Category Archives: ALBUM REVIEWS

Album review: VIOLENT SOHO – Everything is A-OK

Posted on July 1, 2020 by Davoski

I Oh You Records [Release date: 03.04.20] Accomplished indie/alt rock from Brisbane. I assume the title is not meant to be ironic. The album surfaced in the Spring and the recording/packaging would have been created long before the Covid-19 pandemic. … Continue reading →

Album review: KANSAS – The Absence of Presence

Posted on June 30, 2020 by andynathan

Inside Out Records [Release Date 17.07.20] Kansas are an object lesson in regeneration and renewal for veteran bands. Having been around since 1974, many feared for their future when lead singer Steve Walsh retired in 2014, but continuing with a … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, AOR, Kansas, Phil Ehart, Progressive Rock, Richard Williams, Ronnie Platt, Tom Brislin, Zak Rizvi | Leave a comment

Album review: PAUL KANTNER, GRACE SLICK & DAVID FREIBERG – Baron Von Tollboth And The Chrome Nun

Posted on June 30, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Esoteric [Release date: 27.3.20] By the early ’70s, a plethora of side projects accompanied the gentle coming-to-earth of Jefferson Airplane. A banner for socially-conscious psych-spiked folk rock, the San Franciscan ensemble was unassembling, its members distracted, often by themselves, and … Continue reading →

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CHESTER KAMEN AND THE LOVES – Americanized

Posted on June 30, 2020 by jason

CHESTER KAMEN & THE LOVES - Americanized

Stoney Records [Release date 03.07.20] In another era Chester Kamen and the Loves might have shifted a ton of copies. They somehow evoke the days of New Wave/Punk, coming across like early Talking Heads, like the Buzzcocks, Eddie and the … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Americanized, Buzzcocks, Chester Kamen and the Loves, melodic, New Wave, Paul McArtney, punk pop, review, rock, Roger Waters | Leave a comment

Album review: BLUE OYSTER CULT – Iheart Radio Theater NYC 2012

Posted on June 27, 2020 by jason

Frontiers [Release date 08.05.20] An invited audience of 200 lucky fans saw Blue Oyster Cult live on stage at the IHeart Radio Theater in New York in 2012. The event noisily celebrated the band’s 40th year together, expertly recorded by … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Blue Oyster Cult, Buck Dharma, classic rock, Eric Bloom, Frontiers, hard rock, heavy metal, Iheart Radio Theater NYC 2012, live, review, rock | Leave a comment

Album review: EBBA BERGKVIST & THE FLAT TIRE BAND – Spilt Milk

Posted on June 27, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

[Release date 29.05.20] The debut album from Ebba Bergkvist & The Flat Tire Band – a Stockholm based, blues rock band featuring Ebba Bergkvist (vocals, guitar), Adam Randolph (drums), Erik Edgren (guitar)and Björn Korning (bass) – offers a bewildering smogasboard … Continue reading →

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Album review: THUNDERMOTHER – Heat Wave

Posted on June 27, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

AFM Records [Release date 31.07.20] Heat Wave – Thundermother’s fourth album – finds the no frills, all-female, Swedish, rock ‘n’ raunchers still in line-up transition. With all bar founder member/guitarist/songwriter Filippa Nässil quitting the band after touring their 2015 sophomore … Continue reading →

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Album review: LARKIN POE – Self Made Man

Posted on June 27, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Tricki-Woo Records [Release date 12.06.20] Atlanta-bred, Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist Lovell sisters Rebecca and Megan have never been less than prolific, passing through folk, and then pop before alighting on the pop meets American South roots based format they debuted on Peach … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, blues rock, Larkin Poe, review, roots, Self Made Man | Leave a comment

Album review: MAGENTA – Masters Of Illusion

Posted on June 27, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Tigermoth [Release date 10.07.20] It seems a while since Magenta’s last studio release – We Are Legend (2017), and much as I enjoyed it, I have to confess it isn’t an album I’ve felt overly inclined to revisit at regular … Continue reading →

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Album review: SHRED KELLY – Like A Rising Sun

Posted on June 27, 2020 by jason

Devil Duck Records [Release date 03.07.20] Where do these excellent bands keep appearing from? Shred Kelly are another one, a five piece alt folk rock band (and not a speed metal band as their name may suggest) hailing from Canada … Continue reading →

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Album review: SMACKBOUND – 20/20

Posted on June 24, 2020 by jason

Frontiers [Release date 12.06.20] Finland’s Smackbound paid their dues playing clubs as a covers’ band. Their debut album, “20/20” is a distillation of all the styles and stuff they performed on stage…with added songwriting. And the songwriting shines brightly. It … Continue reading →

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Album review: MANDOKI SOULMATES – Living In The Gap/Hungarian Pictures

Posted on June 24, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Red Rock Production/Cleopatra Records [Release date 06.20] 2-CD Reviewing in the millennium means that we miss out on previous decades’ lavish PR packages. If we are lucky these days we get a 320kbps download. The arrival of the re-promoted Mandoki … Continue reading →

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Album review: SOLITUDE WITHIN – Disappear

Posted on June 23, 2020 by jason

The European metal scene has never been healthier, as each week reveals more and more bands to fall in love with. Belgium Symphonic rockers Solitude Within can rightly stake their claim as part of the leading pack with their 2017 … Continue reading →

