One of the greatest and most influential rock bands of all time releases new album ‘=1’, on July 19th via earMUSIC.
DEEP PURPLE have a new album coming out in July – their first since guitarist Simon McBride replaced Steve Morse. The band’s last album was 2021’s covers’ album Turning To Crime. Morse left the band the following July. The band is also on tour this summer with YES. The new single is “Portable Door” and sounds very ‘classic Deep Purple’ to me. Ian Gillan at 78 still sounds good, and it’s also the whole feel of this song. From the main riff to the changes, Simon McBride’s guitar break and Don Airey’s organ solo – a lot of great stuff packed in at 4 minutes, this gets more likeable every listen. Looking forward to the entire album even more so….despite the odd title ‘= 1‘ and artwork! *Check out the video below, as well as the links and info in the description.
Very sad news that British guitarist/songwriter & producer Robin George passed away on April 26. It was announced on his facebook page a few days ago – “Robin had been fighting a long illness but by Christmas, it became obvious that he was not long for this world. He was devastated when he was no longer able to play his beloved guitars but he continued to write songs, do interviews, make videos and tell his story here on Facebook and through his biography. He desperately wanted his music to live on because music was in his heart and soul. Robin leaves behind his adored wife, 4 beloved children, 2 beautiful sisters, 9 lovely grandchildren, many dear friends and the animal family that he rescued over the years. We are devastated because there will never be another Robin George. LovePower with you always. You’re with your angels now.”
Robin had recorded numerous solo albums over the years and had also recorded with and performed with the likes of Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy), David Byron (Uriah Heep), John Wetton (Asia), Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple), Peter Goalby (Uriah Heep), Sean Harris (Diamond Head), Robert Plant, Magnum, and many more. Last year he had signed on with Hear No Evil Recordings who released the excellent 2CD compilation of early recordings Ace In My Hand, as well as Overcome (with Glenn Hughes), along with the announcement just last week of the Byron Band 3CD box set On The Rocks…Again to be released in June. So it was good to see that he was finally getting a break and his music was being released properly.
In 1984 Robin signed with Bronze Records (soon to go under) and recorded the album Dangerous Music, which featured the hit “Heartline”. Record company issues held up the follow up album (see Dangerous Music II released in 2015). His next album would be 2001’s Rock Of Ageists, which featured favorites like “Crying Diamonds” and “Learn The Dance” (written with David Byron). Since then Robin would record numerous albums, especially during the global pandemic & lockdowns a few years back.
Over the years I interviewed Robin a few times, and he was always quick and happy to answer questions and share info on what he was up to. Robin had a strong and loyal following and left loads of great music worth checking out. RIP Robin.
DAVID GILMOUR has released a new single from his forthcoming album Luck And Strange , to be released September 6. The single “The Piper’s Call” features classic Gilmour guitar work, with that distinctive sound that fans will easily recognize.
*Check out the video below and details in video description. Ordering link below.
British rockers PRAYING MANTIS have been going for decades, but it’s the last couple of decades that have been most productive and impressive recording-wise. Like fellow British legends Uriah Heep and Magnum, and Swedish rockers Europe it is the band’s string of later releases that make them worthy of checking out still, Mantis’ best stuff IMO. Since 2000’s Nowhere To Hide album (my introduction to PM) this band has released 5 other must-hear albums, and now Defiance is another Praying Mantis disc to dig into. Defiance continues on with that melodic hard rock sound that Praying Mantis has become known for, as opposed to the ‘heavy metal’ route that the band was tagged as in their early days. A solid 11 tracks here, including an excellent take of Russ Ballard’s “I Surrender.” lots of cool guitar rock here, with favorites coming near the end in “Standing Tall” and “Let’s See” (these 2 jumped out early on for me). Anyone who’s followed these guys in recent years will easily dig this, with well-produced melodic rock tunes like “From The Start”, “Give It Up”, “Defiance”, and the instrumental “Nightswim”.
