Author Archives: brianmc

Album review: ARC OF LIFE – Don’t Look Down

Posted on November 13, 2022 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date: 18.11.22] Arc Of Life is a Progrock supergroup, arguably. In order of fame : Jon (Yes) Davison, Billy (Yes/ World Trade) Sherwood, Jay (Unruly Child) Schellen, Dave (Sound Of Contact) Kerzner and Jimmy (Air Supply/ Circa) Haun. … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged Air Supply, album, AOR, Arc Of Life, Billy Sherwood, Circa, Dave Kerzner, Don't Look Down, Frontiers, Jay Schellen, Jimmy Haun, Jon Davison, melodic rock, Mr Mister, progrock, review, Sound Of Contact, Third Matinee, Unruly Child, World Stage, Yes | Leave a comment

Album review: ENUFF Z’NUFF – Finer Than Sin

Posted on November 12, 2022 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date: 11.11.22] If there’s any band that just keeps on keeping on, it’s Enuff Z’Nuff. The band has undergone enough line up changes to fill a Wikipedia page, yet the man who started it all, Chip Z’Nuff is … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Beatles, Cheap Trick, Chip Z'nuff, Enuff Z'Nuff, Finer Than Sin, Frontiers, hard rock, psychedelic pop, review, Strawberry Fields | Leave a comment

Album review: ABOUT US – About Us

Posted on November 10, 2022 by brianmc

Frontiers [release date: 11.11.22] It’s a pleasure to welcome a band from the Asian continent, About Us, to the world of AOR and Melodic Rock (despite the album’s Proggy cover). They are a well established, award winning band in their … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, AOR, Asia, Blue Tears, Bon Jovi, Danger Danger, Dark Horse, Eclipse, India, melodic rock, review, Unruly Child, Wigelius | Leave a comment

Album review: RING OF FIRE – Gravity

Posted on November 9, 2022 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date: 11.11.22] Spend an hour with Ring Of Fire’s new album, Gravity, and you’re sure to find the music impossible to nail down. It’s a moving target. A neo-classical, Prog/Power Metal sub genre, or maybe that’s a a … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged album, Aldo Lonobile, Artension, Johnny Cash, Malmsteen, Mark Boals, neoclassical metal, power metal, prog metal, review, Secret Sphere, Shining Black, TSO, Vitali Kuprij | Leave a comment

Album review: RISING STEEL – Beyond The Gates Of Hell

Posted on November 6, 2022 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date: 18.11.22] Third album from French traditional (ish) metal band, Rising Steel, who still exist in the last century (in a good way). From their amusingly phallic name, to the way they deploy every rushing, thrashing riff that … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged album, Annihilator, Beyond The Gates Of Hell, Black Sabbath, Diamond Head, heavy metal, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, NWOBHM, review, Rising Steel, Thrash | Leave a comment

Album review: MANTRIC MOMENTUM – Trial by Fire

Posted on November 3, 2022 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date: 11.11.22] It’s a little off putting that Mantric Momentum’s Melodic Metal debut album, Trial By Fire, shares its title with numerous releases of the same name. From Henry Jackman’s movie music to Journey’s tenth studio album to … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged album, Christer Haroy, Divided Mutitude, Frontiers, Magnus Karlsson, melodic metal, Pyramaze, review, Terje Haroy | Leave a comment

Album review: FEMME FATALE – Femme Fatale (2022 remaster)

Posted on October 31, 2022 by brianmc

Rock Candy Records [Release date: 07.10.22] Femme Fatale’s self titled 1988 album was co produced by Rick Neigher and David Cole, who together wrote the opening track and single release, ‘Waiting For The Big One’, the band’s only Billboard Top … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues | Tagged AC/DC, album, Alias, David Cole, Femme Fatale, Janet Gardner, Lorraine Lewis, remaster, review, Richard Marx, Rick Neigher, Vixen | Leave a comment

Album review: IAN HUNTER – Overnight Angels

Posted on October 30, 2022 by brianmc

Rock Candy Records [release date: 07.10.22] Ahhh… the sweet smell of excess. In 1977, Ian Hunter’s third solo effort came off the back of two albums that were critical successes, but commercial failures. Clearly built on strong foundations, Overnight Angels … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged Chicken Shack, Earl Slick, Foreigner, Mott, review, rock, Roy Thomas Baker | Leave a comment

Album review: BANG TANGO – Psycho Cafe (2022 Remaster)

