Author Archives: GRTR! HQ

ED ALLEYNE-JOHNSON – Purple Electric Violin Concerto

Posted on November 26, 2012 by 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 →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

ATKINS/MAY PROJECT – Valley Of Shadows

Posted on November 20, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
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 , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

AOR (Frederic Slama) – L.A.Temptation

Posted on November 12, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
AOR - 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 →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

MERMAID KISS – Another Country

Posted on November 5, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
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 →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Album review: THE MENTULLS – Time Flies

Posted on November 4, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
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 →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

QUIET RIOT – Reissues

Posted on October 27, 2012 by GRTR! HQ

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 , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

T & N – Slave To The Empire

Posted on October 27, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
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 →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

LOVE & MONEY – The Devil’s Debt

Posted on October 26, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
Love & Money - The Devil

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 →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

STRING DRIVEN THING – The Machine That Cried

Posted on October 24, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
String Driven Thing - The Machinbe 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 , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

GENTLE GIANT – I Lost My Head

Posted on October 24, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
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 , , , , , | Leave a comment

THE AUSTRALIAN PINK FLOYD SHOW – Exposed In The Light DVD

Posted on October 24, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
The Australian Pink Floyd Show - Exposed In The Light

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 , , , , | 1 Comment

FOCUS – X

Posted on October 17, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
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 →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

STEVE HACKETT Video Interview – 10 October 2012

Posted on October 16, 2012 by GRTR! HQ

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 , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

DEKE LEONARD Video Interview – 13 October 2012

Posted on October 15, 2012 by GRTR! HQ

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 , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

QUICK PLAYS – Police Dog Hogan, Nicole Maguire

Posted on October 14, 2012 by GRTR! HQ

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 , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

THE GATHERING – Disclosure

Posted on October 14, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
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 →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

HEART – Fanatic

Posted on October 14, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
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 →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

MOSTLY AUTUMN – The Ghost Moon Orchestra

Posted on October 14, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
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 →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

JON LORD – Concerto For Guitar And Orchestra

Posted on October 14, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
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 →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

JEFFERSON STARSHIP – Roswell UFO Festival 2009

Posted on October 14, 2012 by GRTR! HQ

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 →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Album Review: SKINNY MOLLY – Haywire Riot

Posted on October 14, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
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 , , , , , | Leave a comment

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & HIS MAGIC BAND – The Lost Broadcasts

Posted on October 14, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
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 , , , , , , | Leave a comment

THE MOVE – The Lost Broadcasts

Posted on October 14, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
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 , , , , , , | Leave a comment

OTWAY THE MOVIE – Odeon, Leicester Square, London – 7 October 2012

Posted on October 13, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
John Otway, 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 , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

STEVE MILLER BAND – Reissues 1968-1970

Posted on October 9, 2012 by GRTR! HQ
Steve Miller

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment