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Upcoming Gigs & Albums
Latest Album Reviews
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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Featured Album Reviews
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Album review: AMERICAN TEARS – Hard Core
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Album review : DODSON AND FOGG – In A Strange Slumber
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Album review: DON AIREY – Keyed Up
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Album review: BIG BIG TRAIN – Folklore
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Book review: On Track…PEARL JAM – every album, every song (Ben L Connor)
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Book review: On track … BOB DYLAN, HAWKWIND, YES, LOU REED, THE JAM (Sonicbond Publishing)
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Features
Single & EP Reviews
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Book Reviews
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Features
Category Archives: ALBUM REVIEWS
Album review: VANDEN PLAS – The Ghost Experiment, Illumination
Frontiers [Release date 04.12.20] Vanden Plas are something of an institution in their native Germany, and indeed increasingly in the wider world. The Ghost Experiment, Illumination is their 12th studio album. So many Progressive Rock bands succumb to Must Have … Continue reading
News: Albums of the Month (October 2020 – December 2020)
FISH – Weltschmerz (Fish Music) …this is a rich, accessible, profound album invested with heaps of integrity, passion and insight. ‘Weltschmerz’ stands as the best album of Fish’s solo career, and easily amongst the best of the year by anyone… … Continue reading
Posted in Albums of the Month, ALL POSTS, NEWS
Tagged AC/DC, albums, art rock, Blue Oyster Cult, blues rock, December 2020, Doris Brendel, Fish, hard rock, L.A. Guns, Muddy Manninen, November 2020, October 2020, Progressive Rock, review
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Album review: ART OF ILLUSION – X Marks The Spot
AOR Heaven [Release date 29.01.21] This is the debut album by Art Of Illusion, a duo consisting of composer and producer Anders Rydholm (Grand Illusion) and singer Lars Säfsund (Work Of Art) – see what they did there with the … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Anders Rydholm, AOR, Art Of Ilusion, Grand Illusion, Lars Safsund, melodic rock, pomp rock, review, Work Of Art, X Marks The Spot
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Album review: DAN REED – Liftoff
Zero One Entertainment [Release date 04.12.20] At the end of a horrific year for humanity, and also for music, Dan Reed’s latest solo album arrives to provide the perfect antidote. Dan’s solo works since the “comeback” – ‘Coming Up For … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, AOR, Dan Reed, Dan Reed Network, Liftoff, melodic rock, review, singer, songwriter
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Album review: PHENOMENA – Still The Night
Cherry Red [Release date 27.11.20] Tom and Mel Galley put Phenomena together in 1984. Glenn Hughes, Don Airey, Cozy Powell, Neil Murray had been enlisted…Whitesnake versus Deep Purple, a metalised marriage made in hard rock heaven. The following year they … Continue reading
Album review: STEVE BALSAMO – The Millennium Tapes
Facebook [Release date 04.12.20] Steve Balsamo has unearthed these songs during lockdown that were recorded back at the start of the millennium as the album title suggests. Balsamo worked with Micky Lister on these songs. Lister was signed back in … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, mellow, melodic, Micky Lister, pop, review, singer songwriter, Steve Balsamo, the Millennium Tapes
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Album review: MAGNUM – Dance Of The Black Tattoo
David Randall chatted to Tony Clarkin for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio with tracks from the forthcoming compilation. First broadcast 20 December 2020. SPV/Steamhammer [Release date 08.01.21] What do inveterate songwriters do in Lockdown when they’ve no band to steer … Continue reading
Album review – VOLBEAT – Rewind, Replay, Rebound (Live in Deutschland)
Republic Records [Release date 27.11.20] Live music has been absent in all our lives for far too long throughout 2020 so the chance to relive the German leg of Volbeat’s 2019 tour is an enticing package to anyone starved of gigs. The … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged 2019, album, CD, Denmark, Hamburg, live, Lola Montez, Michael Pulson, Rebound (Live In Deutschland), Replay, review, Rewind, Rob Caggiano, Stuttgart, VOLBEAT
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Album review: RUNRIG – One Legend – Two concerts (Live At Rockpalast 1996 & 2001)
MiG Records [Release date 30.10.20] A year or so ago I went along to the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow for the world premiere of the Final Dance DVD which was recorded at the band’s final show in Stirling. It … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Alba, album, Bruce Guthro, CD, Christmas, Cologne, Donny Munro, Dusseldorf, DVD, live, Malcolm Jones, Mara, MiG Records, Pete Wishart, review, Runrig, Skye, Stamping Ground, The Last Dance
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Album review: HEAVY PETTIN – Best Of
Burnt Out Wreckords/Cherry Red Records (Release date 27/11/20) Heavy Pettin never quite made it to the inside of the glittering shop window of fame. Along with Scotland’s other great white melodic rock hopes, Strangeways, they had the talent, the ability, … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, AOR, best of, Cherry Red Records, hard rock, Heavy Pettin', melodic hard rock, review
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Album review: PICTUREHOUSE – 1999 Live in Dublin
Website [Release date 27.11.20] Ahhh live music we miss you so and even someone like me who isn’t normally a big fan of live albums has been playing a lot of live tracks this year. So when of the many … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged 1999 Live in Dublin, album, David Browne, indie pop, indie rock, melodic, PictureHouse, pop, pop rock, power pop, review
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Album review: GRYPHON – Get Out Of My Father’s Car!
