Cherry Red [Release date : 28.08.26]

CD1 : Something In The Air (1980)

CD2 : Black Summer (1982)

CD3 : Stand Up And Be Counted (1983)

CD4 : My Kingdom Come (1894)

CD5 : Night Of Mystery – Alive! Alive! (1985)

Pulling members in from Nutz, Trapeze, Budgie and other bands “below the fold”, ex-Strife bassist Gordon Rowley recruited keyboard player Kenny Newton, guitarists Eric Percival and Alec Johnson, and Steve Bartley on drums.

And so Nightwing began.

All four studio albums were marked out by striking cover artwork, courtesy of Roger Dean and Melvyn Grant.

Their first two albums were the band’s birth pangs… you can hear the stress, the turmoil, the growing pains, all going on in the back ground as the band attempt to forge their own path through the Heavy Metal landscape.

Rowley’s vocals, raw and raucous, aim for the stars but too often exhibit a nails-on-a blackboard harshness on the high notes.
And it doesn’t help that several of the tracks are underpowered. There is no escape.

Yet, when arrangements are simple, they are effective, like the bass boogie shuffle of ‘Carry On’, or the song that gives the boxset its title, ‘Long Hard Road’, which sees a wash of blues bleeding through into the hard rock, they tell you why the label took a chance on them.

Gaining noticeable confidence from their live tours supporting the Gillan band, follow up album, Black Summer surprised many, and won the support of Uriah Heep and Rainbow fans. They were on their way.

By most measures, it’s now considered to be the best of the 4 studio albums.

For the band’s third album, Stand Up And Be Counted, Rowley brought in respected vocalist, Max Bacon, best known for his stint in GTR.
It was an astute move. This would reinforce the band’s burgeoning reputation.
The music media, who love to pigeonhole bands, provided mixed reviews, praising Bacon, but critical of the band’s “musical shifts”.

Still, two cool little slices of Prog/pop, ‘The Machine’ and ‘Treading Water’ stood out, no matter their roots.

Bacon stayed for fourth studio album, Kingdom Come, which taken on its own, was as good a Pomp Rock album as Magnum were delivering around this time. Bacon’s voice soars on ‘Finger Of Fire’ and ‘Night Of Mystery’, again suggesting the band are at their best on the commercial, Progressive Rock sounding tracks.

Bacon then got a better offer and left to join GTR. He was replaced by ex Days Of Grace singer, Dave Evans, who stepped in to front the band’s tour of what were then known as Yugoslavia and West Germany.

Similarly, principle songwriter/ guitarist Alex Johnson flew the coop, primarily to launch his own career as a studio musician and classic guitar instructor. He was replaced by multi instrumentalist Glyn Porrino.

Live, the band delivered enough explosive, frenzied rock songs to satisfy the highest of expectations.
A fine way to sign off on this boxset. ***

Review by Brian McGowan

ps : a sub par album (not featured here) cleverly titled Nightwing VI, followed in 1986 but made little commercial impact. The band broke up soon after.

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 3 August 2026

STORMBRINGER Dirt And Bone (Attic Records)
SARI SCHORR Mr. In The Middle (Provogue Records)
JAMES KENNEDY & THE UNDERDOGS Shadows (Konic Records)
KATH & THE KICKS Sleep (indie)
VELVETEEN QUEEN Too Far Gone (Silver Lining Music)
SESAME GIRL Prettiest Girl In The World (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 3 August 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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