Crimson Sky - 'Dawn' (selF Released) 4/5

Its been three years since Bristol prog rockers Crimson Sky hit us with their impressive debut album Misunderstood, and since then there have been a few line up changes, mainly the replacement of vocalist Holly Thody with new girl Jane Setter, the arrival of new keysman Moray Macdonald. But after a very quiet couple of years they are back with this new four track ep.

Over all this is pretty good, there are two brand new tracks on offer. Crimson Sky is a neat little cut that sounds like Seasons End era Marillion jamming with cult NWOBHM act Runestaff - all Mark Kelly style keyboard widdles under pinned with some nice tasty faux-metal riffage. Then you have The Park, this ones stand out track, a number that kicks off with an almost MC5 proto-punk groove before switching into a feel and vibe that smacks of classic Pendragon with a hint of Stray thrown in for good measure. Pretty good stuff. Vocalist Setter may not have the 'rawk chick' snarl that made her predecessor so distinctive, but her almost ethereal alto tones and impressive range more than do the business. And it must be said that the keyboard of Mr Macdonald really do raise the standard of musicianship in the band by several clicks, and that is not a reflection on the rest of Crimson Sky, all of whom are pretty competent players in their own right.

The other two cuts are re-recorded versions of numbers from the Misunderstood album. The first, The Sea, is a pretty good rendition of an already impressive track, noteworthy for Mr Leamons tasty Steve Rothery / Andy Latimer style lead guitar work. However the new version of After The Rain provides a pretty downbeat ending to the ep, as compared to the rest of the tracks on show it comes over more than a little limp, as its Fleetwood Mac meets Mostly Autumn acoustic stylings and trip away with the fairies vibe come over as a very light weight and finish the ep with a whimper rather than the bang this releases deserves, (and to be honest isn't as good as the Misunderstood version.)

However don't let that put you off as the rest of this one is well worth a listen, and if Crimson Sky continue to follow the road laid down on tracks like The Park there could well be a brighter dawn ahead for them.

Worth a look or three

For fans of... Marillion, Runestaff, Pallas, Pendragon, Delusion Squared, Porcupine Tree etc....

Mos Generator - 'Nomads' (Ripple) 4.5/5

Its been five years since we last heard any brand new material from Seattle grungy stoner retro rockers Mos Generator, but now at long last we have album number five, and believe me, the wait was worth it.

This one kicks off with the riff heavy Cosmic Ark with its post Sabbath riffage, Ozzy-u-like vocals, it's sludge and grind soundscapes and mellow middle section resulting in something that sounds like it could be taken from Sabbaths Technical Ecstasy, a belter of a track. And having set up the stall, Mos Generator continue in fine style. All that time out hasn't changed them at all, all the classic Mos Gen trademarks are here, the heavy as hell riffage, the searching and emotive lyrics, the flashes of 60's psyche rock, the undercurrent of Seattle grunge, the sweet blues licks... all the elements that have marked Mos Gen out as leaders in the current field of retro fueled stoner rockers. OK they may not have shown a huge amount of progress since that classic eponymous 2002 debut album, but hell, progress for progress sake is a bad thing, Mos Gen have got a winning formula and if it aint broke don't fix it.

Highlights? well the whole album is just great, but listen out for the highly intelligent and well realised re-working of the Judas Priest classic Solar Angels, the vast and highly headbangable I Can't Get Where I Belong and the epic closer This Is A Gift Of Nature with its hard and heavy riffage and wonderful breakdown and slow build section leading to a truly earth moving climax. However my fave cut on offer has to be the dark and doomy Step Up with is sub death metal sensibilities and big anthem style hook.

Basically Mos Gen are back, they are in fine form and anyone who loves their rock, raw, grungy, classic and in your face should sit up and take notice.

Great Stuff

For fans of... Stone Axe, Soundgarden, Black Sabbath, The Groundhogs...

The Texas Flood - 'Worth The Whiskey' (self released) 4.5/5

There is land to the west that is wild and lawless, where the men are tough and the liquor is harsh. And from these bad lands (near Swansea) come The Texas Flood. Part of the NWOATYWRB (New Wave Of Annoyingly Talented Young Welsh Rock Bands), TTF are a blues rocking power trio who take their cue from the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan and this is (I believe) their second ep.

Now I first encountered this lot when they played on the same bill as Alien Stash Tin earlier in the year, and I was more than a little impressed that three young guys, barely into their third decade, not only had such a strong handle on classic blues rock, but also the fact they played like guys who had been blues rocking for decades. So I put in a order for their EP and at last its here.

Now there are four tracks on offer here. We kick off with Barking Like An Underdog, an excellent slice of get down and boogie blues rock that has echoes of Jason and The Scorchers about it. Then there's Holding My Own, a slick and subtle ode to masturbation that kicks along like Slug The Nightwatchman (remember them? - damn they were good). Living On The Edge is a glorious Georgia Sats like booze 'n' blues work out and closer Worth The Whiskey comes over like Stevie Ray jamming with Motortrain in a Texas redneck bar and not getting shot. All in all four great tracks.

