Living up to the title ‘The King of Modern Blues’ is a dauntingly lofty prospect but one that Joe Bonamassa takes in his blissfully confident stride, a man out to set standards for himself rather than worrying what others think of him.
The beginning of 2001 was a tumultuous time for KISS, the much-vaunted reunion of the classic line-up starting to show major cracks given that both Ace Frehley and Peter Criss had both signed up for five years and that time was now up.
Alternative Rock artist and Pixies frontman Frank Black has just released deluxe vinyl versions of three albums originally released between 2004 and 2006: ‘Frank Black Francis’, ‘Honeycomb’ and ‘Fast Man, Raider Man’.
2021 really is turning out to be a year that musically just keeps on giving! Not only have we been blessed with some great releases from new, upcoming bands, but many bands that have formed a staple part of any rock/metal fans listening over the last few decades have taken full advantage of the lack of touring and live music and hit the studio to record and release incredible albums.
There's certainly a clear resurgence within rock at the grass roots level in the last few years; one that is, without a shadow of doubt, gathering a tangible strength of late.
Van' and 'Halen' two words that when combined are 100% synonymous with premium five star-grade rock; a trademark for quality musicianship and energetic, virtuoso performances.
In fact for the last decade or so of Van Halen – prior to the sad passing of Eddie – three quarters of the lineup were Van Halen in name; such is the hard rock genes that course through the family veins.
Wolf Alice are Ellie Rowsell (vocals and guitar), Joff Oddie (guitar and vocals), Theo Ellis (bass) and Joel Amey (drums and vocals). It has been a decade since the band began as a duo of Ellie and Joff, later expanding to a four-piece with Joel and Theo joining the group.
Rebellious rockers Stone Whiskey hail from Raleigh, North Carolina, and comprise Alan Rueda (vocals), Bill Spears and Chris Clark (guitars), Jim Hunter (bass) and Mik Ropelewski (drums). ‘Rebels of the Sun’ is their debut album and was recorded at Vintage Noise Studio, also in Raleigh.
Any fan of late 80s/early 90s melodic rock/AOR will probably know about Mark Spiro. He’s written for/with a number of the greatest artists of the genre including Bad English, John Waite, Giant, Cheap Trick, Heart, Kansas, REO Speedwagon and Mr Big.
There's something special in the Westcountry waters these days; there's plenty of rock n' roll emanating from these parts. From the mercurial metallers King Creature right through to the rapidly rising grungy prog-metal talent of Ethyrfield via the downright dirty blues-edged rock of 50 Year Storm it's safe to conclude that Devon and Cornwall are mining a rich musical vein.
There is no shadow of doubt, in my mind, Blaze Bayley is a bona fide rock n' roll renegade. A metallurgical businessman, spanning across five decades from the mid 80s through to the present day leaving a trail of unrelenting fire in his wake.
Long Black River’ is the new album by Americana/Country-Rock artist J R Harbidge and is a delightful mix of laid-back Eagles-esque West Coast Country-Rock and Heartland Rock/Americana. Harbridge’s vocals are a particular joy.
Finnish hard rock band Lost Divison formed in 2015 and released their debut single, ‘Wish You Were Dead’, with vocalist Teija Lämpsä three years later.
The band then changed their lead singer and so now the current line up comprises Maija Vaisanen (vocals), Antti Ovaska (rhythm guitar), Jaakko Korpi (lead guitar), Mikael Luukela (bass) and Juha-Matti Sipola (drums).
If the people that compile the Oxford English dictionary ever need to update the meaning of the phrase “hard working”, then they could do no worse than reference Manchester rockers Twisted Illusion. These guys are the epitome of what the phrase means in terms of musical output and their productivity is second to none.
Skarlett Riot have long been at the front of hard-working metal bands in the country, their Anglicised take on bands like Paramore and Halestorm winning them a growing legion of fans.
Hardware' is the third solo album from ZZ Top frontman Billy F Gibbons, following on from 'Perfectamundo' in 2015 and 'The Big Bad Blues' three years later.