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Upcoming Gigs & Albums
Latest Album Reviews
Latest Gig Reviews
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Gig review: BLACK EYED SONS- The Lexington, London, 16 December 2024
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Gig review: BRAVE RIVAL – Thames Side Brewery, Staines, 8 December 2024
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Gig review: STRAY – The Cavern, Raynes Park, London, 7 December 2024
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Gig review: THE SHEEPDOGS, THE COMMONERS – Islington Assembly Hall, London, 5 December 2024
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Gig review: GUN – Barrowlands, Glasgow, 14 December 2024
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Gig review: THE DAMN TRUTH – The Grace, London, 26 November 2024
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Featured Album Reviews
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Album review: SKY – Reissues (Sky, Sky 2)
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Album review: MARTIN BARRE – Order Of Play
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Album review: KISS THE GUN – Nightmares
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Album review: ARIELLE – ’73
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Album review: UFO – A Conspiracy Of Stars
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Book Review: ON TRACK (every album, every song…) – IRON MAIDEN (by Steve Pilkington) and THIN LIZZY (by Graeme Stroud)
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Features
Single & EP Reviews
DVD Reviews
Book Reviews
News
Yearly Archives: 2024
Upcoming: Festivals UK & Europe (2025)
Please check artist and festival websites for latest information. Your festival not listed? Contact us! More: Upcoming (UK tours and gigs, 2025) Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via … Continue reading
Gig review: BLACK EYED SONS- The Lexington, London, 16 December 2024
This debut gig by the Black Eyed Sons marked the start of something new, after one of the more ill-fated episodes in rock history. When the other members of the Quireboys dismissed Spike, whatever the ins and outs, without the … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged Alan Clayton, Black Eyed Sons, Cowboys in Pinstriped Suits, gig, Guy Griffin, Keith Weir, Lee Vernon, Paul Guerin, Quireboys, Ria Hall
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News: Get Ready to ROCK! announces top albums of 2024 based on weekly chart and poll (December 2024)
Popular rock music website Get Ready to ROCK! has announced its end of year Top 30 album chart. This is based on weekly activity at the website and via social media. News and reviews editor Jason Ritchie explains: “We introduced … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, NEWS, The Best of 2024
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Album review: EARLY JAMES – Medium Raw
Easy Eye Sound [Release date 10.01.2025] ‘Medium Raw’ is the third album from Early James and one, as the album title suggests, recorded with a sound that thrives on a lived-in, real-world ambiance. Dan Auerbach (the Black Keys) once again … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, blues, Dan Auerbach, Early James, Medium Raw, review, rock, The Black Keys
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Album review: MICKY JUPP – Times Like These
Conquest Music [Release date : 13.12.24] Described by The Guardian as “a quietly but profoundly influential figure in British pop music”, much of Micky Jupp’s influence has come via his songs being covered by the likes of Dave Edmunds, The Judds, … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, blues, country, Dave Edmunds, Dr Feelgood, Elkie Brooks, Hank Williams, JJ Cale, Johnny Cash, Leon Redbone, Micky Jupp, NICK LOWE, R&B, review, Ricky Nelson, rock& roll, Roger Chapman, singer, songwriter, the Everly Brothers, The Judds, Times Like These
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Gig review: BRAVE RIVAL – Thames Side Brewery, Staines, 8 December 2024
The choice of several of this website’s writers, me included, as act of the year, I’ve seen Brave Rival many times over the past two years. Of all the venues, my favourite was the Thames Side Brewery, not too far … Continue reading
Album review: MAGNUM – Live At KK’s Steel Mill
SPV Steamhammer [Release date 10.01.25] Twelve months on from Tony Clarkin’s passing, and marking 50 years since he formed the band with Bob Catley, Magnum’s latest (and maybe last) live hurrah allows us more grieving time. The band had put … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Bob Catley, classic rock, Live At KK's Steel Mill, Magnum, review, Tony Clarkin
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Gig review: STRAY – The Cavern, Raynes Park, London, 7 December 2024
My sixth and final trip of the year to the Cavern which has been keeping the flag flying for live music ‘Sarf of the River’ was, fittingly, for a true rock legend. Stray founding member and guitarist Del Bromham has … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged Colin Kempster, DEL BROMHAM, gig, Karl Randall, Simon Rinaldo, Stray, The Cavern
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Gig review: THE SHEEPDOGS, THE COMMONERS – Islington Assembly Hall, London, 5 December 2024
By coincidence, for the second week running, Islington Assembly Hall played host to a pair of bands playing music inspired by the sounds of the American south, yet based thousands of miles apart. On the heels of Robert Jon and … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged Canadian, Chris Medhurst, Ewan Currie, gig, Ricky Pacquette, Shamus Currie, southern rock, the Commoners, The Sheepdogs
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Gig review: GUN – Barrowlands, Glasgow, 14 December 2024
Over the years many bands have embarked on a pre-Christmas tour around the nation. Status Quo and Motorhead are two that spring to mind, and going further back in time, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s Xmas shows in the Glasgow … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged 14th December 2024, Barrowlands, blues, Christmas, Collateral, Dante Gizzi, Donald C MacLeod, gig, Glasgow, Glasgow Apollo, Gun, Hombre, Jools Gizzi, Kira Mac, live, Paul McManus, rock, Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Word Up
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Album review: WITHIN SILENCE – The Eclipse Of Worlds
