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Tag Archives: hard rock

Firewind – Stand United – Album Review

Artist: Firewind Album Title: Stand United Label: AFM Records Date of Release: 1 March 2024 Four years may have passed since they released their self-titled ninth album in 2020 but, for Firewind, the reality is that very little has changed. Returning with the same line-up and the same, familiar musical output with their tenth release,  Continue Reading »

Metallica – 72 Seasons – Album Review

Artist: Metallica Album Title: 72 Seasons Label: Blackened Recordings Date of Release: 14 April 2023 Just about every rock or metal fan on the planet has an opinion about Metallica. It’s the price you pay for being one of the biggest bands on the planet, I suppose. Does the world, therefore, need yet another review  Continue Reading »

A-Z (Alder/Zonder) – A-Z – Album Review

Artist: A-Z (Alder/Zonder) Album Title: A-Z Label: Metal Blade Records Date of Release: 12 August 2022 I’m well aware of the fact that the artwork of an album is not the most important thing. However, as I’ve chirped on many times, as a music lover in the pre-Internet days, it was one of the biggest elements  Continue Reading »

Def Leppard – Diamond Star Halos – Album Review

Artist: Def Leppard Album Title: Diamond Star Halos Label: Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury Records Date of Release: 27 May 2022 I thought long and hard before writing this review. Does the world really need yet another two-bit hack writing a review of the latest Def Leppard album? Probably not. But, in the end, I thought ‘why not?’  Continue Reading »

Album Of The Year 2021 – Number 17

Welcome to Day 14 of my ‘Album Of The Year 2021 Top 30 Countdown’. Thank you for all the support you’ve shown me and my endeavours throughout 2021, and during this traditional end-of-year curtain-closer. As I near the half-way point of this year’s countdown, I’m reminded in glorious technicolour, just how great 2021 has been  Continue Reading »

Live Gig Review: Def Leppard – O2 Arena, 6 December 2018

Artist: Def Leppard & Cheap Trick Venue: O2 Arena, London Date: 6 December 2018 When a colleague offers you the opportunity to see one of your all-time favourite bands live, you have to accept. When it transpires that the band in question would be playing their best album from start to finish, you don’t just  Continue Reading »

Daydream XI – The Circus of the Tattered and Torn – Album Review

Artist: Daydream XI Album Title: The Circus Of The Tattered And Torn Label: Sensory Records Date Of Release: 22 September 2017 There’s an age-old saying that ‘first impressions last’ and furthermore, that once made, that first impression can last a lifetime. Fortunately for the young Brazilian prog metal band Daydream XI, there’s another saying which  Continue Reading »

Sons Of Apollo – Psychotic Symphony – Album Review

Artist: Sons Of Apollo Album title: Psychotic Symphony Label: InsideOut Music Date of Release: 20 October 2017 It’s a new day. Therefore, it is almost inevitable that we have a new project from renowned drummer Mike Portnoy. Of course, I’m being a little ridiculous and prone to exaggeration but given how prolific and obviously inspired  Continue Reading »

H.E.A.T – Into The Great Unknown – Album Review

Artist: H.E.A.T Album Title: Into The Great Unknown Label: earMUSIC Date of Release: 22 September 2017 When I reviewed ‘Tearing Down The Walls’, the fourth album from Swedish hard rock band H.E.A.T, I suggested that it was even better than their previous effort, ‘Address The Nation’. And that was a superb album, one of my  Continue Reading »

Albums that changed my life: Skid Row – ‘Slave To The Grind’

Growing up, I was fed on an aural diet of Queen, Dire Straits and ELO with a smattering of Barclay James Harvest and The Moody Blues for good measure. It’s no surprise therefore that I found myself gravitating towards guitar based music as I neared my teens. And I thank my parents heartily for the  Continue Reading »


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