GRAND SLAM co-founding member Laurence Archer, and frontman Mike Dyer, make it extraordinarily clear that theirs has been a true journey of destiny, one where early unions ended up leaving unfinished business on the table, and one which finally sees GRAND SLAM attending to said business with the brand-new album ‘Wheel Of Fortune.’ Their story is one of persistence and craft, ensuring that the best elements of GRAND SLAM’s history were absorbed and fused with the experiences and drive of relationships stretching decades. However, do not make the mistake of thinking this is a band returning from a past: it’s a band fulfilling their present and future with willfulness and desire that permeate every song on ‘Wheel Of Fortune’, from Archer’s faultless, fearless fret-driven song architecture on “Spitfire” to Dyer’s swagger and style on “There Goes My Heart.” There are moments such as “Come Together (In Harlem)” where the moody strut of original co-founder Phil Lynott is unmistakable, yet the multi-layered steamy swing of “Pirate Song” makes it very clear where GRAND SLAM is coming from. “I want everybody to see this as a new band… and anybody that hasn’t heard GRAND SLAM since 1984, I want them to see this as a fresh invigoration of the project moving into the modern times.” – Laurence Archer Joined by Benjy Reid on drums and Rocky Newton on bass, some best-laid plans for the band’s rebirth were set for take-off until Covid-19 brought the world to a standstill (it is one of the main reasons ‘Hit The Ground’ will also be enjoying a 2024 release alongside ‘Wheel Of Fortune’). However, the creative fire and will to propel GRAND SLAM got stronger still. “We have a direction that is in my heart. It’s a tribal place. This band is something very special; I’m slightly biased I know, but God, I’m really proud of that.” – Mike Dyer Out now, “There Goes My Heart” is the first single to be released from GRAND SLAM’s brand new studio album, ‘Wheel Of Fortune.’ “Laurence sent me ‘There Goes My Heart’, and with total respect to Laurence, I’m not a man of ‘hearts’ in that sense,” chuckles Dyer. “So instead of singing about the ex, I twisted on it. It sounds like your heart, but what you’re singing about is your E-Type Jag. We shot the video for that in Spain, and that very much has a twist in it too.”
Video Directed, Produced and Edited by Paul M Green
‘Wheel Of Fortune‘ is a testimony to both Archer’s songwriting architecture and Dyer’s powerful love of language: he wastes no time sinking his teeth into the storytelling aspect of the songs, from WWII fighter pilots to ethereal reflections on lost loved ones and near-death experiences, Dyer is a supreme storyteller. “The way I look at it is that from writing those songs with Phil in 1984 to now, my writing style and the way I write, haven’t really changed that much,” offers Archer. “I’m not a shredder, I prefer to write songs and build that way. So, there’s that timeless continuity in how I write, fusing with all the experiences we’ve had as people over the years. “I put the basis of the song together, I have a rough melody line, I might write the chorus line, and I give that to Mike who goes away and comes back with his thing: it’s not my thing, it’s his thing and it just works! His vocal tone – his ability – fits everything that I write.” ‘Wheel Of Fortune’ will be released in digital and physical formats on June 7th. The album will be available in a variety of formats and pre-orders can be placed HERE
GRAND SLAM will also re-release their debut album ‘Hit The Ground.’ Originally released in 2019, the record has been given a makeover. “I stopped playing for a while and started a film career,” recounts Archer of ‘Hit The Ground.’ “ In 2018 I was working on location in Guadalupe, and I arrived at the decision to record the GRAND SLAM songs properly, because essentially, what has been out there has not really been representative of what we did back then. Phil and I had done some work-in-progress demos in his backyard studio, and unfortunately, someone stole them and released them. So, it’s always been a goal of mine to re-visit those songs and do them properly, and I had been thinking about showcasing them fittingly for over 30 years, instead of hearing these horrible demos that people put out.” Re-mixed, re-mastered, and featuring new artwork, ‘Hit The Ground – Revised,’ will be released on May 10th in digital formats and June 7th in physical formats. Pre-orders can be placed HERE With GRAND SLAM having just completed videos for the new album in Spain, a series of dates being planned as you read, and an overall joy at everything going on in their world, GRAND SLAM will be here whether you are or not, because this is not a band rumbling in from their past, it’s a band firing forward into their future. “We have a strong bond in our writing and our perception of what we want to do,” concludes Archer, “so make no mistake, GRAND SLAM has only just started.”