As for the musicians. Well the core of the band is the superb rhythm section of Tom Williams and Ben Govier, two guys who know how to swing and know how to boogie; a tight unit that just locks down on the beat and keeps the music driving on in classic style. This allows the mercurial talent of singer / guitarist Tom Bradford to shine through - here is a guy who plays like George Thorogood and sings like Ronnie Van Zant. Add in the fact that these guys can write great songs full or infectious hooks and wonderful tongue in cheek imagery and you have in TTF a band that could well go places.

In short a great ep from a superb young band that show a truck load of promise, and is a must for southern boogie and blues rock fans everywhere. Yeeehaaaa South Wales Will Rise Again!!!

Excellent

For fans of... ZZ Top, Motortrain, Jason and the Scorchers, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Georgia Satellites....

Fifteen English Pounds - 'Sin City' (self released) 4/5

Fifteen English Pounds hail from the sleepy town of Evesham, in the English Midlands, a place best known in UK rock circles as being the birthplace of 80's OTT glam rockers Wrathchild. This album is a compilation of various demos the band have issued over the past few years brought together into one rather groovy 10 track collection.

Now FEP play hard edged rock of the old school, and they are rather good at it. Kicking off with the high speed blues rock work out of Sin City (not the AC/DC track), this one just screams along, full of tales of sex, motorbikes and rock and roll excess. You get cuts like Effigy with its frenzied harmonica solo, the air punching anthem of Rock N Roll Heaven, the UFO sounding Human Sacrifice... all great stuff. In fact there isn't a weak track on show at all.

If you wanna draw musical comparisons with the great and the good of rock and roll past then if you think of the likes of AC/DC, and NWOBHM legends like Tobruk, Spider, Idol Rich, Tokyo Blade etc then you will be in the right ball park.

The musicianship here is first rate, it's not trying to be to slick and not trying to be overly cleaver, its just a load of great honest balls out, heads down and see you at the end performances. Vocalist Ade Danby has a powerful and compelling voice that reminds me of Toyko Blades Alan Marsh in places, and g-man Andy Crump has a style that draws comparisons with the late great Gary Moore (just check out Cool Tone to see exactly what I mean). Chuck in a rhythm section that's ducks arse tight and as driven as Lewis Hamiltons McLaren and you have a pretty impressive band that can really deliver the goods.

OK, in places the production is a little rough around the edges, but hell, what do you expect from a small up and coming band on a budget, and this can easily be overlooked.

All in all this is a cracking album from a cracking band that has 'cult hero' scrawled all over it, and one that all discerning lovers of the UK underground rock scene should add to their collections.

Impressive

For fans of... Trucker Diablo, Grifter, Dear Superstar, Iron Claw etc....

Fen - 'Of Losing Interest' (Ripple) 4.5/5

This is the fifth album from British Columbia based stoner prog outfit Fen, an outfit that has been around since the late 1990's and their second for Ripple music.

First impressions of this one are very favourable, like a lot of Ripples roster the term stoner rock is the first thing that springs to mind as the opening cut Riddles lurks from the speakers and conjures up sonic images of early Rush, Black Sabbath and Triumph. However as the nine tracks on offer play you begin to pick up a lot more diversity of influence and sound that many of their retro rocking stoner counterparts. A Long Line has an almost Kashmir style Zeppelin vibe to it. The Glove, with its not so subtle lyrical references to Michael Jackson, hints at the work of Max Webster, Light Up The End is a sweet acoustic led pseudo ballad that hints at The Grateful Dead on a Rainbow trip and Snake Path reminds me a little of Blue Oyster Cult in places (a very good thing indeed in my book)

As is to expected the playing and production here is faultless, Doug Harrison and Sam Levin are both superb guitarist, each capable of laying down some spine tingling lead work and joining together in some classic Wishbone Ash style twin lead sections - just check out the lead playing on Pilot Plant. Another big plus is the lyrical content; which serves up some very intelligent and quite dark imagery that is delivered by Mr Harrisons Burke Shelley / Geddy Lee type vocals in spine tingling style.

All in all a great record from a first rate band, and a release that will do both Fen's and Ripple's growing reputation the power of good.

Highly Recommended

For fans of... Mos Generator, Rush, Stone Axe, Blue Oyster Cult, Led Zeppelin...

Triumph - 'Live at Sweden Rock Festival' (frontiers) 4.5/5

From the mid 1970's right through to the early 1990's Canadas Triumph were right up there with very biggest names in rock, albums like Sport of Kings and Allied Forces sold by the truck load, and they toured the world playing in the biggest venues. However in the early 1990's guitarist and band main man Rik Emmett departed for a solo career, and Triumph fell from view into the were are they now file to spend the next 15 years almost forgotten. Then in 2008 the band reunited for a one off appearance at the legendary Sweden Rocks Festival and as often happens the one off lead to a small tour, which lead to a bigger tour and before you could say I Live For The Weekend the band were back together full time. Now since then there has been no new Triumph material - in fact the band have said there will not be any new studio albums in the foreseeable, but the band have been doing a fair bit of archive raiding and they have just issued this, the full set from that Sweden Rock reunion gig.

