Rick Derringer has had a long career. From being a member of the McCoys (of ‘Hang On Sloopy’ fame), to sterling work with Edgar and Johnny Winter during their glory years, to releasing many solo albums, there’s plenty to enjoy. ‘All American Boy’, Derringer’s first solo outing from 1974 is one of his best (though [...]

For most people, the history of Fleetwood Mac is divided into two distinct eras – the blues years with Peter Green at the helm (1967-70) and the California pop years driven by the talents of Buckingham-Nicks (from 1975). After Peter Green’s departure in 1970, the band entered a wilderness period. To begin with, Jeremy Spencer [...]

Hailing from Denmark, Third Eye are a progressive metal outfit featuring Michael Bodin (ex-Prophets Doom), Martin Damgaard (ex-Sweet Leaf) and Per Johansson (ex-Crystal Knight/Fate) and in terms of heaviness, they’re up there with the mighty Symphony X. For their debut album they’ve taken a bold step: ‘Recipe For Disaster’ is a concept piece about a [...]

The name Ronnie James Dio will mean many things to his fans.  He was the first (and arguably best) frontman with Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow; he was the man who gave Black Sabbath an almighty kick up the arse when he replaced Ozzy Osbourne; he was one of the most recognisable voices in hard rock and [...]

I was introduced to this album by The Postmarks by my friend Walt, a lover of Squeeze and kitschy sci-fi television.  Since we share so many tastes I had to check it out, even though the Belle and Sebastian-esque monochrome sleeve art sent alarm bells ringing.  My dislike of Belle and Sebastian (aside from the [...]

As well as being a member of The Semantics with Zak Starkey (who recorded just one album, which gathered an exclusively Japanese release), throughout the 90s, Will Owsley was a hard working session musician.  His extensive session work eventually funded a home studio, where he recorded this self-titled debut.  It first came to my attention [...]

It’s hard not to compare the predominantly Aussie band Godstar’s full length CD ‘Sleeper’ to the mighty Lemonheads.  There are too many connections for those comparisons to be avoided.  Godstar are led by Smudge founders Tom Morgan (co-writer of some of ‘Come On Feel The Lemonheads) and Nic Dalton (sometime Lemonheads bassist).  Those Lemonheads connections [...]

Pink Floyd’s 1973 album ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ requires no introduction.  It’s one of the world’s best selling albums and a genuine rock classic.  In 2009, indie/psych-pop darlings The Flaming Lips teamed up with Stardeath And White Dwarfs (a band featuring the nephew of The Lips’ frontman Wayne Coyne) to pay tribute to ‘DSOTM’ [...]

Ah, the 1990s.  They were a great time for me – and a great time for discovering new music.  Back in those days, my friend Rich Barnard and I found hundreds of great albums in the bargain bins of London’s independent record shops and at record fairs. Sometimes we’d pick them up because we’d read [...]