|
|
Brian's Top 100 highest rated albums
| 1. T Ride - T Ride | Rating: 10/10
Oh man, oh man, oh man.Without fully realising it, I've been waiting for this melodic rock moment for 17 years.Why? My original CD of T Ride's one and only recording got stolen by some discerning but obviously dishonest rock music lover within months of me buying it.I never replaced it. Don't know why. T Ride arrived o....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 2. Foreigner - No End In Sight : The Very Best Of Foreigner | Rating: 9.5/10
Even now, this feels like the first time.So strong is the impact Foreigner made with their debut album on me and a million more rock fans all those years ago.And such is the strength of the band's back catalogue that they've released more compilations than most bands have studio albums. 32 tracks here, including 3 live tr....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 3. Chicago - Stone Of Sisyphus | Rating: 9.5/10
The legendary unreleased 22rd album. Shelved in 1993 by a label that didn't know its assets from its liabilities.It has now been released by the rather more enterprising (and clearly more astute) Rhino Records label, with 4 bonus tracks - 3 demos, 2 of tracks that appeared on the album in finished form and 1....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 4. Waysted - Save your Prayers - Special Edition | Rating: 9/10
Having reissued 'Save Your Prayers' on CD for the first time in 2004, Majestic Rock Records have now, unapologetically, re-released the reissue with a bonus disc, ostensibly to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the album's debut.
No apology required of course, 'Save Your Prayers' is one of those albums that ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 5. Trevor Rabin - I Can´t Look Away (reissue) | Rating: 9/10
Along with Mark Mancina, Rabin would appear to be Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer's favourite son these last few years, with the 'Armageddon', 'Con Air' and 'National Treasure' soundtracks to his credit.
Way back in 1989, things were different, but the future was forming. Single handed, Rabin had rescued Yes from oblivion, then went on....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 6. Touch - Touch | Rating: 9/10
This legendary album has been repackaged in various forms over the years, but never more extensively and yes, lovingly, than this Rock Candy reissue.It's been fully remastered and reloaded with 2 bonus tracks, a 12 page colour booklet and a 3000 word essay, which, I'm delighted to see, has been written by my former Fireworks' Magazine coll....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 7. Signal - Loud & Clear | Rating: 9/10
A spontaneous 'Hey!', from the incomparable Mark (before he was Marcy) Free over the first few explosive bars of opener, 'Arms Of A Stranger' suggests that even Free was moved by his band's music. Mining for gold, and striking a rich vein of eighties' melodic rock, Krescendo Records have....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 8. Pavlov's Dog - Echo & Boo And Assorted Small Tails | Rating: 9/10
To give it the full title, 'The Adventures Of Echo & Boo And Assorted Small Tails'.The first album of new material for 30 years. Something of an event, despite the lack of fanfare.In the 36 years since the Dog's awesome debut, 'Pampered Menial', and despite the world spinning out from under during the nineties, when the barbarians ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 9. Neurosonic - Drama Queen | Rating: 9/10
Best album I've heard this year, no danger.
Neurosonic is Canadian Wunderkind, Jason Darr. He came to rock via techno / dance. Our gain, their loss.
You can still hear the techno, but thankfully the dance mentality has been jettisoned.
Listening to Darr's self produced solo debut, 'Drama Queen' is like mainlining into....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 10. Mr Mister - Pull | Rating: 9/10
Recorded in 1989 at all the classic California studios by musicians and technicians san pareil, 'Pull' was one of the last great melodic rock albums of the eighties. We just didn't know it until now. Released on Richard Page's Little Dume Recordings label (which also released his recent solo album, 'Peculiar Life'</B....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 11. Michael Monroe - Sensory Overdrive | Rating: 9/10
Accurately titled "solo" album from erstwhile Hanoi Rocks frontman.While most would remain convinced that the Andy McCoy / Michael Monroe chemistry is unbeatable, this band gets damn close. And what a star studded lineup - Ginger (Wildhearts), Sam (HR) Yaffa, Karl Rockfist (not his real name, apparently) and Steve (Company Of ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 12. Lec Zorn Project - It Began In The Underground | Rating: 9/10
In the manner of Melodic Rock Do-It-Yourself heroes, Michael Riesenbeck, Herbert Sall & Michael Furin (Work Of Art) and Frederic (AOR) Slama, Lec Zorn's dream has eventually been realised with 'It Started In The Underground'.
