Category Archives: FEATURES

A selection of interviews and longer articles including updated archive material

Feature: Albums that time forgot … BLACKTHORNE – Afterlife

Posted on August 12, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
BLACKTHORNE - Afterlife

Music For Nations (1993) Graham Bonnet’s career started in the late 1960s with a conventional pop approach and early solo albums.  It was only in 1979 when he came to Ritchie Blackmore’s attention as a potential frontman of Rainbow (replacing … Continue reading →

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Feature: Gigs of the Millennium – ROCK FEST 2003, Wisconsin, USA

Posted on July 30, 2020 by andynathan
Gigs of the Millennium- ROCK FEST 2003, Wisconsin, USA

Andy Nathan has caused much teeth-gnashing and fist-clenching amongst the GRTR! team with his enviable sorties to the States sometimes taking in a couple of festivals in one visit.  These include Summerfest and Moondance Jam.  Here he recounts a particularly … Continue reading →

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Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to STEVE HACKETT

Posted on June 29, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
Steve Hackett Liverpool Philharmonic Hall 7th May 2017 photo Steve Goudie 27

Alan Jones and David Randall chart the rise and revival of progmeister par excellence, Steve Hackett When we reviewed the Steve Hackett gig in October 2013 following the release of the second Genesis Revisited album, Pete Whalley summed things up.  … Continue reading →

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Feature: Albums that time forgot – RANSOM – Trouble In Paradise

Posted on June 12, 2020 by andynathan
Ransom-Trouble in Paradise

MTM (1997) As alternative sounds ruled the roost in the nineties, musical styles that had ruled the previous decade were out of fashion and none more so than the melodic rock/AOR scene which was driven completely underground. In pre-Facebook, YouTube … Continue reading →

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Feature: Gigs of the Millennium – JOE BONAMASSA

Posted on June 12, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
Joe Bonamassa - The Cavern, Liverpool, 27 June 2016

In June 2016 Joe Bonamassa trod the boards at the venue where – nearly over 50 years earlier – the Fab Four had fired their opening salvo.  This historic gig has become one of life’s highlights for GRTR! reviewer Alan … Continue reading →

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Feature: Gigs of the Millennium – Steve Tilston, Argent, Camel, The Tubes

Posted on June 9, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
Fee Waybill - The Tubes

David Randall surveys a near-20 year period, reflecting on what constitutes a great gig… What makes a good gig?  It can often be the events surrounding it – a pre-gig meal or drink for example -  your fellow gig-goer(s), the … Continue reading →

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Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to ROY BUCHANAN

Posted on May 23, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
Roy Buchanan - Alligator Records pubilicity photo, 1985

David Randall reflects on a patchy early recording career, with Telecaster Titan Roy Buchanan only realising his full potential three years before his untimely death… The story of Roy Buchanan is one of a great unsung hero, a feeling of … Continue reading →

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Feature: Albums that time forgot – NOTHING BY CHANCE – Ghosts Of Love

Posted on May 22, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
NOTHING BY CHANCE - Ghosts Of Love

Dover/Chrysalis/Starward [1991] Bob Harris has a lot to answer for.  I am sure – like many other musical insomniacs – he influenced our choice of album purchase in the early 1990s.  As mentioned in despatches elsewhere, his overnight show for … Continue reading →

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Feature: Albums that time forgot – MAE McKENNA – Mirage And Reality

Posted on May 22, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
MAE McKENNA - Mirage And Reality

Kadence [1991] In 1993  “old school” DJs at the BBC, such as Bob Harris and Alan Freeman, would be culled as part of a new regime at Radio 1 but that didn’t stop a “golden” period for a few years … Continue reading →

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Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to MOLLY HATCHET

Posted on May 21, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
Molly Hatchet in 1978

Joe Geesin on southern rockers Molly Hatchet, named after a prostitute who allegedly mutilated and decapitated her clients.  Things got even more horrendous as the band entered the 1990s … Molly Hatchet is a Southern Rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, … Continue reading →

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Feature: What FREEDOM CALL mean to me

Posted on May 21, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
Freedom Call

Joe Geesin recounts an enduring 20 year passion, cultivated after a few drinks and an introduction to the German metallers Freedom Call… After a decade of writing features and sleevenotes, (I first starting writing reviews for Record Collector magazine in … Continue reading →

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Feature: Music Industry v Covid 19

Posted on May 11, 2020 by jason
Whitesnake - DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL, Donington Park, Leicestershire, 14-15 June 2019

Many reading this will be furloughed writes Brian McGowan… over 6 million UK jobs have been so far. Many will not. Maybe you’re working from home. Maybe you’re less fortunate. You’ll know that the music industry is an integral part … Continue reading →

