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

Danzig - Black Laden Crown (2017)

Genre - Hard Rock / Gothic Rock / Doom Metal

Label - AFM Records

Track listing:

01. Black Laden Crown
02. Eyes Ripping Fire
03. Devil On Hwy 9
04. Last Ride
05. The Witching Hour
06. But A Nightmare
07. Skulls & Daisies
08. Blackness Falls
09. Pull The Sun

Glenn Danzig returns with his latest studio album from his band Danzig in the form of Black Laden Crown. One of the first things to not is that this new album has a sound closer to the bands legendary first four albums than anything they have released in a very long time. The album opens with the creeping yet atmospheric title track. Whilst not the most instant or energetic track, it is definitely a grower, holding more and more fascination for the listener with each listen. Joining Glenn on this new album is former Ministry guitarist Tommy Victor, and this really shows in the quality of the riffs and song writing in general. A new depth if you will, which is most evident on tracks like 'Witching Hour' and 'Eyes Ripping Fire' which are  unlike anything Danzig has done before, and give the album a strong individual identity. The weakest track is oddly the track he chose to release as the lead single. 'Devil On Highway Nine', which although a bloody descent Danzig track by all means, it definitely has the weakest vocal, and weakest mix/production in the entire affair, although it is also one of the albums quickest tempo'd songs!

Black Laden Crown is a very welcome addition to the Danzig catalogue of work, and a big relief after the woeful vocals and quality of 'Skeletons' the recently released covers album.

Rating: 9/10

EZOO - Feeding The Beast (2017)

Genre - Hard Rock

Label - earMusic

Track listing:

01. You Are Your Wallet
02. The Flight of the Sapini
03. C'est la Vie
04. Guys from God
05. Feeding the Beast
06. Eyes of the World
07. Colder Than Cool
08. Too High to Be Falling
09. Motorbike
10. Since You Been Gone
11. Don't Look Back
12. Coda

EZOO is an exciting new project that see's to of hard rocks heavyweights combining forces to produce something completely new. Legendary lead vocalist Graham Bonnet (Rainbow / Alcatrazz / Graham Bonnet Band) teams up with renowned guitarist / songwriter / producer Dario Mollo (Crossbones / Mollo, Martin (with Tony Martin) / Voodoo Hill (with Glenn Hughes) / Noize Machine) to produce what has got to prove to be one of the best heavy rocks years of the year.
Drawing on the experience of these two rich Rock careers, the two leaders of EZOO obviously know how to craft a killer Hard Rock song or two.
The opening track is 'You are Your Wallet', a catchy, upbeat hard rocker, the perfect song to start the album. Mollo's riffs are to die for and Bonnet shines.
'C’est la Vie' is a killer, groovy heavy tune with lots of melody and superb solos, then the 'Guys from God' provides even more classic riffs and elaborated harmony vocal arrangements. Title track,  'Feeding the Beast', is a melodic song with strong guitar riffs, very much in the vein of Tony Martin solo album or track that might have appeared on one of the three Cage albums, with its different passages (some awesomely atmospheric) where Bonnet’s vocals are amazing.  'Motorbike', a punchy hard rocker plenty of magic, and Bonnet here simply kills. You would never know that he is almost in his 70's.
Also included on the album are two of Bonnet’s classic tracks he recorded with Rainbow; 'Eyes of the World', which is driven by a great rhythm, and the classic 'Since You Been Gone'. Here Mollo has provided his own musical spin to them, and Bonnet feels like fish in the water. His performance is as good in 2017 as he did in the originals.
Joining Bonnet and Mollo on this project are long time Mollo collaborators, Dario Patti, Guido Block (bass) and Roberto Gualdi (drums), and together they manage to pull off that real band sound, as opposed to just sounding like a studio project.

'Feeding The Beast' is a really strong album that more than surpasses an expectations a casual listener may have had prior to listening to it. Lets just hope that this doesn't turn out to be a one off project, because I would love to see what other magical gems these guys could come up with!



