News: DIO, MARC HUDSON, LINDISFARNE (July 2023)

Bad Touch - GIANTS OF ROCK, Butlins, Minehead, 25-27 January 2019

News - Album News

Angra have signed with Atomic Fire Records who release their new album ‘Cycles Of Pain’ on November 3.

Any Given Sin release their latest album ‘War Within’ via Mascot Records on August 4.

Asking Alexandria have confirmed the release date for their new album ‘Where Do We Go From Here?’. It is released on August 25 via Better Noise Music.

Baby Animals are celebrating the 30th anniversary of their second album, ‘Shaved And Dangerous’, with a release on vinyl on August 30.

Bad Touch (pictured) release their fifth studio album, ‘Bittersweet Satisfaction’, on November 10 via Marshall Records.

Blackbird Angels, consisting of Todd Kerns (vocals), Tracii Guns (guitar), Adam Hamilton (drums) and Johnny Martin (L.A. Guns) on bass, have released their debut song ‘Shut Up (You Know I Love You)’ from their upcoming album, ‘Solsorte’, which is released on September 8 via Frontiers.

The Darkness release a 20th anniversary deluxe edition of theirPermission to Land’ album titled Permission to Land … Again’ on October 6. It will be available as a five-LP, a 4CD/DVD set, 2CD and digitally.

‘DIO: Dreamers Never Die’ the first-ever, career-spanning documentary on the life and times of Ronnie James Dio, will be released worldwide by Mercury Studios on DVD and Blu-Ray on September 29.

Downes Braide Association will release their latest album, Celestial Songs’, through Cherry Red Records on September 8. The new album includes guest appearances from Dave Bainbridge (Lifesigns) and Marc Almond.

‘Grand Explosivos’, the new Electric Boys album, is released on September 15 via Mighty Music.

A career-spanning 20-disc box set celebrating the work of Keith Emerson entitled ‘Variations’ will be released through Spirit Of Unicorn Records on October 13.

Europe release a new single ‘Hold Your Head Up’ on September 15. The band’s new album is due in late 2024/early 2025 and a documentary on the band is also due next year.

Fleetwood Mac release ‘Rumours Live’ on 2CD & 2LP on September 8. It was recorded at the band’s LA Forum show in 1977.

Galahad release their new album ‘The Long Goodbye’ on CD in October, digitally in November with a vinyl edition to follow later.

Liam Gallagher releases a live album on August 11.

The Gaslight Anthem have released the title track (which includes a guest appearance from Bruce Springsteen) from their forthcoming album ‘History Books’ which is out on October 27.

The Glorious Sons release their new studio album, ‘Glory’, on September 6 via ADA Worldwide.

Steve Hackett will release a live album Foxtrot At Fifty + Hackett Highlights’ on September 15.

Helmet will release a new studio album, ‘Left’, in November via earMUSIC.

Marc Hudson, the frontman of DragonForce, has signed a solo deal with Napalm Records who will release his first solo album, ‘Starbound Stories’, on August 25.

Jethro Tull’s 1982 album The Broadsword And The Beast’ gets a 40th Anniversary deluxe, eight disc CD/DVD version and a four-disc vinyl reissue to be released through Warner Music on September 1.

King Kobra release their new album ‘We Are Warriors’ on August 11 through Cleopatra Records. Joining Carmine Appice, Johnny Rod and Paul Shortino are guitarists Rowan Robertson (ex-Dio) and Carlos Cavazo (ex-Quiet Riot, Ratt).

KK’s Priest release their second album, ‘The Sinner Rides Again’, on their new record label Napalm Records on September 29.

The debut solo album from the late Big Big Train singer David Longdon, ’Wild River’, is to be reissued in a re-mastered and expanded edition through English Electric Recordings on October 12.

Proper Records/UMR release a deluxe vinyl edition of Lindisfarne’s 1971 album ‘Fog On The Tyne’ on August 11.

John Lodge has a released a special fan club only edition of his version of the Moody Blues album ‘Days Of Future Passed’ entitled ‘Days Of Future Passed – My Sojour‘.

Dom Martin releases his latest album ‘Buried In The Hall’ on September 22 through Forty Below Records.

Steve Miller Band commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Joker’ album with the ‘J50: The Evolution of The Joker’ box set out on September 15.

Of Mice & Men release their latest album ‘Tether’ later this year.

Public Service Broadcasting have announced that they will release their 2022 BBC Proms show from the Royal Albert Hall. ‘This New Noise’, is released through Test Card Recordings on September 8.

Trevor Rabin releases his latest solo album ‘Rio’ on October 6 through InsideOut Music.

The Rolling Stones issue 2002′s ‘Forty Licks’ onto digital services on July 26.

Ronnie Romero will release his third solo album, ‘Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters’, on September 15 via Frontiers.

Leon Russell tribute album, ‘A Song For Leon’, will be released by Primary Wave Music on September 8. It features amongst others Margo Price, Pixies and Orville Peck.

Saliva release their new album ‘Revelation’ on September 8.

Screaming Eagles release their new album ‘High Class Rock ‘N’ Roll’ on October 6.

Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett releases his third solo album ‘Lost At Sea’ on October 20 via Snakefarm.

BMG release ‘Alive! At Reading’ by Slade on September 15, the first time their Reading show from 1980 has had a full vinyl release.

State Cows have released their fourth new song of the year, ‘Echoes Of You’.

The Struts have released a new song, ‘Too Good At Raising Hell’, ahead of their UK dates this summer.

Sweet release a new album ‘Full Circle’ this autumn and have just released ‘Changes’ as a single off the album, which features guitarist Andy Scott on lead vocals.

Former Burning Witches vocalist Seraina Telli releases her solo album, ‘Addicted To Color’, via Metalville Records on August 18.

Temic is a new band featuring former Haken keyboard player Diego Tejeida, guitarist Eric Gillette (Neal Morse Band), Mararton 22 vocalist Fredrik Bergersen and Shining drummer Simen Sandnes. The band have signed to the Season Of Mist label who release their debut album Terror Management Theory’ on November 17.

Tesseract will release a new album, ‘War Of Being’, on September 15 via Kscope.

Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening release ‘Cloud Horizons’, their second album, on September 1st via Resilient Records.

Lol Tolhurst x Budgie x Jacknife Lee release their debut album ‘Los Angeles’ on 3 November via Play It Again Sam. Guests appearing on the album include Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie and The Edge.

Alter Bridge’s Mark Tremonti releases ‘Christmas Classics New & Old’ on October 27.

Twisted Sister plan to release a 40th anniversary, double vinyl edition of their debut album ‘Under The Blade’, that will also include an album of early covers.

The Unity release their fifth album ‘The Hellish Joyride’ on August 25 on Steamhammer/SPV.

Tom Waits has a 30th anniversary of his ‘Swordfishtrombones’ album re-issued on September 1, along with his ‘Rain Dogs’ (1985) and ‘Franks Wild Years’ (1987) albums. These will be followed on October 6 by the reissues of ‘Bone Machine’ (1992) and ‘The Black Rider’ (1993).

Roger Waters releases ‘The Dark Side of the Moon Redux’ on October 6.

Ann Wilson will release a new album on September 22.

Richard Wright’s 1978 debut solo album, Wet Dream’, is reissued through Rhino/Parlophone Records on July 28, which would have been the late Pink Floyd’s keyboard player’s 80th birthday. The reissue will feature new artwork and a new remix by Steven Wilson.

Neil Young’s ’Chrome Dreams’ album that was recorded between 1974 and 1977, will finally get an official release on August 11 via Reprise Records.

News - Tours and Gigs

Newly announced UK tours (2023 unless stated):

ABC (2024), The Darkness, Depeche Mode (2024), Embrace, Focus, Thea Gilmore (2024), Gun, Yngwie Malmsteen, Corey Taylor, Tesseract (2024), These Wicked Rivers, Those Damn Crows, Vadenburg (album launch gig London Aug 25), the Virginmarys, Roger Waters (London Palladium Oct 8),

Upcoming (Gigs – UK)

Newly announced US & European tours (2023 unless stated):

All Time Low (Aus), Behemoth (US), Bullet For My Valentine (US), Cheap Trick (US), Coldplay (Eur), Deicide (Eur), Eagles + Steely Dan (US), Exodus (US), Flotsam and Jetsam (US), Lita Ford (US), Fozzy (US), Godsmack (US), Helmet (Eur, US), Kamelot (Jpn), L7 (US), Lacuna Coil + Fear Factory (US), Last In Line (US), John Lodge (US), Lynch Mob (US), Mammoth MVH + Nina Strauss (US), Meshuggah + In Flames (US), Midnite City (Aus 2024), Pierce The Veil (US), Porno For Pyros (US), Quiet Riot (US), Uli Jon Roth (US 2024), Saliva + Drowning Pool (US), Bruce Soord (Eur), Teenage Fanclub (Aus), Steve Vai (Aus), You Me At Six (Aus),

Upcoming (USA/ROW)

To mark what would have been his 80th Birthday, there is a special concert to celebrate the legacy of Bert Jansch at the Royal Festival Hall, London on Saturday November 4. Performers will include Bernard Butler, Jacqui McShee, Martin Simspon, Robert Plant’s Strange Sensation, Kathryn Williams, and Stewart Lee will compere the concert.

Postponed/cancelled gigs & tours

One Desire have cancelled their tour plans for the rest of the year.

Uli Jon Roth has postponed his US tour to next year as he recovers from surgery.

Iron Savior have cancelled all their current tour plans after frontman/founder Piet Sielck has been diagnosed with cancer.

Ozzy Osbourne won’t be appearing at the US based Power Trip festival in October due to ongoing health issues. Judas Priest will replace him on the bill.

W.A.S.P. have postponed their 2023 US to spring 2024 as Blackie Lawless recovers from back injury

This year’s Cambridge Rock Festival has been cancelled – “It is with deepest regret that the Cambridge Rock Festival Committee need to let you know that this year’s festival cannot go ahead as planned. Although this would have been our third time at Horseheath Lodge, the Licence now required (not the same as previously), has in practise taken the decision out of our control for this year. As you can imagine we are devastated to have to break this news to you.”

Other Stuff

‘I Wanna Rock: The ’80s Metal Dream’, a three part-documentary series will debut on streaming platform Paramount+ in July.

Extreme’s latest album ‘Six’ charted at number 22 in the UK album chats, number 67 on the Billboard 200 and number 8 in the German album charts.

The Beach Boys by the Beach Boys, the only official book on the band, is set to be published in 2024. A limited-edition run of 500 copies signed by Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston is available to preorder now and will ship in December. A regular hardcover edition will be available in bookshops worldwide in 2024.

Creed have reformed and play their first live dates since 2012 as part of the ‘Summer Of ’99′ cruise that sails April 18-22, 2024 from Miami, Florida to Nassau, Bahamas aboard the Norwegian Pearl.

