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Album review: ROBERT REED – Sanctuary IV
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Album review: LAURENCE JONES – On My Own
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Album review : FREDDIE AND THE DREAMERS – You Were Made For Me, The Complete Recordings, 1963-70
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Album review: PHIL THORNALLEY – Stacked
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Album review: AMY HOPWOOD – Gone to Flowers
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Album review: SEAN TAYLOR – First Light
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Author Archives: brianmc
Album review : RONNIE ROMERO – Backbone
Frontiers Music [Release date 24.10.25] Over the last ten years, stints with pre-eminent rock artists like Schenker and Vandenberg, plus spells with Rainbow and Sunstorm have tended to overshadow Ronnie Romero’s solo stuff. When he released Raised on Radio (2022) … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Backbone, Frontiers Music, Jose Rubio, Rainbow, review, Ronnie Romero, Schenker, Sunstorm, Vandenberg
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Album review : DEFECTO – Echoes Of Isolation
Frontiers Music [Release date 31.10.25] Strongly encouraged by famed producer, Flemming (Rainbow/ Metallica/ Pretty Maids/ Blind Guardian) Rasmussen, Danish singer/ guitarist/ songwriter, Nicklas Sonne put Defecto together in 2011. Echoes of Isolation is their fourth studio album, and the band … Continue reading
Album review : SHIRAZ LANE – In Vertigo
Frontiers Music [Release date 24.10.25] Finnish rock band Shiraz Lane have been a going concern for ten years now. In Vertigo is their 6th album, with a smattering of EPs released in between. It’s described by the label as “an … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Alexander Kronlund, HEAT, In Vertigo, Max Martin, Per Aldaheim, Reckless Love, review, Santa Cruz, Shiraz Lane
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Album review : LEAH MARTIN-BROWN – Love & Other Crimes
Frontiers Music [Release date 24.10.25] Australian born, but now resident in Europe via the USA, amazingly gifted singer Leah Martin-Brown releases her debut album on Frontiers Music this month. She’s got a lot going for her before we hear a … Continue reading
Album review : WEST, BRUCE & LAING – Out In The Fields – The albums 1972-74
Esoteric [Release date : 31.10.25] Three searing samples of the red hot rock’n’roll that emanated from supergroup, West, Bruce & Laing. No surprise really. Their genesis lies in the live improvisations of Jack Bruce’s previous band, Cream, and the hard … Continue reading
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Tagged Corky Laing, Cream, Jack Bruce, Leslie West, Mountain, Out In The Fields, review, seventies, West Bruce & Laing
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Album review : WRATHCHILD AMERICA – Climbing the Walls / 3-D (2 CD remasters w/bonus tracks)
Cherry Red [Release date : 24.10.25] Back in 1984, founding member, vocalist and bass man, Brad Divens gave up a career in the straight world to “make it” with his Thrash Metal band, Wrathchild America. It was a high risk … Continue reading
Album review : ATOMIC ROOSTER – Circle The Sun
Cherry Red/Esoteric [Release date 10.10.25] 40 years between albums is pushing it a bit. But for Atomic Rooster, that’s where we are. The band’s last album, Headline News, was their seventh, released in 1983. Two generations ago, give or take. … Continue reading
Singles review : TREAT – ’1985′ and ‘Adam and Evil’
Frontiers Music [Release date : 26.09.25] Arena Rock experts and more, Treat recently released ‘Adam and Evil’ and ‘1985’ as teaser trailers for their forthcoming long player, The Wild Card, due out in November. The band’s high-sheen recording craft is … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews
Tagged arena rock, Frontiers, melodic rock, review, singles, Treat, Wild Card
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Album review : RISEN ATLANTIS feat: FRANK BECK – Power To The Past
Frontiers Music [Release Date : 26.09.25] Singer, Frank Beck, touring sideman with Kai Hansen’s Gamma Ray for many years, now gets his solo opportunity. Risen Atlantis is the brainchild of Alessandro Del Vecchio, writer, producer, musician, commonly associated with Frontiers … Continue reading
Album review : MIKE TRAMP – The Songs Of White Lion Vol III
Frontiers Music [Release date : 19.09.25] Few musical artists get the chance to rerecord their old material. Still fewer improve upon the originals. Mike Tramp continues to claim – clearly very sincerely – that he is surprised to have got … Continue reading
Album review : PRIDE & JOY ANTHOLOGY – 10 Years Of Pride & Joy
Pride&Joy [Release date : 19.09.25] The Pride & Joy label is celebrating ten years active in the world of rock and metal. Founder and CEO Birgitt Schwanke has created a bijou music business that just grows and grows. The 10 … Continue reading
Album review : BEBOP DELUXE – The Albums 1976-78 (3 CD set)
Esoteric Music [Release date : 26.09.25] Nowadays, founder, guitarist, writer and driving force behind the band Be Bop Deluxe, Bill Nelson, is not for looking in the rear view mirror, so it’s good that Cherry Red offshoot, Esoteric is doing … Continue reading
Album review : THE BANGLES : Watching The Sky (4 CD Boxset)