‘Wheel Of Fortune’ Track List: 1. There Goes My Heart 2. Starcrossed Lovers 3. Come Together (In Harlem) 4. Trail Of Tears 5. Feeling Is Strong (Jo’s Song) 6. Spitfire 7. I Wanna Know! 8. Pirate Song 9. Afterlife 10. Wheel Of Fortune
‘Hit The Ground – Revised’ Track List: 1. Gone Are The Days 2. Nineteen 3. Hit The Ground 4. Military Man 5. Crazy 6. Dedication 7. Long Road 8. Sisters Of Mercy 9. Crime Rate 10. Grand Slam**not available on vinyl
GRAND SLAM:Mike Dyer – vocals, Laurence Archer – guitars, Benjy Reid – drums, Rocky Newton – bass. ‘Wheel Of Fortune’ is Produced by Laurence Archer, Engineered by Pieter Rietkerk. Mixed by Laurence Archer. Mastered by Matt Wortham & Andy Pearce. Recorded atChapel Studios; additional recording at Manamana Studios
SAXON released Hell, Fire, And Damnation in January, the band’s 24th studio album (excluding their 2 recent collections of covers). if you haven’t heard the new album, it is one of the band’s best in the past few decades (well, their best since 1999’s Metalhead, for me). See my review elsewhere on this site. In this conversation, Biff discusses the band’s change in guitar players, the songs and artwork for Hell, Fire and Damnation, and the band’s upcoming US tour (co-headlining w/ Uriah Heep).
*Check out the links and tour dates below.
First of all, the new album if you can tell me a bit about the title where the what inspired the title and the title song obviously in that context. I posted a review the other day.
Yeah, the first song’s about the battle between good and evil, really, that’s been going on for 1000s of years. I suppose it’s based on the prophecy, you know like the Omen films, that type of thing. I suppose it was good to write a song about good and evil and just a lot of bands just write about devils and demons and things, or occult. And it’s a saying my dad used to use when he was upset – ‘hell, fire and damnation’. That’s where the title came from, the idea for the words, anyway.
You got Brian in the band now. Prior to, when Paul announced he was leaving did you have Brian in mind already, when that came up?
Paul’s been thinking about leaving for some time. I think when we were touring during that particular period, he was quite tired and not really into metal music anymore. So he just wanted to play blues music and relax a bit. So that’s what he wanted to do. So we asked Brian – Brian was the first guy we asked actually. And the thing about Brian, is apart from Metallica connection, you know, the songs that they recorded of his; He’s a bit sort of frustrated, writing great riffs and things and playing great guitar and not being able to play in front of a lot of people, so he jumped at the chance to join Saxon. He’s still in Diamond Head, but he’s really enjoying himself, you know, getting the sort of interest that he deserves.
Yeah, did that change kind of give you guys a bit of a spark with the new album, so I think it’s great album. It’s very consistent, the songs are really good.
Well he wrote the title track with me, we wrote that time together – “Hell, Fire and Damnation”, so he’s come in to the band and done some writing. So dynamically, we’ve changed a little bit, which I think is for the better really. The album sounds fantastic.
A lot of the songs you write are kind of history lessons or history topics. So I always find myself when I get a Saxon album I gotta go look up something that – ‘what is this moment he’s talking about or this event’?
Haha… A lot of people do Google, you know – if they don’t know what happened in 1066. Or the Salem witches, you can go on Google and Wikipedia it gives you a short story of what it’s all about. I think in that way it’s interesting you know. And some of the Maiden tracks are quite history based. I’m sure some people google and find out what the tale of the “Ancient Mariner” is, you know!?
What kind of inspires each topic that you come up with – is it reading or a book or movie..?
A lot of it’s documentaries and things you see on Netflix or something. I read articles and watch films and things, so I’m always looking for something to write about. I was doodling with a song called “Remember the Alamo” for this album, but it didn’t quite make it. So that might end up on the next album (haha); you never know!
You also had a change with the artwork on this album?
