• 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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Boss DD-200 Digital Delay

Test For Echo

Delay pedals are essential, but there are so many different types – tape, reverse, tap, cascade, shimmer, analog and more. What if you could get all of them in one box, without breaking…

Kiss

Creatures of the Night: 40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition

On this 1982 set, Kiss rekindled its mojo. After the universally panned Music from “The Elder,” they went back to catchy hard rock. By this point, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were running…

Pete Anderson

Little Dog Records

Pete Anderson needs little introduction as a guitar slinger and producer with sublime guitar taste. For his production work on albums with Dwight Yoakam from 1986 to 2003, he has taken home a…

Cheryl Wheeler – Defying Gravity

After 11 releases in 22 years, you might assume Cheryl Wheeler has written songs about nearly everything. But her latest release proves she still has plenty of fresh insight. In the last two…

Charles Shaar Murray – Boogie Man – The Adventures of John Lee Hooker

John Lee Hooker’s “Boogie Chillen” may well have been the first million-selling blues hit when it came out in 1948. It was a song unlike anything most folk had ever heard: the chanted…

Pink Floyd – Meddle: A Classic Album Under Review

Pink Floyd on DVD Meddle: A Classic Album Under Review analyzes this pivotal Pink Floyd record from 1971. Released two years before the mega-success of Dark Side of the Moon, Meddle was in…

The Beach Boys – Singles Collection

At this point, there are far more retrospectives of the Beach Boys than original albums. Their catalog has been recycled in every way imaginable. Or so one would have thought. Any new wrinkle…

Ozzy Osbourne

Patient Number 9

Ozzy Osbourne has worked with many of rock’s greatest guitarists – Tony Iommi in Black Sabbath, Randy Rhoads, Brad Gillis, Jake E. Lee, and Zakk Wylde during his solo career. Now imagine an…

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant – No Quarter: Unledded

No Quarter: Unledded

The 1980s were not kind to Jimmy Page’s reputation. The death of John Bonham, the dissolution of Led Zeppelin; Page’s efforts with the Firm; and his poor showings with the survivors of Zeppelin…

Mark Lettieri

Can I Tell You Something?

The Snarky Puppy virtuoso delivers a set of crisp funk-fusion, touching on everything from Steely Dan jazzisms to an ’80s dance party. Part of Lettieri’s charm is that he’s an absolute beast on…

Corb Lund

Corb Lund may not be well-known to American audiences, but he’s been around 30 years in Canada. As a solo act, he developed a simple, in-your-face country and roots sound with his longtime…

Santana IV

Describing Carlos Santana’s guitar playing, Greg Rolie, the Santana band’s original keyboardist, declares, “It’s real music; it’s not just a bunch of notes put together.” Truer words were never spoken. They’re just part…

Woody Mann and Bob Brozman – Get Together

From the opening notes of Mann’s fretted guitar and Brozman’s slide work, you can’t help but be captivated. Mann is known for his roots and blues fingerpicking on a variety of albums, method…

Tremonti

Creed and Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti is at it again, this time enlisting the help of guitarist Eric “Erock” Friedman, drummer Garrett Whitlock, and bassist Wolfgang Van Halen. Following up his first…

Pretty Things, Procol Harum, David Bowie, and Various Artists

For all the British psych bands you do know – such as the Move and Small Faces – you’ve probably never heard of dozens more. This three-CD set brings together more than 75…

The Who

The Who with Orchestra, Live at Wembley

The raw power The Who displayed from their humble beginnings, nearly six decades ago, showed they didn’t need enhancements. But this 2019 show at London’s Wembley Stadium – their first there in four…

Rory Block – I’m Every Woman

I’ve always thought of Rory Block as a modern country-blues, acoustic-slide playing, soulful singer. Here, she changes the program a bit. The emphasis here is on soul music. Not the stuff of Robert…

Big Lazy

The guitar universe has been inundated with all things “retro” for the past decade, but the all-instrumental trio Big Lazy gives it a fresh spin. Old-school twang meets gritty Hollywood-soundtrack music here, with…

Keith Whitley – Sad Songs and Waltzes

The late Keith Whitley, who died at age 33 of acute alcohol poi-soning, was an example of why it isn’t always a good idea to try to live your lyrics if you’re country…

Charles Shaar Murray – Boogie Man – The Adventures of John Lee Hooker

John Lee Hooker’s “Boogie Chillen” may well have been the first million-selling blues hit when it came out in 1948. It was a song unlike anything most folk had ever heard: the chanted…

Rory Block – I’m Every Woman

I’ve always thought of Rory Block as a modern country-blues, acoustic-slide playing, soulful singer. Here, she changes the program a bit. The emphasis here is on soul music. Not the stuff of Robert…

Check This Action: My Kind of Blues

The notion of blurring the boundaries of jazz is almost laughable, since the umbrella already covers so many variations. From the Dixieland of King Oliver to the swing of big-bands like Tommy Dorsey’s,…

Bill Frisell, Nels Cline, David Torn, and others

European Union

You may have heard the name Terje Rypdal, but not really know the six-string legend or his music. For close to 50 years, Rypdal was a major force in Europe, pushing the lines…

Junior Wells & the Aces

Delmark

Junior Wells released enough mediocre product in his lifetime that it’s easy to forget what a great stylist and showman the Chicago bluesman was. This hour-plus live set, recorded at Club 47 in…

Murry Hammond – I Don’t Know Where I’m Going But I’m On My Way

As a solo artist, Murry Hammond is a blend of Leonard Cohen and Jimmie Rogers. The acoustic-based songs on this album aren’t as lively as his work with his former band, Old 97s,…

Red Allen, Frank Wakefield, and the Kentuckians

Washington, D.C. and vicinity, known for forward-thinking bluegrass bands like the Country Gentlemen and the Seldom Scene, also had staunch traditionalists, among them the team of mandolin virtuoso Frank Wakefield (a one-time Stanley…

Tim Mahoney

Self-distributed

Tim Mahoney’s latest work combines elements of heavy-metal power pop with ethereal folk ballads, and his mix of guitar raunch and lyricism makes for an addictive musical cocktail. Musically, Mahoney is something of…

  • Yes

    Yes

    Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition

John Davis – John Davis

John Davis was a member of Superdrag, which gained some notoriety in its 10-year run. They were a mix of influences including punk, early British rock and roll, and pop. Davis left the…

David Bromberg – Demon in Disguise

Not to be confused with a live DVD of the same name, which was released in 2008 and quickly vanished, this is part of Stefan Grossman’s “Guitar Artistry Of” series. Playing only his…

Dennis Jones

Soft Hard & Loud

On Soft Hard & Loud, Dennis Jones continues to push the boundaries of blues-rock guitar. With lyrics saturated by the cold, hard slap of reality and a love of black musical repertoire, Jones…