Frontiers Music [Release date 09.03.21]
This second The End Machine album, Phase 2, does what it would’ve said if it had been in a tin. And it says it emphatically, loudly, subtly in places and outright aggressively in others.
It’s Dokken restored, with a few new pieces precision fitted into this long running machine. Robert (Lynch Mob) Mason on vocals and drummer Pete (brother of Mick) Brown join cornerstones George Lynch and Jeff Pilson. Their four man, oiled up End Machine speeds along the rock’nroll highway with purpose and direction.
The bluesy hard rock from the first album reappears in places. The weighty ‘We Walk Alone’ and the smouldering ‘Dark Divide’ have enough grit and attitude to raise the stakes on these commercially inclined melodramas, without sounding overtly cliched or derivative to the genre’s core audience.
When you hear ‘Crack The Sky’ and ‘Plastic Heroes’, you realise that these guys have been in each other’s company for so long that they must by now have developed some kind of musical telepathy.
These are dark, passionate songs, loudly echoing the best selling music of their parent band’s eighties’ zenith. In a way it’s a relief that they’re not searching vainly for a new kind of authenticity. These tracks, and others, ‘Born Of Fire’, ‘Prison Or Paradise’ and maybe ‘Scars’ too, sound closely calibrated to past musical metrics. And that’s a good thing. It sounds natural, unforced, punchy and powerful. The medium paced, bittersweet stuff was always their forte.
And yes, it’s edgy in places, it’s aggressive at times and it’s uniformly loud, but it’s got the huge heart and soul of all good rock music. And you’ve got to work hard to make it sound this effortless. ****
Review by Brian McGowan
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.
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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 22 October 2024.
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Power Plays w/c 28 October 2024
THE RASMUS Rest In Pieces (Better Noise Music)
THE PLAGUE What Else Can I Do (FiXT)
STAR CIRCUS Turn The Tide (indie)
DEFENCES Breathe It In (Long Branch Records)
Featured Albums w/c 28 October 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)
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