Reviews

  Sapphire Eyes, based in the south of Sweden, now release their third album. This project started after keyboard player Niclas Olsson put his old band Alyson Avenue on the shelf, and 2011 it became a reality. The year after, the debut album saw the light of day. In 2018 the follow up “Breath of […]

Slick, polished, tight, & well-rehearsed is the best way to describe these two shows. Album initially released in 1995. Captures the true spirit of the group, and now for the 1st time, you can enjoy it on turntables, the way the music best listened. “Stage” pressed on White vinyl and CD features an impressive choice […]

  Michael J. Miller  This band never ceases to amaze me! On their brand new cd entitled “IV”, Michael J. Miller (guitar/vocals) and his phenomenal crew of Rockers: Zsolt Henczely (bass), Tom Eakin (drums) & Stephany Dudas (vocals) have delivered what might very well be their most powerful release to date.  With mind-bending tracks such […]

Want your ass kicked and knock up against the wall? This disc can do just that it. Track one begins with t he fist-pumping hard-rocking, “One of the boys.” and wow, do they deliver. Next up, “Sweet Lo.” continues with the pedal to the metal rock and roll mayhem. Unique vocals, Catchy riffs, Solid foundation, […]

  The gold and platinum Canadian hard-rock power trio Triumph has re-released a most entertaining hard-rocking slab of classic’s on a two vinyl set that will please any Triumph fan. Released initially 30 Years ago, A celebrating of the trio’s greatest hits. And now “Classics” pressed on 180-gram vinyl. Armed with all the staples such […]

Yes, this is the same Don Dokken from the band Dokken, who was semi-big in the ’80s. Don’t expect metal or rock music on this as this is an all-acoustic solo album from him. His voice sounds fantastic on this as he sings the songs with a ton of feeling and passion. The music I […]

This band features Sammy Hagar on vocals, Michael Anthony on bass, Joe Satriani on guitar, and Chad Smith on Drums. Here’s is a 13 song DVD of the band live. First off, great sound and filming. One kickass DVD. The group is up on stage, having a blast, and the songs are played tight as […]

Amazing. I was a big fan of this band all through their six albums (one a double live album) with their well-crafted pop tunes and Punky Meadows godly vocals. This band should have been huge back then, but I think the record label (Casablanca) never gave them the proper push. Well, Punky is back along […]

Good ole southern rock with some blues attached to it. Well crafted tunes and riffs with some great vocals to boot. The songs built around simple but more than competent riffing, and with the singer’s blues southern rock vocals, you have a 1, 2 punch. The production on this is also excellent, and if you […]

  This is straight forward heavy metal, 80’s like old school heavy metal with a raw sound to it, which I don’t mind at all. The songs are well-crafted metal numbers with bits of power metal added to them as well. The vocals are excellent and solid, and the singer has an aggressive voice that […]

One of the most enjoyable and soaring releases that have come my way as of late is this 11 track compilation of sonic ecstasy from MJM. A remarkable band of Canadian music veterans that is fronted by ex-Rapid Tears/ Adrenalin lead guitarist (and initial sake) Michael J. Miller. With tracks such as “Resurrection,” “Mountain Boogie” […]

Here’s a book review I did of Megaforce Records co-founder Jon Zazula called “Heavy Tales: The Metal. Music. The Madness. As Lived by Jon Zazula“. First off, I read the book in less than one day as I couldn’t put it down! It is simply amazing and is easily one of the best books I […]

A power-pop band with a bit of punkish style to them like The Clash or older Green Day. The songs on this are quite catchy, and the lead vocals of Nigel Mogg are excellent. They have that punkish vibe of the bands that were coming out of England in the ’80s as well. The production […]

  This is a 3-man jam band with lots of guitar shredding and solos and no vocals. Having the no vocals didn’t sit well with me as I don’t mind a song without them, but a whole 40-minute album of guitar mindless guitar solos and shredding didn’t make me stand up and take notice. I […]

A fascinating DVD this is. I agree with all the opinions on this. With downloads and music sales slumping, it’s more important for a band to build its brand, whether it be live shows, a super catchy logo, a VIP meet and greet, having as many social media sites/pages as possible, then going in the […]