It's a tribute to Zorn's talent, hard work and determination that a range of accomplished artists in ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 13. Honeymoon Suite - Feel It Again (An Anthology) | Rating: 9/10
As a career retrospective, these two fat volumes will take some beating. Thirty nine songs over two discs, both filled to within a few seconds of their eighty minute capacity. All the hits, from 1984 onwards; a selection from recent releases 'Dreamland' and 'Lemon Tongue' (ostensibly the European and North Ame....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 14. Foreigner - Juke Box Heroes | Rating: 9/10
Foreigner played Glasgow earlier this month, on a bill bookending them between Styx and Journey. This dance of the rock dinosaurs through Europe is proving to be extremely popular, and that's interesting, as none of the bands boast the presence of original frontmen, respectively Lou Gramm, Denis Deyoung and Steve Perry. Given that they....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 15. Crash Kings - Crash Kings | Rating: 9/10
The Crash Kings debut album should be trumpeted as a triumph of rhythmic simplicity and melodic accessibility.The rhythm is the thing. Instrumentally, vocally. There's only three of them in this band, but it sounds like a small army, all overturning the barricades at the same time. It's not hip hop, it's not slam, and there's a garage band....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 16. Cinderella - In Concert | Rating: 9/10
They invented an expression for bands like Cinderella. Nearly Men.Never did a band come so tantalisingly close to greatness.For three albums (and several singles) they were contenders, then ironically, they slid down the greasy pole of fame with 'Still Climbing', their fourth album.Th....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 17. Brother Firetribe - Heart Full Of Fire | Rating: 9/10
The word "homage" cannot encapsulate the rush of sensations this album gives you. As an unashamed tribute to the glory days of the AOR/melodic rock genre it works like a dream.It's clear that the band's mainmen - Pekka (Leverage) Ansio Heino, Emppu (Nightwish) Vuorinen and Tomppa Nikulainen spent the time since the debut honing their songw....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 18. Backyard Babies - Them XX (Best Of) | Rating: 9/10
It's been well documented that the punk revolution in the late seventies was a glamrock backlash.It's a moot point, but more than any other band in Europe, the 'Babies successfully smashed those two genres together with their debut album 'Diesel & Power' in 1996. Ok, you could equally argue that the Hanoi Rocks had already gone ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 19. Autograph - Sign In Please | Rating: 9/10
Nominating a genuinely classic melodic rock album is unquestionably a subjective process. But even the most objective of fans would have to agree that Autograph's 'Sign In Please' is one of the great debut albums.It's clearly been recognised by those enthusiastic industry veterans a....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 20. Tollak - Across The Rubicon | Rating: 8.5/10
You can count the number of high calibre Westcoast rock releases over the last few years on the fingers of one hand. And that's been nothing less than extremely disappointing.We've even seen a dip in quality from the usually reliable old guard, like Joseph Williams and Jay Graydon.Past masters like them seem to be getting commissioned ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 21. TNT - Atlantis | Rating: 8.5/10
We all claim to embrace change, but when it comes to AOR, what we want is more of the same. Only better.Opinion over 'Atlantis' is already polarising. With maybe one guy in favour and everybody else against. Reminds you of Ogden Nash's words, "Progress is a wonderful thing, but I think we've had enough of it now". What ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 22. The Von Hertzen Brothers - Stars Aligned | Rating: 8.5/10
When these guys write and record their songs, there's definitely a movie playing in their heads.'Stars Aligned' has been described as the soundtrack to a dark fairytale. The Brothers Von Hertzen as the Brothers Grimm. The Von Hertzen Brothers are Finland's No.1 rock band with a formidable live reputation. On this, their....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 23. Stratovarius - Elements Part 1 (Reissue) | Rating: 8.5/10
Originally released in 2003 and now re-released by Metal Mind with bonus tracks, 'Elements 1' polarizes opinion, even among Stratovarius fans, never mind the wider rock and metal community. Written and produced almost entirely by erstwhile band guitarist, Timo Tolkki, the albums were clearly designed by the band to be their....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 24. Stevie Salas - Be What It Is | Rating: 8.5/10
'Be What It Is' is Stevie Salas's latest release, coming some five or so years after his 'Soulblasters Of The Universe' album.Recorded with class musicians like Dave (Pearl Jam) Abruzezze), Richie Kotzen, Matt (G'n'R) Sorum and Brian (Pride& Glory) ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 25. Slaves To Fashion - Slaves To Fashion EP | Rating: 8.5/10
Another set of soundly structured songs from TNAFKAPOB. Yes, it's the Norwegian artists formerly known as Pedestrians Of Blue. Now known by yet another misnomer, Slaves To Fashion. Still, a rose by any other name . . . As POB, they released the critically acclaimed 'Crossing Over' in 2007. It was an outstanding deb....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 26. Poets And Pornstars - Poets And Pornstars | Rating: 8.5/10
Considering there's five of them, Poets & Pornstars' don't make a lot of noise, and disappointingly, the band name is just a flight of fancy. Too bad.