Tank guitarists Mick Tucker and Cliff Evans have said they plan to record a new Tank album next year and play live shows, with an appearance at the Hell’s Heroes Festival in Houston, Texas in March 2024, already confirmed.

In Through The Out Door…line-up changes

Guitarist Christopher Amott has announced his departure from Dark Tranquillity.

News - RIP

Polaris guitarist Ryan Siew

Co-founding Journey member, rhythm guitarist George Tickner

Mo Foster who played on over 400 albums including Phil Collins, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, as well as a number of solo albums

Singer Tony Bennett who released over 70 albums and worked with Billy Joel, Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse and many more

Singer songwriter and solo artist Sinead O’Connor, who worked many other artists including the Edge, Peter Gabriel & Massive Attack


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Rising Stars interview: JESSICA LYNN

Jessica Lynn has been described by American Songwriter as “country arena rock”, and her 7-show UK tour will take place this July.

Stateside, Jessica Lynn is famed for the spectacle and quality of her live shows and stagecraft — not to mention her TV specials — as well as the energy and excitement of her performances.

Here at GRTR! we have long been fans and champion’s of her music and we recently caught up with Jessica ahead of her upcoming UK & European dates…

jlynn

You’re finally making it over to tour the UK. What does it feel like for you and the band to finally make it over here?

I am feeling so happy, excited, and grateful to finally be coming back to one of my favorite places to play.  With all of the pandemic delays, my heart was breaking and it really feels like a dream come true to be back on the road again doing what I love.

What sort of set can we expect at your UK shows?

We put a lot of time, effort, and love into putting this show together. The show has a mix of brand new and older songs, surprise cover songs, as well as a lot of energy and audience participation.

You also have a few gigs in Germany and Poland in July. How has your music been received there and are you building up a decent sized fanbase?

The shows in Europe have been going incredibly well. We just hit the one month mark of our European tour and will be heading back, yes, to Germany and Poland after we come to the UK.  I feel incredibly blessed that the crowds have been so large and that we have also played many sold out concerts so far.  My record Lone Rider has also been charting in every country we have visited thus far.  It’s so exciting!

jls

Your latest single, ‘Mixed Signals’, is a bit different musically for you. How did the song come about and have you been pleased with the reaction to it so far?

I grew up as a rock n’ roller who was also heavily influenced by soul music and a retro sound. I love Mixed Signals so much because it is truly a great representation of who I am as an artist all wrapped in one. It has been incredibly fun to perform it live and have the audience dance along.  My husband and lead guitarist Steve came up with the riff and the song quickly flowed out from there!

Are there any plans for a new EP or more new music in the second half of this year?

I am currently working on releasing a string of new singles, including my brand new single called “Ain’t Done With You Yet” out July 14th.  I’m really excited to share them with everyone.

Do you think you will release singles & EPs as streaming seems to be the dominant way of listening to music & music platforms are always creating playlists, which are better suited to singles/EP releases.

Yes! That’s the plan for now as my touring schedule is getting so busy, and it would be difficult at the moment to record another full length record. Plus, with the record continuing to chart around the world, I would like to continue riding this happy wave.

If you could record an album/EP of duets, who would be on your wish list and why?

Richard Marx – My first ever concert and one of my biggest songwriting inspirations.

Blake Shelton – My favorite modern country artist.

Neil Diamond – One of my favorite songwriters and voices of all time.

Shania Twain – A huge inspiration of my live show and performance style.

How did the idea for Jessica Lynn’s – A Very Merry Country Christmas come about? What is planned for this year’s event? (A bit early for Christmas I know!)

“A Very Merry Country Christmas” came about because years ago when my career was first starting, I was asked to open the show of a John Denver tribute Christmas concert. After performing the small acoustic set, I realized that I really enjoyed performing the Christmas music, which has always been some of my favorite music to listen to.

I decided to really invest my time in creating a spectacular and magical looking show and now i’m proud to say that it sells out every year, is Toys For Tots largest fundraiser of the season, and is now going on the road.

Message for your fans…

Thank you so much for sticking by me these last few very difficult years. It has meant the world and I can’t wait to see you.

Photo Credit – Scott Vincent

UK TOUR 2023

5th July: Junction, Cambridge
6th July: Hare & Hounds, Birmingham
7TH July: The Playroom, Leeds
8th July: Gulliver’s, Manchester
9th July: The Waterloo, Blackpool
11th July: Suburbia, Southampton
12th July: The Lexington, London

Check Jessica’s website www.jessicalynnmusic.org for full, and up to date, tour details and tickets.


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: GAMMA – What’s Gone Is Gone (The Complete Elektra Recordings))

Cherry Red [Release date: 30.06.23]

CD1: GAMMA 1 (1979)

CD2: GAMMA 2 (1980)

CD3: GAMMA 3 (1982)

The first 3 CDs from Ronnie Montrose’s band, Gamma, come nicely packaged this month, with each one including a couple of bonus tracks, mainly “single” edits.

Also nice to note that the band’s Glasgow born vocalist, Davey Pattison (also of Robin Trower) is playing some dates in Scotland this year. He’s already played a couple. Still to come are Belladrum Music Festival, Inverness on 27 July and Ivory Blacks in Glasgow in October.

Pattison joined Gamma in San Francisco 1979, flying out from Scotland at the invitation of music impresario, Bill Graham. Apparently Pattison and Montrose established an immediate rapport.

GAMMA 1
On several tracks here, ‘Thunder And Lightning’, ‘Fight To The Finish’, ‘Wish I Was’, Montrose’s muscular riffs, chiming solos and Pattison’s sinewy vocals all added up to the commercial arena rock sound many bands aimed for in the late seventies.

The songs are well crafted, but didn’t really standout in a field of similarly engaged rock bands.

GAMMA 2
‘Mean Streak’ continues where the debut album left off, sounding a little more joined up, with vocals and guitars clearly bonding in the studio. You can hear it too on the fret melting ‘Four Horsemen’ – the band were beginning to create their own arena rock identity.
That shouldn’t be a surprise considering the band’s pedigree…. Apart from Montrose and Pattison, Gamma variously included Alan (Night Ranger/Van Halen) on bass and Denny (Hagar/Heart) Carmassi on drums.

The balladic ‘Voyager’ proves to be album’s outstanding track. It keeps its distance from Stadium Rock tropes, and in doing so, it feels much more sultry and complex. A classy song, subtly, beautifully done.

GAMMA 3
On the third album, the band are still trying manfully to absorb fashionable synth sounds into their hard rocking style. ‘Mobile Devotion’ and ‘Moving Violation’ almost get there.
But still, the band’s hard rocking past constantly catches up. ‘What’s Gone Is Gone’ (giving title to this boxset), ‘Right On Time’, and ‘No Way Out’ all give Foreigner a run for their money. Bringing up Pattison’s vocals in the mix showed his voice to be the equal of Lou Gramm’s soulful croon.

But the band’s mixed stylistic messages fell on too many deaf ears, and Gamma disbanded soon after.

As fans will know, Montrose and Pattison reactivated the band in 2000. ***

Review by Brian McGowan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: THE JOHN WILLIAMS SYNDICATE – Into The Light

Pete Feenstra chatted to John Williams for his show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio playing tracks from the new album. First broadcast 2 July 2023.

The John Williams Syndicate - Into The Light

Wulfrun Records [Release date 23.07.23]

When a gamekeeper turns poacher, or in this case a successful A&R man and producer turns singer songwriter, you might expect a ‘kitchen sink and all’ approach.

The John Williams Syndicate ‘Into the Light’ album (a companion to his 2021 ‘Out Of Darkness’) is quite the opposite. It’s a pop musical journey with great songs, bright metaphors, a consistent melodic sensibility and a sense of optimism. The overall feel is reflected in the song titles,  several individual lines and the album’s overarching aesthetic complete with artwork and liner notes.

It’s an old school pop album full of substance and framed by a contemporary production which benefits from its composite format to create a reflective feel.

The freshness of the material gives the project its sheer joie de vivre, born of beautifully crafted songs and ornate instrumentation which provides an extra “voice”.

Then there’s a raft of inspired performances glues together via musical subtleties, dovetailed textures, uplifting melodies and repeated hooks.

The whole project is driven by an essential  ‘can do’ spirit which bring out the best in the ensemble.

The band’s ‘Syndicate’ moniker offers a big clue as to producer William’s own role. He contents himself with being the lead vocalist on 4 tracks, while his supporting role as a multi-instrumentalist and backing vocalist helps fulfil the potential of a number of contrasting song styles, which are well suited to the particular vocalists.

His forte is an attention to detail which enables him to bring his musical vision to life in the manner of a mixing engineer, a role he has occupied on many occasion in his illustrious past.

Aside from his own vocal, lyrical and musical input, his most significant contribution is the way he polishes and presents the material in the manner of a musical journey.

The end result is an album with a clear narrative and an essential flow, which is no small achievement for a project that drips with potential singles.

Williams is also a master of dynamics, both micro (within a song) and macro (in the album sequencing). And it’s the latter function that leads to a priceless moment when the jagged ‘Don’t Go’ – full of adventurous bass, John Moore’s breathy whispered husk, some angular guitar and a feverish ELO string finale – gives way to the Petula Clark version of ‘Luminescent’.

Originally sung by the song’s co-writer Claudia Brücken on the ‘Out Of Darkness’ album, Williams’s arrangement and Clark’s intuitive reading perfectly evoke the meaning of the song title. The opening threaded piano line, electronic arrangement with strings, subtle bv’s and cool dynamics give the song an uplifting sweep. Together with a subsequent poignant drop-down and a defining chorus, these are the kind of building blocks that always interest Williams unerring eye for a great song.

‘Into The Light’ is a pop album with enough musical diversity and stellar guest performances to maintain our interest throughout.

The catchy lead single ‘In The Morning Sun’ is arguably the most sugary track on the album, but it does its job as a gateway to 10 songs that tap into a subconscious mission statement of love, hope and optimism.

You could argue ‘I Started Something’ might have been a stronger contender to be the lead single, if only because it features John’s own inmate vocal style at the centre of some aching harmonies. The combination of whispered vocals over a resonant acoustic guitar, lilting bass and deft strings make for a sumptuous groove.

Slicko DiCaprio’s capricious urban ‘call and response’ and guttural groans provide the perfect foil for a jingle-jangle pop imprint that is never too far away from the surface. The soft pulsing harmonies also draw the listener into an album that places a high value on melodies and hooks.

In sharp contrast there’s the faux sea shanty and uplifting Celtic feel of ‘My Love Is’ on which the repeated lush vocals resemble a mantra that invites the music wash over us.

The same subtle use of vocal repetition brings musical substance to the album closer ‘In My Dreams’. The song is built on a plucked acoustic line, flanked by an unlikely Afro-choral flavour reminiscent of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, as Williams references his many musical connections and influences.

