Shadowman - Secrets and Lies (2017)

Genre - Melodic Rock / AOR

Label - Escape Music Ltd

Track listing:

01 - Gravity

02 - Automatic

03 - Put It All on Love

04 - Contagious

05 - Broken Bones

06 - Best Things in Life

07 - Face the Night

08 - No Smoke Without Fire

09 - Good Times, Bad Times

10 - Be True to Yourself

11 - Secrets and Lies

12 - Stand up and Be Counted

UK AOR super group SHADOWMAN return with the latest album, "Secrets and Lies", their first release in six years! Luckily for us the band personnel remains stable with members from FM (Steve Overland, vocals), Heartland (Steve Harris, guitar), and Thunder (Chris Childs and Harry James, bass and drums respectively).
Apart from the classic line-up, on this new effort Shadowman maintains its quality both in songwriting and production.
Basically and essentially, with "Secrets And Lies", you have five very talented veterans of the genre laying down some genuine and creative AOR / melodic rock. It's merely a fusion of their respective personal and professional experience from their respective bands.
Breaking this down a little more, Shadowman delivers the AOR / Melodic Rock essentials. Overland sings melodic and smooth, with a soulful sometimes bluesy delivery. He's backed up by harmonious vocal arrangements, mostly done by himself.
Melody and harmony, rhythm and groove, envelope every arrangement whether by those vocals, the guitar lines, or the touch of keyboard accent and atmosphere. The songs also turn on catchy hooks in composition, often the chorus, largely the melody. All these things are punctuated by Harris's solid and spicy straight up hard rock guitar solos.
'Gravity' and 'Automatic' are in the vein of the very first Shadowman record, there are the catchy rockers like 'Contagious', title track 'Secrets & Lies', the heavier 'No Smoke Without Fire', and the groovy 'Good Times Bad Times'. A song like 'Be True To Yourself' is an arena ready anthem, crunchy in the guitar line and soaring vocals. And lets not forget the ballads, 'Face The Night' and 'Put It All On Love', sugar coated AOR perfection.

"Secrets And Lies" is an album that brings together the sound and experience from all Shadowman's members, that being a mix of FM, Heartland and in lesser degree, Thunder.

Well worth checking out

Rating: 9/10

Thunder - Broken Mirror EP (2017)

Genre - Hard Rock / Classic Rock

Label - Ear-Music

Track listing:

01 - Fire On The Mountain

02 - Blue Eyed Girl

03 - Beyond The Stars

04 - I Will Return

Released exclusively through the bands website, Thunder's Broken Mirror EP is a four track affair set to accompany their brand spanking new album, Rip It Up.
Broken Mirror consists of four tracks that were written and recorded as part of the Rip It Up sessions, and to be honest, any one of them could have quite easily made the album.

The EP opens with the excellent 'Fire On The Mountain', that just has classic Thunder stamped all over it. Next up we have 'Blue Eyed Girl' a great fun little acoustic driven track with a southern blues flavour to it. 'Beyond The Stars' follows, a beautiful power ballad. 'I Will Return' closes out this four track EP, a melodic track. Another slab of genius.

Broken Mirror makes a fine addition to the Thunder back catalogue, with each of the tracks easily being more than good enough to qualify inclusion of the album proper.

Highly recommended!

Rating: - 10/10

Thunder - Rip It Up (2017)

Genre - Hard Rock / Classic Rock

Label - ear-music

Track listing:

01 - No One Gets Out Alive
02 - Rip It Up
03 - She Likes the Cocaine
04 - Right from the Start
05 - Shakedown
06 - Heartbreak Hurricane
07 - In Another Life
08 - The Chosen One
09 - The Enemy Inside
10 - Tumbling Down
11 - There's Always a Loser

