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Upcoming Gigs & Albums
Latest Album Reviews
Latest Gig Reviews
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Gig review: ANTHRAX – Hammersmith Apollo, London, 23 November 2024
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Gig review: BLACK STONE CHERRY – Wembley Arena, London, 23 November 2024
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Gig review: SQUEEZE – Roundhouse, London, 22 November 2024
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Gig review: CARDINAL BLACK – Sub 89, Reading, 15 November 2024
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Gig review: SUZI QUATRO – London Palladium, 13 November 2024
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Gig review: HRH XVII, Great Yarmouth, 7-9 November 2024
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Featured Album Reviews
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Album review: LYNYRD SKYNYRD – Sweet Home Alabama (Live, 1974, 1996)
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Album review : STATUS QUO – The Early Years 1966-69 (5 CD boxset)
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Album review: TOM TOOMEY – Turquoise
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Album review: ROB COTTINGHAM – Back Behind The Orchard Tree
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Album review: TANGERINE DREAM – The Bootleg Box Set Vol.2 (7 CDs, Remastered)
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Album review: TOM KEIFER – The Way Life Goes
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Features
Single & EP Reviews
DVD Reviews
Book Reviews
News
Author Archives: brianmc
Album review : ARCHON ANGEL – II
Frontiers [Release date 14.04.23] On his second album now fronting Archon Angel, Zak Stevens probably couldn’t tell you how many albums he’s appeared on. We’ll help him out: Since 1993, five as Savatage’s frontman, five up front with The TSO … Continue reading
Album review: KILLER – Hellfire (And The Best of Killer) 2 CD Edition
Cherry Red/HNE [Release date: 21.03.23] Belgium: 1980 : 3 respected, experienced, died in the wool rock musicians split with their long time bands, and get together to share a different musical destiny. Paul “Shorty” Van Camp, “Fat Leo” and “Spooky” … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews
Tagged album, Belgium, Cherry Red, heavy metal, Hellfire (And The Best of Killer), HNE, Iron Maiden, Killer, Mausoleum, Metallica, Motorhead, review, Saxon, Shorty Van Camp, Spooky
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Album review: WARFARE – The Lemmy Sessions (3 CD Boxset)
Cherry Red/HNE [Release date : 24.03.23] Late on in the last century’s timeline, around 1990, Co. Durham’s one and only anarchic metal band, Warfare, were outselling stablemates, Venom and Raven. On stage and off stage they were living up to … Continue reading
Album review: FOGHAT – Road Fever – The Complete Bearsville Recordings 1972-75 (6 CD boxset)
Cherry Red/HNE [Release date 24.03.23] Britband Foghat clocked up a considerable number of tour miles after relocating to the USA in 1970, road testing their material, looking to kickstart their career. It worked a treat. It’s on the road that … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Bearsville, blues, boogie, boxset, Cherry Red, Dave Peverett, Foghat, Nick Jameson, review, Rod Price, Roger Earl
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Album review : CROSS COUNTRY DRIVER – The New Truth
Frontiers [Release date: 17.03.23] Rob (Riverdogs) Lamothe’s new bluesy, country, earthy rock music band is called Cross Country Driver. It consists of only him, his son Zander on drums, and old friend James Harper on guitar. An impressive guest list, … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Dug Pinnick, Greg Chaisson, Jimmy Wallace, Mike Mangini, review, Rob Lamothe, rock, Zander Lamothe
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Album review : TRANSWORLD IDENTITY – Seven Worlds
