Saturday, 2 June 2012

Gotthard - Firebirth (2012)

Genre - Hard Rock
Label - Nuclear Blast

Track listing -

01. Starlight
02. Give Me Real
03. Remember It's Me
04. Fight
05. Yippie Aye Yay
06. Tell Me
07. Shine
08. The Story's Over
09. Right On
10. S.O.S.
11. Take It All Back
12. I Can
13. Where Are You
14. Starlight Acoustic-Version (Bonus Track)

Swiss hard rockers, Gotthard, return in fine form with their latest album Firebirth. Packed with fourteen stunning tracks, firebirth really dsee the band at their best. Standout tracks for me include, I Can (my favourite track on the album), Fight, SOS, Where Are You and Give Me Real. The production is first class, and as I have already said the songs are brilliant. This is a great album from a verteren band that proves that they are still as relevant as ever.

Highly reconmended to fans of the band and hard rock in general.

Rating - 9/10





Jorn - Bring heavy Rock To The Land (2012)

Genre - Hard Rock / Heavy Metal / Classic Rock
Label -

Track listing -

01. My Road
02. Bring Heavy Rock To The Land
03. A Thousand Cuts
04. Ride Like The Wind
05. Chains Around You
06. The World I See
07. Time To Be King
08. Ride To The Guns
09. Black Morning
10. I Came To Rock
11. Live And Let Fly (Bonus Track)


Jorn Lande returns with his latest studio album, the first since 2010's tribute to the late great Ronnie James Dio, Dio with Bring Heavy Rock To the Land. (Although 2011 saw the release of the stunning live package, Live In Black!)
No one, and I mean NO ONE can afult Jorn's vocals, with a voice that is the perfect cross of Ronnie Dio's and David Coverdales, this man was born to sing rock! And thats just what he does on this album, eleven tracks of pure (and might I say brilliant) classic hard rock and metal. Sure the lyrics are occassionally cliche'd, but hey so are the lyrics of some of the best rock anthems to have ever been recorded, thats one of the things that makes great hard rock songs!
Msically every song is amazing, the production is really top notch, and Jorn's voice seems to be in fine form.
After a couple of listens I have alreader found a few new Jorn classics, Ride To The Guns, Chains Around You, Ride Like The Wind, Black morning and I Came To Rock are all anthems in the making.
If you are a fan of Jorn's previous releases, then you are surely going to love this album, and if you are a fan of great traditional hard rock music, then check this album out, you wont be disappointed.
So with this album Jorn really does "Bring Hard Rock To The Land".


Rating - 9/10




Candlemass - Psalms For The Dead (2012)

Genre - Doom Metal
Label -

Track listing -

01 – Prophet
02 – The Sound of Dying Demons
03 – Dancing In The Temple (Of The Mad Queen Bee)
04 – Waterwitch
05 – The Lights of There
06 – Psalms For The Dead
07 – The Killing of The Sun
08 – Siren Song
09 – Black As Time


Swedish Doom Metal merchants, Candlemass, return with their stunning new album, Psalms for the dead. Nine great tracks of early Black Sabbath inspired doom metal. the production is superb, the songs are great, although to be honest Waterwitch is a tad too long for my liking, and the band are in absolutley amazing form.
Stand out tracks include, Prophet, the Sound Of Dying Demons, the uptempo Dancing In The Temple, title track, Pslams For the Dead and Siren Song.
The songs twist and turn through riff after riff, that the riffmeister Tony Iommi himself would be proud of, and lyrically, well the songs are excellent.
As I say the only negatives that I can find with this alum are that Waterwitch seems to drone on a little and the narrative introduction to Black As Time personally annoys me, although it does give way to a blinding track!

Highly reconmended for fans of the band and genre!