Love the guitar sound, the occasional use of keyboards, and the band’s backing harmonies which are always a big part of the ‘Mantis sound. Jaycee Cuijpers vocals are strong, like this guy sounds great on everything (see Arjen Lucassen’s Sonic Revolution too!), and the band now has a string of albums with the same singer. As always awesome cover artwork (Stan-W Decker), making Defiance stand out upon first glance. Get it on CD or red vinyl!
Now available on CD, including bonus tracks: Breadcrumbs by Alice Cooper, the release that initiated the success of the album Detroit Stories
Inspired by the rebellious energy of the late ’60s and early ’70s punk scene, Alice Cooper returns to his roots and the unpolished garage sound that his fans love so much. Previously only available as a limited and now out-of-print 10″ vinyl, this gem is now finally being released as a nice price CD edition.
The release contains the six tracks from the original 10″ vinyl, which showcase Cooper’s raw and energetic interpretation of classic Detroit songs: “Your Mama Won’t Like Me” by Suzi Quatro; Bob Seger’s “East Side Story”; MC5’s “Sister Anne”; Shorty Long’s “Devil With A Blue Dress On”; and The Dirtbombs’ “Chains of Love.” All are performed in the popular and well-known Alice Cooper style. In addition, this release includes the two bonus tracks “Don’t Give Up,” Cooper’s message of hope and appeal to the perseverance of his fans dur. ing the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a live version of “Go Man Go” from his electrifying set at Hellfest 2022.
BREADCRUMBS TRACK LISTING: “Detroit City 2020” “Go Man Go” “East Side Story” “Your Mama Won’t Like Me” “Devil With A Blue Dress On” + “Chains Of Love” “Sister Anne” “Don’t Give Up” (Bonus Track) “Go Man Go (Live At Hellfest 2022)” (Bonus Track)
Milwaukee band BAD BOY released 4 albums between 1977 and 1985. After the band’s first 2 albums on United Artists, Bad Boy signed to an even smaller, local label – ‘Streetwise’ for this (their 3rd album) – Private Party. The album is full of energetic guitar hard rock. It features the standout “Run From Yourself”, as well as favorite rockers such as “Don’t Pretend”, “Here I Am”, and the anthemic titled track. Bad Boy never had a lot of single releases, but more radio friendly cuts like “How Long” and “Let Me Love You” would’ve made fine choices for that period here. This very limited CD release also includes an excellent bonus track in “You And Me Against The World”; not sure where this one is from, but it’s a nice add-on! Absent is the band’s only other Streetwise release – the 1982 single “Stay With Me Tonight” & “Mama, Mama”; tho’ both of these songs were included on the 1998 compilation ‘Best Of Bad Boy’. What a great album!
Note, the band still lead by Steve Grimm, released an album independently in 2022 titled No Regrets (missing this one, if anyone has one….), Grimm also has a new album out titled ‘Bright Side’. (see press info and links below)
For more than 4 decades, Bad Boy has been writing music, getting airplay, reviews and still playing Rock and Roll. Must be something in the blood. Bad Boy is a legendary hard rock band from Milwaukee Wisconsin USA that signed their first record deal with United Artists in 1977.
Founded by Steve Grimm, John Marcelli, Joey LaVie, and Lars Hanson their first two albums reached the top 100 on the Billboard national music charts. In 1980 the band signed with Streetwise music and with two new members Scott Stephan on guitars and Hector “Jackie” Ramos on drums released the band’s third album entitled “Private Party” in 1981. The Saga continues with this re-release that is frozen and stands the test of time. Recorded at the Playboy Club in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin by soundscapist Andy Waterman.
“Private Party” is a fantastic hard rock album that has on CD been a highly sought collectors’ commodity and is now finally available and remastered with one additional bonus track “You And Me Against The World”.
*This CD is Vol. 6 of the Pride & Joy Music Classixx series and exclusively distributed via shop.prideandjoy.de and strictly limited to 300 copies.
