Album review: W.A.S.P. – s/t

wasp

Madfish

Record label Madfish have been working some of the early W.A.S.P. catalogue, including The Savage 7 CD boxset. Here is the band’s 1984 debut and in line with all the other Madfish releases I’ve encountered, it screams quality. Screams being the appropriate word with W.A.S.P.

In fact it is safe to say that for Madfish, anything less is simple not an option.

The cover feels good quality, as does the full colour inner sleeve (lyrics, photos). Then there’s the vinyl, a deep marbled purple that is thick, it literally feels solid, good quality.

Then there’s the sound quality – which is (assuming you have a half decent system) better than some CDs I’ve heard. Really. Depth and warmth, something too many reissues lack.

On to the album. Which many will be familiar with. The band formed in the early 80s, although bassist/vocalist Blackie Lawless’ career can be traced back to the mid 70s. Often labelled ‘Hair Metal’, they were far too heavy, rough’n’ready, for that. Mid 80s glam and hair metal went hand in hand, a genre that the band really didn’t fit.

The band featured drummer Tony Richards and guitarists Randy Piper and Chis Holmes alongside vocalist/guitarist Blackie Lawless, the latter switching to bass (he’d later revert to guitar later is W.A.S.P.’s career).

Their debut single “Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)” their label dropped from the album, released via a licencing deal with Music For Nations. When asked it he was disappointed by that, Blackie told me “Probably initially, but you realise these things happen for a reason. But at the same time you take the press”.

The opening track here, giving a definitive statement of intent (at least musically), is “I Wanna Be Somebody”. A drum roll and the whole band come in all screams a blazing. Fast, frenetic, very memorable. The video for the single proved very popular on VH1.

Then “L.O.V.E. Machine”, not only with a good guitar solo but some decent guitar interplay. Then “The Flame”, the structure of the song nodding back to 70s classic rock, but with the screams and rough rock’n’roll all turned up to 11.

W.A.S.P. have since covered tracks by Deep Purple and Uriah Heep, so you can tell the influences.

“School Daze” another change of tempo, but just as heavy, and another single.

“Tormentor” has a solid chorus and chunky sound and the chord progressions in “The Torture Never Stops” stand out. The latter (and album closer) has always been a favourite of mine. Another sound guitar solo too, a wonderful journey on that one alone.

Obviously depending on tastes, but this is a good and genre defining debut. And this is as good a way to enjoy it as anything else. ****

Review by Joe Geesin


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review : FRONTLINE – Rebirth

Frontiers [Release date : 15.05.26]

Calling your new album Rebirth, 20 years after your last release, seems quite an understatement.

But still, Frontline wade back out confidently into melodic rock’s fast flowing waters. Many have attempted the same kind of comeback, but few manage it with this level of conviction.

Rebirth, we are delighted to say, is like deja vu all over again.

The band’s songwriter and guitarist, Robert Bobel died in 2022. But vocalist Stephan Kamerrer is still up front and he’s still got it. His voice, untouched by time, carries the same strength and clarity it did two decades ago.

Openers, ‘Burning Horizon’ and ‘Blacktop Parachute’ play to the past without sounding cliched or derivative, expansive but tightly arranged, and unlike so many of today’s bands who stifle the vocals with overpowering axework and percussion, Kammerer’s voice has room to breathe, and space to rise into something bold and dramatic, when the moment demands it.

Like ‘After You’re Gone’, a proudly old fashioned ballad, with a marginally more sophisticated sound than we remember from the eighties.

Apart from a great song title, ‘Two Tickets To The Afterglow’ assembles all the ingredients so many loved about eighties AOR – emotive vocals, melodic axework and sparingly rationed keyboard fills and frills, punctuating an incredibly addictive chorus.

And so it goes on, not letting the quality dip. It even finds room for one of melodic rock’s culturally specific words on ‘Boulevard Echo’.

In guitarist/producer/writer, Christian Muhlroth, Kammerer found a talented, like minded music partner. Together they’ve created an expansion of a world that worked best on the simplest of terms, only occasionally straying over the line from honest sentiment into sentimental.

14 tracks and you’re bound to encounter a sense of sameness as you work your way through the album. But it’s quickly dispelled by a suite of high calibre tracks in the second half. ‘Stone Feather’, ‘Burning The Distance’ and ‘Arc Of Lightning’ are AOR Champions League material, going toe to toe with bands like Roulette, Treat, Giuffria, The Storm and others, past and present.

Condensed and distilled with those earlier tracks, they leave the album feeling like a concentrated, finely honed slice of melodic rock. ****

Review by Brian McGowan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Gig review: CATS IN SPACE- Half Moon, Putney, London, 26 April 2026

CATS IN SPACE- Half Moon, Putney, London, 26 April 2026

In January 2016, having just released an album in ‘Too Many Gods’ and begun to attract attention for its seventies inspired, yet original, songwriting, Cats in Space made their live debut at the Half Moon at Putney, which I was privileged to be at and indeed covered for this site.

Originally this show back at the same place  was planned to be on the exact tenth anniversary, but that neat symmetry was not possible when the venue closed for a (welcome) refurbishment. Instead I rushed back, beginning the day travelling from the Wings of AOR Festival in Sweden, to ensure I could make the rescheduled date.

 CATS IN SPACE- Half Moon, Putney, London, 26 April 2026

I’ve seen them many times in the intervening decade in a variety of settings, from supports to Thunder and Deep Purple to their theatre style stage shows in 2023 and 2024. Since then it has been a bit of a transitional time for the ‘Cats’ with the departure of a couple of stalwart members and relatively low key touring activity.  This was one of a limited series of ‘Acousti-cat’ shows and the first time I have seen such a show.

It felt a little strange to see the band come on not only unplugged, but down to a core four piece. In another neat piece of symmetry they opened (as they had on that very first show) with the title track of ‘Too Many Gods’, followed by moving bang up to date with ‘My Father’s Eyes’ from most recent album ‘Time Machine’.

 CATS IN SPACE- Half Moon, Putney, London, 26 April 2026

Guitarist and co-founder member Greg Hart doubled up as master of ceremonies to a far greater extent than during the electric live shows, with anecdotes and shout outs at various points to past and present collaborators and supportive journalists. The stripped back arrangements seemed to give Andy Stewart’s keys greater prominence, his retro sounds on ‘A Big Balloon’ being a case in point, while in contrast we saw a new side to Steevi Bacon, usually hidden behind the drum kit but now playing a variety of percussion instruments from bongos to chimes and even the odd spot of harmonica playing.

There was a mixture of established live favourites like ‘Mr Heartache’ but also lesser played tracks, including ‘2:59’ and ‘Poke the Witch’, both showing their gift for satire, and a highlight for me in ‘Jupiter Calling’ which I thought I was fated never to hear live. Singer Damien Edwards seemed more relaxed and this format brought out his superb voice, particularly on the ballads including the first half closer ‘Scars’.

 CATS IN SPACE- Half Moon, Putney, London, 26 April 2026

If the first half of the show had something resembling a setlist, the rules were progressively torn up during a looser and more relaxed second set. It opened with another relative obscurity in ‘Magic Loving Feeling’, one of those numbers that in another time would have been a big hit, before Damien delivered a superb cover of ‘Forever Autumn’, though he did confess that he didn’t get to sing it when part of the War of the Worlds cast.

After ‘Last Man Standing’ he again showed off that crystal clear voice on the ballad ‘1,000,000 Miles’  but the fun was only just beginning as the show became looser and more spontaneous. A running gag about whether a Queen cover should be played led to the band beating out ‘We Will Rock You’ and the crowd taking over, then both parties combined to improvise ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’- all three movements of it-in a ramshackle and spontaneous, yet utterly brilliant way!

 CATS IN SPACE- Half Moon, Putney, London, 26 April 2026

There were more contrasting covers in ‘Stray Cat Strut’ and a beautiful rendition of ‘Desperado’, but after sitting at the back for much of the show I belatedly realised I had to be nearer the front to be part of this special and intimate atmosphere. Returning to their own originals, the set mixed ballads- ‘Narnia’ and ‘This Velvet Rush’ with traditional live favourites ‘Thunder in the Night’ and ‘I Fell Out of Love with Rock’n’Roll’, the latter with a coda of ‘Hey Jude’.

However in keeping with the surprises of the evening, just as special was when Greg spoke of how there was no need to have ‘guilty pleasures’ when it came to good songs, and from his favourite musical year of 1976 they played The Real Thing’s pop soul classic ‘You to Me are Everything’.

 CATS IN SPACE- Half Moon, Putney, London, 26 April 2026

Intimate, fun and increasingly spontaneous as the night went on, this was a great delayed 10th anniversary party to keep things going before their new album appears later in the year.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Gig review: LIGHTNING THREADS – The Half Moon, Putney, 3 May 2026

lt

The recently refurbished Half Moon welcomed a Sheffield based double header over the bank holiday weekend with headliners, Lightning Threads, backed up by The Fargo Railroad Co.

Fargo are something else! Their light hearted but infectious take on Southern Country Rock makes you smile from the get go, with front man Jody Davies leading the enthusiastic audience through a series of sing-a-long barroom numbers with the highlight for me being ‘Drinking Alone’ with the audience reminding Jody that he is, indeed, an ‘asshole’ (you had to be there!). Great fun and one to catch in the future.

lt2

Lightning Threads are currently touring in support of their latest album, the excellent ‘Trinkets’ and tonight’s set, unsurprisingly, leans heavily on that release with the first three songs from the album opening up the show.

And what is immediately obvious is how the new material, already exceptional in its studio form comes alive on the road. Opener, ‘Nowhere To Go’ builds from its atmospheric beginnings into a powerful statement of intent. It, like everything on ‘Trinkets’ is rooted deep in the heart of traditional Blues, but sprinkled liberally with the Thread’s own rock orientated flavouring. Tom Jane’s guitar tone here, and throughout the evening, is to die for, his powerful lead vocal grabs your immediate attention while the harmony BV’s, evoke that deep south planation vibe. ‘Wild One’ and ‘What Can I Say’ follow, a double punch of blues rock driven along by Sam Burgum’s insistent bass lines and Hugh Butler’s drums and on point keys (no, I don’t know how he does both either!).

Previous album, ‘Off That Lonely Road’ is not forgotten and next up we have a couple of tracks from that 2023 release, ‘This Ain’t Easy’ followed by, ‘The Preacher’. While the latter has a more commercial groove, both of these early compositions fit seamlessly alongside the heavier style of the new material.

The soulful ‘What a Fever Does’, another ‘Trinkets’ cut, all shimmering guitar and impassioned lead vocal and a blistering run through Rory Gallagher’s ‘Crest of a Wave’ take us past the midway point. The Threads are really cooking now, the energy coming off the stage clear for us all to see, hear and feel. This is blues rock at its finest!

It’s back to ‘Trinkets’, with the swinging bluesy shuffle of ‘Rags & Riches’, then ‘Devil Inside Of Me’ the latter giving a respectful nod to early Zeppelin with a Wah flavoured lead break Mr Page would be proud of. We’re racing towards the end of the main set now, with my favourite track from the first album, ‘Brown Liquor, Black Coffee’. Underpinned by Butler’s organ riff (no, I still don’t know how he does it!) we’re transported into a black and white movie, set in a seedy South American gin joint, with a few bars of the Doors’, ‘Break On Through’ eased in for good measure, which allows Sam Burgum the chance to step up to the mic.

lt3

The set ends with another cracking cover, Albert King’s ‘Born Under a Bad Sign’, a frequent flyer in the Threads sets, it’s a song that the band have made their own.

First up in the unsurprisingly loudly requested encore is a wander into the audience for Tom Jane and Sam Burgum. Their acoustic guitar accompanied, vocal duet on the 100 year old gospel song ‘Let It Shine On Me’, is stunning. Back on stage the band are joined by Andy Davison from The Fargo Railroad Co. to add some blues harmonica to the magnificent ‘With A Heavy Heart’. This instrumental track is a monster, building from drummer Butler’s wistful piano intro (absolutely no idea how he does it…witchcraft seems the best bet!) and ending up as a Santana/Threads mash up. Arms twisted for one more song the night draws to a close with the infectious rockabilly boogie of ‘Shook’, a brilliant end to an outstanding night of blues rock.

Tonight, Lightning Threads prove once again that they have what it takes to stand out in a crowded genre. Their take on blues rock may well be rooted in the sound of the masters like Albert King, but they create a unique blues experience that leaves you with a song in your head and a smile on your face.

King said that ‘If you can’t dig the blues, you got a hole in your soul’ well, if you can’t dig the Threads, you need to have a firm word with yourself. Check them out on tour now and then, later in the year, with Blue Nation. Trust me you’re in for a treat.

Review and photos by Neil Pudney


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Gig review: WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

The status of Scandinavia as the spiritual home of melodic rock is reflected not just in the volume of bands there, but an increasing number of festivals dedicated to, or featuring a goodly number of, melodic acts. When a new festival was announced last winter, Wings of AOR, curiosity got the better of me, not least as in an unusual line up there were some ‘bucket list’ moments not available anywhere else. A reasonably healthy attendance, including many familiar melodic rock travellers from the UK, Europe and the Americas, suggested that others were equally attracted.