This debut album (which grew out of a four song EP) contains an apparently unassuming bunch of songs, driven by spare, dry riffs, fired up by mainman Hal Ozsan's lived in vocals.
It's swam....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 27. Notorious - Radio Silence | Rating: 8.5/10
Sean Harris and Robin George (the archetypal nearly man) recorded this album together back in 1985.George's outstanding solo album, 'Dangerous Music' had gone under with its bankrupt record label. Harris had just broken with Diamond Head.Young, ambitious, tenacious, with 'Radio Silence' they aimed to "revolutionise the wor....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 28. Martin Page - In The Temple Of The Muse | Rating: 8.5/10
Southampton boy Martin Page is something of a legend in the Melodic Rock world.He's written for and/or played with A list rock musicians John Waite, Robbie (The Band) Robertson, Diane Warren, Bruce Hornsby, Jason Scheff , Richie Zito, Cher, Peter Wolf etc etc. Specifically, he knocked off a couple of worldwide hits in the eighties. Starshi....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 29. John M. Keane - Everything Changed | Rating: 8.5/10
You a CSI fan? No, me neither. But for the millions who are, the theme tune will be familiar. It was written by Grammy Award winning John M Keane, formerly one half of the Keane Brothers, a duo who enjoyed considerably more than fifteen minutes in the late seventies. This mainly piano driven solo album confirms Keane to be a gifte....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 30. Hanoi Rocks - Twelve Shots On The Rocks (Reissue) | Rating: 8.5/10
No question, these guys knew how to rock.
This is 2003's magnificent comeback album, 'Twelve Shots On The Rocks' reissued with four bonus tracks.
There's a golden glow to the band's hugely influential sound and trashy aesthetic here. The songwriting is right on the money, the performances inspired and the production is jawdr....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 31. Burn - Global Warning | Rating: 8.5/10
Legendary UK Melodic Rock band, Burn, best known for their 1993 release 'So Far, So Bad' (5Ks from Dave Reynolds in Kerrang), not forgetting 'Spark To A Flame' (1995), have at long last returned with a new album, 'Global Warning'.
As a consequence of tragic circumstances and life's natural ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 32. April Wine - Roughly Speaking | Rating: 8.5/10
In Canada, where rock music is still something to be valued rather than exploited, enduring rock band April Wine are back on a major label.
'Roughly Speaking' has only 8 tracks and a duration of a mere 25 minutes. The label's thinking? High quality, low price. Presumably to compete with I tunes and the P2P explosion.
Well, as far as the m....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 33. After Hours - Against The Grain | Rating: 8.5/10
Stop me if you've heard this one.1992 : Band release excellent second album on an obscure label. Lacking the oxygen of publicity, it stiffs. Band folds.The Present Day : Erstwhile band members meet and decide to give it another go. Many such recent reformations have been ill advised. And considering that After Hours were n....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 34. 707 - Greatest Hits Live | Rating: 8.5/10
This eighties' gig was unearthed by the GB Music research team, and what a find.
The 707 lineup for this live set is Kevin Russell, Tod Howarth, Phil Bryant and Jim McClarty and they are in incandescent form. More in a moment.
707 teetered on the edge of breakthrough for several years during the eighties, but never got to make the final ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 35. Work Of Art - Artwork | Rating: 8/10
At last the full length album, trailed for months on My Space by the sublime 'Why Do I?'
Now signed to Frontiers, Work Of Art - Lars (Fanfields) Safsund, Robert Sall and Herman Furin - prove to be more than one trick ponies.
While none of the other eleven tracks are blessed with the immedia....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 36. Whiteflame - Tour Bus Diaries | Rating: 8/10
N&S Records may soon see this band stolen away by a major.Like Koritni and Airbourne in Oz, Finnish band Whiteflame are one of a crop of European melodic rock bands who're currently cresting a resurgent wave of interest in the genre.And this band is good. Very good. Capitalising on the critical and popular acclaim of t....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 37. Uli Jon Roth - The Best Of | Rating: 8/10
Roth's mix of the classical and the contemporary doesn't always work. It's not an exact science.
When you're attempting to blend volatile substances the chemistry can create a mini masterpiece or just as easily blow up in your face.
This 2 disc set, 'The Best Of Uli Jon Roth' naturally succeeds in hiding some of the uglier creations from vi....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 38. Toys of Joy - One of these days (Reissue) | Rating: 8/10
Hard on the heels of Harlot's 'Room With A View' and BJoe's 'Ready To Ride', Denmark's Olafssong's have reissued another two classic AOR albums.