Now I will confess I was a bit of a Triumph fan back in the day, but over the past 20 years their albums have been laying at the back of the record rack - in fact I can't remember when I last played a Triumph album for my own enjoyment, and a flick through my playlist archive shows I've only span one Triumph track on air since the BCFM show started, and that was 3 years ago (something I intend to redress over the next few months). So I am finding listening to this one a bit of a journey of rediscovery.

And what a pleasant journey it is. The album kicks off with When The Lights Go Down, a glorious slice of stoner rock, that shows just where the likes of Stone Axe and Mos Generator are getting some of their influences. Other highlights include Allied Forces - a cut that comes on as a real surprise when you realise exactly how heavy Triumph could be from time to time; the aforementioned I Live For The Weekend, always my fave Triumph number, and a rock and roller that still sounds as fresh as it it did back in the 80's; and then there's the epic and progressive Blinding Light Show with Mr Emmett showing he still knows his way around a fret board. All good and classic stuff and when you reach the final notes of the wondrously uplifting Fight the Good Fight you end up with a wonderfully satisfied feeling of having rediscovered something very very good indeed.

This album is a great live document, the production is spot on, showing the pure talent of the band and capturing the excitement of the live situation perfectly. This one will certainly remind the world of Triumph and exactly how good they still are. There's only problem, this has left me wanting more Triumph, new Triumph, I'm sure musicians of this class and standard are still capable of writing and recording anther killer album to add to their back catalogue. Come on guys whatdya say?

Triumphful

For fans of... Rush, Van Halen, Stone Axe, The Rods.....

Various Artists - 'The Ripple Effect Presents Volume 1 - Head Music' (Ripple Music) 5/5

Five years ago a couple of Californian music lovers set up The Ripple Effect, an online magazine where they could share their love of old school stoner and modern underground rock. To say the idea was a success is a vast understatement. Since the site was launched Ripple has grown into one of the most respected music sites in the world, has its own radio station and of course Ripple Music, a label that has rapidly become one of the most vibrant and cutting edge in the whole realm of underground music with such acts as Grifter, Stone Axe, Mighty High, Mos Generator and Iron Claw on their books. Now to celebrate the first five years of The Ripple Effect they have issued this twenty three track compilation album, representing the very best of the kind of stuff Ripple have been championing over that time.


Now this compilation is a real delight to listen to, most of the 23 cuts here are previously unreleased, and every track is of the very best of whats happening on the current stoner, retro and underground classic scenes.


I'm not gonna give you a track by track breakdown, this is a free download album, go get a copy for yourself and have an explore. However I will point out a few highlights. There's the glorious stonehead groove of Torso with One, the fantastically sleazy Swear It To The Sun from Voodoo Johnson, Dark Earths highly headbangable eponymous post Sabbath work out and Concrete Sun with the underground classic of Silver Tear... infact every track on this one falls somewhere in between the 'yeah thats pretty damn good' and 'fuck me sideways that was great' camps.


There is still a huge market out there for this kind of new wave old school rock, and with retro rocking bands like Gypsyhawk and Dear Superstar on the edge of the mainstream, the market for this kind of classic rock is only gonna grow, and I have no doubt that Ripple will be there to bring you the very best of it for many years to come. Whats more this is a FREE record, so download it NOW and expand your head with the effect of ripples of superb music


Get this album NOW


For fans of... Stone Axe, Mos Generator, Fen, Black Sabbath, the classic and the underground....

Get your copy here for FREE - http://therippleeffect.bandcamp.com/album/the-ripple-effect-presents-volume-1-head-music

The Spittin' Cobras - 'Year Of The Cobra' (Omega Records) 5/5

If you take a couple of ex-pat Brits who have cut their teeth playing with the likes of Ginger (ex Wildhearts / Quireboys), hook them up with a couple of talented types from the musically active melting pot of Seattle, cook well in a huge pot of classic hard edged rock and roll and season with an endless series of gigs traveling in a large motorhome (thats an RV to you American types).... Then result will sound something like The Spittin' Cobras.

Gotta say from the off I'm loving this one, nine cuts of pure, no bullcrap, heads down and let the dandruff fly, air guitar a gogo old school hard rock, that once again shows that the US underground rock scene has thrown  off the post emo teen agnst fakery and the pig grunting devil worshiping sub genre fixated death thrash scenecore sensibilities and has at last remembered how to rock like bastards once more.

This album kicks off with a rather tasty headbanger called All The Way, a track that hits you like a sonic sledgehammer and pounds your brains into a gloriously satisfied mess. And then it just doesn't let up, cuts like Hooker With A Heart Of Gold, Built For Speed, Criminal Mastermind and Throw Your Horns all come at your ears like speeding bullets and pepper your head with wonderfully enjoyable rock and roll buckshot. All the greats are referenced here, Motorhead, AC/DC, Foghat, Quiet Riot, Odin, Aerosmith... and believe me this record sounds just as good as the very best those classic acts have produced.

