in the mix- which is a shame as this does let the track down. This seems to be a recurring issue as later in the EP even the backing vocals seem to take precedence, however, this shouldn’t detract from the songs themselves- “Terrible Lives” and “Retreat Being” are a good indication of where the band are heading.

Having already being compared to the likes of Coheed & Cambria, Oh Capture should be worth checking out live. **

Review by Nikk Gunns

JIMMY MARTIN - Wild at Heart

Fastball Music

Back in 1993 Jimmy Martin represented his native Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest, the previous year he scored a double gold award for the single “All Kanner op Der Welt”- I know what you’re thinking here, it’s OK, I am too- just how many records do you have to sell in a country where the population is just over half a million people?

A couple of years later Martin found himself relocated to LA and releasing some rather good AOR albums. His latest effort, “Wild At Heart”, has just been released and it will no doubt appeal to fans of Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi etc. Opening track “Live Your Dream” could easily fit in on a Bon Jovi album whilst “Break Free” and “Love Don’t Live Here Any More” have a feel somewhere between the Bon Jovi and 1990’s boy band – a bad thing? Not really, the songs sound good and that is the golden spot where radio friendliness makes money.

There are a couple of guest artists on the album-“I Wish You Were Here Tonight” is a duet with Robin Beck and almost strays into big ballad territory, “Love Somebody” features Rick Springfield (and some great big choruses). “When Your Smile Fades Away” and “Life Without Love” are both piano led classic sounding AOR- these are followed by an awesome run through The Knack’s “My Sharona”. That last track and “Born to Run”- which is a “Back In Black” style riff meets Def Leppard, are the two tracks on the album that I keep going back to. There is also the addition of the video for the song “Love Don’t Live Here Any More”.

“Wild at Heart” is a good AOR album and has the ability to appeal to fans across the genre and Jimmy Martin is definitely an artist to keep an eye on. ****

Review by Nikk Gunns

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

Next session: Sunday 19 January

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 24 November 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 26 November 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)