The TOJ album, originally released in 1991, is the better known, and very highly regarded among afficionados.
It's a slick, tasty mix of catchy, sophisticated Wes....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 39. Thunderstone - Evolution 4.0 | Rating: 8/10
Finnish band Thunderstone continue to cut a swathe through an overcrowded market, and with 'Evolution 4.0' deliver an album that supersedes both their own benchmark and every other power metal album I've heard these last six months.
The album's title is something of a giveaway. The band have added several layers of heaviosity to their conti....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 40. Thunderstone - The Burning (Reissue) | Rating: 8/10
The brainchild of multi talented mainman (writer/guitarist/producer) Nino Laurenne, Thunderstone hit the Power Metal world running with their self titled, Stratovarius influenced 2002 debut.By the time of their critically acclaimed second album, 'The Burning' (2004), the music had become more complex and c....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 41. The Poodles - Sweet Trade | Rating: 8/10
The Poodles' debut album, 'Metal Will Stand Tall' was essentially a collection of high quality off cuts and out takes, rerecorded with style, invention and a cutting contemporary edge (by Matti Alfonzetti).
It brought this co-operative of veteran rock musicians well into the mainstream spotlight, and gasp, almost had them re....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 42. The Poodles - Sweet Trade (New Edition) | Rating: 8/10
As the extended title indicates, this album is a reworked version of the Scandi supergroup's 2007 album release, itself a follow up to the headline grabbing debut, 'Metal Will Stand Tall'. The 'New Edition' tag has been brought about through the addition of 2 new tracks, most notably '<B....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 43. Tesla - Real To Reel | Rating: 8/10
The music you grew up with - the soundtrack of your youth - stays with you forever.
Rock bands are no different. Covers' albums prove it time and time again.
It's an opportunity to cherry pick from the history of rock and roll as it relates to you.
But the problem is this : no matter who you are, your covers are always subject to compariso....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 44. Tesla - Forever More | Rating: 8/10
At last, a Tesla album that combines the elemental structure of 'Mechanical Resonance' with the power and gravitas of 'Psychotic Supper'. This is a band absolutely at the top of their game, writing fabulous, hard hitting melodic rock songs, rif....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 45. Terra Nova - Come Alive | Rating: 8/10
"Right" said Fred, "Frontiers want another 'Living It Up'."So they did their best - Fred Hendrix, Ron Hendrix, Gesuino Derosas and Lars Beuving. The result is 'Come Alive', but more accurately it really should be titled 'Coming Of Age'.On this new album, (Fred) Hendrix - writer, producer, vocalist - tak....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 46. Taz Taylor Band - Welcome To America | Rating: 8/10
Understandably, as he was raised on a regular intake of Rainbow, UFO and MSG, Taz Taylor couldn't help growing up a guitar hero. He's perhaps not quite reached god status yet, but an upward trajectory is guaranteed by 'Welcome To America'.
And this is without unveiling his secret weapon . . . Graham Bonnet. For yes, it is he ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 47. Sun Domingo - Songs For End Times | Rating: 8/10
The relatively unknown Sun Domingo have toured with Marillion and Pineapple Thief . Clearly, they're associating with all the right people.Steve Hogarth contributes guest vocals and Bruce (PT) Soord produced. The estimable Adrian Belew, something of a legend in Progrock circles also offers a guest appearance on one track, as does John Wesl....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 48. Stryper - Murder By Pride | Rating: 8/10
The reincarnation of Stryper is complete.It's no reinvention, nobody expected or wanted that. What we have is a band who've rediscovered the heartfelt, finely tuned, perfectly weighted, carefully measured metal of their past. Metal that's just bursting with skyscraping vocals, muscular performances and towering hooks.Stryper inspir....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 49. Stratovarius - Elements Part 2 (Reissue) | Rating: 8/10
No question, some albums are well worth resurrecting.As with 'Elements Part 1', those metal afficionados, Metalmind Productions, have given this stylish release a remastering, and rereleased it on a gold, limited edition disc. <B style="mso-bidi-font-weight....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 50. Stevie Salas - The Essential . . . The Sun And The Earth | Rating: 8/10
Never heard of Steve Salas?Shurely shome mishtake. Musical director for American Idol, led Mick Jagger's and Rod Stewart's tour bands (not at the same time, sadly). Played on and produced Was Not Was's worldwide hit 'Walk The Dinosaur'. Wrote the score for the phenomenal <B style="ms....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 51. Starz - Come Out At Night | Rating: 8/10
Starz now appear to be one of many bands clogging up the highway from the past, making for that destination they call 'comeback'.
