Tag Archives: rock

Real Gone’s End of Year Round Up 2015

Posted on by

We’ve reached the end of 2015. It hasn’t been as thrilling a year for new music as 2014 had been, but there has been plenty to entertain. We’re still waiting on the proposed deluxe edition of Prince & The Revolution’s classic ‘Purple Rain’ (we could be waiting a long time) and those promised UB40 deluxe editions. Another year has passed without the arrival of Real Gone favourite Mick Terry’s second album. Lots of people in the UK have been (over)-excited by Steven Wilson’s ‘Hand.Cannot.Erase.’, but most of what’s impressed us the most at Real Gone – as is so often the case – is often just a little more underground.

Here are our year’s top picks…

Continue reading →

KHYMERA – The Grand Design

Posted on by

KHYMERA 2015Khymera are an example of a band with a fairly fluid existence. Originally formed as a project for Italian musician Daniele Liverani and sometime Kansas man Steve Walsh, they gained a following despite not always being as impressive as Walsh’s Streets, or hitting the highs of another band from the Kansas family tree, the mighty Seventh Key. Walsh only appeared on the debut LP, subsequently handing lead vocal duties over to Pink Cream 69 man Dennis Ward for the next two releases – works that seemed well respected within the AOR community.

Continue reading →

HOUSE ABOVE THE SUN – House Above The Sun EP

Posted on by

house above the sun epIn 2014, the London-based DIY blues-rock outfit The Healing released their debut EP ‘Childhood Home’. A year later, three quarters of the band resurfaced under the name House Above The Sun, seemingly having had a musical rethink. While still recognisable as the core of the same band, House Above The Sun favour a much rootsier sound, placing vocalist Jim Moreton’s voice over music that’s arguably more thoughtful than before.

Continue reading →

BLOOD RED SAINTS – Speedway

Posted on by

blood red saintsVocalist Pete Godfrey first came to the attention of the melodic rock community as frontman of the short-lived (but very promising) In Faith. Realising that being part of a full band would have better career prospects, he formed Blood Red Saints with Rob Naylor (previously of Angels Or Kings) and then enlisted the talents of Gary Hughes’s sometime guitarist Lee Revill. The result is a debut album with some hugely enjoyable melodic hard rock tunes – tunes that constantly hark back to the golden age of 1985-1989 – which should very much appeal to a cross-section of melodic rock buffs.

Continue reading →

NATO COLES AND THE BLUE DIAMOND BAND – Promises To Deliver

Posted on by

nato lpImagine what a band might sound like if the new wave edge of Tommy Tutone collided with The Gaslight Anthem’s American rock… That would surely be cool, wouldn’t it? If that kind of rock ‘n’ roll floats your boat, then you need look no further than the 2013 release by Nato Coles & The Blue Diamond Band. On ‘Promises To Deliver’, Nato and company really bring the party. It doesn’t matter whether their listeners are in the highlands of Scotland, the middle of Greece or in a far flung corner of Australia, the musical sounds are so vibrant and heartfelt, that within a couple of tracks it’s like being transported to Springsteen’s beloved New Jersey or the heartland of blue collar America.

Continue reading →