Diamond Head may be one of the most influential heavy metal bands of the 1980s New Wave, but their early history is confusing, to say the least. They formed while still at school, then after a couple of demo tapes, they self-financed and recorded an album named Lightning To The Nations in 1980. The New..
Fraternity (featuring Bon Scott)
Scott’s tenure in the band ensured that Fraternity would at least gain some historic significance... Music is the universal language, so they say. It transcends speech and cultural barriers and gives the whole human race a basis for communication. That being the case, it’s a peculiar phenomenon how some bands can become massive in one..
Joe Bonamassa – Guitar Man
...in front of 8,500 people, the day before his 12th birthday. At 7:25pm on a show night, with the gig scheduled for an 8:00pm start, self-confessed guitar geek Joe Bonamassa is backstage in his civilian scruffs and baseball cap. “I always tell people,” he explains, “Excuse, me, I’ve got to go become ‘the other guy’.”..
Neal Morse – Jesus Christ The Exorcist – Live at Morsefest 2018 (Frontiers Music)
New albums from ex-Spock's Beard frontman Neal Morse are flying thick and fast at the moment, with his last studio offering Sola Gratia released in September, and the double-album studio version of Jesus Christ The Exorcist in June last year. The latter is now seeing release in its original live format as Jesus Christ The..
Jump – Breaking Point (F2 Music / Festival Music)
The only escape route is in the open, across minefields and barbed wire... How to define Jump’s music? Folk rock? Singer-songwriter? Nouveau folk? It certainly combines aspects of rock, folk and prog, but its major, defining feature isn’t on the description card of any particular genre – it is the narrative, storytelling aspect that is..
Cats In Space – Atlantis (Harmony Factory / Cargo Records UK)
Ah, glory days... it's yesterday once more... For those who still don’t know, Cats In Space are a UK retro six-piece pop-rock band. Their mission is to reproduce the best of the music they grew up with: a mixture of classic rock and glam pop, with loads of harmony guitars and lush layered vocals. But..
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band – Straight To You: Live (Provogue)
It has been ten years since the Louisiana bluesman’s Live in Chicago album was released, so it could be said that he is about due for another one. In the event though, the COVID-19 crisis has knocked Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s gigging schedule on the head as hard as everyone else’s, so the only way to..
George Thorogood And The Destroyers – Live in Boston 1982: The Complete Concert (Craft Recordings / Snakefarm Records)
Thorogood’s music was always loud, simple and direct... In 1982, Delaware bluesmen George Thorogood and the Destroyers were at the top of their game. They had recorded a demo in 1974, but having honed their craft for a further three years and relocated to Boston, their incendiary self-titled debut was released in 1977. Any pretence..
Joe Bonamassa – Royal Tea (Provogue/Mascot)
Spoiler alert - We are living through what we may one day refer to as Joe's ‘classic period’. Like many a musician, Joe Bonamassa has settled into a routine of releasing studio albums of original music once every couple of years for the last decade or so. Unlike most artists, he has been interspersing this..
Derek Sherinian – The Phoenix (InsideOut)
About forty years ago, I bought a second-hand LP by a band called Isotope. Not because I had heard of them, or indeed of any of the musicians involved, but because the bloke who owned the market record stall knew what kind of stuff I liked, and he slapped it on when he spotted me..