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Latest Album Reviews
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Latest Gig Reviews
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Gig review: CARDINAL BLACK – Sub 89, Reading, 15 November 2024
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Gig review: SUZI QUATRO – London Palladium, 13 November 2024
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Gig review: HRH XVII, Great Yarmouth, 7-9 November 2024
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Gig review: WHEN RIVERS MEET, CHANTEL MCGREGOR, XANDER AND THE PEACE PIRATES – Dingwalls, London, 7 November 2024
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Gig review: DEEP PURPLE – 02 Arena, London, 6 November 2024
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Gig review: ELLES BAILEY- Islington Assembly Hall, London, 2 November 2024
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Featured Album Reviews
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Album review: CLIVE MITTEN – Suite Cryptique: Recomposing Twelfth Night 1978-1983
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Album review: PALACE- One 4 The Road
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Album review: THE TREATMENT – Generation Me
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Album review: STEVE IGNORANT’S SLICE OF LIFE – Don’t Turn Away
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Album review: TWELFTH NIGHT – Fact And Fiction
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Album review: VOODOO HILL- Waterfall
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Tag Archives: pomp rock
Feature: The GRTR! Grotto of Greatness – MAGNUM (December 2023)
Photo: Darren Griffiths They nearly folded in 1983, played the arenas in the late 1980s, and nose-dived in 1995. But – fifty years on – Magnum remain magnificent Magnum have figured prominently in our coverage at GRTR! since 2003. This … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, FEATURES, GRTR!@20, INTERVIEWS, Radio interview, The GRTR! Grotto of Greatness
Tagged albums, band, Bob Catley, classic rock, gigs, interview, Magnum, melodic rock, pomp rock, radio, retrospective, review, Tony Clarkin
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Gig review: CATS IN SPACE – Wilde Theatre, South Hill Park, Bracknell, 20 July 2023
Despite latest album ‘Kickstart the Sun’ being for me their finest achievement, Cats in Space’s autumn tour in 2022 was still bedevilled by audiences a fraction of what they deserved. It therefore represented a bold gamble when, post-tour, the band … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged Andy Stewart, Cats In Space, Damien Edwards, Dean Howard, gig, Greg Hart, Jeff Brown, melodic rock, pomp rock, soft rock, Steevi Bacon
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Interview: MARK MANGOLD
KEYS is a collaboration between keyboardist Mark Mangold (Touch, Drive, She Said, Michael Bolton, Cher, Paul Rogers and others) and singer Jake E (Cyhra, Amaranthe, and others). Featuring live performances with three keyboardists and a huge battery of keyboards, this … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, INTERVIEWS, Interviews/Rock Stars
Tagged AOR, Cyha, House of Lords, interview, Jake E, keyboards, keys, Mark Mangold, melodic rock, pomp rock, porg rock, Touch
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Feature: MAGNUM Month @GRTR! – Memorabilia
Magnum in the Millennium Introduction The Studio Albums The Live Albums Singles Reissues Collections Memorabilia What Magnum Means To Me… Magnum are a highly collectible band, as you might expect with their ascendancy in the 1980s coinciding with a burgeoning … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, FEATURES, Magnum Month @GRTR! (March 2022)
Tagged classic rock, Magnum, melodic rock, memorabilia, merchandise, pomp rock
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Feature: MAGNUM Month @GRTR! – Collections
Magnum in the Millennium Introduction The Studio Albums The Live Albums Singles Reissues Collections Memorabilia What Magnum Means To Me… WHAT MAGNUM MEANS TO ME … Sweep away almost 40 blurry years of rock/metal memories and I see a picture … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, FEATURES, Magnum Month @GRTR! (March 2022)
Tagged album, anthology, Bob Catley, classic rock, collection, compilation, Magnum, melodic rock, pomp rock, review, Tony Clarkin
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Feature: MAGNUM Month @GRTR! – Reissues
