Album review: THE ALARM – Strength (30th anniversary)

The Twenty First Century Recording Company [Released 02.10.15]

For the thirtieth anniversary of this classic Alarm album Mike Peters has gone and re-recorded the whole album. Not only that, the lyrics have been updated in many cases and he has Jimmy Iovine (U2/Tom Petty/Bruce Springsteen) help on production. Iovine was meant to help on the original album’s recording but due to record company wranglings this never happened until now.

Lots of interesting sounds and changes to the originals. Picking out a couple of personal highlights, ‘Absolute Reality’ has a slower, acoustic backing and it makes the song stronger than the original version. It helps that Mike Peters has lost none of his vocal power down the years.

‘Spirit Of ’76′ still has that rousing feeling it stirs in the listener, whilst on ‘Strength’ the background riff sounds a little like Neil Young’s ‘The Needle & The Damage Done’. Again the new arrangement works and although this may appear to be sacrilege to some die hard fans, the idea is to update the music and lyrics in some cases and bring out the hidden parts in other songs.

This is a whole new album in reality, not a simple re-recording that some bands have done to get some of their songwriting royalties due to bad management deals, but a reworking from the ground up on each song. It has worked and then some. The reworked ‘Strength’ will appeal to both old and new fans, as the songs are still as powerful and relevant today as they were thirty years ago. ****

Review by Jason Ritchie

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

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 on 2 March 2025.

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). This show was first broadcast on 4 March 2025

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 24 March 2025

HARRI LARKIN Too Close To The Sun (Robot Distro)
SANDNESS Not Your Dog (Rockshots Records)
DOCTOR BLACK Drag Me Down (indie)
COHEED AND CAMBRIA Goodbye Sunshine (Virgin Music Group)
LEONI JANE KENNEDY Closer (indie)
SMALL TOWN POLITICS Red Lights (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 24 March 2025

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