Electric Boys - And Them Boys Done Swang

Genre - Hard Rock / Funk / Psychadelic Rock
Label -Supernova, JVC (Victor Entertainment), Universal

Tracklist:
01. Reeferlord
02. My Heart's Not For Sale
03. Father Popcorn's Magic Oysters
04. Angel In An Armoured Suit
05. Ten Thousand Times Goodbye
06. The House Is Rockin'
07. Welcome To The High Times
08. Sometimes U Gotta Go Look For The Car
09. Put Your Arms Around Me
10. The Day The Gypsies Came To Town
11. Rollin' Down The Road
12. A Mother Of A Love Story
13. Chickalicious (Japanese Bonus Track)
14. Down On Shakin' Street (Japanese Bonus Track)
15. Nowhere To Go But Up (Japanese Bonus Track)

Sweden’s Electric Boys were one of the first and most celebrated purveyors of the short-lived funk metal phenomenon of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Led by charismatic singer and guitarist Conny Bloom and with a splash of beatle-esque pop-psychedelia, the quartet garnered rave reviews and built an impressive following in Europe & America. Their creative juices were also quickly spent, causing the band to disintegrate into obscurity after only three albums. Guess what? They’re back!! By God they’re back with an album stocked full to the brim of future Electric Boys classics on the making. The band is tight and well-oiled, and they do swing! The songs as always are of the highest standard, hey Conny kept himself busy during the bands down time, touring with Ginger (Wildhearts) band SilverGinger5, Gingers solo band, writing recording and touring with Hanoi Rocks as well as producing his own solo material! There's not a bad track on this album, and long term fans of the band should love it! Favorite tracks for me tend to include the rockier tracks like, Reeferlord, The House Is Rockin, My Heart’s Not For Sale, and Welcome To The High Times, although softer tracks like Ten Thousand Times Goodbye, have a special magic all of their own. A great band and a fine comeback album, well worth checking out!

Website - Electric Boys
Rating - 10/10

IRON MAIDEN To Release From Fear To Eternity - The Best Of 1990 - 2010

Genre - Heavy Metal / NWoBHM
Label - EMI

Track listing –
Disc 1:
01 - 'The Wicker Man'
02 - 'Holy Smoke'
03 - 'El Dorado'
04 - 'Paschendale'
05 - 'Different World'
06 - 'Man On The Edge' (Live)
07 - 'The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg'
08 - 'Blood Brothers'
09 - 'Rainmaker'
10 - 'Sign Of The Cross' (Live)
11 - 'Brave New World'
12 - 'Fear Of The Dark' (Live)

Disc 2:
01 - 'Be Quick Or Be Dead'
02 - 'Tailgunner'
03 - 'No More Lies'
04 - 'Coming Home'
05 - 'The Clansman' (Live)
06 - 'For The Greater Good of God'
07 - 'These Colours Don't Run)'
08 - 'Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter'
09 - 'Afraid To Shoot Strangers'
10 - 'Dance Of Death'
11 - 'When The Wild Wind Blows
'
“From Fear To Eternity is a chance for these new fans of the band to explore Iron Maiden's rich history, with the highlights of their last eight studio albums distilled into this handy collection, which follows 2009's compilation of their earlier work, the 1980-1990 Somewhere Back In Time album.”
This a fine track list here on these two discs, and you always no you get quality with Iron Maiden, with many of my favorite tracks from the last eight albums being included, but I do have one gripe. I wish that they would have either of included the original studio versions of the live tracks, which tend to be the ones that originally featured Bruce Dickinson’s short term replacement Blaze Bayley on vocals, or even better still, get Bruce to re-record the vocals for the said tracks, as I find that the sudden appearance of a live track kind of spoils the flow and feel of the cd for me.
But that gripe to one side, and this collection is a great set, and a fine place for new fans to introduce themselves and get acquainted with the last few years of Maiden history, it also had me digging out my Iron Maiden Cds and giving them a good run through!

website - Iron Maiden

rating - 8/10

Terrorvision - Super Delux

Genre - Rock / Pop / Metal / BritRock
Label - Total Vegas Recordings

Track Listing
01. Demolition Song
02. Hold Tight
03. Neighbourhood
04. Pushover
05. This Is Suicide
06. Babylon
07. All the Girls Wanna Dance
08. Friend in Need
09. Rock Radio
10. Shiny Things
11. Run & Hide

