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Everywhere I go right now it’s Glee this and Glee that. Think High School Musical mixed with Grange Hill and you get the idea – it’s basically an American kids’ TV programme which has become a big hit worldwide. But what the f**k has that got to do with rock I hear you say?

Quite a lot, in fact. Just as Guitar Hero started turning a generation of Slash wannabes in the direction of classic rock Glee regularly revisits pop metal’s standards and gives them a refreshingly contemporary revamp. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

Europe return to the fray this week with a fantastic taster for their new long player in the shape of the Last Look At Eden mini album.

We also run the rule over Brit newcomers Sondura as thery make a serious play to become the UK’s answer to Shinedown.

And there’s also a look at a long awaited compilation pulling together the finest moments from the career of Sunset Strip legends (in their own lifetime) Odin. Take your pick. But always pick rock! Read the rest of this entry »

House Of Lords are looking at touring the UK this autumn according to sources close to the band – with their new album Cartesian Dreams due for release via Frontiers Records in September.

The US melodic rock stars have already inked in dates across Europe in late September and throughout October. And the Lords are understood to be keen to take the tour across the English Channel following a date in Normandy on October 31.

Cartesian Dreams follows hot on the heels of 2008′s critically acclaimed Come To My Kingdom and singer James Christian admitted: “This new CD was truly a labour of love. I was so fortunate to be able to work once again with my writing partner and friend Mark Baker. The last time Mark and I worked together was to write and record Demons Down.  We have a great chemistry when it comes to writing songs. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a bumper week for hot rock releases with supergroup Chickenfoot, featuring Joe Satriani (pictured), taking their bow and star-studded three-piece Man Raze hoping it’s third time lucky for the re-release of long-awaited debut Surreal.

Elsewhere we’ve got our hands on two 70s prog/scuzz throwbacks in the shape of new albums by The Atomic Bitchwax and Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound. Both could provide the perfect soundtrack to a lazy, hazy summer and don’t be put off by the ridiculous band names. And flying the flag for British talent this week we bring you the new album by ska/punk heroes Mouthwash and a taste of bitter thrash metal in the shape of Scar My Eyes’ brutal EP. Read the rest of this entry »

Supergroups. The very name can send grown men running for cover and inspire wizened hacks to sharpen their pencils for one final attack on a genre which can often be anything but super.

In the past great musicians have come together only to discover the sum of the parts does very little justice to the individual talents involved. And by their very nature, gifted guitarists, sensitive singers and those retiring types who make up rhythm sections are notoriously poor team players outside the comfort zone of their regular gig. Read the rest of this entry »

We’re (reluctantly) counting down the days to Thunder’s retirement but before they head for the hills we grabbed forntman Danny Bowes for a typically candid chat.

And in this second part of a cracking interview he recalls blowing away Van Halen, playing fast and furious to avoid stagefright and why fans will always come first for Thunder – for the next few months at least!

Read the rest of this entry »

Am I dreaming or is this year’s Download finally harking back to its true Monsters Of Rock roots?

The premier metal festival of the summer has always tried to throw up as diverse an array of hard rocking big hitters as possible.

Yet the hair metal heritage acts have been few and far between. Rifle through a list of bands which played at the inaugural event back in 2004 and the flavour was very much nu-metal, industrial metal, alt metal and indie rock. Nothing wrong with that but you’d have been hard pressed to find a blues rock standard or a soft metal ballad. Most people who forked out for tickets that year would have baulked at the very idea… Read the rest of this entry »

Sunday comes around quicker than a new Guns N Roses record and as ever rushonrock nudges you towards the new working week with a round-up of Monday’s must-buy rock releases. But we’re still missing our copy of Nickelback’s new one so let us know what you think of the Canadians’ latest…

Edguy – Tinnitus Sanctus (Nuclear Blast) 

rushonrock first became aware of these old skool metal heroes when 2006′s Rocket Ride blew us way with anthems like Wasted Time, Save Me and seven-minute epic The Asylum. Well Edguy are back and Tinnitus Sanctus takes up where the guys left off two years ago.

Full of soaring guitar solos, cracking choruses and a fair sprinkling of cheese the Teutonic masters play metal the way it was meant to be played – with plenty of power chords and a smile on their faces. And in frontman Tobi the energetic Edguy boast one of rock’s undiscovered gems. Or at least in the UK.

Quite why a band which has been making records this good for the best part of 18 years has yet to break the UK market is anyone’s guess but they’re a hell of a lot better than similar groups who have enjoyed recent commercial success.

Sex Fire Religion, Thorn Without A Rose (this is bound to cause a ruck with the Poison boys…) and Dead Or Rock are all as fantastic as they sound – and they sound simply magical. Without Edguy the world would be a more unhappy place but with these boys flying the metal flag there’s hope for us all!

rushonrock rated: 9/10 Cool [Ed]Guys

Sammy Hagar – Cosmic Universal Fashion (Loud & Proud)

For rushonrock Sammy Hagar will always be the bloke who made us glad Van Halen parted company with David Lee Roth. His unique voice, charismatic stage presence and ability to hold his own alongside one of the world’s finest guitarists demands respect. But this strange collection of oddments is unlikely to satisfy fans of any Hagar era.

There are elements of Montrose, snatches of VH and nods to The Wabos but this is about as diverse a record as the Red Rocker could have hoped to produce. It doesn’t really sit comfortably within any genre and yet ticks all the boxes for most fans of guitar-driven music.

this is one of those CDs where you’ll find your obvious favourites and discover some real duds depending on your usual taste. Covering the Beastie Boys’ classic Fight For Your Right To Party actually works but Loud, with too many star guests to mention, doesn’t.

At times this record sounds like Soundgarden, at times it sounds like Van Halen and every so often it sounds like nothing we’ve ever heard before. In fact there arev times when you feel Hagar has been hammering the Cabo Wabo (his own brand of Tequila) too often and for too long.

Cosmic Universal Fashion could be a grower. Or it could be a thrower.

rushonrock rated: 5/10 Hagar The Horrible?

Twisted Sister – Live At The Astoria (DVE)

This CD/DVD double pack is the latest in DVE’s Live And Loud series – Wednesday 13 kicked things off last week – and first off it’s pretty good value for any fan of over-the-top 80s hair metal.

If you can look beyond the fact that Dee Snider is surely too old to be singing We’re Not Gonna Take It  and swears like a trooper then it’s impossible not to raise a smile at the basic rock on offer. Twisted were always a band who knew how to put on a show and this gig has gone down in history as one of their best.

But just a word of warning. If you’re expecting to purchase an up-to-date record of JJ French and his big-mouthed buddy then this isn’t it. The gig presented here is from the summer of 2004 and things have changed in the last four years. Snider is older, the songs sound more tired and Twisted seem more concerned about cashing in on Christmas than producing new records.

But if nostalgia is the name of your game then this is a pleasant enough trip down metal’s memory lane and may well serve as an inspiration to young upstarts such as label mates Dear Superstar. It may also persuade Snider that enough is enough.

rushonrock rated: 7/10 Sister’s Still Doing It For Themselves

In the week that we’re celebrating all things AC/DC – despite the band’s hurtful snub to us North East rockers – there has never been a better time to debate personal tastes against popular trends.

What I mean is: why do I love Blow Up Your Video and think Powerage is distinctly average?

Why is my favourite Metallica album …And Justice For All when ‘true’ fans would pick an earlier release? And why do I happen to agree with the masses when picking Def Leppard’s Hysteria as the Sheffield band’s finest hour?

It’s all about when you started buying, borrowing or begging the music which shaped your teenage years. I’ll always love Blow Up Your Video as it was the first ‘DC album I ever invested my McDonald’s Saturday job money in.

I can still remember the first time I saw the video for Heatseeker light up ITV’s Pepsi Chart Show and I knew right then that this was a band for me. I bought the album they had out at the time and thought it was the best thing AC/DC had ever done.

I loved Alice Cooper’s Raise Your Fist And Yell, Van Halen’s OU812 and Iron Maiden’s Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son. To this day they’re among my most listened to rock releases as they remind me of an era when metal was fresh, exciting and a just a little bit frightening.

But ask fans of any of the above to select their top three records by each band and I doubt my personal faves would make the cut. In Coop’s case RYFAY wouldn’t even make the top 20!

It just so happens that my first Leppard and Whitesnake records were Hysteria and 1987. And I remember bagging Appetite For Destruction on the first day of release. All three are widely recognised as definitive works and you won’t find me disagreeing.

I own the debut albums by Thunder, Little Angels, Terrorvision and The Quireboys and I don’t think they’ve been bettered to this day. But they were the bands of my time releasing the records of my time and as such they’ll always have a special place in my heart.

Ask anyone 10 years older than me to name the best records by AC/DC, Maiden, Cooper or Van Halen and none would refer to the late 80s for a starting point. But that’s all about what means most to you on the day you first discovered rock.

Over the years I’ve built up huge back catalogues and come to appreciate the finer moments from the 1970s and early 1980s. But I will always pick something from 1987-1990 when asked to select the greatest records in rock because that’s when rock was at its greatest.

Simon Rushworth