Rating - 9/10





Thursday, 31 May 2012

The Dogs D'Amour - A Graveyard of Empty Bottles MMXII (2012)

Genre - Rock / Rock n Roll / Acoustic / Stripped Down
Label - King Outlaw Records

Track listing -
01. I Think It S Love Again

02. So Once Was I
03. Comfort Of The Devil
04. Saviour
05. Errol Flynn
06. Bullet Proof Poet
07. When The Dream Has Gone
08. Angel
09. Just An English Outlaw
10. Gone Are All The Angels
11. Died ' Fore She Got Young
12. Stealin' From The Devil
13. Wont You Let Go


"A Graveyard Of Empty Bottles MMXII


The press release says …‘A Graveyard of Empty Bottles’, It was his concept piece at the time, an emotional journey through Life, Love and Death. The Dogs D’amour began recording in an East London studio on the 9th December 1988. With just 8 days to record and mix they got to work and it didn’t take long before she emerged from a sea of cigarette smoke and red wine. China records would only initially press 15,000 numbered 10’’ vinyls And so in 1989 she came to surpass expectations and sailed into the UK album charts anchoring a position of sweet 16.
With the 15,000 pieces of black Gold treasure hunted by the faithful she sailed into the sunset morphing into several thousand 12’’ vinyls and tens of thousands newly born Compact Discs. A sea of worthy hearts engulfed her then she sank to the bottom of the deep blue. Much talked about in the music press and on rock forums alike ‘A Graveyard of Empty Bottles’ became the thing of myth and legend. It was an album that not only entertained, it enthralled its listeners and encapsulated those who dared.. Like a mermaid on the rocks people would be drawn to the tales of heartache and stories of woe. In a clever twist rock minds were subtly broadened by listening to something a bit more poetic and tender than the systematic commercial rock of the day.What happens with good poetry is that it inspires others, stands the test of time…. And get better with age
Over the years fans of the Dogs D’amour have remained dedicated, growing up with Tyla they turn up at shows religiously, often bringing their offspring to experience the heartfelt performances mixed with banter and booze. Collecting every piece of art, poetry and limited albums and treasures alike. Now from the depths up she rise’s, re-recorded by Tyla with all the vitality a soul can muster up cloaked in fifty years of singing, strumming and strolling this earth has produced. We give you ‘A Graveyard of Empty Bottles MMXII’"
When I played this album, my girlfriend labeled Tyla the modern day Johnny Cash and who am I to disagree, he sure knows how to write a rightious tune or two!

I have a copy of the original eight track release of this on cassette for years, tracking down various copies on cd as the years went on, with all eight songs remaining staples of any playlists that I have put together, the originals simply timeless! So how do the rerecordings compare? Well the songs havent just been rerecorded, they have been completley re interpereted, adding entirely new dimensions to each song. Are they better than the originals? Well they are that different, both versions of each song are as good as each other, both versions are amazing.  On this release, the mini albums original eight tracks are supplemented by a further five, again reworked, making an album that always left you wanting more into an album that is totally fulfilling upon each and every listen!
Standout tracks, well all thirteen are brilliant, but my favorite of favorites are, Stealing From The Devil, Bulletproof Poet, To Hell, I Think Its Love Again, Gone Are All The Angels and Comfort Of The Devil.

this album is not just essential for fans of Tyla and The Dogs D'Amour, its essential for fans of good music everywhere, hell its essential for the music industry which has lost touch with artists that live and breathe their art.

YOU NEED THIS ALBUM, SIMPLEZ!

Rating - 10/10










Tyla J. Pallas - Quinquaginta (2012)

Genre - Rock
Label - King Outlaw Records

Track listing -

01. Untouchable
02. Story Of Our Life
03. Just Another Love Song
04. In The Name
05. Hang 'Em High
06. Archie Leach From Bristol
07. Bess
08. Armada Of Hearts
09. Alright (I Will Always Love You)
10. To Hell
11. The Hellraisers
12. Devils Revenge
13. Untouchable (Acoustic)


This is the new album from Tyla (Dogs D'Amour).  Quinquaginta (pronounced kwin-kwa-ginta) for the uninformed is Latin for 50 which is the age Tyla has reached without the aid of a safety net! This will be his 17th solo album and the first under the name Tyla J Pallas and will bring his total number of albums released, including 5 Best Of's, to 37. The album was recorded in London, Wolverhampton and Clermont Ferrand, France with Simon Hanson (Squeeze) on drums, Mark Stanway (Magnum) on keyboards and was produced by Tyla. Limited to 300 copies.

