• Smith/Kotzen

    Music

    Smith/Kotzen

    Black Light/White Noise

    This is the third album from rock veterans Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden) and Richie Kotzen (The Winery Dogs). The busy axeslingers – especially Kotzen, who is always involved in solo and band projects – released their full-length debut and an EP in 2021. Smith-Kotzen has happily blossomed into a going concern. What’s interesting about Smith/Kotzen’s

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Joshua Hedley

Neon Blue

Country tradition remains the center of Joshua Hedley’s universe. His 2018 debut, Mr. Jukebox, reflected his mastery of the ’50s and ’60s honky-tonk of Ray Price, George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Faron Young,…

Rosie Flores

The first of Flores’ 11 solo albums came out in ’87, but by then she’d run the gamut from singer/songwriter (in sort of an L.A./Ronstadt mold) to punk (including a 1984 LP by…

Bob Dylan

Judas!

Breaking out of the box and kicking down barriers seems the first item on the daily to-do list for many Nobel laureates, but it’s probably fair to say only Bob Dylan was booed…

Dr. Dog – Shame, Shame

Anti

Hailing from Philadelphia, Dr. Dog plays progressive rock in the best sense of the word. Time was, a lot of pop music felt like the song “Stranger,” where punchy rhythm guitars and layered…

Andy Timmons

Electric Truth

Is there life after success in a glam-metal band? Many guitarists were asking themselves that question after the scene fizzled in the ’90s. Most blamed grunge. Danger Danger’s Andy Timmons never had to…

Keb’ Mo’ – Peace… Back By Popular Demand

Keb’ Mo’ is swimming upstream, issuing a new CD with a picture of peace sign prominently displayed on the cover. Not that the disc largely consists of ’60s protest songs, but it comes…

Coal Men – Beauty of the Moment

With the addition of Chris Frame (Sun Volt) on guitar and Jen Gunderman (The Jayhawks) on keyboards, the Coal Men have gone from trio to quintet and their second full-length release, Beauty Is…

Alfred Wertheimer

The Man W ho Would Be King

In early 1956, soon after RCA Victor purchased the contract for a fledgling singer named Elvis Presley, a publicist hired photographer Alfred Wertheimer to follow the Mississippi boy on the road for a…

Merle Haggard – Roots, Vol. 1

Norm Stephens isn’t a household name, even to country music fans who have no doubt heard his guitar playing. But to Merle Haggard, Stephens – the original guitarist behind Hag’s biggest influence, Lefty…

Mimi Fox – Perpetually Hip

The first thing you notice about Mimi Fox when she begins the single-note original melody of the title track (the first cut of this double-CD) is her bell-like tone (more highs than the…

SVT

Always Comes Back

Whether named for supraventricular tachycardia (meaning rapid heart rhythm) or the Ampeg bass amplifier, SVT was one of the more-interesting bands to emerge from San Francisco’s new wave scene of the late ’70s.…

The Derailers – Genuine

Genuine

With the new year comes a look at this album, a fine record deserving of notice. The influences here are wide and varied, and the Derailers manage to mix them to put together…

David Michael Miller

This makes it two in a row for David Michael Miller. His Poisons Sipped was one of last year’s surprise albums, introducing us to a songwriter, guitarist, and singer who is the whole…

Rob Halford

Confess: The Autobiography

“Confess” is the right word: this Metal God’s life certainly warrants an autobiography. Halford recalls the gradual climb of Judas Priest – and his struggle to remain in the closet.  If the vocalist’s…

Jake Shimabukuro – Live

In his introduction to “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” Shimabukuro explains how a video of him playing the George Harrison classic in Central Park, for New York’s Midnight Ukulele Disco, “changed my life.”…

Drew Emmitt – Long Road

Drew Emmitt has been making music for more than 25 years. His first band, Leftover Salmon, developed a cult following and though it still plays gigs during festival season, its members have moved…

John Mayer – Live in LA

Beyond the tabloids, “TMZ,” and his celebrity girlfriends, John Mayer is a songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist who ranks among the best in modern pop. And this disc shows all of his strengths. Kicking…

Mojo Thunder

The Infinite Hope

The rockin’ Kentucky outfit is back with stomping tunes, passionate lyrics, and a charismatic double-guitar assault. Drummer Zac Shoopman, bassist Andrew Brockman, lead guitarist Bryson Willoughby, and rhythm guitarist/vocalist Sean Sullivan, share sonic…

Dokken

The Elektra Albums 1983-1987

A quintessential L.A. hair band, Dokken’s first four albums have been remastered and boxed. Let’s state the obvious… ’80s metal sounds dated thanks to its high-gain crunch, chorused chords, and trite bad-boy lyrics.…

Roy Orbison

Unequivocally Essential

When Roy Orbison walked onstage, the black Gibson ES-335 around his neck wasn’t just for show. Orbison was a pretty good picker, and he holds down a good portion of the guitar on…

The Immediate Family

The Immediate Family

The Immediate Family consists of bassist Leland Sklar, drummer Russ Kunkel, guitarists Steve Postell, Waddy Wachtel, and Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar. In the ’70s, these iconic sidemen were called the Section and their resumes…

Jeff Golub – Temptation

Lots of folks think Golub’s playing has grown a little too slick and “smooth” for its own good. You might agree, but to me, his playing has such a groove it’s impossible to…

Peter Frampton

Perhaps no rocker in history was ever punished as severely as Peter Frampton. In 1976, he was the celebrated king of pop-rock thanks to Frampton Comes Alive, but after a weak followup and…

Rockabilly Rarities – Volume Two

Rockabilly Rarities Volume Two picks up where Volume One (“Spotlight,” June ’99) left off and features 30 tracks of rockin’, shakin’, foot-stompin’ music. Great/obscure labels like Bakers-field, Sure, Rebel, Cherry, Jan, Fox, Testa,…

Santana

Blessings and Miracles

While many of Carlos Santana’s peers coast on their catalog of hits, the guitar legend follows his muse and actually creates new music. Blessings and Miracles, like most of his albums since 1999’s…

Adrian Raso – Clean Up The Mess

Black Mamba Records

Adrian Raso understands that, just as a guitar solo is not just a place-holder between lyric lines, an instrumental is not just a bunch of notes that sound good together. Guitarists may have…

The Everly Brothers

If you’re weary of rock concert DVDs with critical commentary, typically unauthorized and of varying quality, this Everly Brothers retrospective is highly recommended. Authorized, with participation of Don Everly and a 2010 interview…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

King Crimson and Toby Amies

In the Court of the Crimson King

This film asks the musical question, “Is Robert Fripp a virtuoso guitarist, sensitive tone-poet – or brutal taskmaster?” The answer is, resoundingly, yes. Throughout this rock doc, Fripp’s acerbic comments intermingle with a…

John Mellencamp

John Mellencamp’s latest effort fits its title and is a perfect companion to the recent box set that showcases his songwriting. In fact, the songs here are some of the finest he’s ever…

Carrie Rodriguez – Seven Angels on A Bicycle

Carrie Rodriguez has blossomed from a reluctant background singer to a confident lead vocalist in just four albums. Her first solo release demonstrates that she has the chops to lead her own band.…