AFM Records [Release date 29.01.16]
Swiss hard rock band Shakra return with their tenth studio album “High Noon” and, after the departure of vocalist John Prakesh in late 2013, surprisingly also return with previous vocalist Mark Fox who quit the band back in 2009.
The driving force behind Shakra has been in place since day one back in 1997, namely Thom Blunier (guitars), Thomas Muster (guitars) and Roger Tanner (drums). Bassist Dominik Pfister returns for his second album with the band.
You think of Switzerland and maybe struggle to think of class hard rock bands…well there is Krokus (whose Chris von Ruhr actually suggested the return of Mark Fox as vocalist), Gotthard and of course Shakra. Shakra themselves plough a similar furrow to Gotthard but that is not a bad thing at all.
“High Noon” kicks off in style with lead single Hello (Mark Fox announcing his return obviously…) which is a foot tapping classic which could be off any recent Gotthard release. Title track High Noon follows which is slower and takes a few plays before again you are singing along.
Consistency is the name of the game on “High Noon”. The quality never drops…but then again there is no real standout number either. Classic hard rock follows classic hard rock on Into Your Heart, Eye To Eye, The Storm and so on…
Raise Your Hands is cheesy to the extreme but still catchy, Stand Tall is a self-motivation number and Wild & Hungry wraps things up in style.
Old fashioned hard rock…maybe…but it is of such high quality that who cares. No deep meanings on here … just foot tapping sing-along songs a la Gotthard.
Highly enjoyable. Welcome back Mr Fox. ****½
Review by Phil Berisford
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.
Latest session: Sunday 25 February
Next session: Sunday 14 April
Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio
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 3 March 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 19 March 2024.
How to Listen Live?
Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)
Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”
Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.
More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com
Power Plays w/c 1 April 2024
NESTOR Victorious (Napalm)
CADET CARTER Strangers (SBAM Records)
ARENA What’s Your Damage (indie)
ONLAP Never Too Late (AFM Records)
BLACK SONIC PEARLS Black Butterfly (indie)
RENDEZVOUS POINT Don’t Look Up (Long Branch Records)
WILDSTREET Come Down (Golden Robot Records)
Featured Albums w/c 1 April 2024
09:00-12:00 CIRCLE OF FRIENDS Cherokee Moon (Escape Music)
12:00-13:00 MYRATH Karma (earMUSIC)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023
To see our Tweets you need to be logged in to a Twitter account
PDF - you can delete unwanted sections