The reflective nature of the song perfectly bookends a musical journey that is a love letter to pop music.

Listen to Claudia Brücken’s sotto voice approach on ‘As Long As You Are There For Me’, as her pristine diction and emotive phrasing fills a track that is arguably the best love song on the album.

She equally good on ‘So High So Low’ with the emphasis being on the intimacy of her voice which always sounds as if she’s addressing just you and no one else.

The lyrics match the stellar vocal performance: “I liked your paintings, thought they were fine art. You played a piano specially Mozart,” as the song flows into the simple effective hook.

Williams mellifluous vocal impresses on ‘I Want To Lose Myself In You’, complete with a rustic banjo, ‘call and response’ bv’s, tongue in cheek lyrics and a repeated hook, flanked by catchy percussive handclaps.

The other notable thing about the album is the use of a number of annoyingly familiar musical motifs that recall the likes of Elvis Costello, Blondie in the late 70’s and early 80’s.

Nicki Leighton-Thomas returns with a raspy enunciated vocal on ‘You’re My Number 1’. She sounds like a weary Marianne Faithful meets Sparks, as she cleverly uses her voice as an emotive storytelling instrument on some colourful poetic lyrics.

Ultimately the album is a triumph because it successfully finds an equilibrium between the songs, the respective artists and John Williams own role as a catalyst in celebrating pop music in all its glory.

This isn’t so much the stuff of teen angst, as a batch of lovingly crafted songs shaped by the kind of life experiences that encourages us all to metaphorically look into the light and celebrate love. ****

Review by Pete Feenstra


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review : FRIJID PINK – The Deram Recordings 1970-1971 (2 CDs)

Cherry Red [Release date 30.06.23]

A two CD package, comprising Detroit band, Frijid Pink’s first two albums.

Sometimes the movies crossover into popular music. One quote that rings true and often crops up is William Goldman’s “nobody knows anything”. Frequently, that includes record labels.

Frijid Pink’s label, Deram, had released two singles in 1970 from the band’s self titled debut album, which hadn’t done much, and were lining up a third when contacted by a local Radio DJ.

He exhorted them to release the band’s cover of The Animals’ ‘House Of The Rising Sun’, itself a reworking of an old folk/blues song, buried on side 2.

Surprisingly, the label followed suit. The single went Top Ten in the North American market and to no.1 in several European charts.

It was just right for the moment. A great song, dramatic, with fuzzed up, psychedelic stylings. Lifted out of the near past, and given a “modern” makeover, it hit a nerve.

The band’s own white boy blues, ‘Tell Me Why’ and ‘Drivin Blues’ coupled with the more commercialised bluesrock sound of ‘End Of The Line’ and ‘I Want To Be Your Lover’ were decent enough, but were sidelined by this hugely successful cover.

Naturally it helped elevate album sales, and in typical label fashion, the band were pushed into recording another album that same year. Their second album, Defrosted, was released six months later.

In much more of a hard rock vein, it proved the band were not just a one hit wonder. ‘Black Lace’ and ‘Bye Bye Blues’ stray way into heavy metal territory, both capturing a raw, live on stage sound. Clearly, the band knew that repeating the past was not the way forward.

The eight minute ‘Pain In My Heart’ (not that one) is the centrepiece, an across the Atlantic cousin of the stuff being released by Cream and Led Zeppelin (who opened for the band in Detroit’s Grand ballroom venue in 1970).

Arguably, Defrosted hinted that Frijid Pink were beginning to separate themselves from other bands in the genre. Their songcraft was undeniable. But the fickle finger of fate decided to point in another direction, and the album stiffed.

Band members left and new ones arrived, but Frijid Pink never regained its momentum. ***1/2

Review by Brian McGowan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: LUKE MORLEY – Songs From The Blue Room

Conquest Records [Release date 23.06.23]

With new Thunder activity on hold for a while as Danny Bowes continues his long road to recovery, the time is right for the band’s lead guitarist and chief songwriter Luke Morley to release his first solo album in over 20 years. Actually these songs were written and recorded a couple of years ago during lockdown as he kept his musical muse busy and other than drums courtesy of former The Union bandmate Dave McCluskey and the odd guest appearance, is a genuine solo album.

‘I Wanna See The Light’ is a superb opener, a slightly jangly slice of American heartland rock supported by female backing vocals, with the real revelation quite how good his vocals are. ‘Killed By Cobain’, a wistful story of how the rise of Nirvana suddenly blew a hole in Thunder’s plans to break the States has naturally attracted much comment.  To a jaunty musical backing with elements of both the Traveling Wilburys and ‘Waterloo Sunset’, the lyric ‘it really doesn’t matter no more’ suggests wistfulness rather than angry satire.

The Ray Davies comparison continues with another quirky, gently melodic song in ‘Errol Flynn’, its imaginary conversations with stars of literature and the silver screen reminding me of ‘Celluloid Heroes’. ‘Damage’ is almost Paul McCartney-esque and piano-led with Luke’s guitar only kicking in late, and ‘Nobody Cares’ is almost like a French chanson. In spite of Danny Bowes adding some backing vocals alongside Ricky Warwick it takes the album as far away from Thunder territory as can be imagined, though its downbeat melodies might have lent themselves to one of the Union albums.

There are though a back-to-back pair of relative rockers that it is just possible with a leap of faith to imagine Danny Bowes singing in Thunder’s hands- in ‘Watch The Sun Go Down’ and the more seventies sounding ‘Cry Like Rain’ all full of the rootsy goodness of power chords with a Hammond organ giving added colour and in the former’s case a harmonica solo.

‘Lying To Myself’ is acoustic with some vocal harmonies and a closing harmonica solo and another that has a McCartney-esque feel to it, while ‘I’m The One You Want’ has a strong Black Crowes vibe and mid song diverts into a funky jam, then ‘Don’t Be Long’ closes the album with more Beatles-ish sounds, albeit more in the style of John Lennon.

This mellow and beguiling album, with its timeless pop-influenced melodies, demonstrates a totally different string to Luke Morley’s bow and comes highly recommended as the perfect easy listening for the summer’s hot days. **** 1/2

Review by Andy Nathan

 


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: KEELEY – Floating Above Everything Else

KEELEY – Floating Above Everything Else

Bandcamp [Release date 30.06.23]

To some, music is a drug, constantly searching for that new high that will set the pulses racing and synapses firing. In a world of identikit artists all vying for airplay and sales, it’s a thing of joy to discover an artist who brings something fresh that will worm its way into hearts and souls with equal vigour and Keeley have somehow managed to achieve that with this, their full-length debut.

Built around the polymathic duo of Keeley Moss and Alan Maguire, ‘Floating Above Everything Else’ is a gorgeous collection of shimmering pop that leans into the 1980’s and 90’s for its inspiration.

Lush arrangements and glorious layers abound, all shot through with the distinctive voice of Moss, her ability to switch from silken to spiky, a major selling point here. Whilst the sounds here are a warm, sensual embrace, this never verges into wallpaper music as each track demands to be listened to, the care and attention here reminding you of hours spent on their craft that’s light years away from cookie cutter conveyors.

Opener ‘Seeing Everything’ opens this magical journey as its sublime rhythms synchronise with souls and bring to mind the very finest moments of bands like The Blue Nile and Talk Talk at their most achingly languid.

Similarly, ‘To A London Sunrise’ dreamingly floats along, Moss’s tone a thing of curious wonder that’s able to ramp things up on the jangly ‘The Glitter and the Glue’. Gifted with a plethora of layers, the arrangements and song structures reap rewards with return visits, the individuality flowing from a rich seam of talent.

Vibrant rocker ‘Forever’s Where You Are’ is a standout track but it’s when Keeley lean into ‘Echo Everywhere’ and the aptly titled ‘Totally Entranced’ that they’re at their most beguiling as your wrapped in silken arms whilst being shown a kaleidoscope of glorious shades.

With epic closer ‘Shine a Light’ and the ‘hidden’ acoustic cover of ‘Joni Mitchell’s ‘Both Sides Now’ rounding off the experience, the echoes of ‘Floating Above Everything Else’ will stay long in the memory and heart. Truly, the gramophone was invented for music such as this. ****1/2

Review by Paul Monkhouse


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: SOUNDSCAPISM INC. – Staring Down On Incandescent Cities

SOUNDSCAPISM INC. - Staring Down On Incandescent Cities

EtherealSoundWorks [Release date 20.07.23]

Fifth album by Soundscapism Inc., the musical project created by Bruno A, who handles the production and the majority of the instruments on the album, along with composing all the music and writing the lyrics (save for one co-write with Manuel Costa). Vocalist Amado Peiró returns  with a rhythm section consisting of Anethama drummer Daniel Cardoso and six string bass player Manuel Costa (who has become the second official member of Soundscapism Inc.).

Soundscapism Inc.’s last album ‘Afterglow Of Ashes’ was a real treat for listening on headphones, full of melodies and sounds you discovered more of on each subsequent play. This latest album continues in that style, with perhaps a bit more guitar crunch on the excellent two-parter ‘Cautionary Pale’.

Similar to artists like The Fierce & The Dead, Opeth and Anathema, a tune like ‘Molecular Sun’ has the chance to appeal outside the usual prog rock & ambient music crowd. At the ‘trippier’ end of the scale ‘Azul Deveras’ whisks the listener away, whilst ‘Curtain Call’ features gentle guitar playing and electronica a la Massive Attack.

For those who like to really get lost in the music, Soundscapism Inc. allow you to do just that. Progressive and ambient, always melodic, another winner from the band. ***1/2

Review by Jason Ritchie


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Gig review: MIDNITE CITY – The Black Heart, Camden, London, 17 June 2023

MIDNITE CITY- The Black Heart, Camden, London, 17 June 2023

Touring their freshly released fourth album ‘In at the Deep End’, I was delighted that Midnite City’s schedule included a relatively rare London date at the Black Heart. Perhaps as a result of long running festivals at places like Wigan and Nottingham, the melodic rock scene seems more robust in the rest of the UK than the Capital.

Unfortunately the venue is one of my least favourite. It’s great to have a dedicated rock bar which are shamefully few and far between in London, but in the upstairs music room it is impossible to see much, if not in the front row, and photography invariably involves a sea of heads below the band and poor lighting above. To add to my grumpiness the sound was piercingly loud for both bands.

MIDNITE CITY- The Black Heart, Camden, London, 17 June 2023

Star Circus were the support and I have to declare an interest as I’ve known their frontman Dave Winkler since meeting at the same rock clubs at the turn of the century and seen him in numerous bands. On this occasion they were far heavier than the glam or power pop act I somehow imagined them to be, with Dave, who now also takes on lead vocals sharing a double guitar attack with Jon Crampton, which expanded to a triple one when the keyboardist often strapped on a guitar.

