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Upcoming Gigs & Albums
Latest Album Reviews
Latest Gig Reviews
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Gig review: ANTHRAX – Hammersmith Apollo, London, 23 November 2024
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Gig review: BLACK STONE CHERRY – Wembley Arena, London, 23 November 2024
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Gig review: SQUEEZE – Roundhouse, London, 22 November 2024
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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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Featured Album Reviews
Features
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DVD Reviews
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Author Archives: GRTR! HQ
ED ALLEYNE-JOHNSON – Purple Electric Violin Concerto
20th Anniversary Special Edition (Edsel Records) Release date 26.11.12 Is it really 20 years? Cripes. I first heard ‘Oxford Suite (Part 1)’ on BBC Radio 1 (I am sure it was ‘Fluff’ Freeman’s Saturday afternoon show) and was immediately drawn … Continue reading
ATKINS/MAY PROJECT – Valley Of Shadows
(Gonzo Multimedia) Al Atkins is a founder member of Judas Priest – writing ‘Victim Of Changes’ – although he left the band to make way for Rob Halford in 1973 . He has also written a very informative autobiography of his … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Al Atkins, album, Atkins/May Project, heavy metal, Judas Priest, Paul May, review, Valley Of Shadows
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AOR (Frederic Slama) – L.A.Temptation
(AOR Heaven) There’s no doubt that AOR has been enjoying a revival in recent years, epitomised perhaps by the revival of the band FM, a dedicated UK-based print magazine, and a forthcoming UK festival. And of course Firefest goes from … Continue reading
MERMAID KISS – Another Country
www.mermaidkiss.co.uk This, the third album under the Mermaid Kiss name, is tinged with a bit of sadness. Founder member Evelyn Downing has decided to hang up her microphone. But she does immerse herself in her final album with the band; writing, … Continue reading
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Tagged album, Another Country, Mermaid Kiss, review
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Album review: THE MENTULLS – Time Flies
www.thementulls.com There’s already a buzz surrounding this Yorkshire teen outfit mainly because of their young age and the fact they sound like a band twice their age. And it’s true to say that on ‘Time Flies’ their third album (!!!), … Continue reading
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Tagged album, blues, mentulls, review, rock
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QUIET RIOT – Reissues
QUIET RIOT – Metal Health/Condition Critical Rock Candy Records Formed in the early 70s, Quiet Riot featured guitarist Randy Rhodes, and the band split when Rhodes joined Ozzy Osbourne. Reforming in the early 80s, Metal Health would be the band’s … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALL POSTS, Reissues
Tagged album, Condition Critical, Kevin DuBrow, metal, Metal Health, music, Quiet Riot, reissue, review, rock
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T & N – Slave To The Empire
earMUSIC 0208329ERE Okay, is it a tribute album or isn’t it? T & N would have you believe this offering should stand up in its own right. Dokken alumni George Lynch, Jeff Pilson and ‘Wild’ Mick Brown have assembled seven … Continue reading
LOVE & MONEY – The Devil’s Debt
Vertical VERTCD096 Twenty years on, can Love & Money still cut it? Their re-grouping at the start of 2011 for a couple of Scottish gigs and tentative UK dates last autumn suggested a resounding ‘yes’. To hear that the band … Continue reading
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Tagged album, James Grant, Love & Money, review, The Devil's Debt
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STRING DRIVEN THING – The Machine That Cried
(Esoteric) Signing to act-breakers Charisma should have assured better fortune for this electric violin-driven four-piece but in the notes of Esoteric’s reissue guitarist Chris Adams, band co-founder with wife Pauline, grumbles over the label’s preoccupation with Genesis as neglectful of … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALL POSTS, Reissues
Tagged album, music, prog, progressive, reissue, review, rock, String Driven Thing, The Machine That Cried
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GENTLE GIANT – I Lost My Head
(EMI) Writer Daryl Easlea muses over the meaning of the word ‘contrapuntal’ in his excellent notes with fresh band interviews accompanying a great value 4CD box of albums recorded for the Chrysalis label (plus rarities and unreleased) by this epitome … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALL POSTS, Reissues
Tagged 1975-1980, box set, Chrysalis, compilation, Gentle Giant, I Lost My Head
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THE AUSTRALIAN PINK FLOYD SHOW – Exposed In The Light DVD
TAPFSDVD04 The Australian Pink Floyd Show are one of the very few tribute acts in the world that have somehow seemed to move away from that genre and even though playing another bands music have turned into a band in … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, DVD REVIEWS
Tagged DVD, Exposed In The Light, live, review, The Australian Pink Floyd Show
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FOCUS – X
Eastworld Recordings (2012) One of the great rejuvenations of recent years has been the Thijs van Leer version of Focus, things seemed to click with the arrival – in 2006 – of original drummer Pierre van der Linden and they’ve … Continue reading
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Tagged album, Dutch, Focus, Holland, music, Netherlands, Pierre van der Linden, prog, progressive, review, rock, Thijs van Leer, X
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STEVE HACKETT Video Interview – 10 October 2012