In Starz case, things are different. Here's a band who never really made it like they should have. Great albums? Yes, no question. Great singles? Yes, check out Billboard in the late seventies. Respect? No question....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 52. Stage Dolls - Always | Rating: 8/10
Sounding much like a band out of time but never out of fashion, the Stage Dolls come back yet again with a clutch of finely wrought melodic rock songs.That they are carefully crafted and exquisitely assembled is never enough of course. Thankfully, mainman Torsten Flakne hasn't run out of magic dust just yet, and he's given this new album a....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 53. Sparzanza - Folie A Cinq | Rating: 8/10
A 'Folie A Cinq' is a psychotic delusion shared by five interconnected people.Let me tell you, I can take any amount of this delusion.On their fifth album now, Swedish metal/rock band, Sparzanza knocked me out with their fourth effort, 'In Voodoo Veritas' (2009).It was "Hard, fast, loud, tuneful. When the last track f....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 54. Sonata Arctica - Unia | Rating: 8/10
In Finnish, 'Unia' means 'dreams'.
Nobody likes change. Especially fans, and generally speaking, most critics.
All of us claim to embrace change, but in reality we just want more of the same old sound, only better.
Sonata Arctica are a band who challenge our fixed ideas and our reluctance to keep an open mind.
Over sev....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 55. Slave To The System - Slave To The System | Rating: 8/10
I can think of few who look less like a rock musician than Kelly Gray. In his picture on the back cover of this release from his new band, Slave To The System, he looks like some Dickensian character who finds himself caught in the headlights of a time machine.
But there are few rock musicians who can write a song and play guitar like Gray....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 56. Saga - Remember When (The Very Best Of Saga) | Rating: 8/10
Cleverly conceived and packaged, this double disc set cherry picks the band's classic material from their live SPV albums 'Detours' and 'Chapters Live', and marries this to the best of their four studio albums on the same label.
Naturally, the emphasis is on the tracks from those four SPV releases, '....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 57. Poets Of The Fall - Alchemy Vol 1 | Rating: 8/10
Essentially, The grandly titled 'Alchemy Volume 1' is a selection of tracks from multi award winning Poets Of The Fall's 4 album back catalogue. These are laid out in chronological order, thus allowing you to observe how the band's sound has developed over an 8 year period.There are also 2 new tracks bookending the old stuff, plus a....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 58. Poets & Pornstars - Poets & Pornstars | Rating: 8/10
A year on, Poets & Pornstars self titled debut album gets a welcome relaunch. In the circumstances it's worth taking another look, especially for those who missed it first time round. The album comes with a fabulously provocative cover, encapsulating the band's musical mix of swampy, sensual, soulful, sle....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 59. Pedestrians Of Blue - Crossing Over | Rating: 8/10
Best debut album I've heard this year, no danger.
The only thing pedestrian about Norway's own POB is the funereal keyboard intro to the first track. 'Crossing Over' they've fashioned a hard melodic rock sound that flirts, often outrageously, with Progrock and melodic metal, frequently embracing these other sub genres with ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 60. Pavlov´s Dog - Lost In America | Rating: 8/10
This is Pavlov's Dog's 1990 album, remastered and reissued with 8 bonus tracks.
By then, only David Surkamp and Douglas Rayburn remained of the original band.
They wrote all the songs here and co-produced.
By 1990, the band's sound had mutated into much more of a commercial beast. Few traces of the band's uniquely quirky progressive rock....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 61. Pavlov's Dog - Live And Unleashed | Rating: 8/10
Thousands of European Dog lovers flocked to the band's live gigs in 2009.'Pavlov's Dog, Live And Unleashed' is a record of those events. David Surkamp, whose death had been greatly exaggerated, leads the 7 piece lineup - a unique guitar, mellotron, violin and percussion ensemble - through triumphant presentations of son....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 62. Nothing More - The Few Not Fleeting | Rating: 8/10
Like many bands you hear for the first time, turns out they've been around for quite a while.And so it is with Nothing More. This is the band's fifth studio release if you include last year's 'Waiting On Rain' EP - the nothing short of wonderful title track is included here. Constant line up changes haven't undermined the stab....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 63. Moritz - City Streets | Rating: 8/10