Earlier this month British classic rock stalwarts Thunder returned with their eleventh studio album. Now I have always been a big fan of Thunder, and I can honestly say that I do not believe that they guys have ever put out a bad album. Sure some have been less instant than others, but the songs are performances have always been of the highest quality, and hey every now again they guys hit the magical chemistry a release albums that have that little special something, a certain energy and magic that makes them stand out. I'm talking their classic debut, Backstreet Symphony and Robert Johnsons Tombstone. Well guess what, I think that they have only gone a done it again with Rip It Up!
Once again the album is built around the twin pillars of Luke Morley’s songs and vocalist Danny Bowes interpretive ability, as the duo soar above the rock solid rhythm section of Chris Childs and Harry James, while Ben Matthews gives the band additional sonic armoury.
The album opens with 'No One Gets Out Alive', a statement of intent built in the classic Thunder mould, setting out the stall for what is to follow. Title track 'Rip It Up' is up next, with its plodding classic rock riff that breaks down into a great sing along chorus. 'She Likes Cocaine' follows proving to be a right ripsnorter of a track before the semi-ballad ‘Right From The Start’ take the pace down a little, yet manages to turn up the intensity. 'Shakedown' sees the guys picking up the pace once again with another ripper of a track. 'Heartbreak Hurricane' follows, and is one of my personal favourite tracks from this album, if not from the bands entire back catalogue! 'In Another Life' is a great soulful bluesy work out, really showcasing Danny's marvellous voice.
The albums gathers pace with 'The Chosen One', which proves to be yet another great little rocker! 'The Enemy Inside' follows, upon which Morley delivers some clever some oxymoronic wordplay in the lyrics, while he adds a Who style power chord intro and an accompanying Led Zeppelin riff to the stonking 'Tumbling Down'. Yet two more great classic rock tracks! The album closes out with the stylish blues-tinged melancholia of ‘There’s Always A Loser’, completing one of the best and most rounded albums that I have heard in many a year.

Do yourselves a favour and go out and grab a copy of this brilliant album. I sincerely doubt that a better classic rock album will be released this year, possibly even this decade!

Rating: - 10/10

Thunder - Wonder Days (2015)

Genre - Classic Rock / Bluesy Rock

Label - earMUSIC

Track listing:

01 - Wonder Days

02 - The Thing I Want

03 - The Rain

04 - Black Water

05 - The Prophet

06 - Resurrection Day

07 - Chasing Shadows

08 - Broken

09 - When The Music Played

10 - Serpentine

11 - I Love The Weekend

12 - Black Water (Acoustic) [iTunes exclusive bonus]

13 - Broken (Acoustic Guitar Version) [iTunes exclusive bonus]

"One of the most popular and enduring British rock bands of the last 25 years, Thunder celebrate the release of their landmark tenth studio album, ‘Wonder Days’, by embarking on an arena tour in March 2015.
Since forming in 1989, the Londoners have established themselves among the genre’s most consistent attractions, notching up some twenty Top Fifty singles and cultivating a well deserved reputation as consummate live performers. Having been feted by W Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses and Whitesnake’s David Coverdale, their first two albums, ‘Back Street Symphony’ (1990) and ‘Laughing On Judgement Day’ (1992), both were certified Gold in the UK.
The group’s first studio album in six years, ‘Wonder Days’ reminds us why Thunder are now more popular than ever before. With a lineage dating back to the cream of hard rock – Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, The Who and Deep Purple – and song writing greats such as the Kinks, The Beatles and The Faces, the band’s sound is a timeless marriage of unforgettable melodies and sheer rock power.
Thunder’s legend has grown ever larger with the passing of time. In recent years they have rightly become recognised as show-stealers at such open air events as Download, Sonisphere, High Voltage and, earlier this summer, at the Calling Festival on London’s Clapham Common, where they received a reaction every bit as reverential as that of bill-toppers, Aerosmith.
The phrase ‘band of the people’ is overused, but in Thunder’s case it rings perfectly true. They’re back in our lives because people want to hear them, but also due to the sheer joy of playing music together."

Let us forget all about the bands bio and just concentrate on what we have here in "Wonder Days". For their 10th studio album, Thunder's focus seems to be on a blend of reminiscence and party time music, armed with a crystal clear production and a bunch of great songs in their timeless tradition, like a natural child of Bad Company playing their rooted Melodic Hard Rock enriched by many influences that are coming from the warm bluesy rock (“The Thing I Want” or “Black Water”) with an attractive pace, then shift to some hard rockin' infused songs (“Serpentine”) to some more acoustic stuff (“The Rain")
We have a typical Thunder ballad (the rather superb “Broken”), a few typical British Hard Rock anthems (“I Love The Weekend” or “Chasing Shadows” in the style of  early Whitesnake) but also heavier numbers such as the title track, “The Prophet”, that sounds like mid-Nineties UFO, or the last part of “When The Music Played” which is quite enjoyable and surprisingly strong.
“Resurrection Day” is another sublime and ambitious cut, another proof that Danny Bowes is a fantastic vocalist, indeed it's his voice with his soulful rendition and his faultless performance that uplift the whole album.
"Wonder Days" is a real return to form for a band that have almost become a British institution. I've only ever really heard them sound this good on two other occasions in the past, that being their stunning debut, "Back Street Symphony" and 2006's excellent "Robert Johnson's Tombstone".
Its good to have the guys back, lets just hope they decide to stick around for awhile to come now!

Very Highly Recommended!!

Rating - 10/10