Originally published by L.S. Media. September 14th 2011.
Anthrax have long been lauded as one of the big four of Thrash Metal and quite rightly so. Heavyweight albums such as Among The Living, the entertaining Spreading the Disease and Persistence of Time have guaranteed the band a healthy and fanatical following over the years.
Originally published by L.S. Media. September 11th 2011.
Mike Portnoy may have gone, but for anyone who thought the band might fall apart or worse become an irrelevance without him simply do not get Dream Theater and their gargantuan talent that lurks behind every album. In the inspired titled new album A Dramatic Turn of Events, that almost unique style and blend of superb musicianship and the taste for splendidly indulgent lives on.
Originally published by L.S. Media. August 26th 2010.
The Sword this week released their third studio album titled Warp Riders. For die-hard fans of the American hard metal band there will be something tangible to take from the concept album. Its subtle change in direction, much mooted by the band and associates, will be a welcome idea to those who relish in the genre.
Lyrically I cannot fault the album, there seems to be a touch of the homage to Shakespeare within the lines and there is the telling nod to the house of Progressive Rock, it is something that the likes of Argent would have dallied within their heyday.
Originally published by L.S. Media. August 27th 2010.
As one of the founding members of Liverpool’s favourite bands Amsterdam, Johnny Barlow has stepped out of the security of the group to lay down his emotions and thoughts on to his debut album The Fosse Way.
Johnny may have come across as a very quiet man within Amsterdam, leaving the talking to his friend and cousin Ian Prowse, but for anybody who has seen Amsterdam perform over the years, one of the things that have stood out is Johnny’s guitar playing, it has been an absolute joy to behold. It is with that in mind that The Fosse way is a truly remarkable piece of musicianship.
Originally published by L.S. Media. October 11th 2011. 
L.S. Media Rating: ****
If you are going re-imagine your own songs and much loved tracks then do it with an abundance of style that will confuse the critics who were ready to reward any hard work with derision and scorn.
That’s exactly the result that Peter Gabriel has achieved with his latest look at music from his colourful andwide ranging past, the phenomenal New Blood. From the off, it has a dramatic new edge to it that will make you think of his music in a completely new way and with no qualms about his decision to use an orchestra to remake such classics as Red Rain, Digging in the Dirt and the ever popular Solsbury Hill.
Originally published by L.S. Media. October 12th 2012.
L.S. Media Rating ****
One of the new big two of Progressive Rock, Touchstone, makes a superb comeback with the stunning new album The City Sleeps. With the last album Live in the U.S.A. still very much in the minds of the band, this new offering carries on the outstanding work that the group have created and have been admired for by their peers and fans alike.
Originally published by L.S. Media. October 16th 2011.
L.S.Media Rating: ***
There was only one way that Amy Lee could go after 2008’s The Open Door and that was to gather herself together, forget the past and strive to regain the delight in performing and making records that would match the ideal and superb debut album her band Evanescence achieved in what seems alife time ago.
L.S Media Rating **** Stars
Thomas Dolby has never really been a man who let convention get in the way of anything he wanted to achieve or put out for his fans to take part in. From the start of the new wave of keyboard and synthesised music explosion Thomas Dolby was there messing around with the rules and defying expectation with ground breaking music such as She Blinded Me With Science and the 1984 hit Hyperactive, both these songs still sounding deliciously odd but with a certain wonderment to them.
Originally published by L.S. Media. October 25th 2011.
L.S. Media rating *****
If you are going to have the tag “Super group” hanging round your neck for all too see then its best to live up to the hype, the moniker and the musical ideal by delivering music that’s accessible and above reproach from critics and fans. Black Country Communion have done just that in the last couple of years, and now Chickenfoot follow superbly in that fashion and have delivered another impressive album that holds dear to the ideals of excellent riffs and well placed lyrics.
Originally published by L.S. Media. October 31st 2011.
L.S. Media Rating *****
In a typical grandiose style that you would expect from one of the premier Irish Rock bands of the last thirty years, U2 celebrate the 20th anniversary of their 1991 album Achtung Baby with the re-release of one of the band’s finest albums.