Magnum in the Millennium Introduction The Studio Albums The Live Albums Singles Reissues Collections Memorabilia What Magnum Means To Me… WHAT MAGNUM MEANS TO ME … When I was a teenager, probably about 13 or 14, and getting into rock … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, FEATURES, Magnum Month @GRTR! (March 2022)
Tagged album, Bob Catley, classic rock, Magnum, melodic rock, pomp rock, reissue, review, Tony Clarkin
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Feature: MAGNUM Month @GRTR! – Live
Magnum in the Millennium Introduction The Studio Albums The Live Albums Singles Reissues Collections Memorabilia What Magnum Means To Me… WHAT MAGNUM MEANS TO ME … My own history with Magnum begins in the spring of 1985. I’d been getting … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, FEATURES, Magnum Month @GRTR! (March 2022)
Tagged album, Bob Catley, classic rock, live, Magnum, melodic rock, pomp rock, review, Tony Clarkin
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Feature: MAGNUM Month @GRTR! – The Studio Albums
Magnum in the Millennium Introduction The Studio Albums The Live Albums Singles Reissues Collections Memorabilia What Magnum Means To Me… WHAT MAGNUM MEANS TO ME… I first came across Magnum by chance as they opened the Monsters Of Rock bill … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, FEATURES, Magnum Month @GRTR! (March 2022)
Tagged album, Bob Catley, classic rock, Magnum, melodic rock, pomp rock, review, Tony Clarkin
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News: MAGNUM Month at Get Ready to ROCK! – 50 Years, New Album, UK and European Tour (March 2022)
Ahead of their UK and European tour in late March/April 2022, Get Ready to ROCK! will be celebrating the band Magnum throughout the month of March. Magnum celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2022. They developed from a band playing cover … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, NEWS, Special features
Tagged album, anniversary, AOR, Bob Catley, Europe, Magnum, melodic rock, pomp rock, Tony Clarkin, Tour, uk
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Album review: MAGNUM – The Monster Roars
SPV/Steamhammer [Release date 14.01.22] 50 years on, and studio album number 22, there’s no keeping Magnum down – not even a pandemic. Whilst the band will be frustrated by the tour cancellations following the release of ‘The Serpent Rings’ they … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, AOR, Bob Catley, Dennis Ward, Magnum, melodic rock, pomp rock, review, Rick Bernton, The Monster Roars, Tony Clarkin
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Album review: DENNIS DE YOUNG – 26 East, Volume 2
Frontiers Records (Release date 11.06.21) This is an album I’ve been looking forward to for 12 months since the release of Volume 1. That represented the former Styx singer’s return to his melodic rock roots in far better fashion than … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, AOR, Dennis De Young, Jim Peterik, melodic rock, pomp rock, Styx
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Album review: REACH – The Promise Of A Life
Facebook [Release date 23.04.21] Reach was founded in 2012 and settled on a power trio consisting of Ludvig Turner (vocals, guitars), Marcus Johansson (drums) and Soufian Ma´Aoui (bass). Reach have released two albums prior to this one and have played … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, alternative, melodic, modern rock, Muse, pomp rock, Queen, quirky, Reach, review, rock, The Promise Of A Life
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Album review: TOUCH – Tomorrow Never Comes
Escape Music [Release Date 26.03.21] Here’s a reunion few ever expected to see. Touch are most famous to the wider world as the band that opened the first ever Monsters of Rock at Download in 1980. Many years later I … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, AOR, Craig Brooks, Doug Howard, Glenn Kitchart, Mark Mangold, melodic rock, pomp rock, Touch
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Book review: ROY WOOD, KANSAS (On Track…)
Sonic Bond Publishing Roy Wood: The Move, ELO & Wizzard by James R Turner The ‘On Track…’ series gets to one of my musical heroes, Roy Wood. An interesting musician to cover, as although he still tours, Roy Wood has … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, BOOK REVIEWS
Tagged AOR, book, classic rock, ELO, glam rock, Jeff Lynne, Kansas, Kerry Livgren, melodic rock, On Track, pomp rock, prog rock, review, rock 'n' roll, Roy Wood, Steve Wlash, The Move, Wizzard