I enjoyed songs like ‘Times Get Tough’, ‘Something’ which was almost punky, ‘War Around Your Heart’ and single ‘Bridges’. The penultimate song ‘Save Your Life’ was one of the strongest but reminded me of the early nineties when hard rock hopefuls were going for a more alternative sound, then ‘Before the Song Is Over’, which apparently has been knocking around for 20 years, ended a set which seemed to go down very well, Dave enjoying an easy rapport with the crowd.

MIDNITE CITY- The Black Heart, Camden, London, 17 June 2023

Midnite City’s (superb) new album had not officially released at show time, albeit available at the merch desk, yet large parts of the crowd already seems familiar with it. That meant the decision to feature it so heavily it wasn’t quite the gamble it first appeared.

They opened as on record with ‘Ready To Go’, a perfect opener then the more guitar oriented ‘Atomic’, sounding like a cross between Firehouse and Warrant. The new material was concentrated in the early part of the set including two songs that had already been in my head since being sent a review copy in ‘Girls Gone Wild’ and ‘Someday’, while the ballad ‘Hardest Heart To Break’ was very impressive, notably the big backing vocals.

MIDNITE CITY- The Black Heart, Camden, London, 17 June 2023

Despite the limitations of the cramped stage, the blonde haired Rob Wylde is the perfect glam frontman, working the crowd and living out the songs. He was rewarded as the atmosphere started to boil to the more familiar hooks of ‘Ghosts Of My Old Friends’, and ‘Summer Of Our Lives’, which I expected to be saved for later in the set, allied to newie ‘Good Time Music’.

On ‘She Don’t Understand Me’ the gang backing vocals were even better and almost of Def Leppard quality. Then a solo guitar slot that Included a snatch of ‘Careless Whisper’ from Miles Meakin- whose long fair hair and ever present grin led to much banter that he was Sam Ryder in disguise- led to a new song, heavy by their standards, in ‘Raise the Dead’, which I sense the rhythm section of Josh ‘Tabbie’ Williams and new drummer Ryan Briggs particularly enjoyed.

MIDNITE CITY- The Black Heart, Camden, London, 17 June 2023

‘They Only Come Out At Night’ was another that was irresistibly catchy with its ‘na-na-na’s, while the ballad ‘Heaven’s Falling’ had a touch of Shinedown’s ‘Second Chance’, and- dedicated to some fans who had travelled over- ‘Girls of Tokyo’ was simply too good to have been hidden away as a bonus track on a previous album. They ended with two older songs in ‘Give Me Love’ and ‘We Belong’, the latter enlivened by Shawn Charvette taking his portable keyboard off its stand and joining the others larking about.

Impressively they played an hour and 20 minutes, even though some old favourites like ‘Can’t Wait for the Nights’ were surprisingly dropped. Having twice as many albums as when I last saw them in London in 2019 has given the set a superior and more varied amount of material. Despite the venue limitations, this was a brilliant night confirming they have the songs and presence that belong on a larger stage to justify their self-proclaimed tagline of Europe’s no. 1 hair metal band.

 MIDNITE CITY- The Black Heart, Camden, London, 17 June 2023

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Album review (In At The Deep End, 2023)


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review : BIG COUNTRY – Driving To Damascus (Deluxe 4CD boxset)

Cherry Red [Release date: 30.6.23]

The late great Stuart Adamson and his band, Big Country, made an indelible musical mark on UK popular culture before the man’s untimely demise. The history is well documented.

The nineties was a hugely fertile decade of activity for the band … releasing four outstanding albums from 1991 to 1999, peaking with 1999’s Driving To Damascus, their last with Adamson. All gaining critical approval, if not commercial success.

Adamson had moved to the USA in 1995, and so his new environment had a huge influence on the songs he was writing.

This 4 CD boxset comprises the original Driving To Damascus album (plus The Nashville Sessions), a disc of B sides and edits, and two discs of demos/alt mixes.

It’s clear from the opening (and title) track that Adamson is aiming to evoke something of the USA’s deep south mythology. His exaggerated southern boy drawl, undercut by a melancholy keyboard motif, takes a bit of getting used to, but the song, epic in scale, is one the band’s best.

And so we learn, quickly, as we move through the album, that Adamson and the band have moved firmly away from last decade’s blazing Celtic stomp, toward a more intimate, almost arthouse style. ‘See You’ and ‘Fragile’ (the vocals shadowed by Eddi Reader’s sweet counterpoint) both enjoy sophisticated melodies, rich in colour and mood. As good as if not better than anything ever recorded by the band, it seemed like a new beginning.

The approach allowed for the freedom to record “The Nashville Sessions”, comprising 6 tracks (including ‘Chance’ and ‘Look Away’) laid down in the style of a radio session… live with only the occasional overdub. These tracks are included on CD1.

B sides are always interesting, but it’s probably the demos/alt mixes that will raise most interest, with quite different mixes of ‘Somebody Else’ (written with Ray Davies), ‘Trouble The Waters’, ‘Dive Into Me’ and several other songs spread across the 36 tracks on CDs 3 and 4.

As a wide ranging collection, with its focus on one outstanding album, Driving To Damascus Deluxe confirms itself to be a magnificently apposite tribute to Adamson.

His music lives on. *****

Review by Brian McGowan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: LEAH WAYBRIGHT – Dreamed

LEAH WAYBRIGHT - Dreamed

Invasion Merch [Release date 17.07.23]

One of the great things about GRTR! as we reflect on our twenty year lifespan is the eclectic nature of our brief.  We don’t ever feel compelled to review the latest Jethro Tull or Yes album.  Far more interesting might be those albums that appear from lesser known professionals who demand a wider audience.  Admittedly some of this is very niche but, I have to say, very satisfying nevertheless.

‘Dreamed’ by piano player Leah Waybright is a case in point.  It’s hardly rock, but an instrumental journey that is a melange of good taste, appealing themes and super playing.  It’s her first album since 1999′s ‘Beauty Gone Wild’.  In her defence she seems to be a very busy lady who also works as a floral artist/lecturer and wildflower conservationist.

Whilst Waybright’s compositional talents and classical training are evident, the journey is pastoral in feel.  This is jazz pop chamber music if you will.

Gary Blu’s woodwinds (including sax, flute and clarinet) feature prominently underpinned by Waybright’s piano.  At times it invokes a melodious early Van Der Graaf Generator (yes they can be) or Dutch progsters Focus but the music is always engaging.

In addition to Blu (who has worked with Steely Dan and Boz Scaggs), Waybright is joined by Happy The Man’s Stanley Whitaker (guitar) and Rick Kennell (bass, drums) and Trans-Siberian Orchestra violinist Mark Wood on ‘Sunwise’.

The album reminds me of when I raved about Rachel Flowers, another of those talented artists outside the mainstream but happily falling under the GRTR! gaze.  ****

Review by David Randall


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: MVI (Mark Vickness Interconnected) – In The Rain Shadow

MVI (Mark Vickness Interconnected) - In The Rain Shadow

www.markvickness.com [Release date 17.05.23]

“Sit back, pour a glass of your favourite tipple, and let this album wash over you.”  That’s what I wrote about ‘Interconnected’ in 2020 making it one of my “best ofs” that year.  And it could also be applied to ‘In The Rain Shadow’.

All the same ingredients are present that made that last album so listenable.  The blend of violin, cello with infectious percussion is well demonstrated on ‘The Gorge’.  Occasionally there’s a bit of Vickness’ electric guitar in the mix but – for the most part – as a bandleader he seems happy to sit back with his acoustic, colour the groove and let his fellow musicians carry the weight.

There’s also a filmic quality to some of the pieces.  ‘Alluvial Fans’, for example, punctuated by Matt Renzi’s oboe and a fine orchestration with Joseph Hebert’s cello and Mads Tolling’s violin against the characteristic infectious rhythm and repeated motifs.  And the folky, Celtic element present on ‘Interconnected’ (although not intrusive) crops up again in ‘On The Cliffs Of Mohr.’

A particular highlight is ‘Cloud Shadows’ a superbly reflective piece that should be the newbie listener’s first port in a storm.

The whole album has apparently been inspired by Vickness’ move to California’s Owens Valley in late-Lockdown and inspired by the meteorological changes he observed in the shadow of the mountains.

It is the skilful blending of instruments and insistent drone rhythms (Ty Burhoe and MB Gordy with Dan Fieszli, bass) that proves ultimately irresistible.  Whilst the album again reveals Vickness’ classical and jazz background the tunes are always melodic and completely immersive.

The whole album rises above what might disparagingly be called wallpaper music.  Not a lot happens admittedly – there’s a consistent and unbroken vibe – but it is a great listen that repays repeated listening.  *****

Review by David Randall

Album review (Interconnected, 2020)


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review : ROBIN GEORGE – Ace In My Hand (2CD)

Robin George - Ace In My Hand

Cherry Red [Release date 23.06.23]

What can you say about Robin George that hasn’t already been said?

He seems to have been circling under rock’n’roll’s radar forever, ready to land, but never making that last critical step.

Considering that the material on Ace In My Hand, a 2CD package, was recorded during down time at The Old Smithy Studios in Worcester in the late seventies, the production is impressive.

The sonics have a homemade sound at times, but they are sharp and balanced, and George’s measured arrangements are full of crisp invention, colourful flourishes and an irresistible bounce, showing a technical maturity surprising in an artist so young.

You can hear influences, of course you can – Uriah Heep, Def Leppard, Thin Lizzy and naturally Trapeze, – the artists he mixed with, the great and the good of the times – but the music is not necessarily derivative.

George puts his own stamp on ‘Ace In My Hand’ and ‘Streetwise’, giving them both a glammy glow, jacking up his riffs with the help of muscular bass, drum and keyboard work from “pickup” band, Pete Wright, Terry Rowley, Dave Holland and Pete Goalby.

The album’s almost standouts, ‘Chance Of A Lifetime’ (written with Goalby), ‘Get On Your Knees And Pray’, propelled by George’s trademark taut, whiplash riffs are eminently tuneful and delivered with bite. Archetypal UK melodic rock in the eighties.

But it’s fair to say that the collection pivots on a fulcrum of two key songs.

The evergreen ‘Heartline’ has survived decades of change in musical fashion. Its great riff has never died and in fact it has no plans to fade away.

Over those same years, themes of love, peace and perseverance have become hardwired into George’s lyrics… no better beginning than his ode to the common man, ‘Go Down Fighting’. Clearly for George, this was a personal philosophy.

These songs should have been his passport to better opportunities, better times. But we’ve had this conversation, and we are where we are.

The good news is that this 2 CD package is only the first in a series being curated and readied for release by Cherry Red. It includes many previously unpublished liner notes from the late Malcolm Dome, and pics from George’s own collection.