Again, it’s dark and light – good and evil. So I wanted to an album cover that basically mirrored what I was saying in the song really – the fight between good and evil. And I got my friend, the actor. Brian Blessed to do the intro for all sounds pretty precious metal to me. I mean, I do like it.
Now you got Peter Selye doing the artwork this time? That’s first person you’ve had somebody new for, I guess for quite a few years, I guess. We do usually use our other friend Paul Gregory who’s done a lot of albums since Crusader. But he wasn’t able to do this album. So I had an idea, you know, an idea of a cover, and we sent my ideas to different artists. And he (Peter) came back straight away with that concept of you know, the super angel and the shield in the middle of the battle. And it looked really great to me, you know,
How involved are you with each cover from album to album? Is it your ideas?
Yeah, a lot of them are based on my ideas, yeah, and where I think they should from. The album can do what he wants, but it all comes back from an idea I have. They’re not always great, and don’t always work, so we might have to move on to a different cover. but this one is pretty much how I wanted it to be really.
Well it’s a great cover
Looks great on a t-shirt!
And the title is very memorable…
And you can buy a box set with a patch in it, and put it on a jacket, and that’s pretty cool. I’m going to be wearing one of them on stage, I think.
If we can touch on some of the songs, because there’s a lot that stand out on this here for me – “Madame Guillotine”, “Fire And Steel”, “Pirates Of The Airwaves”… Can you tell me a bit about a few of the songs and if you’ve kind of decided or have an idea what you might put into the live show?
“Pirates Of The Airwaves” was based on the ’60s really. When I was a boy listening to music on a little transistor radio because the BBC the British government, wouldn’t allow people to listen to rock music, like The Rolling Stones in the 60s, so we used to listen in our in our bedrooms late at night, midnight, listening to these tracks coming through from these pirate stations. That’s what that song is about. You know, it’s just reminiscing from my youth, really.
“Fire And Steel” is basically it’s about a city in Yorkshire England called Sheffield, and that was a very behemoth city. It’s the place I used to go when I was a teenager to see all the bands. You know I saw David Bowie there, and I saw Uriah Heep, and Deep Purple – all the big bands used to come through this city called Sheffield, and I used to go so that’s what the song’s about really.
And obviously “There’s Something In Roswell”, I think a lot of people know what that’s about already.
Well, I’m a believer. I don’t know about you, but I think there’s something in Roswell. I think something happened there. Roswell was ground zero for UFO enthusiasts. Really.
Do you follow a lot of that stuff?
It’s interesting. I like conspiracy theories. Like something happens and then the government tells you something else. It’s interesting, isn’t it? I mean from Roswell millions of UFO sites and people talk about UFOs, Investigate UFOs, and it all started from Roswell, really.
“Kubla Khan And The Merchant of Venice”?
Again, that’s a bit of a history lesson really. You know Genghis Khan was a big warlord in Europe who conquered most of Europe and some of the Roman Empire. And one of his great grandsons was the Emperor of China, his name was Kubla Khan. And the first guy to go there and write about it was a guy called Marco Polo, who was from Venice. He discovered the Chinese used gunpowder, this fantastic pottery that they used to make – a great story really. I think that’s the most historic song on the album, but you can google it again if you want to find out what it’s about.
You guys are consistently putting out albums, like yearly – even when we were off during the pandemic you still managed to put out the two covers’ albums. What kind of drives you and how important is it to keep putting out new material when there’s a lot of bands at this stage who are just content to do one every five or six years or whatever?
We still have lots of things to prove. And we’re still always trying to write that perfect song on that perfect album. And we’re songwriters basically, well you know, I mean I look at myself as a songwriter not just a singer, so I’m very dedicated to make and produce new material. And then tour with it. We could obviously tour and just do the big hits from the ’80s, but we don’t really want to do that you know; we want to want to make music that’s relevant – you know people like it, like this album’s getting good reviews from around the world. It’s a good feeling you know; it’s good feeling that we can still write great songs – in my opinion that are just as good as the early songs.
Yeah, I like following bands who have something new because it’s easy to fall off if there’s nothing new for a long time right, so yourselves and well Magnum, Uriah Heep… bands have that still put out albums consistently every year Or few years that are well worth having.
