BEGGARS & THIEVES – We Are The Broken Hearted

One of a number of excellent melodic hard rock bands who had
the misfortune to release and promote their debut albums just as the tide was
beginning to turn in favour of grunge, Beggars and Thieves re-emerged from obscurity
with a performance which was one of the pleasant surprises of Firefest 2010,
and building on that revival of interest, have now recorded their first album
in well over a decade.

A health warning is in order, that this is not overtly commercial
melodic rock, with effort put into less obvious soundscapes and textures. While the crystal precision of Louie
Merlino’s vocal tones invite comparisons with bands like Diving for Pearls or
Tall Stories, I detected something Jimmy Page inspired in guitarist Ronnie Mancuso’s sounds, whether
with some 12 string guitar passages or an Eastern feel in places. Another
influence from outside the melodic rock mainstream is U2, particularly with
some choppy guitar sounds on Innocence and Midnight Blue, which are two of the
more straight ahead rockers on offer.

Despite a stirring opener in We Come Undone, at times the
first part of the album loses focus in places, but the second half has the
stronger hooks, beginning with Seven Seconds, while on Stranded and the slow
number Wash Away with its gospel-influenced chorus, Louie sounds a tad like modern
day Jon Bon Jovi .

Unlike many albums in this genre which are pure instant
fixes, this is a quality piece of work which you need to cultivate and tender,
but will be worth the effort.

Andy Nathan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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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 on 1 December 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)