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Gig review: BAND OF FRIENDS- 229 Club, London, 4 January 2026
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Gig review: PUNCHDRUNK SAINTS – Fairycroft House, Saffron Walden, December 27 2025
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Gig review: STEVE OVERLAND AND JIM KIRKPATRICK- The Weir, Brentford, Middlesex, 9 December 2025
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Gig review: JOHN OTWAY – Face Bar, Reading, Thursday 11 December 2025
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Category Archives: ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile)
SANTANA – Greatest Hits: A Night In Montreux
Eagle Vision (2012) This is a new blu ray DVD release which perfectly captures Carlos Santana and his cohorts playing through a stunning set of Santana’s greatest hits. This gig was recorded during the band’s European tour in July 2011 … Continue reading
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Tagged Eagle Vision, Santana
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SAVAGE MESSIAH ‘Plague of Conscience’
Savage Messiah is an English outfit producing metal that grabs one’s attention. This is the band’s third release and has been available for free download on Earache’s web page. The artwork belies the true nature of the band’s music: while … Continue reading
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Tagged Plague of conscience, Savage Messiah
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COMSORTIUM PROJECT – re-issues
Lion Music www.lionmusic.com Ian Parry’s brainchild, Consortium Project, was born in 1999 following his previous solo album “Thru the looking glass” in 1995. The project lived for no fewer than 13 years, with the release of five epic tales, reaching … Continue reading
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Tagged Consortium Project, Ian Parry
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HOLY FORCE – S/T
http://www.holyforceband.com Music By Mail (2012) Holy Force is a power metal outfit formed by guitarist Ango Chen. He penned 14 songs, three of them instrumentals, for this, the band’s debut release, which features Mark Boals (vocals, ex-Yngwie), Mike LePond (bass, … Continue reading
MARK NORTHFIELD – Alterations
Mark Northfield has taken a novel idea on this ten song album whereby the first five songs have their riffs taken and then used in the final five songs. It has a large musical cast with nine vocalists joining himself … Continue reading
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Quick Plays – Trillium, Johnny Bennett, Skeletal Damage, Epigene
Johnny Bennett “Gone Missing” (www.johnny-bennett.com) I don’t know much about Johnny Bennett except that he is an American singer songwriter whose blues edged 2nd album “Gone Missing” was recorded in Oxfordshire and is now available from www.johnny-bennett.com. The album itself … Continue reading
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Tagged Epigene, Johnny Bennett, Skeletal Damage, Trillium
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TOXIC FEDERATION – ‘Distance’
Cargo Records 2012 (Ed’s note: band now called Fahran) This Midlands based band were formed in 2006 yet have an average age of just 20 and if their new album is anything to go by, then they deserve to be … Continue reading
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Tagged Distance, Fahran, Toxic Federation
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TRISTAN MACKAY – ‘Out Along The Wire’
Battered Hat Records 2011 Singer songwriter Tristan Mackay was first inspired to pick up the guitar after hearing Clapton’s “Unplugged” album and you can certainly hear that in his style of playing. Having released a couple of EPs and had … Continue reading
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Tagged Out Along The Wire, Tristan Mackay
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POPA CHUBBY – ‘Back to New York City’
Provogue 2011 American Blues Rock guitarist Popa Chubby has been nothing short of prolific in his output over the last decade. Releasing six studio and four live albums in the last ten years, “Back to New York City” is his … Continue reading
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Tagged blues rock, Popa Chubby
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THE LAYABOUTS – ‘Strange Behaviour’
Homeless Records 2012 Madrid based four piece The Layabouts new album “Strange Behaviour” delivers 10 tracks in just 29 minutes- energetic burst of sleaze, punk and garage rock infused music that sounds more American or English than Spanish. Whether it … Continue reading
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Tagged Strange Behaviour, The Layabouts
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CHEERLEADER – ‘Vegas Or Bust’
Angry Shark Records 2012 Cheerleader are not to be typecast as just Scandinavian rock as these boys don’t quite fit into that mould, and that is a good thing. Hailing from Sweden the band has a bigger sound than most … Continue reading
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Tagged Cheerleader, Vegas Or Bust
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DONNIE VIE – Wrapped Around My Middle Finger
Livewire/Cargo Records 2012 Written by, partly produced by and featuring the multi-instrumental skills of Enuff z Nuff frontman Donnie Vie, his new solo album “Wrapped Around My Middle Finger” has just been released and will be hard to prise away … Continue reading
SEETHER – Holding On To The Strings Better Left To Fray
10 Q’s with the band Wind-Up Records 2012 South African post grunge rockers Seether are back with their 6th album, the snappily titled ‘Holding On To The Strings Better Left To Fray’. It has been four years since the band’s … Continue reading
HOME RUN – Black World
Tarzan Music 2012 Italian band Home Run have released their second album ”Black World”, which finds the band with not only a new rhythm section but a new guitarist – however on listening you could easily believe they have been … Continue reading
X-UFO – Vol.1: The Live Files!