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Album review: PINNACLE POINT – Symphony Of Mind

Posted on June 21, 2020 by jason

Escape Music [Release date 17.07.20] Pinnacle Point released their debut album ‘Winds Of Change’ back in 2017 and the band features vocalist Jerome Mazza (Angelica, Outlaw Son, Steve Walsh) and guitarist Torben Enevoldsen (Fate, Acacia Avenue, Section A). They are … Continue reading →

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Quick plays: ELECTRIC MOB, CHESTER KAMEN AND THE LOVES, DOHNY JEP

Posted on June 20, 2020 by jason

ELECTRIC MOB Discharge Frontiers [Release date 12.06.20] Another band making their debut, this time Brazil’s Electric Mob who feature vocalist Renan Zonta. He appeared on The Voice performing such classic rock songs as Sweet Child ‘O Mine and Highway To … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Quick Plays | Tagged Americanized, blues rock, Calling All Astronauts, Chester Kamen, classic rock, Dohny Jep, Electric Mob, electronica, hard rock, Quick Plays, review, rock, synth rock | Leave a comment

Album review: ERIC CHURCH – The Outsiders

Posted on June 20, 2020 by jason

Snakefarm Records [Release date 12.06.20] Church’s edgy, non conformist image smacks of authenticity, and when you hear songs like ‘The Outsider’ and ‘Devil Devil’ you wonder how long his love affair with the genre’s conventions will last. These are songs … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, arena rock, country, country rock, Eric Church, hard rock, review, rock, The Outsiders | Leave a comment

Album review: RONAN FURLONG – Minerva’s Meddling

Posted on June 16, 2020 by petefeenstra

Pete Feenstra chatted to Ronan Furlong for his Feature show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, first broadcast 7 June 2020, and including tracks from the album ‘Minerva’s Meddling’. Thoroughbred Music [Release date 29.06.20] To say that Ronan Furlong’s ‘Minerva’s … Continue reading →

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Album review: NICK D’VIRGILIO – Invisible

Posted on June 13, 2020 by jason

English Electric Recordings [Release date 22.05.20] NDV is Nick D’Virgilio, the current drummer in Big Big Train, having also played in Spock’s Beard, Genesis and been musical director for Cirque de Soliel. This is the second solo album from Nick D’Virgilio … Continue reading →

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Album review: JOSE RAMIREZ – Here I Come

Posted on June 13, 2020 by petefeenstra

Self release [Release date 12.06.20] American based Costa Rica’s blues artist José Ramirez calls himself an interpreter of soulful blues. The aptly titled ’Here I Come’ can equally be seen as a statement of intent and announces his own considerable … Continue reading →

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Album review: INTELLIGENT MUSIC PROJECT – Sorcery Inside/Life Motion

Posted on June 12, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

INTELLIGENT MUSIC PROJECT V - Life Motion

Intelligent Music [Release date 12.02.20, 24.12.18*] There must be something in the Bulgarian water. One time Uriah Heep vocalist John Lawton has also used that country’s musicians in recent years and actually appears on the first two ‘Intelligent’ releases. This … Continue reading →

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Album review: BLUE OYSTER CULT – Curse Of The Hidden Mirror

Posted on June 12, 2020 by jason

Frontiers Records [Release date 12.06.20] Back in the late nineties, their creativity sandbanked, Blue Oyster Cult spent 3 solid years on the road. Those years eventually sparked songwriting lightning, and assisted once more by Sci-fi/cyberpunk writer, John Shirley, the band … Continue reading →

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Album review: JOHNNY HATES JAZZ – Wide Awake

Posted on June 11, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

[Release date 14.08.20] Johnny Hates Jazz’s return in 2013 was well received, with a comeback album ‘Magnetized’ gathering airplay and even a short tour in 2016 (when we saw them in downtown Darwen Library Theatre) and a handful of festival … Continue reading →

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Album review: STRAWBS – Burning For You (Remastered & Expanded Edition)

Posted on June 11, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Esoteric [Release date: 26.6.20] In common with most rock survivors, David Cousins’ Strawbs have worked a variety of music genres over the past 50 years, segueing early folk stirrings into more conventional song structures via a progressive heyday. The last … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues | Tagged album, Burning For You, classic rock, Dave Cousins, folk, pop, progressive, reissue, remastered, review, Strawbs | Leave a comment

Album review: THE WALK-A-BOUT – 20/20

Posted on June 10, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Shred The Evidence Records [Release date 05.06.20] New York Long Islanders (East End) The Walk-A-Bout developed around the songwriting skills of Australian Darren ‘Sully’ Sullivan (vocals) and Kevin Anderson (guitars) and their debut mini-album ‘Things Are Looking Up’ came out … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged 20/20, album, classic rock, review, The Walk-A-Bout | Leave a comment

Album review: BUZZCOCKS – Sell You Everything 1991-2014

Posted on June 8, 2020 by jason

Cherry Red [Release date 29.05.20] The recent release of new single ‘Gotta Get Better’ marked the beginning of “Phase 3” of Buzzcocks, now solely fronted by Steve Diggle following the death of Pete Shelley in December 2018. With most “Phase … Continue reading →