It was not in one of the major cities, but Norrkoping, a town of 100,000 or so an hour and a half from Stockholm by train. Like many of our own Victorian cities, you can see in the elegant public buildings the prosperity that industry brought in the 19th century, and it has reinvented itself with a lively social scene. The festival venue reflected this- a stylish historic hall with impressive ceilings and a good sized floor with a high-ish stage. The stage presentation was also slick, though my one gripe was that the lighting was in overly bold colours, or at times spotlights that meant we were viewing the bands in darkness!

The line up favoured quality over quantity with five bands in each of two days, though this meant extremely generous set lengths by festival standards, with even the trio in the middle getting an hour and ten minutes.

DAY 1- RUSS BALLARD, EASY ACTION, BRIAN SPENCE, GATHERING OF KINGS, DAYTONA 

There was an introduction from stage announcer Stefan Johansson, a veteran of the Swedish rock scene, dispensing in sonorous fashion words of wisdom to the effect that we should both respect the old and celebrate the new. The honour of being the first ever band to play Wings of AOR went to Swedes Daytona, who I also saw at Malmo Melodic last year. Most of their members have a pedigree with other bands including former Miss Behaviour guitarist Erik Heikne, who enlivened opener ‘Welcome to the Real World’ with a smooth solo that reminded me of Neal Schon’s in ‘Send Her My Love’, while in proper AOR fashion good use was made of Johan Berlin’s keyboards, which seemed to open nearly every song, notably ‘Kelly’.

 WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

They slipped in an early cover of ‘Love is Battlefield’ which was very impressive, singer Frederik Werner giving the original a bit of added strength and power. They also played a couple of new and as yet unreleased songs- indeed I found the songwriting on ‘No Exit Highway’ and ‘Listen to the Silence’ (an appropriate title given the good use of space in the arrangement) more impressive than older numbers like ‘Town of Many Faces’ and ‘Slave to the Rhythm’. A set that was a little shorter than billed ended with their most out and out commercial song in ‘Looks Like Rain’ and their most impressive one in ‘Where Did We Lose the Love’. It was a performance a notch or two above that at Malmo and got the festival off to a good start.

Despite the ‘AOR’ moniker, the festival touched on all bases of the genre and next up Gathering of Kings provided some melodic hard rock, albeit with the keyboards of Dino Zuzic still prominent. I’d seen them a few years back on the ‘Rocknytt Cruise’ (which shared common organisers) so was prepared for their distinctive concept of a revolving door of multiple singers, albeit that this time there were a ‘mere’ three.

 WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

The pony-tailed, hat sporting Tobias Jansson got things going with the opening cut from their debut album ‘Forever and a Day’, then I was unfamiliar with ‘Wary of the Wolf’ but very impressed. He gave way to a very different frontman in the white-suited Alexander Frisborg  who one of my friends likened to a long-haired Basil Fawlty. In hyper energetic fashion he dived into the crowd and got a clapalong going during ‘Long Way From Home’ before  ‘Highway to Paradise’ . The third of the trio, Jonny Lindqvist, who reminded me physically a little of Lou Gramm, had a raspier voice which complemented the keyboard-heavy melodies of ‘Moonlight’ before ‘A Rainbow and a Star’.

From now on, like a rock version of Noah’s Ark, each of the trio of singers came on and off for two songs, Tobias returning for ‘Endless Paradise’ and ‘From a Whisper to a Scream’ then Alexander for ‘Kiss From Above’, again getting the audience involved and ‘Here Be Dragons’ which was absolutely superb, one of their heavier numbers yet still boasting big hooks.

 WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

On ‘Feed You My Love’, Therés Enström from Emotional Fire (of whom more anon) joined Jonny for a vocal duet, then after ‘The Runaway’ and ‘Heaven on the Run’, ‘Vagabond Rise’ was a grower. A highly enjoyable set, pitched somewhere between Brother Firetribe and Axel Rudi Pell, and with Victor Olsson proving every Swedish band must have a Malmsteen loving guitarist with flowing hair under a cowboy hat, ended with all three singers out front, sharing the load, on ‘Out of My Life’.

Next up was one of those bucket list moments in Brian Spence. I remember back in 1986 Kerrang! touting the fact Polydor Records (as labels do) saw the Scot as their answer to Bryan Adams. I saw him just the once, supporting Skagarack at the Marquee that year, and loved his ‘Brothers’ album, but he was destined to be a footnote in history and I discovered over the weekend even a couple of melodic rock experts had not even heard of him.

 WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

Still a trim figure in his seventies, he has aged well and was not unflattered by his younger self on the cover of ‘Brothers’ glowering in sultry fashion on the backdrop behind him. Apparently he still does lower key shows regularly in the UK but his band, which included wife Debbie on backing vocals, began rather tentatively, opening with the title track of his second album ‘Reputation’ (which did much less for me) and I worried they might be a little too laid back for this audience (one drunken figure in a golfing jacket larging it up and hugging everyone excepted!)

However they soon settled and there were repeated reminders of the celtic-tinged arrangements and intelligent songwriting that characterised ‘Brothers’ in ‘Backdoor’, ‘Love is the Glory’, ‘Gandhi’ and the title track. At times the music was on the fringes where AOR     meets pop, with Deacon Blue and even Sting cropping up as a comparison, ‘Come Back Home’ being a case in point. But I was impressed with the songs unfamiliar to me in ‘I Still Don’t Know’ which had a lot of depth to it, and the strong melodic hooks of ‘Falling in Love in a Foreign Land’.

WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

After a cover of ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ in which bassist Ben Hackett switched to keyboards, ‘You Got the Whip’ (dedicated to Debbie!) saw the band jam out a little and Brian’s co-guitarist Al Vosper gradually take on a greater share of the leads, including on slide. ‘I Was a Zombie’) was a song written during Covid, but the gig really warmed up with a pair from ‘Brothers’ in ‘I Will Call You Family’ and ‘Will You Never Be My Friend‘, both sounding like a celtic version of The Outfield.

The cognoscenti usually frown on well-known covers at festivals like this but an excellently delivered ‘Rebel Yell’ set us up nicely for the final song and crowning glory in one of the best hit singles that never was in ‘Hear It From the Heart’. It was wonderful to hear it 40 years on and just as heartwarming to hear the post-gig chatter that (much as Glass Tiger did a few years ago at Rockingham) his more pop-rock oriented sound was a perfect mid-festival change of pace. I really must catch one of his UK pub shows.

 WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

A rare appearance on home soil by Easy Action was one of the big draws for some, but not me, as my prior knowledge was shamefully limited to a pair of facts; that Kee Marcello left them to replace John Norum in Europe, and that they took Poison to court for ripping off one of their songs for ‘I Want Action’ (sic).  I had them pigeonholed as a glam rock band, but those in the know told me that they released a much more polished follow up ‘That Makes One’ just before Kee quit the band in 1986, and that was the line up (a six piece with keyboards) and musical style on show tonight.

So it is fair to say I was blown away by the classic Scandinavian melodic sounds of opener ‘Code to Your Heart’ and ‘Partners in Crime’, and though the proggier sounding ‘Shake It Up’ was less good, ‘Talk of the Town’ (did that inspire another Scandi band’s name?) and ‘Talk Talk Talk’ showed off the rich, deep vocals of fair haired singer Tommy Nielsen. Kee Marcello very much looked the rock star amongst the band but in a team effort, far from hogging the limelight was sharing guitar duties with Chris Lind. He also sang some of the ballad ‘Only Love’, which also featured a twin guitar solo.

WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

As the set wore on, some new songs were in other musical styles with ‘My Demons’ U2-esque and a protest song (at least I think so) in ‘Hello Mr President Goodbye’. Some momentum was lost with instrumental solos and an acoustically driven passage, including ballad ‘In the Middle of Nowhere’ but restored with ‘Teachers do it With Class’ (sic) which aped the swaggering Robert Palmer sounds of the time’, ‘Dazed’ and a very strong closer to a revelation of a set in ‘Eye for an Eye’.

And so to the headliner and the second Brit of the night and a bona fide legend in Russ Ballard. Since he belatedly began touring again I’ve seen him regularly since Covid, including on the aforementioned Rocknytt Cruise, and began to realise that the set featured a number of AOR-friendly tunes which all seemed to be from the same album, his 1984 self-titled effort. It was one I belatedly invested in and the selling point of his appearance here was that, rather than his usual show focusing on his whole recording and writing career, this set was devoted to a complete performance both of that album and its successor ‘The Fire Still Burns’.

 WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

Looking ridiculously youthful for a man who turned 80 last year, and sporting an ‘Old Grey Whistle Test t-shirt, he began with a quick spiel about how his songs had turned into hits for other people. Momentarily I thought that meant we were going to get his standard set, so it was with relief he embarked on the first of those albums in order, and there was a hearty singalong to the chorus of ‘I Can’t Hear You No More’. ‘In the Night’ was a reminder that he has also always been a skilled lead guitarist with a fluent style before the classic AOR of ‘Two Silhouettes’ and the period sounds of ‘Voices’ with its siren-like keyboards courtesy of Marc Rapson.

‘A Woman Like You’ began with those stabbing keyboard intros that us AOR-sters love so much and it was great to hear one that would not otherwise have been played in ‘Day By Day’. ‘Playing with Fire’ gave his excellent band greater scope to jam out, with second guitarist Paul Bond playing a rare lead, then ‘The Last Time’, a semi ballad that reminded me a little of Journey’s ‘Who’s Cryin Now’, ended a masterclass in melodic songwriting.

 WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

In an unexpected interlude, Therés from Emotional Fire came back on and played  a couple of solo songs Russ had written, appropriately enough, for the Abba women  – Frida’s electro-rock classic ‘I Know There’s Something Going On’ and the lesser known ‘Can’t Shake Loose’, recorded by Agnetha, and in doing so demonstrating a fine set of pipes.

A change of backdrop meant it was onto ‘The Fire Still Burns’, the follow up released in 1985. Now I did have this one at the time, but got rid of it, put off by the processed feel popular at the time including programmed drums. Yet here I loved the opening pair in Once a Rebel’, with an equally strong ‘run boy’ secondary chorus, and ‘The Omen’, as strong as anything off its predecessor. Should I have a sense of shame at my ignorant younger self, or did it take the full band treatment like this to do his songwriting justice?

 WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

However, ‘Hey Bernadette’ and ‘Searching’, which seemed to be something of a ‘Voices’ Part 2, were less strong, and ‘Your Time Is Gonna Come’ a reminder that the sound was more dance and synthesiser oriented in line with the fashions of the time. This set of songs felt longer and moodier, and as a result, at the end of a long tiring day, every time I looked around more and more people had called it a night, though in the case of one lairy drunk no longer pestering us, that was no bad thing.

It also didn’t help that arguably the album’s most enduring two songs came at the end of the running order- ‘Dream On’ was preceded by Russ modestly telling the crowd that most of his dreams had come true, then after a laundry list of war zones was updated to include the likes of Gaza and Iran, a storming ‘The Fire Still Burns’.

WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

 There was a special treat for those who were left as Russ switched from his Les Paul to a guitar with Swiss-cheese like holes, and played a couple of his best known songs: there was a cracking atmosphere for ‘Since You been Gone’ as Rainbow are probably only second to Thin Lizzy in the affection in which they are held in Sweden, as was to be proven the next night. However musically it was eclipsed by an epic arrangement of ‘God Gave Rock’n’Roll to You’, notably in Marc’s classic mid-song organ solo. Incredibly, Russ had played for two hours and still had the stamina to conduct his meet and greet- it wasn’t to be his last contribution of the weekend either.

DAY 2- JOE LYNN TURNER, BROTHER FIRETRIBE, ONE DESIRE, PERFECT PLAN, EMOTIONAL FIRE

WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

Day 2 began with another band I’d seen on that Rocknytt Cruise in Emotional Fire. They have since released their first EP and full-length album, but I was surprised as they came on stage that the original all-female line up was no more and the band was three-fifths male, depriving them of one of their unique selling points.

I was a little puzzled when in his introductions Stefan Johansson made a reference to cocktail bar friendly music, and sure enough their eponymous opening track, the Diane Warren, Michael Bolton and Desmond Child co-write most famously covered by Cher but also our night’s headliner on the Sunstorm project, seemed a little flat and lacking the energy and punch of the original.

 WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

Original numbers like ‘Somebody’, ‘Don’t Lose Yourself’ and ‘Like a Phoenix’ seemed rather underpowered AOR lite, though ‘Be With You was impressively melodic. There was no doubt that Therés Enström was the star of the show, looking increasingly commanding on stage, and slowly the band responded to a supportive crowd’s encouragement, suggesting I was maybe being overly harsh in my judgements. More impressive were ‘I Want you here with me’ with a classic keyboard intro from Daniel Myhr and ‘The Beast In Me’, which apparently was a cover.

Even better was to follow with ‘Will You Be There’ reminding me of Heart and not only in the title, while during the ballad ‘Fire in Your Eyes’, Therés gave her all, kneeling at the front of the crowd, singing in passionate fashion and getting a clap along going. So by the time of set closers. ‘Turn Around and Walk Away’ and ‘Breaking Me Up’ I ended up far more impressed than when the set started.

 WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

Perfect Plan’s rise from a quintet of middle-aged Swedes from the sparsely populated north in day jobs to one of the top melodic rock acts in Scandinavia is one you could make a movie about. They were certainly one of the draws of the festival for me, as they rank among my favourites yet, never having yet reached the UK, I had only seen them the once at Malmo Melodic.

In particular their second album ‘Time For a Miracle’ is for me among the very best melodic rock albums of recent years and I was delighted that a lengthy intro tape heralded the title track with its powerful, almost pomp like approach and soaring chorus.

 WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

The band blend AOR moments with more traditional bluesy heavy rock and ‘Bad City Woman’ was a fine example of the latter, even if a little close in places to Skin’s ‘Look But Don’t Touch’, while the first of a trio from most recent album ‘Heart of a Lion’, ‘One Touch’ impressed with its direct simplicity.

The band were very professional and their trump card will always be singer Kent Hilli- the man also recruited to one of his favourite bands in Giant. Though there are elements of Tempest and Coverdale in there, his delivery on the more AOR numbers is to me pure Jamison, and his shades and jacket and stage moves only add to the comparison. So it was appropriate that after a pair from ‘…Miracle’ – ‘What About Love’, with one hook after another and his putting heart and soul into the mighty ballad ‘Fighting to Win’, we got a note perfect cover of Survivor’s ‘Didn’t Know it was Love’, arranged for audience participation.

 WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

That trio of songs raised the bar so high that even an otherwise excellent song like ‘Better Off Alone’ suffered in comparison, while on another newie ‘Too Tough’ the band soldiered on through some technical gremlins that impish guitarist Rolf Nordstrom suffered.

There were a couple of those more traditional, Deep Purple family- influenced songs in ‘Gotta Slow Me Down’ and ‘Surender’, one of those rare songs where the bridge and the chorus are equally memorable, while the other new song  ‘We Are Heroes’ had a more modern, Brother Firetribe type vibe to it.

 WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

They went back to the beginning for the final songs in ‘Heaven in Your Eyes’, brought to a close with some brilliant vocal harmonies, and the song that started it all in a majestic  ‘In and Out of Love’. It was a set every bit as good as I’d anticipated and set a high bar to follow for One Desire, the young Finns who burst on the scene with two fine albums a few years ago and who have regrouped after a bit of a chequered history of some intra-band differences.

In one of his more amusing soliloquies, our host Stefan said that AOR was not just about happiness and air keyboards, but the heartbreaks of love and the uniquely Scandinavian sense of melancholy. He said those feelings were epitomised in one song, ‘Hurt’ and sure enough they began with that, lead singer André Linman encouraging a mass forest of hands on the chorus in a crowd that was as packed as any during the weekend.

WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

After ‘Never Gonna Stop’ which I enjoyed despite being less familiar with, they threw in some of their best songs first in ‘Apologize’ and ‘After You’re Gone’, where the talented Jimmy Westerlund (who looks like a cross between fellow guitar heroes Messrs Schon and Lukather) carried the catchy guitar melody.  ‘Shadowman’ showed their more progressive side, but also a more modern sound embracing electronics, that contrasted quite drastically with Perfect Plan’s old-school approach.

They lost presentational points for not speaking in English before this international gathering, while the white spotlighting meant that the crowd saw a band bathed in darkness for long periods.  After ‘Heroes’, ‘Through the Fire’ proved a bit of an epic, Jimmy taking the initial lead vocals and playing acoustic but the song climaxing in a jam between him and André.  The latter then excelled on ‘This is Where the Heartbreak Begins’, both singing and playing the guitar solo.

WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

However I did feel the quality dipped a little for the rest of the set with ‘Down and Dirty’ with some almost techno sounds, ‘Turn Back Time’ and ‘Whenever I’m Dreaming’, before the frantic and slightly out of character closer of ‘Buried Alive’. Attention was distracted however by a stage invader wanting to be reunited with the hat he had thrown on stage and security seemed to allow him there for so long that I briefly wondered if he was part of the act. It had been an uneven set, but also one to prove that AOR should be an evolving creed which One Desire are taking in a more modern direction to adapt to changing musical production values.

The senior of two Finnish bands in succession were Brother Firetribe, who I was eager to see after a show-stealing appearance at Malmo Melodic last year (which has also earned them a headline this year at that festival). On that occasion the set focused on more recent material including their latest EP, but this time it was a greatest hits type set with a generous selection from their first couple of albums.

WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

Opening with the title track of ‘Break Out’ from the debut (aka ‘False Metal’) which amazingly is now 20 years old, a series of simple songs driven by the keyboards of Tomppa Nikulainen and with one hook after another had people singing along and punching the air- ‘I Am Rock’, ‘One Single Breath’, ‘Midnight Queen’, ‘Valerie’ and ‘I’m On Fire’, with barely a pause for breath.

Seemingly ageless singer Pekka Ansio Heino was one of the best frontmen of the weekend- and certainly the most dapper in his lilac jacket- and had the crowd in the palm of his hand. The title track of that EP ‘Number One’ rivalled the oldies for catchiness, though ‘Shock’ was a little different, similar to the clinical gothic rock of the likes of Sisters of Mercy or HIM.

 WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

The singalongs continued however with ‘Just Another Night’  and the daft but insanely catchy ‘Chariot of Fire’. ‘Night Drive’ with its synthwave overtones was another slight departure, before more instant anthems in ‘For Better Or For Worse’, and ‘Bring On the Rain’.

The set ended with one more singalong in ‘Heart Full of Fire’- as the band dragged out its finale, guitarist Roope Riihijärvi teased with the riff of ‘Seven Nation Army’, resulting in the crowd chanting along for a good couple of minutes before Pekka implored them to stop and they finished the song. In a festival of many memorable moments, that may have been the very best. My delight was only tempered by thoughts of what might have been when they and One Desire cancelled a joint UK tour a couple of years back.

 WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

And finally another bucket list moment with the closing headliner in Joe Lynn Turner. He is occasionally seen in the UK (though less often than in Russia judging from setlist.fm) but the rarity value here was a full performance of his 1985 album ‘Rescue You’, his debut solo effort in the aftermath of Rainbow disbanding, and the one which gave free reign to the AOR tendencies during his tenure in the band. Sadly it was not a success, and after spells with Yngwie Malmsteen and Deep Purple, when he resumed his solo career it was in a slightly more organic and bluesy fashion, so I feared it was an album that had been lost to history.

WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

Also consigned to history is his long-standing wig, so it was a shaven headed figure in a black leather coat, like a junior Rob Halford, who hit the stage. At 74 you can add him to the small number of singers who have retained his vocal power and range, while he was a consummate frontman with his New Yorker’s patter and the right words of thanks to staff and crews.

However he began with a couple of Rainbow classics far removed from AOR in a powerful ‘Death Alley Driver’ where his old Brazen Abbot bandmate and Blackmore devotee Nikolo Kotzev and Swede Will Oaks embarked on one of those classic guitar-keyboard battles, and fists were punching to ‘Power’, featuring another keyboard solo.

WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

Introducing ‘Rescue You’ as being 40 years old, he could be forgiven for missing the extra year. I could scarcely control my excitement at hearing the lead off cut, and my favourite, ‘Losing You’, while ‘Young Hearts’ and the lush semi ballad ‘Endlessly’ were reminders that this was like a lost Foreigner album- indeed one in which their former keyboardist Al Greenwood was the main collaborator.

However after the title track, both Joe and the band relaxed somewhat and put their own stamp on proceedings, notably getting into a groove on ‘Feel the Fire’, and he allowed his voice to take the slightly grittier style he has subsequently developed. If ‘Get Tough’ was a relative weak spot, the band did full justice to AOR classics like ‘Eyes of Love’ and ‘Soul Searcher’, and enlivened ‘On the Run’ and closer ‘The Race Is On’ in a way that took them a little closer to Purple or Rainbow territory.

 WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

Talking of which the rest of the set was always going to be a bit of a greatest hits, starting with a rattling ‘Can’t Happen Here’, then, preceded by an anecdote about how the title came from a lovelorn Roger Glover, a quite brilliant version of ‘Stone Cold’, the first song with which (controversially at the time) Ritchie Blackmore steered Rainbow into that AOR direction. On a night like this, it maybe would have been nice to get others in that ilk like ‘Street of Dreams’ or ‘Can’t Let You Go’.

In what was a badly kept secret, with Pekka from Brother Firetribe very nearly letting the cat out of the bag, last year’s night’s headliner Russ Ballard returned, to add additional guitar and vocals to ‘I Surrender’. Incredibly, even though he wrote the song which in Joe’s hands ended up being Rainbow’s biggest charting hit single, the two had never actually met before the weekend. To be near the front and soak up the atmosphere during that was quite stunning.

WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

However ‘Spotlight Kid’ ensured there was no anti-climax, with another of those great guitar and keyboard battles, and was scheduled to end the set. Yet the force of reaction persuaded JLT to return for an encore and ask if we fancied some Purple: and that his crack band (completed by Ken Sandin and Darby Todd) all knew the songs even if they had never rehearsed them together. I feared we might get a safe run through of ‘Smoke on the Water’ but instead they pulled off the greater musical virtuosity of ‘Highway Star’ with aplomb, even if I think Joe may have missed the odd vocal line.

It was a memorable end to an outstanding debut Wings of AOR. A series of well-chosen and in some cases unique performances, a lovely venue and friendly and accessible set up all made this one of the highest quality melodic rock festivals I have attended, and I have been to a few! The good news is that very strong hints were dropped that there may be further editions.

WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

Review by Andy Nathan

Photos by Andy Nathan and Michele Kostiner


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review : VON GROOVE – Born To Rock

Frontiers Music [Release date : 15.05.26]

There can be few more explosive opening tracks than Von Groove’s ‘Once Is Not Enough’ from their self titled debut, 1992.

30 years later : they’ve got the band back together – Michael Shotton, Mathew Gerrard and the man with one name, M’laden. None of the tracks on their new album, Born To Rock, equal the dynamism on display that day, we would have been surprised if they did, but the music’s taut, high pressure hard rock still cuts it.

The title song’s tongue in cheek lyrics are a breath of fresh in a time when “rock stars” take themselves so seriously. That said, the song is faithful to its roots, so you can stamp your feet, bang your head, and play amazing solos on your air guitar while you listen. You can’t lose.

Clearly influenced by European power metal, lyrically and musically, the declamatory ‘Fearless’ and ‘Champion’ are something of a surprise. Very ‘Maiden, very ‘Priest “we are invincible,we rise above it all, we are the defenders, we are eagles in the sky, never to die, we are Fearless”. Both will resonate with genre aficionados.

‘Adrenaline’ and ‘Angela’ switch horses in midstream, from glammy hard rock with a thumping beat and a shout it out chorus, to stripped back, Seattle style rock, with big, stretched out chords, heavy on the bass, moody, economical and friction free.
A surprise around every corner.

Another pairing, ‘Undefeated’ and ‘Do It All Again’ share an admiration for Def Leppard. The first is maybe inclined to shape its own identity a little more, but the second worships at the altar of anthemic rock, as created on Hysteria by Mutt. Addictive.

On the album’s standout track, ‘Heart Of Forgiveness’ you can hear all of the collateral accumulated by Von Groove over the past 30 years being invested in the present.

It’s a powerful, chest beating rock song, sounding authoritative, offering clemency to the past only after staring it down. It’s a fine sentiment, delivered with the kind of conviction that only hard earned experience can justify. ****

Review by Brian McGowan 


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Single review: PARKER BARROW – Blinded

pb

Blinded is taken from Parker Barrow’s forthcoming album Hold The Mash, and you’d be forgiven for thinking you were listening to a new Stones single with the opening riff, as guitarist Alex Bender says the riff was given life as he imagined how Keith Richards would play it if he was in the band. It’s loose and it rolls for sure.

Dylan Turner then adds the rock with a Simon Kirke Free type drum groove. He also wrote the lyrics, about seeking inner redemption whilst the material world tries to drag you down. These words are ably belted out by his wife Megan Kane, and the tune becomes unmistakably Parker Barrow.

I’ve described Megan as a once in a generation vocalist before and I stand by those words. There are some outstanding female rock vocalists around at the moment but Megan takes it to a different level with such ease. The power, the range the phrasing the delivery all hers. It would be easy and lazy to compare her to Janis Joplin or Tina Turner, because she is in a field of her own and I dare say other vocalists will be compared to her as a bench mark in the future. She has a cheeky glint in her eye, struts like an excited child at a birthday party and throws the mic stand around like early Rod Stewart.

Back to the song – so we have The Stones and Free guesting on the rhythm, vocals sending shivers up your spine, then when the backing vocals kick off in the chorus the harmonies really remind me of Fanny, that very underrated pioneering all girl band from the 70’s. The middle eight features some understated guitar weaving between Alex Turner and second guitarist Will Tipton, and some nicely executed unexpected stops and starts created by the rhythm section of Dylan and Bassist Kyle Priber, and all sown together by the honkytonk ivory tinkling of Eric Safka.

