Author Archives: Real Gone

Keep ’em Peeled: Six of The Best For ’24

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2023 was a great year for Real Gone. Over the course of the twelve months, we covered a record number of new bands, and our inbox of submissions was never less than full. Naturally, we found a lot of new music to enjoy, but a few acts really stood out. In this feature, we’ve earmarked a few emerging talents that we feel will go on to even better things in 2024. If you’ve been paying attention, chances are, a couple of these names are familiar to you already, but if not, it’s time to get on board (semi) early. Here are Real Gone’s top picks to become even bigger successes this year!

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GOAT MAJOR – Evil Eye EP

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A little west of Birmingham – often said to be the birthplace of metal – their lies an entire country with an almost equally rich musical heritage in terms of rock music. In the 70s, Wales birthed the often overlooked Man, the underrated Budgie, and the should’ve been huge Lone Star. Lone Star’s second album ‘Firing On All Six’, whilst perhaps not as big as monolithic works by Deep Purple, is an easy match for any of the great material released by UFO or Uriah Heep. It’s been even less documented that the country has actually spawned a healthy stoner and doom metal scene. Spearheaded by the former Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard (later MWWB) and Dope Smoker, there are a truckload of good, heavy riff-makers filling an opulent Welsh underground in the twenty first century.

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MAGNUM – Here Comes The Rain

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Magnum’s twenty second studio album, 2022’s ‘The Monster Roars’, came as a welcome surprise. Although huge chunks of the record sounded exactly like the latter day Magnum that fans adored, a few of the tracks took a bit more of a bold move, musically speaking. There were moments where the usual pomp gave way to a bigger rock sound, and on the lead single ‘Steppin’ Stones’, Magnum showed off an unexpectedly soulful edge, proving that the veteran rockers – although often working in a comfort zone – still had a couple of newer tricks up their collective sleeve. In addition, Bob Catley’s vocals sounded stronger than they had in a while. Although the global pandemic had set the band back in terms of promotion, the rest from touring had obviously been beneficial.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #33

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Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar! For our first SB feature of ’24, we’ve dug deeply into our inbox of mp3s and assorted goodies to bring you another round of quick fire entertainment in our usual style. You’ll find the usual variety, with a dose of melodic punk, some alt country, huge rock and even some progressive black metal to tempt you. With January traditionally being a little quieter for submissions, we’ve taken the opportunity to include a couple of older tunes here that didn’t get covered during the last weeks of 2023, but that doesn’t mean a dip in quality. After all, you can’t put a sell by date on great music! As always, if you feel you have something of interest that you feel would suit a future Singles Bar – or a full review – at Real Gone, please don’t hesitate to get in touch…

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