In this episode #205, Nik, Keefy, and guest host Don De Leuamont of Southeast of Heaven and Talking the Talk with Don review Foreigner’s second album, Double Vision!Continue reading
Tag Archives: classic rock
CONCERT REVIEW: Rob Zombie – Alice Cooper – Ministry – Filter Live at PNC Bank Arts Center
How many bands must play together before it is considered a music festival? If the answer is four or more, a festival has been touring the USA and recently landed in Holmdel, NJ at the PNC Bank Arts Center. The Freaks On Parade tour is one of the strongest bills around with Filter, Ministry, Alice Cooper, and Rob Zombie providing an evening of unparalleled energy. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Mr. Big – Ten
When bands make the grand announcement that their next album is to be their last this usually means one of two things. It won’t actually be their final record at all, or the end product will probably ending up being some lacklustre, contractual obligation full of second-hand riffs that never made it onto previous records. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Gatecreeper – Dark Superstition
After a five-year gap between albums, Arizonan quintet Gatecreeper are back with Dark Superstition (Nuclear Blast). Their third album sees their heavy, Death Metal roar wed to more melodic and concise metal. A heavy band embracing melody like this might raise some metalheads’ hackles, afraid their band going soft, but fear not. Their heft and aggression is still alive and kicking, but just married to more accessible metal. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Marcus King – Mood Swings
Having teamed up with Black Keys frontman Dan Auberbach for the last two albums, on his new one Mood Swings (American Recordings/Republic Records/Snakefarm Records) Marcus King is helped out by producer extraordinaire Rick Rubin. Gone is the seventies, bluesy Rock N’ Roll of the previous record Young Blood, in its place is R&B, Soul, Jazz, Pop and Classic Rock influences with King’s smokey, bluesman vocals taking centre stage. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: The Black Crowes – Happiness Bastards
Rock ‘N’ Roll might be a young man’s game, but it is not stopping the Robinson Brothers from again coming together on Happiness Bastards (Silver Arrow Records) to prove they still have it. If Amorica was the last album you picked up by these guys, then things have changed dramatically. If you are one of their more avid followers then you have heard their transition away from merely being a Led Zeppelin/Rolling Stones hybrid, so this album makes perfect sense.
ALBUM REVIEW: The Gems – Phoenix
After experiencing “creative differences” as part of Thundermother, Guernica Mancini, Emlee Johansson and Mona Lindgren left and formed The Gems – a three piece Rock band, and it is fair to say that this Swedish trio’s debut Phoenix (Napalm Records) is in similar territory to their previous vehicle: sixteen tracks of no frills Classic Rock built on chunky riffs and shoutalong choruses. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Magnum – Here Comes The Rain
This review was submitted before the sad news of the passing of guitarist and band leader Tony Clarkin. Our condolences and best wishes to Tony’s family, friends, and the members of the band.
It only takes a few moments of opener “Run Into The Shadows” to be welcomed with open arms back into Magnum’s world, as the opening guitar motif intertwines with the dancing keyboards and Bob Catley’s distinctive storyteller-cum-favourite-uncle’s-croon transports us into the kingdom of madness once more, forty-six years after Catley and Tony Clarkin recorded the band’s debut album, a fantastic record that laid the groundwork for a marvellous career.
ALBUM REVIEW: Bad Touch – Bittersweet Satisfaction
Rock ‘n Roll quintet Bad Touch, hailing from Norfolk, England, are back with their fifth album, Bittersweet Satisfaction (Marshall Records). This time round they spent half a year making the record, tempering their balls-to-the-wall rock with polished hooks and a healthy portion of soul, the end result being a more rounded, earthy Classic Rock that still has plenty of bite. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Dokken – Heaven Comes Down
There aren’t many metalheads who haven’t heard of Dokken. Whether it’s due to their huge popularity during the eighties, the constant if occasionally amusing public sniping between frontman Don Dokken and former lead guitarist George Lynch or, most likely because of “Dream Warriors,” the theme song from 1987 horror sequel A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3, Dokken’s name still stands above many.