Category: Album Reviews

SAXON ‘EAGLES OVER HELLFEST’ (SILVER LINING MUSIC)

SAXON ‘EAGLES OVER HELLFEST’ (SILVER LINING MUSIC)

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As they enter their sixth decade laying down the law, heavy metal style, it is a task of Mission Impossible proportions to write something new about one of the bands who have been the true cornerstones of the genre for longer than many fans have been alive, other than to say that if any proof were needed that they remain one of the most indomitable and dominant forces around then no further evidence need be presented than this imperious recording of their show-stealing performance at last year’s Hellfest shebang.

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Gary Moore ‘Live – From Baloise Session’ (Provogue Records)

Gary Moore ‘Live – From Baloise Session’ (Provogue Records)

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Gary Moore was one of those unique musical forces of nature. An untrained musician, a guitarist who played from the heart and with the internal instinct to be able to make his instrument cry and talk, sing and weep with every ounce of the passion he put into crafting what were basically a few pieces of electronics, metal and wood into something that spoke to the human heart and soul on the both the most basic and cerebral of levels.

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Horslips ‘At The BBC’ (Madfish)

Horslips ‘At The BBC’ (Madfish)

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Often referred to as the founding fathers of Celtic rock, Horslips are one of the truly great Irish rock acts of the 1970s. Their fusion of traditional Irish music with progressive rock and hard rock made them one of the most successful bands in their homeland during the ‘70s and gained widespread acclaim overseas too. Forming in 1970 and splitting in 1980, they returned to action again in 2004 for the best part of a further decade. During both stints, Horslips made numerous recordings for the BBC both on radio and TV, and it’s those recordings that are gathered together here in this new extensive five-disc CD/DVD box set.

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Don Felder ‘The Vault – Fifty Years Of Music’ (Frontiers Music)

Don Felder ‘The Vault – Fifty Years Of Music’ (Frontiers Music)

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Some bands are intricately entwined in your lifetime of musical listening. In David O’s case this could be many of the artists he grew up listening to in the early ‘70s, such as Queen, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd and the West Coast rock sound of The Eagles: ‘One Of These Nights’ is still one of his favourite guitar sounds. With a long history in the latter, Don Felder’s ‘The Vault – Fifty Years Of Music’ is both a retrospective and a celebration, capturing the full arc of his storied career from his early days as a session musician to his pivotal years with the Eagles and beyond. The album compiles newly recorded versions of songs spanning five decades, some of which never made it past the demo stage until now. It’s a testament to Felder’s enduring musicianship and his often-underappreciated role in shaping the sound of West Coast rock.

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Cardinal Black ‘Midnight At The Valencia’ (Jump In Records/Thirty Tigers)

Cardinal Black ‘Midnight At The Valencia’ (Jump In Records/Thirty Tigers)

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Cardinal Black’s sophomore studio album, ‘Midnight At The Valencia’, arrives with considerable anticipation, following the critical acclaim of their debut, ‘January Came Close’. The new record not only builds on the band’s established strengths but also carves out a more refined and distinctive musical identity, marking a notable evolution in their sound and songwriting, as David O explains…

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Ronnie Romero ‘Live At Rock Imperium Festival’ (Frontiers Music)

Ronnie Romero ‘Live At Rock Imperium Festival’ (Frontiers Music)

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Ronnie Romero’s new live album, ‘Live At Rock Imperium Festival’, captures the Chilean-born vocalist’s commanding presence and vocal prowess in a high-energy hard rock setting. Recorded at the Spanish Rock Imperium Festival in Cartagena, one of Europe’s largest rock festivals, the album showcases a setlist predominantly drawn from Romero’s 2023 solo album ‘Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters’, alongside a couple of tracks from his work with The Ferrymen and a stirring tribute to Ronnie James Dio with ‘Rainbow In The Dark’.

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Tex & The Troubadours ‘Troubadour Rock’ (Tone River)

Tex & The Troubadours ‘Troubadour Rock’ (Tone River)

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With a fearsome reputation on the rock’n’roll/teddy boy/rockabilly live circuit, Tex & The Troubadours have put in the hard yards and the hard graft on the road for a fair few years now, and now they are set to release their well-earned debut album on the Tone River label. So get your best rock’n’roll clobber on and get ready for some ‘Troubadour Rock’.

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Propagandhi ‘At Peace’ (Epitaph Records)

Propagandhi ‘At Peace’ (Epitaph Records)

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If you’re a long-standing politically-charged punk band from Canada with a strong anti-fascism stance, there may well be some lyrical inspiration lurking on the other side of the border right now. Such is the case for Manitoba, Canada’s Propagandhi, back from an eight-year hiatus with their eighth studio album ‘At Peace’.

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