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Upcoming Gigs & Albums
Latest Album Reviews
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Album review: HONEY AND THE BEAR – Wish & A Tide
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Album review: SCOTT ARCHIBALD the id project – Sol Caravan
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Album review : MICHAEL SWEET – The Masterplan
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Album review: SELWYN BIRCHWOOD – Electric Swamp Funkin’ Blues
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Album review: MIKE ZITO – Outside Or The Eastside
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Album review: HANNAH JAMES & TOBY KUHN – Where All Our Names Belong
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Latest Gig Reviews
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Gig review: CHEZ KANE- Fighting Cocks, Kingston upon Thames, 2 April 2026
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Gig review: BRAVE RIVAL – The Stables, Milton Keynes, 14 March 2026
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Gig review: A VERY SPECIAL EVENING OF MOTT THE HOOPLE – Riverside Studios, London, 27 February 2026
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Gig review: EMERALD MOON – Le Marquee, Peyrignac, Dordogne, SW France, 7 March 2026
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GRTR! Greats
Featured Album Reviews
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Single & EP Reviews
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Yearly Archives: 2026
Album review: JEFF AUG – Interim
Timezone Records [Release date 06.02.26] A track on Aug’s 2024 album - ‘Fuck The Neighbors’ – may have indicated he had a score to settle. But maybe on the back of Covid the guy was just frustrated? No such apparent … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged acoustic, album, Interim, Jeff Aug, review, rock
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Album review: CLAIRE VINE – We Carve Our Path
Website [Release date 13.03.26] To release an album with no noticeable instruments, you must either be very brave or very established. I think Claire Vine is a bit of both. She has established herself as part of the psych folk band … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Bandcamp, Claire Vine, folk, Hands of the Heron, review, singer, We Carve Our Path
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Album review: BROOKS WILLIAMS AND AARON CATLOW – Working In Wood
Website A fiddle, an acoustic guitar, two voices and an upright bass – a winner for Americana some might say, including this reviewer. Played live in the studio this ten track album is a great intro to Brooks Williams and … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Aaron Catlow, acoustic, album, Brooks Williams, folk, instrumental, jazz, review, traditional, Working In Wood
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Album review : TEMPLE BALLS – s/t
Frontiers Music [Release date : 13.02.26] Some of us have lived a sheltered life. Apparently “temple balls” are “one of the oldest varieties of medical marijuana”. Not a lot of people know that. And so a self titled release at … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Frontiers Music, Medical Marijuana, review, Temple Balls
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Album review: MICK ROGERS – The Guitarist
Copo Events [Release date: 30.01.26] Interesting stuff here from Mick Rogers on his third solo album. It is not quite what you might expect from the musician who has provided lead guitar and sometimes lead vocals for Manfred Mann’s Earth … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, blues rock, guitarist, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Mick Rogers, prog rock, review
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Album review : This Can’t Be Today – American Psychedelia and The Paisley Underground 1977-88
Cherry Red [Release date : 13.02.26] In the sixties, the term “Underground Music” bubbled up to the surface. It became associated with the counterculture and psychedelia, as teens and twenties began to find their voice, in life and in music, … Continue reading
Album review : AUSTEN STARR – I Am The Enemy
Frontiers Music [Release date : 13.02.26] The label have teamed new kid on the block, vocalist Austen Starr, with Joel (Revolution Saints/ Whitesnake) Hoekstra, and together they’ve written a bunch of edgy rock songs that allow both talents to shine. … Continue reading
Album review : WILD HORSES – Standing Our Ground (6 CD Boxset)
Cherry Red [Release date 13.02.26] The two Wild Horses’ studio albums were arguably the last gasp of seventies’ hard rock before it went under. Glaswegian forces of nature, Brian Robertson and Jimmy Bain, guitar and bass (and vocals), had jumped … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues
Tagged boxset, Brian Robertson, hard rock, Jimmy Bain, Phil Lynott, Rainbow, review, Thin Lizzie, Wild Horses
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Album review: DENNIS CHURCHILL-DRIES – Crazy Is This Life
AOR Blvd Records [Release date 30.01.26] Former White Sister and Tattoo Rodeo vocalist Dennis Churchill-Dries is back with another album packed full of classy melodic rock. He’s joined by Steve Newman on guitar and keys, along with Newman drummer Rob … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, AOR, AOR Blvd Records, Dennis Churchill Dries, hard rock, melodic rock, review, rock, Steve Newman, Tattoo Rodeo, White Sister
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EP review: LEAVES’ EYES – Song of Darkness
Reigning Pheonix Music [Release date 06.03.26] Leaves’ Eyes have been around since 2003 and still feature vocalist (growls), keyboards player and producer Alexander Krull, with Finnish soprano Elina Siirala fronting the band since 2016. The EP also marks the recording … Continue reading
Album review: GOTTHARD – More Stereo Crush
Reigning Pheonix Music [Release date 13.03.26] Gotthard released ‘Stereo Crush’ last year and now have a follow on eight-track EP. Five songs are previously unreleased from the ‘Stereo Crush’ sessions, ‘Mayday’ had only been available as a video, and there … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Gotthard, hard rock, KROKUS, Marc Storace, melodic hard rock, More Stereo Crush, review
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Gig review: PREACHER STONE – Cart and Horses, London, 29 January 2026
