Author Archives: brianmc

Album review : CROSS COUNTRY DRIVER – The New Truth

Posted on March 18, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date: 17.03.23] Rob (Riverdogs) Lamothe’s new bluesy, country, earthy rock music band is called Cross Country Driver. It consists of only him, his son Zander on drums, and old friend James Harper on guitar. An impressive guest list, … Continue reading →

Album review : TRANSWORLD IDENTITY – Seven Worlds

Posted on March 16, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date 17.3.23] Transworld Identity is a breath of fresh air. Vocalist Mila Bosa previously fronted a hard rock covers band, inevitably moving onto original material with her own band, T-ID. Hard to tell just how long they’ve been … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged Abba, album, AOR, Frontiers, Hanoi Rocks, melodic rock, Mila Bosa, Nightwish, pop, review, Ryan Roxie | Leave a comment

Album review : GUNTER WERNO – Anima One

Posted on March 15, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date: 10.03.23] Like last month’s All My Shadows, Gunter Werno’s Anima One is yet another offshoot grown from the fertile ground that bred Prog Metal giants, Vanden Plas. While All My Shadows saw VP’s prime movers, Stephan Lill … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Andy kuntz, Classical music, concerto, Fruchthalle, Gunter Werno, JS BACH, Kaiserslautern, Philharmonic Orchestra, review, Stephan Lill, Tchaikovsky, VANDEN PLAS | Leave a comment

Album review: THE BANISHMENT – Machine And Bone

Posted on March 12, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date 10.03.23] From Dokken and Lynch Mob to End Machine, KXM and more, George Lynch has been on quite some rock’n’roll journey. And is still. He and his new world bandmates, Producer/Mixer/Writer, Joe Haze and vocalist, Devix AKA … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged album, Dokken, End Machine, Frontiers, George Lynch, Industrial Rock Metal. Devix, Joe Haze, KXM, Lynch Mob, Machine And Bone, pandemic, review, The Banishment | Leave a comment

Album review : DEMONS DOWN – I Stand

Posted on March 12, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date: 10.03.23] Here’s an interesting band. Demons Down combine the legacy Melodic Rock of House Of Lords (and others) … Jimi Bell, Ken Mary and Chuck Wright, with today’s rising stars in the shape of Chilean vocalist, James … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, AOR, Autograph, Chuck Wright, Francesco Savino, Frontiers, House of Lords, James Robledo. False Memories, Jimi Bell, Ken Mary, melodic rock, review, Sinners Blood | Leave a comment

Album review: KEN HENSLEY – Past And Present (Songs In Time Anthology, 1972-2021, 6 CD set)

Posted on March 1, 2023 by brianmc

Cherry Red [Release date: 27.02.23] The late Ken Hensley had been steadily accumulating cultural stock since 1970. His ability to write poetic, melodic rock’n’roll is well known in the music industry worldwide. His reputation grew exponentially as he converted that … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged 1972-2021), album, AOR, box set, Cherry Red, Ken Hensley, melodic rock, Past And Present (Songs In Time Anthology, poet, review, Russian, Uriah Heep, Vladimir Emilin | Leave a comment

Album review : DEICIDE – Bible Bashers (3 CD Retrospective)

Posted on February 25, 2023 by brianmc

Dissonance/Cherry Red [Release date: 24.02.23] The first of the 3 CDs in this Deicide set, InsinerateHymn (fabulous title), was the band’s fifth album, released in 2000. The band, led by bassist/ writer/ singer, Glen Benton, had made their not inconsiderable … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged 3 CD set, albums, Bible Bashers, Death Metal, Deicide, Glen Benton, House Of Blues, review, Satanism, Wheatley | Leave a comment

Album review: CREYE – Weightless

Posted on February 21, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date 17.02.23] After a commercially unsuccessful debut album, it was the addition of August Rauer as vocalist in 2018 that kick started Creye’s career as a melodic rock band. On the downside, Weightless, their third album, is filled … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, August Rauer, Creye, Eclipse, Eurorock, HEAT, melodic rock, review, Weightless, Work Of Art | Leave a comment

Album review: TEENAGE GLAMPAGE – 80 Glambusters From The Seventies (4CD boxset)