Frontiers [Release date 17.3.23] Transworld Identity is a breath of fresh air. Vocalist Mila Bosa previously fronted a hard rock covers band, inevitably moving onto original material with her own band, T-ID. Hard to tell just how long they’ve been … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Abba, album, AOR, Frontiers, Hanoi Rocks, melodic rock, Mila Bosa, Nightwish, pop, review, Ryan Roxie
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Album review : GUNTER WERNO – Anima One
Frontiers [Release date: 10.03.23] Like last month’s All My Shadows, Gunter Werno’s Anima One is yet another offshoot grown from the fertile ground that bred Prog Metal giants, Vanden Plas. While All My Shadows saw VP’s prime movers, Stephan Lill … Continue reading
Album review: THE BANISHMENT – Machine And Bone
Frontiers [Release date 10.03.23] From Dokken and Lynch Mob to End Machine, KXM and more, George Lynch has been on quite some rock’n’roll journey. And is still. He and his new world bandmates, Producer/Mixer/Writer, Joe Haze and vocalist, Devix AKA … Continue reading
Album review : DEMONS DOWN – I Stand
Frontiers [Release date: 10.03.23] Here’s an interesting band. Demons Down combine the legacy Melodic Rock of House Of Lords (and others) … Jimi Bell, Ken Mary and Chuck Wright, with today’s rising stars in the shape of Chilean vocalist, James … Continue reading
Album review: KEN HENSLEY – Past And Present (Songs In Time Anthology, 1972-2021, 6 CD set)
Cherry Red [Release date: 27.02.23] The late Ken Hensley had been steadily accumulating cultural stock since 1970. His ability to write poetic, melodic rock’n’roll is well known in the music industry worldwide. His reputation grew exponentially as he converted that … Continue reading
Album review : DEICIDE – Bible Bashers (3 CD Retrospective)
Dissonance/Cherry Red [Release date: 24.02.23] The first of the 3 CDs in this Deicide set, InsinerateHymn (fabulous title), was the band’s fifth album, released in 2000. The band, led by bassist/ writer/ singer, Glen Benton, had made their not inconsiderable … Continue reading
Album review: CREYE – Weightless
Frontiers [Release date 17.02.23] After a commercially unsuccessful debut album, it was the addition of August Rauer as vocalist in 2018 that kick started Creye’s career as a melodic rock band. On the downside, Weightless, their third album, is filled … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, August Rauer, Creye, Eclipse, Eurorock, HEAT, melodic rock, review, Weightless, Work Of Art
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Album review: TEENAGE GLAMPAGE – 80 Glambusters From The Seventies (4CD boxset)
Cherry Red [Release date 17.02.23] Glamrock stamped its imprint on the UK Pop scene in the Seventies, and perhaps overstayed its welcome. But while it reigned supreme, it produced countless unforgettable pop songs. This 4 CD anthology, Teenage Glampage, begins … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged 80 Glambusters, Barron Knights, Barry Blue, Bay City Roller, Bill Martin, boxset, Cozy Powell, Don Fardon, Glamrock, Hush, Mott the Hoople, Mud, Mungo Jerry, Phil Coulter, review, seventies, Slik, Suzi Quatro, T.Rex, Teenage Glampage, The Sweet, Wizzard
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Album review : FIRST SIGNAL – Face Your Fears
Frontiers [Release date 17.02.23] Harry (Harem Scarem) Hess teams up this time with producer/writer, Michele Guiatoli, who has recently impressed us with his guitar and mixing desk skills on the Issa album, Lights Of Japan. The last First Signal album … Continue reading
Album review – KHYMERA – Hold Your Ground
Frontiers [Release date 10.02.23] Texas native, bassman and vocalist, Dennis (Pink Cream 69/Unisonic/Place Vendome/Sunstorm) Ward, transformed into a full blown front man with Khymera earlier this millennium. The band membership is inclined to fluidity, but Ward has assembled a fine … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Dennis Ward, Eric Ragno, Hold Your Ground, Khymera, melodic rock, Pink Cream 69, review, Unisonic
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Album review: T3NORS – Naked Soul
