Tag Archives: album

Album review: BLIND RIVER – Made Of Dirt

Posted on May 27, 2020 by jason

Bandcamp [Release date 25.05.20] The New Wave of Classic Rock is a movement that has captured both old fans and new alike, its concentration on hard rock and heavy metal that’s full of power and melody says much about desire … Continue reading →

Album review: VANDENBERG – 2020

Posted on May 25, 2020 by andynathan

Mascot Records [Release Date 29.05.20] Best known for a long if chequered stint in Whitesnake, before that guitarist Adrian Vandenberg led his own band through three albums in the eighties. Now he has revived the name and iconic logo, though … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged Adrian Vandenberg, album, melodic rock, review, Ronnie Romero, Vandenberg, Whitesnake | Leave a comment

Album review: DION – Blues With Friends

Posted on May 24, 2020 by jason

Keeping The Blues Alive Records [Release date 05.06.20] Dion Francis Dimucci is a genuine legend of modern popular music culture. Scoring no fewer than thirty-nine Top 40 hits running from the late 1950’s to the mid 1960’s, including the classics … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Billy Gibbons, blues, Blues With Friends, Bruce Springsteen, Dion, Jeff Beck, Joe Bonamassa, review, rock | Leave a comment

Album review: TROY REDFERN – Island

Posted on May 24, 2020 by petefeenstra

Self release [Release date: 22.05.20] Troy Redfern’s ‘Island’ may well be his best work yet. It’s an atmospheric nuanced album full of vacillating emotions and material that he might not have envisaged writing a few months ago. It’s a splendid … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged Aaron Gardner, acoustic, album, Americana, blues, David Gilmour, Island, John Fahey, Resonator guitar, review, rock, roots, Ry Cooder, slide guitar, Son House, Sonny Landreth, The Band, Troy Redfern, Wout Steenhuis | Leave a comment

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

Posted on May 22, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

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

Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES | Tagged album, feature, Ghosts Of Love, Gilly darbey, John Acock, Kevin Donnelly, Nick Magnus, Nothing By Chance, pop, review, singer, soft rock, songwriter | Leave a comment

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

Posted on May 22, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

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

Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES | Tagged 1991, album, Celtic, folk, fusion, Hugh Mckenna, John Hackett, Mae McKenna, Mirage And Reality, review, singer, soft rock, songwriter, Steve Hackett | Leave a comment

Album review: KANSAS – All Just Dust In The Wind The Legendary Broadcast

Posted on May 21, 2020 by jason

Coda Records Ltd (blue vinyl) This beautiful release (I’ll call it that because it’s great to look at and even better to listen to) features US rock band Kansas at their peak. Coda Records have been doing a fine job … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, All Just Dust In The Wind The Legendary Broadcast, classic rock, Kansas, live, pomp rock, prog rock, progressive, review, Steve Walsh | Leave a comment

Album review: THUNDERSTICK – Something Wicked This Way Came, Live In France

Posted on May 21, 2020 by jason

Indie [Release date 20.03.20] Thunderstick the man is a drummer who, having already played with Iron Maiden in their early daze, made his name replacing Clive Burr in Samson. As the masked and caged mad man, and a bloody good … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, INTERVIEWS, Interviews/10 Questions, Interviews/Rock Stars | Tagged album, drummer, interview, Iron Maiden, Live In France, metal, NWOBHM, review, rock, Samson, Something Wicked This Way Came, Thunderstick | Leave a comment

Album review: ONE DESIRE – Midnight Empire

Posted on May 20, 2020 by andynathan

Frontiers Records (Release date 22.05.20) Three years ago young Finns One Desire suddenly emerged with a very impressive first album which made many people’s end of year melodic rock lists. It has taken a long time but they hope to … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Andre Linman, AOR, Jimmy Westerlund, melodic rock, One Desire | Leave a comment

Album review: DENNIS DE YOUNG – 26 East, Volume 1

Posted on May 19, 2020 by andynathan

Frontiers Records (Release Date 22.05.20) This album marks a welcome rock comeback for former Styx singer Dennis De Young. For much of the time either side of his departure from the band he seemed more interested in Broadway inspired or … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, AOR, Dennis De Young, Jim Peterik, Julian Lennon, melodic rock, Styx | Leave a comment

Album review: SHAPE OF THE RAIN – Rily Riley Wood & Waggett (Deluxe Edition)

Posted on May 19, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Grapefruit [Release date: 24.04.20] Deep catalogue but worth the wait is this welcome reissue of an unjustly-neglected little diamond dogged by ill fortune. Signing to emergent imprint Neon back in 1971 probably seemed a good plan given it was run … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues | Tagged album, pop, review, Rily Riley Wood & Waggett, rock, Shape Of the Rain | Leave a comment

Album review: FM – Synchronized

Posted on May 18, 2020 by andynathan

Frontiers Records [Release Date 22.05.20] It’s now a whole decade since FM returned to stay with their comeback album ‘Metropolis’. Though from time to time they look back, rerecording ‘Indiscreet’ and most recently celebrating ‘Tough It Out’s anniversary on the … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, AOR, FM, Jem Davis, Jim Kirkpatrick, melodic rock, Steve Overland | Leave a comment

Album review: DEF LEPPARD – From London to Vegas

Posted on May 17, 2020 by jason

Eagle Rock [Release date 29.05.20] The geewhizz numbers are overwhelming…twenty billion albums sold. Ok, an exaggeration, but the Def Leppard stats come at you so fast and ferocious that it’s genuinely impossible to absorb the enormity of what this UK … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, DVD REVIEWS | Tagged album, classic rock, concert, Def Leppard, DVD, Eagle Rock, From London To Vegas, Joe Elliot, live, melodic rock, review, rock | Leave a comment

