Category Archives: FEATURES

A selection of interviews and longer articles including updated archive material

Feature: Albums that time forgot…EUROPE – Secret Society

Posted on October 13, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Sanctuary (2006) Back in 2007 my fellow GRTR! reviewer and pal Pete Whalley, and my aspiring guitar hero son Ben, made our way through a February snowstorm to Liverpool Academy. It was a fairly low key gig for the Swedish … Continue reading →

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Feature: Albums that time forgot…JAMES LABRIE – Elements Of Persuasion

Posted on October 10, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

InsideOut (2005) For many band members, the band becomes all consuming. It means, as a result of the constant cycle of touring, writing and recording, they can’t deliver their own solo album. There are 15 years between John Petrucci’s first … Continue reading →

Posted in Albums that time forgot, All Posts, FEATURES | Tagged album, Dream Theater, Elements Of Persuasion, feature, heavy metal, James LaBrie, Marco Sfogli, Matt Guillory, Mike Mangini, nu-metal, progressive metal, review | Leave a comment

Feature: Albums that time forgot…DON DOKKEN – Up From The Ashes

Posted on October 10, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Geffen Records (1990) At the turn of the 1980′s there was a last hurrah for the genre that had sometimes been called glam metal, or more specifically hair metal. Bolstered by albums such as Whitesnake (1987) and Winger (1988) the … Continue reading →

Posted in Albums that time forgot, All Posts, FEATURES | Tagged album, Billy White, Don Dokken, feature, hair metal, hard rock, interview, John Norum, melodic, review, Up From The Ashes | Leave a comment

Feature: Albums that time forgot … CODE OF SILENCE – Dark Skies Over Babylon

Posted on September 1, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Mausoleum Records (Europe) Rubicon (Japan) (2013) Described by GRTR! reviewer Alan Jones as ‘a truly genre-bending tour de force, which, whilst having melodic metal at its heart, makes frequent forays into the diverse worlds of progressive rock, heavy metal, shred … Continue reading →

Posted in Albums that time forgot, All Posts, FEATURES | Tagged album, Ben Randall, classic rock, Code Of Silence, Dark Skies Over Babylon, Eden's Curse, feature, Gus Monsanto, John Clelland, Mausoleum Records, melodic, metal, Paul Logue, review, Scott McLean | Leave a comment

Feature: Albums that time forgot … BLACKTHORNE – Afterlife

Posted on August 12, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Music For Nations (1993) Graham Bonnet’s career started in the late 1960s with a conventional pop approach and early solo albums. It was only in 1979 when he came to Ritchie Blackmore’s attention as a potential frontman of Rainbow (replacing … Continue reading →

Posted in Albums that time forgot, All Posts, FEATURES, INTERVIEWS, Radio interview | Tagged Afterlife, album, Alcatrazz, Blackthorne, feature, Graham Bonnet, heavy metal, heavy rock, Jimmy Waldo, review | Leave a comment

Feature: Gigs of the Millennium – ROCK FEST 2003, Wisconsin, USA

Posted on July 30, 2020 by andynathan

Andy Nathan has caused much teeth-gnashing and fist-clenching amongst the GRTR! team with his enviable sorties to the States sometimes taking in a couple of festivals in one visit. These include Summerfest and Moondance Jam. Here he recounts a particularly … Continue reading →

Posted in All Posts, FEATURES, Gigs of the Millennium | Tagged .38 Special, 2003, Alice Cooper, Boston, Def Leppard, Dokken, Eddie Money, festival, Firehouse, gig, gig of the millennium, Grand Funk Railroad, Heart, Jackyl, Loverboy, Lynyrd Skynyrd, melodic rock, Night Ranger, Rick Springfield, Rock Fest, Sammy Hagar, Twisted Sister, Whitesnake, Wisconsin | Leave a comment

Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to STEVE HACKETT

Posted on June 29, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Steve Hackett Liverpool Philharmonic Hall 7th May 2017 photo Steve Goudie 27

Alan Jones and David Randall chart the rise and revival of progmeister par excellence, Steve Hackett When we reviewed the Steve Hackett gig in October 2013 following the release of the second Genesis Revisited album, Pete Whalley summed things up. … Continue reading →

Posted in All Posts, Call Collect, FEATURES, INTERVIEWS, Radio interview | Tagged discography, feature, Genesis, guide, interview, introduction, prog, Progressive Rock, review, Steve Hackett | Leave a comment

Feature: Albums that time forgot – RANSOM – Trouble In Paradise

Posted on June 12, 2020 by andynathan

MTM (1997) As alternative sounds ruled the roost in the nineties, musical styles that had ruled the previous decade were out of fashion and none more so than the melodic rock/AOR scene which was driven completely underground. In pre-Facebook, YouTube … Continue reading →

Posted in Albums that time forgot, All Posts, FEATURES | Tagged AOR, Don Cromwell, Eddie Money, melodic rock, Ransom, Tommy Girvin, Trouble In Paradise | Leave a comment

Feature: Gigs of the Millennium – JOE BONAMASSA

Posted on June 12, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Joe Bonamassa - The Cavern, Liverpool, 27 June 2016

In June 2016 Joe Bonamassa trod the boards at the venue where – nearly over 50 years earlier – the Fab Four had fired their opening salvo. This historic gig has become one of life’s highlights for GRTR! reviewer Alan … Continue reading →

Posted in All Posts, FEATURES, Gigs of the Millennium | Tagged 27 June 2016, blues, blues rock, feature, gig, Joe Bonamassa, Liverpool, review, The Cavern | Leave a comment