Posted on October 29, 2022 by brianmc

Rock Candy Records [release date: 07.10.22] It might be exaggeration to describe Bang Tango’s music as a radically different take on Hair Metal, but it was certainly its own man. The band, Joe Leste on vocals, Kyle Stevens and founder, … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Axl Rose, Billboard, glam rock, hair metal, Howard Benson, Joe Leste, Mark Knight, review, Rock Candy Records, TOM KEIFER | Leave a comment

Album review: DANGER DANGER – Screw It (2022 Remaster)

Posted on October 28, 2022 by brianmc

Rock Candy Records [Release date: 07.10.22] Somebody lost the “best before 1989” label when Danger Danger were recording Screw It (1991), the follow up to their gold album debut. The sexist album cover; the impossible to misinterpret, double entendre song … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues | Tagged album, Bon Jovi, Cinderlla, Danger Danger, Erwin Musper, Melodic Glam Rock, MTV, Poison, remaster, Scorpions, Screw It, Van Halen | Leave a comment

Album review: JULIE DRISCOLL – 1969 (remaster)

Posted on October 27, 2022 by brianmc

JulieDriscoll_1969_ECLEC-2815-min-scaled

Cherry Red [Release date: 28.10.22] From the beginning of her career in the sixties, singer Julie Driscoll had worked with the Brian Auger Trinity. And indeed she fronted that band when she scored two UK Chart hits in 1968, covers … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues | Tagged 1969, album, Blood Sweat and Tears, Brian Auger Trinity, Chicago Transit Authority, Donovan, Dylan, folk, Grace Slick, jazz, Julie Driscoll, Keith Tippett, remaster, review, rock, Soft Machine | Leave a comment

Album review: CACTUS – Evil Is Going On (The Atco Albums 1970-72, 8 CDs)

Posted on October 24, 2022 by brianmc

Cherry Red [Release date 28.10.22] Quite some Cactus boxset. Cherry Red have repackaged all of the Blues Rock legends’ releases into a sturdy 8 CD box. It contains the 4 studio albums recorded 1972-74, and 4 albums’ worth of live … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues | Tagged .38 Special, album review, Bill DeYoung, Black Oak Arakansas, blues rock, Carmen Appice, Chicago, Eddie Kramer, Jim McCarty, Kiss, Little Richard, live, Mose Allison, Rusty Day, Stones, studio, Ted Nugent, Tim Bogert, Vanilla Fudge, Willie Dixon | Leave a comment

Album review: CLIMB ABOARD MY ROUNDABOUT (British Toytown Sounds, 1967-1974)

Posted on October 21, 2022 by brianmc

Cherry Red [Release date: 28.10.22] The British Toytown Pop Sound of the late sixties was not a genre with staying power, but it was fun while it lasted. The very nature of its aesthetic – vaguely humorous songs describing mythical … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged 10CC, 3 CDs, album, Bowie, Captain Beefheart, clamshell, ELO, Godley and Creme, Jeffy Lyne, Peter Frampton, pop, Roy Wood, sixties, Slade, Spencer Davis, Toytown | Leave a comment

Album review: STRYPER – The Final Battle

Posted on October 20, 2022 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date: 21.10.22] Stryper are a talented, durable, outspoken band, and well before their gradual drift from AOR to Hard Rock to Heavy Metal they were strongly influenced by what they observed around them, and accordingly expressed their beliefs … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged album, AOR, classic metal, hard rock, Michael Sweet, old school metal, Oz Fox, review, Robert Sweet | Leave a comment

Album review: IRON ALLIES – Blood In Blood Out

Posted on October 19, 2022 by brianmc

AFM Records [release date: 21.10.02] Iron Allies is a band with an impressive Metal heritage. It’s Herman (Accept/ Victory/ Moondoc) Frank’s new band, and if ever an artist invokes the genre it is he. He’s brought in another well known … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged Accept, album, Bangalore Choir, Bonfire, David Reece, heavy metal, Herman Frank, review, Victory | Leave a comment

Album Review: C85 (3CD Various Artists)

Posted on October 18, 2022 by brianmc

Cherry Red [release date: 21.10.22] Taking its lead from NME’s ultra successful C86, this 72 track, triple CD release, C85, celebrates the rise and rise of the Indie band in the UK. In 1986, NME scribe Neil Taylor had the … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, C85, eighties, Happy Mondays, Housemartins, indie, Jesus And Mary Chain, John Peel, Neil Taylor, NME, Primal Scream, review, Soup Dragons, Stone Roses, That Petrol Emotion, The Wedding Present | Leave a comment

Album review: EDDIE and THE HOT RODS – The Singles 1976-85 (2 CDs)