This is twenty twenty six new and original rock n roll at it’s best by a long chalk This band has all the ingredients which are needed to stand out from the crowd – looks, attitude, style, musicianship, vocals, showmanship, and a great feeling of camaraderie. They are the embodiment of raunch n raw rock n roll and I hope you get Blinded, I have been. *****

Review by Andy Sharrocks

They are playing some UK dates in July to promote new album Hold The Mash, and you can watch the video for Blinded here:-

https://youtu.be/B8a4EkL3aPw

pb tour


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review : JOHN CORABI – A New Day

Frontiers Music [Release date : 24.04.26]

John Corabi is the ex man…ex Motley Crue, ex Ratt, ex Brides Of Destruction but not yet ex frontman of The Dead Daisies, a band with a greater membership turnover than Deep Purple.

There’s a strong core of social commentary running through his first solo album, A New Day. And that’s a surprise, considering his producer and co writers, Marti Frederiksen, Paul (Winger) Taylor and Richard (G’N’R) Fortus are not known for politicising their rock’n’roll. But these songs focus more on philosophy than politics.

His music fuses classic ’70s rock, soul, and blues influences together. Like ‘That Memory’, a track with a soulful, hard rocking guitar groove that’s more in line with Joe Walsh, or the Eagles in one of their more energetic, down country moments. Stevie D from Buckcherry, and Charlie (Blackberry Smoke) Starr contribute the occasional thick cut riff and bluesy axe solo.

Corabi sets out his stall conversely but convincingly, as the saying goes, with the Beatlish title track and opener, ‘A New Day’. A big, in your face rock song, just brimming over with optimism.

It flies in the face of the album’s most prominent cut, ‘1969’, a clanging, thumping slice of hard edged country music, very CCR. The narrative reflects on the way in which the “Summer Of Love” turned sour, giving way to a darker side … peace and love don’t last forever.

‘Faith Hope Love’ is an almost ballad, a sad eyed reflection of the gradual decline in human trust and intimacy over the years.
Like a few other songs here it smokes and smoulders, moving purposefully towards the climactic moments.

In fairness, there are as many upbeat moments as downbeat… ‘When I Was Young’, a tale of self reflection and quiet celebration, and ‘Cosi Bella’ and are testament to that. There’s conviction in his gritty, yet graceful, been-round-the-block a few times vocals.

The balladic ‘Love That’ll Never Be’, buoyed by acoustic instrumentation, including strings, is a song of silent heartbreak narrated through a woman’s eyes. It burns slowly yet flares brightly at the right times.

Album standout… from an album of many standouts. ****1/2

Review by Brian McGowan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: LADY MAISERY AND JIMMY ALDRIDGE & SID GOLDSMITH – Wakefire

Wakefire

Bandcamp [Release date 01.05.26]

After several years delighting audiences with their wintertime project Awake Arise, the folk supergroup of Lady Maisery (Hannah James, Rowan Rheingans & Hazel Askew) and Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith, have joined forces again to celebrate the summer.

Do make sure you invest in the CD as it is a special double length album-book, wonderfully illustrated throughout and with lyrics and prose, plus the all-important stories behind the songs. With twenty seven tracks in total the listener really does get their money’s worth and more!

The album flows through the summer, starting with ‘Summer’s In’ and ‘The Cuckoo’, going right through to harvest time in September. A folk concept album without any prog rock noodling nonsense!

Being released on May 1, May Day, little wonder there are a few protest songs on the album including ‘May Day’, asking the all important question in its chorus – which side are you on? The song features spoken word, as do many of the songs, and it adds to overall strength of the album.

Highlights include ‘May Morning Dew’, ‘River Came Back’, their version of Bela Fleck’s ‘What’cha Gonna Do?’ and ‘Harvest Festival’, which is built around a spoken word passage from Laurie Lee’s ‘Village Christmas and Other Notes on the English Year’.

An album to be listened to in one go, although the single (an Ivor Cutler song) ‘I’m Going to a Field’ does lend itself to being ‘stand-a-alone’ and perfect for airplay & playlists.

Lady Maisey and Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith have created another seasonal delight, full of thoughtful lyrics, impassioned playing and tunes that are both melodious and memorable. ****

Review by Jason Ritchie

If the star system was built on presentation and quantity, then this album would be getting a big five, but unfortunately its not so I have to give it a three for effort.

It is a lavish presentation without doubt – the cd comes in a book, not a booklet in a cd case, a cd in a book, with a hard back, colour photos, lyrics and words. There are 27 tracks in all, yes 27, it wasn’t a typo. Although a fair few of them clock in under two minutes.

Lady Maisery are Hannah James, Hazel Askew and Rowan Rheingans, with Jimmy Aldridge and Sid Goldsmith being two blokes they bumped into in the pub. Just kidding, they are all well respected folk musicians and have collaborated before on a winters themed project called Awake Arise

On first listening, this album sounds like standard trad folk fayre, but delve deeper on subsequent listens and there are some pertinent themes going on, like workers rights and the environment, tackled in clever subtle ways.

There are quite a few spoken word passages among the 27 tracks, but all the tracks reference summer in one way or another. Released on the first of May, the album is a journey from the start to the end of summer and to that end it achieves its point magnificently. It kicks off with Anne Briggs, Summers In which features some new cheeky verses by Hannah James, but most noticeably some beautiful vocal harmonies, which carry throughout the album.

There are some pieces by Laurie Lee, he of Cider With Rosie fame, in fact I think the first passage about him getting lost in some long grass as a child is from that very book. It features spoken word passages and songs written by all the artists individually and even has a dear little Ivor Cutler song, sung a capella, about sitting in field, and what more summer can you get than sitting in a field. Also present is a Robin Williamson from The Incredible String Band song with Good As Gone. from 1965. There are some history lessons about summer traditions in Padworth, Mayday workers celebrations, some recent recollections of summers in Italy, with a poke at global warming, and fires. And here I learnt something new – bonfires were originally made from bones, clean bones I hasten to add, and it doesn’t mean good fire which I have thought all my life. I love shit like this, my head is full of trivia. So the other two fires which people indulged in on Midsummers Day in the 15th century were St Johns fire made of bones and wood, and the wakefire made of just wood. I kid you not it’s all in here.

It is a massive project and must have taken a hell of a lot of preparation and fore thought to collate all the ideas and then execute them in such a cohesive manner.

But I keep coming back to Peter And The Wolf, one of the first musical and spoken word journeys I made as a child, where you were transported right into the moment and the story with anticipation, but on subsequent listening’s it had lost it’s mystique as you knew what was coming. I can imagine it is a great live experience.

I hope it does well as obviously a lot of love as well as money has been poured into this, and it deserves some recognition, at least in the folk world. ***

Review by Andy Sharrocks


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


News: SKINDRED, THE ROLLING STONES, BURNING ROPE (May 2026)

Skindred - STEELHOUSE FESTIVAL, Ebbw Vale, 30 July 2017

News - Album News

Accept celebrate 50 years with a new release, ‘Teutonic Titans 1976–2026‘ due on September 4 via Napalm Records. Guests on the album include Kirk Hammett, Rob Halford, Tobias Forge, KK Downing, Chris Jericho and more.

The Alarm’s final album, ‘Transformation’, originally scheduled for release in 2025 but put on hold in the wake of Mike Peters’ death in April last year, will now be released on May 29 via Twenty-First Century Recordings/Virgin Music Group.

Kris Barras Band release their latest album ‘Monsters We Made’ on August 14 through Earache Records.

Stax Records and Craft Recordings have announced a vinyl reissue of the compilation album Stax Does the Beatles’. Originally released in 2007 this reissue is due on June 26.

Burning Rope release their second album ‘Dissolution’ on May 26, with the lead single ‘Houdini’ released on May 26.

Cancer Bats release their eighth studio album, ‘Give Me Dirt’, on August 7 via Bat Skull Records/Marshall Records.

Steve Cropper’s ‘Watching the Tide’ will be released posthumously on August 28 via Provogue/Artone Label Group. The album features guest appearances from Eric Clapton, Brian May, Billy Gibbons and Ronnie Wood.

Silent Rage’s Jesse Damon has released his compilation album ‘Anthology’ in digital format and it includes three previously unreleased tracks.

Deep Purple release their new album ‘Splat!’ on July 3 on earMUSIC.

Def Leppard plan to release their next album in early 2027.

John Elefante releases ‘Stories: The John Elefante Collection’ on August 7. The 19 track compilation includes a brand-new recording of Kansas’s ‘Chasing Shadows’ and a re-recorded version of ‘Dust in the Wind’, along with highlights from his time in Mastedon, Kansas, and his solo work.

Europe return with their 12th studio album, ‘Come This Madness’,  set for release on September 25 via Silver Lining Music/Hell & Back Recordings. ‘One On One’ was released as the lead single on April 28.

Flotsam and Jetsam release their new albumRats In The Temple’ via Napalm Records on August 28.

Grand release their new album ‘Guilty Pleasures’ on August 21 through Frontiers with the first single, ‘Wild Heart’, released at the end of last month.

King Crimson will release a new live album 2014 NYC’ through DGM/Panegryic on July 10.

The L.I.F.E. Project, a collaboration between Stone Sour guitarist and songwriter Josh Rand and vocalist Casandra Carson have signed with Frontiers.

Love/Hate’s latest studio album Punk Rock Fiesta!’ will be available in a deluxe edition via Kenyon Records on May 1.

Metallica will release ‘Reload (Remastered)’ on June 26 via Blackened Recordings.

Motionless In White release their new album, ‘Decades’, on July 17 via Roadrunner Records. The first single released from the album, ‘Playing God’, features Slipknot’s Corey Taylor. 

Nestor release ’Live at Gothenburg Film Studios’ on August 14 via Napalm Records.

Parker Barrow release their new album ‘Hold The Mash’ on July 17.

The new Rolling Stones album will be called ‘Foreign Tongues’ with a release date of July 10. Guests on the album include Paul McCartney, The Cure’s Robert Smith and Steve Winwood.

Seven Kingdoms has announced their new album ‘Sono Sola’ will be released in the autumn.

Sha-Boom released their new single ‘Never Stop’ on April 29 taken from their upcoming album, Another Nail In The Coffin’, due via Silver Lining Music on August 28.

Martin Simpson has released ‘The Recruited Collier’ ahead of his new album, ‘Some Kind of Jubilee’, which is released on September 25 via Topic Records.

Sleeping With Sirens release their new album, ‘An Ending In Itself’, on June 12 via Rise Records.

Stanley Simmons will release their debut album ‘Dancing While the World is Ending’ on August 28.

These Wicked Rivers release their latest album, ‘Fire And Folklore’, on October 2 via Fat Earth Records.

Xandria release their new album ‘Eclipse’ on Napalm Records on August 7. ‘The Shannon’s Home’ was the first single released off the album.

In the studio…

Autopsy will begin recording a new album later this year…Marillion have told fans they’re “very much heading into the closing stages” of recording their new album…P.O.D. have completed work on their new album…Raven have written ‘a lot of songs’ for their upcoming album…ex-Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and Jeff Scott Soto have been confirmed as gusting on William Shatner’s upcoming heavy metal covers album…Therapy? start recording their new album this month

Single life…

Evergrey released ‘Leaving the Emptiness’ on May 6…Peter Gabriel released his latest single ‘Won’t Stand Down’ on May 1…Gunshine released ‘Finite’ ahead of their forthcoming ‘Grand Rising’ due out digitally on July 24 through Create Music Group…Jessica Lynn released ‘Truckin’ on May 1

News - Tours and Gigs

Upcoming (Gigs – UK)

Newly announced UK tours (2026 unless stated):

Ash (Dec), The Damned (Nov, Dec), Five Finger Death Punch + Lamb of God (Jan 2027), Robben Ford (Jan, Feb 2027), Gong (Jul-Sep),  Heaven 17 (Oct), Manic Street Preachers + Suede (Oct, Nov), Todd Rundgren (Sep), Martin Simpson (Sep-Dec), Devin Townsend (Sep, Oct), The View (Feb, Mar 2027),

Upcoming (USA/ROW)

Newly announced US & European tours (2026 unless stated):

Blacktop Mojo (US), Clutch (US), Judy Collins (US 2027), Delain (EU), Ensifrem + Firewind (US), Five Finger Death Punch + Lamb of God (EU 2027), Gong (EU), Grand Funk Railroad (US), GWAR (US), L7 (US farewell tour), Lynyrd Skynyrd (US), Mammoth (US), The Psychedelic Furs + Living Colour (US), Public Image Limited (AU 2027), Todd Rundgren (EU), Squeeze + Adam Ant + Haircut 100 (US), .38 Special (US), Theory of a Deadman + Sevendust (US), Wednesday 13 (US), Hayley Williams (US),

fmnov

Tour updates & postponed/cancelled gigs & tours:

Eclipse have cancelled their Australian tour due this month due to issues with the promoter.

The Knack have reformed for a handful of US dates. The band features original member bassist Prescott Niles, Gabe Niles on drums, Rocky Kramer on guitar, and Mr. Big’s Matt Starr on vocals.

Spin Doctors have cancelled their upcoming Australia and New Zealand dates this month due to “unexpected logistical shifts & circumstances.” It was set to be the band’s first tour there since 1993.

