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Author Archives: brianmc
Single review : RHAPSODY OF FIRE – Brave New Hope
AFM Records [out now] Rhapsody Of Fire’s vocalist, Giacomo Voli sounds more like Brother Firetribe’s Pekka Heino every day. Or maybe it’s the other way round. Those expressive vocals, bringing a lyric to life, are hard to match. ‘Brave New … Continue reading
Album review : BLOODBOUND – The Tales Of Nosferatu – Two Decades Of Blood (CD and DVD)
AFM Records [Release date : 19.04.24] It was 20 years ago today that Swedish keyboard player Fredrik Bergh and guitarist Tomas Olsson jumped the genre ship from AOR to Power Metal. They left behind popular melodic rock band, Street Talk, … Continue reading
Album review : VAN DER GRAAF – Vital (2 CD Remaster)
Cherry Red [Release date : 29.03.24] The year after England won the world cup, English musician Chris Judge Smith took a “summer of love” trip to San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury, a pivotal point on the Flower Power map. It is … Continue reading
Album review : FIREWIND – Stand United
AFM Records [Release date : 08.03.24] 10th album from Power Metal band, Firewind. The band, Gus G, Herbie Langans, Petros Cristo and Jo Nunez have established their Power Metal credentials over and over again during the last 25 years, with … Continue reading
Album review: LILLIAN AXE – The Box Vol 2, The Quickening
Cherry Red [Release date : 29.03.24] The Quickening is the second instalment of a two part series documenting the recorded life and times of metal’s most underrated band, Lillian Axe. There are six CDs. CD1: Deep Red Shadows (2010) w/7 … Continue reading
Album review : TROJAN / TALION – The Complete Recordings 1984/90 (5 CD Boxset)
Cherry Red [Release date : 28.03.24] Boxset of remastered material from UK Thrash/Speed Metal band, Trojan, aka Talion. 5 CDs, 49 tracks. CD1: TROJAN : Chasing The Storm studio album, 1985 CD2: TROJAN : Capturing The Storm – Live At … Continue reading
Album review : LEAVES’ EYES – Myths Of Fate
AFM Records [Release date : 22.03.24] Fans of the band, or even just the genre, will know that German Symphonic Metal band, Leaves’ Eyes are totally immersed in Nordic and Celtic mythology. Pipes, fiddles, choirs, growls, all spin up through … Continue reading
Album review : VARIOUS ARTISTS – I See You Live On Love Street, Music From Laurel Canyon 1967-75 (3 CD Boxset)
Cherry Red [Release date : 22.03.24] For those geography lovers among us, LA’s Laurel Canyon Boulevard snaked up through the hills from Hollywood then down into the San Fernando Valley (as in “Valley Girls”), with little avenues branching off left … Continue reading
Album review : CRUZH – The Jungle Revolution
Frontiers [Release date : 22.03.24] Welcome to The Jungle Revolution, third album on the Frontiers label from Swedish band, Cruzh, and their second with vocalist, Alex Waghorn, winner of Idol Sweden in 2017 (singing Journey’s ‘Faithfully’). Among their admitted influences … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Alex Waghorn, Cruzh, eighties, FM, Idol Sweden, Journey, Jungle Revolution, melodic rock, review, Toto
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Album review : LORDS OF BLACK – Mechanics Of Predacity
Frontiers [Release date : 15.03.24] The Lords Of Black are on their sixth album now, so they must be doing something right, Mechanics… is a thematically sound treatise on the human condition, in which they“embark on a profound exploration of … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts)
Tagged album, Lords Of Black, power metal, Predator, Prey, prog metal, review, Ronnie Romero, Survival
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Album review : STATUS QUO – The Early Years 1966-69 (5 CD boxset)
BMG/Sanctuary Records [Release date : 15.03.24] This 5 CD, Early Years boxset is one of the most interesting of the Status Quo back catalogue repackaging of recent times. It tracks us through the band’s startup moments in the early sixties, … Continue reading
Album review : LIPZ – Changing The Melody
Frontiers [Release date : 15.03.24] Debut album from young Swedish quartet, Lipz, in which they attempt to breathe life into a dying genre, Glam Rock. We’re told. But how do you define “Glam Rock”? Would that be the early eighties, … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Alex K Klintberg, AOR, eighties, glam rock, Lipz, Motley Crue, Poison, Pop/Rock, Ratt, review, Sunset Strip
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Album review : ALTERIUM – Of War And Flames
AFM Records [Release date : 08.03.24] Alterium is a new Italian Symphonic Metal quintet led by Nicoletta Rosellini (ex. Kalidia), a talented artist who juggles several media related careers. She also fronts Goth Metal band, Walk In The Darkness. Of … Continue reading
