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Upcoming Gigs & Albums
Latest Album Reviews
Latest Gig Reviews
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Gig review: CARDINAL BLACK – Sub 89, Reading, 15 November 2024
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Gig review: SUZI QUATRO – London Palladium, 13 November 2024
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Gig review: HRH XVII, Great Yarmouth, 7-9 November 2024
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Gig review: WHEN RIVERS MEET, CHANTEL MCGREGOR, XANDER AND THE PEACE PIRATES – Dingwalls, London, 7 November 2024
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Gig review: DEEP PURPLE – 02 Arena, London, 6 November 2024
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Gig review: ELLES BAILEY- Islington Assembly Hall, London, 2 November 2024
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Featured Album Reviews
Features
Single & EP Reviews
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Features
Author Archives: GRTR! HQ
Feature: Bands that time forgot – BAD COMPANY (1986-1996)
For most, Bad Company conjures up the classic seventies line-up fronted by Paul Rodgers and with Mick Ralphs, Simon Kirke and Boz Burrell. The eponymous and classic first album yielded a handful of airplay and chart hits and set the … Continue reading
Feature: Albums that time forgot – NEAL SCHON – Late Nite
Columbia [1989] Years ago there was a very good record store in the Liverpool area and with a branch in my nearby shopping bolthole Chester. Penny Lane Records yielded a fine selection of import albums at a reasonable price. It … Continue reading
Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES
Tagged album, AOR, Bob Marlette, interview, Journey, Late Nite, melodic rock, Neal Schon, review, Santana, Sheryl Crow
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Feature: Bands that time forgot – CELTUS
The two brothers John and Pat McManus had previously been members of eighties Irish heavy rockers Mama’s Boys. Both were multi-instrumentalists and their desire to achieve a more atmospheric, reflective groove was partly influenced by the premature death from leukaemia … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, Bands that time forgot, FEATURES
Tagged album, Celtic, Celtus, feature, fusion, John McManus, Pat McManus, review, rock
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Feature: Albums that time forgot – 21 GUNS – Nothing’s Real
Z Records [1997] The 1990s was a hard time for melodic hard rock bands feeling the chill wind from Seattle. Joey Tempest from the band Europe told me that they also succumbed to the prevailing trend, and that when visiting … Continue reading
Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES
Tagged 21 Guns, album, feature, hard rock, interview, melodic, Mike Sturgis, Nothing's Real, Phenomena II, review, Scott Gorham, Thin Lizzy
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Feature: Albums that time forgot – KEATS
EMI [1984] Released in 1984 the eponymous album by Keats might be considered as an Alan Parsons Project off-shoot. It was produced by Parsons and includes the core band members that feature on most of the Project albums, Ian Bairnson, … Continue reading
Feature: Albums that time forgot – PUBLIC SYMPHONY
[2006] Public Symphony is the brainchild of TV music composer (including ‘The Travel Show’, ‘Rogue Traders’) Dobs Vye who, together with James Reynolds, released their one and only album in 2006. When reviewing the album I opined: “‘Public Symphony’ is … Continue reading
Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES
Tagged album, chill-out, Dobs Vye, electronica, pop, Public Symphony, review, rock
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Feature: What FREE mean to me…
Alan Jones on a woman in a diaphanous dress, a wailing Les Paul, and a T-shirt that said it all… It could have gone either way. In the late sixties my musical experiences were limited to my mother’s meagre collection … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, FEATURES, What a Band/Artist means to me...
Tagged Andy Fraser, blues rock, feature, Free, Paul Kossoff, Paul Rodgers, review, Simon Kirke
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Feature: Albums that time forgot – DOMINICI – O3 A Trilogy (Part 3)
Inside Out [2008] Charlie Dominici may merit a mere footnote in the history of Dream Theater, the band’s original singer who was in the formative Majesty before making the band’s first album. Then in 2005 he produced the first of … Continue reading
Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES
Tagged album, Brian Maillard, Charlie Dominici, Dominici, Dream Theater, interview, O3 A Trilogy, Part 3, progressive metal, review
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Feature: Call Collect: An introduction to CHRISTOPHER LEE and his music
Best known for his portrayal of Dracula in the late 1960s Hammer horror films Christopher Lee also lent his (vocal) talents to several rock albums including power metallers Rhapsody of Fire… Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee CBE was an actor … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, Call Collect, FEATURES
Tagged actor, album, Christopher Lee, Dracula, film, Hammer, horror, power metal, RHAPSODY OF FIRE, screen, The Wicker Man
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Feature: What SAXON mean to me…
Saxon have been a life-long passion for Joe Geesin who has followed the band since the mid-1980s. More recently he has contributed sleeve notes and curation to several re-issues. And now he’s ready to write the band’s biography… Barnsley born … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, FEATURES, What a Band/Artist means to me...