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Feature: Bands that time forgot – BAD COMPANY (1986-1996)

Posted on May 7, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
Bad Company in 1995

For most, Bad Company conjures up the classic seventies line-up fronted by Paul Rodgers and with Mick Ralphs, Simon Kirke and Boz Burrell.  The eponymous and classic first album yielded a handful of airplay and chart hits and set the … Continue reading →

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Feature: Albums that time forgot – NEAL SCHON – Late Nite

Posted on May 6, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
Neal Schon - Late Nite

Columbia [1989] Years ago there was a very good record store in the Liverpool area and with a branch in my nearby shopping bolthole Chester.  Penny Lane Records yielded a fine selection of import albums at a reasonable price.  It … Continue reading →

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Feature: Bands that time forgot – CELTUS

Posted on May 5, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
Celtus in 1997

The two brothers John and Pat McManus had previously been members of eighties Irish heavy rockers Mama’s Boys. Both were multi-instrumentalists and their desire to achieve a more atmospheric, reflective groove was partly influenced by the premature death from leukaemia … Continue reading →

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Feature: Albums that time forgot – 21 GUNS – Nothing’s Real

Posted on May 5, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
21 GUNS - Nothing's Real

Z Records [1997] The 1990s was a hard time for melodic hard rock bands feeling the chill wind from Seattle.  Joey Tempest from the band Europe told me that they also succumbed to the prevailing trend, and that when visiting … Continue reading →

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Feature: Albums that time forgot – KEATS

Posted on May 1, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
Keats (1984)

EMI [1984] Released in 1984 the eponymous album by Keats might be considered as an Alan Parsons Project off-shoot.  It was produced by Parsons and includes the core band members that feature on most of the Project albums, Ian Bairnson, … Continue reading →

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Feature: Albums that time forgot – VOODOO RAMBLE – That’s Why

Posted on April 30, 2020 by petefeenstra
Voodoo Ramble - That

Self Release [Release date 31.08.18] We’re currently in lockdown as I write this review. And having been encouraged to pen some reviews of albums that we may have missed for review – but have certainly played – there’s no better … Continue reading →

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Feature: Albums that time forgot – PUBLIC SYMPHONY

Posted on April 29, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
Public Symphony

[2006] Public Symphony is the brainchild of TV music composer (including ‘The Travel Show’, ‘Rogue Traders’) Dobs Vye who, together with James Reynolds, released their one and only album in 2006. When reviewing the album I opined: “‘Public Symphony’ is … Continue reading →

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Feature: What FREE mean to me…

Posted on April 29, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
Free

Alan Jones on a woman in a diaphanous dress, a wailing Les Paul, and a T-shirt that said it all… It could have gone either way. In the late sixties my musical experiences were limited to my mother’s meagre collection … Continue reading →

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Feature: Albums that time forgot – DOMINICI – O3 A Trilogy (Part 3)

Posted on April 25, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
DOMINICI - O3 A Trilogy (Part 3)

Inside Out [2008] Charlie Dominici may merit a mere footnote in the history of Dream Theater, the band’s original singer who was in the formative Majesty before making the band’s first album. Then in 2005 he produced the first of … Continue reading →

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Feature: Call Collect: An introduction to CHRISTOPHER LEE and his music

Posted on April 24, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
Christopher Lee - Hammer Horror

Best known for his portrayal of Dracula in the late 1960s Hammer horror films Christopher Lee also lent his (vocal) talents to several rock albums including power metallers Rhapsody of Fire… Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee CBE was an actor … Continue reading →

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Feature: What SAXON mean to me…

Posted on April 23, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
130420_saxon2

Saxon have been a life-long passion for Joe Geesin who has followed the band since the mid-1980s.  More recently he has contributed sleeve notes and curation to several re-issues.  And now he’s ready to write the band’s biography… Barnsley born … Continue reading →

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Feature: Gigs of the Millennium – BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

Posted on April 22, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Manchester Etihad Stadium, 22 June 2012

For many years Andy Nathan was a non-believer of the Boss and his enduring influence in rock music.  All that was to change, finally, on a summer’s night in June 2012… Of the hundreds of bands I’ve been lucky to … Continue reading →

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Feature: Albums that time forgot – HUGHES THRALL

Posted on April 21, 2020 by GRTR! HQ
HUGHES THRALL

Epic [1982] Often cited by musos as a favourite album, ‘Hughes/Thrall’ was released in 1982. By all accounts Glenn Hughes (bass and vocals in MK III and IV Deep Purple) ‘stole’ guitarist Pat Thrall after seeing him play with Pat … Continue reading →

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