Lucinda Williams has cancelled all her upcoming UK and European tour dates due to health issues.

Other Stuff

Skindred (pictured) landed their first ever UK number one album with ‘You Got This’. They also topped the vinyl, physical sales and rock charts.

The streaming service Deezer has said there are now roughly 75,000 new tracks made with AI technology being added to the service every day, which amounts to 44% of the total number.

Little Red Kings have announced they have split-up.

Dragonforce have announced Alissa White-Gluz (ex-Arch Enemy) as their newest member and first frontwoman. She will join Marc Hudson as co-vocalist with the band.

Todd Michael Hall is “stepping down” as vocalist of Riot V, with Valentino Francavilla fronting the band on their live dates until they find a permanent singer.

Guitarist Joff Bailey has joined Cradle of Filth.

Grand Funk Railroad’s Max Carl has announced he is retiring from touring due to a medical issue. Grand Funk Railroad drummer Don Brewer and keyboardist Tim Cashion will handle vocals for the band going forward.

News - RIP

Former Santana vocalist Alex Ligertwood.


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review : DEGREED – Curtain Calls

Frontiers [Release date 24.04.26]

Eighth full length album from respected Swedish Hard Rock band, Degreed…Robin Eriksson, Mats Eriksson, Mikael Blanc and Daniel Johansson.

Their sound is impossible to categorise. Is it toughened up AOR, melodic hard rock, metallised hard rock ? Or what?
And that’s a problem only because most critics like to put bands into pigeonholes. It makes writing a review easier.

We got captured by the “exciting urban rock” (we’ll call it that) on the band’s The Leftovers’ EP, released last year.
And now the hooks on Curtain Calls dig just as deep.

Produced with an impressive sonic feel by the band’s drummer, Mats Eriksson, in his Boombridge Studio, Kopparberg, Curtain Calls runs the gauntlet between all those musical definitions.

This band is like a battle hardened boxer, fast on his feet, confident in his ability to deliver toughened up, melodic and muscular hard rock. Punching his weight, no wasted energy, no pointless moves.

There’s AOR in there, struggling to breathe at times, breaking the surface in the right moments, and sharp edged contemporary rock, noisy, rumbling but carefully calibrated.

Curtain Calls differentiates itself from others by combining the two, occasionally taking a risk, throwing big, adventurous swings that always land.

Like openers, ‘One Helluva Ride’ and ‘Holding On To Yesterday’, both taking off down the highway to hell, with bass heavy rhythms and high octane riffing fuelling a firing-on-all-six vocal.

But even the songs that break the self imposed rules impress.

Teaser track ‘Believe’, and ‘Matter Of The Heart’ veer off tangentially, going deep into the AOR zone.
Fittingly, ‘Guiding Light’ walks the middle ground like it belongs there, and ‘Broken Dreams’ follows a compelling symphonic rock path.

Two splendid slabs of pumping melodic hard rock, ‘My Blood’ and ‘Curtain Calls’ both arrive at the point where the Scandi melodic rock world embraces Canada’s Harem Scarem.

Odd man out, ‘The Rambler’ meets none of the definitions, building on a repetitive, acoustic guitar hook to make its mark.
Cranked up electric guitars add considerable rock drama, with lyrical nods to Kansas and Led Zeppelin leading to an epic climax, lyrically and musically.

All that said, ‘The Rambler’ aside, none of these songs is an instant classic.
Curtain Calls takes its time to insinuate its way inside.

And eventually, it does. ****

Review by Brian McGowan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: HARDLINE – Shout

HARDLINE - Shout

SPV/Steamhammer [Release date 17.04.26]

It’s some 34 years since Hardline’s classic album ‘Double Eclipse’ with a line-up that boasted Neal Schon in its ranks.

Whilst it might have seemed like a last gasp for hair metal in 1992, Hardline’s frontman Johnny Gioeli has kept the name (and the flame) burning. ‘Shout’ is a particularly strong addition to the back catalogue.

One of the issues facing this band is the changing personnel and ‘Shout’ sees the album arrival of Luca Princiotta on guitar joining one-time Frontiers house producer (also Eden’s Curse, Edge Of Forever) Alessandro Del Vecchio on keys, Ana Portalupi (bass), and Marco Di Salvia (drums). From a songwriting and production point of view it is Del Vecchio who sprinkles the fairy dust.

The album’s opening salvo (and title track) is one of the best things you’ll hear in melodic hard rock this year (or any year) Gioeli evidently inspired with renewed vigour and even Billy Idol-patented growls. “I Rise up…just shout” indeed.

The forward propulsion on this album is it’s main attraction and this continues with ‘Rise Up’ topped up with a typically purposeful Princiotta solo and the rocky ‘It Owns You’.

There’s even a killer ballad, the Scorpions cover ‘When You Came Into My Life’, featuring another impassioned vocal. It’s a bit like classic Winger. Half a star has to be docked for the inclusion of another, somewhat insipid, ballad ‘Glow’.

For an out and out rocker ‘Rise Above No Fear’ takes some beating whilst ‘Welcome To The Thunder’ may well be a natural gig opener as it pretty much sums up the nature of the current enterprise.

There is no doubt that some of the riffs and melodies will be redolent of something else but all is delivered with great traction and enthusiasm. There is also a bluesy swagger to some tracks that pushes Hardline into Whitesnake territory but House of Lords is another band that comes to mind.

There is no doubt, though, that ‘Shout’ is an irrepressible return to form, and former glories.

Hardline had to cancel some scheduled UK dates last November due to “visa issues” although they are currently touring in Europe. Let’s hope they return to Blighty, new album tucked firmly under their chains and leather, and play the damn thing in its entirety. ****1/2

Review by David Randall


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: LUKE JAMES WILLIAMS – Limes Hotel

lime

Bandcamp  [Release date 17.04.26]

Some people want to be Kiss, some people Queen, some, Kyle Minogue Marvin Gaye or Britney Spears, the list is endless, fame, fortune and formula with capitol F’s .But some people have no other choice than to put their art out into the universe as it first entered their heads. Cambridge born Luke James Williams is one of these artists, he just wants to be himself, as he declares on track five of this new album Limes Hotel – “Don’t be anyone else, don’t be afraid of yourself”.

This is such a unique, quirky and magnificently English collection of very original acoustic songs. Apparently he has been dubbed, The James Taylor of The Fens, which does a disservice to Luke in my mind. Literally from the start, you can tell it’s something different and special. Seconds into the first song the chord changes in the wrong place, then changes back again in the wrong place, but so in the right place too, it makes you sit up and listen. What have we here you think.

His pronunciation is quite Billy Bragg, with a tone of that chappy from The Arctic Monkeys, but that is about the only comparison you’ll get. The songs run through highs and lows. The wonderful self help lyrics of Knocking For Reasons, where he declares “its not my fault, and if I can convince myself of all of this all of this, all of the time I’ll be alright“, with a trombone boning away in the background It makes me want to skip down the street singing this at the top of my lungs, whilst engaging strangers to dance. But of course I’d be arrested, so I hope I can refrain from doing that.

The lows include Village Green, a heartbreaking song about the loss of a friend , with the opening line “It’s a sight no mother should see – a child lifeless amongst the leaves” Set to a lone strummed guitar, reminiscent of Lennon’s Working Class Hero, it really conveys the pain he and the mother feel. Clever stuff.

Elsewhere he covers the consumerism in us all (Milk And Medicine), greed (Full Moon), which features an amazing raga esque outro by Dear Wife, a Hertfordshire based folk singer. The last song, Hollows and Branches is a tribute to a friend who turned Luke on to the wonders of nature.

In his own words he says -“I hope this album shows a songwriter unafraid to lay bare and confront the questions and emotions that make us all human. I’m a big swirling mess of ugliness and beauty, light and dark, just trying to make sense of it all,”

“These songs have lived in my head for a long time, so I can’t wait to set them loose in the world for people to hear, interact with, and make their own. Especially at the moment, I hope the rawness of these songs acts as a bit of a salve for what’s going on in the world.”

Limes Hotel really is a unique album, and one which I have to keep listening to, even though it is out of my sphere of preference. It reminds me of days of my youth discovering new mystical artists like Kevin Ayers, Keith Christmas, and John Martyn. Not that he is like any of these artists although he may carry an essence of them all. And that is the fantastic thing about music – it keeps giving, even when you least expect it.

Luke is playing some live dates in May – see date sheet, and get out to see him if you like your music served alternatively. *****

Review by Andy Sharrocks

WEDNESDAY 6 MAY London, The Harrison

FRIDAY 8 MAY Sheffield, Mary Street Live

THURSDAY 14 MAY Coventry, LTB Showrooms

FRIDAY 15 MAY Bury, Wax & Beans

FRIDAY 12 JUNE J3, Cambridge Junction

THURSDAY 23 JULY Bishops Stortford, South Mill Arts

THURSDAY 27 – MONDAY 31 AUGUST The Great Vegan Gathering 2026, Gilwell Park, London

SATURDAY 5 SEPTEMBER Bellingham All Acoustic Music Festival 2026


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review : GENERATION RADIO – Take 2

Frontiers Music [Release date: 24.04.26]

“In the beginning of 2020, Generation Radio came together with the intent to form a band with a purpose — to bring classic 1980s rock back to life.”

So says the band’s website.

Formed by Jason (Chicago) Scheff and Jay (Rascall Flatts) DeMarcus (also producer), along with Chris Rodriguez, Tom Yankton and THE Steve Ferrone. On their self titled debut, the band largely succeeded in resurrecting a genre whose audience was still shrinking.

In reality, the follow up leans more into Country Rock than it does AOR.

Yes, there are few “AOR” covers… an anodyne version of Whitesnake’s ‘Here I Go Again’; a tame version of Chicago’s ‘You’re The Inspiration’, and a forgettable version of Kenny Loggin’s ‘It’s Alright’.

So far, so disappointing.

Eleven years ago the Guardian newspaper published an excoriating critique condemning Country Music’s lyrical reliance on cliché.

It’s changed a lot since then, but there still remains a thin line between poignant storytelling and tired tropes.

DeMarcus’s skill is in staying the right side of the line.

The album starts well. ‘Montana Sky’ is delivered with precision and poise. Jason Scheff gives Chicago a nod on this polished slice of classic Melodic Rock, meticulously rendered in a glossy, 3D production, much in the manner of the maestro, David Foster.

DeMarcus and the band win big with ‘The Melody’, a yearning country song, full of simple, slicked up sentiments weighted with the power of remembered moments.

‘Hate The Heart’ is up there too, connecting with the foundation that underpinned the best country rock down through the years.

It’s nearly outdone by ‘These Days’, a rejuvenated version of the old Rascal Flatts’ hit song. It wears it sentiments on its sleeve, walking a fine line. “the next thing you know, I’m reminiscing, dreaming old dreams, wishing you were back again”.

Elsewhere, the bittersweet romance of ‘Maybe Monday’ carries genuine emotion, and ‘Grass Is Greener’ is awash with the cool westcoast rock we associated with Steely Dan and Boz Scaggs.

And final flourish, ‘For A Soldier’ could easily have turned maudlin, but raises the stakes,  becoming the beating heart of the album, by telling its tale with unaffected honesty. ***1/2

Review by Brian McGowan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: JENNY COLQUITT – Pockets Full Of Rain

JENNY COLQUITT - A Pocketful Of Rain

Bandcamp [Release date 01.05.26]

Whatever else this album is, and it is many things, it is not Americana, which is what it is being promoted as. It is a pretty special collection of really well crafted songs delivered in a strong, warm and unforgettable contralto voice, with clever arrangements, and heartfelt lyrics, but it’s not Americana.

The first single off this album, which is already available, is a stand alone up beat song called ‘Peace Man’, which is like a cross between K T Tunstall and a whirling dervish, and that voice. It is based on something which happened to a close family member, and I can only guess that they were taken in a by a cult like Jesus freak, who turned out to be a scam. But I could be wrong. Whatever it is about, it is a real earworm song, and every time I listen I have to hear it at least twice more.

I say stand alone, as the rest of the album is slow to medium tempo, and holds an air of melancholy throughout. Beautiful, engaging melancholy, but melancholy nonetheless. Jenny holds notes which would have had Louis Walsh squirming in his chair, and saying “you are what this show is all about” back in the old X Factor days. It was one of these notes on ‘Kill The Silence’, which drew me into the whole album on first listening. Her voice is like a pure thing of radiance, a work of art in itself, going from really low notes, to a whispered falsetto in an instant.

It was whilst listening to ‘To Be Loved’ that I realized that her songs are like West End or Broadway show tunes, dripping in emotion and drama, delivered in a very eloquent English manner, with such a distinct voice. Yes I know I said it again, but what a voice, oops and again.

