November 21, 2024

Jimmy Barnes – Barnestorming

Jimmy Barnes put together the cream of Australian musicians on tour to support the albums to show things off. The band included Johnny Diesel and Dave Amato on guitars, Chris Bailey on bass guitar, Tony Brock on drums and Peter Kekell on keyboards. These recordings were released on a double album as Barnestorming at the end of 1988 and naturally roared up the charts over Christmas, staying at number one for three weeks.

Hard Stuff – Bulletproof

The musicianship is never anything but superb; for that alone, the album cannot be faulted. The best and heaviest thing on the album is the John Gustafson-written ‘Sinister Minister’ with its crunchy guitar licks and bass-heavy driven rhythm.

Free Tons of Sobs

Paul Rodgers’ voice has often been voted the best British rock/blues vocalist of all time! He had that power then; he has it now.

John Mellencamp – Scarecrow

Scarecrow was released in 1985 and reached number two in the American Charts, producing three top ten singles and going 5x platinum sales in the United States of America alone.

Parallel Lines – Blondie

Released 1978, Blonde’s third album ‘Parallel Lines’ reached number one all across Europe, Asia and Australia. It’s been ranked #140 on Rolling Stone magazine’s Top 500 albums of all time.

Thunder – Stage

Thunder are now bigger and better than ever, no longer a support band or even playing theatres, but arenas and headlining festivals. The new songs blend in seamlessly with the old. I mean, of course, they are Thunder songs, so it would be disappointing if they didn’t. Laughably, Danny Bowes, in between song banter, has not changed in thirty years. The crowds lap it up, so why should it change?

Slade – Slade Alive

Recorded in 1971 and released in 1972, this album caught the Rock ‘n’ Roll fun machine that was Slade on the crest of a very big wave, metaphorically a veritable tidal wave. Upon release, this album went straight to number one in the U.K.