Posted on October 16, 2022 by brianmc

Cherry Red [release date: 14.10.22] So much crammed into these two Eddie and The Hot Rods’ compilation CDs. So much history here. Of the band, of the nascent sound of Punk. Of the talent that flowed through the various line-ups. … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged 2 CDs, album, Canvey Island, Proto-punk, pub rock, punk, Question Mark and The Mysterians, R&B, review, Them, Top Of The Pops, Van Morrison | Leave a comment

Album review: BLUE OCTOBER – Spinning The Truth Around

Posted on October 16, 2022 by brianmc

Up/Down Records [Release date: 14.10.22] Compulsive songwriter Justin Furstenfeld of Blue October is long past previous compulsions. The only thing he’s tested positive for in recent years is Covid, and he shook that off pretty quickly. And now this authentic … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, JUSTIN FURSTENFELD, review | Leave a comment

Album review: GUN – The Calton Songs

Posted on October 13, 2022 by brianmc

Cherry Red [Release date 14.10.22] Gun trade in emotions – nostalgia, melancholy and ultimately, optimism. Always have, and they have become expert. The title of their new album, The Calton Songs, confirms this. Born and brought up in “The Calton”, … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged acoustic, album, Andy Carr, Barrowlands, Calton, Dante Gizzi, Glasgow, Gun, Jools Gizzi, Mark Rankin, Paul McManus, review, The Calton Songs, Tommy Gentry. Toby Jepson | Leave a comment

Album review: GRAND – Grand

Posted on October 12, 2022 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date 14.10.22] Swedish songwriter/singer Mattias Olofsson teamed up with Wigelius guitarist, Jakob Svensson and drummer Anton Martinez to form Grand in 2020. The band subsequently signed with Frontiers. This is the debut. Grand are as good an AOR/Melodic … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Anton Martinez, AOR, Frontiers, Giant, glam rock, Jakob Svensson, John Waite, Jon Anderson, Mattias Olaffson, melodic rock, Peter Wolf, review, sleaze rock, Starship, Westcoast Rock, Wigelius, Work Of Art, Yes | Leave a comment

Album review: WILDNESS – Resurrection

Posted on October 11, 2022 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date: 14.10.22] Maybe the title indicates that a move to Frontiers for their third album, Resurrection, is seen by Swedish AOR/Melodic Rock band Wildness as a post pandemic rebirth. Certainly, the band have made significant strides in terms … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, AOR, Dokken, HEAT, Jeff Scott Soto, melodic rock, Pretty Maids, Resurrection, review, Talisman, Wildness | Leave a comment

Album review : KILLER KINGS – Burn For Love

Posted on October 10, 2022 by brianmc

Frontiers Records [Release date: 14.10.22] Killer Kings are guitarist, Tristan Avakian and vocalist, Gregory Lynn Hall. Two names you will immediate recognise from their well documented (in Melodic Rock circles) involvement with near legendary bands Red Dawn, TSO, Heaven & … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged 101 South, album, AOR, Frontiers, Gregory Lynn Hall, Heaven and Earth, melodic rock, Red Dawn, Tristan Avakian, TSO | Leave a comment

Album review: DRAGONLAND – The Power Of The Nightstar

Posted on October 9, 2022 by brianmc

AFM Records [Release date: 14.10.22] First album in ten years from Swedish Power/Melodic Metal band, Dragonland. A lot can change in ten years. A lot can stay the same. This is Dragonland expanded, more ambitious, with a finely developed movie … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged album, Anders Hammer, Elias Holmlid, Hans Zimmer, Jacob Hansen, Jesse Lindskog, Johan Nunez, John Williams, Jonas Heidgert, melodic metal, Olof Mörck), power metal, review, symphonic metal | Leave a comment

Album review: BOREALIS – Illusions

Posted on October 8, 2022 by brianmc

AFM Records [Release date: 07.10.22] Four years after The Offering, underrated and often overlooked Canadian metal soundscape supremos, Borealis, step up a gear with new album, Illusion. This is a metal band impossible to categorise. Anyone who thought they were … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged album, composer, Evergrey, Orchestrated, Progmetal, review, Silent Skies, Tom Englund, Vikram Shankar | Leave a comment

Album review : PETE WAY – Solo Albums 2000 – 2004 (3 CDs)

Posted on September 24, 2022 by brianmc

Cherry Red [Release date: 30.09.22] In 2019, the late great Pete Way and his band played an unannounced gig in my home town, a few miles from Glasgow, just before the pandemic hit and less than a year before his … Continue reading →