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook. In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September. Check … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, INTERVIEWS, Video Interviews
Tagged 10 October 2012.Genesis Revisited II, guitar, guitarist, interview, prog, progressive, rock, Steve Hackett, video
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DEKE LEONARD Video Interview – 13 October 2012
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook. In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September. Check … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, INTERVIEWS, Video Interviews
Tagged book, Deke Leonard, guitar, guitarist, Iceberg, interview, Man, Twang Dynasty, video
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QUICK PLAYS – Police Dog Hogan, Nicole Maguire
POLICE DOG HOGAN – From The Land Of Miracles As the name might perhaps suggest Police Dog Hogan are a rabid high-energy bunch – an eclectic seven-piece, combining fiddle, finger picking banj and mandolin, drums and guitars with four-part harmonies … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), Quick Plays
Tagged acoustic, album, folk, Nicole Maguire, Police Dog Hogan, review, rock, singer, songwriter
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THE GATHERING – Disclosure
I have to confess I’ve never tripped over The Gathering – a Dutch band who started out in 1989 pedalling death/doom metal, but who like the rest of us have mellowed with the passing years and evolved into something quite … Continue reading
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Tagged album, Disclosure, Dutch, electronica, Holland, prog, progressive, review, rock, The Gathering
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HEART – Fanatic
What the hell are Heart sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson on? The Lance Armstrong performance enhancement programme? It must be something with one hell of a kick, because they just aren’t sticking to the script. Artists who’ve been treading boards … Continue reading
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Tagged album, Ann Wilson, Fanatic, Heart, music, Nancy Wilson, review, rock
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MOSTLY AUTUMN – The Ghost Moon Orchestra
Mostly Autumn are one of those bands who seem to consistently top the Championship, but never quite make promotion to the Premier League. Constant squad changes, and player rotation has perhaps not helped their cause, and there’s also that Pink … Continue reading
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Tagged album, Bryan Josh, Iain Jennings, Mostly Autumn, music, Olivia Sparnen, prog, progressive, review, rock, The Ghost Moon Orchestra
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JON LORD – Concerto For Guitar And Orchestra
earMusic Rock and Classical music have long been awkward bed fellows. And while it’s over four decades since John lord first dipped his toes into the water to meld his Deep Purple organ licks with orchestral music, his ‘Concerto For … Continue reading
JEFFERSON STARSHIP – Roswell UFO Festival 2009
HST051CD Sprawled around a nebulous concept of a ‘Sci-Fi Extravaganza’ this overblown 4-CD set was recorded at the UFO Festival, Rosswell, New Mexico, and is a case of never mind the quality, feel the width. The Jefferson Starship line-up is … Continue reading
Album Review: SKINNY MOLLY – Haywire Riot
Ruf 1184 Skinny Molly’s ‘Haywire Riot’ is the album they have always threatened to make. It’s an excellent southern rock album with a bluesy feel, some lovely guitar tones, fine harmony singing and above all Mike Estes’s excellent songs. And … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Video Interviews
Tagged album, Haywire Riot, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Mike Estes, review, Skinny Molly
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CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & HIS MAGIC BAND – The Lost Broadcasts
HST112DVD There are two ways of looking at his DVD. Either you buy into a fascinating, but all too short glimpse of Beefheart and his Magic band at their best, or you bitch about the fact that there’s less than … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, DVD REVIEWS
Tagged Beat Club, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, DVD, German, review, The Lost Broadcasts, TV
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THE MOVE – The Lost Broadcasts
HST 108DVD ‘The Lost Broadcasts’ DVD is a short but enjoyable compilation of previously unavailable footage of The Move. The randomly interspersed footage captures the 60′s pop band before they transformed themselves into a heavier rock outfit and ultimately the … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, DVD REVIEWS
Tagged Carl Wayne, DVD, Jeff Lynne, review, Roy Wood, The Lost Broadcasts, The Move
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OTWAY THE MOVIE – Odeon, Leicester Square, London – 7 October 2012
‘Otway The Movie’ Odeon, Leicester Square London 07.10.12 Photos by Eric Hands The grand launch of ‘Otway The Movie, a fan funded film, didn’t seem so much a moment of destiny as another leap into the void by an artist … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS, Special Events
Tagged 7 October 2012, John Otway, Leicester Square, London, Odeon, Otway The Movie, premiere, review
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STEVE MILLER BAND – Reissues 1968-1970
Edsel Records [Release date: 08.10.12] This 5 album reissue of Steve Miller’s early career finds the future platinum recording artist fighting for artistic independence as he embraced west coast psychedelia. By the time of his debut recording, the band was … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged 1968, 1969, 1970, album, Brave New World, Children Of the Future, Number 5, reissue, review, Sailor, Steve Miller, Steve Miller Band, Your Saving Grace
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