(www.x-ufo.co.uk) More than a mere tribute band to UFO, each member of X-UFO has played with the band (bassist Rocky Newton actually played in MSG but that’s good enough for me!!) and has a strong musical pedigree to match. Recorded … Continue reading
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Tagged Clive Edwards, Danny Peyronel, Laurence Archer, MSG, Rocky Newton, X-UFO
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STEVE THORNE – Crimes & Reasons
GEP/SPV 2012 www.steve-thorne.co.uk Steve Thorne returns with his fourth album, playing the majority of the instruments bar Nick D’Virgilio (Cirque Du Soleil/ex-Spock’s Beard) and Bob White on drums with Tony Levin and Gary Chandler (Jadis) also guesting. Also former IQ … Continue reading
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Tagged Crimes & Reasons, IQ, Jadis, Martin Orford, Nick D’Virgilio, Spock's Beard, Steve Thorne, Tony Levin
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INFERNAL OVERDRIVE – Last Rays Of The Dying Sun
(Small Stone Records 2012) www.smallstone.com Infernal Overdrive are a four piece fronted by Marc Schleicher (lead guitar/vocals) and they meld classic 70′s rock from the likes of Cactus, Grand Funk Railroad, Blue Oyster Cult and more modern bands like QOTSA … Continue reading
DEAD CELLS – Tear Down The Heavens
Dead Cells play rock music. This may sound like a simplistic statement, but that is exactly what you get, straight ahead, no frills rock which is refreshing to hear. The band formed a couple of years ago and have released … Continue reading
MAD MAX – Another Night Of Passion
SPV www.spv.de Mad Max have always had a cult status in the melodic rock world after their 1987 album ‘Night Of Passion’ received rave reviews but never sold like it should have. There have been various Mad Max line-ups in … Continue reading
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Tagged Another Night Of Passion, Mad Max, Michael Voss, SPV
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SONIC STATION – S/T
Frontiers Sonic Station is the brainchild of Swedish guitarist/composer Alexander Kronbrink who describes his project as West Coast AOR, and while this may not be the greatest album I have heard so far this year, it is far from the … Continue reading
KEYSTONE – Flight To Paradise
Park Records www.myspace.com/keystonerocks Now this self-produced and independently released CD tweaked the old interest as Robert Berry was involved (Three/Alliance), although on closer inspection of the credits he only adds backing vocals (along with bass/drums/Hammond/keys) and doesn’t get a lead … Continue reading
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Tagged Keystone, Robert Berry
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PRAYING MANTIS – Time Tells – No Lies
Time Tells – No Lies 4.5/5 (Rock Candy) Metalmorphosis – 30th Anniversary Album (Japan Edition) 4.5/5 http://www.praying-mantis.com/ NWoBHM legends Praying Mantis, led by brothers guitarist Tino and bassist Chris Troy, have always played at the melodic end of hard rock, … Continue reading
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Tagged Praying Mantis, Rock Candy
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GRAND PRIX – Samurai
Rock Candy In the early 80s Grand Prix were one of Britain’s premier pomp rock outfits, mixing the Britishness of Magnum with US influences from the likes of Kansas, Styx and Journey. 1983 and Samurai was the band’s third album, … Continue reading
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Tagged Grand Prix, Rock Candy
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CANDY – Whatever Happened To Fun
Rock Candy This four piece LA band released just one album in the mid 80s that sadly dropped straight off the radar. Strange, given that the band’s sound mixed two of the scene’s two largest exports: melodic sleaze/glam and power … Continue reading
SHERIFF – Sheriff
Rock Candy Canadian AOR / hard rock from 1982, that somehow didn’t take off at the time. The music is incredible in that the songs are strong, the guitar work outstanding, and Freddy Curci’s vocals with a range to match … Continue reading
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Tagged Rock Candy, Sheriff
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