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Upcoming Gigs & Albums
Latest Album Reviews
Latest Gig Reviews
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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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Gig review: WHEN RIVERS MEET, CHANTEL MCGREGOR, XANDER AND THE PEACE PIRATES – Dingwalls, London, 7 November 2024
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Gig review: DEEP PURPLE – 02 Arena, London, 6 November 2024
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Featured Album Reviews
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Album review: MARY COUGHLAN – Life Stories
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Album Review: THE PINEAPPLE THIEF – It Leads To This
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Album review: PJ FARLEY – Boutique Sound Frames
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Album review: THE INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS – Toward The Fray
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Album review: EUROPE – Live At Sweden Rock – 30th Anniversary Show
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Album review: COLLATERAL – Collateral
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Features
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Category Archives: ALBUM REVIEWS
Album review: BLACK SABBATH – Heaven And Hell/Mob Rules (2022 reissues)
BMG [Release date 25.11.22] When we last reviewed these albums (in 2010) they were also reissues with bonus tracks. And in May that year Ronnie James Dio lost his battle with stomach cancer ahead of a major headlining gig lined … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues
Tagged album, Bill Ward, Black Sabbath, Geezer Butler, Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules, reissue, review, Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi
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Album review: RISING STEEL – Beyond The Gates Of Hell
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
Album review: AUSTIN GOLD – Those City Lights
TMR Rock Records [Release date 04.11.22] It’s an interesting fact that many bands start out as blues rockers and then morph into something more classic rock/mainstream. King King, Laurence Jones and even Joanne Shaw Taylor come to mind. This is … Continue reading
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Album review: VOODOO RAMBLE – Can’t Write A Pop Song (When You’ve Got The Blues)
Thoroughbred Music [Release date 10.22] In our reflections on two decades of rock it is a truism that out there are some wonderful bands and musicians who, for whatever reason, never hit critical mass. This is usually down to a … Continue reading
Album review: MIKE VASS – Decemberwell Decade
Bandcamp [Release date 18.02.22] Mike Vass is always an artist coming up with new musical ideas that are both intriguing and enjoyable. On ‘Decemberwell Decade’ he celebrates his 2011 classic winter album with a brand new incarnation. The original album … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Decemberwell Decade, folk, instrumental, Mike Vass, review, singer songwriter
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Album review: MANTRIC MOMENTUM – Trial by Fire
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
Album review: JANICE BURNS & JON DORAN – No More Green Hills
Bandcamp [Release date 28.10.22] Janice Burns & Jon Doran are an Anglo-Scottish duo who formed in 2017, after discovering a shared love of traditional music. As the duo explain the album’s theme is one of “songs of love, loss, and … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, debut, folk, JANICE BURNS & JON DORAN, No More Green Hills, review, traditional
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Album review: JOE LYNN TURNER – Belly Of The Beast
Mascot Label Group [Release date 28.10.22] The album’s title gives a clue to Joe Lynn Tyner going full on metal, courtesy of his new found musical companion producer/songwriter Peter Tägtgren (Hypocrisy, Pain, Lindemann). He has also recently revealed he has … Continue reading
Album review: ALTER BRIDGE – Pawns & Kings
Napalm (Release date: 14.10.22) In an unpredictable world of turbulence and chaos, it is reassuring to know that Alter Bridge bring regular and dependable quality. As Autumn rolls around every third year, a new studio album from this heavy mob … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, album review, ALTER BRIDGE, hard rock, Mark Tremonti, metal, Myles Kennedy, Pawns and Kings, review, rock
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Album review: FEMME FATALE – Femme Fatale (2022 remaster)
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
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Album review: IAN HUNTER – Overnight Angels
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
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Tagged Chicken Shack, Earl Slick, Foreigner, Mott, review, rock, Roy Thomas Baker
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Album review: VINNIE MOORE – Double Exposure
David Randall chatted to Vinnie Moore about his career with tracks from his solo albums. First broadcast on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio on 4 December 2022. Mind’s Eye Music [Release date 08.11.22] We were mightily impressed with Vinnie Moore’s … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, INTERVIEWS, Radio interview
Tagged album, blues rock, classic rock, Double Exposure, guitar, hard rock, instrumental, review, UFO, Vinnie Moore
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Album review: BANG TANGO – Psycho Cafe (2022 Remaster)
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
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Album review: DANGER DANGER – Screw It (2022 Remaster)
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
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Album review: JULIE DRISCOLL – 1969 (remaster)
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
Album review: FOXTON & HASTINGS – The Butterfly Effect
Absolute [Release date 28.10.22] Few bands have continued the legacy of a truly legendary act than From The Jam, their original line-up two thirds of the seminal outfit. Whilst never being just purely a tribute act, The Jam bass player … Continue reading
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Tagged album, Bruce Foxton, Butterfly Effect, Foxton & Hastings, From The Jam, melodic, mod, pop, review, rock, Russell Hastings, The Jam
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Album review: CACTUS – Evil Is Going On (The Atco Albums 1970-72, 8 CDs)
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
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Album review: RICHARD MARX – Songwriter
Shelter Records (Release date 30.09.22) Only a year after releasing his last album. ‘Limitless’, Richard Marx is back with perhaps his most ambitious work yet. The very title suggests that despite a solo career which made him one of the … Continue reading
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Tagged album, melodic rock, review, Richard Marx, singer songwriter, songwriter
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Quick plays: MOON LETTERS, SILVER NIGHTMARES, MITCHELL’S KISS OF THE GYPSY
MOON LETTERS Thank You From The Future Website Moon Letters hail from Seattle having formed in 2016 and this is their second album. Their line-up consists of guitarist Dave Webb, vocalist and flautist Michael Trew, drummer Kelly Mynes, bassist Mike … Continue reading
Album review: THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA – Tubular Bells 50th Anniversary Celebration
Cleopatra Records [Release date 28.10.22] The question has to be asked. Do we really need another take on the classic ‘Tubular Bells’? It has to be one of the most re-worked pieces not least by Mike Oldfield himself. Well, it … Continue reading
Album review: 25 YARD SCREAMER – Nemesis
White Knight Records [Release date 07.10.22] Welsh trio 25 Yard Screamer, now it seems a duo, captured our attention in 2007 with their magnum opus ‘Cassandra”. That year they appeared on our Rising Stars stage at Cambridge Rock. Since that … Continue reading
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Tagged 25 Yard Screamer, album, Nemesis, prog, Progressive Rock, review
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Album review: CLIMB ABOARD MY ROUNDABOUT (British Toytown Sounds, 1967-1974)
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
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Album review: TURKISH DELIGHT – Volume 1
Escape Music [Release date 21.10.22] Turkish Delight celebrates the joy that Escape Music co-owner Khalil Turk has for the kind of music he loves so much, namely AOR and melodic rock. This selection was personally chosen by Khalil, with material … Continue reading
Album review: STRYPER – The Final Battle
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
Album review: TRAGIK – Cry For Love
Rock Company Records [Release date 14.10.22] Album number eleven I believe by Tragik who feature Phil Vincent (vocals, bass, keys), Dirk Phillips (drums), and Damian D’Ercole (guitars). Once again Jacob Hansen has mastered the album. ‘Thrill Of It All’ and … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Cry For Love, Damian D'Ercole, hard rock, melodic rock, Phil Vincent, review, Tragik
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