A sign of things to come. Good on them. ****

Review by Brian McGowan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Gig review: BLOODYWOOD – The Mash House, Edinburgh – 12th June 2023

My phone pinged and the text read ‘Hi pal, do you fancy going to see Bloodywood in Edinburgh’. I must admit my first reaction was ‘who?’, but the answer was ‘yup, let#s rock!’. So, it was a night out in one of Edinburgh’s smallest venues, on one of the hottest nights of the year, with one of metal’s hottest new acts.

Bloodywood hail from New Delhi. They were in the UK for the Download festival and added in a few small club dates for good measure. They had already toured the UK earlier in the year and had gone down a storm, so it was no surprise when the dates sold out very quickly and judging by tonight’s performance it will be the last time they play in venues of this size. Bloodywood are destined for bigger things, much bigger!

However, I am getting ahead of myself as tonight’s proceedings got underway with a very noisy trio, Lake Malice. The pairing of Alice Guala on vocals and Blake Cornwall on guitar were joined for the evening by Emily Ainger and were also fresh from a Download appearance. They exploded on to the stage in a ball of pent-up energy and fury that didn’t really subside throughout the set.

Alice’s vocal lends itself well to the hard-edged soundtrack and full on delivery. They got the growing crowd onside quickly and it wasn’t too long before we had the first circle pit of the night. Songs like ‘Stop The Party’ and ‘Bloodbath’ went down a storm with the crowd and at the end of their allotted 30 minutes they left the stage to heartfelt cheers from an appreciative crowd.

From the moment Bloodywood hit the stage and launched into ‘Gaddaar’ the Mash House descended into a riot of bouncing bodies that moved the heat up a notch or two. The band’s fusion of blast beat metal, coupled with traditional Indian folk music and instruments, is a unique sound. The guys honed their art over the years producing cover versions of songs for You Tube before developing their own sound and you can tell they are a well-seasoned unit.

The twin vocal delivery of Jayant Bhadula and Raoul Kerr reminded me of a very pissed off Linkin Park, not so much rock n roll as rap n growl! The set was taken from their debut album ‘Rakshak’ and all tracks took on a new life in the live setting.

Highlights of the set included ‘Aaj’ and ‘Machi Bhasad’ amongst others. I had a vantage point near the back of the hall and the sprung dancefloor in the club acted as a trampoline as the crowd bounced along. I was surprised no one knocked themselves out as the ceiling was quite low!

The most powerful song of the night was the relentless ‘Dana-Dan’. Its pummelling rhythms were a constant barrage which steamrollered the crowd into submission. ‘Jee Veerey’ featured Karan Katiyar on traditional flute which added an extra element to the song. The song is about fighting mental illness and depression, a subject the band are passionate about and look to promote awareness through their music.

I may not have been aware of Bloodywood before tonight, but this was a show that left you wanting more. As I said the band are destined for bigger things and much bigger venues in the near future. They offer something different, which is often a hard thing to achieve in rock, and their unique sound, coupled with their energy and passion, has already won them a legion of fans. I can only see that growing as the band continue to tour and hit the festival circuit, I for one will be back for more!

Bloodywood, more like bloody good!

Review by Dave Wilson.


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: MIDNITE CITY – In At The Deep End

MIDNITE CITY- In At The Deep End

Pride and Joy Music [Releaae date 23.06.23]

This is an impressive fourth release in under six years from Midnite City, confirming them as one of the most enduring of the select band of UK melodic rock acts.  It doesn’t mess with their established style and even the presence of a ghetto blaster on the cover tells you their hearts still lie firmly in the latter part of the eighties.

Opener ‘Ready to Go is a suitably up-tempo anthem with Shawn Charvette’s stabbing keyboards prominent in the mix and a hook-filled chorus with the requisite ‘who-ahs’. ‘Someday’ is nothing less than a melodic rock classic, the tone set in a glorious opening 40 seconds in which guitarist Miles Meakin plays the chorus melody then waves of keyboards break in: the vocals, especially on the chorus, remind me of Blue Tears and the song bears all the hallmarks of the music I still love.

‘Hardest Heart to Break’ has a naggingly familiar ring to it and is a lush, mid tempo number complete with closing ‘na-nas’ that would have been the inevitable shot at a hit single back in the day.

Danger Danger have always been the prime musical influence on the band, singer Rob Wylde in particular, but time and again on this album I was hearing Blue Tears as just much with ‘Good Time Music’ a case in point, the raspy catch in Rob’s voice like the late Gregg Fulkerson himself likened at the time to early Jon Bon Jovi.

Yet even better is to follow with a pair of tracks in ‘All Fall Down’ and the glammier ‘Girls Gone Wild’ that have the hooks-on-steroids big choruses that the likes of Desmond Child and Jack Ponti wrote back in the day. Indeed a guitar solo recent of Richie Sambora’s on ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’ even graces the former.

The rest of the album naturally doesn’t quite match those heights and after the mid tempo ‘Beginning of the End’ with some more modern keyboard touches, ‘Raise the Dead’ is heavier by their standards (and reminiscent of Alice Cooper when he jumped aboard the glam metal train) with Miles cutting loose on guitar. ‘It’s Not Me It’s You’ is a polished ballad that raises those Blue Tears comparisons again and the bright and breezy ‘Like No Tomorrow’ ensures the album does not end in anti-climax.

Their publicity blurb describes Midnite City as the UK’s leading hair metal band, but to me that undersells them- like Danger Danger and Scandinavian standard bearers Crazy Lixx they combine a sleazy glam image with the ability to craft more AOR styled melodies and choruses to rank with the very best. Their best produced effort with Chris Laney’s mix giving it a sharper focus, this feels like their most convincing effort yet. **** 1/4

Review by Andy Nathan

The Best of 2023

Gig review (London, June 2023)


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


News: MARILLION enter The GRTR! Grotto of Greatness in July 2023

MARILLION - Manchester Academy, 8 November 2017

The latest inductees to “The GRTR! Grotto of Greatness” are prog rockers Marillion.

A major retrospective tracing Marillion’s progress in the millennium will be published on 1 July by rock website Get Ready to ROCK! and throughout the month Get Ready to ROCK! Radio will feature more of their music.

Says Managing Editor David Randall: “When we published the review team’s favourite selections over a 20 year period back in April, Marillion loomed large in both the album and live act categories.”

“Like all the nominees for The Grotto the band have produced consistently good albums and backed up with superb live shows.  What is significant in our special feature – collecting our coverage since 2003 – is a large-scale contribution from our reviewers and a unanimity of opinion.”

Marillion were formed in 1979 and spearheaded the neo-prog movement of the early eighties. Until 1988 Fish was their vocalist.  Steve Hogarth joined the band for the album ‘Season’s End’.  From the late-1990s the band were early adopters of crowd-funding for their subsequent album releases.  They also established a thriving supply of downloads and DVDs via their website store.

Randall continues: “Some of our reviewers followed the band in the eighties but whilst the 1990s band brought with them many of the old fanbase they also lost some. However they attracted new admirers as they essentially changed their approach with the arrival of their new vocalist.  They made a tentative start with the first two albums of the new era, both of which were very accessible, but their concept album ‘Brave’ was the real turning point and it is hardly surprising that EMI dropped them.  It is fair to say that since that time they have never looked back.”

EDITOR NOTE

The equivalent of the “Hall of Fame” the Grotto honours selected artists who have been covered consistently at rock website Get Ready to ROCK! over a period of 20 years. The promotion is part of the website’s 20th anniversary celebrations and will feature a different artist or band each month in 2023.

The GRTR!@20 promotion celebrates 20 years of the popular rock website Get Ready to ROCK! The website’s archive of reviews and interviews will be highlighted as well as new features celebrating 20 years of activity.

So far this year “The Grotto” has welcomed The Darkness (January), Chantel McGregor (February) , Eleanor McEvoy (March), Joe Bonamassa (April), Walter Trout (May) and FM (June 2023).

The latest entrant in “The Grotto” was announced live on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio on Sunday 25 June.

Feature

More about GRTR!@20

GRTR!@20: The Best of 2003-2023


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: V/A – We’re An American Band – US Hard Rock Scene 1967-73 (3 CD Boxset)

Cherry Red Records [release date: 23.06.23]

This 4 hour, 3 CD, 62 track package ends with Grand Funk’s ‘We’re An American Band’ (1973). A game changing challenge to the music establishment of the time. A band of the people, a down to earth, blue collar rock band who sold out the Shea Stadium in a record breaking 72 hours (don’t tell the Beatles).

Everything that came in the six years prior to the album of the same name seemed to lead to that point.

In late sixties’ USA, the reverberations of the Vietnam War ushered in a new era of rock’n’roll.
It was also as much of a hangover from the summer of love. The hippy dippy flower power philosophising had hardened into the big amp, distorted guitar sound of bands like Blue Cheer (Summertime Blues), Iron Butterfly (Iron Butterfly Theme), Vanilla Fudge (Ticket To Ride) and many others.

Among those “many others”, several artists had much on their mind. The MC5 launched the primal musical scream of their career off the last days of the counterculture. The band’s controversial first single ‘Kick Out The Jams’ (which appears here) was recorded live in Detroit in 1968, produced by Bruce (The Doors/ Love) Botnick.

The same dynamism powered the Stooges ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’. The track has considerable history, and a contemporary presence that reboots every time the movies, “Transporter”, “Lock Stock and two Smoking Barrels” and “Reservation Dogs” gets another TV viewing. And with at least a dozen cover versions, inc Slayer, Sonic Youth and Sid Vicious getting frequent airings, it has become a key piece of music in the soundtrack of rock’n’roll history.

Radio had got on board and was playing and popularising the many other groundbreaking bands who pioneered this step change. They are all here:

The legendary Quicksilver Messenger Service (Pride Of Man), Blues Magoos (Chicken Wire Lady), Todd Rundgren’s first band, Nazz (Under The Ice), and Rundgren’s own ‘Is It My Name’; an early, garage rock track from Alice Cooper (Fields Of Regret). Early Heavy Metal influencers, Mountain (Mississippi Queen) and many many more.

And it would seem irresponsible not to mention that Love, Frijid Pink, Spirit, Steppenwolf, Arthur Lee and Blue Oyster Cult all feature here too.

Few colour snapshots in musical time could be more vivid or more memorable.

***** (at least).

Review by Brian McGowan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: JAN JAMES – Time Bomb

www.janjames.com [Release date b28.07.23]

Jan James 2020 release ‘Justify’ was a decent set of blues & soul numbers and now we have her latest release, again recorded and written with her partner Craig Calvert (who also plays guitar and bass throughout the album).

Opener ‘Swingin’ In The Sweet Sunshine’ has a lovely Motown feel complete with sultry sax from Brian Gephart (who also adds more tasty sax to ‘Sometimes Love’s Like That’). Jan James would be an ideal late afternoon, early evening act on the summer festival circuit.