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Album review: ART OF ILLUSION – X Marks The Spot
AOR Heaven [Release date 29.01.21] This is the debut album by Art Of Illusion, a duo consisting of composer and producer Anders Rydholm (Grand Illusion) and singer Lars Säfsund (Work Of Art) – see what they did there with the … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Anders Rydholm, AOR, Art Of Ilusion, Grand Illusion, Lars Safsund, melodic rock, pomp rock, review, Work Of Art, X Marks The Spot
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Album review: AMERICAN TEARS – Free Angel Express
Deko Entertainment [Release date 23.10.20] Since Mark Mangold brought back American Tears in 2018 they are now onto this, their third album – the sixth in the band’s history. This latest, ‘Free Angel Express’ features Alex Landenburg (Stratovarius, Kamelot, Rhapsody) … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, American Tears, Dave Brubeck, Free Angel Express, hard rock, Jazz rock, Mark Mangold, pomp rock, prog rock, review, rock, Touch
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Album review: DUKES OF THE ORIENT – Freakshow
Frontiers [Release date 07.08.20] Dukes Of The Orient – vocalist John Payne (ex-Asia, GPS) and keyboardist Erik Norlander (Last In Line, Lana Lane, Rocket Scientists) – return with their second album. Dukes Of The Orient has more of a band … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Asia, Dukes of the Orient, Erik Norlander, Frontiers, John Payne, melodic rock, pomp rock, prog rock, review
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Album review: KANSAS – All Just Dust In The Wind The Legendary Broadcast
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
Album review: PATTERN SEEKING ANIMALS – Prehensile Tales
Inside Out [Release date 15.05.20] Pattern-Seeking Animals were formed by producer and writer John Boegehold (synths, keyboards) teaming up with current members of Spock’s Beard – Ted Leonard (vocals, guitar) and Dave Meros (bass) – plus former Spock’s Beard member … Continue reading
Album review: ZON – Astral Projector/ORPHAN – Salute
Rock Candy [Release date 20.03.20] ZON – Astral Projector + 4 The band members’ post Zon experiences are arguably more colourful than their brief, 2 album grab at fame and fortune. And yet, the 1978 debut, “Astral Projector” promised so … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues
Tagged album, AOR, Astral Projector, melodic rock, Orphan, pomp rock, re-issue, review, Rock Candy, Salute, Zon
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Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to MAGNUM
David Randall has followed Magnum since the 1990s when they consolidated their earlier successes. They split in 1995, subsequently re-generating in 2001. Since that time they have gone from strength to strength, maintaining a consistency across several albums and touring … Continue reading
Posted in Call Collect, FEATURES
Tagged Bob Catley, Dennis Ward, feature, hard rock, interview, Lee Morris, Magnum, Mark Stanway, melodic rock, pomp rock, Rick Benton, Tony Clarkin
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Album review: PHIL LANZON – 48 Seconds
Phil Lanzon Ditties/Cargo Records UK [Release date 02.08.19] Hot on the heels of last year’s ‘If You Think I’m Crazy’ Uriah Heep’s keyboards player Phil Lanzon is back with another solo album, which again sees him working with producer Simon … Continue reading
Gig review: STYX – London Palladium, 4 June 2019
It’s been eight long years since Styx last crossed the pond and on that occasion they opened a three way battle of the AOR behemoths with Foreigner and Journey, and for many observers stole the show. This belated return was … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS
Tagged AOR, gig, James Young, Lawrence Gowan, melodic rock, pomp rock, review, Styx, Tommy Shaw
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Album review: CATS IN SPACE – Daytrip to Narnia
Harmony Factory [Release date 08.03.19] Album number three already from these groove filled Cats In Space who since their last album ‘Scarecrow‘ have been touring with the likes of Status Quo and Deep Purple, plus their own headlining tour. In … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged 10CC, 70s music, album, Andy Scott, Cats In Space, disco, ELO, Greg Hart, melodic, pomp rock, pop, power pop, Queen, review, rock, Sweet
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