Ten tracks in all, starting with ‘All Of My Friends (Lonely)’. And finishing with ‘Pockets Full Of Rain’, and any song which starts with Jesus Christ as a cuss more than a declaration of faith has my vote. There is a thread of loss weaving it’s way throughout, accompanied by mostly piano-led arrangements, but this is a major part of this album’s allure. ****

Review by Andy Sharrocks

Friday 8 May 2026 St Mary’s Creative Space, St Mary’s Hill, Chester CH1 2DW
Saturday 9 May 2026 The Met, Market St, Bury BL9 0BW
Thursday 21 May 2026 Hare and Hounds, 106 High St, King’s Heath, Birmingham B14 7JZ
Friday 22 May 2026 Stables 2, Stockwell Ln, Wavendon, Milton Keynes MK17 8LU
Saturday 23 May 2026 The Star Inn, 2 Quarry St, Guildford GU1 3TY
Saturday 30 May 2026 The Philharmonic Music Room, Hope St, Liverpool L1 9BP
Wednesday 10 June 2026 The Fulford Arms, 121 Fulford Rd, York YO10 4EX
Thursday 11 June 2026 The Greystones, Greystones Rd, Sheffield S11 7BS


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Gig review: TYKETTO – 229 Club, London, 17 April 2026

TYKETTO - 229 Club, London, 17 April 2026

As frontman and founding member Danny Vaughn proudly boasted from the stage, Tyketto’s profile has unexpectedly increased some 35 years after their classic ‘Don’t Come Easy’ debut, with a European tour with Black Star Riders and a Masters of Rock cruise scheduled.

In all that time though the UK has been their happiest hunting ground (and a recruiting ground for a band where Brits now outnumber Americans three to two),  so it was no surprise to see a healthy crowd at the 229 venue for the London leg of an extensive tour, with a first new album to promote in nearly a decade, the truly excellent ‘Closer To The Sun’.

COLLATERAL - 229 Club, London, 17 April 2026

There were two support acts in tow starting with Collateral who have been on many similar bills over the past few years. They certainly had a lot of their own fans present and yet going on stage within 15 minutes of the doors opening, many were still filing in as they opened with ‘No Place For Love’, exploding into life with an AOR worthy chorus hook and ‘Glass Sky’, the band (now with a new drummer in Charlie Southard) showing how they have developed and become more musically interesting.

There is a Tyketto connection as charismatic singer Angelo Tristan reminded us Danny Vaughn had guested on ‘Midnight Queen’ when they re-recorded their first album, and the song with it’s mix of acoustic and electric guitar is plainly Tyketto influenced.

 COLLATERAL - 229 Club, London, 17 April 2026

For me the highlight of the set was the elegiac ballad ‘On The Long Road’, reminding me of Bryan Adams’ ‘Heaven’, and with a tasteful solo from Louis Malagodi, unshowy but highly effective on guitar. Half an hour rattled by as they finished with a couple of more out and out rockers from their debut in ‘Merry Go Round’ and ’Mr Big Shot’. It whetted my appetite to see a longer set before too long.

But the main support Warrior Soul appeared on the face of it unusual bedfellows on the bill. They share with Tyketto New York origins and a recording career that has stood the test of time since the early nineties, but fewer musical similarities. The amps appeared to have been turned up to 12, and a line up with three guitarists created an energetic and almost punkish wall of sound on the likes of ‘Love Destruction’ and ‘Love Is The Drug’.

 WARRIOR SOUL - 229 Club, London, 17 April 2026

Kory Clarke was perhaps the largest than life of the three extrovert, hirsute frontmen of the evening – sporting shades, a spangly jacket and fringed trousers, with stage moves pitched between Axl Rose and Iggy Pop. I have always struggled to cope though with his rough-edged voice which even when speaking had a chainsmoker’s type rasp to it.

There were also agit prop numbers like ‘The Party’, with its feedback strewn guitar solo and drawing comparisons somewhere between early Alice Cooper and Rage Against the Machine, and ‘The Fourth Reich’, both with political messages written many years ago and yet of fresh relevance today.

WARRIOR SOUL - 229 Club, London, 17 April 2026

‘The Losers’ was more commercial and had an excellent guitar solo, even if Kory’s vocals lacked the same smoothness, and I found myself enjoying the one song of theirs I really remember from the old days in ‘The Wasteland’, which got a bit of a clap along going.

Other than those two, being firmly of a softer musical persuasion, your melodic rock editor cannot pretend that he enjoyed the set. However, judging from a straw poll of T-shirts on view and the chatter overheard in the gents, there were plenty who did, which is all that matters.

TYKETTO - 229 Club, London, 17 April 2026

The band members of Tyketto took the stage before Danny Vaughn rushed in from the wings, competing with Kory Clarke in the fashion stakes in a black coat. Despite having their first album in ten years to promote – a fact which made him promise to record company folk present the next one wouldn’t be so long! –  the show started in reassuringly familiar fashion.

‘Rescue Me’ was followed by a pair from the holy trinity of the songs that open up ‘Don’t Come Easy’. ‘Wings’ boasted massive hooks and ‘who-oahs’ even after the chorus, and on the majestic ‘Burning Down Inside’, thankfully restored after being omitted from the last full UK tour, the 64 year old held some impressive long notes. On both numbers guitarist Harry Scott Elliott (another to join the unofficial hair contest of the evening!) excelled with the effortless fluency of his playing.

TYKETTO - 229 Club, London, 17 April 2026

The first new number in ‘Higher Than High’ had a bit of a bluesy feel, especially in the organ solo of the versatile Ged Rylands which segued into a guitar solo, and a touch of harmonica playing from Danny.

After ‘Strength in Numbers’ was dedicated to the loyalty of their fans, the title track of previous album ‘Reach’ featured the classic Tyketto sound where electric and Danny’s acoustic guitar work together, while helped by some fine backing vocals, especially from Ged, the title track of the new album soared majestically.

It was at moments like this that I appreciated what a skilled band of players are currently taking forward the Tyketto name, and that at times their mix of muscle, melody and intelligent arrangements was reminding me of peak UFO, one of the ultimate compliments in my book.

While too many bands only play the material that made them famous, the new album and nothing in between, ‘Reach’ was still represented with the tale of Danny’s Vietnam veteran relative in ‘The Run’ and ‘Circle the Wagons’, with a mass communal arm waving. Fists too were punching to new song ‘We Rise’ which Danny hoped fans would turn into an anthem.

TYKETTO - 229 Club, London, 17 April 2026

A cheeky snatch of Tears for Fears ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’ led into another debut classic with the trademark Tyketto sound in ‘Seasons’, before their cover of Roxette’s ‘Harleys And Indians’. It was one of my less favourite songs, yet still went down well and was niftily brought to a close by a spectacular harmonica solo by Danny.

It was back to a couple of contrasting classics in ‘Standing Alone’, a classic ballad not just musically but lyrically, and one over which Danny expressed his pride at writing a song that had meant so much to people; and the grooves of ‘Lay Your Body Down’, featuring band intros and a little solo slot for Chris Childs to showcase his bass playing which had been quality all night.

Danny’s between song chat all night had been full of pearls of acquired wisdom to the extent that when the music stops an alternative career as a motivational speaker beckons. Prior to closing with another new song in ‘The Brave’, he brought added meaning by describing how it was written in tribute to heroes who kept our communities going during Covid. Not only did I chuckle at this American anglophile’s reference to ‘Tesco’s’, but I cheered as he silenced one of the many people chuntering over him with a ‘be quiet dude, I’m talking!’.

TYKETTO - 229 Club, London, 17 April 2026

With a tight curfew, a set of well over 90 minutes only had room for one encore, but a fitting and inevitable one in ‘Forever Young’, one of melodic rock’s best ever anthems, even if people’s bodies (if not minds) are definitely not as young as when it emerged 35 years ago. But it was how good the present day Tyketto are that was my enduring memory of this marvellous evening.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Album review (Closer To The Sun, 2026)


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: SOMETHING FOR THE LONGING – Scottish Independent Pop 1985-1999 (3 CDs)

SOMETHING FOR THE LONGING - Scottish Independent Pop 1985-1999

Cherry Red [Release Date : 24.04.26]

Compiled by Scottish film director, cinematographer and writer, Grant McPhee, Something For The Longing is a deep dive into “Scottish Independent Pop”. A 15 year, widescreen snapshot taken as the 20th Century was coming to an end.

And if anyone has the credentials, it’s McPhee. It’s a natural migration from his 2024 book, “Postcards From Scotland”, in which he chronicles the radical transformation of Scotland’s independent music scene from 1983-1995. In itself the title is an echo of the influential indie label startup, Postcard Records, created by Edwyn Collins and Alan Horne.

Their ground breaking acts, Orange Juice and Aztec Camera, kickstarted the Scottish Indie revolution.

Logistics : 3 discs and 67 tracks (inc 4 unreleased), all compiled chronologically: Voluminous liner notes, including band biographies, short ‘n sweet summaries of each track, archival imagery and a sleevenote essay from McPhee.

Without meaning to trivialise the subject, it’s impossible to resist the temptation to list some of the more amusing band names, obviously designed to catch the eye. (it worked).

Biff, Bang, Pow: Christine’s Cat: Spare Snare: Lugworm: Trout: The Yummy Fur: Nostril (and their even better song, knowingly titled ‘Token Song About Foreign Politics”). There are more, but we’ll stop here.

Many of the bands took off as a result of appearing on the NME cassette, “C86”.

AI : “The term,C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a specific jangle pop and indie genre, characterized by melodic song structures and DIY ethics. The tape sold an estimated 40,000 copies, became the NME’s best-selling compilation, and inspired a week of gigs at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in July 1986.”

It gave Primal Scream, The Soup Dragons and The Shop Assistants, all three here on Postcards… a leg up. The Soup Dragons enjoyed a ten years career before disbanding, only to restart life in 2023.

The not so successful Shop Assistants still made their mark, culminating in two of their recordings being voted onto John Peel’s “Festive 50” in consecutive years.

Primal Scream have stayed in business since, releasing 12 albums, most recently the challenging ‘Come Ahead’ in 2024.

Plenty more bands here who made it nationally and internationally… The Jesus and Mary Chain, Mogwai, King Creosote, Belle And Sebastien, The Delgados, Arab Strap, BMX Bandits, The Orchids (whose single gave this compilation its title), Spirea X (A Primal Scream spinoff), The Vaselines, and more.

Heady times, as Scottish bands created a slice of pop music history, putting their names on the UK map, celebrating the inventive musical exploits of a nation punching well above its weight. *****

Review by Brian McGowan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review : CREYE – IV Aftermath

CREYE - IV Aftermath

Frontiers Music [Release date : 24.04.26]

Scandi band Creye hit their stride with their fourth album, Aftermath, delivering melodic rock of depth and width, polished, full of neat gearshifts, and verses as strong as the choruses, just about.

The fact that it’s self produced deserves an accolade or two. It’s a step up from their previous album, Weightless. It seems that the band’s founder, songwriter, guitarist, Andreas Gulstrand is proving himself to be something of a star at the studio mixing desk. Plus you get the distinct impression that the label has bumped up the production budget.

While the songwriting and production craft are impressive, Creye’s real trick is merging the past with the present, Aftermath captures a moment in time, when AOR became a cultural phenomenon, and combines it with the intense, pomp tinged sound of slick boybands of today, where each chorus is a dynamic, poppified force of nature.

‘Rust’ and ‘Glow’ are the more obvious examples, where AOR and contemporary pop walk a high wire between genres. The risk is worth it . . . they get the balance just right. Each is signed off with a euphoric axe solo that comes to an abrupt and rapturous end, like they’re giving themselves a round of applause.

The music is warm, high toned throughout, with just enough of a ragged edge to give it character and credibility.

Each track is solidly constructed within a guitar driven framework, with a few – like ‘Left In Silence’ and ‘Bad Romance’ – reaching for what Mark Mangold called “that awesome melodic moment”.

In turn spilling over into ‘Something Missing’ and ‘Through The Window’, the best songs that Harem Scarem never wrote. These will make you dig out Mood Swings. Again.

‘Aligned’ is a nice surprise, coming late in the running order, jolting us to attention with a declamatory, stadium filling pop song that insists we go back to track 1 and start again. Perfect ending. ****

Review by Brian McGowan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Gig review: ROBERT JON & THE WRECK – Academy 2, Manchester, 16 April 2026

ROBERT JON & THE WRECK - Academy 2, Manchester, 16 April 2026

All the way from Orange County California, Robert Jon And The Wreck pulled a near capacity Manchester crowd, who were eager to be entertained.

They started with ‘The Devil Is Your Only Friend’, but I think Manchester could be added to that short list of friends. This was followed by ‘Blame It On The Whiskey’, and ‘Back to The Beginning Again’, after which, Robert Jon made an announcement – it was keyboard player, Jake Abernathie’s birthday. I have seen a few birthday announcements in my gigging past, including a stripper for Spike of The Quireboys, which I had taken my 10 year old son to, but I have never seen an entire crowd sing ‘Happy Birthday’. They didn’t have to be asked twice.

ROBERT JON & THE WRECK - Academy 2, Manchester, 16 April 2026

This enthusiastic reaction seemed to stoke their fire , as they launched into ‘Sitting Pretty’, ‘Highway’ and ‘Better Of Me’, which was a personal favourite of the night, followed closely by ‘Keep Myself Clean’, which was next on the list.

