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Album Reviews

Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams

Roll With The Punches

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BRYAN ADAMS – ROLL WITH THE PUNCHES – ALBUM REVIEW

Bryan Adams is such an incredibly enduring artist that it becomes easy to take him for granted. Prolific both on stage and in the studio, Adams is a household name but probably never truly gets the credit he deserves.

Looking at the credits for his new album, ‘Roll With The Punches’ you may momentarily think of the Little Britain bit – “write the theme tune, sing the theme tune”. Adams is of course front and centre of his own record, but for the first time he is also releasing the album on his own label.

It doesn’t stop there however as the album credits him with lead vocals, bass, guitar, production, drums, piano, background vocals, keyboards, percussion, organ and harmonica across the ten tracks.

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Bryan Adams – ‘Roll With The Punches’

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Now, looking at this you might fear that musicians when not allowing external assurance and critical thinking can disappear up their own… well you know how that sentence ends! The good news is however that on this album Adams has masterfully navigated those rocky waters and created a career defining statement.

Adams is on a roll (pun only slightly intended) as his 2022 album, ‘So Happy It Hurts’ was also very good. It’s great to see, or rather hear, an artist with the legacy of Bryan bloody Adams still able to deliver engaging and rocking albums such as these.

Perhaps, just perhaps he will begin to be heralded up there with the very best this industry has seen. The plethora of mega hits he possesses are still getting complemented by superb new material and that’s worth celebrating!

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Nova Twins

Nova Twins

Parasites & Butterflies

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NOVA TWINS – PARASITES & BUTTERFLIES – ALBUM REVIEW

Those following the careers of Amy Love and Georgia South aka Nova Twins will already have picked up on the musical and lyrical balance of vulnerability and strength. Their third album fully encapsulates this juxtaposition and thus becomes their most fully formed offering yet.

Don’t worry however, their ferocious trademark sound is still very much front and centre on ‘Parasites & Butterflies’ and the duo are able to deliver another sensory overload of pure adrenaline fuelled hybrid rock.

From opening track ‘Glory’ into the incredible run of pre-release singles, ‘Piranha’, ‘Monsters’ and ‘Soprano’ these twins know how to push boundaries and create songs that will get you dancing, get you thinking, get you feeling and ultimately get you raving about what you’ve just listened to.

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Nova Twins – ‘Piranha’

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Some unavoidable and significant topics are covered off across these tracks as again the band show a willingness to talk openly, frankly and directly about anything and everything. Sonically and thematically the duo have thus far been fearless and they shown no signs of slowing down.

At a time when terms such a vital get thrown around with great abondance when describing bands, you can’t deny the criticality of having acts like Nova Twins both having their voices heard and pushing the envelope with their writing.

Truly you still find yourself calling them one of the most exciting bands on the scene right now and this new album only further solidifies them as genuine stars.

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The Hives

The Hives

The Hives Forever Forever The Hives

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THE HIVES – THe hives forever forever the hives – album review

After a thirteen year gap with no new albums from The Hives, we are now graced with two in three years! Yes, following the success of ‘The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons’ the Swedes are back with new offering, ‘The Hives Forever Forever The Hives’!

Capitalising on a career renaissance which was greatly assisted by a guest slot with Arctic Monkeys, it seems that once the band have reminded live music fans why they are one of the best live bands around, they now want to remind us what they can do in the studio.

As touched on, their 2023 return record was fantastically received by all and helped to ignite their current renewed momentum. This new seventh album then has quite a lot to live up to and starts well with ‘Enough Is Enough’ and ‘Hooray Hooray Hooray’ delivering some classic Hives energy.

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The Hives – ‘Enough Is Enough’

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At just thirty-three minutes long and with all of the tracks being equally succinct, the band know what they do best and manage to once again capture that methodical yet passionate live zest on record. Each track feels like a boxer taking another jab and toying with their opponent.

The band are equal parts majestic and rambunctious on this latest celebration of their crazed genius. To return to the boxing analogy though you can figure that what is missing here is a knockout blow in terms of a true standout moment or track.

Despite that this is still a significant points victory for a group of prizefighters still out there doing what they do best for the love of it. Anytime we can get new music, more shows or any opportunity to enjoy the brilliance of The Hives should be heralded as a good day. So stick this album on and have a blast!

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Full Pelt Magazine

Vol. 99

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Pendulum

Pendulum

Inertia

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PENDULUM – INERTIA – ALBUM REVIEW

15 long years have passed since drum and bass / rock crossover icons Pendulum released their third album, ‘Immersion’. That record looked like properly cementing their status at the top of the industry but instead the band soon disbanded.

A number of initial reunions eventually led to now and the band fully back in the flow of things with a series of singles and tours reminding fans of what they do best. The release now however of their long awaited fourth studio album, ‘Inertia’, feels like a real moment for the band.

For the longest time a new Pendulum album felt extremely unlikely so fans will be ecstatic about the arrival of this sixteen song compilation record. The only real negative here is that given the vast majority of these songs were already released (some of them many years ago!), the album does really feel just like that… a compilation.

‘Inertia’ is almost a ‘best of’ record of the bands work post reunion and that’s absolutely fine but there isn’t a lot to get excited about here that you’ve not already heard!

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Pendulum – ‘Come Alive’

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There are also a high volume of collaborations on the record with the likes of WARGASM, Bullet For My Valentine, Hybrid Minds, Joey Valence & Brae, AWOLNATION and Scarlxrd all present and correct. These team-ups have all previously emerged and individually impressed in their own ways.

There is a real smorgasbord of ideas, talent and experimentation across this album and that does ensure that despite the lack of unheard material this is an engaging, adrenaline pumping listen.

There are plenty of top quality Pendulum singles on here with ‘Come Alive’ up there with the best they’ve ever produced. Fans therefore really do need to rejoice at their return and hope that this is just the beginning of Pendulum 2.0!

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Dinosaur Pile-Up

Dinosaur Pile-Up

I’ve Felt Better

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DINOSAUR PILE-UP – I’ve felt better – album review

Life can be incredibly cruel, and Dinosaur Pile-Up have always seemed to suffer more than their fair share of bad luck or in industry terms ‘technical issues’.

2019’s ‘Celebrity Mansions’ looked like it would elevate the band to new heights but firstly a global pandemic and subsequently the hospitalisation of frontman Matt Bigland with life-threatening illness naturally curtailed their well-earned momentum.

Bigland highlighted his case on his social media at the tail end of last year, before bringing the band back to life earlier this year with return single, ‘’Bout to Lose It’. That same track opens new album, ‘I’ve Felt Better’ and is the first of many that feel like Bigland exercising his demons.

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Dinosaur Pile-Up – ”Bout To Lose it’

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The sense of catharsis that exude from the likes of ‘I’ve Felt Better’, ‘Sick of Being Down’, ‘My Way’ and even ‘Love’s the Worst’ is palpable. You can really feel the pain and frustration felt by Bigland in these stunningly to the point tracks.

There is still a real tongue in cheek fun that seeps from the record meaning that the bands undeniable charm is still centric to their sound. Grungy throughout with metal and alt rock hijacking riffs and hooks at every turn, this is another Dinosaur Pile-Up romp that just needs to be enjoyed at full volume.

After a lengthy gap like this, some bands struggle to recapture what made them special, but this is absolutely Dinosaur Pile-Up at their very best. An acknowledgement of their past but equally a brand new beginning for a band that really do deserve all the success in the world.

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Deftones

Deftones

private music

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DEFTONES – ‘private music – album review

With nu-metal era nostalgia currently a thing, the timing of a new Deftones album is logical move. That said, the band have always been pretty regular with their releases but the gap between their previous effort ‘Ohms’ and new record ‘private music’ has been the longest in their career.

Whilst that gap between releases still isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things, that and the apparent renaissance of heavy music both lend themselves to a sense of revitalisation of the band on this album.

Indeed, the thing that perhaps deserves the most praise on this record is how the band have managed to sound fresh whilst delivering the peak Deftones sound exactly as needed to capitalise on the current focus on them.

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Deftones – ‘my mind is a mountain’

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Pre-release singles ‘my mind is a mountain’ and ‘milk of the madonna’ gave tantalising glimpses of what to expect on the eleven track full-length and the album itself very much lives up to those created expectations.

The droning heaviness of the band is again all-encompassing and is a timely reminder of why the band were always operating on a different plane from their supposed contemporaries. This is another Deftones album designed as a singular piece of work and the flow between tracks is masterfully handled to make this an album in the truest sense.