I think especially in the metal genre like Saxon, Judas Priest, and Maiden – we put out albums because you know we like to tour on those albums and that’s what really gives us the juice you know that keeps us alive, keeps us feeling young, playing music that’s new. It’s a really great feeling.
You’ve got a tour coming up in the US with Uriah Heep. So a couple things – when you go out on the road for these long journeys, like you’d be out here for a couple of months. What do you guys do? You know, what’s your kind of your routine as far as do you go visit a lot of historic sites yourself and or is it kind of all business?
Well we drink a lot definitely! (haha) And we keep ourselves busy really. And then we don’t have many days off, so, if we have a day off in a cool place then we’ll go off and visit the area or go shopping or something, just to break the monotony of traveling every day. We’re pretty much a family, it’s like a gang on the road. There’s a lot of fun, a lot of joking about, you know, it’s like being out with your friends really, like being out with your mates.
You’re touring with Heep, and you’ve mentioned them before, I know I read you’d picked Demons And Wizards as one of your favorite albums. And you covered “Gypsy” on the last covers album. How far back do you go with them as far as seeing them the first time?
The first time I saw them, I mean, they’ve been going on quite a long time. I didn’t see them in the late ’60s, I must’ve seen them on their second album tour, I think…and I think they were out with Purple. I’d seen them in Sheffield actually. So it must’ve been very early ’70s. But I didn’t need them until much, much later on. Because they weren’t really on our touring circuit, if you know what I mean, in the ’80s. I think they stopped touring the UK in the ’80s and had a bit of a hit in America in the ’80s with one of their albums. (Ed: Abominog, w/Peter Goalby). I didn’t see that band, but I saw Uriah Heep with a guy called John Sloman. Yeah, so I do like Uriah Heep, and I do know them, but we’d see them in restaurants and airports and it’s only in the last 3 or 4 years that we started playing shows together.
Metalhead was kind of my rei-ntroduction to you guys because I know you’d been over here in the ’80s, but when Metalhead came out, that really got me back into you guys and I’ve kind of picked up from there and been following ever since.
A lot of people got in to us on Metalhead. It’s kind of a dark album. It’s a great album, actually, I think it’s a really underrated album. It now ended up in a lot of people’s like, you know, top 10 albums they play Saxon, so it’s getting the recognition, I think.
You did the King Crimson cover on the next album? Do you remember touring or sharing bill with a Canadian band named April Wine in 1980?
Yeah, we did some shows together. We did the Monsters Of Rock together, the very first big one in the UK. I remember watching them, they were a good band.
Yeah, because they had a bit of a radio hit with their cover of “21st Century Schizoid Man”? So, when you guys did “In The Court Of The Crimson King”, I thought that was a great connection there.
A lot of people do “21st Century Schizoid Man”, it’s such a hidden track, but I wanted to do something a bit more proggy, a bit more prog-rocky. which is why we used the other one.
What else do you have on the go as far as other projects you’d like to do or anything else you’re working on?
At the moment, we’re not really working on much. We only finished this album in October last year, so we’ve been working pretty hard on this album. No real plans yet, just to promote this album, tour this year and promote the album. We might do more videos, maybe I don’t know. Just to concentrate on the album. That’s the next thing.
I’m looking at the dates. And I don’t see any Canadian dates yet. So I’m hoping if there’s going to be dates added on, because there’s not really a lot of room in between all those shows that are listed.
We have some space after the summer to maybe come back and do some Canadian shows, and some West Coast; we’re not doing West Coast shows either. It would be a good plan to do Canada, then shoot over to Vancouver and then on the West Coast and maybe go into New Mexico. So there’s a few areas that we aren’t playing on this part of the tour, but it’s just part one, basically. So we’ll see what happens.
YES released their latest studio album ‘Mirror To The Sky’ in May 2023, and following an acclaimed US tour late last year, the band will return to the UK & Europe for ‘The Classic Tales of YES Tour 2024’. To coincide with this, they have launched a brand-new video for an edited version of the album’s epic title track, and you can watch that now here:
A new Limited 2 CD+Blu-ray Digipak edition of the album will also be released on the 5th April. This edition features the full album, plus the blu-ray including Dolby Atmos, 5.1 Surround Sound & Instrumental Mixes of the album and is available to pre-order here: https://yes-band.lnk.to/MirrorToTheSky‘
The Classic Tales of YES Tour 2024’ will include many iconic tracks from the YES back-catalogue covering fifty-plus years. The tour will also include a celebration of the 50th Anniversary of ‘Tales from Topographic Oceans’ as well as music from their current album ‘Mirror To The Sky’. “We’re all excited to be bringing our show home to Europe and the UK!” says Steve Howe, “We’ve selected a new playlist of Yes music but with some firm favourites in there too, of course! To keep our performances fresh, we ‘now’ carry our own lights, so we can present a consistent show each night, designed for us by William Succuso …….. Looking forward to seeing you out there!”
