Tag Archives: review

Album review: MARTIN BARRE – Away With Words

MARTIN BARRE - Away With Words

Edifying Records [Release date 30.09.13] Perhaps the most constant revolving door of rock is that of Jethro Tull, and all the more intriguing for the recent  ‘loss’ of Martin Lancelot Barre.  For several centuries, it seems, Ian Anderson’s right hand … Continue reading

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Book reviews: ERIC CLAPTON – All You Need To Know FAQ and Day by Day

ERIC CLAPTON - All You Need To Know FAQ

Published by Backbeat Books Normally reserved for the ranks of more obsessive fans and anoraks (and before you ask, I am one myself- KISS, Rolling Stones and Hanoi Rocks) of late these kinds of books have taken on a whole … Continue reading

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Album review: GOV’T MULE – Shout!

Provogue [Release date 23.09.13] It’s a measure of Gov’t Mule adventurous self confidence and their essential connection with their fans, that their new album ‘Shout’ offers a groundbreaking bonus disc, with alternate versions of the same songs featuring different singers. … Continue reading

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Album review: PARTHENON HUXLEY – Thank You Bethesda

www.parthenonhuxley.com Parthenon Huxley is fine purveyor of pop rock tunes and over here in the UK maybe best known as the guitarist in The Orchestra, the band that features former ELO members (one of these, Eric Troyer helps out on … Continue reading

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Album review: THE KEV WALKER BAND – Biding My Time

The Kev Walker Band - Biding My Time

[Release date 09.09.13] A carpenter by trade, it’s been 30 years since Essex singer songwriter Kev Walker released his last album (The Dusk, 1983).  Sadly, it was the loss of his wife to cancer that inspired Biding My Time – … Continue reading

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Album review: LEEROY STAGGER – Truth Be Sold

Clubhouse Records UK [Release date 04.06.13] ‘Truth Be Sold’ is an album full of linguistic exuberance and boisterous musical vitality. Leeroy Stagger is a Canadian wordsmith with a punk indie past who is joined on this album by the experienced … Continue reading

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EP Review: TOM GEE BAND – Better Things To Do

 TGB [Release date 14.06.13] Tom Gee is a fine white boy soul singer with a big band line-up that given the laid back nature of this 5 track EP sometimes feels like an extravagance. For most of the well crafted … Continue reading

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Album Review: ACTIVE HEED – Visions From Realities

Active Heed

Self Released – 30 June 2013 Active Heed, despite having a name that suggests something a Glaswegian would use in a Saturday night ruckus, is actually the musical brainchild of one Umberto Pagnini – an Italian composer and lyricist who … Continue reading

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Album review: MARK PONTIN GROUP – Days Of Destiny

Moochee Records [Release date 08.05.13] Mark Pontin Band’s liner notes on ‘Days Of Destiny, makes clear the essential connection between his struggles to get this recording made and the thematic title track of a power trio album with real substance. … Continue reading

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Gig review: LAST IN LINE – Islington Academy, 1 August 2013

LAST IN LINE + SWEET SAVAGE + DENDERA A two thirds full Islington Academy to see the surviving members of the classic Dio line-up from the early/mid-80’s, no mean feat as August is never a great month for gigs outside … Continue reading

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Album review: JOHNNY DOWD – Do The Gargon

   Mother Jinx Records [Release date 05.08.13] ‘The record took two weeks to make, which is plenty if you know what you’re doing’, says New York based Texan exile Johnny Dowd. He seems to know what he’s doing, as he … Continue reading

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Album review: TOMMY BOLIN – Whirlwind

TOMMY BOLIN - Whirlwind

Cleopatra Records [Release date: 26.08.13] Guitarist Tommy Bolin has an interesting pre-Purple history and this 2-CD set is an excellent chronicle of the band he formed in 1972 after Zephyr and before James Gang.  Energy, with a mix of rock … Continue reading

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Album review: SOIL – Whole

SOIL - Whole

AFM Records [Release date 19.08.13] Soil – or should that be SOiL – have been with us for a while now as their major label debut album Scars was released back in 2001. The band hail from Texas and are … Continue reading