Pete Feenstra chatted to Preacher Stone co-founder member Ronnie Riddle for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio. With tracks from the band’s album ‘Preacher Stone V’. First broadcast 29 September 2024. Many bands balk at the cost of making the trip … Continue reading
Gig review: AYNSLEY LISTER – 100 Club, London, 27 January 2026
Tonight’s gig was part of the 100 Club’s regular Tuesday Blues events and a decent crowd was already in situ by the time Albany Down took the stage. I’ve been a quiet appreciator of this band for a while now … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged 100 Club, 27 January 2026, Albany Down, AYNSLEY LISTER, blues, blues rock, gig, live review
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Gig review: MIDNITE CITY – Black Heart, Camden, London, 24 January 2026
Midnite City continue to entertain with their feel good revival of the glammy melodic hard rock sounds of the late eighties (or hair metal as it was never called in the day). This show was originally scheduled for November but … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged gig, glam rock, hair metal, melodic rock, Midnite City, Miles Meakin, Nasty Ratz, Rob Wylde, Shawn Charvette
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Single review: JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR – Hell Or High Water
Website “Can I help you sir?” “Yes I’d like some gospel blues served up with a soupçon of acoustic guitar and banjo, with lashings and lashings of raunchy electric guitar and topped off with an economic but searing guitar solo” … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews
Tagged blues, blues rock, guitarist, Hell or High Water, Joanne Shaw Taylor, review, single, soul
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Album review: ROBERT REED – Sanctuary IV
Tigermoth Records [Release date 16.04.25] I can’t quite understand Robert Reed’s obsession with Mike Oldfield. ‘Tubular Bells’ was a landmark album but in some respects very much of its time. Yes, it made greater impact in 1973 because of Oldfield’s … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Les Penning, Mike Oldfield, prog, Progressive Rock, review, Robert Reed, Sanctuary IV, Simon Phillips, Tubular Bells
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Book review: WOODCUT – THE MAKING AND THE MEANING by Andy Stuart
Kingmaker Publishing [Publication date 06.02.26] Written to accompany the new album from Big Big Train, ‘Woodcut – The Making And The Meaning’ follows the gestation of what would result in the Progressive Rock band’s first concept album, through to the early … Continue reading
News: AEROSMITH, SAVATAGE, CAMBRIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL (February 2026)
Acid Reign will release a new album ‘Daze Of The Week’ on May 15. Aerosmith release ‘Aerosmith (Legendary Edition)’ on March 20 as a limited-edition deluxe 5LP box, a 4LP slipcase, black and colour vinyl, 3CD, CD, and digital. Steven Tyler and Joe … Continue reading
Posted in Album News, ALL POSTS, Band Entrees & Exits, Books, Festivals & Large Events, Gigs and Tour News, Listening Post, NEWS, PledgeMusic/Kickstarter Campaigns, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/News, Re-issues/special editions, RIP
Tagged Aerosmith, albums, AOR, blues, Cambridge Folk Festival, folk, gigs, melodic rock, metal, news, re-issues, RIP, Savatage, special editions, tour dates
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Album review: LAURENCE JONES – On My Own
Ron Records [Release date: 23.01.26] New music from Laurence Jones is always welcome. Jones has an impressive career that includes multiple British Blues Awards and more than 50,000 units shifted since his debut in 2012. His often incendiary and virtuoso … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged acoustic, album, album review, blues, guitarist, Laurence Jones, On My Own, review
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Gig review: LAURENCE JONES – Pizza Express, Holborn, London, 23 January 2026
The past year has been a life changing one for top blues guitarist Laurence Jones who has really struggled with the inflammatory bowel condition Crohn’s Disease. It left him unable to stand the rigours of touring, and needing to focus … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged acoustic, Amy Eftekhari, blues, blues rock, gig, Laurence Jones, On My Own
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Album review : FREDDIE AND THE DREAMERS – You Were Made For Me, The Complete Recordings, 1963-70
Cherry Red [Release date: 30.01.26] The Complete Recordings’ Boxset is a feat of logistics and research in itself, for which it deserves 5 stars, never mind the music. 136 tracks, 5 CDs. In the “Swinging Sixties” Manchester band Freddie And … Continue reading
Album review: PHIL THORNALLEY – Stacked
Facebook [Release date 23.01.26] Here at GRTR! Towers we love the work of Phil Thornalley, be it his solo pop/power rock delights or with Astral Drive, a band whose albums should be in any self-respecting music lover’s collection. On his … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Casey Shea, melodic rock, Phil Thornalley, pop punk, pop rock, power pop, review, Stacked
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.Album review: AMY HOPWOOD – Gone to Flowers
Website [Release date 19,02.26] When I first put this album on I thought you’ve got to be joking, its just a bunch of nursery rhymes sung by a little girl. But then I thought of Ivor Cutler, a strange old … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Amy Hopwood, folk, Gone to Flowers, Ivor Culter, John Peel, melodic, quirky, review, traditional music
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EP review: SAM CARTER – Oakham Poachers
Website [Release date 05.12.26] Sam Carter is a BBC Folk Award winning finger picking singer songwriter, who has travelled the world playing his narrative rich songs. He carries on this fifteen year tradition with five songs on this EP. He … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews
Tagged EP, folk, guitarist, Jean Ritchie, Oakham Poachers, review, Sam Carter, singer songwriter
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Gig review: ELLES BAILEY – Wax and Beans, Bury, 19 January 2026
This is my first time attending one of these intimate record shop gigs, and what a delight it was. Elles Bailey, with her acoustic guitarist and best friend Demi Marriner in front of an audience of around fifty people. It … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged 19 January 2026, blues, Bury, Can't Take My Story Away, Demi Marriner, Elles Bailey, gig, melodic, review, singer, soul, Wax and Beans
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