“We are very much looking forward to the 2024 European leg of our YES Classic Tales Tour. Having recently completed the US, we are now really excited to bring that out to all our fans in the UK and Europe. It promises to be one of our most interesting sets to date, scanning through much of YES’s history and with some previously unheard pieces as well as music from our latest album, ‘Mirror To The Sky’. Bring it on and see you all out there!” Best, Geoff Downes.
British progressive-art rock band THE PINEAPPLE THIEF will release their latest studio album February 9 titled ‘It Leads To This’. Check out the info below, links, and the first 2 singles/videos from the album “The Frost” and “Every Trace Of Us” below. A 3rd single has just been released today (February 1 (today), and can be pre-ordered HERE (video below)
The Pineapple Thief revel in opposing forces. Muscle and fragility. Chaos and precision. Gnarly introspection and warm, dreamlike expanse. Conceived in 1999 by Bruce Soord, the progressive quartet underwent a rebirth in 2017 with the arrival of Gavin Harrison (King Crimson, Porcupine Tree) on drums. Completed by bassist/backing vocalist Jon Sykes and keyboardist Steve Kitch, they’ve honed a lean yet lush, quietly timeless sound that soars on It Leads To This.
“I’m so proud of it,” says Soord. “I just can’t wait to get out there and sing it. I’m going to be able to sing every word, play every note, and feel really good about all of it.”
“I’ve been in lots of situations with producers and session musicians,” says Harrison, a drummer with an arranger’s ear, who quickly became involved with songcraft upon joining the band. “I’ve witnessed people rearranging songs in front of your face, and sometimes a song with a different arrangement is like a different song. Luckily, Bruce loves being shocked or surprised. That’s a rarity, working with singers.”
Since 2014’s Magnolia, The Pineapple Thief have worked towards an ideal form of 21st century progressive music. Spacious, detailed songs in pop packages. Maximum depth with a minimalist spirit. Meanwhile Soord also released three solo albums, mixed records for Jethro Tull, Anathema, Katatonia, TesseracT, Haken and many others, and became a father of three. Alongside this, the world changed. Turmoil unfurled, from global warming to #MeToo. The pandemic happened.
It all feeds into It Leads To This. Comprising eight fat-free epics – all about five minutes long, mixing rock urgency with delicate atmospherics, pensive keys and captivating melodies – it finds Soord looking back and fearing for the world his children will inherit. In a career first, his real world lyrics also draw from literature: accounts of Ancient Rome, John Williams’ classic Stoner and his epistolary Augustus. Pictures of real and fictional men, reevaluating their pasts.
For Soord it was also a time of self-reflection, epitomised in the slightly sinister title track – all creeping, intricate rhythms, offset by distorted guitars and dreamy electronics. “I was that person. I was that ambitious man who wanted to be a successful musician and would stop at nothing, almost, to do it. So when I look back on it, I think ‘well, actually, yeah, it was bad’. What I’m writing about, what I’m criticising, is me, and that’s probably why I could sing it. It really was written from the heart.”
It all began that strange spring in 2020. Walking out to his studio, in Yeovil, Somerset, Soord looked up at a silent, empty sky and wrote Put It Right – the quietly haunting marriage of poise and moody alt rock that opens It Leads To This. “It was just clear blue, not a plane in the sky,” he remembers. “I remember writing the whole of Put It Right. It starts off with the words ‘this haven’, because I was down in my little haven, at the bottom of my garden.”
More songs came out of that period. All That’s Left was one; all eerie melancholia and loud, jagged peaks. Album closer To Forget was another; a stunning, delicately sprawling ode to the tragedies people live through, inspired by accounts of the families lost under dictatorships in Argentina and Chile. All of it conveyed through Soord’s fragile yet penetrative tenor, nodding to storytellers like Nick Drake, Thom Yorke and Katatonia’s Jonas Renske.