Thanks to a rising tide of public demand, Moritz's eighties' recordings have now been reissued (and digitally remastered) on CD. This Brit rock band's music clearly mainlined into the mood of North American AOR and caught a ride on its ascendant star. They had the music, they had an audience and they had a market ripe for exploita....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 64. Million $ Reload - Anthems Of A Degeneration | Rating: 8/10
I love this album.For many reasons.The fact they are British is interesting but irrelevant. If you're good you're good. Your nationality doesn't matter.This band is great.'Anthems Of A Degeneration' is more than just a swaggering, post Glamrock, post AC/DC, post G'n'R blitz of high voltage hard rock, where Bam and Andy M....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 65. Mark Sweeney - All In | Rating: 8/10
I love this new Mark Sweeney release.I thought his debut solo album was an anodyne affair, taking too long to go nowhere. All change. 'All In' bears the stamp of someone who knows exactly what he is doing, knows exactly what he wants and knows exactly how to get there. Pitched somewhere between rock, pop and AOR, ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 66. Magnum - The Visitation | Rating: 8/10
I saw Magnum play the Garage in Glasgow maybe six years back. I remember thinking "These guys have still got it". Tony Clarkin smiled to himself a few times during the gig, so he must have been thinking the same thing. 'The Visitation' confirms 6 years later, they have it still.It is the sound of a band - whose ambitions once ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 67. Lynn Allen - Nine | Rating: 8/10
About a hundred years ago, I wrote reviews for a magazine called Hard RoxX, in the UK.The legendary Kelv Helrazer would contribute occasionally, and it was through him constantly banging on about Lynn Allen that I gained an introduction to the band. Huge in Iowa and other parts of the American Midwest (and obviously in the Hel....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 68. Life / Robin George - Cocoon / Crying Diamonds / Dangerous Music Live 85 (Reissue) | Rating: 8/10
Arguably, he's the inventor of technical AOR. And with the help of UK label Angel Air, producer, writer and performer Robin George has remastered and reissued three albums from his considerable (and often confusing) back catalogue.First, the band Life. Formed with vocalist Nick Tart (who eventually joined Diamond Head), this was essentiall....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 69. Leverage - Circus Colossus | Rating: 8/10
There's no denying the emotional intent of instrumental opener 'Rise'.It's powerfully neo classical, with all the sweet cinematic attraction of a seasonal soundtrack. Released in November, it shows perfect timing.<SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: A....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 70. Lava - Symphonic Journey | Rating: 8/10
Leaving a lengthy gap between albums is not unknown, but it is a risky business, fame can disappear like snow off a dike.Norway's Lava turned this challenge into a triumph in 2003.1989's chart topping 'Rhythm Of Love' appeared to be their swansong. But 14 years later, they released a career defining magnum opus, 'Polarity'</B....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 71. Last Autumn's Dream - Saturn Skyline | Rating: 8/10
LAD's fourth album starts out like the previous two releases. An uneasy (and sometimes ugly) pop / rock hybrid, struggling to find a sure identity.
Then suddenly on the third track, 'Pages' it transforms itself totally, completely, into edgy but utterly marvellous contemporary pop music, with a few old school touches to mak....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 72. Korn - See You On The Other Side | Rating: 8/10
Shock horror. The nu melodic Korn. Issue driven rap metal with good tunes.
Must be the band's new production team, The Matrix - Lauren Christy, Scott Spock and Graeme Edwards.
Artists among the The Matrix's less distinguished but highly successful production credits include Hilary Duff, Britney Spears and Busted.
A potential credibility g....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 73. Kamelot - One Cold Winter´s Night | Rating: 8/10
Kamelot's prodigious new release, a double CD and DVD set entitled 'One Cold Winter Night' is a genuine joy. Recorded live in OSLO last February, it radiates copious amounts of heat and light, enough to keep any winter's night at bay.
It would be an exaggeration to say that Kamelot have cornered the symphonic rock market, b....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 74. Johnny Crash - Unfinished Business | Rating: 8/10
Languishing in some record company vault (do they all have vaults?) for the last 15 years, Johnny Crash's second and hitherto unreleased album finally blinks and walks out into the light. Respect to those enthusiastic afficionados at Oz's SunCity Records. This isn't one of those lost-and-now-found recordings that makes you r....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 75. JK Northrup - Wired In My Skin | Rating: 8/10
Yet another of Hard Rock's famous names, but one that's never really had the credit it deserves.
The hard rock swirl of Northrup's past life, as a solo performer, as a member of King Kobra, XYZ and as one half of the Shortino/Northrup alliance, seems to have coalesced around this outstanding new album, 'Wired In My Skin'.