James really comes into her own on the slower numbers like ‘Too Late Now’ and ‘Let Love Surround You’, where her rich, deep and passionate singing hits the spot. You can see why she was a hit performing the role of Janis Joplin in the play ‘Love, Janis’.

For those after a little toe tapping blues, ‘Don’t Lie To The One You Love’ works well, complete with a groovy Hammond courtesy of Bob Long.

A political slant on ‘Blood On Your Hands’, a response to the Capitol riots. The song is lifted by the backing vocals of Cheryl Wilson and Joyce Faison, along with a hard hitting piece of guitar playing from Craig Calvert. Calvert’s guitar solo highlight comes on the bluesy ‘Diamonds and Gold’. Played with plenty of feeling.

Jan James never falters in the quality of the music she makes with plenty to like on ‘Time Bomb’. An artist who certainly deserves to be more widely known in the blues & soul scenes. ***1/2

Review by Jason Ritchie


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Singles review: JOSH TAERK, SUZI QUATRO, ALICE COOPER, DEGREED

Josh Taerk

JOSH TAERK Hold On Virginia AMG/Sony Music

Josh is well known to readers of this site, and indeed listeners of GRTR! Radio, as his monthly live sessions with his family have been a treat since 2020. Now we have a new song from him – hurrah! It is an upbeat piece of pop rock with a neat country twist, and perfect for blasting out on these summer days & nights.

He has also signed a publishing deal with AMG/Sony, so here’s hoping more new music will be arriving soon!

SUZI QUATRO & KT TUNSTALL Shine A Light Sun Label Group

Suzi Quatro shows no signs of slowing down, both creatively and performing live. After an enjoyable soul covers EP she has now teamed up with KT Tunstall to record an album of original duets.

This is the lead single from the album ‘Face To Face’ which is due on August 11. On the album the duo covers themes of love and loss, fear and triumph. An uplifting melody with powerful lyrics, it bodes well for the album and their two voices complement each other well.

alice

ALICE COOPER I’m Alice earMUSIC

Alice Cooper returns with a new album, the first of two he has been working on. Simply called ‘Road’, the concept album is due on August 25 with Bob Ezrin in the producer’s chair.

The song introduces Alice (as if he needed any introduction!) and you can see this one opening his live shows. It has a 70s feel in the guitars and rhythm sound, along with Ghost approved harmonies on the harmony vocal parts.

Not bad at all.

DEGREED This Is Love Frontiers

Another song released ahead of their new album ‘Public Address’ on July 7. Now this reviewer has never quite been drawn into the hype fellow melodic rock fans have shown around this band. However, this new song is a melodic rock monster! Keys, harmonies, guitar crunch and the soaring vocals of Robin Eriksson, all combine into one of the melodic rock anthems of the summer.

Their upcoming album is shaping up to be one of the ‘must haves’ of the year.

CONEY HATCH It’s About A Girl Cleopatra Records

Guess what? Yep, the new live album (and first official live release) from Canadian rockers Coney Hatch is due in August. Entitled ‘Postcard From Germany (Live)’ and this is a new studio recording is an added treat for their fans.

Coney Hatch have kept pretty much their original line-up with vocalist Carl Dixon, bassist Andy Curran, and drummer Dave Ketchum joined by guitarist Sean Kelly, who has been with since 2018.

A classic Coney Hatch song being catchy, full of hooks and one that will please the band’s fans.

Reviews by Jason Ritchie


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Backstage Heroes: DARREN JOHNSON

Author and reviewer Darren Johnson has three published books to date, with ‘Slade in the 1970s’ recently published by SonicBond Publishing. Here we find out more about his introduction to rock music, why he loves glam rock in particular, all things Slade and how to use being interviewed by Jeremy Paxman to good use…

What was the band and song/album that first got you into rock music?

My dad was a huge rock fan, so from being a young kid I was always used to hearing rock music at home, The Stones, AC/DC, Deep Purple and so on. As a young teenager I ended up taping some of my dad’s albums or putting together my own compilations from his massive record collection. My first home-made compilation was Status Quo. It was around the time that ‘What You’re Proposing’ came out and my dad helped me select the songs for my own Quo compilation: ‘Caroline’, ‘Down Down’, ‘Most Of The Time’ etc.

First, last & always… (first album you owned, latest one you have bought & your ‘go to’/all-time classic album)

Excluding the home-made compilations, the first album proper I owned was AC/DC’s Highway To Hell. Both my dad and my older step-sister had a copy when it came out in 1979. However, a year or so later my step-sister gave me her copy as she had got more into bands like the Stranglers and Stiff Little Fingers.

My latest album is Shades of Blue, a new solo album by former Manfred Mann singer, Mike d’Abo. I saw him performing at one of those 60s package shows here in Hastings recently with several other artists from that era. He was signing albums in the interval and I got to chat with him. A talented song-writer and a great chap.

I’ve got many classic albums that I keep going back to so it’s hard to pick just one but as my ‘always’ choice I’m going to go with another album I picked up as a school-kid: Deep Purple In Rock. A school-friend sold it to me. He decided he was a punk not a metalhead and this album became surplus to requirements so I bought it off him for 50p.

What was your first published review and interview?

Although I’d been a fan of music since I was at school, I didn’t start writing about it until I was in my late 40s. All of my writing prior to that tended to relate to my work in politics so I was writing about things like climate change and the housing shortage rather than my favourite bands.

When I stepped down as a local councillor and suddenly had my evenings freed up I started up my own music blog. My first gig review was for Uriah Heep at Koko in 2014 but over time I began writing for other outlets, too, including Get Ready To ROCK! My first interview was with an unsigned band in Devon called the Stretch Report who had done a cover of ‘Police Car’ by Larry Wallis, the original guitarist from Motorhead.

What appeals to you about writing and reviewing?

What I like about writing and interviewing is that it gives me an outlet to express my love of music while utilising many of the skills that I’d honed over the years in the world of politics and campaigning.

I’ve been grilled by Paxman on Newsnight and was a regular guest on Andrew Neil’s Daily Politics show so I certainly learnt a thing or two about interviewing from the other side of the table. Hopefully, I don’t give my interview subjects quite that kind of grilling though.

In your latest book on Slade, did you manage to interview any of the band? Also, how do you start to compile your ideas and information on a band like Slade?

I had previously interviewed Jim Lea and interviewed Don Powell more recently so I was able to draw on both of those as material for the book but I also spent a lot of time delving into press archives.

The ‘Decades’ series, of which this is part, is a year-by-year look at an artist’s career over a particular decade, including their recorded output, concerts and impact on the wider music scene so I drew from contemporary reviews and interviews published at the time.

Once I’d pulled together the research I needed it was then a matter of thinking about how I wanted to tell the story in a way which is hopefully interesting and compelling for those reading. I think with books of this type it is important to tell a story that people reading can empathise with, not just assemble a collection of facts in chronological order.

SLADE - Come On Feel The Hitz

Do you think the original line-up of Slade would ever reform, even if just for a one-off?

No, I think that opportunity has long gone. Dave Hill and Don Powell worked together for many years before that ended with some acrimony. Don has now reconnected with Jim Lea and they’ve recorded a couple of things together but there is zero chance of a full-scale reunion. It’s a shame it never happened but at least I saw the original band live three times before they spilt.

What is your favourite cover version of a Slade song and why?

I’ve never really been too fussed about covers of Slade to be honest. If I’m listening to Slade songs I generally want to hear Noddy Holder’s voice, not someone else’s. However, two covers stand out as being of particular importance to the band’s legacy and enduring appeal: Quiet Riot’s cover of ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’ which helped introduce Slade to US metal fans in the early 80s and Oasis’s cover of the same song at Maine Road which helped ensure Slade got the seal of approval from Britpop fans in the mid-90s.

What are your recollections of seeing Slade live?

I first saw Slade at the Monsters of Rock festival at Donington in 1981 when I was 15. It was not only my first ever festival but also my first ever live rock gig of any type. It still remains my favourite gig of all time, in particular the set by Slade that afternoon. I write about the intensity of the performance and Noddy Holder’s masterful ability to connect with the crowd in the final chapter of my book.

If Slade had continued past the early 1990′s do you think they would have maintained their popularity?

There was an attempt to have another hit after ‘Radio Wall Of Sound’ charted in 1991. They followed it up with a track called ‘Universe’ but it bombed. I can quite understand why Noddy Holder felt it was time to move on and call it a day.

I think it would have been something of a struggle if they had carried on, both commercially and personally. But had they gone their separate ways and then announced a reunion say, ten, fifteen or twenty years later it would have been absolutely massive. Sadly, it was not to be.

You have previously written books on Sweet and Suzi Quatro. Are there any other glam rock titans you would like to write about?

Maybe! I absolutely love the glam era and it’s been a joy writing about these three artists but I’ve no definite plans for another book at this stage or, indeed, whether it would be about another glam icon or a different type of artist altogether.

SUZI QUATRO IN THE 1970s by Darren Johnson

Why do you think bands like Slade and Sweet still have a big appeal nowadays? Have the use of songs on movie soundtracks like Guardians of the Galaxy helped?

I was surprised and delighted when the latest Slade compilation got to number 8 in the UK album charts back in 2020, as were all four of the original members. It was their highest placing in the album charts since 1974! I think various film soundtracks have definitely helped consolidate both bands’ appeal over the years – and put the focus firmly on the power of the music and the strength of the song-writing rather than it all just being about the outrageous costumes and the glitter.

Any good rock ‘n’ roll tales to tell…

When I was still in politics, spending an evening with Jimmy Page was quite a highlight. I bumped into him at a drinks reception in London for the 2012 Olympics. We got chatting on the way in and once we got inside he looked around and said he didn’t really know anyone there and would I mind if he spent the evening with me. A fun night followed…

What are you planning next writing wise?

After writing three books in as many years, I’ve not got any concrete plans for the next one yet and thought I’d give myself a bit of breathing space when this one came out before I start on another.

I’m still continuing to write, however, whether it’s reviews or interviews for my website, or the music PR work I’m involved with. Whether it’s been working with unsigned independent artists or icons like Glen Matlock and Clem Burke on the recent Lust For Life tour, the PR side has been interesting and satisfying.

Book review (Suzi Quatro in the 1970s)

Darren’s Blog


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: PRIDE OF LIONS – Dream Higher

PRIDE OF LIONS - Dream Higher

Frontiers [Release date 16.06.23]

Seventh studio album from Pride Of Lions.

The “Survivor” name has been purged from all official publicity associated with Peterik for legal reasons, but anyone who is at all interested in the genre well knows Peterik’s illustrious past.

Ironically, it’s arguable that the material he wrote for 38 Special and Lynyrd Skynyrd is as much a claim to fame as the ‘Eye Of The Tiger’ and ‘Burning Heart’ Rocky anthems.

