Author Archives: GRTR! HQ

Album review: TED & MAJELLA – Divine Timing (Ted Turner, ex-Wishbone Ash)

Posted on December 30, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

www.tedturnerandmajella.com [Release date 21.12.20] Ted Turner is best known as the one time original guitar slinger in Wishbone Ash with whom he remained until 1974 and then on and off until 1994. Ted reappeared in 2018 together with his partner … Continue reading →

Feature: Albums that time forgot … NATIVE CAIN – The Primitive Soul

Posted on December 26, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

ProActive (1999) Chatting to Pete Feenstra for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio in 2020 vocalist/songwriter Lee Small commented about his love of Glenn Hughes. And it is Hughes vocal influence that permeates the 1999 album ‘The Primitive Soul’. Small has … Continue reading →

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Album review: ANDY SUSEMIHL – Alienation

Posted on December 26, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

SM Noise [Release date 21.01.21] Andy Susemihl’s last album ‘Elevation’ was my “Best of 2018″ – perhaps it should have been called “revelation” such was the surprise at a seasoned pro – and a relatively unknown one albeit with an … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Alienation, Andy Susemihl, AOR, guitar, guitarist, melodic rock, review, U.D.O. Sinner | Leave a comment

News: Get Ready to ROCK! announce Best of 2020 Popular Poll winners

Posted on December 21, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Rock music website Get Ready to ROCK! has announced the results of the Popular Poll for Best of 2020. Readers and listeners could vote in two categories this year: Top Albums and Breakthrough Act. Snake Oil & Harmony (aka Dan … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, NEWS, The Best of 2020 | Tagged 20/20, AC/DC, album, best of, Blue Oyster Cult, breakthrough act, Collateral, Deep Purple, Hollowstar, Jessica Lynn, Legacy Pilots, music, poll, rock, Snake Oil & Harmony, vote | Leave a comment

Album review: NEAL SCHON – Universe

Posted on December 15, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

[Release date 11.12.20] Neal Schon pops up in my Twitter feed every so often, his guitar emoting against a frequently funky undertow in his latest home video. He remains both enthusiastic and engaging. Even if the camera position and the … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, guitar, guitarist, instrumental, melodic rock, Narada Michael Walden, Neal Schon, review, Universe | Leave a comment

News: Vote for your favourite albums and artists in our Best of 2020 Popular Poll

Posted on December 11, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Every year the GRTR! Reviewers choose their top albums/reissues, live acts and breakthrough artists. With the decimation of live music this year they have focused on three categories and you can vote for: Top Albums Breakthrough Act We’ve reduced their … Continue reading →

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News: Albums of the Month (October 2020 – December 2020)

Posted on December 9, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

FISH – Weltschmerz (Fish Music) …this is a rich, accessible, profound album invested with heaps of integrity, passion and insight. ‘Weltschmerz’ stands as the best album of Fish’s solo career, and easily amongst the best of the year by anyone… … Continue reading →

Posted in Albums of the Month, ALL POSTS, NEWS | Tagged AC/DC, albums, art rock, Blue Oyster Cult, blues rock, December 2020, Doris Brendel, Fish, hard rock, L.A. Guns, Muddy Manninen, November 2020, October 2020, Progressive Rock, review | Leave a comment

Album review: DAN REED – Liftoff

Posted on December 7, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Zero One Entertainment [Release date 04.12.20] At the end of a horrific year for humanity, and also for music, Dan Reed’s latest solo album arrives to provide the perfect antidote. Dan’s solo works since the “comeback” – ‘Coming Up For … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, AOR, Dan Reed, Dan Reed Network, Liftoff, melodic rock, review, singer, songwriter | Leave a comment