Album review: THE ROCKET DOLLS – The Art of Disconnect

Posted on May 17, 2020 by jason

Website [Release date 01.05.20] The Rocket Dolls are Nikki Smash (vocals, guitars), Joe Constable (bass, backing vocals) and Benji Knopfler (drums), back with their new album which was another affected by the PledgeMusic crisis. Undeterred, the Rocket Dolls re-launched the … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, grunge, modern rock, Nikki Smash, punk, review, rock, Rocket Dolls, The Art of Disconnect | Leave a comment

Album review: LETTUCE – Resonate

Posted on May 16, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Round Hill Records [Digital release date 08.05.20] I have to declare at the outset that I have a soft spot for jazz funk. After a decade of prog and classic rock buying, in the late-1970s and 1980s I turned my … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, funk, fusion, instrumental, jazz funk, Lettuce, Resonate, review | Leave a comment

Album review: THESE WICKED RIVERS – Eden

Posted on May 16, 2020 by jason

Rock People Records [Release date 22.05.20] These Wicked Rivers have released a couple of EPs to date and now are set to unleash their full debut album upon the musical world. These Wicked Rivers consist of John Hartwell (vocals, guitar), … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, blues rock, classic rock, debut, Eden, review, rock, The Cult, These Wicked Rivers | Leave a comment

Album review: SPARKS – A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip

Posted on May 15, 2020 by jason

BMG [Release date digital 15.05.20; physical 03.07.20] There are not many artists that have been going for over fifty years and still regularly tour and release good new music, and Sparks are one of those few. Their last album, 2017’s … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, BMG, pop, quirky pop, review, Ron Mael, Russell Mael, snyth pop, SPARKS | Leave a comment

Album review: PAUL SABU – Sabu/Kidd Glove

Posted on May 14, 2020 by jason

PAUL SABU – Sabu Rock Candy Records [Release date 24.04.20] 1980: After building a name for himself as a producer of slicked back, funk-lite disco music, Paul Sabu took an out-of-the-blue offer from MCA Records to record a melodic rock … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues | Tagged album, AOR, Kidd Glove, melodic rock, Motown, Paul Sabu, re-issue, review, Rock Candy, Sabu | Leave a comment

Single reviews: THE RISING, NATHAN JAMES, DANNY VAUGHN, THE SENTON BOMBS, DION

Posted on May 14, 2020 by jason

THE RISING Shadows On The Wall I have been following the Rising since they started out. In their early days they were more in a country rock vibe, before settling on the main duo of guitarist Chris Logan and vocalist … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews | Tagged album, alt rock, country, Danny Vaughn, folk, melodic, metal, Paul Rodgers, review, singles, the Rising, the Senton Bombs, world music | Leave a comment

Album review: FIREWIND – Firewind

Posted on May 13, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

AFM Records [Release date 15.05.20] Although the main attraction of Firewind is their frontman Gus G, maybe their Achilles heel over the years has been the regularly changing line-up. This time round, the band have another new singer – Herbie … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Firewind, Gus G, hard rock, Herbie Langhans, power metal, review | 1 Comment

Album review: PARADISE LOST – Obsidian

Posted on May 13, 2020 by jason

Nuclear Blast Records [Release date 15.05.20] Creating an album whose compositions are fresh-sounding, well-balanced, expertly-performed and capable of causing high levels of excitement with every new spin is a pretty hard task for any band to achieve in the year … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged album, Doom Metal, gothic, Gregor Mackintosh, metal, Nick Holmes, Nuclear Blast, Obsidian, Paradise Lost, pure metal, review | Leave a comment

Quick plays: WILL POUND, ANDY FLEET, BEN KUNDER

Posted on May 12, 2020 by jason

WILL POUND A Day Will Come [Release date 08.05.20] The latest album by Will Pound is based on his travels across Europe, where he is joined by many of the musicians he met on his travels. It is subtitled ‘A … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Quick Plays | Tagged A Day Will Come, album, Andy Fleet, Ben Kunder, folk, jazz, melodic, review, roots, Searching For The Stranger, singer, songwriter, The Sleepless Kind, Will Pound, world music | Leave a comment

Album review: MOLLY HATCHET – Molly Hatchet

Posted on May 11, 2020 by jason

Rock Candy Records [Release date 24.04.20] Musical blood brothers of Skynyrd and the Allmans, Molly Hatchet released their self titled debut in 1978, with the strikingly original “Death Dealer” artwork on the front cover. It’s one of many unique pieces … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues | Tagged album, classic rock, Danny Joe Brown, Dave Hlubek, Molly Hatchet, re-issue, review, rock, Rock Candy, southern rock | Leave a comment

Album review: VEGA – Grit Your Teeth

Posted on May 11, 2020 by andynathan

Frontiers [Release date 12.06.20] Vega have made a series of quality albums in the 2010’s, deserving full credit for perseverance as, despite dynamic live shows, they have yet to break into the big time for reasons unknown. Their sixth album … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Grit Your Teeth, James Martin, Marcus Thurston, melodic rock, Nick Workman, Tom Martin, Vega | Leave a comment

Album review: ESOTERICA – In Dreams

Posted on May 11, 2020 by jason

Esoterica [Release date 20.04.20] The dictionary definition of Esoterica is ‘things understood by or meant for a select few’. No one could ever accuse the London based sextet of either as their open-hearted take on modern rock is growing legions … Continue reading →