Frontiers [release date: 11.11.22]
It’s a pleasure to welcome a band from the Asian continent, About Us, to the world of AOR and Melodic Rock (despite the album’s Proggy cover).
They are a well established, award winning band in their native country of India, and although most of the band’s members have been in the music biz for over a decade, About Us have only been together for 3 years. And only just signed on with Frontiers.
We can hear what the label heard. At least, we can for the first 5 tracks.
The album immediately strikes a rich vein of eighties’ melodic rock with opener, ‘Right Now’, probably the best AOR song that Blue Tears and/ or Unruly Child never wrote. Then peaking a couple of tracks later with the stomping stadium rock of ‘Lead My Heart’.
Between times, switching influences to a different continent, they give us the fluffier, Scandi flavoured ‘Gimme Gimme’ and the exhilarating, harder edged ‘Our Fairyland’, a song that would give Wigelius and Eclipse a run for their money. We’re on a roll now.
They close out the first half of the album with ‘Loaded Love’s twanging guitars and drawled sentiments, catching the mood of Danger Danger Country Rock spinoff band, Dark Horse.
The second half of the album stumbles hesitantly through a land of rushing, stuttering rhythms, Bon Jovi soundalikes, and heavy metal screams. Like they ran out of finished material and substituted these uninspired jam sessions instead.
It’s a real let down, and a disappointing finish to an album that showed so much inititial promise. **1/2
Review by Brian McGowan
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
Next session: Sunday 19 January
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 1 December 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 3 December 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 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)
PDF - you can delete unwanted sections