Following was current single ‘Bring Me Back Home Again’ off their forthcoming album. Next was ‘Rescue Train’, and then an old favourite ‘Oh Miss Carolina’, which prompted the audience into singing along with the hook line with great gusto, and delight of the band.

ROBERT JON & THE WRECK - Academy 2, Manchester, 16 April 2026

They finished on ‘Cold Night’ which featured a guitar/keyboard dual of extreme dexterity from both parties, being Henry James and birthday boy Jake Abernathie. The band was completed by Andrew Espantman and Warren Murrel on bass and drums.

ROBERT JON & THE WRECK - Academy 2, Manchester, 16 April 2026

This was a great varied tempo set by the band, but, and I have to say this, it was marred by the sound, and as they were playing through a house rig, a custom built L-Acoustics system, I don’t think there was any excuse for the muddy sound which was presented.

There was some amazing playing and grooves throughout, but the drums weren’t cutting through, the keyboards were mostly lost in the mix, and when Henry James was playing his widdly widdly parts , which was often, it was set to a background of mid-frequency mush, which was a shame as you could see the drummer accenting a lot of Henry’s playing.

Still, the band gave their all, and the crowd lapped up their all. They came they played they conquered, which is what it’s all about really isn’t it.

Review by Andy Sharrocks
Photos by Mark Powell

ROBERT JON & THE WRECK - UK Tour (April 2026)


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Gig review: SKINDRED – O2 Academy, Oxford, 17 April 2026

SKINDRED - O2 Academy, Oxford, 17 April 2026

Skindred released their new album, ‘You Got This’, and their ninth overall, on the same day as they played this sold out gig in Oxford. So good to see that for once at a gig I was at the older end of scale, as the ages ranged from eight to sixty plus. Skindred’s music transcends age and any other barriers thrown in their path, as their music is like sunshine and happiness all in one, with serious messages scattered throughout their lyrics.

Support band Arimea hail from just down the road in Wantage and are fronted by Whitney Cooper, who varied between melodic metal singing through to some growling vocals – Arch Enemy spring to mind. The guitarist looked like he had dropped out of Rush in their 70′s pomp but boy he was proper metal shredder when needed!

Back when the likes of Slipknot and Linkin Park first appeared on the scene they never caught my attention much, however, now Linkin Park are a regular on the playlists and Arimea reminded me of a updated nu metal with screamo bits! Impressed by tonight’s set and already signed up for their mailing list and following them on their socials. Worth a listen and look into.

Not been to many gigs in my forty plus years of gigging that has the crowd singing out and bouncing around to Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ before the headliner has even set foot on the stage. Indeed, it takes a band confident in both themselves and their fans, to start their set with a full airing of the AC/DC classic ‘Thunderstruck’ and ‘The Imperial March’ (from ‘Star Wars’).

Benji Webbe is a whirlwind of energy, getting the crowd going at every opportunity right from the off with ‘This is the Sound’ of their new album. This leads neatly into ‘Set Fazers’, and ‘Rat Race’, which includes an a cappella section of Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’. It sounds on paper like a strange mix but it works! Further proof is when the band break into a bit of ‘Back in Black’ during ‘Pressure’. Needless to say the packed crowd were loving every minute of it!

What’s not to love about ‘That’s My Jam’? A perfect example of Skindred’s ragga metal sound. Benji even segues into Skindred Radio 01633 midway through the song into Van Halen’s ‘ Jump’ (complete with him on a mini-keyboard held by a roadie) and House of Pain’s ‘Jump Around’.

Benji must go though more hats and wardrobe changes than a panto dame and he never missed a cue. Credit to the rest of the band, namely guitarist Mikey Demus, drummer Arya Goggin and bassist Tommy Gleeson (last seen in fellow Newport band Feeder), who help to create the Skindred sound.

The set fair gallops along with the title track of the new album, ‘You Got This’, closely followed by ‘Kill the Power’, which lifts the crowd to another level. A powerful song when performed live.

The new album’s feelgood single ‘Can I Get A’ should by rights be topping charts worldwide as the chorus is so damn catchy and puts a big smile on your face.

The intense ‘Nobody’ sees the set finish on a high. One of the band’s defining songs and a perfect way to finish the main set.

Skindred come back onto the stage and launch into ‘Gimme That Boom’, and yes, Benji had time for another change of coat and headwear! He then led the crowd into a heartfelt Ozzy tribute getting the crowd to sing ‘War Pigs’.

Seems there is only one way to finish a Skindred set and that is with ‘Warning’, or has it become, the Newport helicopter theme! The Newport helicopter sees the crowd twirl items of clothing around their heads, but only when Benji gives the say so!

Honestly one of the best gigs I have ever been to, as Skindred brought the tunes, the fans brought their energy and it was good times all around. Benji has always said he wants people to come to have the best possible time at a Skindred show and mission accomplished in Oxford tonight.

Review by Jason Ritchie


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review : JACK BRUCE – Halfway To The Stars – The Recordings 2001-2003 (5 CD Boxset)

JACK BRUCE - Halfway To The Stars - The Recordings 2001-2003

Cherry Red [Release date : 24.04.26]

Shadows In The Air (2001)
More Jack Than God (2003)
Live At The Milky Way part 1 (2001, with the Cuicoland Express)
Live At The Milky Way part 2 (2001, with the Cuicoland Express)
Live At The Canterbury Fayre (Blu-ray, 2002, with the Cuicoland Express)

Voted as one of the world’s Top Ten Bassists by Rolling Stone magazine, and frequently recruited to back leading artists, yet Glasgow boy Jack Bruce and his music always seems to have been made in a world within a world. And we’re on the outside looking in.

Maybe that was as much down to his choice of lyricists, primarily Pete Brown, whose counter culture beat poetry was laced with unconventional imagery. “Silver horses run down moonbeams in your dark eyes” from ‘White Room’. Who else but Brown?

Bruce’s duo of “solo” albums, Shadows in The Air and More Jack Than God at the beginning of the new millennium have gained a significant reputation over the years.

To Pete Brown, Bruce had added New York native and famed producer, Kip Hanrahan to the writing team. Hanrahan possessed a long and distinguished career in the jazz world, as a composer and producer. Brown was in good company.

Across the two albums, each song writing duo (usually Bruce plus one) continually prove themselves to possess the rare ability of creating confident, multi ethnic music with a narrative thrust. Music with wide appeal… Hanrahan’s fluency within that idiom was invaluable in the recruitment of talent for both of these albums, and their spicy Latin American flavours.

The higher profile material from Bruce’s past got another moment in the sun, ‘Out Into The Fields’ from his Bruce, West, Laing recordings, plus ‘Sunshine Of Your Love’, ‘White Room’, ‘I Feel Free’ and ‘Politician’, four from the Cream era, still sounding fresh in this intoxicating musical environment.

Equally impressive, guest players included Eric Clapton, Dr.John, Gary Moore and Vernon (Living Color) Reid.

Live, the ensemble upped the ante. The Cuicoland Express players – Congas, accordions, a brass section and more all conspired to convert the songs from the two studio albums into live art.

But by creating complexity, the music – especially on Live At The Milky Way – crowds in on itself and sometimes overstays its welcome. Only ‘Windowless Rooms’ and ‘Surge’ emerge with any real credit.

On the ‘…Canterbury Fayre’ live recording, streamlined versions of the same songs work so much better. The melodic twists and ear catching hooks, buried at the Milky Way gig, make their way easily to the surface, obviously and loudly appreciated by a vocal audience. See it all on Blu-ray.

Informative and colourful liner notes guide us through the assembly of the band and the recording process. The important details are contained in music journalist and author, Paul Sexton’s vibrant prose.

All in all a fitting testimonial to the late, great Jack Bruce. ****

Review by Brian McGowan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: ELEGANT WEAPONS – Evolution

ELEGANT WEAPONS - Evolution

Exciter Records [Release date 24.04.26]

Album number two from Elegant Weapons, the band formed around Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner and vocalist Ronnie Romero (Rainbow, MSG), with bassist Dave Rimmer (Uriah Heep), and drummer Christopher Williams (Accept) making their recording debut with the band. Fellow Judas Priest member Andy Sneap again handles production duties.

“This record represents growth in every sense,” said Richie Faulkner. “When the four of us come together, we sound like Elegant Weapons. We’ve spent time on the road, we’ve developed a chemistry, and you can hear that evolution in the performances. I’m proud of what we’ve built, and I’m excited to begin this next chapter with Exciter Records.”

‘Evil Eyes’ is what we can now call a typical Elegant Weapons tune – melodic metal with plenty of pace and guitar. The lead single ‘Bridges Burn’ treads a similar musical path and is one heck of a catchy slab of melodic metal.

The band’s take on the evils of social media ‘Generation Me’ has a Sabbath swagger about it. Ronnie Romero is the perfect fit for this type of metal.

There is a ballad too, in the bluesy ‘Come Back to Me’ where Richie shows off the blues side of his playing and Adam Wakeman pops up to add some tasty Hammond organ backing.

Rising star Jared James Nichols duels guitar solos with Richie on ‘Thrown to the Wolves’, a proper old school hard rocker. There is plenty of air guitar action to be had on this one!

The instrumental ‘Rupture’ loosely inspired by Faulkner’s open-heart surgery in 2021 and you can hear a heartbeat rhythm at the song’s start. Proof that Elegant Weapons have more to their musical armoury that just melodic metal.

Adam Wakeman guests on the album’s epic track, ‘Keeper of the Keys’, with a grandiose keys intro to complement the guitar solo. Wakeman also sees out the song with some more classy playing.

Credit to Dave Rimmer Christopher Williams who keep the rhythms watertight throughout the album.

Elegant Weapons find their sound on album number two, and they are perfect for those after a hard rock meets metal fix. A band in the proper sense that records and tours together, Elegant Weapons are on the up and up. ****

Review by Jason Ritchie


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: LONG DISTANCE CALLING – The Phantom Void

LONG DISTANCE CALLING The Phantom Void

earMUSIC [Release date 10.04.26]

Long Distance Calling have been around for some twenty years now and this, their ninth studio album continues their predominantly wordless approach to story telling. The core of the group remains unchanged with David Jordan and Florian Füntmann on guitars, Jan Hoffman on bass and Janosch Rathmer on drums.

There’s no doubt that trying to nail down a storyline, without much in the way of lyrics, can be a challenge for the listener but, over time and after several listens, the seven tracks that make up The Phantom Void draw you in and the lack of lyrical guidance becomes less and less of an issue.

I must confess to a modicum of doubt here and I approached this review with a degree of scepticism but, I have to hold my hands up and admit my fears were mostly unfounded. The Phantom Void rocks and there is no doubt that the German sonic craftsman master their task most effectively, delivering an impressively powerful album.

And, what strikes you immediately is that the musicianship on display here is exemplary, as the fourpiece meld and mold the soundscapes they produce to conjure up the loosely conceptual theme of dreams; where they come from, what they mean and how they pull you into a sometimes sinister world of doubt and fear.

Opening track, ‘Mare’ is a scene setting overture, building the cinematic tension with a demonic voice leading into a countdown ahead of track two, ‘The Spiral’. Throughout the whole album there are comparisons to be made across a vast spectrum of musical identities and here, while we begin with an electronic influence reminiscent of, for example, recent Steven Wilson releases, the track soon morphs into a ballsy heavy rock workout with arpeggiated guitars symbolising the downward fall into a deep, dark underworld.

Next up, ‘A Secret Place’ is perhaps the most uplifting track on the album, atmospheric instrumentation again defining the sense of wandering through unfamiliar territory of the dream world before Rathmer’s drums drive the sound through a metal infused interlude.

‘Nocturnal’ is mostly pure bonkers speed rock, an insistent downward running guitar riff anchoring the theme, while the more reserved middle section would not be out of place in the world of Polish prog rockers, Riverside. Title track, ‘The Phantom Void’ begins relatively calmly before, once again picking up the pace with several dynamic changes throughout and lead guitar picking out the melody.

Penultimate track, ‘Shattered’ is perhaps the least effective, least adventurous, part of the musical narrative for me yet and, while it still holds your attention it merely signposts the way to the closing track, ‘Sinister Companion’. Here, in the longest track on the album everything works to perfection, the atmosphere building to a climactic finale.

Aside from the remarkable playing, the production and mix are outstanding, the latter in particular, with instruments allowed the space to breathe and envelop the listener, nothing is shoehorned in or over emphasised. Interestingly, repeated listens lead to varying interpretations, the beauty perhaps of no words to lead you to definite conclusions, as your own mood and feelings at the time you are listening mean there can be subtle changes to your own psyche. It is incredibly clever stuff.

Fans of the band and the overall genre will definitely be impressed while casual listeners are encouraged to have a listen, they may well be surprised by what they hear. ****

Review by Neil Pudney


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review : URIAH HEEP – Beautiful Dream, The Recordings 1975-77 (4CDs)

URIAH HEEP - Beautiful Dream, The Recordings 1975-77

Cherry Red [Release date 24.04.26]

Return To Fantasy (1975)
High And Mighty (1976)
Firefly (1977)
Innocent Victim (1977)

Cherry Red’s latest Uriah Heep boxset, Beautiful Dream, is essentially a follow up to their Shadow And The Wind set released last year, which included reissues of Sweet Freedom and Wonderworld, their sixth and seventh album releases, 1973 and 1974.

