Monthly Archives: April 2024

Album review : UFO – Covenant + Sharks + Live (3 CD)

ufo_covenantsharks 150

Twin reissue package plus a bonus CD, from British rock legends, UFO. Covenant (2000), Sharks (2002) and Live At Blind Melons (1995). The problem with releasing a career high album like Walk On Water (1995), the band’s de facto “comeback” … Continue reading

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Single review : WILDSTREET – Heroes

WILDSTREET Heroes image

Golden Robot Records [Release Date 12.04.24] US band, Wildstreet, took note of music’s direction of travel (there’s no money in standing still) some years ago and have toured incessantly ever since… frequent appearances at SXSW,and M3 Rock Festival, plus 5 … Continue reading

Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Album review: DAVE KELLY – Sun On My Face

Dave Kelly - Sun On My Face

Repertoire [Release date 13.02.24] ‘Sun On My Face’ could easily be a metaphor for the veteran British blues artist Dave Kelly, who in the slipstream of The Blues Band’s retirement,  can now enjoy exploring the formative influences that have helped … Continue reading

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

EP review: ASHEN REACH, DEADAUDIOSAINTS, GEOFF CARNE

ASHEN REACH - The Fear EP

ASHEN REACH The Fear EP [Release date: 22.03.24] www.ashenreach.co.uk Liverpool-based Ashen Reach released their debut ‘Homecoming’ in late 2020 and since that time have appeared at numerous festivals in the UK including Steelhouse and Planet Rockstock. The EP is characterised … Continue reading

Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Album review: A TREEHOUSE WAIT – Kaleidoscope

A TREEHOUSE WAIT - Kaleidoscope

Volkoren [Release date 25.05.24] Singer songwriter Jenny Gajicki and producer Emil Sydhage have come together again for this latest piece of Scandi Noir (their debut ‘Interlude’ was in 2016). Jenny has a vocal delivery not dissimilar to the late Dolores … Continue reading

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Album review: BLUE ÖYSTER CULT – Ghost Stories

BLUE ÖYSTER CULT - Ghost Stories

Frontiers [Release date 12.04.24] Blue Öyster Cult have always been an enigma and this ‘new’ album continues that trend, or as the press blurb states – “This highly anticipated album marks a fitting finale to the recording legacy of one … Continue reading

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Single review: HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT’S ADEQUATE – One Word That Means The World (Arkhipov)

HOGTA

Bandcamp Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate – Malcolm Galloway (vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and producer) and Mark Gatland (bass, backing vocals, keyboards and co-producer) – are back with a new single, ‘One World That Means The World (Arkhipov)’. It is the first … Continue reading

Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Album review : THE CRYIN’ SHAMES – Please Stay, Joe Meek’s Tea Chest Tapes

CRYIN SHAMES Teachest 150

Cherry Red [Release date: 12.04.24] The Cryin’ Shames were late to the Merseybeat party, and departed almost as soon as they arrived. This a 2 CD reissue of every recording made by the band in its various guises. 48 tracks … Continue reading

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Album review: JJ GREY & MOFRO – Olustee

JJ Grey & Mofro - Olustee

Alligator [Release date 23.02.24] JJ Grey & Mofro’s tenth album ‘Olustee’ is a heartfelt journey through the musical swamp lands of North Florida, though the various story telling themes routed in the past, present and fired by his fertile imagination, … Continue reading

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Gig review: JOE BONAMASSA – Royal Albert Hall, London, 4 April 2024

JOE BONAMASSA- Royal Albert Hall, London, 4 April 2024

As he told us midway through the set, it’s now 15 years since the relatively inexperienced Joe Bonamassa gambled in following in the footsteps of his blues rock heroes at the Royal Albert Hall. It capped a meteoric rise, just … Continue reading

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Album review: EMERSON, LAKE & POWELL – Complete Collection

EMERSON, LAKE & POWELL - Complete Collection

Spirit of Unicorn Music [Release date 12.04.24] Emerson Lake & Palmer had imploded by the mid-eighties and the age of prog and pomp ceremony was seemingly over. In the late seventies there had been a last flourish of excess with … Continue reading

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Single review : KURT FROLICH – Another Heartbreak

KURT FROLICH Another 150

Golden Robot Records [05.04.24] Single release from Kurt Frolich, vocalist with Riley’s LA Guns. It has only a passing resemblance to the music of his parent band. Doesn’t make him a bad person, of course. In fact … The first … Continue reading

Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Single review : RHAPSODY OF FIRE – Brave New Hope

RHAPSODY Brave image 150

AFM Records [out now] Rhapsody Of Fire’s vocalist, Giacomo Voli sounds more like Brother Firetribe’s Pekka Heino every day. Or maybe it’s the other way round. Those expressive vocals, bringing a lyric to life, are hard to match. ‘Brave New … Continue reading

Posted in ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Single and EP reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Album review: THUNDER – The Magnificent Seventh, Robert Johnson’s Tombstone, Bang! (reissues)

thunder_bang1a

BMG [Release date 04.04.24] The latest batch of Thunder reissues span the years 2005-2008. All are available on vinyl for the first time. In 2005 the band released their seventh studio album called, appropriately enough, ‘The Magnificent Seventh’. It was … Continue reading

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Album review: BEAUX GRIS GRIS & THE APOCALYPSE – Hot Nostalgia Radio

Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse - Hot Nostalgia radio

Grow Vision [Release date 03.05.24] And suddenly everybody is rediscovering their pop roots. In many ways Beaux Gris Gris’s ‘Hot Nostalgia Radio’ is the perfect title for an album which celebrates the art of songwriting and is fuelled by the … Continue reading

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Album review : BLOODBOUND – The Tales Of Nosferatu – Two Decades Of Blood (CD and DVD)

BLOODBOUND Tales Live Blood 150

AFM Records [Release date : 19.04.24] It was 20 years ago today that Swedish keyboard player Fredrik Bergh and guitarist Tomas Olsson jumped the genre ship from AOR to Power Metal. They left behind popular melodic rock band, Street Talk, … Continue reading

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Album review: PHIL THORNALLEY – Holly Would

Phil Thornalley - Holly Would

Lojinx  [Release date 29.03.24] This reviewer enjoyed Phil Thornalley’s last album, 2022′s ‘Now That I Have Your Attention’, a veritable musical delight for fellow lovers of ELO, Tom Petty and all things Jeff Lynne related. On this album Phil Thornalley … Continue reading

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment