Back catalogue: Rock

Review: "This 10" single reissue comes in celebration of the upcoming 30th anniversary of Ozzy Osbourne's 'No More Tears'. A new mashup sure to inspire only the best moshpitting and hair-flicking skills from every true hard rock head, this new track hears a the original Ozzy song mashed up with Motorhread's version. Never before released, it sounds like an alternate Dante eagerly cruising through the many layers of hell, as new drum reversings, stereo effects and soundscapes are peppered into this masterful musical jigsaw. The B-side also contains the two original, unremixed versions.

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Review: American musician Machine Gun Kelly made quite the about turn on his fifth studio album, released in September of 2020. In a grand depart from his usual style, he ditched his rap sound in favour of a guitar-driven pop punk style that is primed for emo teenagers. Famous for his motor mouth flow, Kelly switches it up for big anthemic verses. Most of the songs clock in under three minutes, come with simple but effective three-chord melodies, huge hooks and tender breakdowns that sound like late but natural air to Blink-182.

Review: Six albums in and Madness had firmly established themselves as part of the British pop firmament when they released Mad Not Mad in 1985. It's a divisive album which captures Suggs' Camden Town likely lads in a period of transition as the 80s wore on and musical styles shifted. Moving on from the chirpy ska of their early days they moved into a more polished pop sound which landed them a billing on NME's 'Greatest Albums Of All Time' just weeks after its release. With the singles 'Uncle Sam' and 'Sweetest Girl' nestled amongst some of the bands' most introspective tracks (see 'Mad Not Mad') it's an important part of the Madness legacy, handily repressed on 180 gm wax for your listening pleasure.

Review: Vinyl Lovers presents 'A Hard Road' from John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers. More than a compilation, this album is a complete document of the Bluesbreakers' recordings with Peter Green, of which 'A Hard Road' was just the most prominent part. Bonus tracks include several non-LP singles, among them the 1967 B-side "Rubber Duck," which has never before appeared on LP.

Review: "I'm somewhere between a pop artist and a jam band-maybe closer to pop artist," John Mayer recently told Kerwin Frost in a YouTube interview. Given the fact he makes a sideline as the touring guitarist for the Grateful Dead - a band vying for position as most ironically named given the length of their live history - and his latest record sounds like Sob Rock, in both title and sonics, it's not hard to see why he's come up with that kind of career summation.

It is, of course, purposefully reductive and awkwardly self-deprecating, in a self-conscious kind of way. And that attitude certainly rings true on this record, which despite being pretty grand in terms of scope, scarcely a 'small' track on here, always feels slightly withdrawn. Nevertheless, from the stadium balladry of 'All I Want Is To Be With You', through to the Clapton-esque blues of 'I Guess I Just Feel Like', it's Mayer on real form.

Review: Paul McCartney gets a lot of (arguably unwarranted) stick, but the former Beatle has always been open to trying new things and allowing people to reinterpret his work. It's for this reason that he's allowed an interesting mixture of artists to remix his solo lockdown album, McCartney III. After opening with a pleasingly funk-some, low slung Beck hook-up (the excellent 'Find My Way'), we're treated to a mixture of collaborations (the stellar, laidback and psychedelic 'Pretty Boys' with Khruangbin), new cover versions by hand-picked artists (see the contributions by Dominic Fike and Phoebe Bridgers) and largely impressive remixes. In the latter category, we're particularly enjoying Damon Albarn's woozy, downtempo take on 'Long Tailed Winter Bird' and 3D RDN's 'Temporary Secretary'-esque version of 'Deep Deep Feeling'

Review: McCartney III was the18th solo album by legendary musician and former Beatle Paul McCartney. Imagined is the remix version that came digitally back in April and now lands on vinyl. The artists chosen to remix were all selected by McCartney himself and are said to feature "friends, fans, and brand new acquaintances." The record has picked up plenty of positive reviews already and that should be no surprise given the heavyweights included. The likes of Beck, Khruangbin, Dev Hynes, Ed O'Brien, Damon Albarn, Josh Homme, Anderson .Paak, Robert Del Naja, and Idris Elba all make for a contemporary mix with diverse results.

Review: Hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina, self-described "Adventure Metal" outfit Mega Colossus appear to have little interest in using the metal genre to craft sonic aggression. Utilising melodious leads, powerful vocals and technically impressive flashes of prog brilliance, their fourth full-length Showdown offers up a form of triumphant positivity and anthemic fantasy, harking back to the classic era of illustrious prog and classic rock with subtle nods to the likes of Rainbow, Deep Purple, and Kansas. It might not be 1978 anymore, just don't tell the band that.

Review: It's Too Great To Stop Now is a selection of classic Van Morrison tunes - is there any other sort - played by a talented nine-piece band. They did so back in 1971 at an intimate gig in front of a live studio audience. There are tunes from the still to be released Tupelo Honey LP as well as classics such as 'Friday's Child (Them)' and covers including 'Hound Dog' and 'Just Like A Woman' which find Van Morrison in fine and amusing form. It is a great moment in time form one of the greats of his era.

Review: Mott The Hoople's original line up were on hand when the band went in to the BBC to record this live show for radio. It was back in 1970 and the set list they went for mixes up their Dylan-influenced ballads with plenty of more does eyed stoner rock sounds. Fans will recognise most of these tunes from various Mott the Hoople long players, although three of them were never actually on any record other than this one. The pressing is of great quality given the age of the recording and is a must for fans with extensive sleeve notes.

Review: "If it hadn't been for Mott, there would be no us," Mick Jones of The Clash once said about Mott the Hoople. Joe Elliott, of Def Leppard, meanwhile, claims these guys to be "the greatest rock 'n' roll band ever, and Queen's Brian May describes their stuff as "raw, fun, angry, glorious and jagged," before summarising their oeuvre simply as "everything". All of which makes the story of their almost-monumental fame so brutally real - a group forever idolised in muso circles, but forgotten in the mainstream conscious. Active as Mott The Hoople from 1969 to around 1980, despite incredible critical reverence and a reputation as one of the live acts to see at the time, studio output failed to really impact. By 1972 they were running out of determination, before David Bowie got involved and wrote 'All The Young Dudes', a glam rock-style classic. A standout on this album, which is packed with amazing tracks waiting for you to fall in love with, for the first or 50th time, we cannot recommend exploring this one enough.

Review: Rhythm & Blues follows on from the success of its Mott The Hoople at the BBC 1970 release - well worth a look (or listen) - with another retrospective compilation that makes a convincing case for us all diving headfirst into the band's full back catalogue to marvel at what's there. A collection of broadcast tracks from Top Gear, Sounds of the Seventies, and The John Peel Sunday Concert are included, and all sound gritty, growly, raw and vital. Among the highlights are versions of Like A Rolling Stone and When My Mind's Gone, which the release notes argue are "rare-as-hens-teeth", and we're not in position to argue, while the take on 'What'd I Say' feels soaked in enough spilt whisky and blues you could probably get loaded on the fumes alone. Ultimately, though, there's no point picking individual parts here. Instead, think wall-to-wall reasons why the Hoople were such a rare breed.

Review: Yumi Murata's Uterus Uterus is a jazz-pop classic from 1985. Yumi is a vocal coach and former singer who was active from the late 70s and through the 80s before opening her own Murata Yumi Vocal Training Room in 1991 and teaching ever since. This long-player was a later one out of the seven she released in all and is one of her most popular as it mixes up fusion, new wave, funk, pop and jazz across synth sounds. These are enjoyable and sophisticated sounds from this talented vocalist.

Review: Remixed, remastered and remembered afresh, Origin of Symmetry ranks among the finest moments in Muse's back catalogue and certainly helped define their sound as a band, resplendent in mind-melting arpeggiation and theatrical-levels of drama. 20 years on, and they have finally come round to a reissue worth the weight of the 180-gram vinyl it's pressed on.

As the title suggests, this isn't so much a straight forward re-release as it is a re-imagining of the original record with added bells, whistles and modern engineering. The result is something that is every bit the fitting tribute to that landmark moment. An alternative rock opera filled with romance, melancholy and even some classical influences thrown in for good measure. Or rather extra impact. Definitely not just another throwback, then.