The final track on this gem is a storming balls out rendition of the Rainbow classic Long Live Rock And Roll and when you have bands like The Spittin' Cobras out there you just know Rock and Roll aint nowhere near dead yet!!

Just Great

For Fans of... Gypsyhawk, Crash Street Kids, Antique Scream, Airbourne....

Gypsyhawk - 'Reverly & Resilience' (metablade) 4.5/5

Pasadena hardrockers Gypsyhawk have been causing a bit of a stir in classic rock circles over the past year. Certainly their reputation reached my ears long before any of their music did, tales of a band from California who sounded like a mad mix of Thin Lizzy, Golden Earring and UFO certainly made me keep a special eye out for them. Then I got hold of Hedgeking, the lead single from this album, and that really impressed me, and now we have this their debut album for Metalblade on our hands.

And I gotta say from the off that its every bit as good as I was expecting. Kicking off with Overloaded, a track that just drips classic Thin Lizzyisms; bass playing singer Eric Harris doing a damn fine Phil Lynott impression whilst guitarists Andrew Packer and Ian Brown do the twin lead bit in the style of the 'Renegade' era pairing of Scott Gorham and Snowy White. Hell if the late great Mr Lynott was still with us this is what Lizzy would be sounding like.

Having laid out the goods in fine style Gypsyhawk then take us on an eleven track cake walk through a damn fine classic rock soundscape. Highlights include the Golden Earring fueled The Fields, Frostwyrm with its hat tips to the likes of The Almighty and Wild Horses, the majestically epic Night Songs From The Desert and the post Motorhead rock out of The Red Wedding. Chuck in a belting cover of the Rick Derringer classic Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo to wrap the whole thing up and you have a damn fine album indeed.

It is indeed great to find acts like Gypsyhawk, who along with the likes of Crash Street Kids, The Muggs and Antique Scream are keeping the old fashioned, no bullshit hard rock flag flying proud and proving once and for all that not all modern rock and metal is inaccessible sub genres and and angry youths with emo haircuts. And long may they continue.

Highly Recommended

For Fans of... Thin Lizzy, Golden Earring, Airbourne, Crash Street Kids, Motorhead etc.....

Mighty High - 'Legalize Tre Bags' (Ripple) 4/5

You don't need to do much lateral thinking to work out where New York stoner punks Mighty High are coming from with their second full length release. If the title and the album  cover art isn't a big enough give away (tre bags is New York street slang for a small cheap weed deal), then a quick look at the song titles confirms that this lot like all thing herbal and combustible - add in the fact that that this albums out on Ripple Music, home of all things cool and groovy in the stoner and retro rock scene and you have a record that really does exactly what it says on the tin.

Kicking off with a glorious MC5-U-like sub two minute thrash out entitled I Don't Wanna Listen Yes ('They sound even worse when I'm high') this record is a glorious rough as fuck cake walk through stoner culture. You get cuts like Moochie ('I'm gonna get high off your supply'), the riff heavy The Ram - a cut that sounds a little like UK alt rockers The Treat, the slick and groovy Tokin' and Strokin' and the doomy post Sabbath work out of Chemical Warpigs; 11 tracks in all every one dripping old school garage punk sensibilities and packed to the coda with drug references. And a very enjoyable listen it is to.

Musically there is a very strong MC5, Stoogies, New York Dolls vibe going on with this one, with hints of the likes of Black Sabbath, Hawkwind and The Deviants thrown in for good measure. As I hinted at earlier, the production here is minimalist and a bit rough round the edges, but that only helps re-enforce the whole garage rock feel to the music and serves to compliment the lyrical themes and ideas the band present.

Over all this is a pretty damn fine record, and there aint that many acts doing this kind of thing now days, and providing the feds don't cramp these guys high, long may they continue.

Worth Checking Out


For fans of... MC5, Inner City Unit, The Deviants, The Pink Fairies, Hawkwind, New York Dolls.....

Crucified Barbara - 'The Midnight Chase' (GMR) 4.5/5

Crucified Barbara are a all girl four piece outfit from Sweden. Originally a punk outfit they have honed their sound over the past 14 years into a classic old school hard rock outfit. They have toured with Motorhead amongst other and have just issued this their third studio album.

Ooo this is good, I've not encountered Crucified Barbara before but a mate of mine has been raving about them for sometime, so I thought it was time I checked them out, I got hold of this their latest release and boy I'm glad I did. Kicking off with The Crucifier, a juicy slice of old school 80's style metal in the Girlschool / Meanstreak vein, this album is just one glorious exhibition of first rate classic old school rock and metal. Tracks like Shut Your Mouth, Rules And Bones, Kid From the Upperclass etc are all damn fine, intelligent and highly headbangable exercises in classic metal excellence that stand up to repeated listening.

I know this may be seen as cliche, but I can't but notice some interesting parallels with Girlschool on this one. After all both bands started out as punk outfits, both evolved their sound into good old hard rock whilst retaining a little of the punk roots in their sound, and both have the power, drive and attitude to prove that anything the boys can do the girls can do just as well if not better.

