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Gig review: BLACK EYED SONS- The Lexington, London, 16 December 2024
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Gig review: BRAVE RIVAL – Thames Side Brewery, Staines, 8 December 2024
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Gig review: STRAY – The Cavern, Raynes Park, London, 7 December 2024
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Gig review: THE SHEEPDOGS, THE COMMONERS – Islington Assembly Hall, London, 5 December 2024
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Gig review: GUN – Barrowlands, Glasgow, 14 December 2024
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Gig review: THE DAMN TRUTH – The Grace, London, 26 November 2024
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Monthly Archives: May 2020
Album review: ONE DESIRE – Midnight Empire
Frontiers Records (Release date 22.05.20) Three years ago young Finns One Desire suddenly emerged with a very impressive first album which made many people’s end of year melodic rock lists. It has taken a long time but they hope to … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Andre Linman, AOR, Jimmy Westerlund, melodic rock, One Desire
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Album review: DENNIS DE YOUNG – 26 East, Volume 1
Frontiers Records (Release Date 22.05.20) This album marks a welcome rock comeback for former Styx singer Dennis De Young. For much of the time either side of his departure from the band he seemed more interested in Broadway inspired or … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, AOR, Dennis De Young, Jim Peterik, Julian Lennon, melodic rock, Styx
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Album review: JEFFERSON AIRPLANE – Long John Silver/Thirty Seconds Over Winterland
Esoteric [Release date: 27.03.20] Bed fellows of the early ’70s, the Airplane’s last studio release for 17 years and a subsequent live album ensemble woozily in a heyday fade. Where the ’60s releases were taped under the clock in Hollywood … Continue reading
Album review: SHAPE OF THE RAIN – Rily Riley Wood & Waggett (Deluxe Edition)
Grapefruit [Release date: 24.04.20] Deep catalogue but worth the wait is this welcome reissue of an unjustly-neglected little diamond dogged by ill fortune. Signing to emergent imprint Neon back in 1971 probably seemed a good plan given it was run … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues
Tagged album, pop, review, Rily Riley Wood & Waggett, rock, Shape Of the Rain
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Album review: FM – Synchronized
Frontiers Records [Release Date 22.05.20] It’s now a whole decade since FM returned to stay with their comeback album ‘Metropolis’. Though from time to time they look back, rerecording ‘Indiscreet’ and most recently celebrating ‘Tough It Out’s anniversary on the … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, AOR, FM, Jem Davis, Jim Kirkpatrick, melodic rock, Steve Overland
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Album review: DEF LEPPARD – From London to Vegas
Eagle Rock [Release date 29.05.20] The geewhizz numbers are overwhelming…twenty billion albums sold. Ok, an exaggeration, but the Def Leppard stats come at you so fast and ferocious that it’s genuinely impossible to absorb the enormity of what this UK … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, DVD REVIEWS
Tagged album, classic rock, concert, Def Leppard, DVD, Eagle Rock, From London To Vegas, Joe Elliot, live, melodic rock, review, rock
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Album review: THE ROCKET DOLLS – The Art of Disconnect
Website [Release date 01.05.20] The Rocket Dolls are Nikki Smash (vocals, guitars), Joe Constable (bass, backing vocals) and Benji Knopfler (drums), back with their new album which was another affected by the PledgeMusic crisis. Undeterred, the Rocket Dolls re-launched the … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, grunge, modern rock, Nikki Smash, punk, review, rock, Rocket Dolls, The Art of Disconnect
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Album review: LETTUCE – Resonate
Round Hill Records [Digital release date 08.05.20] I have to declare at the outset that I have a soft spot for jazz funk. After a decade of prog and classic rock buying, in the late-1970s and 1980s I turned my … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, funk, fusion, instrumental, jazz funk, Lettuce, Resonate, review
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Album review: THESE WICKED RIVERS – Eden
Rock People Records [Release date 22.05.20] These Wicked Rivers have released a couple of EPs to date and now are set to unleash their full debut album upon the musical world. These Wicked Rivers consist of John Hartwell (vocals, guitar), … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, blues rock, classic rock, debut, Eden, review, rock, The Cult, These Wicked Rivers
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Single reviews: LITTLE CAESAR, UDO
LITTLE CAESAR – Straight Shooter Golden Robot Records [Release date 15.05.20] The much underrated, often overlooked Little Caesar, champions of biker rock, returned to the recording studio in 2018, after an 6 year absence. They had been a much feted … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews
Tagged Accept, AFM Records, classic rock, Little Caesar, metal, Musikkorps Der Bundeswehr, review, rock, singles, UDO, Udo Dirkschneider
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Album review: SPARKS – A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip
BMG [Release date digital 15.05.20; physical 03.07.20] There are not many artists that have been going for over fifty years and still regularly tour and release good new music, and Sparks are one of those few. Their last album, 2017’s … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, BMG, pop, quirky pop, review, Ron Mael, Russell Mael, snyth pop, SPARKS
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Album review: PAUL SABU – Sabu/Kidd Glove