T....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 76. Jettblack - Get Your Hands Dirty | Rating: 8/10
You have to cut through a faint haze of hairspray and a thin veneer of glitz and glam to get there, but once you reach the music at Jettblack's core - a contemporary slant on classic rock that raucously subverts the glamrock aesthetic - you'll be glad you made the effort.It's no surprise to learn they've been supporting bands like Airbourn....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 77. Hybrid Ice - Minds Eye | Rating: 8/10
In a Lazarus type scenario, this legendary band are back with a cracking new batch of songs.We all know that "legendary" status is often bestowed on bands and albums unjustifiably. The passage of time clouds the truth and nostalgia colours our memory. With this band, the status is deserved. I still play their second album, 'No Rules....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 78. Houston - Houston | Rating: 8/10
We reviewed the single 'Hold On', a trailer for the full album, last year.We said: "'Hold On' is an AOR lightning strike, trapped in the amber of eighties' FM Radio. It's what good soft rock is all about, losing the love, the dream. The sound of summer and a life just out of reach. Roll on the full album." And here it is.<....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 79. Helloween - 7 Sinners | Rating: 8/10
In one way at least, Helloween are like a million other metal and rock bands - they've accumulated plenty of baggage over the years, and it's frequently dragged the music down. But there's a real sense of renewal with '7 Sinners'. All that accumulated weight has been thrown overboard, and the band have again risen to ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 80. Harem Scarem - Human Nature | Rating: 8/10
With every new release since 'Mood Swings' (1993), Harem Scarem fans have been hoping for 'Mood Swings 2'.
Many were understandably hooked by this seminal melodic rock album and its more AOR inclined predecessor, and became progressively alienated by the band's subsequent direction. From 'Voice Of Reason' (....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 81. Hanoi Rocks - This One's For Rock'N'Roll (Best Of Hanoi Rocks 1980-2008) | Rating: 8/10
A 2 CD retrospective from the criminally underrated - and often overlooked - Hanoi Rocks, one of the very best rock bands to come out of Europe, and a major influence on the emergent LA Rock scene of the early eighties. In vocalist, Michael Monroe and guitarist, Andy McCoy, Hanoi Rocks had one of those rare pairings where the whol....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 82. H.E.A.T. - Heat | Rating: 8/10
Totally and absolutely untainted by any kind of contemporary influence, except maybe rising production values, Sweden's Heat have successfully plunder the eighties on this, their eponymous debut album.Released on Peter Stormare's ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 83. Gun - Swagger | Rating: 8/10
The first five steamrollering tracks will have you begging for mercy.Such is the power of this opening salvo from Glasgow band Gun, and their third album 'Swagger', now reissued by the eternally enterprising UK label, Cherry Red, with a fabulous eight bonus tracks. At its heart, Gun ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 84. Gun - Popkiller | Rating: 8/10
A marriage made in Govan, Toby (Little Angels) Jepson and a reformed (but only slightly reshaped) Gun (minus Mark Rankin of course), with the Gizzi brothers, Giulliano and Dante, remaining at the core. In one of those twists of fate, Glasgow's Gun became famous for a cover version - in this case Cameo's 'Word Up' - rather than ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 85. Goddess Shiva - Goddess Shiva | Rating: 8/10
This is a fun, we-loved-every-minute-making-it kind of album.
It's the product of a recently resurrected bluesrock power trio, initially planned some years ago by Mat Sinner (b/v), Armin (Rage) Sabol (g/v) and Martin (Leaves Eyes) Schmidt (d).
There's only so much manoeuvring space within heavy metal's musical strictures, especially when ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 86. Gary Schutt - Loss 4 Words | Rating: 8/10
An all instrumental guitar album with a punny title, one that (just) fits with the guitarist's surname. Lots of tracks with weird / zany - but eminently descriptive - titles like 'Baby Dinosaur', 'Chinese Firedrill' and <B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 87. Five Finger Death Punch - War Is The Answer | Rating: 8/10
Being something of an AOR wimp at heart, I didn't really want to like this.I could argue that they battered me into submission. But they didn't. They seduced me.You could argue that 5FDP's intense, blackly dramatic mix of thrash, classic rock, numetal and chart aimed contemporary rock could easily have ended in tears. You could equally....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 88. Filter - The Very Best Things: 1995 - 2008 | Rating: 8/10
The compilation quickly pulls us under with openers 'Hey Man Nice Shot' (the breakthrough single) and 'Welcome To The Fold', as melodic, hard edged and as accessible as industrial rock/metal is ever likely to get.Filter's mainman, Richard Patrick was on....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 89. Fair Warning - Aura | Rating: 8/10
To be honest, I thought the band was treading water with the last couple of albums, and in fact with 2007's 'Brothers Keeper' thought they were drowning not waving. Now that they are a confirmed fourpiece - Ule Ritgen, Tommy Heart, CC Behrens and Helge Engelke - they seem once again comfortable inside the Fair Warning skin. They'....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 90. Face Face - Bridge To Nowhere | Rating: 8/10
Face Face are back after an eleven years absence. (I'm discounting the band's alter ego, Purple Cross and the 2000 release, 'Eyes Of The Mirror'). Let me assure you, it was worth the wait.