Album review : TURBULENCE – Binary Dream
Frontiers [Release date: 08.03.24] Third album from cutting edge Lebanese Progressive Metal band, Turbulence. Turbulence by name… this truly is a Prog Metal album for genre afficionados. We said that the band’s 2023 Frontiers debut, Frontal was “a defiantly bold … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Dream Theater, High Concept, progressive metal, review, Turbulence
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Album review : THE END MACHINE – The Quantum Phase
Frontiers [Release date: 08.03.24] Third album from George Lynch’s “new” band. (Interesting to note that Lynch has “retired” the Lynch Mob band name, admitting that the play on his surname was always “problematic,” but is now “inexcusable” because of its … Continue reading
Album review : ALBERT HAMMOND – Body Of Work
earMusic [Release Date : 01.03.24] There just can’t be any Classic Rock artist who can outdo prolific hit writer, Albert Hammond’s “been there, done that, got the Oscar/Grammy/Platinum Disc…” track record. And when you include the fact he wrote the … Continue reading
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Tagged Albert Hammond, album, Body Of Work, classic rock, Grammy, Oscar, Pipkins, Platinum Disc, review
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Album review : AMIGO THE DEVIL – Yours Until The War Is Over
Liars Club/Regime Music [Release date : 23.02.24] Interviewed by Rolling Stone magazine just prior to the release of his 2021 album, Born Against (a relevant and revealing play on words), Danny Kiranos explained his love of the music of Leonard Cohen … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Americana, Amigo The Devil, Danny Kiranos, Leonard Cohen, review, Sergio Leone, Tom Waits
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Album review : CLIMIE FISHER – Coming In For The Kill (4CD Boxset)
Cherry Red [Release date 23.02.24] Climie Fisher’s 1988 hit single ‘Love Changes Everything”, taken from their debut album, truly was a pop classic. Still is. None of the songs on Coming In For The Kill replicated its considerable chart success. … Continue reading
Album review : SMOKING SNAKES – Danger Zone
Frontiers [Release date : 16.02.24] Swedish band, Smoking Snakes, release their debut album, Danger Zone this month. The banal band name and cliched album title will surely raise a wry smile on the face of even the most ardent genre … Continue reading
Album review : HONEYMOON SUITE – Alive
Frontiers [Release Date : 16.02.24] They are indeed, performing here in the instantly recognisable melodic style that defined their key albums. There’s none of the artificial complexity that some bands seem to think is necessary as they move into the … Continue reading
Album review : NEW GUITARS IN TOWN Power Pop 1978-82 (3 CD Set)
Cherry Red [Release date: 16.02.24] By the late seventies, a genre that had blossomed in the Sixties was rediscovered by a new generation of teenagers. And so the legacy of the Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Who and others skipped … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Beach Boys, Beatles, Boomtown Rats, boxset, Elvis Costello, Feargal Sharkey, post-punk, power pop, The Jam, The Undertones, THE WHO
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Album review : PROCOL HARUM – Shine On Brightly (Vinyl Remaster)
Cherry Red [Release date : 23.02.23] Procol Harum’s second album, originally released in 1968. This cutting edge remaster, transferred to 12″ vinyl, takes us into the studio, listening to the recording sessions, hearing each note, each sound, near or far, … Continue reading
Album review : SONS OF LIBERTY – The Detail Is In The Devil
Pete Feenstra chatted to Fred Hale, founder member and guitarist with Sons Of Liberty, for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio. First broadcast 1 September 2024. Independent [Release date : 23.02.24] This is the Sons of Liberty’s third album in six … Continue reading
Album review : KMFDM – Let Go
Metropolis Records [Release date : 02.02.24] KMFDM’s 23rd album is a mixed bag of sights and sounds, each one contributing to a predominant image of a patchwork musical quilt. Each track is an auditory outcry, all cleverly stitched together in … Continue reading
Album review: PATTERNS ON THE WINDOW – The British Progressive Pop Sounds Of 1974 (3 CD Boxset)
Grapefruit (Cherry Red) [Release date : 16.02.24] 1974. The UK seemed to be locked into an endless cycle of political and economic crises. The 3 day week. Fuel shortages, and an unheralded post war recession in full swing. Hardly a … Continue reading