But it was stints at Harrison’s home studio that imbued the record with real heat. One standout result was Rubicon, a bruising yet nuanced picture of the tyranny and paranoia of Julius Caesar, and history’s capacity to repeat itself (especially in regard to its world leaders).
For the singer/guitarist, it was an intense experience. “I’m so used to just writing here [in my studio], where there’s no pressure,” he admits. “Whereas driving to Gavin’s house and staying there for three or four days, it was properly intense. I don’t think I’ve ever focused my mind as intensely as I did during that time.”
“Bruce is a more chaotic person,” Harrison offers. “I’m a bit more logical. With Bruce, it’s more the mood he’s in and how much confidence he’s got. And that’s probably the successful part of it. If we were both chaotic, it’d probably not come together. If we were both a lot more logical, it wouldn’t be so interesting.”
Perhaps the most incendiary expression of this creative fusion is first single The Frost – a banger with a dark heart.
“The Frost was one of those moments that every songwriter wishes happened all the time, where you pick up a guitar, and it just comes out,” Soord says, “and it’s actually a love song with a slightly sinister undertone, about falling with your soulmate to the ocean floor, in peace together…”
In a way, that’s The Pineapple Thief all over. Idiosyncratic but relatable. Devastating and life-affirming, in the same breath. Not married to a single genre, just melody served by tones and textures. Music that only the four of them (friends, not just bandmates) could make.
“I learned that from Porcupine Tree,” Harrison observes, “if you change one person, the whole sound of the band changes. The chemistry of the sound is the four of us, doing what we do. And we have a laugh, we make fun of each other…” he grins, “well mostly [of] Bruce, but it’s good fun.”
Maybe that’s why this clever, commanding record unfurls as naturally as it does. Why It Leads To This can, and should, be read with a question mark. Is the world doomed? Could we have acted differently? Do people change? Does it lead to this?
“As much as I go on about the polarized state of the world, l do think it’s a minority creating this toxic environment that a lot of us have to live in,” Soord says. “I think most people who I meet are genuinely nice. So there’s a positive message from this. Because it shouldn’t, it doesn’t have to lead to this.”
Over the past couple of decades SAXON has proved themselves as one those high ranking bands to emerge from the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Though never as big as Maiden was or is, Saxon have consistently put out solid albums, almost yearly, giving their fans exactly what they want and expect – classic British kick-ass metal, with no deviations. Having said all that I think Saxon’s Hell, Fire and Damnation is the band’s best in years! Not that anything prior to wasn’t good, but the songs here just roll off so well one after another, with lots of memorable rockers, the Saxon historical tales, and anthems. Love the production from Biff Byrford and Andy Sneap, and perhaps the addition of Diamond Head’s Brian Tatler (having taken over for the retired Paul Quinn) has sparked something special. From the title track to “Madame Guillotine”, the speedy “Fire and Steel” that kicks off with Nigel Glockear’s drum roll, and early favorites like “Kubla Khan and the Merchants of Venice” and album closer “Super Charger”. Looking forward to putting this on in the car and cranking it up, and hopefully catching the band on their upcoming tour. Love the cover-art by Peter Sallai!
SAXON has also released a brand new single/video for the track “There’s Something In Roswell”. The track is about the enigmatic events surrounding the 1947 crash of an assumed Army weather balloon in Roswell New Mexico, referred to as ‘The Roswell incident’.
“It’s such a great story. It’s been around for years and years, and it’s just what the song says: there must be something in Roswell because there’s too much hoorah about it still”, lead singer and founder-member Biff Byford explains. “I like the tune as well, I think it harks back to ‘80s Saxon musically, a really good bridge between the classic ‘Dallas 1 PM’ era and ‘Saxon 2023.’”