OK it's not all good news, there is the ballad Count Me In, a very light weight throw away radio rocker that sticks out from the rest of the album like a Torey boy at a socialist workers rally, (hence this album not getting a perfect 5), but when you also have gems like Rock Me Like The Devil on offer it is a slip up than can be over looked.

The bottom line is this is a great record from a great band and one that should help Crucified Barbara get better noticed worldwide. I expect great things from these ladies in the years to come.

Very Good Indeed


For fans of.. Girlschool, Motorhead, Tank, Meanstreak, The Kix, Rock Goddess etc...

L.A.Guns - 'Hollwood Forever (Dead Line) 4.5/5

Sadly there is a tendency with some bands to split and reform in several different incarnations, and then spend as much time suing the backsides off each other as they do touring and recording. Just like Saxon, Great White, Wishbone Ash etc, glam legends L.A.Guns have also found themselves going down this route. Now I aint gonna let this review turn into a 'for fuck sake' rant. I'll just point out  that this version of L.A.Guns is the Phil Lewis fronted version and get on with it.

Now this album, the latest offering, is a pretty damn good one. It kicks off with a rather storming title track that lays out the stall for the rest of the 13 tracks to follow. We get the rather interesting Eel Pie (a reference to Mr Lewis East London roots?) with its cutting insight into the music business, the big an brooding Burn with its huge hook laden chorus, the rock and boogie bang out of Vine Street Shimmy with its glorious sleazy chorus riff, a fantastic slow and heavy blues workout in the form of Dirty Black Night - which features some stunning guitar work from Stacey Blades and the headlong drive of Venus Bomb which is an air guitar classic in the making...In fact there isn't really a duff track on offer, even the slower cuts like Underneath the Sun, are sleaze filled late night drinking anthems, that manage to stay ell clear of the old power ballad cliche.

Phil Lewis is a vocalist I've always had a lot of time for, after all I'm old enough to have seen him fronting both Girl and Torme back in the early 80's long before he upped sticks to California, and I'm glad to say he still sounds as sleazy, powerful, in your face and convicted as he did on Girl's Sheer Greed opus way back when, add in the fact that Stacey Blades does some of the best guitar work of his career on this one and the rhythm section of Scott Griffin and Steve Riley are as tight as Anne Widdecombes rubber bondage cat suit and you've got a great band writing and performing some first class hard rock

In short, this is a fantastic record and a worthy addition to the catalogue of a great band.

Well worth checking out

For fans of.. Poison, Girl, Guns And Roses, Ratt and classic hard rock and hair metal.

Jorn - 'Bring heavy Rock To The Land' (frontiers) 5/5

OK I'll admit I'm turning into a bit of fan of Norway's finest metal hero Jorn Lande and his solo band Jorn, Maybe its his sounding uncannily like Ronnie James Dio at times, maybe its cos he pens and performs balls out old school hard rockers full of lyrics like 'raise the metal signs and bring heavy rock to the land' or maybe its the cover artwork that turns me on. I suspect its all three, but whatever the reason. This band speaks to me in ways I've not been spoken to for years, they revive my teenage years when all that was really important, was getting the beers in, getting off with girls and listening to a bottom booting metal sound track while you were doing it.

Now this is the seventh studio album Mr Lande has issued under the Jorn monicker (he has done many others with Masterplan, Vagabond, Millennium and a host of other projects), and I gotta admit in my humble opinion this is one of his best. Aided and abetted by a very talented band of metal merchants including guitarist Tore Moren and drummist Willy Bendiksen he has cooked up a cracking metal album of the old school that pay tribute to and is more than equal to the metal of 25 years ago. You get slices of Dio and 80's Sabbath (natch), hints at the Michael Schenker Group, hat tips to Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and even a garnish of The Scorpions for good measure.

There is not a weak moment on offer here. Highlights include the Dio-esque title track, the Rainbow influenced Chains Around You, the power drive of the Helloween tinged Time To Be King, and the closer I Came To Rock a cut that has a certain Armored Saint feel to it. There is also an interesting cover of the Christopher Cross cut Ride Like The Wind which comes over like the version Saxon originally had in mind before they had their take on it remixed and murdered for the American Radio market.

Basically this record does just what it says on the cover, it brings heavy rock to the land by the JCB bucket load, and in a world awash with ten thousand minority metal sub genres the fact that Mr Lande and friends are still producing no bullshit quality hard rock of the old school to such a high standard can only be seen as a very good thing indeed.

Buy or Die

For fans of.. Dio, Black Sabbath, Helloween, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Rainbow, UFO and classic hard rock in general.

Stone Axe - 'Stone Axe II - Deluxe Edition' (ripple music) 5/5

It's only been a couple of years since this, the second album from Washington (US) based retro rockers Stone Axe first hit the racks, already the band have decided to give the whole thing a revamp and re-issue the whole thing as a double disc set featuring a whole album of live tracks, rare b-sides and other lost goodies.