After a 10 year absence from the recording studio, Terrorvision return with a new studio album, and I’m glad to say, it’s a true return to form with the band going back to what bought them to the dance in the first place.
This album contains all the pop bounce and northern whit that made albums like How To Make Friends And Influence People and Regular Urban Survivors so great. These guys just haven’t lost their touch.
The energy is still there and so is the song writting quality, and songs like Demolition Song, Pushover, This Is Suicide, All Girls Wanna Dance (a sucessor to Oblivion?), Friend In Need and Babylon are welcome additions to the Terrorvision arsenal.
This is great album and great reminder of days gone by, now all we need is Ginger to get The Wildhearts back together along with a 3 Colours Red and Honeycrack reunion and we can have the 2nd coming of Britrock!
Viva la revolution!

Website – Terrorvision Rating - 10/10

Joe Bonamassa - Dust Bowl

Genre - Blues / Rock
Label -

Track listing -

01. Slow Train
02. Dust Bowl
03. Tennessee Plates (featuring John Hiatt and Vince Gill)
04. The Meaning of the Blues
05. Black Lung Heartache
06. You Better Watch Yourself
07. The Last Matador of Bayonne
08. Heartbreaker (feat. Glenn Hughes)
09. No Love on the Street
10. The Whale that Swallowed Jonah
11. Sweet Rowena (feat. Vince Gill)
12. Prisoner



Joe Bonamassa is an American blues guitarist who regularly wins awards in guitar magazines and has been praised by BB King, and lead guitarist for the Super group of 2010, Black Country Communion. But beyond all of this, Joe is an established solo artist in his own right, with Dust Bowl being his 12th solo album to date.
There is just simply no questioning this man’s talent, his guitar cries, sings and wails, the emotion it purveys is phenomenal!
Joe is also one hell of a song writer too! This album is filled with modern day blues classics, from the opener, Slow Train to title track Dust Bowl, upon which Joe shoes a enough restraint to really build an atmosphere when the licks he plays. Another excellent song, which I find myself listening to over and over again is The Meaning of The Blues, a truly great song!
This is also full of surprises too, with Black Lung Heartache having a southern almost Celtic folk feel to it in place.
Joes Black Country Communion cohort, Glenn Hughes, puts in a brief appearance on Heartbreaker, another excellent song added to Joe’s cannon.
This album is probably THE blues rock album of 2011, it really is that good, and you really should check it out!

website - Joe Bonamassa
Rating 10/10

Queen - Deep Cuts Volume 1 [1973-1976]

Genre - Classic Rock / Hard rock / Glam / Pop
Label - Island records

Tracklist:
01 – Ogre Battle
02 – Stone Cold Crazy
03 – My Fairy King
04 – I’m In Love With My Car
05 – Keep Yourself Alive
06 – Long Away
07 – The Millionaire Waltz
08 – ’39
09 – Tenement Funster
10 – Flick Of The Wrist
11 – Lily Of The Valley
12 – Good Company
13 – The March Of The Black Queen
14 – In The Lap Of The Gods…Revisited

"Queen release the album'Deep Cuts Volume One 1973-1976'on March 14th 2011, a bespoke collection of hidden gems from the band's first five albums, specially chosen by Roger Taylor and Brian May in consultation with life-long fan, Taylor Hawkins from the Foo Fighters.

'Deep Cuts Volume One' is designed as a companion piece to the first five Queen albums which are being re-issued by Island Records on March 14th as part of the bands 40th anniversary celebrations.

Designed to dig a little deeper than their multi-million selling 'Greatest Hits' compilations ('Greatest Hits', by the way, is officially the biggest selling British album of all time with sales of an incredible 5.7 million copies so far in the UK alone), 'Deep Cuts Volume One 1973-1976' showcases a less well-known side of the early Queen story and reveals some brilliant tracks to listeners looking to delve into the band's founding years' work for the first time.The first five Queen albums – Queen, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night At The Opera and A Day At The Races - are a testament not only to the band's skills as songwriters and musicians, but also to their determination to push the creative and technological envelopes to their absolute limits.

