Album review: ALBANY DOWN – The Outer Reach

Pete Feenstra chats to Albany Down with tracks from the album ‘The Outer Reach’ (25:00) First broadcast 22 May 2016 on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio.

www.albanydown.com [Release date 10.06.16]

Album number three from Albany Down who are Paul Muir (vocals), Paul Turley (guitars), Billy Dedman (bass) and Donna Peters (drums). They have been picking up some good reviews and have played a fair few gigs and festivals to date.

Opener ‘Feeding The Flame’ has a Led Zeppelin swagger about it, a good. solid rocker to start things off. Followed by the riff-tastic blues rocker ‘Do You Want Me Now’ and you think you have the measure of the band. Wrong! Next is the funk rock of ‘Supersonic Girl’ – complete with horns – which reminded me of Toploader and boy does it have a catchy chorus. A song that could see the band crossover from the blues rock crowd they appeal to in the main. A real, feel good, summer’s day song.

Paul Turley plays some superlative blues solos, none more so than on the plaintive ‘Home’, a song about wanting to get back to home comforts. Nice bit of Hammond playing on here too, although not sure who played it!

The in your face rock stomp of ‘Revolution’ and another possible single, ‘Look What You Have Done To Me’ (this song sees the horns back) again hit the spot after just a couple of plays. The gentle ballad ‘Sing Me To Sleep’ sees the album out in style. Again featuring tasty guitar playing and Paul Muir shows his mellower vocal side. Love the way the song fades out with just Muir’s vocal and an acoustic guitar.

With blues rock based bands/artists doing so well of late, Albany Down can easily hold their own in this increasingly crowded scene. Blues rock based for the main, with enough musical diversions to keep you wanting to come back for more. ****

Review by Jason Ritchie

Upcoming gigs (2016):
May 31 100 Club London
Jun 03 The Lincoln Imp Scunthorpe
Jun 14 The Horn St Albans
Jun 17 The Stables Milton Keynes
Jun 18 Durham Blues Festival Durham
Jun 19 Cleethorpes Blues Rhythm & Rock Festival Cleethorpes
Jun 21 The Beaverwood Club Chislehurst
Jul 11 The Bullingdon Oxford
Jul 14 Yardbirds Rock Club Grimsby
Jul 15 The Leopard Doncaster
Aug 12 Whitehaven Rock and Blues Festival Cleator Moor
Aug 13 Hartlepool United Supporters Club Hartlepool

Oct 01 MUSICIANS AGAINST HOMELESSNESS – Kingston Upon Thames

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

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 3 November 2024.

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 29 October 2024.

How to Listen Live?

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

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

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 again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)