If you've not encountered the main album before, you've been missing out big time. There are 10 cuts on offer that take a delightful wander through the classic sounds of 70's rock. You get cuts like the Free / The Who influenced instrumental One More Time Before I Die, the Thin Lizzy inspired David Bowie tribute Those Were The Golden Years (where vocalist Dru Brinkerhoff manages to pull off a fantastic Phil Lynott impression (see comments below)),  We Know It's Still Rock and Roll with its head nods to the likes of Status Quo, The Sweet and Mott The Hoople and the wonderful organ lead Turn To Stone which brings back memories of Uriah Heep, The Moody Blues and Procol Harem. This record is flawless, perfectly performed and produced by a bunch of guys who have a real love and understanding of the classic era of rock music.

Then you have the bonus disc, and the delights continue, from the first track, the semi-psyche rock out of SWLABR to the closing cut of Transmissions Pt 2, which sounds a little like the tripped out sounds of the pre-Michael Schenker UFO, you have one your hands a treasure trove of some wonderful rare gems. Just to point out a few personal highlights; there's grinding and dirty blues of The Devils Hand, the Stray-U-like For All That Fly, the Groundhogs influenced When I Come Down and my fave cut offer The Last Setting Sun, a tune that to my ears has hints of long forgotten New York outfit Starz about it. Hell if you have already got this album its worth getting again for the bonus disc alone.

All in all, this this one helluva album, and with all the revived interest in 60's - 80's rock and metal going on at the moment this set will help mark out Stone Axe as one of the very best in their field. and long may they continue.

Buy or DIE

For fans of... Crash Street Kids, Mos Generator, The Muggs, Budgie, Thin Lizzy, Free......

Yes - 'In The Present - Live In Lyon' (frontiers records) 5/5

Classic Prog Rockers Yes have been staging a bit of a revival recently, with a new vocalist on board in the shape of Mystery front man Benoit David, the return of Drama era keys-man Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn back at the production hem, they have already hit us this year with the remarkable and fresh sounding Fly From Here studio opus, and now we have this live set to fan flames of revival.

Ok before you mail in saying as such I will say that the line up here differs a tad from the Fly From Here album in as much as the keys here are played by Oliver Wakeman, (son of Rick) and I will point out that performances on this album date from late 2009, before work on the Fly From Here album started.

Gotta say that from the off I'm liking this lots. First up I'm loving the set on offer; we get stuff from Time And A Word (Astral Traveler), The Yes Album (I've Seen All Good People & Starship Trooper), Fragile (Roundabout & Southside Of the Sky), Close To The Edge (And You And I & Siberian Khatru)... etc, even 90125 is represented by Owner Of A Lonely Heart (natch), but there are some suprises on offer as well in form of Onward from the much maligned Tormato and a brace of cuts (Machine Messiah & Tempus Fugit) from my fave Yes album - Drama.

Benoit Davids vocals are superb, he takes all that Anderson era Aled Jones stuff in his stride, and breathes new life into these old classics. As for the rest of the band - well when your talking about the likes of Steve Howe, one of the three Steve H's (along with Hackett and Hillage), on the guitar, Chris Squire on bass and Alan White on the kit you know your in for a as near as flawless performance as can be expected. Add in Oliver Wakeman who besides being a chip off the old block has previously cut his teeth working along side the likes of Clive Nolan from Arena and played along side the likes of Magnums Bob Catley, and you have a great line up, capable of playing classic tracks with a vibe and energy that makes them sound like brand new material.

This is indeed a band reborn, and coming on the heals of the excellent Fly From Here we can be left in mo doubt Yes are back, they mean business and they are here to stay.

(And finally my take on the whole Anderson vs David debate. Personally I have found the last few albums from the Jon Anderson fronted Yes had been lacking in both life and direction, almost like Yes had become the Jon Anderson band. To be honest I had never really been that much of a Jon Anderson fan anyway, all those 'own backside inspecting' lyrics and that castrati style everything in the top register vocals often did as much to turn me off Yes as Mr's Howe, Wakeman and Squire etc did to attract me. But Mr Davids vocals are to me a real treat, ok he's got the Jon Anderson register, but his voice is more human, it has the hint of Geddy Lee about it and none of the shriek Mr Anderson used to produce when he leant on it, and to all the detractors who are claiming all this 'no Yes without Jon Anderson' crap, all I can say is wash yer ears out, get over yourselves and move on. Jon was good Benoit is better, End of.)

Superb, buy it and love it forever!!

For fans of... King Crimson, Mystery, Opeth, Pallas....

Rush - 'Time Machine 2011: Live In Cleveland' (roadrunner) 4/5

To say Rush are true elder statesmen of rock is a gross understatement. Since they first crawled wide eyed and innocent from the suburbs of Toronto in 1968 they have grown to become one of the biggest selling rock outfits of all time. 40 million units shifted, gold and platinum discs by the shed load, 18 studio albums, eight previous live sets and more singles than you can shake a stick at... all goes to show that over the years they must be doing something right And now we have live album number nine to keep the Rush heads happy while they are waiting for next years Clockwork Angels, which will be studio opus number 19.

