Author Archives: GRTR! HQ

Album review: STRAY – All In Your Mind (The Transatlantic Years 1970-1974)

Posted on December 23, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Esoteric [Release date: 20.10.17] Unless the thought of ‘your collar being felt’ finds favour, there are some tracks that should never be played while driving. Formed in 1966 when they were callow youths of 14 years of age, West London … Continue reading →

Gig review: EXTREME/Dan Reed Network – Bristol Academy, 18 December 2017

Posted on December 23, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

A double bill tour that not only sees the return of Extreme to these shores – capitalising soon after a headline slot headline at this summer’s Ramblin Man – but also the return of the groove masters in Dan Reed … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS | Tagged 18 December, Bristol Academy, Dan Reed Network, Extreme, funk, Gary Cherone, gig, metal, Nuno Bettencourt, review, rock | Leave a comment

News: THEA GILMORE tops popular poll for best album of 2017, Marillion voted Top Live Act

Posted on December 18, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Singer songwriter Thea Gilmore has won the popular vote in Get Ready to ROCK!’s end of year poll. Thea’s album ‘The Counterweight’ was voted ‘Best of 2017′ by readers and listeners. Alan Jones from Get Ready to ROCK! has been … Continue reading →

Posted in NEWS, The Best of 2017 | Tagged Austin Gold, Best of 2017, breakthrough act, Marillion, poll, popular, rock, singer songwriter, The Counterweight, Thea Gilmore, top album, top live act, vote | Leave a comment

Album review: RJ THOMPSON – Echo Chamber

Posted on December 16, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Chicken Wire Records [Release date 17.11.17] Currently on tour opening for Jools Holland, and with the endorsement of broadsheets like The Times and The Guardian ringing in his ears, North-East singer songwriter RJ Thompson’s debut studio album sails about as … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Echo Chamber, pop, review, RJ Thompson, rock, singer, songwriter | Leave a comment

Album review: JOE SATRIANI – What Happens Next

Posted on December 13, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Sony Music [Release date 12.01.18] Satch’s energy and work output seem to have no chance of exhaustion. He releases fairly regular albums, always including a smattering of greatness, and making his peers sometimes seem lazy. That continuing zest for performance … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Chad Smith, fusion, Glenn Hughes, guitar, guitarist, Joe Satriani, review, rock, What Happens Next | Leave a comment

Gig review: THEA GILMORE – Telford’s Warehouse, Chester, 12 December 2017

Posted on December 13, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

No, the GRTR! Christmas Party was not being held in a phone booth this year, but my fellow scribe Pete Whalley and I instead felt the glow of Thea Gilmore’s traditional gathering at a favourite venue in Chester. In a … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS | Tagged 12 November 2017, acoustic, Chester, Christmas, festive, gig, Nigel Stonier, party, review, singer, songwriter, Telford's Warehouse, Thea Gilmore, Xmas | Leave a comment

Album review: MAGNUM – Lost On The Road To Eternity

Posted on December 8, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

SPV [Release date 19.01.18] We’ve always said Magnum should be cherished. Even more so in 2018, and with the arrival of their 20th studio album. The latest magnum opus also introduces new members Rick Benton (keys) and Lee Morris now … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, AVANTASIA, Bob Catley, Lost On The Road To Eternity, Magnum, melodic rock, pomp, review, rock, Tobias Sammet, Tony Clarkin | Leave a comment

Upcoming: New releases (CD/DVD) January – March 2018

Posted on December 8, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Compiled by Jason Ritchie January 12th ASKING ALEXANDRIA S/T Summerin Records AUDREY HORNE ‘Blackout’ Napalam Records AVATAR ‘Avatar Country’ BLACK VEIL BRIDES ‘Vale’ CORROSION OF CONFORMITY ‘No Cross No Crown’ Nuclear Blast FLEETWOOD MAC S/T (re-issue of 1975 album with … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, NEWS, Upcoming (Tours & Releases) | Tagged 2018, album, AOR, Bluray, CD, DVD, February, heavy rock, January, March, melodic rock, metal, New releases, progressive, rock | Leave a comment