Containing thirteen absolutley stunning songs, proving that even after all of these years Tyla still has the magic touch where song writing is concerned. There is not a bad track anywhere insight on this album, and the production is excellent, something that in my honest opinion has sometimes let Tyla's solo releases down in the past. As can be seen, the musicians assembled for this album are all talented veterens of their craft, and it really shows!
I love this album as it really does in my honest opinion see Tyla at his best, crooning out soulful ballads such as Archie Leach, Bess, Armarda Of Hearts, or autobiographical rockers like Untouchable, To Hell, to epic feeling moody tracks like The Hellraisers and Devils Revenge.
This is a great album and an absolute must for any fan of Tyla or The Dogs D'Amour, or even just any fan of good old fashioned rock n' roll to be honest!

Highlight tracks of which there are many on this release include for me, Story Of our Life, Hang 'Em High, To Hell, The Hellraisers, Devils Revenge, In The Name and Bess, to be honest just a fantastic album!
Very highly reconmended!

Rating - 10/10





Wednesday, 30 May 2012

Ugly Kid Joe - Stairway To Hell EP (2012)

Genre - Hard Rock / Rock
Label -

Track listing -

01 - Devils Paradise
02 - You Make Me Sick
03 - No One Survives
04 - I'm Alright
05 - Love Ain't True!
06 - Another Beer

Remeber 'Cats In The Cradle' and 'Everything About You'? Well I'm ashamed to say that that was pretty much the extent of my knowledge of Ugly kid Joes back catalogue, and well this new EP couldn't be any further removed form those too commercial hits if it tried. After a fifteen year break, Stairway To Hell see's the band return with a darker sound, that is especially evident on the opening two tracks, Devils Paradise and You make Me Sick!
No One Survives is a four minute epic, great song with once again quite dark lyrics, have these guys lost there sense of fun?
No, its here in I'm Alright, a track that seems to come across in places as Love Hate playing My Cherona, a great little fun tune though. Love Ain't True! is fun, with its disenchanted lyrics, love it, quite a shout along track, could be fun live!
Another Beer, is the closest that we get to hearing the Ugly Kid Joe of old, a great little three minute song.
On a whole this little Ep is a great release, with the band generally moving into a darker musical direction, yet showing that they are still capable of producing more of what originally bought them to the table.

A great Ep, looking forward to hearing a new album!

Rating 9/10



Spit Like This - Normalityville Horror (2012)

Genre - Hard Rock / Sleaze / Rockabilly / Goth / Glam
Label - Dark Lord Records

Track listing -

01 - Sick
02 - Normalityville Horror
03 - Zero To Sixty
04 - Very Very Good At Being Bad
05 - Dragged Kicking & Screaming
06 - Teen Angel
07 - The Life & Times Of The Suicide Kid
08 - Oh No! Here We Go!
09 - The Dumb Song
10 - Dead To Me Now

Lord Zion, Vicky Spit and Co return with their second album and the follow up to 2009's debut, We Wont Hurt You, But We Wont Go Away, in the form of Normalityville Horror.
Here we have more of what Spit Like This do best, a perfect blend of Hard Rock / Punk / Sleaze / Rockabilly and sixties rock 'n' roll musical influences. To be honest, the best way to describeSpit Like This is to imagine if you threw Alice Cooper, Iron Maiden, Early Motley Crue along with some Sixties Rock N Roll into a blender, then mixed the result with a healthy dose of Rocky Horror, then you maybe close to describing the bands sound. The songs themselves are full of life almost theatrical, cominag accross kind of like a modern day Rocky horror Picture Show!
From the opening moments of Sick to the closing riffs of dead To Me Now, this album is pure Spit Like This, pure and simple.
the only fault that I can find is that despite having the skills of one Chris Tsangarides on hand as producer, sometimes the songs just feel a little too loose for me, nit picking probably, but hey Spit Like This have never fitted into any particular genre any how so who am I to comment lol.
Stand out tracks for me include, Zero To Sixty, Very Very Good At Being Bad, Teen Angel and Dead To Me Now.
If you're a fan of the band then you are going to love this album, if you have never heard of them, well check them out, you never know you may discover a unique new band to love!

Rating 8/10