Time Machine 2011: Live In Cleveland, was recorded in Cleveland Ohio (natch) as part of a North American tour the band played as a break from the recording of the Aforementioned Clockwork Angles opus. Now I know live albums can be a bit of contentious issue amongst rock fans. Some, me included, love them and revel in the rawness, the power and the atmosphere they create, others tend to find them too rough, under produced and lacking the polish of studio recordings. Horses for courses I suppose, and I know this one is going to be just as divisive.

Basically this is a warts-and-all-as-it-happened raw live set. All the little mistakes and errors have been left in. For example Geddy Lees voice on the first few tracks isn't fully warmed up, and he doesn't quite hit some of the high notes on the opener Spirit Of the Radio, Alex Lifeson does a few nearly dropped notes and swift recovery in places like the intro to Presto, later on in a few places a tiring Neil Peart tends to drag the tempo on a few tracks. Now before you fill the comment box damning me for saying that these rock gods are making errors let me explain that this is a GOOD THING. It shows that what we have on offer here is a genuine live show, there's been little or no post production studio tinkering or over dubbing going on, and its those little imperfections that make the live performance come alive, if you want it note perfect stick to the studio stuff, live albums are about excitement and atmosphere not slavish musical reproduction. Besides this album is a full concert well over two hours long, I defy anyone to go on stage with any instrument and play for that length of time without making the odd fluff or getting a bit weary. Hell, when I'm onstage with Alien Stash Tin I'm struggling after half that time, so I have maximum respect for these guys for doing it for two hours plus night after night and still keep playing to this exceptionally high standard.

And to be honest the standard of playing is as good as you can expect from these three musical legends. Once he's warmed up Geddy Lees voice is still as rangy and as distinctive as it was back in the 1970's, Mr Lifeson is still showing why he is one of the most influential guitarists of all time, and whether your one of the people who thinks Neil Peart is one the greatest drummers the world has ever known, or one of those who thinks he's too flash for his own good, the fact remains he does what he does in fine style (even if it is a 6 minute drum solo).

Gotta admit the set on offer is a pretty good un as well, I'm glad to hear my all time fave Rush cut Time Stands Still given an airing (no Analogue Kid, The Trees, Body Electric or New World Man though, still you can't have it all), all the old faves are on show, Tom Sawyer, Spirit Of The Radio, Red Barchetta, 2112 Overture... along with some more recent cuts like Workin' Them Angels and Far Cry. Plus there is an airing for a couple of numbers, Caravan and BU2B, from next years Clockwork Angels album that shows that the magic of the Rush machine shows no sign of drying up anytime soon.

So as far as live albums go, or Rush live albums go for that matter, this is pretty good, its no Exit Stage Left, but its still pretty damn fine all the same.

Well worth checking out.

For fans of.... Rush and classic rock in general

Trillium - 'Alloy' (frontiers) 3/5

American vocalist Amanda Somerville is fairly well known in European metal circles, having contributed to albums by the likes of Epica, Kamelot and After Forever in recent years. Now she assembled her very own outfit under the name Trillium and issued this their debut album.


Now as a band Trillium promises lots. Amanda Somerville is a fantastic vocalist, she has an incredible range, and sounds natural with it. She can scream and wail like the best of them and yet shows such sweet control on the quieter sections. On top of that she has assemble a pretty good band around her, guitarist Sander Gommans must be singled out for special praise for his lead work in particular. Add in a great guest performance from Jorn 'Hardest Working Man In Metal' Lande and you have a band and an album that should rank up their along side the likes of Nightwish and Within Temptation as true leaders of the whole female fronted gothic rock / metal genre.


However there is a fundamental flaw with 'Alloy' that not only lets the whole thing down, but at times can be so frustrating that you tend to find the whole thing almost unlistenable. The problem is with the way the vocals are produced. As I said before Amanda Somerville has a wonderful voice, and in the quieter sections of the album such as tracks like Path of Least Resistance and Love Is An Illusion it sits in the mix perfectly. But when things start to get a bit heavier, (and there is a fair amount of metal on offer on this one), she steps up a gear or three, and all to often drowns out the rest of the band. This is most noticeable on tracks like Machine Gun, Purge and especially on Scream It, where the difference between the way Amandas vocals and the aforementioned Mr Landes vocals sit in the mix is very pronounced.


All this is a shame because this is a promising debut from a band that could achieve greatness, but is an issue that must be address if Trillium's potential is to be realised.


A flawed gem

For fans of... Nightwish, Within Temptation, Issa, Mystica etc....

Yes - 'Fly From Here' - (Frontiers Records) 5/5

For many Yes without Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman are a hollow shell. This happened many years ago, and the hollow shell re emerged with a cracking album in "Drama" - Fast forward 31 years and people are saying exactly the same thing now Yes are again without Jon and Rick. But has history repeated itself? Is the new album "Fly From here" a cracking album? You bet your proggy album collection it is.

First thing you have to understand is that this new album is no "Close To The Edge" or "Relayer" but then again nothing the band did afterwards with Jon and Rick measured up to those masterworks.
What we have here is catchy melodies that twist and turn into your mind and stay there in a good earworm sort of way. Steve Howe delivers some of his best lead guitar work for a number of years and is prominent on many tracks.