That was then. Once you get past the overblown sentiments of Jim Peterik’s lyrics and his vocalist, Toby Hitchcock’s tendency to over emote, you realise that Pride Of Lions is a decent melodic rock band.

‘Dream Higher’,a skilfully constructed rock song, rolls back time to the genre’s glory years, indelibly stamped with Peterik’s ability to reach for the epic.
The lightweight pop of ‘Driving And Dreaming’, which unlikely as it might seem, gets down to earth, has Peterik and Hitchcock sharing lead vocals.
We’re on an interesting journey.

But not always rewarding. While ‘Find Somebody To Love’ and ‘Renegade Heart’ channel the spirit of Survivor’s single releases in the 80s, delivering a shot of nostalgia right to the listener’s heart, elsewhere and a bit too often, tracks like ‘My Destiny’, ‘Through It All’ and ‘Something To Live For’ are just too saccharine, even to the most receptive of palates. ***

Review by Brian McGowan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review : STARDUST – Kingdom Of Illusion

Frontiers [Release date: 16.06.23]

Hungarian band, Stardust kick off their album with ‘War’ as the opening track.  Given current events, there was always someone who’d climb on the bandwagon.

Lets move on.

There’s a welcome familiarity to Stardust’s melodic rock, you can hear echoes of Europe’s best contemporary AOR bands – like Eclipse, HEAT and WET.

Flushed with the adrenaline of protest, the band go on to target the most popular of emotions, with ‘Fire’. It’s a pulse quickening melodic rock song, intense and passionate, with a welcome emphasis on melody. It could have been recorded 40 years ago, and that’s a big part of its appeal.

Up there with the best sentimental, chest beating ballads of the eighties, ‘Make Me Feel Your Love’ is a memorably melodic evocation of hard rock heartbreak, daringly backed up by a cover of one of Cinderella’s most popular ballads (64 million hits on Spotify), ‘Don’t Know What You Got Till It’s Gone’.

Elsewhere the heart stopping hooks and catchy choruses are liberally sprinkled… a thundering, bass heavy soundtrack is sweetly loosened by dancing keyboards on ‘Losing Me’; the frenetic ‘Heroes’ is lyrically strong, with fine axe soloing giving it further momentum, and the Blue eyed soul/ westcoast rock of ‘Sarah’ demonstrates a secure melodic sensibility, a willingness to show that they are more than eighties AOR wannabes.

We’ll hear more of this band, of that there is no doubt. ****

Review by Brian McGowan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Gig review: KIRA MAC – The Garage, Highbury, London, 4 June 2023

 KIRA MAC- The Garage, Highbury, London, 4 June 2023

Kira Mac are a band on a rapid rise. They only started gigging a year ago but a buzz quickly started building, to the extent that this UK tour included what I thought was an ambitious London booking at The Garage. There was a more than decent turnout, approximately half full, and what was just as impressive is that although debut album ‘Chaos Is Calling’ only came out late last year, they have already written several new songs which were performed here.

I was due to see them at Stonedead festival this summer and wondered whether to keep my powder dry for that but the deciding factor was having These Wicked Rivers as support. The Derbyshire-based band have a striking image, looking like an Outlaw gang from the old west in hats, beards and overcoats and with a stage set decorated with vintage lamps and soft furnishings.

 KIRA MAC- The Garage, Highbury, London, 4 June 2023

Originally I thought they were not my bag but I have warmed in a big way to a sound that is dark and sludgy yet also richly melodic. ‘Shine On’ was a perfect example of this, notably the closing guitar solo from a shape-pulling Arran Day, which had me reaching for comparisons with Raging Slab and to a lesser extent Blackfoot. ‘Force of Nature’ featured a ‘who-oah’ chant and ‘Black Gold’ was a little lighter and more direct, either side of the long, slow ‘When the War is Won’.

John Hartwell is a bit too diffident for my liking in his crowd communication and though the set lost a little direction in the middle for me, the dark riffs and stately pace of ‘Testify’ revived it. The best was left for last though, in ‘Don’t Pray For Me’ (no, not the Little Angels song), building from a slow beginning into an epic with Arran’s closing solo exploding into a rapid conclusion, plus a snatch of Neil Young’s ‘Hey Hey My My’.

 KIRA MAC- The Garage, Highbury, London, 4 June 2023

If many of TRW’s songs take a while for their charms to unfurl, Kira Mac went straight for the jugular with two very direct openers in ‘Hit Me Again’ and ‘Scorned’, the former off the album, the latter a newer song whose chorus ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scored’ I could imagine Lzzy Hale having belted out on Halestorm’s The Strange Case Of..’ album.

If both of those had a slight pop edge a la Hot Damn (and even Shania Twain in parts!), a new song in ‘Farewell’, and ‘Dead Man Walking’, with its deep riff, and the album’s title track, boasting a chorus of ‘take it to the level below’ were significantly heavier.

It is easy to see how the eponymous singer will always be the focal point with her waist length blonde hair, tattoos and leather trousers. Under her real name of Rhiannon Kira Hill, she has a history of both writing and covering country, blues and even Any Winehouse type material in a parallel career.

KIRA MAC- The Garage, Highbury, London, 4 June 2023

I didn’t really hear too much of that in a more conventional rock voice, though a couple of songs had a slight southern influence, namely ‘Hell Fire and Holy Water’ and ‘Mississippi Swinging’. What I did notice though, was that she had the vocal power and diction to make her lyrics easily audible even with a heavy backing, something that cannot be said of all bands. She also had a very confident stage presence and was not afraid to break up the music with a thorough introduction of each song.

The set was one straight ahead rocker after another with the likes of  ‘Play The Game’, ‘No Way Out’ and ‘Back For More’ managing to be both heavy and commercial at the same time. The songs have a modern feel and guitarists Joe Worrall and Alex Novakovic are both very able but do not linger long with their solos. Together with bassist Bret Barnes I thought they also had a very dynamic stage presence, contrary to feedback I had heard, and the band were very accomplished for one at such an early stage of their career.

 KIRA MAC- The Garage, Highbury, London, 4 June 2023

My only complaint was that the songs lack a bit of variety and even when Kira introduced a ballad in ‘Never Going To Say’, it wasn’t really anything of the sort.

A set that clocked in at a decent 70 minutes ended with ‘Climbing’, boasting their heaviest and most rapid fire riff yet and ‘Downfall’, one of their many singles to have had rock radio airplay, before a couple of encores. For the first, which I assume was another new song, Kira invited us to sing along to the cheeky chorus of ‘in the morning when you miss me, kiss my a*se and save your whiskey’, then ‘One Way Ticket’ closed the set in the same catchy manner, before I rushed off to get my hands on a copy of the CD.

It seems as if others joined the party first, but my belated first sighting of Kira Mac left a very favourable impression. Yet another addition to what is a thriving home-grown classic rock scene and a band that have already achieved a lot in a short space of time with a big crossover potential to do even better.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Gig review: IAN MOSS – 100 Club, London, 3 June 2023

IAN MOSS- 100 Club, London, 3 June 2023

Cold Chisel are the musical equivalent of Victoria Bitter or TimTams – a legendary part of Australian life and culture, but rarely seen outside the mother country. While singer Jimmy Barnes, of whom I am a confirmed fan, has toured the UK many times over his long solo career, an equal part of their success was guitarist and secondary singer Ian Moss (though arguably the distinctively Australian songwriting genius of Don Walker was an even bigger factor in Chisel’s appeal).

He has been over a couple of times solo, but this was his first show with a full and one which piqued my curiosity. Despite reading on social media there had been small attendances on the rest of the UK tour, this one was sold out with the Aussie diaspora – less prominent than when I first moved to London in the early nineties- nevertheless still out in force.

IAN MOSS- 100 Club, London, 3 June 2023 There were two enjoyable support acts, both solo and acoustic, the first floppy haired Harry Slater who I remembered mid-set was briefly guitarist in Bad Touch and now fronts his own eponymous band. He was followed by Ewan MacFarlane, a bearded and tattooed Scottish singer songwriter. Though the acoustic format can be restricting, opener ‘Underneath Your Spell’ was superb even in this format, and other songs like ‘Validated’ and ‘All Those Years’ also impressed. He showed his sardonic humour by saying we were being invited to a complicated sing along before a wordless chant during ‘New Rage Hope Song’, in which favourable comparisons with Del Amitri were coming to mind.

IAN MOSS- 100 Club, London, 3 June 2023

Ian Moss came on stage in very casual manner, clutching a glass of red wine (though ignoring the old maxim ‘never mix grain and grape’, he sent for beers during the set) and in no nonsense fashion said he would begin with a couple of songs from ‘ Matchbook’,  his debut solo album which was a massive late eighties hit down under, in ‘Such A Beautiful Thing’ which grew on me, and the classy, soulful ‘Out Of The Fire’ with prominent backing vocals from stylish bassist Zoe Hauptmann and Juanita Tippins.

‘If Another Day’ rocked with an up tempo urgency before ‘One Long Day’ was bluesier with a longer jam in which Ian traded off some Hammond organ wizardry from keyboard player and Jarvis Cocker-lookalike Clayton Doley.

 It was the first, if not the best known, of a few Cold Chisel songs through the evening, mainly those where he had a connection as writer or singer (so no ‘Khe Sanh’). Two such, ‘My Baby’ and a ‘Choir Girl’ at a significantly slower tempo than the original, had people joining in.

 IAN MOSS- 100 Club, London, 3 June 2023

The tour blurb was promoting a forthcoming album out in ‘Rivers Run Dry’, so I was surprised only to hear one song, namely ‘Nullabor Plain’ which rocked harder than I expected, with a hint of Springsteen. On ‘Hold On’ and the funk-tinged ‘Never Before’ he stretched out, again in tandem with Clayton, with some smooth and extremely high quality guitar work – he is not normally spoken of as a blues guitar hero, but would lose nothing in comparison.

As the atmosphere became more raucous, he closed with a couple of intelligently arranged and distinctively Australian slices of pop rock from ‘Matchbook’  in ‘Telephone Booth’ and ‘Tucker’s Daughter’, both unfamiliar to me until doing my homework for the gig, but massive hits back home.

 IAN MOSS- 100 Club, London, 3 June 2023

Things got progressively looser on the encores that felt nearly as long as the main set, with ‘Mr Rain’ turning into a funky jam and a great cover of ‘Georgia On My Mind’ with a series of solo slots, including a stunning vocal one from Juanita. There could only be one encore though, in the Chisel classic probably most associated with him in ‘Bow River’, a nine minute version with the band stretching out in that distinctive Aussie pub rock tradition.

It was a fitting end to a gig every bit as good as excited fans had been telling me earlier in the evening, showing that he is a man of many talents, but all with an effortless understatement. Now, as a confirmed new fan, my mission is to source a copy of ‘Matchbook’.

