Tag: Kerrang
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Rory Gallagher’s Music Lives On: Michael Katon’s New Tribute
It has been nearly 22 years since Irish bluesman Rory Gallagher last plugged a Stratocaster into a Fender amp and made it sing. But this week, an American bluesman with Irish roots will release a tribute to Rory Gallagher. Michael Katon hails from Hell, Michigan, and has had a colourful career, from being a Kerrang!…
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Michael Katon, a UK Tour, Two Letters and a Special Cat
Have you ever written to a musician? What happened? Unless you are currently enjoying supper with Bono, I suspect the answer is “not very much”. Not that I would generally blame the musicians. I’m sure at least sixty percent of all letters to pop stars are written in green crayon and contain uncomfortable adolescent confessions…
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Ray Gillen and Badlands: When Rock Bands Split Up In Front Of An Audience
Twenty years ago today rock lost one of its finest singers: Ray Gillen. In his all too short career Gillen had the distinction of recording an album with Black Sabbath – only for his vocals to be wiped and replaced by someone else’s, * and to sing with musical collective Phenomena II. In 1988 he…
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The Day UK Rock Fans Took Thrash Metal To Their Hearts
I was there the day Thrash Metal broke into the UK’s metal mainstream…. It seems strange looking back at the divisions that thrash metal caused in the mid eighties. For some, the surprise will be that there’s any discernible difference between, say Anthrax, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Megadeth and Scorpions. But for the heavy metal…
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Rock’s Great “Lost” Albums of The Eighties #4: Michael Katon – Proud To Be Loud
Being born and raised in Hell must be quite a problem. It’s a bad neighbourhood. Your neighbours tend to be the sort that don’t mow their lawn (and store shopping trolleys there), seldom sort the recycling bin bags properly and often start needless and provocative boundary disputes with you. It’s also very very hot, all…
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The Best Concept Album of the Eighties? Step Forward Operation Mindcrime
Concept albums divide opinion. There are those who dislike them as bloated, worthy and self-indulgent. These people see concept albums as being about as welcome as Justin Bieber in The Anne Frank Museum, and avoid them like they would gout. And there are those who love them because they are er, bloated, worthy and self-indulgent.…
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Aerosmith: That “Difficult Eighth Album”
The re-birth of Aerosmith in the late eighties appeared to happen overnight. However, Done With Mirrors was the comeback album that didn’t quite get them where they wanted to be. It took a couple of attempts before the nation was singing Love In An Elevator… Back in 1985 there didn’t seem to be many bands…
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Was This The Most Disastrous Magazine Photo Shoot Ever?
Seattle… What a scene that was. Those bands. Brings back memories of wall-of sound guitars played by long haired sensitive rockers who wore embarrassing make up in photos. Eh? Did I lose you on the make up thing? Sorry. Nirvana? Pearl Jam? No – I was talking about Queensryche. By the time of my sixteenth…
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Albums of the Year! From 25 Years Ago! What Were They Thinking?!
Did you used to look forward to magazine end of year best-of lists? The magazine I bought every week when I was a teenager was Kerrang! magazine – and (true to form for someone of the highest geekery such as myself) I read every issue from cover to cover. And I would look forward to the…
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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 stuff spoon-fed the heavy metal-loving youth of Britain, there were just two ways to find…
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And Iron Maiden’s Best Live album is…..
Which is Iron Maiden’s best live album? (After all – with the release of En Vivo – they have released no less than ten…!) Back in December 1985 Kerrang! had given me two new ways to discover new music: their end of year critics poll (best album: Bryan Adams’ Reckless) and a 20 track K!…
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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 metal fan. It wasn’t that I suddenly started wearing a cowboy boots, a denim jacket…
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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. I read every copy of Kerrang! for several years: so here is my cut-out-and-keep guide of…
Every record tells a story 