Frontiers [Release date: 10.02.23] So much of Frontiers’ melodic rock finds itself impervious to outside influences. There are few AOR albums from the label that have successfully taken on contemporary musical mores. The truth is – we all claim to … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, AOR, Blanc Faces, Giant, Kent Hilli, melodic rock, Naked Soul, Perfect Plan, Pride of Lions, review, Robbie LeBlanc, T3NORS, Toby Hitchcock
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Album review: WIG WAM – Out Of The Dark
Frontiers [Release date 10.02.23] Hard to believe Wig Wam began strutting their Glam/Classic Rock stuff two decades ago.Their flirtation with Eurovision is well documented, but the band’s post 2014 downtime gap is not. What we do know is that the … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, comeback, Eurovision, glam rock, metal, Out Of The Dark, review, Wig Wam
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Album review: WHAT A GROOVY DAY – The British Sunshine Pop Sound, 1967-72 (3 CD boxset)
Cherry Red/ Grapefruit [Release date 27.02.23] Sunshine Pop – a worldwide phenomenon, though most popular in the USA and the UK – predated the age of psychedelia only by a matter of months. Legendary but hitless sixties UK band, Tony … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged 3 CD set, boxset, review, Sunshine Pop, The seventies, The Sixties
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Album review: RONNIE ROMERO – Raised On Heavy Radio
Frontiers Records [Release date: 27.01.23] Second “Raised On…” album from Ronnie (Rainbow, Lords Of Black, The Ferry Men) Romero. Recording cover versions of your favourite songs must be a temptation that’s impossible to resist. Many singers/bands have done it. Few … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews
Tagged album, Bad Company, Chris Caffery, Foreigner, Gus G, heavy metal, Helloween, Iron Maiden, Journey, Judas Priest, melodic rock, Nozuma Wakei, Rainbow, Raised On Heavy Radio, review, Roland Grapow, Ronnie Romero, Steve Perry, Survivor
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Album review : CROWNE – Operation Phoenix
Frontiers [elease date: 27.01.23] Second album from Crowne, a high end assembly made up of members of H.E.A.T., Art Nation, Europe, The Poodles and Dynazty. Respectively, Jona Tee, Alexander Strandell, John Leven, Christial Lundqvist and Love Magnusson. The debut didn’t … Continue reading
Album review: ARCTIC RAIN – Unity
Frontiers [Release date: 27.01.23] Arctic Rain’s declamatory melodic rock will remind you of several expert practitioners of the genre. From the Bon Jovi-esque ‘One World’, intense, in your face, with a fleeting sense of melody, and the title track, ‘Unity’, … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged AOR, Arctic Rain, Bon Jovi, Frontiers, Graham Bonnet, Harem Scarem, melodic rock, Mr Big, review, Tobias Jonson, Unity
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Album review: GIRLSCHOOL – The School Report 1976-2008
Cherry Red/HNE [Release date: 27.01.23] Girlschool experienced their share of heartache… label let downs, revolving door membership issues, conflicting views on musical direction and the struggles to sustain their ambitions in the face of all of the above. But they soldiered … Continue reading
Album review: THE FIRST CLASS – Beach Baby – The Complete Recordings (3 CD set)
Cherry Red [release date: 27.01.23] 1974, and the first pop single to be written by Shakespeare, ‘Beach Baby’, breaks into the US and UK charts. John Carter (not that one) was born John Shakespeare. A singer, songwriter and producer who … Continue reading
Album review : HOLOCAUST – Heavy Metal Mania – The Complete Recordings, Vol 1 1980-1984 (6 CDs)
Cherry Red [Release date 27.01.23] Carrying the NWOBHM torch in Scotland since 1977, Edinburgh’s Holocaust are the genre’s archetypal survivors. They are almost literally the definition of “Metal bands who’ve flown under the radar their whole career”. Arguably, it was … Continue reading
Album review : TRAPEZE – Don’t Stop The Music – Complete Recordings Vol 1 1970-1992 (6 CD Boxset)
Cherry Red [Release date: 24.02.23] A cool, 6-CD boxset of high calibre Trapeze material. Three CDs of studio albums plus 3 CDs of live recordings, one as recent as 1992. CD1 : Trapeze (originally released 1970) The debut tends to … Continue reading