The title track is nearly 24 minutes of musical heaven, with all the Yes sensibilities you could want.
"The Man You Always Wanted Me To Be" features a lovely Chris Squire lead vocal and i kid you not, also a beautiful McCartney bass line near the end.

"Life On A Film Set" starts off with a sound very reminiscent of early King Crimson or one of the beautiful Greg Lake moments of ELP before sucking you right into the vortex of that quirky Yes sound. I always loved the earlier prog laced with pop sensibilities of Yes when they first started out and this song ticks all the boxes.
The Steve Howe penned "Hour Of Need" is a beautiful little 3 minute number ( although this author would have preferred the full 6 plus minute version only available on the Japanese release - Only a minor gripe though )

"Solitaire" is a Howe penned acoustic number evoking memories of "Mood For A Day" from the "Fragile days" and finally "Into The Storm" ends the whole kooboodle off in rousing fashion with Steve Howe again to the fore with a great solo at the end, and the whole band sounding as if they are truly enjoying themselves.
Benoit David is not Jon Anderson and Geoff Downes is not Rick Wakeman, but hell who cares when you have a collection of songs as good as these lovingly produced by Mr Trevor Horn.

My verdict is this "Yes" sound refreshed, rejuvenated and bloody damn great.

REVIEW BY - IAN BARTLETT 


for fans of - classic progressive rock

Jorn - 'Live In Black' (frontiers records) 4.5/5

Norwegian metal master Jørn Lande is a busy bugger. Not only is he working his nuts off with Masterplan and Allen Lande; guesting on albums by Avantasia, Push king and ex Uriah Heep keys wizard Ken Hensley; performing in rock operas AND organizing Ronnie James Dio tributes, but he can still find time to record and tour with his own solo project Jorn. And it's with Jorn that this his latest release comes. Live In Black, is of course a double live CD set, recorded at last years Sweden Rocks festival and comes with a DVD to accompany the live audio albums (sadly the DVD was not issued in the promo package I received so I'll leave that out of this review).

Now it is my sad duty to report that I'm not 100% up to speed on this guys career, all I've heard is the odd Masterplan track and a few tracks off his Ken Hensley collaboration; and I'm now beginning to wonder what I have been missing, cos I'm liking what I'm hearing here very muchly. Not only does Mr Jørn sound uncannily like the late great Ronnie James Dio in his vocal inflection, range and delivery, whilst his band comes over like a glorious mixture of Dio, Tony Martin era Sabbath and Accept with a hint of the Judas Priests thrown in as well. In short, all the great metal stuff that provided the sound track to my youth. The overall result is a live album that easily stands alongside the likes of Live Evil, Live After Death and the other great metal live albums of years gone by.

Highlights? Well the power wail of Stormcrow is spine tingling, the relentless plod and pound of Spirit Black is truly epic, the riffing on Man Of the Dark is to die for and Soul of The Wind has just gotta be a true metal classic. Hell I'm not normally one who cares too much for cover versions, but there's a version of Thin Lizzy's Are You Ready on here that can only be described as a belter.

I'm now gonna go off and track down the rest of this guys stuff and I'll advise anyone with a taste for good old school metal to buy this album, and do the same.

For fans of.. Dio, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Helloween etc...

Grifter - 'Grifter' (ripple music) 4.5/5

OK, first up, PLEASE do NOT confuse this outfit with a rather limp indie shoegaze band from the states of similar name. If you want angst ridden teeny post rock walk away now and save yourself a whole world of pain and possible ear damage... If however you want to hear some down and dirty good old biker rock from Plymouth in the UK, then stick around, cos I think you'll like.

Formed by a group of veterans from the Plymouth area rock scene, Grifter have been around since 2003 and have chalked up a long list of self released eps that have won them friends and rave reviews all over the UK, and now they are hitting us with their first full length album. And worra album it is; dripping classic hard rock sensibilities from first to last this album just rocks. There's the smattering of all the greats in Grifters balls out rock approach; ZZ Top, AC/DC,  Juicy Lucy... even bits of some of those great but forgotten NWOBHM outfits like Split Beaver, Handsome Beasts and After Dark. Basically this right up my musical alley. It ain't original, it ain't cleaver, it is just rock and roll with a capital RAWK.

There's 11 tracks here, and each one is a stomping greasy down and dirty biker bash floor filler, and with titles like Asshole Parade, Strip Club, Piss And Gas et al. you know EXACTLY where these guys are coming from; and in a time when too many rock bands are trying to be over cleaver and too flash for their own good Grifter are a breath of fresh air.

Highlights? well the album is one long highlight, but I will confess the damnation boogie of Young Blood Old Veins with its message of keep on rockin' strikes a particular chord with this aging old rocker 'THE CLOCK'S TICKING - BUT I'M NOT LISTENING..' Hell yeah!!

Buy this album, and play it LOUD!

For fans of -  Dumpy's Rusty Nuts, Handsome Beasts, Airbourne, Rose Tattoo, AC/DC, ZZ top etc