Posted on February 20, 2023 by brianmc

Cherry Red [Release date 17.02.23] Glamrock stamped its imprint on the UK Pop scene in the Seventies, and perhaps overstayed its welcome. But while it reigned supreme, it produced countless unforgettable pop songs. This 4 CD anthology, Teenage Glampage, begins … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged 80 Glambusters, Barron Knights, Barry Blue, Bay City Roller, Bill Martin, boxset, Cozy Powell, Don Fardon, Glamrock, Hush, Mott the Hoople, Mud, Mungo Jerry, Phil Coulter, review, seventies, Slik, Suzi Quatro, T.Rex, Teenage Glampage, The Sweet, Wizzard | Leave a comment

Album review : FIRST SIGNAL – Face Your Fears

Posted on February 19, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date 17.02.23] Harry (Harem Scarem) Hess teams up this time with producer/writer, Michele Guiatoli, who has recently impressed us with his guitar and mixing desk skills on the Issa album, Lights Of Japan. The last First Signal album … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Face Your Fears, First Signal, Harem Scarem, Harry Hess, Issa, Lights Of Japan, melodic rock, Michele Guiatoli, review | Leave a comment

Album review – KHYMERA – Hold Your Ground

Posted on February 17, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date 10.02.23] Texas native, bassman and vocalist, Dennis (Pink Cream 69/Unisonic/Place Vendome/Sunstorm) Ward, transformed into a full blown front man with Khymera earlier this millennium. The band membership is inclined to fluidity, but Ward has assembled a fine … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Dennis Ward, Eric Ragno, Hold Your Ground, Khymera, melodic rock, Pink Cream 69, review, Unisonic | Leave a comment

Album review: T3NORS – Naked Soul

Posted on February 15, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date: 10.02.23] So much of Frontiers’ melodic rock finds itself impervious to outside influences. There are few AOR albums from the label that have successfully taken on contemporary musical mores. The truth is – we all claim to … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, AOR, Blanc Faces, Giant, Kent Hilli, melodic rock, Naked Soul, Perfect Plan, Pride of Lions, review, Robbie LeBlanc, T3NORS, Toby Hitchcock | Leave a comment

Album review: WIG WAM – Out Of The Dark

Posted on February 14, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date 10.02.23] Hard to believe Wig Wam began strutting their Glam/Classic Rock stuff two decades ago.Their flirtation with Eurovision is well documented, but the band’s post 2014 downtime gap is not. What we do know is that the … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, comeback, Eurovision, glam rock, metal, Out Of The Dark, review, Wig Wam | Leave a comment

Album review: WHAT A GROOVY DAY – The British Sunshine Pop Sound, 1967-72 (3 CD boxset)

Posted on February 5, 2023 by brianmc

Sunshine-Pop-front-cover-jpeg-min-150x150

Cherry Red/ Grapefruit [Release date 27.02.23] Sunshine Pop – a worldwide phenomenon, though most popular in the USA and the UK – predated the age of psychedelia only by a matter of months. Legendary but hitless sixties UK band, Tony … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged 3 CD set, boxset, review, Sunshine Pop, The seventies, The Sixties | Leave a comment

Album review: RONNIE ROMERO – Raised On Heavy Radio

Posted on February 3, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers Records [Release date: 27.01.23] Second “Raised On…” album from Ronnie (Rainbow, Lords Of Black, The Ferry Men) Romero. Recording cover versions of your favourite songs must be a temptation that’s impossible to resist. Many singers/bands have done it. Few … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged album, Bad Company, Chris Caffery, Foreigner, Gus G, heavy metal, Helloween, Iron Maiden, Journey, Judas Priest, melodic rock, Nozuma Wakei, Rainbow, Raised On Heavy Radio, review, Roland Grapow, Ronnie Romero, Steve Perry, Survivor | Leave a comment

Album review : CROWNE – Operation Phoenix

Posted on February 2, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers [elease date: 27.01.23] Second album from Crowne, a high end assembly made up of members of H.E.A.T., Art Nation, Europe, The Poodles and Dynazty. Respectively, Jona Tee, Alexander Strandell, John Leven, Christial Lundqvist and Love Magnusson. The debut didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Alexander Strandell, Art Nation, Christian Lundvqist, Crowne, Dynazty, Europe, HEAT, John Leven, Jona Tee, Love Magnussen, melodic rock, Operation Phoenix, review, The Poodles | Leave a comment

Album review: ARCTIC RAIN – Unity

Posted on January 31, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date: 27.01.23] Arctic Rain’s declamatory melodic rock will remind you of several expert practitioners of the genre. From the Bon Jovi-esque ‘One World’, intense, in your face, with a fleeting sense of melody, and the title track, ‘Unity’, … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged AOR, Arctic Rain, Bon Jovi, Frontiers, Graham Bonnet, Harem Scarem, melodic rock, Mr Big, review, Tobias Jonson, Unity | Leave a comment

