Twenty five years on from the peak of heavy rock’s commercial popularity in 1988, this series asks why heavy rockers no longer dominate the charts and seeks to highlight the crimes that Heavy Rock is accused of, and give you… Read More ›
Hair metal
Ten Reasons Why It Was Okay To Like Bon Jovi In The Eighties
If you have been reading some of the rubbish I have come up with over the last eighteen months you may have built up a Sherlockian picture of me, although instead of observing the type of sand on my shoe… Read More ›
Ratt v Crüe: Who’s best?
I like Motley Crue. I like Ratt. But which is best? There’s only one way to find out….. Actually, it’s a pretty easy question isn’t it? (no – it’s not “neither”). Not only have Motley Crue sold millions, they have… Read More ›
Hysteria – A Look Back on the 25th Anniversary of Def Leppard’s Second Best Album…
It seems incredible that Def Leppard’s Hysteria album is twenty-five years old. I might have yoghurt in my fridge that is older than that. I bought it on the day of release. It was the first album (lead singer Joe… Read More ›
Bret Michaels: Every Rose Has It’s….
Former Poison frontman, 2010 Celebrity Apprentice winner and standard bearer for international women’s rights Bret Michaels has announced he is releasing a star-studded new album in September. Having apparently tired of being reality TV‘s most compelling spokesperson for feminism in… Read More ›
In and Out of Love with Bon Jovi
So where do you stand on Bon Jovi? It’s always pretty cool to be first amongst your friends to be into a new band. Bloggers love new stuff – there are thousands of new music sites out there ensuring no… Read More ›
Rock of Ages: Here We Go Again
So where do you stand on Rock of Ages? A bunch of ‘80s rock tunes crow-barred into an unfeasible story, with way too much hairspray and make up? Hmmm. But then it worked with Queensryche’s Operation Mindcrime… What could possibly… Read More ›
Kiss – Exposed!
After the Kiss Animalized Uncensored Live video, I was keen to see more. This led me to the new video release Kiss – Exposed!. This was packed with archive footage of the band, and set (apparently) at the band’s home. Yes,… Read More ›
Kiss…..And Things You Don’t See Anymore #3: Denim Jackets With Band Names on the Back
So what is one of the most powerful advertising weapons utilised by bands such as Kiss and Aerosmith to attract the youth of Britain to buy products? YouTube? Facebook? Search Engine Optimisation? TV? Oh no. Compared to the real success… Read More ›
Shades Records – The Greatest Record Store There Ever Was: A Tribute for Record Store Day
As record store day approaches, I would like to pay tribute to just one record store that is sadly no longer with us. The Greatest Record Store There Ever Was… In the years before Napster, Songkick, Spotify and other Internet… Read More ›
Kerrang! Magazine – Heavy Metal Bible
Kerrang! Magazine is what distunguishes a heavy metal fan from the casual observer. Investing the not insignificant sum of 85p on Kerrang! was the moment I turned to the dark side- and entered the world of being a “proper” heavy… Read More ›
The Top Ten Worst Dressed Rock Bands of All Time
Which is the worst dressed Rock Band? After my post querying whether Rush’s Kimonos were a nadir in the relationship between Rock and Fashion, I thought about a few other bands that I knew who perhaps ran Rush pretty close…. Read More ›
Every record tells a story 