PAUL SABU – Sabu Rock Candy Records [Release date 24.04.20] 1980: After building a name for himself as a producer of slicked back, funk-lite disco music, Paul Sabu took an out-of-the-blue offer from MCA Records to record a melodic rock … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues
Tagged album, AOR, Kidd Glove, melodic rock, Motown, Paul Sabu, re-issue, review, Rock Candy, Sabu
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Single reviews: THE RISING, NATHAN JAMES, DANNY VAUGHN, THE SENTON BOMBS, DION
THE RISING Shadows On The Wall I have been following the Rising since they started out. In their early days they were more in a country rock vibe, before settling on the main duo of guitarist Chris Logan and vocalist … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews
Tagged album, alt rock, country, Danny Vaughn, folk, melodic, metal, Paul Rodgers, review, singles, the Rising, the Senton Bombs, world music
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Album review: FIREWIND – Firewind
AFM Records [Release date 15.05.20] Although the main attraction of Firewind is their frontman Gus G, maybe their Achilles heel over the years has been the regularly changing line-up. This time round, the band have another new singer – Herbie … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Firewind, Gus G, hard rock, Herbie Langhans, power metal, review
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Album review: PARADISE LOST – Obsidian
Nuclear Blast Records [Release date 15.05.20] Creating an album whose compositions are fresh-sounding, well-balanced, expertly-performed and capable of causing high levels of excitement with every new spin is a pretty hard task for any band to achieve in the year … Continue reading
News: UK BLUES AWARDS 2020 – Sunday 17 May – Pete Feenstra is nominated in UK blues broadcaster category
Get Ready to ROCK!’s Pete Feenstra has been voted “UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year” in the annual UK Blues Awards, sponsored by ‘Blues Matters’. The winners of each category were announced in a special virtual awards stream via the … Continue reading
Quick plays: WILL POUND, ANDY FLEET, BEN KUNDER
WILL POUND A Day Will Come [Release date 08.05.20] The latest album by Will Pound is based on his travels across Europe, where he is joined by many of the musicians he met on his travels. It is subtitled ‘A … Continue reading
Album review: MOLLY HATCHET – Molly Hatchet
Rock Candy Records [Release date 24.04.20] Musical blood brothers of Skynyrd and the Allmans, Molly Hatchet released their self titled debut in 1978, with the strikingly original “Death Dealer” artwork on the front cover. It’s one of many unique pieces … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues
Tagged album, classic rock, Danny Joe Brown, Dave Hlubek, Molly Hatchet, re-issue, review, rock, Rock Candy, southern rock
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Feature: Music Industry v Covid 19
Many reading this will be furloughed writes Brian McGowan… over 6 million UK jobs have been so far. Many will not. Maybe you’re working from home. Maybe you’re less fortunate. You’ll know that the music industry is an integral part … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, FEATURES
Tagged artists, bands, blues, coronnavirus, Covid 19, feature, folk, gigs, metal, music, Music industry, pop, PR, record labels, rock, tours
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Album review: VEGA – Grit Your Teeth
Frontiers [Release date 12.06.20] Vega have made a series of quality albums in the 2010’s, deserving full credit for perseverance as, despite dynamic live shows, they have yet to break into the big time for reasons unknown. Their sixth album … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Grit Your Teeth, James Martin, Marcus Thurston, melodic rock, Nick Workman, Tom Martin, Vega
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Album review: ESOTERICA – In Dreams
Esoterica [Release date 20.04.20] The dictionary definition of Esoterica is ‘things understood by or meant for a select few’. No one could ever accuse the London based sextet of either as their open-hearted take on modern rock is growing legions … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Esoterica, gothic, In Dreams, melodic metal, metal, New Order, review, rock, symphonic metal
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Album review: CHRIS ROSANDER – King Of Hearts
AOR Heaven [Release date 26.06.20] Christian Rosander is a 22-year-old musician and songwriter from Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. Since he was 14 years old, he’d been writing songs in the AOR/Melodic and Westcoast genre. To be fair you’d been pretty certain the … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, AOR, AOR Heaven, Chris Rosander, King Of Hearts, melodic rock, review, synth pop, Toto
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Album review: STEVE THORNE – Emotional Creatures Part 3
Own label [Release date 02.02.20] Part 3 of the ‘Emotional Creatures’ trilogy he started back in 2005, which was also his debut album. Less name guests this time around as Steve Thorne plays all the instruments, bar the drums which … Continue reading
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Tagged album, Emotional Creatures Part 3, melodic rock, prog rock, progressive, review, Steve Thorne
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Quick plays: DELAIN, JESSICA WOLFF, BEFORE SUNDAY
DELAIN Apocalypse & Chill (Napalm Records) [Release date 07.02.20] There was a time – around 10 years ago – when I was rather taken with Delain, and for that matter, Within Temptation. Both brought a slightly more commercial edge to … Continue reading
Album review: MICHAEL McDERMOTT – What In The World
[Release date 06.05.20] I’ve been reasonably positive about previous releases by Chicago based Americana singer songwriter Michael McDermott. And if you’re looking for a singer songwriter in the great American troubadour mould, look no further. That is, so long as … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Michael McDermott, review, roots, singer, songwriter, What In The World
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