Everyone should have at least one Heaven & Earth album in their collection and if not then the question really should be why not? In many respects, they are the archetypal classic rock band that also manages to encompass melodic, AOR and heavy metal without compromising their everyman hard rock persona. Of course, there have..
Inner Stream – Stain The Sea (Frontiers Music)
Inner Stream is a female fronted rock band hailing from Argentina with roots going back to 2008 when singer Inés Vera Ortiz and her brother, Jorge, began putting songs together in Buenos Aires that didn't quite fit the power metal band that they were both in at the time. We then have to fast forward to..
Big City – Testify X (Frontiers Music)
Big City is a band that I haven't come across before but they have been around for something like ten years and have released three albums to date including this new one, Testify X. The band specialises in harder edged melodic rock and have something of Dare, Ten and, of course, Europe plus even elements..
Rian – Twenty-Three (Frontiers Music)
Rian is a Swedish melodic rock band with Twenty-Three being the bands second album following the release of Out Of The Darkness in 2017. It is very much Swedish AOR following the tried and tested American format so you have a great singer, fabulous songs full of great harmonies that are very listener friendly and..
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...
Smoking Rogers – Comfort Zone (Seahorse Recordings)
Italian Alternative Rock band SMOKING ROGERS hail from Rome, and have been banging out their very own style of grunge since about 2012. So they're not exactly swamping the world with recorded material, Comfort Zone being their debut album! But what they lack in history, they make up with esprit-de-corps, this is simply a really fun album!..
Resurrection Kings – Skygazer (Frontiers Music)
Is it really five years since The Resurrection Kings released their incredible eponymous debut album, a real heavy metal extravaganza that was a pure delight? Initially seen as a project but, thankfully, we now have the band's second release which seamlessly picks up where the debut finished and it is almost as if time has..
THE GARDENING CLUB – The Time Trilogy / The Owl (MRR)
A little historical context before we launch into these two 'longform EP'-length releases from The Gardening Club, I think, because it has been quite the unexpected story. Way way back, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and Phil Collins had some hair, Martin Springett released an album under the banner of The Gardening Club (it was..
The Vendettas – The Vendettas III (Golden Robot Records)
The Vendettas is a rock and roll band from Melbourne, Australia with this latest album, quite obviously, being the third to date in the band's 10 year history. They are a group new to me but they have that typical raw energy that all Australian outfits seem to have. The band appears to have one..
L.A. Guns – Cocked And Loaded Live (Frontiers Music)
These days, the first question you have to ask when a new L. A. Guns album pops up is which version of the band it is. Is it the Tracii Guns and Phil Lewis version or is it the Steve Riley version now officially known as Riley's L. A. Guns following a court case to..