News: Get Ready to ROCK! Reviews Editor hits 50 for charity

Posted on December 8, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Get Ready to ROCK! Reviews Editor Jason Ritchie has long been a supporter of various charities and in the past he has put on his running shoes in aid of good causes. Now, as he approaches the grand old age … Continue reading →

Posted in NEWS | Tagged awareness, charity, gigs, music, music therapy, Nordoff Robbins, promotion | Leave a comment

Quick plays: TALK-SHOW, STEVE RAVENSFIELD

Posted on December 7, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

TALK-SHOW Permanent Honeymoon (Wooden Piano Records) The brainchild of Maidstone singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lawrence O’Shea, Talk-Show brings together Gustaff Llunggren (brass, woodwind, strings and lap steel) and Chris Pepper (drums, percussion, programming, electric and bass guitars and syths), overseen by … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Quick Plays | Tagged album, Boo Hewerdine, Into The Next Life, Lawrence O'Shea, Permanent Honeymoon, pop, pop rock, review, Steve Ravensfield, Talk-Show | Leave a comment

Album review: BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE – Medicine Songs

Posted on December 7, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

True North Records [Release date 07.11.17] A new album from the now 76 year old Buffy, and guess what? Yes, lurking there amidst a collection of old, new, and borrowed, (and Blue) material are career defining numbers like ‘Soldier Blue’ … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged acoustic, album, Buffy Sainte-Marie, folk, Medicine Songs, protest, review, singer, songwriter | Leave a comment

Album review: DAVE KERZNER – Static

Posted on December 7, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Recplay [Release date 10.11.17] The second solo album from Miami-based keyboard maestro and co-founder of Sound Of Contact (Kernzer/Simon Collins) is creating something of a stir in prog circles. Perhaps, of little surprise given the heavyweight guest appearances of Steve … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Colin Edwin, Dave Kerzner, Nick D’Virgilio, prog, Progressive Rock, review, Static, Steve Hackett, The Sound Of Contact | Leave a comment

Album review: SKID ROW – Skid/34 Hours (reissues)

Posted on December 7, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

BGO [Release date: 21.07.17] 2 on 1 CD “I remember Paris in ‘49” … five words guaranteed to cue the leery lads of the night to grab and clinch their squeezes for that last, up close smooch in the smoke … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues | Tagged 34 Hours, album, blues rock, Gary Moore, hard rock, Phil Lynott, review, Skid, Skid Row, Thin Lizzy | Leave a comment

Album review: ALICE DIMICELE – One With The Tide

Posted on December 2, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Alice Otter Music [Release date 19.01.18] DiMicele’s last offering the sparsely arranged, jazz influenced, Swim a beguiling melting pot of roots infused with breathy Hammond B3 keys, gospelesque vocals, Americana-tinged fiddle, dobro, lap steel, and Tex-Mex horns – came within … Continue reading →

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Album review: ELECTRIC DUCKS – Change Your Mind

Posted on December 2, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

The Store For Music [Release date 17.11.17] Originally starting out as an AC/DC tribute band, it’s taken the Ducks three albums and a line-up change to shake off, pretty much, the final vestiges of their former modus operandi. Their 2007 … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Change Your Mind, Electric Ducks, review, rock | Leave a comment

Quick plays: SONIC TOOLBOX, THE MAGNETIC SOUTH

Posted on December 2, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

SONIC TOOLBOX A Space In Time Double Dutch, anyone? Sonic Toolbox, a fairly grizzly pair of old proggers (?) from Denmark who – on the cover art – look like Boris Becker and Robert Plant after a night on the … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Quick Plays | Tagged A Space In Time, album, Lars Boutrup, Mary Gauthier, prog, Progressive Rock, review, Rifles & Rosary Beads, Sea level, Sonic Toolbox, The Magnetic South | Leave a comment

News: Get Ready to ROCK! announce Best of 2017 – top albums, live acts

Posted on November 27, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Pop rock revivalists Cats In Space and their second album ‘Scarecrow’ has been selected as Top Album of 2017 by popular music website Get Ready to ROCK! Reviews Editor Jason Ritchie wrote “Cats In Space have succeeded in taking their … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, NEWS, The Best of 2017 | Tagged Best of 2017, Black Star Riders, blues rock, Cats In Space, classic rock, Eliza Neals, Get Ready to ROCK!, melodic rock, poll, Progressive Rock, reviewer, singer songwriter, survey | Leave a comment