What a blazing and worthy tribute paid by Denmark’s Falling Hazard to the Father of Irish Rock – Philip Lynott, to commemorate on what would have been the Legend’s 70th Birthday. This 2 track gem features a solid cover of “Old Town” -which first saw the light of day on the Thin Lizzy front man’s […]

My favorite Swedish melodic proggers are back!!! YES!! The band’s new EP (hopefully just a taste of what’s to come) is a 5-track release in a nice digipack. Opener “Ruler Of The World” throws us straight back to A.C.T in their prime. Poppy, proggy, melodic, rocking, the perfect mix! “Running Out Of Luck” continues in […]

UK three-piece Coldharbour has just released their debut EP, and it’s a pretty nice installment, I must say. Stylewise, they are a bit hard to pinpoint (which I like). There’s a bit of metal, a bit of prog, a bit of post-grunge, a bit of metalcore, a slice of nu-metal and various other bits and […]

Joe Black is a guitar player, and he kicks some ass on this release. He has a bunch of guest musicians helping out on this. The first Tune I wasn’t too keen on as it didn’t have that killer hook I was looking for, however from track # 2 onward I got what I was […]

This is another cool rock n roll band, though they are more on the melodic side and that worked fine by me. Singer Felipe Saether has an incredible voice on this, and he sings the songs with such passion and emotion it wasn’t funny. I was hanging on his every word. The music is melodic […]

If you have read my review of Swedish hard rockers Shaggy’s pompy/proggy return album “Destination Nowhere”, you noticed I said I was expecting a hard/heavy rock album, but instead they went proggy/pompy. Well, THIS album is actually what I would have expected. Opening track “Black Hearted Angel” kicks off in a full-throttle Heep/Purple vein with […]

FINALLY!!!! G’daaaam! I’ve been waiting for this 70s classic to be released on CD since Moses was running around in shorts. Rockicks classic album “Inside” was released on RSO Records back in 1976 and I purchased the LP then. The band delivers a big chunk of southern influenced hard rock with dual guitars all over […]

Not sure of the exact title of this release because the band stamped “advanced copy” in big capital letters across the album title, which wasn’t the brightest idea guys. Anyway, all you care about is the music, and this does sound like something that would come out in 1972. It is down, and dirty garage […]

This is a recent release that was shelved by the band’s label back in 1974 and has recently seen the light of day thanks to this label, Cleopatra Records. Now I have not heard all of this band’s releases and I remember they had a hit in 1979 with “A Fool For A Pretty Face” […]

Undoubtedly THE most mind-blowing release that I’ve heard in ages! Sarasin has delivered a massive injection of pure in your face / melodic metal that will please the hardest of well-seasoned Head-Bangers while turning on and attracting new Supporters to their ever-increasing legion. Outstanding production by Julius Butty, combined with powerful tracks such as “Kill […]

Angeline formed in 1987 and released a 12” EP in 1990. Their release schedule has however made even Def Leppard look busy. But around 2010 things started happening (and more frequently). “Confessions” was released in 2010 and “Disconnected” in 2011, but unfortunately the label (Avenue of Allies) went bust, and it took until 2018 for […]

Metalville Records (Sweden) Swedish Riot Horse follow their debut “This Is Who We Are” with another slab of southern style retro hard rock. The title track opens the album with an outstanding punchy and powerful Led Zeppelin goes Texas heavy rocker. There are a couple of songs in this vein, but overall this album is […]

The Deep is a prime example that the UK is still bringing kick-ass NWoBHM bands to the table. The 2015 release “premonition” really blew me away, and even though this EP (well, it’s four new tracks and four live tracks, so an EP with bonus tracks), came out already in 2018 it’s still highly current. […]

No doubt a Metal release by far, and a pretty damn good one at that! Just get by the corny intro and on 1st track “Monster girl” Then turned this sucker up! Slams HARD! Very distinctive, harsh, loud in your face sound, Can hear some Alice Cooper influence. Great structure, riffing throughout. Played with grit, […]

KILLSMITH/Halloween (Kachina Records) by Chris Forbes Simple, but effective riffing sort of like AC/DC at times, but more of a boogie to it and different style vocals too. The songs are simple but effective and significant time catchy as well. The production is also old school, which was fine by me. The 10th anniversary of […]