Author Archives: GRTR! HQ

Album review: MOONRIDER (50th Anniversary Edition)

Posted on January 1, 2026 by GRTR! HQ

Think Like A Key Music [Release date 12.12.25] Those of a certain age will remember Keith West for his Top Ten hit “Excerpt From A Teenage Opera” and the tale of “Grocer Jack” aided by a posse of children, a … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged 50th anniversary, album, BBC, classic rock, country rock, John Wieder, Keith West, Moonrider, reissue, review | Leave a comment

News: Get Ready to ROCK! announce Top 30 albums of 2025 based on weekly chart (December 2025)

Posted on December 29, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

Get Ready to ROCK! - The Top 30 Albums of 2025

The Top 30 countdown was broadcast on 28 December on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio. David Randall presents a non-stop mix reflecting reader and listener activity during 2025 Get Ready to ROCK! (www.getreadytorock.com) has announced the Top 30 albums of … Continue reading →

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News: Albums of the Month (October-December 2025)

Posted on December 27, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

A quarterly feature highlighting album releases rated highly by the GRTR! review team and worthy of your investigation. We try and pick out a cross-section of albums that reflect the range of genres reviewed at the website. The star rating … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), Albums of the Month, ALL POSTS | Tagged albums of the month, Americana, classic rock, December 2025, funk, melodic rock, November, October, Progressive Rock, roots, singer, songwriter | Leave a comment

Album review: JUDIE TZUKE – Now Or Never

Posted on December 23, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

Big Moon Records/www.tzuke.com [Release date 01.12.25] According to her liner note: “This album’s a bit noisier in places…Best played loud” When the opening track of Judie Tzuke’s latest album blasts out – surprisingly – I was reminded of that fairly … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, classic rock, Judie Tzuke, Mike Paxman, Now Or Never, review, Rhino Edwards, singer, songwriter | Leave a comment

Album review: SPOCK’S BEARD – The Archaeoptimist

Posted on December 21, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

Madfish [Release date 21.11.25] Album reviewers, including this one, are often guilty of mining the cliché vaults and using five words where one would suffice. But then, every so often, something so good comes along that it defies words. ‘The … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged Alan Morse, album, prog, Progressive Rock, review, Ryo Okumoto, Spock's Beard, The Archaeoptimist | Leave a comment

News: The Best of 2025 – The Get Ready to ROCK! Reviewer Selections (December 2025)

Posted on December 8, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

In the world of rock and metal, 2025 might be best remembered for Ozzy Osbourne’s passing, coming less than three weeks after the year’s major gathering in Birmingham for Black Sabbath’s final fling. It certainly loomed large and attracted a … Continue reading →

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Feature: All Boxed Up for Christmas (December 2025)

Posted on December 2, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

The boxed sets and multi-disc reissues keep coming! First it was CDs that gave recorded rock a new lease of life, then came the revival of vinyl. But, as labels realised, they could expand individual albums with bonus material, and … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALL POSTS, Box sets, FEATURES, Reissues | Tagged 2025, anthology, boxsets, collections, David Lee Roth, Deep Purple, Jimmy Webb, Joe Meek, multi-disc, review, Seals & Crofts, Strapps, Wishbone Ash | Leave a comment

Album review: CYTRUS – Duality

Posted on November 28, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

www.cytrusband.com [Release date 14.11.25] Cytrus are described as a psychedelic funk band, so the listener might immediately think of Parliament or more specifically Funkadelic, purveyors of the genre since 1968. This eight-piece band from Seattle are actually far more accessible … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Cytrus, Duality, funk, Progressive Rock, psychedelic, Psychedelic Rock, review | Leave a comment

Album review: LETTUCE – Cook

Posted on November 26, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

(Lettuce Records) [Release date 03.12.25] As we mentioned in earlier reviews U.S. jazz-funksters Lettuce are firmly rooted in the late-sixties/seventies when artists such as James Brown/Maceo Parker and Tower of Power held sway. With the popularity of disco in the … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Cook, funk, jazz funk, Lettuce, R&B, review | Leave a comment

Gig review: CURVED AIR – The Sub Rooms, Stroud, 20 November 2025

Posted on November 22, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

To those of a certain age and male – most of the audience here tonight in fact – Sonja Kristina was a poster girl for rock in the early 1970s. Pre-Stevie Nicks, pre-Debbie Harry. Interestingly she told me in 2015 … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS | Tagged 20 November 2025, Curved Air, gig, prog, Progressive Rock, review, Sonja Kristina, Stroud, The Sub Rooms | Leave a comment

Gig review: MARTIN BARRE & FRIENDS – Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, 18 November 2025

Posted on November 22, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

Theatre Severn was a lot more salubrious than the Lomax in Liverpool 11 years before. In my recent interview with Martin Barre I reminded him of our last face to face chat before a gig he described as the … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS | Tagged 18 November 2025, acoustic, Alan Thomson, Alex Hart, classic rock, Dan Crisp, friends, gig, Jethro Tull, Martin Barre, Progressive Rock, review, Shrewsbury, Theatre Severn | Leave a comment

Album review: JAN AKKERMAN – My Focus Live Under The Rainbow

Posted on November 10, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

Music Theories Recordings [Release date: 12.12.25] Possibly missed by some, Jan Akkerman played a short series of dates in the UK in February 2025. Fortunately this rare excursion has been captured on a new live album. It seems that Akkerman … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, classic rock, February 2025, Focus, guitar, guitarist, Jan Akkerman, live, My Focus Live Under The Rainbow, prog, Progressive Rock, review | Leave a comment

