Regular consumers of these pages will be aware that this year sees the 50th anniversary of Rory Gallagher’s first solo album in 1971. The world lost Rory in 1995 at the age of 47, but his popularity continues to grow, and in fact the Donegal bluesman was voted Ireland’s Greatest Music Artist of All Time..
Interview with Jeff Carlisi (38 Special)
Where’s the dot? Everyone knows it’s DOT 38 Special… I can hear you out there, muttering under your breath about the lack of journalistic rigour. “Where’s the dot?” I hear you say. “Everyone knows it’s DOT 38 Special, because the band was named after the Smith & Wesson .38 Special bullet casing. Why, there’s a..
Eric Bibb – Dear America (Provogue / Mascot)
I don’t know about you, but I love it when unfashionable genres of music are revived and gain popularity with a new generation. We have already seen the resurgence of prog, long dismissed as a dinosaur genre or outrageously pompous, closely followed by the resurrection of the concept album, which had been considered anathema for..
All Good Things – A Hope In Hell (Better Noise Music)
California hard-rockers All Good Things may be a new name to many, this being their debut album, but they have been raising various roofs since their formation in 2013. The new lease of life comes on the heels of a record deal with Better Noise Music last year, which was surrounded by mixed emotions –..
Dead Man’s Whiskey – Breakout EP
In May 2017, a young and idealistically naïve London hard rock band released their debut album. Wrapped up in an obsession with the old west, and more specifically in the legend of Wild Bill Hickock, the youngsters named their band Dead Man’s Whiskey and their album, Under The Gun. In common with a lot of..
Robert Jon And The Wreck – Shine A Light On Me Brother
Hailing from Southern California, the veritable home of cool, Robert Jon Burrison and his band of rockers have been releasing albums, mini-albums and EPs since 2011. Listeners to Planet Rock may well be familiar with the lead single, Oh Miss Carolina, from last year’s album Last Light On The Highway, which could have made massive..
Jump – The Myth Remastered
OK, so this is the story. One swelteringly hot day in 1994, a hard-working Buckinghamshire band named Jump was playing its fourth gig of the week, entertaining the punters at the premiere of a film called Brave, based on Marillion’s urban concept album of the same name. The other act at the event was American..
Yngwie Malmsteen – Parabellum (Music Theories Recordings / Mascot)
Swedish guitar shredder Yngwie Malmsteen is back with a vengeance, with nearly an hour’s worth of metal madness titled Parabellum. His previous offering, 2019’s Blue Lightning, was a mainly covers album, in which he revealed his take on a raft of hard rock classics from Purple Haze to Paint It Black to Smoke On The..
Troy Redfern – The Fire Cosmic (RED7 Records)
Anyone familiar with Troy Redfern solely from his 2015 and 2017 releases may well think of him as a country blues rocker. Check out the video for The Line from 2017’s Dirt Blues Ritual, and you’ll see Troy in full Grand Ole Opry Regalia, complete with bootlace bow tie, black leather Stetson and an echo-heavy..
Banquet – Underground Sounds of 1969 (Esoteric / Cherry Red)
When you think about it, all mainstream trends in music and elsewhere must have had small beginnings – each journey starts with a single step, as they say. It’s strange to think that the ‘70s megastars of rock and prog, bands like Yes, Genesis, Deep Purple and Procol Harum, were considered ‘underground’ when they emerged...