Challenging the traditional practises of the studios of the time, pioneering new methods of recording and refusing to use synthesisers, the band's unique sound was born out of their incredible individual talents and ingenuity. Breaking the mould with multiple vocal harmonies, multi-layered guitar harmonies, cross rhythms and multiple repeats, Queen would layer so many tracks onto recording tape as to render it literally translucent, their 15 hour studio sessions now the stuff of legend within the studio community.

For Queen, the studio was a place of boundless possibilities. From the raw energy and heavy rock of Queen I to the polished splendour of A Day At The Races, they continued to challenge and innovate. Listening to 'Deep Cuts' in the 21st century, you can hear how Queen revolutionised both rock music itself and the way rock music was made.

The booklet notes for 'Deeper Cuts' were especially commissioned by Roger Taylor and Brian May from comedy actor and writer Rhys Thomas, an unlikely but unquestionable Queen fan and expert. Thomas publicly showed his vast knowledge of the band appearing on the New Year special edition of Celebrity Mastermind where, answering questions of the subject of his favourite band, Queen, he achieved the distinction of scoring the highest number of correct answers in the history of the television series."

The track listing is amazing, and this album is a great way for a fan to see if they want to invest in the rereleases of the bands first five albums, but to me its stands as a great compilation of the bands formative years!

website - Queen
Rating - 10/10

Queen - A Day At The Races (2011 Remaster)

Genre - Classic Rock / Hard Rock / Glam / Pop

Label - Island Records
Tracklist:
01 – Tie Your Mother Down
02 – You Take My Breath Away
03 – Long Away
04 – The Millionaire Waltz
05 – You And I
06 – Somebody To Love
07 – White Man
08 – Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy
09 – Drowse
10 – Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)

Bonus CD:
01 – Tie Your Mother Down (Backing Track Mix 2011)
02 – Somebody To Love (Live At Milton Keynes Bowl, June 1982)
03 – You Take My Breath Away (Live In Hyde Park, September 1976)
04 – Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy (Top Of The Pops, July 1977) (Mono)
05 – Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together) (HD Mix)

A Day At The Races was originally intended to be released together with A Night At The Opera as a double album, but the band decided to release them as two separate albums, and in my opinion A Day At The Races is often overlooked by many rock fans despite containing some real gems like Tie Your Mother Down, Somebody To Love, the sublime You Take My Breath Away, which see’s Freddie Mercury in absolutely great form vocally, Long Away and Teo Torriatte, some of Queens finest songs.
Again the re-mastering is excellent.
The bonus disc offers up some interesting tracks but I would have loved to have seen some demos included here.

A great album

Website - Queen
Rating - 9/10

Queen - A Night at The Opera (2011 Remaster)

Genre - Classic Rock / Hard Rock / Pop / Glam
Label - Island Records

Tracklist:
01 – Death On Two Legs
02 – Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon
03 – I’m In Love With My Car
04 – You’re My Best Friend
05 – ’39
06 – Sweet Lady
07 – Seaside Rendezvous
08 – The Prophet’s Song
09 – Love Of My Life
10 – Good Company
11 – Bohemian Rhapsody
12 – God Save The Queen

Bonus CD:
01 – Keep Yourself Alive (Long-Lost Retake, June 75)
02 – Bohemian Rhapsody (Operatic Section A cappella Mix 2011)
03 – You’re My Best Friend (Backing Track Mix 2011)
04 – I’m In Love With My car (Guitar & Vocal Mix 2011)
05 – ’39 (Live at Earls Court, June 77)
06 – Love Of My Life (South American Live Single June 79)

A Night At The Opera, Queens Tour d’ Force, featuring the venomous Death On Two Legs, Rocking I’m In Love With My Car, the pop classic You’re My Best Friend, the epic Prophets Song, The mighty operatic Bohemian Rhapsody to name but a few. What an album, a true masterpiece!
Again the re-mastering adds new life and dimensions to these classic tracks making hearing them again a purely pleasurable experience.
The bonus tracks are different, but not amazing, but still add a little to the sheer might of this awesome album!
Every self respecting rock and pop fan should own this album, it’s the album that made Queen household names around the globe with Bohemian Rhapsody breaking chart records everywhere!
You need to own this album, simplez!

Website - Queen
Rating - 10/10