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Album review: WILLIE NILE – American Ride

Blue Rose Records [Release date 24.06.13] Willie Nile is a true blue collar troubadour with a poet’s eye for colourful analytical prose. He’s worked every bar, club and theatre in town, world-wide and he’s excited audiences big and small with … Continue reading

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Album review: DICKEY BETTS – Pattern Disruptive

Retroworld [Release date 29.07.13] Listening to this kick ass record, it’s hard to imagine that the Allman Brothers Band legend Dickey Betts was without a record contract and hadn’t recorded for the best part of 7 years. He came back … Continue reading

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Album Review: FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH – The Wrong Side Of Heaven and The Righteous Side Of Hell – Volume 1

      Eleven Seven ( Release date – Out now) This is the snappily titled new album from FFDP and is the first of two releases planned for this year. Anyone who witnessed the band at Download this year will … Continue reading

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Album review: JONNY LANG – Fight For My Soul

Jonny Lang - Fight For My Soul

Provogue [Release date 02.09.13] It’s a measure of Jonny Lang’s maturity that he’s slowly but surely repositioned himself in the music scene as a dance friendly, contemporary white boy soul singer at the ripe old age of 32. I say … Continue reading

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Album review: EAST TOWN PIRATES – Seven Seas Of Sin

EAST TOWN PIRATES - Seven Seas Of Sin

The look of this band, and the album cover, may not initially excite.  Skulls and cross bones.  Piratical tales.  What’s new?  Well nothing really but there is a certain infectious charm to this second album from East Anglia’s bunch of … Continue reading

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Album review: STEVE CICHON – Meltdown

Stephen Andrew Cichon [Release date 03.06.13] Florida’s prog/fusion guitarist Steve Cichon’s last instrumental album ‘Cranial Feedback’ was notable for its inventive guitar playing, shifting tone colours and vacillating twists and turns. ‘Meltdown’ extends his penchant for relentless guitar pyrotechnics with … Continue reading

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Album review: EVILYN STRANGE – Mourning Phoebe

Evilyn Strange

www.evilynstrange.co.uk [Release date 13.07.13] There is evidently some humour in this band and their publicity, describing  themselves as part Beatles part Black Label Society.  Philip and Al Strange (I assume brothers but let’s take nothing for granted here) are joined … Continue reading

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Gig review: STEELHOUSE FESTIVAL – Ebbw Vale, 27 July 2013

Steelhouse Festival, 27 July 2013

High up in the hills, at Hafod-Y-Dafal farm in South Wales, the third annual Steelhouse Festival is now an established Rock and Metal weekender. Tickets were modestly priced at £65 all weekend or £40 a day, including adult and family … Continue reading

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Gig review: HEART, JASON BONHAM’S LED ZEPPELIN EXPERIENCE – Toronto, Canada, 23 July 2013

Heart,Toronto, Canada, 23 July 2013

Molston Canadian Amphitheatre While Heart came to the attention of the majority of UK fans for their big power ballads and soft focus videos in the eighties, the band prefer to see themselves in their earlier guise in which, with … Continue reading

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Gig review: MOONDANCE JAM – Walker,Minnesota,USA,18-20 July 2013

Moondance Jam, USA, July 2013

Few festival experiences can match the vibe of Moondance Jam. Set among the beautiful woods and lakes of Northern Minnesota, somehow the tiny town of Walker plays host to one of the Mid West’s premier rock festivals and draws crowds … Continue reading

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Album review: PETE THOMAS & THE HORNS APLENTY – Big

Mermaid Records [Release date 22.07.13] To say that the opening track on Pete Thomas & The Horns A Plenty’s ‘Big’ has swagger, is to underestimate the title of the album that is big in tone, intent and performance. ‘Big’ brims … Continue reading

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Album Review – EARTHEN GRAVE – Earthen Grave

    Ripple Records ( Release date – out now) Formed back in 2008 and led by former Trouble bassist Ron Holzner, Earthen Grave have honed their sound over the last 5 years. This is the band’s first album and … Continue reading

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