Rating: 10/10

DEEP PURPLE - Infinite (2017)

Genre - Hard Rock / Classic Rock

Label - earMUSIC

Track listing:

01. Time for Bedlam
02. Hip Boots
03. All I Got is You
04. One Night in Vegas
05. Get Me Outta Here
06. The Surprising
07. Johnny's Band
08. On Top of the World
09. Birds of Prey
10. Roadhouse Blues

British rock legends Deep Purple return with their latest release in the form of Infinite.
Starting out with the ‘quasi-religious computer voice’ of ‘Time For Bedlam’ you’re immediately plunged into recognisable ‘Purple’ territory, its all there from Gillan’s distinctive croon to the keyboard and guitar breaks that punctuate this swaggering rocker.
‘Hip Boots’ which follows is a rather direct bluesy rocker augmented by that distinctive Hammond sound. ‘All I Got It You’ is a track that manages to capture vintage sounds and past glories, then ‘One Night in Vegas’ has an assured, almost funky groove going on. ‘The Surprising’ is a dreamy, almost trancelike musing until two minutes in when the keys and drums fire up and we take a progressive ‘day trip’. ‘Johnny’s Band’ is more direct and guitar led, the tale of ‘Johnny Jones and his band’ and their rise to success and fall. ‘On Top of the World’, is another blues-infused story from Gillan, whilst ‘Birds of Prey’ has a little of the opener ‘Time For Bedlam’ about it, there’s that swagger, that vintage Deep Purple sound and fine performances by all.
The final word goes to a cover of the 47 year of ‘Roadhouse Blues’ by The Doors, it’s one of those landmarks songs, one of the greats in Rock’s pantheon and also one of those songs that’s deceptively simple in structure but so easy to get wrong. Deep Purple play it with a relatively straight bat, and seem to be having a lot of fun doing so. It’s a surprisingly great way to round out what has to be Purple’s finest hour in many a year.

Well worth checking out.

Rating: 9/10

Dirt Box Disco - Poppycock (2017)

Genre - Punk / Rock

Label - STP Records

Track listing:

01 - The Bullshit Kids

02 - Fingerblast

03 - Punk Rock Riot

04 - Little White Lie

05 - Working For Wankers

06 - Fat Kid

07 - Snorting Crack From A Girls Top Rack

08 - Lazy Bastard

09 - Slapdash And Haphazzard

10 - Geronimo

11 - Imaginary Friend

12 - Somethings Are Better Off Left Unsaid

13 - I Hate This City

The mighty Dirt Box Disco return with latest slab of unadulterated social commentary in the form of their latest album, Poppycock.
The album opens with "The Bullshit Kids", a song about certain elements of todays youth that is becoming more and more prevalent. Next up the album launches into "Fingerblast", a song about a woman's love of self pleasure! "Punk Rock Riot" follows and to be honest I think for me this is the weakest track on the entire album, although it will no doubt be lots of fun live . Things pick up again with "Little White Lie", almost a ballad without being a ballad, and a story with a moral to it!
the next song, "Working For Wankers", will ring true with many of us, and will I will no doubt be singing it to myself during my endless shifts at hells pit!
"Fat Kid" is rather cruel but still fun, "Snorting Crack..." whizzies by, before the excellent "Lazy Bastard" slows the pace down a little. A great song and we all know a person that fits the subject matter all too well!
"Slapdash and Haphazzard" is up next, a great song about that half arsed attitude that plagues elements of todays society, that just happens to have a little rock n roll feel to it. Next we have "Geronimo", a two minute blast about having a leap of faith. "Imaginary Friend" follows, a great song destined to become a dirt Box classic!
The albums penultimate track is the rather excellent "Somethings Are Better Left Unsaid", something that I have personally learnt all too well over the years!
The album closes out with "I Hate This City" which proves to be a real ska fest.

So there we have it, the latest slab of punk rock angst from Dirt Box Disco, thirteen tracks closcking in at thirty seven minutes long.

Well worth checking out as Dirt Box Disco are proving to be one the best English Punk bands around today!