Album review: GIRLSCHOOL – The School Report 1976-2008

Posted on January 26, 2023 by brianmc

Girlschool_HNEBOX161-min-scaled1-150x150

Cherry Red/HNE [Release date: 27.01.23] Girlschool experienced their share of heartache… label let downs, revolving door membership issues, conflicting views on musical direction and the struggles to sustain their ambitions in the face of all of the above. But they soldiered … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged 1984, album, boxset, GIRLSCHOOL, NWOBHM, punk, review, The School Report 1976-2008 | Leave a comment

Album review: THE FIRST CLASS – Beach Baby – The Complete Recordings (3 CD set)

Posted on January 24, 2023 by brianmc

Cherry Red [release date: 27.01.23] 1974, and the first pop single to be written by Shakespeare, ‘Beach Baby’, breaks into the US and UK charts. John Carter (not that one) was born John Shakespeare. A singer, songwriter and producer who … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged Beach Baby - The Complete Recordings, boxset, Brian Wilson, Jeff Lynne, John Carter, pop, review, The First Class, The seventies, The Sixties, Tony Burrows | Leave a comment

Album review : HOLOCAUST – Heavy Metal Mania – The Complete Recordings, Vol 1 1980-1984 (6 CDs)

Posted on January 23, 2023 by brianmc

Cherry Red [Release date 27.01.23] Carrying the NWOBHM torch in Scotland since 1977, Edinburgh’s Holocaust are the genre’s archetypal survivors. They are almost literally the definition of “Metal bands who’ve flown under the radar their whole career”. Arguably, it was … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews, Reissues | Tagged boxset, Edinburgh, Heavy Metal Mania, John Mortimer, NWOBHM. Metallica, review, Scotland | Leave a comment

Album review : TRAPEZE – Don’t Stop The Music – Complete Recordings Vol 1 1970-1992 (6 CD Boxset)

Posted on January 22, 2023 by brianmc

Cherry Red [Release date: 24.02.23] A cool, 6-CD boxset of high calibre Trapeze material. Three CDs of studio albums plus 3 CDs of live recordings, one as recent as 1992. CD1 : Trapeze (originally released 1970) The debut tends to … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues | Tagged boxset, Dallas, Dave Holland, Deep Purple, Don't Stop The Music - Complete Recordings Vol 1 1970-1992, Glenn Hughes, Mel Galley, review, Seventies Rock, Texas, The Borderline, Trapeze | Leave a comment

Album review: ISSA – Lights Of Japan

Posted on January 20, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date: 20.01.23] Issa Oversveen is married to James Martin, ex of Vega. With his brother Tom, he’s written the bulk of the material here. And you can tell. Even with the best efforts of guitarist Simone Mularoni and … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Alessandro Delvecchio, Issa, James Martin, Lights Of Japan, melodic rock, Michele Guaitola, review, Simone Mulinari, symphonic rock, Tom Martin, Vega, Visions Of Atlantis | Leave a comment

Album review: TEN – Something Wicked This Way Comes

Posted on January 17, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date: 20.01.23] Here’s another Ten album title that will again appeal to the literati or the cinephiles among the band’s fans. It’s their sixteenth studio release since 1996. Ever present founder/ writer/ singer, Gary Hughes has gathered a … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, AOR. Pomp Rock, Dennis Ward, Gary Hughes, Gollum, Khymera, Liaison, Macbeth, melodic rock, MOR, Pink Cream 69, review, Rick Springfield, Something Wicked This Way Comes, TEN | Leave a comment

Album review: JD SIMO TRIO – Songs From The House Of Grease

Posted on January 14, 2023 by brianmc

Crows Feet Records [release date: 13.01.23] An album of cover versions is always a risk. But the concept is no stranger to JD Simo. This is the guitarist chosen by renowned Film Director, Baz Luhrman to play all the guitar … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Baz Luhrman, BB King, Blacberry Smoke, blues, Coltrane, Elvis Presley, fats Domino, Hendrix. Mongo Santamaria, Jack White, James Burton, jazz, Miles Davis, review, rock, Scotty Moore, Teddy Tedesco | Leave a comment

Album review: HEROES AND MONSTERS

Posted on January 10, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date: 20.01.23] Heroes and Monsters is Todd Kerns, Stef Burns and Will Hunt. Their names will be familiar to you. They are three gifted rock’n’roll craftsmen – highly motivated musicians whose CVs in themselves make great reading. A … Continue reading →