This release is perfectly timed and excellently executed. Whether you are an old school fan or one of those just now discovering the band – this album will land incredibly well!

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Wolf Alice

Wolf Alice

The Clearing

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WOLF ALICE – THE CLEARINg – Album Review

There can be no denying that ‘The Clearing’ is a big album for Wolf Alice. The band have already delivered three magnificent albums, they’ve pushed themselves to finally be playing arenas, and it happens to be their first on their new major label.

Plenty of pressure then and lots of eyes on the band to see what they do next. They also happen to be entering the phase of their career where people will be declaring that the honeymoon is over whilst looking for reasons to shoot them down.

The bonkers but utterly brilliant lead single, ‘Bloom Baby Bloom’ certainly got pulses racing for this fourth album and with that track sat at number two on the tracklist it really does serve as the centrepiece for this record.

From thereon in it’s a mixture of the weird and the wonderful. The high production values of Greg Kurstin are both a blessing and a curse as the record sounds big and bold but lacks that chaotic element that helped give Wolf Alice their unique identity.

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Wolf Alice – ‘Bloom Baby Bloom’

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This after all is a band that have majestically straddled multiple musical worlds and sadly some of that is lost on ‘The Clearing’. Instead, the influences are pretty centric to the likes of Fleetwood Mac, ELO and latter-day Beatles.

The good thing is that the band are very clearly phenomenally talented, and the incredible vocal powers of Ellie Rowsell are undeniable. You cannot fault their ambition and their confidence in delivering this immersive collection of pop rock earworms.

This is an expansive album that grows with each listen and whilst it likely won’t garner the levels of acclaim reached by their previous releases, it absolutely keeps the intrigue and captivation of their aura intact.

This is a band clearly destined to dominate the landscape for the coming decades and ‘The Clearing’ is another stunning monolith created purely to generate mystique and intrigue.

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As December Falls

As December Falls

Everything’s On Fire But I’m Fine

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As december falls – everything’s on fire but i’m fine – album review

‘Everything’s On Fire But I’m Fine’ may just be the most appropriate album title ever given the absolute dumpster fire of a state the world finds itself in. As we often say though, music is such a vital distraction to the pain of the world and pop punk in particular has always had a way of making us dance through our depression.

As December Falls have been gradually reinforcing their status as one of the best young purveyors of this genre and now with their fourth studio album they are doubling down on their credibility.

You can expect catchy as hell choruses, bouncy riffs, pounding rhythms and an ever so relevance to modern life and the pitfalls within. I mean what else would you want from a pop punk record?

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As December Falls – ‘Therapy’

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Well, that’s where the layers come in! Whilst their pop-punk roots are naturally all over the DNA of this album, the band have really stretched themselves and emboldened their sound further than any of their previous releases.

Emo aesthetics, modern rock hooks, brazen melodies and a sprinkling of attitude and angst ensure that there is plenty on this record for more strait-laced rockers and even more pop orientated fans.

‘Therapy’, ‘For The Plot’, ‘Fall Apart’, ‘Bathroom Floor’ and ‘Angry Cry’ are fantastic, but there isn’t a bad track on this album. The ambition shown by the band on this record has been rewarded with far and away the best As December Falls record yet!

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Black Honey

Black Honey

Soak

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BLACK HONEY – SOAK – ALBUM REVIEW

The perennially superb Black Honey are back with their fourth studio album, ‘Soak’. Maintaining their pretty consistent release schedule, the album follows three records which have seen the band carve out their own niche.

A crossover sound that deserves far more attention than it tends to get, it’s somewhat baffling that the group haven’t reached bigger heights yet. ‘Soak’ probably isn’t the album to suddenly change that and propel them into new territories but that’s only because it’s another great example of what they already do so well.

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Black Honey – ‘Shallow’

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They aren’t reinventing the wheel on this album and their fanbase will feel incredibly familiar with the aesthetic of the record. That however is far from meant as any kind of criticism because that’s really exactly what you’d want from them.

Izzy Phillips remains an absolute star and musically the band are again on top form, this despite the band commenting that the recording process was a little rushed. Hey, if this is Black Honey out of kilter then that just demonstrates how good they really are.

The twelve tracks that make up this collection are all worthy of inclusion and it’s ultimately another fun record that adds further weight to the argument that Black Honey should be superstars!

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