Highly Recommended

Rating: 10/10

Spunk Volcano and the Eruptions - Ram Raid EP (2017)

Genre - Rock / Punk

Label - STP Records

Track listing:

01 - Ram Raid

02 - Stop Looking At Your Phone

03 - Hanging Around The Shops

04 - I Think Her Name Was Tracey?

05 - Snap Backbone

The indomitable Spunk Volcano and the Eruptions return with their latest slab of angst filled social commentary in the form of their Ram Raid EP.
The EP opens with the angst driven title track, a song that addresses the mind set of delinquent car thieves and boy racers. A great start. Next up we have the blistering "Stop Looking At Your Phone", which funnily enough address the modern day obsession people seem to have with their mobile phones. "Hanging Around The Shops" follows, addressing the problems of getting your fix of booze and fags when you are underage. Another great song forged in typical Spunk Volcano fashion. Next comes "I Think Her Name Was Tracey?"  another blistering angst filled track, discussing a poor girls life. The EP closes out with "Snap Backbone", which also happens to the EP's most melodic and commercial track. A song and a great closer for a five track EP that clocks in at just twelve minutes in length!

Check these guys out!

Rating: 10/10

 

Ginger Wildheart - Ghost In The Tanglewood (2017)

Genre - Rock / Country / Folk / Roots

Label - Pledge Music / Round Records

Track listing:

01 - The Daylight Hotel

02 - Paying It Forward

03 - Golden Tears

04 - Phantom Memories

05 - Minus You

06 - Remains

07 - The Words Are Gonna Have To Wait

08 - My Old Friend The Blues (Stevie Earle Cover)

09 - The Reaper

10 - Don't Say Goodbye

available as part of the "This Is Not A Raffle" pledge.

11 - A Few Old Memories (Acapella) (Dolly Parton Cover)

12 - Has She Got A Friend For Me? (Richard and Linda Thompson Cover)

13 - I Could Have Cared For You

So here we have it folks, "Ghost In The Tanglewood", that album the Ginger Wildheart has promised and threatened to make since time began. In all seriousness Ginger has been hinting at this kind of album for years now, with the folksy Wildhearts classic, "Geordie In Wonderland", through the spoof country album World Of Filth, released under the pseudonym Howling Willy C##T, and through the Rootsy tracks that emerged as part of the tremendous G.A.S.S. project such as "Toxins & Tea", "Last day Of Summer", "The Pendine Incident" and "Cear Urfa". Now he delivers a full 10 track album of sublime heartfelt country / folk music
As Ginger himself puts it, "My fairly unavoidable accent means that the songs come off less Willie Nelson and more Bobby Thompson, but every lyric is purely heartfelt and every song is as true a story as you’ll ever hear in roots based music. This is Country music, played by a working class Geordie raised on Country and Northern Folk music. This stuff has always been in my blood since I was a wee nipper and it’s an honour to finally get to play it for you."
And what an album it is, sure it lacks the venom and attitude that has made some of Ginger's Wildhearts songs such classics, but here was have out favourite Geordie once again opening up his heart and bearing his soul in such a moving and tender way that you would have to be one cold hearted mutherpuger not to be moved, especially with the way in which the albums closing track, "Don't Say Goodbye" tugs at the old heart strings. The album really does run the full range of emotions, with songs such as "Golden Tears" and "Paying It Forward" giving hope and imploring faith and "Minus You" and "The Words Are Gonna Have To Wait" and the aforementioned "Don't Say Goodbye" giving glimpses of Ginger's more fragile side, together with the honest genius of "The Reaper". Plus Gingers cover of the Stevie Earle classic, "My Old Friend The Blues" is simply sublime!
This really is an album that needs to be digested and absorbed. Quite possibly Gingers crowning glory that tops off his long, long list of song writing achievements.

I have included three bonus tracks in the track listing that do not appear on the album proper, primarily because they were recorded as part of the albums sessions and are available through the albums pledge campaign, but also because they are great songs. The three part acapella harmonies of "A Few Old Memories", the melancholy bleakness of "Has She Got A Friend For Me" and the pure brilliance of "I Could Have Cared For You". All worth having and adding to any Ginger fans collection.


Rating: 10/10