It came as a shock to fans when Tony Clarkin’s family announced his passing. Incredibly sad news. Tony had announced over the holidays that a medical issue forced the cancellation of the band’s upcoming tour, and that the band’s new album is set to be released this Friday! Sad that the album will be released without it’s main creative force their to see it. Tony Clarkin was the band’s co-founder (along with singer Bob Catley), he was guitarist, and wrote pretty much all of the band’s material put to tape since the 70s. Clarkin’s distinctive guitar sound, songs, and storytelling lyrics were what made Magnum a unique, and classic British band. Despite never finding success in North America, the band had a huge following throughout the rest of the world, and consistently released excellent albums, particularly since their reformation in the early 2000s.
Although I had heard of Magnum in the 80s, they didn’t play over here (beyond 1983 or so, I believe!?), and aside from “On A Storyteller’s Night”, I would’ve not heard anything of theirs’ on rock radio back in the day. It was 2009’s Into the Valley Of The Moonking that I received and I was immediately hooked and wanted to hear more! I’ve enjoyed every album since, and gone back to fill in he decades of great music I missed with albums like Kingdom Of Madness, Chase The Dragon, On A Storyteller’s Night, Wings Of Heaven, and post-2000’s Brand New Morning, Princess Alice And The Broken Arrow, and the Escape From Shadow Garden, as well as the awesome Wings Of Heaven Live . Magnum may not have had the success of many bands that broke big over here, but they are British rock royalty to me. A classic band that Tony Clarkin lead in recording some 23(+) studio albums. Currently listening to the band’s new album Here Comes The Rain, another classic Magnum album of Tony Clarkin songs.
Hell, Fire & Chaos – The Best Of British Rock & Metal is the title of the upcoming United States tour by two British Legends in the Rock and Metal genre
URIAH HEEP and SAXON.
With almost 50 studio albums combined and numerous live records, selling multi-millions, this tour will truly be THE BEST OF BRITISH ROCK AND METAL!
The tour is a 100% co-headline with both bands playing equal set lengths, with some cities Uriah Heep closing and others Saxon.
SAXON were formed in 1979 and became leaders in the NWOBHM movement alongside bands such as Iron Maiden and Def Leppard and inspiration to the likes of Metallica, Pantera, etc. Touring to support their 24th studio album Hell, Fire & Damnation, released on January 19th 2024, the band have continued to be at the top of their game throughout the years. Headlining many of the major rock festivals annually in Europe as well as an extensive touring commitment around the world, their massive and loyal fan base continues to grow and the band don’t look as though they are slowing down at any point soon. Their setlist will consist of all the classic tracks such as Wheels Of Steel, 747 (Strangers in the Night), Strong Arm of the Law, Power and the Glory, Denim and Leather.
URIAH HEEP are currently into their 54th year and have never stopped! With a 25 studio albums catalog, the band are touring to support their 2023 release Chaos & Colour that has had rave reviews from both fans and media alike worldwide. As part of the “Big Four” in the 70’s, which also included Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, Uriah Heep were pioneers in the hard rock field and an inspiration to many major touring and recording Artists still to this day. The band continue to tour around the world with 63 countries under their belt over the years. Having sold over 40 million records, fans old and new continue to flock to shows and festival appearances to experience the classic hits such as Easy Livin’, Gypsy, Stealin’, Sweet Lorraine and July Morning.
The Tour will take in the following cities with dates as follows:
Tuesday April 23rd Fort Lauderdale, FL – The Parker
Wednesday April 24th Tampa, FL – Hard Rock Event Center
Thursday April 25th Orlando, FL – The Plaza Live
Sunday April 28th Louisville, KY – Mercury Ballroom
Tuesday April 30th Morgantown, WV – The Metropolitan Theatre
Wednesday May 1st Pittsburgh, PA – Roxian Theatre
Thursday May 2nd Jim Thorpe, PA – Penn’s Peak
Friday May 3rd Englewood, NJ – Bergen Performing Arts Center
Sunday May 5th Boston, MA – Citizens House of Blues
Tuesday May 7th Long Island, NY – Patchogue Theatre
Wednesday May 8th Glenside, PA – Keswick Theatre
Friday May 10th Peekskill, NY – Paramount Hudson Valley Arts
Saturday May 11th Cleveland, OH – TempleLive at the Cleveland Masonic
Sunday May 12th Elkhart, IN – Lerner Theatre
Monday May 13th Detroit, MI – St. Andrew’s Hall
Tuesday May 14th Grand Rapids, MI – GLC Live at 20 Monroe
Thursday May 16th Marietta, OH – People’s Bank Theatre
Friday May 17th Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s
Saturday May 18th Joliet, IL – Rialto Square Theatre
Sunday May 19th St. Charles, IL – Arcada Theatre
Tuesday May 21st Nashville, IN – Brown County Music Center
Wednesday May 22nd Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater
Friday May 24th Springfield, MO – Gillioz Theatre
Saturday May 25th Wichita, KS – TempleLive at Scottish Rite Center
Wednesday May 29th Houston, TX – House Of Blues
Thursday May 30th San Antonio, TX – Tobin Center for the Performing Arts
Friday May 31st Dallas, TX – Glass Cactus
More Dates to be added!