Bringing out their eighth album, Return To Fantasy, only 5 years after the debut was the very definition of prolific.

And this was against a backdrop of significant lineup changes. Few seventies’ rock bands were able to withstand these sudden assaults on their equilibrium.
Yet others – like Uriah Heep – seemed to thrive on it.

This boxset is the perfect demonstration.

Over the course of these 4 albums they substituted John Wetton and David Byron with Trevor Boulder and John Lawton, adding them to the rock solid core of Mick Box, Ken Hensley and Lee Kerslake.

This blend brought fresh energy while continuing to provide seasoned performances and sharp songwriting.

A previous reissue of Return To Fantasy was reviewed by GRTR! in 2023. Joe Geesin noted that it continued the band’s “exploration of hard rock”, and that they had gone on to “open some shows in 2000 with the glorious title track, at his suggestion, after a meeting with Mick Box at a promo event earlier that year.” Wise words indeed.

The band’s commercial traction saw a marked improvement with Return… propelling them into the UK Top Ten album chart.

No surprise then that High and Mighty climbed onto the slightly more accessible hard rock wagon, but unfortunately lost direction half way through.

The music media condemned H&M as an album of diminishing returns. And they had a point.

Side 1 had the magnificent classic rock of ‘One Way Or Another’ and ‘Midnight’, Side 2 labours in the shadow of Return To Fantasy.

Firefly and Innocent Victim introduced wary fans to the vocals of new man, John Lawton. His rich tenor immediately boosted standouts like ‘Free Me’ and ‘Who Needs Me’ into their consciousness. The band’s sound was fresh and vital once again.

And again, the label has sought and found a bunch of bonus tracks.

7 bonus tracks on CD1, 8 on CD2, 8 on CD3 and 6 on CD4.

B sides, live versions, new edits, demos, alt versions and so on.

If this isn’t value for money I don’t know what is. ****

Review by Brian McGowan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: XTASY – Phoenix

XTASY - Phoenix

Art of Melody Music / Burning Minds Music Groups [Release date 10.04.26]

Now here’s a thing. Melodic rock that’s not from Scandinavia! Spain’s Xtasy formed in 2011 and have been building a following in their home country and in Continental Europe. But, wait, Swedish melodic maestro Erik Martensson(Eclipse) is credited as a co-writer so we are not totally out of the woods. He also mixed and mastered the album.

Whatever, their fourth studio album ‘Phoenix’ is driven by the fiery vocals of Silvia Idoate and the guitaring of Jorge Olloqui and Carles Salse.

This is evident on ‘Good Enough’ and ‘Carry On’: Plenty of good choruses and shredding as if Grunge never happened in the 1990s when it put paid to errant hair metallers. ‘If I Fall’ and ‘Time We Won’t Forgot’ are the strongest tracks although the latter re-purposes Queensryche-esque stylings.

Phil Berisford reviewed the band’s debut in 2014 for GRTR! and wrote “To my ears most of the songs suffer from similar problems – the vocals are not clear in the mix and also heavily accented, the drumming is very basic and the songs are just not good enough.” Evidently even Martensson – also involved in the production – couldn’t sprinkle enough fairy dust. Berisford confined the album to his attic.

Things have moved on but I have to be honest – a decade or so later – there’s nothing here that you haven’t heard before in this genre, indeed it could almost be melodic hard rock by numbers. I mean how familiar does ‘No One Like You’ sound from intro to chorus? The album is also too same-paced throughout.

But, it is executed with some panache and deserves a positive audience, especially from those who bemoan the passing of the mullet. ***1/2

Review by David Randall


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio




David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 19 April 2026.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 14 April 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 27 April 2026

SELF-DECEPTION Don’t Belong (Napalm Records)
THE DEVIL WEARS NADA Elephant In The Room (Eonian Records)
blacktoothed Monsters (Arising Empire)
BANKS ARCADE Severance (Arising Empire)
SULLY ERNA & BILLY MORRISON Becoming (TLG/Zoid)
SWEET GORILLA Give Them What They Want (5000 Records)
EMILY WOLFE Lips (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 27 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)


Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings.  The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.


Recent (last 30 days)


Album review: W.A.S.P. – s/t

wasp

Madfish Record label Madfish have been working some of the early W.A.S.P. catalogue, including The Savage 7 CD boxset. Here is the band’s 1984 debut and in line with all the other Madfish releases I’ve encountered, it screams quality. Screams … Continue reading

Album review: W.A.S.P. – s/t

wasp

Madfish Record label Madfish have been working some of the early W.A.S.P. catalogue, including The Savage 7 CD boxset. Here is the band’s 1984 debut and in line with all the other Madfish releases I’ve encountered, it screams quality. Screams … Continue reading

Album review : FRONTLINE – Rebirth

Frontline 150 Rebirth image

Frontiers [Release date : 15.05.26] Calling your new album Rebirth, 20 years after your last release, seems quite an understatement. But still, Frontline wade back out confidently into melodic rock’s fast flowing waters. Many have attempted the same kind of … Continue reading

Gig review: CATS IN SPACE- Half Moon, Putney, London, 26 April 2026

CATS IN SPACE- Half Moon, Putney, London, 26 April 2026

In January 2016, having just released an album in ‘Too Many Gods’ and begun to attract attention for its seventies inspired, yet original, songwriting, Cats in Space made their live debut at the Half Moon at Putney, which I was … Continue reading

Gig review: LIGHTNING THREADS – The Half Moon, Putney, 3 May 2026

lt

The recently refurbished Half Moon welcomed a Sheffield based double header over the bank holiday weekend with headliners, Lightning Threads, backed up by The Fargo Railroad Co. Fargo are something else! Their light hearted but infectious take on Southern Country … Continue reading

Gig review: WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

WINGS OF AOR FESTIVAL- Arbis, Norrkoping, Sweden, 24-25 April 2026

The status of Scandinavia as the spiritual home of melodic rock is reflected not just in the volume of bands there, but an increasing number of festivals dedicated to, or featuring a goodly number of, melodic acts. When a new … Continue reading

Album review : VON GROOVE – Born To Rock

VON GROOVE 150 Born image

Frontiers Music [Release date : 15.05.26] There can be few more explosive opening tracks than Von Groove’s ‘Once Is Not Enough’ from their self titled debut, 1992. 30 years later : they’ve got the band back together – Michael Shotton, … Continue reading

Single review: PARKER BARROW – Blinded

pb

Blinded is taken from Parker Barrow’s forthcoming album Hold The Mash, and you’d be forgiven for thinking you were listening to a new Stones single with the opening riff, as guitarist Alex Bender says the riff was given life as … Continue reading

Album review : JOHN CORABI – A New Day

JOHN 150 CORABI New Day image

Frontiers Music [Release date : 24.04.26] John Corabi is the ex man…ex Motley Crue, ex Ratt, ex Brides Of Destruction but not yet ex frontman of The Dead Daisies, a band with a greater membership turnover than Deep Purple. There’s … Continue reading

Album review: LADY MAISERY AND JIMMY ALDRIDGE & SID GOLDSMITH – Wakefire

Lady Maisery and Jimmy Aldridge and Sid Goldsmith - Wakefire: A Summer Album

Bandcamp [Release date 01.05.26] After several years delighting audiences with their wintertime project Awake Arise, the folk supergroup of Lady Maisery (Hannah James, Rowan Rheingans & Hazel Askew) and Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith, have joined forces again to celebrate … Continue reading

News: SKINDRED, THE ROLLING STONES, BURNING ROPE (May 2026)

fmnov

Accept celebrate 50 years with a new release, ‘Teutonic Titans 1976–2026‘ due on September 4 via Napalm Records. Guests on the album include Kirk Hammett, Rob Halford, Tobias Forge, KK Downing, Chris Jericho and more. The Alarm’s final album, ‘Transformation’, originally scheduled … Continue reading

Album review : DEGREED – Curtain Calls

DEGREED - Curtain Calls

Frontiers [Release date 24.04.26] Eighth full length album from respected Swedish Hard Rock band, Degreed…Robin Eriksson, Mats Eriksson, Mikael Blanc and Daniel Johansson. Their sound is impossible to categorise. Is it toughened up AOR, melodic hard rock, metallised hard rock … Continue reading

Album review: HARDLINE – Shout

HARDLINE - Shout

SPV/Steamhammer [Release date 17.04.26] It’s some 34 years since Hardline’s classic album ‘Double Eclipse’ with a line-up that boasted Neal Schon in its ranks. Whilst it might have seemed like a last gasp for hair metal in 1992, Hardline’s frontman … Continue reading

Album review: LUKE JAMES WILLIAMS – Limes Hotel

LUKE JAMES WILLIAMS - Limes Hotel

Bandcamp  [Release date 17.04.26] Some people want to be Kiss, some people Queen, some, Kyle Minogue Marvin Gaye or Britney Spears, the list is endless, fame, fortune and formula with capitol F’s .But some people have no other choice than … Continue reading

Album review : GENERATION RADIO – Take 2

GENERATION 150  Radio image

Frontiers Music [Release date: 24.04.26] “In the beginning of 2020, Generation Radio came together with the intent to form a band with a purpose — to bring classic 1980s rock back to life.” So says the band’s website. Formed by … Continue reading

Album review: JENNY COLQUITT – Pockets Full Of Rain

JENNY COLQUITT - A Pocketful Of Rain

Bandcamp [Release date 01.05.26] Whatever else this album is, and it is many things, it is not Americana, which is what it is being promoted as. It is a pretty special collection of really well crafted songs delivered in a … Continue reading

Gig review: TYKETTO – 229 Club, London, 17 April 2026

TYKETTO- 229 Club, London, 17 April 2026

As frontman and founding member Danny Vaughn proudly boasted from the stage, Tyketto’s profile has unexpectedly increased some 35 years after their classic ‘Don’t Come Easy’ debut, with a European tour with Black Star Riders and a Masters of Rock … Continue reading

Album review: SOMETHING FOR THE LONGING – Scottish Independent Pop 1985-1999 (3 CDs)

something 150 for_the_longing_blue-1

Cherry Red [Release Date : 24.04.26] Compiled by Scottish film director, cinematographer and writer, Grant McPhee, Something For The Longing is a deep dive into “Scottish Independent Pop”. A 15 year, widescreen snapshot taken as the 20th Century was coming … Continue reading

Album review : CREYE – IV Aftermath

CREYE IV 150 Aftermath image

Frontiers Music [Release date : 24.04.26] Scandi band Creye hit their stride with their fourth album, Aftermath, delivering melodic rock of depth and width, polished, full of neat gearshifts, and verses as strong as the choruses, just about. The fact … Continue reading

Gig review: ROBERT JON & THE WRECK – Academy 2, Manchester, 16 April 2026

RJTW_photo by Mark Powell (25)

All the way from Orange County California, Robert Jon And The Wreck pulled a near capacity Manchester crowd, who were eager to be entertained. They started with ‘The Devil Is Your Only Friend’, but I think Manchester could be added … Continue reading

Gig review: SKINDRED – O2 Academy, Oxford, 17 April 2026

skindred

Skindred released their new album, ‘You Got This’, and their ninth overall, on the same day as they played this sold out gig in Oxford. So good to see that for once at a gig I was at the older … Continue reading

Album review : JACK BRUCE – Halfway To The Stars – The Recordings 2001-2003 (5 CD Boxset)

jack 150 bruce-stars_cover

Cherry Red [Release date : 24.04.26] Shadows In The Air (2001) More Jack Than God (2003) Live At The Milky Way part 1 (2001, with the Cuicoland Express) Live At The Milky Way part 2 (2001, with the Cuicoland Express) … Continue reading

Album review: ELEGANT WEAPONS – Evolution

ELEGANT WEAPONS - Evolution

Exciter Records [Release date 24.04.26] Album number two from Elegant Weapons, the band formed around Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner and vocalist Ronnie Romero (Rainbow, MSG), with bassist Dave Rimmer (Uriah Heep), and drummer Christopher Williams (Accept) making their recording … Continue reading

Album review: LONG DISTANCE CALLING – The Phantom Void

LONG DISTANCE CALLING The Phantom Void

earMUSIC [Release date 10.04.26] Long Distance Calling have been around for some twenty years now and this, their ninth studio album continues their predominantly wordless approach to story telling. The core of the group remains unchanged with David Jordan and … Continue reading

Album review : URIAH HEEP – Beautiful Dream, The Recordings 1975-77 (4CDs)

URIAH 150 HEEP Beautiful Dream

Cherry Red [Release date 24.04.26] Return To Fantasy (1975) High And Mighty (1976) Firefly (1977) Innocent Victim (1977) Cherry Red’s latest Uriah Heep boxset, Beautiful Dream, is essentially a follow up to their Shadow And The Wind set released last … Continue reading

Album review: XTASY – Phoenix

XTASY - Phoenix

Art of Melody Music / Burning Minds Music Groups [Release date 10.04.26] Now here’s a thing. Melodic rock that’s not from Scandinavia! Spain’s Xtasy formed in 2011 and have been building a following in their home country and in Continental … Continue reading