Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews

HOWARD JONES – Live In Japan

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The huge box set reissue of Howard Jones’s ‘Humans Lib’ was a real treat for fans. A multi format set, it presented the classic album with a wealth of bonus materials, including unreleased demos, alternate versions and radio sessions. The biggest draw, though, came from its visual content. The lavish set finally gave a DVD release to the long out of print ‘Live In Japan’ VHS, much to the delight of almost everyone.

Unfortunately, that box was both prohibitively expensive and a really limited run, meaning that only hardcore fans would get to see that footage in decent quality, and in some cases for the first time in many a long year. Luckily, the 2022 release ‘Live At The NHK Hall, 1984’ comes to the rescue, since it offers the same film at an affordable price, but improves upon the previous release by presenting it alongside an uncut version of the audio soundtrack.

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PERFECT PLAN – Brace For Impact

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In the year or so leading up to this third release from Perfect Plan, vocalist Kent Hilli kept himself more than busy. Considered by some to be the great white hope of melodic rock in the twenty first century, between 2021 and 2022, he not only issued two solo releases – an album of original material and an EP of covers – but also became the new frontman for AOR legends Giant, appearing on their very enjoyable ‘Shifting Time’ album, and even found time to contribute vocals to the second Restless Spirits album.

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DETROIT REBELLION – Fake News

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Back in 2013, Detroit Rebellion self-released their ‘Detroit Rebellion ’67’ EP, a four track blast of noisy garage blues delivered by two men who often valued pure grit over musical finesse. Continuing in the vein of the now missed Dead Exs and the perfect successor to their ‘Fork In The Road’ release, it showed how the rawness of a pure garage blues sound could often be relied upon to hit the spot, despite working to a fairly formulaic approach.

Some of the best tracks from those EPs were recycled for 2017’s full length release ‘The Man’, and when heard as part of a broader musical canvas, they lost none of their power. The duo continued to plough forward with 2018’s ‘See You Next Year’, channelling Morphine – sans saxophones – on ‘Snake Eyes’, conveying a really spooky edge on ‘Spit Fire’, and working their usual rowdy voodoo on ‘Wrong Number’, all of which suggested that, going forward, there would be even more mileage in their gritty sound.

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WAX ON WATER – Ghouls & Fiends And In-Betweens… EP

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Wax On Water’s full length album ‘The Drip’ (released in June 2022) presented an interesting mix of electronica, light goth and occasional industrial sounds. With a broad but dark sonic palate linked via a strong vocal, the album’s best tracks brought back memories of a vast array of alternative music from the early 90s . With it’s most mechanical bits not too far removed from something you’d find on Trent Reznor’s vanity label Nothing Records, and a more melodic streak presenting itself as if taking a moody swipe at Garbage, it was a recording that managed to mix the arty with a surprisingly commercial edge.

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ORIANTHI – Rock Candy

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Orianthi’s 2020 album ‘O’ marked an overdue return for the Australian guitarist. Her first album in seven years and her first for the Frontiers Records label, it appeared during the pandemic lockdown, adding to an ever growing pile of welcome distractions for rock fans the world over. You’d be hard pressed to call it forward looking in any way – the bulk of the music ploughed a furrow where classic 80s melodic rock was very much at the forefront of her semi-bluesy sound, and the video for its second single ‘Impusive’ seemed to want to set the feminist movement back by decades – but, as melodic rock long players go, it was enjoyable enough.

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