Tickets are available via general on sale Friday January 12th through all usual ticket outlets.
VIP packages are also available consisting of a pre-show Meet & Greet with both bands together, Signed Photo of each band, Personal Photo Opportunities, Exclusive Merchandise Item from each band and a special VIP Tour Laminate.
British rock icons MAGNUM share “The Seventh Darkness”, a new digital single from their upcoming studio album, ‘Here Comes the Rain’, out January 12th, 2024 via Steamhammer / SPV. The track is accompanied by a new lyric video.
“The Seventh Darkness” includes an amazing brass sections courtesy of guest musicians Chris ‘BeeBe’ Aldridge (saxophone) and Nick Dewhurst (trumpet), which lend the song brilliance and shape.
Guitarist/songwriter Tony Clarkin: “The recordings were great fun, especially the moment when Chris’s sax took the lead and my guitar responded. A real highlight on this album!”
‘Here Comes The Rain’ will be released via CD + DVD, double vinyl LP, as a box set and for digital download, proving once again that classic rock music could hardly sound more atmospheric.
The album’s highly inspired artwork is once more designed by the great Rodney Matthews, who has already created a number of MAGNUM sleeves to support the band’s atmospherically dense music. Says Tony Clarkin: “The back cover features a kind of avian battalion in attack mode, which I think is a great allegory!”
British bands URIAH HEEP and SAXON will be co-headlining a US tour throughout April, May and June of 2024. (Dates to be announced in a few weeks). Heep who released their 25th studio album, Chaos & Colour, in January (this year) and Saxon have a new album set to be released January 19 titledHell, Fire And Damnation.
Earlier this year Saxon released their 2nd album of cover songs titled More Inspirations, which included their rendition of Heep’s “Gypsy”. Guitarist Paul Quinn retired from touring, and Brian Tatler (Diamond Head). Heep played shows to commemorate their 50th anniversary last year, and recently finished a tour of Brazil, but haven’t featured Chaos & Colour songs in their show as of yet, so presumably 2024’s performances will see some of these great tracks performed. Prior to the US , Saxon and Heep, as well as Judas Priest, tour as the European Metal Masters.
,Bob Jackson of BADFINGER shared the following news on December 12 regarding a new digital album release coming of Pete Ham songs. This is a follow up to the album ‘Misunderstood‘, released earlier this year. Check out Bob’s post for all the details below, as well as the first track released from it.
I’m very honored and thrilled to announce the release of a brand new Pete Ham digital album release, titled “Gwent Gardens.” This is the follow-up to “Misunderstood” and the first new release since the passing of producer/engineer Dan Matovina. This is being released with the full support of the Ham Estate. The album is full of the beautiful melodies and universal lyrics that Pete is well known for, composed on either guitar or piano/keyboards. Most of the songs on this new collection have never been heard before by the public, however there are still some demo versions of his well known tunes. This release will be different from previous ones; None of the songs will include posthumous overdubs. Dan would be very pleased to know that his desire to get all of Pete’s unreleased songs out for the public to enjoy is being fulfilled by his team of close friends and associates. One of the last things he told me was, “I can’t believe there are still so many great Pete Ham songs that no one has heard yet.”
The digital album of “Gwent Gardens” can be pre-ordered from Apple Music starting on December 10 and will be released for streaming and downloading on December 21, 2023. A preview song, “Love Will Be” will be available as a YouTube lyrics video starting December 10.
In addition, there will be a special album preview event on the BadfingerIveysOfficial YouTube channel on Friday, December 15 from 9:00-10:00pm EST.
Outsider Rock 