SAXON have issued a new lyric video for the track “Witches Of Salem”. Taken from their latest album Hell, Fire And Damnation, the video appears as the band begins their US tour co-headlining with URIAH HEEP (tonight). Check out the song at the end, and see my previous post for dates as well!
“This is an American story, but the witch trials started in Scotland, spread into England and across the sea to the colonies in America. Those poor women in Salem,” explains Biff Byford“they weren’t ‘witches’ more than just unfortunate women really, blamed for everybody’s ailments… whether your horse died, or the milk went sour, they blamed women. Maybe because they were jealous of them, or maybe it was because some guy had made some advances and she’d told him to piss-off, so he’d declare that she was a witch. And once a person was declared a witch, I don’t think there was any way back from that; very few of them were found innocent.”
On the current US tour which sees Uriah Heep & Saxon co-headlining, Heep will have Adam Wakeman guesting on keyboards, Wakeman mentioned this in his Twitter feed a while back. Uriah Heep posted that “Due to family commitments Phil Lanzon will not be appearing on this run of dates and filling in on keyboards will be Adam Wakeman (Ozzy Osbourne/ Black Sabbath/ Deep Purple)….”
Adam Wakeman
Both bands will play 80 minute sets, and alternate every few shows of who’s on first. Saxon will be promoting their excellent latest album Hell, Fire, and Damnation, while Uriah Heep will finally get to perform a number of songs (4?) from last year’s awesome Chaos & Colour release. Following the Heep tour, Adam Wakeman will be performing shows with his band ‘Jazz Sabbath’s.
KENS DOJO (Norwegian guitarist/songwriter/producer – Ken Ingwersen) has a new single out – “Symphony Of Life”. It’s an instantly likeable hard rocker, with a memorable chorus & title, and comes with a cool video (below). Aside from writing it and performing guitar on the track, Ingwersen also handles bass And does a fine job on lead vocals. The drums were handled heavily by Bjørn Olav Lauvdal (ex STREET LEGAL).
Legendary German metal band GRAVE DIGGER released a new single in January, the band’s first to feature new guitarist Tobias Kersting. I saw Grave Digger a number of years ago when they toured North America as openers to Blind Guardian. I had no idea who they were, but I was hooked from the live performance, and during intermission picked up a GD shirt and CD! Just a fun classic 80s metal band. The latest single is another instantly likeable Grave Digger dark metal classic, with the memorable title of “The Grave Is Yours”. It is backed with a re-working of the band’s 1994 anthem “Back To The Roots”. looking forward to a new album….
*Check out the new video, as well as band bio below, release info, and links!
German Heavy Metal legends GRAVE DIGGER are ready to open the next chapter of their more than four decades longing band history. After the line-up change and with their new guitar wizard Tobias Kersting (Chris Boltendahl’s Steelhammer, ex-Orden Ogan), GRAVE DIGGER are back with the new single “The Grave Is Yours” and to make clear, that 80’s inspired traditional Heavy Metal in its purest is more than alive. And not enough: The completely re-recorded classic track “Back to The Roots” is also part of this release. Straightforward, merciless, right in your face … that’s GRAVE DIGGER in 2024! “The Grave Is Yours” will be released via ROAR! Rock of Angels Records on January 12, 2024 as worldwide limited to 500 copies 7″ Red Vinyl Edition as well as on all popular and well-known download & streaming platforms.
“The Grave Is Yours”: Produced, mixed & mastered by Chris Boltendahl at Graveyard Studio in Cologne/Germany. Cover Artwork & Layout by Götz Morgenschweis
Track list: Side A: The Grave Is Yours (Music: Chris Boltendahl & Tobias Kersting • Lyrics: Chris Boltendahl)
Side B: Back to The Roots (Music: Chris Boltendahl & Uwe Lulis • Lyrics: Chris Boltendahl & Thomas Göttlich)
Grave Digger are: Chris Boltendahl – Vocals Tobias Kersting – Guitar Jens Becker – Bass Marcus Kniep – Drums
Outsider Rock 