Feature: Gigs of the Millennium – Steve Tilston, Argent, Camel, The Tubes

Posted on June 9, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

David Randall surveys a near-20 year period, reflecting on what constitutes a great gig… What makes a good gig? It can often be the events surrounding it – a pre-gig meal or drink for example - your fellow gig-goer(s), the … Continue reading →

Posted in All Posts, FEATURES, Gigs of the Millennium | Tagged Argent, Camel, classic rock, Dan Reed Network, David Gilmour, Europe, feature, gig, hard rock, Jeff Scott Soto, melodic rock, Progressive Rock, review, Saxon, singer songwriter, Steve Lukather, Steve Tilston, The Tubes, Winger | Leave a comment

Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to ROY BUCHANAN

Posted on May 23, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Roy Buchanan - Alligator Records pubilicity photo, 1985

David Randall reflects on a patchy early recording career, with Telecaster Titan Roy Buchanan only realising his full potential three years before his untimely death… The story of Roy Buchanan is one of a great unsung hero, a feeling of … Continue reading →

Posted in Call Collect, FEATURES | Tagged blues, blues rock, discography, feature, guitar, guitarist, interview, introduction, Roy Buchanan | Leave a comment

Feature: Albums that time forgot – NOTHING BY CHANCE – Ghosts Of Love

Posted on May 22, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Dover/Chrysalis/Starward [1991] Bob Harris has a lot to answer for. I am sure – like many other musical insomniacs – he influenced our choice of album purchase in the early 1990s. As mentioned in despatches elsewhere, his overnight show for … Continue reading →

Posted in Albums that time forgot, All Posts, FEATURES | Tagged album, feature, Ghosts Of Love, Gilly darbey, John Acock, Kevin Donnelly, Nick Magnus, Nothing By Chance, pop, review, singer, soft rock, songwriter | Leave a comment

Feature: Albums that time forgot – MAE McKENNA – Mirage And Reality

Posted on May 22, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Kadence [1991] In 1993 “old school” DJs at the BBC, such as Bob Harris and Alan Freeman, would be culled as part of a new regime at Radio 1 but that didn’t stop a “golden” period for a few years … Continue reading →

Posted in Albums that time forgot, All Posts, FEATURES | Tagged 1991, album, Celtic, folk, fusion, Hugh Mckenna, John Hackett, Mae McKenna, Mirage And Reality, review, singer, soft rock, songwriter, Steve Hackett | Leave a comment

Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to MOLLY HATCHET

Posted on May 21, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Joe Geesin on southern rockers Molly Hatchet, named after a prostitute who allegedly mutilated and decapitated her clients. Things got even more horrendous as the band entered the 1990s … Molly Hatchet is a Southern Rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, … Continue reading →

Posted in All Posts, Call Collect, FEATURES | Leave a comment

Feature: What FREEDOM CALL mean to me

Posted on May 21, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Joe Geesin recounts an enduring 20 year passion, cultivated after a few drinks and an introduction to the German metallers Freedom Call… After a decade of writing features and sleevenotes, (I first starting writing reviews for Record Collector magazine in … Continue reading →

Posted in All Posts, FEATURES, What a Band/Artist means to me... | Tagged feature, Freedom Call, German, metal, power metal, review | Leave a comment

Feature: Music Industry v Covid 19

Posted on May 11, 2020 by jason

Whitesnake - DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL, Donington Park, Leicestershire, 14-15 June 2019

Many reading this will be furloughed writes Brian McGowan… over 6 million UK jobs have been so far. Many will not. Maybe you’re working from home. Maybe you’re less fortunate. You’ll know that the music industry is an integral part … Continue reading →

Posted in All Posts, FEATURES | Tagged artists, bands, blues, coronnavirus, Covid 19, feature, folk, gigs, metal, music, Music industry, pop, PR, record labels, rock, tours | Leave a comment

Feature: Bands that time forgot – BAD COMPANY (1986-1996)

Posted on May 7, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

For most, Bad Company conjures up the classic seventies line-up fronted by Paul Rodgers and with Mick Ralphs, Simon Kirke and Boz Burrell. The eponymous and classic first album yielded a handful of airplay and chart hits and set the … Continue reading →

Posted in All Posts, Bands that time forgot, FEATURES, INTERVIEWS, Radio interview | Tagged 1986-1996, AOR, Bad Company, Brian Howe, classic rock, Dave 'Bucket' Colwell, feature, hard rock, interview, melodic rock, Mick Ralphs, review, Robert Hart, Simon Kirke | Leave a comment

Feature: Albums that time forgot – NEAL SCHON – Late Nite

Posted on May 6, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Columbia [1989] Years ago there was a very good record store in the Liverpool area and with a branch in my nearby shopping bolthole Chester. Penny Lane Records yielded a fine selection of import albums at a reasonable price. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Albums that time forgot, All Posts, FEATURES | Tagged album, AOR, Bob Marlette, interview, Journey, Late Nite, melodic rock, Neal Schon, review, Santana, Sheryl Crow | Leave a comment

Feature: Bands that time forgot – CELTUS

Posted on May 5, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

The two brothers John and Pat McManus had previously been members of eighties Irish heavy rockers Mama’s Boys. Both were multi-instrumentalists and their desire to achieve a more atmospheric, reflective groove was partly influenced by the premature death from leukaemia … Continue reading →

Posted in All Posts, Bands that time forgot, FEATURES | Tagged album, Celtic, Celtus, feature, fusion, John McManus, Pat McManus, review, rock | Leave a comment

Feature: Albums that time forgot – 21 GUNS – Nothing’s Real

Posted on May 5, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Z Records [1997] The 1990s was a hard time for melodic hard rock bands feeling the chill wind from Seattle. Joey Tempest from the band Europe told me that they also succumbed to the prevailing trend, and that when visiting … Continue reading →