Album review: SMITH & LIDDLE – Songs For The Desert

Posted on November 2, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

Legere Recordings [Release date 31.10.25] There must be something in the air at the moment, or at least this year. We’ve had excellent albums from Morganway, First Time Flyers, and now Smith & Liddle. The connecting theme is melodic classic pop … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, AOR, classic rock, pop rock, review, singer songwriter, Smith & Little, Songs For The Desert | Leave a comment

Album review: ASH WING – s/t

Posted on November 2, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

White Knight Records [Release date 07.11.25] This album is one of several that arrived at GRTR! Towers without an accompanying press release. Perhaps this is a new trend: get the journos to do the work. Again, from the Rob Reed … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Ash Wing, neo prog, Peter Jones, prog, Progressive Rock, review, Rob Reed | Leave a comment

Album review: CHIMPAN A – Music Is Art Vol.1

Posted on October 30, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

Tigermoth Records [Release date 29.08.25] Chimpan A’s debut album was quite a revelation and one of the best low key releases of 2006. (We only got to hear of it some time later). This off-on project is essentially Mike Oldfield … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, ambient, chill-out, Chimpan A, Christine Booth, classic rock, groove, Magenta, Music Is Art Vol.1, review, Rob Reed, Steve Balsamo | Leave a comment

Gig review: TODD RUNDGREN – The Sub Rooms, Stroud, 26 October 2025

Posted on October 30, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

With an image of Todd towering over the stage for the duration this gig was all about Todd and not his audience. Don’t get me wrong, it was a nice image, but do we need it so omnipresent? Surely back … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS | Tagged 26 October 2025, classic rock, gig, review, Stroud, The Sub Rooms, Todd Rundgren | Leave a comment

News: Albums of the Month (July – September 2025)

Posted on October 24, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

Posted in Albums of the Month, ALL POSTS, NEWS | Tagged 2025, albums of the month, Americana, August, blues rock, classic rock, hard rock, July, melodic rock, metal, Progressive Rock, roots, September | Leave a comment

Book review: MARTIN BARRE – A Trick Of Memory

Posted on October 24, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

David Randall chatted to Martin Barre at the start of his UK tour dates in November 2025. This hour special includes tracks from several albums including Tull and Alan Simon’s ‘Excalibur’ project McNidder & Grace [Publication date 06.11.25] “The music … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, BOOK REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, Radio interview | Tagged A Trick Of Memory, autobiography, book, classic rock, guitar, guitarist, Jethro Tull, Martin Barre, Progressive Rock, review | Leave a comment

Feature: Albums that time forgot – PETER BARDENS – Heart To Heart (1979)

Posted on October 18, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

Arista (1979) Esoteric (Reissue, 2012) Peter Bardens has an interesting history. Although his career was cut short – succumbing to lung cancer in 2002 at the age of 56 – he spent time in the 1960s with Mick Fleetwood and … Continue reading →

Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES | Tagged album, Camel, feature, fusion, Heart To Heart, instrumental, Peter Bardens, prog pop, Progressive Rock, review | Leave a comment

Gig review: GLENN HUGHES – Bristol O2 Academy, 14 October 2025

Posted on October 17, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

“Fuck politics. Music is the healer”. And there speaketh the Voice of Rock. But first, Sophie Lloyd who lent her support on this UK leg of the European tour. From what I can gather she doesn’t mind flaunting her body … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS | Tagged Black Country Communion, Bristol, classic rock, Deep Purple, gig, Glenn Hughes, hard rock, heavy rock, O2 Academy, review, Sophie Lloyd, Trapeze | Leave a comment

Album review: BRINSLEY SCHWARZ – Shouting At The Moon

Posted on October 12, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

Fretsore Records [Release date 14.11.25] Brinsley Schwarz emerged from the pub rock boom of the early 1970s. They will be best remembered for their infamous press junket in 1970 and a disastrous US debut. Oh, how times change. ‘Shouting At … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Brinsley Schwarz, classic rock, review, Shouting At The Moon | Leave a comment

Album review: PAVLOV’S DOG – Wonderlust

Posted on October 10, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

Ruf Records [Release date 03.10.25] As we’ve indicated elsewhere, reviewing the 5-CD retrospective, Pavlov’s Dog have never received the success they might deserve and never sustaining the acclaimed heights (and large sign-up fee) of their debut album released in 1974. … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Pavlov's Dog, pop prog, pop rock, review, Wonderlust | Leave a comment

Album review: PAVLOV’S DOG – Essential Recordings 1974-2018 (5-CD box set)

Posted on October 10, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

Ruf Records [Release date 27.09.24] What are we to make of a fairly basic box set from a band that have been described as “legendary” but who – this side of the pond – have largely gone unnoticed? ‘Essential Recordings’ … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Box sets | Tagged album, AOR, box set, David Surkamp, Essential Recordings 1974-2018, melodic rock, Pavlov's Dog, prog, prog pop, progressive, review | Leave a comment

Feature: GRTR! Greats – JUDIE TZUKE

Posted on September 26, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

Judie Tzuke is best known for her 1979 hit single ‘Stay With Me Till Dawn’. When reviewing her Bury gig in 2015 David Randall noted the outburst from a member of the audience. They didn’t quite know the proper title … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, FEATURES, GRTR! GREATS, GRTR! Greats (All Posts), INTERVIEWS, Radio interview | Tagged classic rock, feature, Judie Tzuke, retrospective, singer, songwriter | Leave a comment

Album review: THREE DAYS GRACE – Alienation

Posted on September 20, 2025 by GRTR! HQ

RCA Records [Release date 22.08.25] The main recent development for Three Days Grace is the return of original vocalist Adam Gontier who now shares duties with Matt Walst (who replaced him in 2013). Formed in the late 1990s in Ontario, … Continue reading →