hard

Toby Hitchcock | Mercury’s Down

by Mark Allen Staff Writer Before listening to this album, you should probably make an appointment with a dentist to have your mouth wired shut, because there are moments on Mercury’s Down that will drop your jaw to the floor unless you take prior preventative precautions. The album as a whole is [...]

UFO | THE CHRYSALIS YEARS (1973-1979)

by John Kindred Staff Writer UFO is a blues-based hard rock band from the United Kingdom. The band was formed by the trio of Phil Mogg, Andy Parker and Pete Way in ’69. UFO released two studio albums, 1970’s UFO 1 and ’71’s UFO 2: Flying, prior to signing on with Chrysalis [...]

Rainbow | Live in Germany 1976

by John Kindred Staff Writer Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow came into being in the fall of 1974, as he and then-unknown Elf vocalist Ronnie James Dio recorded solo material for his new album. Disenchanted with the direction of Deep Purple sans Ian Gillain and Roger Glover, Blakemore created [...]

Malicious | Malicious 2011

by Nikiforos Skoumas Staff Writer Malicious 2011 is the reissue of the U.S. hard rock act’s debut album, originally released in 1994. Malicious was actually a studio trio featuring guitarist Jimmy Cassidy, lead singer Paul Petrik and drummer Zan Petersen. This re-issue features the standard ten [...]

M.I.C. | 3rd Degree

by Joe Mis Staff Writer International rockers M.I.C. (Made In China) have recently released their third studio album, entitled 3rd Degree. This quintet of talented performers plays music that spans genres from early ‘80s classic rock to modern power-pop and delivers 12 tracks of pure fun. Like a [...]