This is an intelligent, thoughtful album with an apparently endless array of potent hooks and memorable tunes, all of which hit every spot and tick every....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 91. Eye - 2 Hearts | Rating: 8/10
Another young, extremely promising AOR band from Sweden.And the label, Blue Topaz clearly think they're onto something, rush releasing these tracks ahead of a full album. '2 Hearts' is self evidently modelled on the Blue Tears blueprint, with finishing touches added by Phantoms Oper....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 92. Europe - Secret Society | Rating: 8/10
Europe's 'comeback' album, 'Start From The Dark', was released in 2004 to mixed reactions and mixed reviews. Why?
Because for all those bands clogging up the road back from obscurity, the choice is a simple one. Take the pieces of silver and resurrect past glories (a route that seldom leads to its desired destination), or m....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 93. Epitaph - Remember The Daze | Rating: 8/10
35 years and a million miles from the heavy progressive rock of their debut album, German band, Epitaph have reformed, 25 years after the last studio album 'Danger Man'.
Lineup for 'Remember The Daze' has founder members, Cliff Jackson and Bernd Kolbe on board, plus Achim Poret and Heinz Glass, who'd joined t....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 94. Epitaph - Dancing With Ghosts | Rating: 8/10
It's not quite as immediate as 2007's outstanding comeback release 'Remember the Daze'. You'll need to work at this one to get something back. Then again, easy triumphs are never the most rewarding. As was 'RTD', the band is still mainman Cliff Jackson, vocals, guitars, production, co-writes (and occasional solo effort); B....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 95. Enuff Z'nuff - Dissonance | Rating: 8/10
EZN's world spun out from under them when their label, Atco dropped them after only 2 albums, including the criminally undermarketed 'Strength'.But these guys - Chip Znuff and Donnie Vie - are survivors, so they climbed back on, signed for Arista, and wrote and recorded their third release, 'Animals With Human Intelligence'. Znuff's claim ....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 96. Electric Boys - Now Dig This . . . Best Of | Rating: 8/10
Funk metal, psychedelic rock, call it what you will. Three albums and it was all over. Better to burn out than to fade away. Rising from the ashes etc etc, Swedish cult funksters, Electric Boys - Connie Bloom, Andy Christell, Franco Santunione and Niclas Sigevall are reportedly recording a new album.To celebrate that decidedly....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 97. Drive, She Said - The Best Of And More | Rating: 8/10
Who would have thought that a UK festival, celebrating music that was popular 25 years ago would have this much influence.Galvanised by audience response to their appearance at Firefest 2009, Mark Mangold and Al Fritsch have kick started Drive She Said, delivering 4 new recordings and 13 handpicked tracks from their back catalogue.&nbs....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 98. Def Leppard - Pyromania & Adrenalize Deluxe Editions (Reissues) | Rating: 8/10
'Pyromania' and 'Adrenalize' bookended Def Leppard's career defining magnum opus, 'Hysteria'. Now, on the brink of headlining the UK's massive Download Festival, the band have reissued deluxe editions of these....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 99. Cycle Of Pain - S/T | Rating: 8/10
John (JD) Deservio, Black Label Society's bassman has wanted to record this band for some years now. 25 years to be precise.An impressive, enduring career, most notably as Zakk Wylde's sideman, occupied the time between.Such was the potency of the music and the chemistry of the band that guest musicians queued for a place at the table.....
Link to full review | |  |
|
| 100. Cry Wolf - Twenty Ten | Rating: 8/10
Back in the late eighties, Cry Wolf were as much a part of the LA rock scene as Poison, Motley Crue and LA Guns.But they only managed one album, 'Crunch', released in 1990. This was a harder, darker affair than the products of their peer group and categorically distanced them from hair and glam rock. Armed with a set of songs pr....
Link to full review | |  |
|
|
|
|
|
Daily Spotlight
Iced Earth - The Crucible of Man, Something Wicked Pt. 2
 Iced Earth led their ride into glory and metal immortality with the amazing power/thrash masterpiece, "Somet....
Read full review
Retro Reviews
(Brian)
Vinci - Vinci
 The now defunct Long Island Records released this debut album in 1995. The brainchild of Tom Blendinger - songs, guitars, production - it created a few ripples among diehard eighties' Luddites, but wa....
Read full review
(Steen)
Kamelot - Dominion
 Dominion is the second Kamelot album and the last with their original singer Mark Vanderbilt and co-founding drummer Richard Warner. The Kamelot of yore was a rawer and less polished musical entity th....
Read full review
Archive
· Albums of the month
· Retro Reviews
|
|
|
