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Upcoming Gigs & Albums
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Latest Gig Reviews
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Gig review: ANTHRAX – Hammersmith Apollo, London, 23 November 2024
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Gig review: BLACK STONE CHERRY – Wembley Arena, London, 23 November 2024
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Gig review: SQUEEZE – Roundhouse, London, 22 November 2024
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Gig review: CARDINAL BLACK – Sub 89, Reading, 15 November 2024
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Gig review: SUZI QUATRO – London Palladium, 13 November 2024
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Gig review: HRH XVII, Great Yarmouth, 7-9 November 2024
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Author Archives: brianmc
Album review: GAMMA – What’s Gone Is Gone (The Complete Elektra Recordings))
Cherry Red [Release date: 30.06.23] CD1: GAMMA 1 (1979) CD2: GAMMA 2 (1980) CD3: GAMMA 3 (1982) The first 3 CDs from Ronnie Montrose’s band, Gamma, come nicely packaged this month, with each one including a couple of bonus tracks, … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues
Tagged Alan Fitzgerald, albums, boxset, Davey Pattison, Denny Carmassi, Hagar, hard rock, Heart, Night Ranger, review, Ronnie Montrose, Van Halen
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Album review : FRIJID PINK – The Deram Recordings 1970-1971 (2 CDs)
Cherry Red [Release date 30.06.23] A two CD package, comprising Detroit band, Frijid Pink’s first two albums. Sometimes the movies crossover into popular music. One quote that rings true and often crops up is William Goldman’s “nobody knows anything”. Frequently, … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues
Tagged Blues/Rock, Cream, Detroit, hard rock, Led Zeppelin, psychedelic, review, The Animals, William Goldman
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Album review : BIG COUNTRY – Driving To Damascus (Deluxe 4CD boxset)
Cherry Red [Release date: 30.6.23] The late great Stuart Adamson and his band, Big Country, made an indelible musical mark on UK popular culture before the man’s untimely demise. The history is well documented. The nineties was a hugely fertile … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Big Country, boxset, Driving To Damascus, Nashville, Ray Davies, review, Stuart Adamson, the nineties, USA
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Album review : ROBIN GEORGE – Ace In My Hand (2CD)
Cherry Red [Release date 23.06.23] What can you say about Robin George that hasn’t already been said? He seems to have been circling under rock’n’roll’s radar forever, ready to land, but never making that last critical step. Considering that the … Continue reading
Album review: V/A – We’re An American Band – US Hard Rock Scene 1967-73 (3 CD Boxset)
Cherry Red Records [release date: 23.06.23] This 4 hour, 3 CD, 62 track package ends with Grand Funk’s ‘We’re An American Band’ (1973). A game changing challenge to the music establishment of the time. A band of the people, a … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
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Album review: PRIDE OF LIONS – Dream Higher
Frontiers [Release date 16.06.23] Seventh studio album from Pride Of Lions. The “Survivor” name has been purged from all official publicity associated with Peterik for legal reasons, but anyone who is at all interested in the genre well knows Peterik’s … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged .38 Special, Jim Peterik, Lynyrd Skynyrd, melodic rock, review, Rocky, Survivor, Toby Hitchcock
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Album review : STARDUST – Kingdom Of Illusion
Frontiers [Release date: 16.06.23] Hungarian band, Stardust kick off their album with ‘War’ as the opening track. Given current events, there was always someone who’d climb on the bandwagon. Lets move on. There’s a welcome familiarity to Stardust’s melodic rock, … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, AOR, Cinderella, Eclipse, HEAT, Hungary, Kingdom Of Illusion, melodic rock, review, Stardust, WET
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Album review: GARDNER JAMES – No Strings