Album review: MAGNUM – Dance Of The Black Tattoo

Posted on December 4, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

David Randall chatted to Tony Clarkin for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio with tracks from the forthcoming compilation. First broadcast 20 December 2020. SPV/Steamhammer [Release date 08.01.21] What do inveterate songwriters do in Lockdown when they’ve no band to steer … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, INTERVIEWS, Radio interview | Tagged album, Bob Catley, compilation, Dance Of The Black Tattoo, hard rock, interview, Magnum, melodic rock, review, Tony Clarkin | Leave a comment

News: The Best of 2020 – Get Ready to ROCK! reviewers choose their Top Albums of the Year

Posted on December 4, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

2020 has been a horrendous year for live music, silenced by the coronavirus pandemic. With live music off the agenda, there has been no shortage of album/EP releases, so this year our reviewers have concentrated on selecting their Top Albums, … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, NEWS, The Best of 2020 | Tagged 20/20, album, best of, blues rock, breakthrough act, melodic rock, Progressive Rock, reissue, reviewer.top albums, singer songwriter | 2 Comments

Album review: GRYPHON – Get Out Of My Father’s Car!

Posted on November 27, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Talking Elephant/Gryphon [Release date 20.11.20] Gryphon will always occupy a small but significant place in my musical heritage. Coinciding with my interest in (and performance of) early music, in the early 1970s they became a cross-genre novelty act. And with … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Brian Guilland, Dave Oberle, folk, folk rock, Get Out Of My Father's Car, Graeme Taylor, Gryphon, Home Service, medieval, review | Leave a comment

Quick plays: ANNA ELIZABETH LAUBE, PEACH & QUIET

Posted on November 25, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

ANNA ELIZABETH LAUBE Annamania (Ahh…Pockets! Records) [Release date 22.01.21] You’ll find reviews of Americana singer songwriter Anna Laube’s last two releases – ‘Anna Laube’ (2015) and ‘Tree’ (2016) buried in the Get Ready to ROCK! archives. Sufficient to say the … Continue reading →

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Album review: THE QUESTIONNAIRES – Atlantic Ridge

Posted on November 25, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Boom Chang Records [Release date 15.01.21] It seems a bit disingenuous in the PR blurb to refer to Jane Wade and Steve Hall, aka The Questionnaires, as having been ‘around a bit’. For most, me included, their formative bands – … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged acoustic, album, Atlantic Ridge, pop rock, review, singer, songwriter, The Questionnaires | Leave a comment

Album review: ZEBRAS DON’T SMOKE – Don’t Mention The Swedes (ABBA Tribute)

Posted on November 23, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Singsong Music [Release date 20.11.20] www.singsongmusic.com ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus said what he thought of streaming live music during Lockdown. He wasn’t impressed and thought kitchen gigs will never be a substitute. I wonder what he would have thought of the … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged Abba, album, Deckchair Poets, Don't Mention The Swedes, Geoff Downes, Lynden Williams, Nick D’Virgilio, pop rock, review, tribute, Zebras Don't Smoke | 1 Comment

Album review: HUNTED BY ELEPHANTS – Carry On

Posted on November 18, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

www.huntedbyelephants.com [Release date 15.01.21] You can imagine: we receive so many promos from independent artists here at GRTR! and many, sadly, have to be jettisoned having never made the cut. The second album from London-based rockers Hunted By Elephants had … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Carry On, heavy rock, Hunted By Elephants, review | Leave a comment

Album review: MARK VICKNESS – Interconnected

Posted on November 9, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

www.markvickness.com [Release date 15.09.20] Mark Vickness is a classically trained guitarist but has also worked in jazz and fusion genres. He freely mixes world flavours with classical/acoustic/rock. On ‘Interconnected’ he is joined by some talented collaborators such as the Grammy … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged acoustic, album, classical, fingerstyle, folk, guitar, guitarist, Interconnected, Mark Vickness, review | Leave a comment

