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After a slow start to 2010 we review no fewer than nine new releases this week and there’s something for everyone to bring January to a suitably raucous close.

Whether you want to check out vintage Saxon (pictured) in the shape of expanded editions of three of the band’s often overlooked 80s standards or US Saxon-alikes Keel we slate and rate ‘em right here.

There’s the brilliant Bruce Kulick and his start-studded BK3 album plus a thrilling hair metal throwback as Wig Wam return to take on allcomers.

Frontiers standard-bearers Murder Of My Sweet bid for your listening pelasure and Kerrang! tour headliners All Time Low show their softer side with an acoustic mini album. Enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »

@ The Sage Gateshead, January 30 2010

Reading through the list of acts playing the North East’s newest festival, the word despair would spring to mind for most rock fans.

But lurking somewhere between N-Dubz, Sugababes and Pixie Lott, Welsh rockers Lostprophets single-handedly salvaged some decent rock music at the Outside/In event.

With such a variety of pop music on offer it was quite baffling to think Lostprophets would agree to play. With their new album seeming to step away from the kind of audience present at The Sage, maybe Ian Watkins and co are on a mission to deliver their rediscovered metal sound to all. Read the rest of this entry »

Little Angels – Product Of The Working Class (Hot Sweat ‘N’ Groove Mix)(B Dickinson/J Dickinson/Jepson/Lee/Plunkett) b/w Product Of The Working Class (Album Version), Revival (B Dickinson/J Dickinson/Jepson/Lee/Plunkett) & Take It Off (B Dickinson/J Dickinson/Jepson/Lee/Plunkett)

Ltd Edition Gatefold with Six Postcards 1991

For as long as Toby Jepson continues to blaze a trail with the newly reformed Gun, many fans will yearn for his own band to get back together and roll back the glory years.

The hit-laden crew from Scarborough were at the forefront of the Brit Rock movement in the late 80s/early 90s and had an uncanny knack for putting out the best pop rock songs of the era. Read the rest of this entry »

They’re not classic rock but they’re hardly mainstream and Self Made Man just can’t get enough of them.

Who are we talking about? 10 CC of course. And this week our resident blogger makes a case for the kings of emotive guitar pop.

Click on the Self Made Man page link above and wallow in a CC of nostalgia.

He landed an 8/10 rushonrock album review last August and now Hot Water Music’s Chuck Ragan is heading back out on the road in support of the excellent Gold Country.

The punk rock troubadour kicks off his latest UK jaunt in Newcastle at the city’s Northumbria University on March 15 before racking up a further eight dates nationwide.

And it just so happens Ragan reckons his new material is some of the best he’s ever written. “The record is just another page in the book and another chapter in life,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »

LA goth rock crew Dommin are being widely tipped as the next big thing to come out of the Roadrunner stable and they hit the UK this week in support of the excellent Lacuna Coil.

With debut album Love Is Gone out the day after Valentine’s Day all those anti-romantics will be licking their cold lips with glee.

And if you don’t get the chance to deliver your verdict on Dommin don’t despair (or do, if that’s what floats your boat) – the US rockers will be supporting the ultimate goth rock heroes H.I.M. in March. And we’re hoping to bring you an exclusive interview with the band right here very soon. Read the rest of this entry »

We enjoyed their Sicking & Creaming EP very much and now post-grunge crew Japanese Voyeurs are back with a new double A-side single released next month.

The furious four piece headed out on a UK headline tour this week and 2010 looks set to be a big year for one of the most intriguing new bands to hit the rock scene.

With That Love Sound/Blush, the Voyeurs should take their sound to a whole new audience and we’ve picked up a copy of the promo clip of the former for your viewing pleasure. Read the rest of this entry »

The decision to announce AC/DC as the first headline act for Download 2010 has given the UK’s premier rock and metal festival a huge shot in the arm.

A band synonymous with the Monsters Of Rock event of years gone by – and an act still riding high on the back of their best album for more than 20 years – is the perfect tool to inspire a tickets rush. Read the rest of this entry »

Swedish sleaze rock sensations Crazy Lixx will look to take their game to the next level later this year when latest album New Religion hits stores.

Given the full Frontiers Records service, the Malmo riff masters seem certain to break into the big time with the follow-up to critically acclaimed debut Loud Minority.

And frontman Danny Rexon is in no doubt that New Religion is one record which demands to be heard in 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

They’re a frankly freaky bunch of folk-inspired legend-obsessed Finns but Finntroll have emerged as one of rushonrock‘s favourite new bands (new to us, anyway).

Why? Next month’s new album Nifelvind marries black metal with traditional Scandinavian sounds and the unmistakable growl of frontman Vreth. It’s a winner on all fronts.

We caught up with the man who’s fronted Finntroll on their last two records and it’s a case of don’t judge a book by its cover. If you know what we mean… Read the rest of this entry »