Frontiers [Release date 09.06.23] Gardner James is Justin James, who has worked with Staind and Tyketto. And Janet Gardner, who was of course vocalist with Vixen. Their history is well documented online. A pithy rock band riff can be just … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, blues rock, Janet Gardner, Justin James, LA, melodic rock, review, Staind, Tyketto, Vixen, Von Groove
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Album review : FALSE MEMORIES – Hybrid Ego System
Frontiers [Release date: 09.06.23] Guitarist, Francesco Savino founded False Memories in 2015, but it was only when he recruited vocalist, Rossella Moscatelli in 2018 that the band’s career gained some momentum. We reviewed the debut, The Last Night Of Fall … Continue reading
Album review: VIXEN Rev It Up (remaster)
Rock Candy Records [release date 18.05.23] Minnesota band Vixen made their major label breakthrough in 1987, after moving to Los Angeles. Two albums were recorded by the original Vixen lineup, Jan Keuhnemund, Janet Gardner, Share Ross and Roxy Petrucci. The … Continue reading
Album review: NEW ENGLAND – s/t (remaster)
Rock Candy Records [release date : 12.05.23] New England relied not on fate or fashion, but on good old fashioned songwriting and hard work, treading the boards, making their name. Led by the talented John Fannon, and owing a lot … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Beatles, Cheap Trick, ELO, Foreigner, Jimmy Waldo, John Fannon, Journey, Mike Stone, Queen, Raspberries, remaster, review, Sweet, Wizzard
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Album review : V/A Let’s Stomp (Merseybeat 1962-1969) 3 CD set
Cherry Red [Release date: 26.05.23] Heavily influenced by US Blues and Rock, Merseybeat was a sixties pop music phenomenon, originating in Liverpool, that swept all before it. First the UK, then Europe, ultimately invading the USA and the ROTW. Across … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALL POSTS
Tagged albums, Beatles, Billy J Kramer, Cilla Black, Doc Pomus, Gerry and The Pacemakers, Jackie DeShannon, Joe Meek, Lennon & McCartney, Let's Stomp (Merseybeat 1962-1969), Liverpool, Merseybeat, Mojos, Mort Shuman, pop, review, rock, Shel Talmy, Swinging Blue Jeans, The Fourmost, The Merseybeats, The Searchers, The Sixties, US Blues
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Album review: THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT – The Turn Of A Friendly Card (Blu-Ray Edition)
Esoteric Recordings/Cherry Red [Release date; 26.05.23] The Turn Of A Friendly Card (1980) was Alan Parsons’ fifth long player, and if you will, a concept album. Parsons and Eric Woolfson, one a producer/songwriter and the other a songwriter/studio engineer, enjoyed … Continue reading
Album review : HANOI ROCKS – The Days We Spent Underground (1981-84)
Esoteric Records/Cherry Red [Release date: 26.05.23] CD1 Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks (1981) CD2 Oriental Beat (1982) CD3 Destruction Blues (1982) CD4 Back To Mystery City (1983) CD5 All Those Wasted Years (1984) In the 4 short years from … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Andy McCoy, Bowie, boxset, Buzzcocks, Dale Griffin, glam rock, Gyp Casina, Hanoi Rocks, Kerrang!, LA Rock, Michael Monroe, Mott, Nasty Suicide, Overend Watts, punk, Sam Yaffa, Sounds, The Days We Spent Underground (1981-84), Undertones
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Album review : HOUSE OF SHAKIRA – XIT
Frontiers [Release date: 19.05.23] Those melodic rock fans who mainline the uncut version of the brand might not have time for artists who add their own distinctive musical seasoning. But they might just find that this shiny new album from … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Eagles, Frontiers, funk, Glenn Frey, House Of Shakira, melodic rock, New Wave, review, Valensia, Valentine, XIT
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Album review : MICHAEL THOMPSON BAND – The Love Goes On
Frontiers [Release date 12.05.23] Michael Thompson may be one of the most gifted, sought after rock guitarists in the business – his pedigree must run to several volumes – but the Michael Thompson Band, known as MTB, will forever be … Continue reading
Album review: SCREAMACHINE – Church Of The Scream
