Album review: ROBIN GEORGE – BitterSweet HeartBeat

Pete Feenstra chatted with Robin George for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio. First broadcast 12 July 2020. The interview includes tracks from the album ‘BitterSweet HeartBeat’.

Sing Song Music [Release date 27.03.20]

Robin George has played with many of the greats including former Uriah Heep vocalist David Byron and Phil Lynott (which if you listen to Pete Feenstra’s excellent recent interview with Robin you will hear that a Thin Lizzy reunion almost happened). Alongside this he has amassed a strong body of solo work, of which this new album is more than a worthy addition.

Robin is joined on the album by long term drummer Charlie Morgan and on bass Niber Salchres, everything else is performed by Robin.

There is plenty of blues rock action to be had, be it ‘Rainbow Ridge’ – the guitar playing on this is well worth hearing – or a more acoustic strut can be found on ‘Freedom’. For the harder rocking side of his music, ‘Savage Song’ ups the guitar riffs quota, whilst ‘Rock n Roll BusyNessman’ has a cheeky AC/DC riff and a catchy chorus.

‘Cocoon’ is revamped on here, having also appeared on the ‘LovePower & Peace’ album that featured former Diamond Head vocalist Sean Harris (a new album from this partnership is in the works). Like the majority of the songs he uses multi-layered backing vocals to great effect.

The album closes with the single – a total curveball musically compared to the rest of the album – ‘Summertime Reggae Rule’. A real upbeat song, where you can almost feel the sun’s rays coming out of the speakers! Maybe not what you’d expect from Robin George but it works well.

Robin George has come a long way since his ‘Dangerous Music’ album, with ‘BitterSweet HeartBeat’ quite possibly his strongest work to date. There is plenty to enjoy and an album that stands up to repeated plays. ****

Review by Jason Ritchie

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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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)