Cherry Red [Release date : 26.09.25] The title of this Bangles’ boxset, Watching The Sky, is taken from their third (and at the time, assumed to be their last) album, titled Everything, released in 1988. CD1 : All Over The … Continue reading
Album review : FANNY – Rock’n'Roll Survivors (Remastered and Expanded 2 CD Edition)
Cherry Red [Release date 19.09.25] We reviewed Fanny’s first 4 studio albums (as a boxset) last year. Their fifth and last album, released in 1974, was called Rock’n’Roll Survivors. Aptly named. This new, 2 CD version has been expanded and … Continue reading
Album review : CARL BALDASSARRE – Deep Grooves
CB Music [Release date : 12.09.25] You have to admire Carl Baldassarre’s honesty for treating this self produced album as an academic exercise rather than a labour of love, although love of music of whatever stripe is clearly his motivation. … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Carl Baldassarre, funk, Jacob Dupre, Kool and the Gang, Nick D’Virgilio, review, Sly Stone, soul, Stevie Wonder
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Album review : THE SWITCH – No Way Out
Frontiers [Release date 12.08.25] It’s in some way inspiring to hear a band embracing the past wholeheartedly. Pretty well everywhere you scratch the paint on No Way Out, you’ll find the 1980s underneath. The Switch was formed by identical twin … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Bobby John, Cruzh, Denis Butabi Borg, James Martin, melodic rock, Nitrate, review, The Switch, Tom Martin, Vega
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Album review : JOE MEEK – A Curious Mind (3 CD Boxset)
Cherry Red [Release date: 29.08.25] Anyone in anyway familiar with the story of legendary British Music producer, Joe Meek, will know that he cut his electronics’ teeth in the 1950s, operating and maintaining the complexities of the RAF’s radar equipment. … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged A Curious Mind, Edgar Varese, Heinz, Joe Meek, John Leyton, Lord Sutch, Mike Berry, review, Space, Telstar, Tornadoes
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Album review : THE LIGHTHOUSE FAMILY – Ocean Drive 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (4 CD boxset)
Cherry Red [Release date : 29.08.25] A more than interesting remaster from pop soul duo, the Lighthouse Family. This 4 CD set comprises their debut album, the almost 2 million selling Ocean Drive, plus 3 CDs of remixes. More on … Continue reading
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Tagged California, Lifted, Lighthouse Family, Newcastle, Ocean Drive, Paul Tucker, Pop soul, review, Tunde Baiyewu
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Album review : UNEN – Forever Winter
Frontiers Music [Release date : 29.08.25] Broadly speaking, in English, the Finnish word “Unen” means “We stand united”. No surprise really. Arriving at a definitive line-up has taken time, and you could almost hear a joint sigh of relief from … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Evanescence, Finnish, Frontiers Music, melodic metal, review, Stina Girs, symphonic rock, Unen
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Album review : RISING STEEL – Legion Of The Grave
Frontiers Music [Release date : 29.08.25] Third full studio album on the Frontiers’ label from French metallers, Rising Steel, who remain a solid line up. Steel Zard – drums, Tony Steel – guitar, Steff Leadmaster – lead guitar , Stone … Continue reading
Album review : SWEET FREEDOM – Blind Leading The Blind
Frontiers [Release date : 29.08.25] Swedish band Sweet Freedom is the real deal. Head and shoulders above most others walking the Classic Rock road nowadays (even if occasionally going off tangentially). The band: founder member Jorgen Schelander’s background is in … Continue reading
Album review – WHEN WILL THEY EVER LEARN : Story Of US Folk Music 1963-69
Cherry Red [Release date 29.08.25] The transition of folk music into chart-aimed rock and pop accelerated through the sixties, especially in the USA. This 4 CD set is cleverly constructed to show that evolution, disc by disc. So, on Disc … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged boxset, Dylan, folk music, folk rock, Joan Baez, Judy Henske, review, Simon and Garfunkel, sixties, The Byrds, USA
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Album review : CROWNE – Wonderland
Frontiers [Release date 22.08.25] Wonderland is Crowne’s third album. Here’s what we said about the band’s second album, Operation Phoenix (2023): “This is grab you by the lapels, get right in your face melodic rock. Macho, slick, streamlined.” This one … Continue reading
Album review : ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL: The UK Pop Explosion 1967-69
Cherry Red [Release date 22.08.25] All Things Bright And Beautiful comprises of 82 tracks and 3 CDs. Several of the songs in the boxset were used to launch the first hour of the BBC’s pop music flagship, Radio One, in … Continue reading
Album review : UFO – Misdemeanour Live At The Oxford Apollo 1985 (CD+DVD)
Cherry Red [Release date : 22.08.25] The early eighties were a turbulent time for UFO. Judging by the band’s poorly received Making Contact album in 1982, it looked like they were a spent force. Members left, most notably, Pete Way … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged AOR, CD and DVD, eighties, hard rock, Misdemeanour Live, Oxford Apollo, Phil Mogg, review, Tommy McLendon
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