Frontiers [Release date 12.05.23] While not immediately lovable, Italy’s Metal monsters, Screamachine’s second album, Church Of The Scream inexorably works its way under your skin. And remains there. So, get your headphones on and say a prayer. They band hit … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews
Tagged Accept, album, Alice Cooper, Church Of The Scream, Edoardo Taddei, KROKUS, Motley Crue, Paulo Campitelli, review, Savatage, Screamachine, speed metal, Valerio Carrichio
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Album review : HEAVEN’S EDGE – Get It Right
Frontiers [Release date 12.05.23] Allmusic describes Heaven’s Edge as “an obscure Glam Metal band from the early nineties”. It’s a reasonable observation on the basis of one (self titled) album released in 1990 (just about clinging on to the glam … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, David Rath, Get It Right, glam rock, Heaven's Edge, Jared Gulino, Mark Evans, melodic rock, Motley Crue, MTV, Poison, Ratt, Reggie Wu, review, Steve Parry
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Album review : KING’S X – In The New Age, The Atlantic Recordings 1988-95 (6 CD boxset)
Cherry Red [Release date 28.04.23] Anyone who got truly tuned into King’s X will be familiar with words like “memorable”, “original”, “intoxicating”. These and other such qualifiers being liberally used in reviews of the band’s albums down through the years. … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Arnold Lanni, boxset, Brendan O'Brien, Cherry Red, Dug Pinnick, Frozen Ghost, In The New Age, Jerry Gaskill, King's X, Our Lady Peace, Progressive Rock, Revolver, Sam Taylor, Sheriff, The Atlantic Recordings 1988-95, The Beatles
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Album review : TRAPEZE – Midnight Flyers (The Complete Recordings Vol 2) 5 CD boxset
Cherry Red [Release date 28.04.23] CD1 – Hot Wire (1974) & Trapeze (1976) CD2 – Hold On (1979) CD3 – Live At The Boat Club, Nottingham (1975) CD4 – Live In Arlington, Texas, (1976) CD5 – Live In Fort Worth, … Continue reading
Album review: ELVENKING – Reader Of The Runes (part 2), Rapture
AFM Records [Release date 28.04.23] Heavy metal pirates, Elvenking, set sail again, boldly going where few bands dare to go. It’s no exaggeration to claim that this album is a unique heavy metal experience. Operatic, symphonic, folky, very lyrical, not … Continue reading
Album review : ONE DESIRE – Live With The Shadow Orchestra
Frontiers [release date 21.04.23] Rising Finnish band, One Desire return with a live album. What is it with rock/ metal bands and orchestras? The ambition to match up the two has been realised regularly ever since most of us can … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, classical, Deep Purple, live, Metallica, Nightwish, Procol Harum, review, Scorpions, Vassa orchestra Finland
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Album review: MECCA – Everlasting
Frontiers [release date 21.03.23] First Mecca album to be released in Europe since the Brexit Referendum. And the suitably titled opener, ‘And Now The Magic is Gone’ turns out to be the album’s big moment. Everlasting is not quite as … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Alias, AOR, Frontiers, Joe Vana, Marcie Free, melodic rock, review, Signal, Stefano Lionetti, Tommy Denander, Toto, Unruly Child, Vivien Lalu
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Album review : BIOHAZARD – Urban Discipline and No Holds Barred, Live In Europe (2 CD Deluxe Digipack)
Cherry Red [release date: 14.03.23] New York band Biohazard are credited with fusing hardcore metal, punk and hip hop. Five years after formation they signed with Roadrunner Records and released their groundbreaking album, Urban Discipline. Urban Discipline (1992) This influential … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews
Tagged 2 CD Digipack, album, Deluxe, Fishbone, hip hop, Kyuss, metal, New York Times, punk, review
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Album review: MAGNUS KARLSSON’S FREEFALL – Hunt The Flame
Frontiers [Release date: 14.04.23] Fourth Freefall album from rock’n’roll workaholic, Magnus Karlsson. For this, Freefall’s fourth album, Karlsson’s rounded up 11 singers, all of whom offer something different, and we get a few tracks that show every sign that he … Continue reading
