All About Rock & Metal

When you drop the needle and ‘Live Like You Mean It’ booms out, the song elbows its way between members of Mötley Crüe and Poison to get to a bar on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, circa 1988, and orders a bottle of Jack Daniels. Every trope of Hair Metal is there; the big drum sound, the Pop Rock hooks, and gang vocals that sound like everyone in the alley has been invited in to add their voices.

Every once in a while, you receive an album that ticks all your musical boxes. Writing a review becomes easy, and the hardest decision you must make is how many superlatives you will throw at it in your final prose! Well, dear reader, this is mine, as Mammoth’s third album is sublime!

Pearls & Frames are from Sweden and sit in the Melodic Rock/West Coast genre. They consist of Markus Nordenberg (vocals/keyboards) and Sven Larsson (guitars), their respective CVs are impressive with the likes of Street Talk, Groundbreaker, Overland, Lion’s Share, Coastland Ride and Frédéric Slama’s AOR all featuring. This is their sophomore release following ‘Reliance’ in 2022.

My introduction to Treat came via ‘Dreamhunter’ back in early 1987, their effortless fusion of Scandie AOR and good-time Party Rock immediately striking a chord and forming the basis of a love affair that’s lasted nearly forty years. And, thanks to Firefest, I even got to see them a couple of times, that first gig in October 2006 being one that still stands out. 

Previously, only Van Halen and Eddie’s son Wolfgang have recorded at the legendary 5150 Studios in Los Angeles; however, that has recently changed, as Alter Bridge were invited there. The band went public to say how they were greatly inspired, and totally in awe of where they were. 

One of the original “Big Four” Thrash bands from the early eighties, Megadeth was born when guitarist Dave Mustaine parted ways with Metallica in less than amicable circumstances. Since the ear-splitting roar of their incendiary debut, ‘Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good’ back in 1985, the band has established its own unique and instantly identifiable sound within the Thrash subgenre, a lot of that being down to the instantly recognisable tones of Mustaine. 

This House We Built hail from Scarborough, UK, and the band members are Scott Wardell (lead vocals, guitar), Chris Mayes (drums), Wayne Dowkes White (bass), and Andy Jackson (guitars, vocals). Wardell has written the song lyrics and the rest of the band have also contributed on the musical side. This is their second album and all the songs were produced, recorded and mixed by Dave Boothroyd at 6dB Studios, York and mastered by Sam Proctor.

I’ve been following Hell In The Club since their 2011 debut album ‘Let The Games Begin’, and it’s hard to believe ‘Joker In The Pack’ is actually their seventh album. They have always been solid and reliable purveyors of melodic, heavy Sleaze Rock, even if they’ve never really attained a major hit. They keep their modest fanbase happy with their brand of Rock ‘n’ Roll that keeps the spirit of the eighties alive! 

Doro never rests! Since her last album she has been busy, including planning ‘Metal Queen’ Cruises along the Rhine, in relation to which the idea for this album was born. It’s a special edition on her own label, pending a new studio album, and, incredibly, a limited edition of the vinyl record contains blue curaçao, which can be drunk (as opposed to Rhine water that they considered at first, which probably wouldn’t have looked half so nice).

Without doubt, one of the most gifted bands to ever ply their trade in Rock or Metal in all its nefarious forms, Dream Theater are ostensibly “the” band responsible for inspiring the Progressive Metal scene that’s multiplied from the late eighties onwards. Since unleashing the mould-breaking ‘Images And Words’ in July 1992, they’ve gone on to craft a string of high-quality albums that have become the benchmark against which all others must be judged. Deftly combining crunchin

The frontman of Status Quo has nothing to prove. He has penned countless UK hits, been active in the business since the sixties, and explored his penchant for melody, Country, Pop and Rock with his solo releases. However, with his newest effort ‘The Accidental’, Rossi has brought his guitar back to the fore, on what is a great Rock album. 

Can you have enough Def Leppard? Don’t be silly, of course not! The boys have returned with a blistering live recording of their 2023 concert from Sheffield’s Bramall Lane. This gig, alongside Mötley Crüe, signalled the start of the European leg of their World Tour, which has seen them play countless shows around the globe, in front of an always enthusiastic audience. 

 I have been a fan of 38 Special for many a year, and have fond memories of trying to get hold of their albums, as even in their gold and platinum period in America they were fairly inaccessible in this country. So it was with great surprise and delight to hear that they were preparing to release their first new record in twenty-one years!  

Anglo-French guitarist, singer-songwriter, Laura Cox first came to the public’s attention via YouTube, accumulating over one million views. She backed that up with three excellent studio albums: ‘Hard Blues Shot’ (2017), ‘Burning Bright’ (2019) and ‘Head Above Water’ (2023). Cox now returns with album number four, ‘Trouble Coming’.

It’s a strange thing to write that a band formed forty years ago have just released, in essence, their third album, but in Roulette’s case, it’s true! Why the wait, you may ask?

‘Weirdo’ is the eleventh release from Finnish Rock band The Rasmus, coming some three years after previous release ‘Rise’. The line-up has remained steady for the last few albums with ever-presents Lauri Ylönen on vocals and Eero Heinonen on bass, with Emilia “Emppu” Suhonen on guitar and Aki Hakala on drums.

The theme of the album is all about an eighties movie called ‘The Switch’, which concerns a band touring the US that get mixed up with mobsters, and in the end they have to “swap guitars for deadly weapons and end up in the ultimate fight for survival.” It’s a crackerjack premise and a really novel idea, but in the end it has to be about the quality of the music.

It’s been over three years since Bryan Adams last studio record – 2022’s ‘So Happy It Hurts’ – but he’s remained busy with two years of touring plus the two three-disc Royal Albert Hall live albums in 2023 and 2024.

It’s amazing when you think how FM’s career has unfolded; surfacing in the mid-eighties and spending ten years as the undoubted darlings of the UK Melodic Rock scene before splitting up in 1995, then re-surfacing twelve years later to perform what was originally intended as a one-off reunion show at 2007’s Firefest festival. The overwhelming reaction ensured that the decision to reunite would be made permanent, but who would have thought that they would have subsequently cont

We all have our ultimate heroes; Alice Cooper is mine, has been since the seventies, in all his incarnations, all eras… even the so-called blackout period. I was more than excited to be offered this review, but my excitement was tinged with anxiety and apprehension. With The Alice Cooper Band back together for the first time in fifty years it was a dream, but could it become a nightmare?