Talking Elephant/Gryphon [Release date 20.11.20] Gryphon will always occupy a small but significant place in my musical heritage. Coinciding with my interest in (and performance of) early music, in the early 1970s they became a cross-genre novelty act. And with … Continue reading
Album review: MAJESTICA – A Christmas Carol
Nuclear Blast [Release date 04.12.20] ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens is one of my all-time favourite books and has been adapted for TV and film many times. Now we have Swedish symphonic metal band Majestica giving their take on … Continue reading
Album review: JEFF SCOTT SOTO – Wide Awake (In My Dreamland)
Frontiers Records [Release Date 6.11.20] After going in a more modern metal direction with his Soto project and fronting prog rock supergroup Sons of Apollo, the latest album from the ever prolific Jeff Scott Soto sees him return to the … Continue reading
Quick plays: ANNA ELIZABETH LAUBE, PEACH & QUIET
ANNA ELIZABETH LAUBE Annamania (Ahh…Pockets! Records) [Release date 22.01.21] You’ll find reviews of Americana singer songwriter Anna Laube’s last two releases – ‘Anna Laube’ (2015) and ‘Tree’ (2016) buried in the Get Ready to ROCK! archives. Sufficient to say the … Continue reading
Album review: REB BEACH – A View From The Inside
Frontiers Records [Release date 12.11.20] Reb Beach’s (Winger/Whitesnake) choice of musicians with whose help he recorded “A View From The Inside” is revealing: David Throckmorton, primarily known as a jazz drummer, especially for Maynard Ferguson; bassman Philip Bynoe worked extensively … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged A View From The Inside, album, Frontiers, guitarist, instrumental, melodic, Reb Beach, review, rock
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Album review: THE QUESTIONNAIRES – Atlantic Ridge
Boom Chang Records [Release date 15.01.21] It seems a bit disingenuous in the PR blurb to refer to Jane Wade and Steve Hall, aka The Questionnaires, as having been ‘around a bit’. For most, me included, their formative bands – … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged acoustic, album, Atlantic Ridge, pop rock, review, singer, songwriter, The Questionnaires
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Album review: RICH YOUNG – Nonsense of the Heart
North Star Music [04.09.20] We often miss the big picture whilst staring directly at one aspect. In that way we may see a particularly bright colour whilst failing to notice the multitude of hues that also make up the rest … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Amerciana, blues, folk, Nonsense of the Heart, review, Rich Young, rock, singer songwriter
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Album review: ECLIPSE – Viva La Victouria (CD/DVD)
Frontiers Records [Release Date 6.11.20] This package of goodies from Eclipse is very timely, as their last album ‘Paradigm’ rather got swamped in the rush of autumn 2019 releases, then after gearing up for a huge tour, it never reached … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, DVD REVIEWS
Tagged album, DVD, Eclipse, Eric Martensson, live album, Magnus Hendriksson, melodic rock, review
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Album review: LORDS OF BLACK – Alchemy Of Souls Part 1
Frontiers [Release date 12.11.20] Album number 4 from Spanish metallers, Lords Of Black, founded by virtuoso Spanish guitarist and songwriter, Antonio Hernandez. There’s been the usual pack shuffling as members come and go over the years since formation in 2014. … Continue reading
Album review: ZEBRAS DON’T SMOKE – Don’t Mention The Swedes (ABBA Tribute)
Singsong Music [Release date 20.11.20] www.singsongmusic.com ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus said what he thought of streaming live music during Lockdown. He wasn’t impressed and thought kitchen gigs will never be a substitute. I wonder what he would have thought of the … Continue reading
Album review: TREMENDOUS – Relentless
Facebook [Release date 20.11.20] TREMENDOUS (stand down grammar peeps as they deliberately have their name in capitals) hail from Birmingham, UK and consist of Mark Dudzinski (guitar, vocals), Ryan Jee (bass) and Dave Lee (drums). The TREMENDOUS name is taken … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Cheap Trick, debut, glam rock, melodic, Mott the Hoople, pop rock, Relentless, review, rock, rock 'n' roll, TREMENDOUS
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Album review: ANGELICA – All I Am
Frontiers [Release date 12.11.20] Murder of My Sweet vocalist, Angelica Rylin goes solo again after seven years. “All I Am”, written and produced by the multi talented Daniel Flores, is only Rylin’s second solo outing since 2013. It has opened … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, All I Am, ANGELICA, country, Daniel Flores, Frontiers, melodic, MURDER OF MY SWEET, pop, pop rock, review
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Album review: MARK KELLY – Marathon
earMUSIC [Release date 27.11.20] Thirty years in the making… well, ok, thirty years in the planning, Marillion’s much sought after keyboard player, Mark Kelly at last releases his “solo” album, the appropriately titled “Marathon”. He’s enlisted the help of a … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, EarMusic, keyboards, Marathon, Marillion, Mark Kelly, melodic, prog rock, progressive, review, rock
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Album review: LOUISE STEEL – Sideshow
Website [Release date 20.11.20] Here at GRTR! Towers we enjoyed Louise Steel’s 2017 debut ‘Heartstorm’ very much. Louise Steel’s second album has been two years in the making that has included personal tragedy and making this album has proved cathartic … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Louise Steel, melodic, pop, review, rock, Sideshow, singer songwriter
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