Tagged albums, Biff Byford, heavy metal, heavy rock, history, Paul Quinn, review, Saxon
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Feature: Gigs of the Millennium – BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
For many years Andy Nathan was a non-believer of the Boss and his enduring influence in rock music. All that was to change, finally, on a summer’s night in June 2012… Of the hundreds of bands I’ve been lucky to … Continue reading
Posted in FEATURES, Gigs of the Millennium
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Feature: Albums that time forgot – HUGHES THRALL
Epic [1982] Often cited by musos as a favourite album, ‘Hughes/Thrall’ was released in 1982. By all accounts Glenn Hughes (bass and vocals in MK III and IV Deep Purple) ‘stole’ guitarist Pat Thrall after seeing him play with Pat … Continue reading
Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES
Tagged album, Glenn Hughes, hard rock, Hughes Thrall, Pat Thrall, review
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Feature: Albums that time forgot – IOMMI – Fused (Tony Iommi/Glenn Hughes)
Sanctuary [2005] In 2005 Tony Iommi and Glenn Hughes collaborated on the album ‘Fused’. It was Iommi’s second solo album. The pair had worked together on ‘Seventh Star’ in 1986, with drummer Kenny Aronoff, and this was originally destined to … Continue reading
Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES
Tagged album, Black Sabbath, Bob Marlette, Fused, Glenn Hughes, heavy rock, Iommi, Kenny Aronoff, metal, review, Tony Iommi
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Feature: Albums that time forgot – ELEKTRADRIVE – Living 4
Valery Records (2009) Elektradrive is one of the more significant Hard Rock/AOR bands to emerge from Italy. At the very start, in 1983, the name of the band was Overdrive and they had a four-piece line up without keyboards; after … Continue reading
Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES
Tagged album, AOR, Elektradrive, hard rock, Italian, Italy, Living 4, melodic rock, review
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Feature: Albums that time forgot – SARAYA – When The Blackbird Sings
Polygram (1991) There was a lot happening at the turn of the eighties and a glut of excellent CDs (and bands) that were destined for obscurity. We’ll feature some in this series, but these were good times for melodic hard … Continue reading
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Feature: Albums that time forgot – CHIMPAN A
F2 Music (2006) Chimpan A, released in 2006, was a project featuring Rob Reed (better known for his work in the prog-rock band Magenta), and two members of country rock band The Storys: Rob Thompson (guitar) and Steve Balsamo (vocals). … Continue reading
Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES
Tagged album, ambient, chill, Chimpan A, Christina Booth, electronica, Magenta, Progressive Rock, review, Rob Reed, Steve Balsamo
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Feature: Albums that time forgot – SHADOW KING
Atlantic (1991) Shadow King was Lou Gramm’s first foray in a band format since his departure from Foreigner in April 1991. The charismatic vocalist had been working on songs with Bruce Turgon for a third solo album and these developed … Continue reading
Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES
Tagged album, Bruce Turgon, Foreigner, hard rock, Lou Gramm, review, Shadow King, Vivian Campbell
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Feature: Bands that time forgot… LOVE AND MONEY (James Grant)
Love And Money formed out of Glasgow-based ‘Friends Again’ in the early eighties and whilst their debut album ‘All You Need is…’ hinted at the funky tunesmithery to come it wasn’t until 1988′s Strange Kind Of Love that the band … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, Bands that time forgot, FEATURES
Tagged feature, introduction, James Grant, Love And Money, pop rock, review, singer, songwriter
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Feature: Bands that time forgot…RIVER CITY PEOPLE
River City People consisted of two brothers Tim and Paul Speed (guitars and drums respectively)and Dave Snell (bass) who in 1987 were all studying at Liverpool Polytechnic. Vocalist Siobhan Maher had previously worked with Snell in a band called Peep … Continue reading
Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to NIGHT RANGER
Andy Nathan favourites Night Ranger remained a largely USA-based phenomenon until their reformation in the late 1990s. Their UK gigs from 2011 onwards would make grown men cry… When Night Ranger played their first-ever headline show in England at the … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, Call Collect, FEATURES
Tagged AOR, Brad Gillis, feature, introduction, Jack Blades, Jeff Watson, Joel Hoekstra, Kelly Keagy, melodic rock, Night Ranger, review
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Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to RORY GALLAGHER
Rory Gallagher’s legacy has been maintained with a raft of posthumous releases including the more recent ‘Blues’ anthology. Joe Geesin takes up the story. Irish born blues/rock guitarist/vocalist Rory Gallagher made his name in the 70s and 80s, and is … Continue reading
Posted in Call Collect, FEATURES
Tagged blues, blues rock, discography, feature, Gerry McAvoy, guitar, guitarist, introduction, review, Rory Gallagher, TASTE, Ted McKenna
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Feature: Albums that time forgot – PRIDE OF LIONS – The Roaring Of Dreams
Frontiers (2007) With his Pride of Lions project, former Survivor keyboardist and songwriter Jim Peterik recreated the glory days of eighties AOR with no concession to 2000′s musical trends other than updated production values. As a result both their first … Continue reading
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Album review: THREE COLOURS DARK – The Science Of Goodbye
www.threecoloursdark.com [Release date 27.03.20] In downtime in his Panic Room/Luna Rossa schedule, keyboard maestro Jonathan Edwards has revisited his roots in pairing up once again with fellow Karnataka founding member Rachel Cohen. Following casual reminiscence just over 12 months ago … Continue reading
Feature: What GILLAN mean to me
Gillan (the band) made an impression on a young Joe Geesin but he maintained his interest interviewing band members and writing their sleevenotes. Here he recounts an enduring hard rock and collecting passion. Gillan in 1978 (left to right) Liam … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, FEATURES, What a Band/Artist means to me...
Tagged albums, Bernie Torme, Colin Towns, Deep Purple, discography, feature, Gillan, Ian Gillan, introduction, Janick Gers, John McCoy
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Feature: What THE MOTORS mean to me
Joe Geesin reveals his first vinyl purchase and a longer term love of the pop rock band The Motors Many will remember the track ‘Airport’, by The Motors, or at least recognise it, a pop track often played on television … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, FEATURES, What a Band/Artist means to me...
Tagged albums, Andy McMaster, Bram Tchaikovsky, feature, introduction, Nick Garvey, pop, rock, The Motors
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