Album review: DORIS BRENDEL & LEE DUNHAM – Mass Hysteria

Posted on October 22, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Sky Rocket Records [Release date 01.09.20] A new Doris Brendel album is a bit like Christmas coming early. That moment when your Aunty Doris invites you to dip blindfold into a tub of Quality Street, only to discover she’s mixed … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, alternative, art rock, blues, Doris Brendel, Lee Dunham, Mass Hysteria, pop rock, progressive, review | Leave a comment

Feature: Albums that time forgot…EUROPE – Secret Society

Posted on October 13, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Sanctuary (2006) Back in 2007 my fellow GRTR! reviewer and pal Pete Whalley, and my aspiring guitar hero son Ben, made our way through a February snowstorm to Liverpool Academy. It was a fairly low key gig for the Swedish … Continue reading →

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Feature: Albums that time forgot…JAMES LABRIE – Elements Of Persuasion

Posted on October 10, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

InsideOut (2005) For many band members, the band becomes all consuming. It means, as a result of the constant cycle of touring, writing and recording, they can’t deliver their own solo album. There are 15 years between John Petrucci’s first … Continue reading →

Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES | Tagged album, Dream Theater, Elements Of Persuasion, feature, heavy metal, James LaBrie, Marco Sfogli, Matt Guillory, Mike Mangini, nu-metal, progressive metal, review | Leave a comment

Feature: Albums that time forgot…DON DOKKEN – Up From The Ashes

Posted on October 10, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Geffen Records (1990) At the turn of the 1980′s there was a last hurrah for the genre that had sometimes been called glam metal, or more specifically hair metal. Bolstered by albums such as Whitesnake (1987) and Winger (1988) the … Continue reading →

Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES | Tagged album, Billy White, Don Dokken, feature, hair metal, hard rock, interview, John Norum, melodic, review, Up From The Ashes | Leave a comment

Album review: JAKKO M. JAKSZYK – Secrets & Lies

Posted on October 7, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

On Sunday 11 October, in the first hour of his weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, David Randall chatted to Jakko M. Jakszyk about his career with tracks from the new album. InsideOut Music [Release date 23.10.20] Jakko … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, INTERVIEWS, Radio interview | Tagged album, classic rock, interview, Jakko M. Jakszyk, King Crimson, review, rock, Secrets & Lies | 1 Comment

Album review: BLACK SABBATH – Paranoid (50th Anniversary Super Deluxe)

Posted on October 3, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Black Sabbath - Paranoid - 50th Anniversary Edition

BMG [Release date 09.10.20] Another year. Another anniversary. At the dawn of heavy metal as we know it, 1970, Black Sabbath released their second album which went on to achieve multi-million selling status. A fan favourite it yielded a handful … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues | Tagged 50th anniversary, album, Bill Ward, Black Sabbath, box set, Doom, Geezer Butler, heavy metal, interview, Ozzy Osbourne, Paranoid, review, super deluxe, Tony Iommi | Leave a comment

Album review: CIRCULINE – CircuLive New View (DVD/Blu-ray)

Posted on October 2, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Inner Nova Music [Release date 09.10.20] Starting out covering Yes, Genesis, ELP, Gentle Giant, King Crimson, UK, Jethro Tull, Rush, and Pink Floyd, three members of New York based tribute band Downing Grey decided to form Circuline in 2014 as … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Blu-ray, Circuline, CircuLive New View, DVD, prog, Progressive Rock, review | Leave a comment

Album review: DAVID MINASIAN – The Sound Of Dreams

Posted on October 2, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Golden Robot Records [Release date 11.09.20] An American film producer, screenwriter, director, and a musician, singer and songwriter, David Minasian’s work includes music videos and concert films for Camel, and Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward. Which goes some way to … Continue reading →

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Album review: BLUES PILLS – Holy Moly!

Posted on October 2, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Nuclear Blast [Release date 21.08.20] Blues Pills have always scored highly with GRTR! reviewers. John Stefanis was bowled over by their ‘next best thing [to the 70s]‘ 2014 eponymous debut, while Jason Ritchie considered their 2016 follow up Lady In … Continue reading →

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