Album review: VARIOUS – Turkish Delight Volume III

January 10th, 2026 by GRTR! HQ

Escape Music [Release date 07.11.25]

Turkish Delight is now in its third iteration – the pet/vanity project of Escape Music label boss Khalil Turk who for 500 vinyl junkies will even include his signed postcard.

The idea is to bring together as many key practitioners in the realm of melodic rock/AOR and celebrate both the genre and the label’s longevity. The nearest equivalent in 2025 was ‘Sign Of The Times’ put together by another enthusiast Bruce Mee (of Fireworks magazine) but in that example with a smaller posse of practitioners and Mee did contribute to the writing. Perhaps this kind of altruism will be a new trend for 2026?

The success of these multi-artist collaborations is in the strength of the songs and presumably a reasonable budget. ‘Turkish Delight’ ticks these boxes and the third instalment may well be the strongest. It continues what Jason Ritchie described (in 2022, reviewing Volume I)as a ‘box of musical delights … if you have any love of highly polished AOR and melodic rock tunes.”

Given the variety of contributions it all hangs together very well and is obviously redolent of a genre golden age. The producers have avoided the possible pitfall of trying to replicate the main bands of the lead vocalist or lead musician.

Amongst the highlights, Steve Walsh (ex-Kansas) with vocalist Jerome Mazza on ‘City Of Lights’, Robin McAuley with Howard Leese (‘Chasing The Dream’) and Glenn Hughes and Mike Slamer on ‘Rose In Hell’. Ralf Scheepers and Marty Friedman also shine on the satisfyingly heavy ‘The Nero Decree’.

Uriah Heep’s Mick Box appears on the semi-prog ‘History’ whilst Dan Reed makes an appearance on ‘In The Shadows Of The Night’ reminding us that his latest album outing with the revived Dan Reed Network was – sadly – in 2022.

There’s a supporting cast of A-listers including the likes of Ian Paice, Vinny Appice, Jeff Pilson and Billy Sheehan making this a must-have for completists.

Melodic rock has proved quite resilient in recent years although sometimes tainted by poor production values and cliché. ‘Turkish Delight’ bucks this trend, and in some style. ****

Review by David Randall

Album review (Turkish Delight Volume I, 2022)

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Power Plays w/c 1 December 2025

We feature all the artists selected in this sequence in 2025.

Featured Albums w/c 1 December 2025

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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