Ulterium Records [Release date : 06.12.24] On their third album now, Slovakian Power Metal band, Within Silence have reached the point where their grasp is the equal of an ambitious reach. From the moment the opening track, ‘Land Of Light’ … Continue reading
Album review: WE ARE BODIES – The Love Was All We Had
Bandcamp [Release date 06.12.24] We Are Bodies is the British duo of Dave Pen (BirdPen, Archive) and Robin Foster. They create anthemic electro-prog soundscapes that combine guitars and electronics with lyrical subjects inspired by love, loss, paranoia and….robots! Now, before you … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, electronic, indie, melodic, progressive, review, The Love Was All We Had, We Are Bodies
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Album review: DELLA NOVA
Facebook [Release 13.12.24] Della Nova is a project born from the early days of lockdown, and has been meticulously crafted by Alex, the band’s frontman. The new album has been four years in the making, having gone through various changes … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, alt metal, debut, Della Nova, metal, modern rock, review, rock, self-titled
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Album review : STATUS QUO – Driving To Glory
Cherry Red [Release date : 06.12.24] You’ve really got to hand it to whoever guides Status Quo through the pop and rock music jungle. Brilliantly marketed, with ads that hit all the right notes in the right places, Quo’s latest … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Cherry Red, Driving To Glory, ELO, Mike Paxman, pop, review, Rhino Edwards, Rick Parfitt, rock, Status Quo
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News: The Best of 2024 – The Get Ready to ROCK! Reviewer Selections (December 2024)
We started 2024 with the sad news that Tony Clarkin of Magnum had passed away just days before the release of the band’s latest album. The band have been venerated over the years by GRTR! and were celebrated in our … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, NEWS, The Best of 2024
Tagged 2024, albums, Amelia Coburn, best of, Black Sabbath, blues rock, Brave Rival, breakthrough acts, classic rock, Honeymoon Suite, live acts, melodic rock, metal, Progressive Rock, reissues, reviews, Scarlet Rebels, Starchaser, Steve Hackett, Walter Trout
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Gig review: THE DAMN TRUTH – The Grace, London, 26 November 2024
I saw The Damn Truth last Summer at the Islington Academy and was impressed. Eighteen months later, the Montreal rockers were back in town, playing to a sold out The Grace, and put in an even better show. The band … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged 26 November 2024, classic rock, gig, hard rock, review, The Damn Truth, The Grace
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Album review : BLUE OYSTER CULT – Live In NYC Third Night (2 CD+DVD Deluxe Ed)
Frontiers Music [Release date : 13.12.24] The third time’s the charm. In 2022, Donald (Buck Dharma) Roeser and Eric Bloom, plus “new boys”, Richie (Band Geeks/Jon Anderson) Castellano, Danny Miranda and Jules Radino celebrated their 50th Anniversary as the Blue … Continue reading
Gig review: LAZARUS HEIGHTS – The Auditorium, Bassilac, SW France, 7 December 2024
It’s not everyday a Dordogne based Anglo-French band records a live album in a local auditorium, but Lazarus Heights are nothing if not adventurous. They are also resilient and versatile, related facets which serve them well in a seated venue … Continue reading
News: Albums of the Month (August – December 2024)
A quarterly feature highlighting album releases rated highly by the GRTR! review team and worthy of your investigation MARY COUGHLAN Repeat Rewind (Strange Brew) … it is everything you might expect from a vocalist who has a rare ability to … Continue reading
Posted in Albums of the Month, ALL POSTS
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Feature: Baker’s Dozen – Librarians With Hickeys
Librarians With Hickeys are an indie pop rock duo consisting of Ray Carmen and Mike Crooker. Here both of them choose an eclectic Baker’s Dozen… Ray Carmen (in more or less no particular order) 1. Paul McCartney – Maybe I’m … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, FEATURES
Tagged alternative, Bakers Dozen, feature, indie, Librarians With Hickeys, Mike Crocker, Paul McArtney, playlist, pop, pop rock, power pop, Ray Carmen, Robyn Hitchcock, rock, XTC
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Album review : STORACE – Live And Let Live (plus bonus live CD)
Frontiers [Release date : 13.12.24] Marc Storace’s Live and Let Live is an album born in the depths of the Covid pandemic. Skipping through the “singer meets musician, they swap ideas” part of the plot, the album was eventually recorded … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Alice Cooper, Bad Company, Chris von Rohr, Covid, Eazy Money, Fernando von Arb, KROKUS, NWOBH, review, Scorpions, Storace, Swiss
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Album review: THE BLACK CROWES – Happiness Bastards
Silver Arrow [Release date: 15.03.24] Well, seeing as I picked this as one of my albums of the year, I really ought to review it! Released in March, it is refreshing to pen a few words about an album I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, classic rock, Happiness Bastards, hard rock, review, southern rock, The Black Crowes
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Gig review: ROBERT JON AND THE WRECK – Islington Assembly Hall, London, 28 November 2024
On Thanksgiving Day, what could be more appropriate to go to than a gig, from a California based band peddling the very best in southern rock? Luckily in recent years Robert Jon and the Wreck seem to have constantly been … Continue reading
Album review : ILLUSION FORCE – Halfana
Frontiers [Release date : 13.12.24] Five year veterans of the Japanese rock/metal scene, Illusion Force have now been recognised by Frontiers’ Music as indeed, a force to be reckoned with worldwide. They cite Dragonforce and Helloween as being among their … Continue reading
Gig review: STEVE HOGARTH – The Crypt, Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, 5 December 2024
What we need in the pre-Christmas period is a warm and cosy festive gig, maybe in an unusual location, to lift the flagging spirits. To help us take our mind off political posturing, the smell of Musk, Black Friday overspend, … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged 5 December 2024, classic rock, gig, Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, Marillion, review, Solo, Steve Hogarth, The Crypt
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