IAN MOSS- 100 Club, London, 3 June 2023

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: GARDNER JAMES – No Strings

Frontiers [Release date 09.06.23]

Gardner James is Justin James, who has worked with Staind and Tyketto. And Janet Gardner, who was of course vocalist with Vixen. Their history is well documented online.

A pithy rock band riff can be just about heard through the vinyl crackles and scratches on the intro of ‘I’m Living Free’, the album’s opening track and style marker.

It places this album immediately in the past.

Gardner’s grainy, lived in vocals ride in on waves of macho, multi voiced backing vocals, adding weight to our first impressions.

And so No Strings goes on to confirm itself to be a gritty, bluesy hard rock album, with most songs chasing a riff. Producer/ writer/ guitarist James makes the most out of a limited budget.

His studiocraft on songs like ‘Turn The Page’, using a beefy, cleancut riff, reminiscent of Von Groove’s always melodic approach to hard rock, and ‘85’, again punctuated by heavy riffs and bgvs that drop in and out of the mix, is impressive.

Interestingly,‘85’ is as much Gardner’s bio as it is a rock song, recounting those early years on the LA circuit, as Vixen held on by their fingernails, before the breakthrough in 1987.

Like ‘Don’t Turn Me Away’, ‘I’m Not Sorry’ and ‘Set Me Free’, the sound that James has created here is very much of that era, the verses might be a little unfocused, but each song bridges to a memorably melodic hard rock chorus. His production does a lot with a little, creating 3D musical imagery – especially on the bluesy, country rocking title track – from almost nothing at all. ***

PS. Cool artwork

Review by Brian McGowan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 26 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 21 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 11 May 2026

BREITLER Sentinel (El Puerto Records)
FIRE IN HER EYES Too Late To Change (indie)
KING FALCON Wait (indie)
BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS Come What May (indie)
KARIN PARK Shadow (Size Records)
HARSH Don’t Mess With Me (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 11 May 2026

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)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: BRICK BRISCOE – Found Footage

Bad Touch - GIANTS OF ROCK, Butlins, Minehead, 25-27 January 2019

Facebook [Release date 20.04.26] Brick Briscoe, what a great discovery. Hands up who’s heard of him. One or two at the back yeah. So I’d never heard of him either, but I’m damned glad I’ve been hipped to him now. … Continue reading

News: DIO, MARC HUDSON, LINDISFARNE (July 2023)

Bad Touch - GIANTS OF ROCK, Butlins, Minehead, 25-27 January 2019

Angra have signed with Atomic Fire Records who release their new album ‘Cycles Of Pain’ on November 3. Any Given Sin release their latest album ‘War Within’ via Mascot Records on August 4. Asking Alexandria have confirmed the release date … Continue reading

Rising Stars interview: JESSICA LYNN

Jessica Lynn

Jessica Lynn has been described by American Songwriter as “country arena rock”, and her 7-show UK tour will take place this July. Stateside, Jessica Lynn is famed for the spectacle and quality of her live shows and stagecraft — not to mention her TV … Continue reading

Album review: GAMMA – What’s Gone Is Gone (The Complete Elektra Recordings))

Gamma box set

Cherry Red [Release date: 30.06.23] CD1: GAMMA 1 (1979) CD2: GAMMA 2 (1980) CD3: GAMMA 3 (1982) The first 3 CDs from Ronnie Montrose’s band, Gamma, come nicely packaged this month, with each one including a couple of bonus tracks, … Continue reading

Album review: THE JOHN WILLIAMS SYNDICATE – Into The Light

The John Williams Syndicate - Into The Light

Pete Feenstra chatted to John Williams for his show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio playing tracks from the new album. First broadcast 2 July 2023. Wulfrun Records [Release date 23.07.23] When a gamekeeper turns poacher, or in this case … Continue reading

Album review : FRIJID PINK – The Deram Recordings 1970-1971 (2 CDs)

Frijid Pink - The Deram Recordings 1970-1971

Cherry Red [Release date 30.06.23] A two CD package, comprising Detroit band, Frijid Pink’s first two albums. Sometimes the movies crossover into popular music. One quote that rings true and often crops up is William Goldman’s “nobody knows anything”. Frequently, … Continue reading

Album review: LUKE MORLEY – Songs From The Blue Room

LUKE MORLEY- Songs From the Blue Room

Conquest Records [Release date 23.06.23] With new Thunder activity on hold for a while as Danny Bowes continues his long road to recovery, the time is right for the band’s lead guitarist and chief songwriter Luke Morley to release his … Continue reading

Album review: KEELEY – Floating Above Everything Else

KEELEY – Floating Above Everything Else

Bandcamp [Release date 30.06.23] To some, music is a drug, constantly searching for that new high that will set the pulses racing and synapses firing. In a world of identikit artists all vying for airplay and sales, it’s a thing of … Continue reading

Album review: SOUNDSCAPISM INC. – Staring Down On Incandescent Cities

SOUNDSCAPISM INC. - Staring Down On Incandescent Cities

EtherealSoundWorks [Release date 20.07.23] Fifth album by Soundscapism Inc., the musical project created by Bruno A, who handles the production and the majority of the instruments on the album, along with composing all the music and writing the lyrics (save for … Continue reading

Gig review: MIDNITE CITY – The Black Heart, Camden, London, 17 June 2023

MIDNITE CITY- The Black Heart, Camden, London, 17 June 2023

Touring their freshly released fourth album ‘In at the Deep End’, I was delighted that Midnite City’s schedule included a relatively rare London date at the Black Heart. Perhaps as a result of long running festivals at places like Wigan … Continue reading

Album review : BIG COUNTRY – Driving To Damascus (Deluxe 4CD boxset)

BIG COUNTRY

Cherry Red [Release date: 30.6.23] The late great Stuart Adamson and his band, Big Country, made an indelible musical mark on UK popular culture before the man’s untimely demise. The history is well documented. The nineties was a hugely fertile … Continue reading

Album review: LEAH WAYBRIGHT – Dreamed

LEAH WAYBRIGHT - Dreamed

Invasion Merch [Release date 17.07.23] One of the great things about GRTR! as we reflect on our twenty year lifespan is the eclectic nature of our brief.  We don’t ever feel compelled to review the latest Jethro Tull or Yes … Continue reading

Album review: MVI (Mark Vickness Interconnected) – In The Rain Shadow

MVI (Mark Vickness Interconnected) - In The Rain Shadow

www.markvickness.com [Release date 17.05.23] “Sit back, pour a glass of your favourite tipple, and let this album wash over you.”  That’s what I wrote about ‘Interconnected’ in 2020 making it one of my “best ofs” that year.  And it could … Continue reading

Album review : ROBIN GEORGE – Ace In My Hand (2CD)

Robin George - Ace In My Hand

Cherry Red [Release date 23.06.23] What can you say about Robin George that hasn’t already been said? He seems to have been circling under rock’n’roll’s radar forever, ready to land, but never making that last critical step. Considering that the … Continue reading

Gig review: BLOODYWOOD – The Mash House, Edinburgh – 12th June 2023

Bloodywood

My phone pinged and the text read ‘Hi pal, do you fancy going to see Bloodywood in Edinburgh’. I must admit my first reaction was ‘who?’, but the answer was ‘yup, let#s rock!’. So, it was a night out in … Continue reading

Album review: MIDNITE CITY – In At The Deep End

MIDNITE CITY- In At The Deep End

Pride and Joy Music [Releaae date 23.06.23] This is an impressive fourth release in under six years from Midnite City, confirming them as one of the most enduring of the select band of UK melodic rock acts.  It doesn’t mess … Continue reading

News: MARILLION enter The GRTR! Grotto of Greatness in July 2023

The GRTR! Grotto of Greatness

The latest inductees to “The GRTR! Grotto of Greatness” are prog rockers Marillion. A major retrospective tracing Marillion’s progress in the millennium will be published on 1 July by rock website Get Ready to ROCK! and throughout the month Get … Continue reading

Album review: V/A – We’re An American Band – US Hard Rock Scene 1967-73 (3 CD Boxset)

Grand Funk

Cherry Red Records [release date: 23.06.23] This 4 hour, 3 CD, 62 track package ends with Grand Funk’s ‘We’re An American Band’ (1973). A game changing challenge to the music establishment of the time. A band of the people, a … Continue reading

Album review: JAN JAMES – Time Bomb

JAN JAMES - Time Bomb

www.janjames.com [Release date b28.07.23] Jan James 2020 release ‘Justify’ was a decent set of blues & soul numbers and now we have her latest release, again recorded and written with her partner Craig Calvert (who also plays guitar and bass … Continue reading

Singles review: JOSH TAERK, SUZI QUATRO, ALICE COOPER, DEGREED

Josh Taerk

JOSH TAERK Hold On Virginia AMG/Sony Music Josh is well known to readers of this site, and indeed listeners of GRTR! Radio, as his monthly live sessions with his family have been a treat since 2020. Now we have a new … Continue reading

Backstage Heroes: DARREN JOHNSON

Slade in the 1970s

Author and reviewer Darren Johnson has three published books to date, with ‘Slade in the 1970s’ recently published by SonicBond Publishing. Here we find out more about his introduction to rock music, why he loves glam rock in particular, all … Continue reading

Album review: PRIDE OF LIONS – Dream Higher

PRIDE OF LIONS - Dream Higher

Frontiers [Release date 16.06.23] Seventh studio album from Pride Of Lions. The “Survivor” name has been purged from all official publicity associated with Peterik for legal reasons, but anyone who is at all interested in the genre well knows Peterik’s … Continue reading

Album review : STARDUST – Kingdom Of Illusion

STARDUST - Kingdom Of Illusion

Frontiers [Release date: 16.06.23] Hungarian band, Stardust kick off their album with ‘War’ as the opening track.  Given current events, there was always someone who’d climb on the bandwagon. Lets move on. There’s a welcome familiarity to Stardust’s melodic rock, … Continue reading

Gig review: KIRA MAC – The Garage, Highbury, London, 4 June 2023

P1050693 - Copy

Kira Mac are a band on a rapid rise. They only started gigging a year ago but a buzz quickly started building, to the extent that this UK tour included what I thought was an ambitious London booking at The … Continue reading

Gig review: IAN MOSS – 100 Club, London, 3 June 2023

IAN MOSS- 100 Club, London, 3 June 2023

Cold Chisel are the musical equivalent of Victoria Bitter or TimTams – a legendary part of Australian life and culture, but rarely seen outside the mother country. While singer Jimmy Barnes, of whom I am a confirmed fan, has toured … Continue reading

Album review: GARDNER JAMES – No Strings

GARDNER JAMES - No Strings

Frontiers [Release date 09.06.23] Gardner James is Justin James, who has worked with Staind and Tyketto. And Janet Gardner, who was of course vocalist with Vixen. Their history is well documented online. A pithy rock band riff can be just … Continue reading