The Best of 2017: top albums, top live acts – the reviewers’ choice

Posted on November 27, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

On Sunday 17 December on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, David Randall announced the popular poll results. This two-hour special includes artists voted for in the various categories: Top Albums, Top Live Acts, Top Breakthrough Acts. Every year we ask … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, NEWS, The Best of 2017 | Tagged albums, Best of 2017, blues, blues rock, breakthrough acts, gigs, heavy rock, listing, live acts, melodic rock, metal, pop, progressive, reissues, reviewer, rock, selection, singer songwriter | Leave a comment

News: WIN! BLACK SABBATH The End DVD (Competition starts 27 November)

Posted on November 25, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Here’s your chance to win a copy of the BLACK SABBATH ‘The End’ DVD. Filmed on 4 February 2017 at their final show in Birmingham, the concert is captured in its entirety, plus The Angelic Sessions feature the exclusive final … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Competitions, NEWS | Tagged Black Sabbath, competition, DVD, Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne, The End, Tony Iommi | Leave a comment

Gig review: HRH PROG VI – Pwllheli, North Wales, 17-18 November 2017

Posted on November 20, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Edgar Broughton - HRH PROG VI - Pwllheli, North Wales, 17-18 November 2017

David Randall writes… Friday Edgar Broughton opened the proceedings on Stage 1 without his band but with tales of daring-do over a career spanning nearly 50 years and since his signing to the Harvest label in 1968. Apparently he presided … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS | Tagged Caravan, Carl Palmer, Focus, Hafan Y Mor Holiday Park, Hawklords, Heather Findlay, HRH Prog VI, Magenta, Magnum, North Wales, November 2017, Pwllheli, The Far Meadow, Uriah Heep, Von Hertzen Brothers | Leave a comment

Gig review: ALICE COOPER – Manchester Arena, 15 November 2017

Posted on November 16, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

The release of Killer in 1971 was a defining moment in my love affair with rock and I’ve waited 40 plus years to see Alice perform with what remains of the original Alice Cooper band, Glen Buxton having passed away … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS, The Best of 2017 | Tagged 15 November 2017, Alice Cooper, Fee Waybill, Manchester Arena, metal, rock, shock rock, The Mission, The Tubes, Wayne Hussey | Leave a comment

Album review: ACQUA FRAGILE – A New Chant

Posted on November 13, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Esoteric Antenna [Release date: 13.10.17] Italy does progressive rock very well even if the indigenous talent struggled to broach export markets until front-runners Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) got picked up in 1973 by Emerson Lake & Palmer’s vanity label Manticore … Continue reading →

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Album review: ANTHONY PHILLIPS – Invisible Men

Posted on November 13, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Esoteric [Release date 13.10.17] The former Genesis guitarist’s solo career has been enjoying a boom courtesy of Esoteric Recordings and their expansive reissue programme of his back catalogue. We’ve had the 70s – acoustic, analogue, much meditative melancholy resonating nicely … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), Reissues | Tagged album, Anthony Phillips, electronic, Genesis, Invisible Men, pop, review, Richard Scott | Leave a comment

Album review: ALAN SIMON – Excalibur IV The Dark Age Of The Dragon

Posted on November 13, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Babaika Productions [Release date 03.11.17] The first reference I saw to Alan Simon was the credit on Sonja Kristina’s recent anthology – it’s the track that’s also included here called ‘The Passion’. Then an Alan Simon compilation arrives to add … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged Alan Simon, album, Celtic, Clannad, Excalibur IV, Jethro Tull, John Helliwell, Martin Barre, Moya Brennan, prog, progressive, review, Sonja Kristina, Supertramp, The Dark Age Of The Dragon | Leave a comment

Gig review: MARILLION – Manchester Academy, 8 November 2017

Posted on November 9, 2017 by GRTR! HQ

Ok, so I did say the new album would be a grower when reviewing it last August! Don’t lynch me, it’s just that I do like the more straight-ahead romantic side of Marillion which is a little obscured on the … Continue reading →