Genre: ROCK
Released by: RPM Records
Release date: 23rd July 2021
Line up:
Featuring…
Massive Wagons, Phil Campbell, Mason Hill, The Dust Coda, The New Roses, Elles Bailey, Thundermother, Rews, Bad Touch, King Creature, Tomorrow Is Lost, Collateral, Hollowstar, Ryders Creed, Skam, Massive, Gin Annie, Blackwater Conspiracy, Wolf Jaw, Empyre, Ward XVI, Revival Black, The Hot Damn!, Dead Man’s Whiskey, South Of Salem, Everyday Heroes, Haxan, These Wicked Rivers, Gorilla Riot, Scarlet Rebels, Twister, Bootyard Bandits, Daxx & Roxanne, Doomsday Outlaw, Anchor Lane, Jack J Hutchinson, Ashen Reach, Sons of Liberty, Takeaway Thieves, Bastette, Shape of Water, Dig Lazarus
Track list:
CD 1
Massive Wagons – Tokyo
Mason Hill – DNA
Hollowstar – All I Gotta Say
These Wicked Rivers – Shine On
Anchor Lane – Fame Shame
Empyre – New Republic
Daxx & Roxane – Without You
Sons Of Liberty – Fire And Gasoline
The Hot Damn! – Dance Around
Massive – Rise
Everyday Heroes – Find My Way
Elles Bailey – Woman Like Me
Scarlet Rebels – No One Else To Blame
Wolf Jaw – I Ain’t Ready
Tomorrow Is Lost – Hideaway
Dead Man’s Whiskey – War Machine
Dig Lazarus – Tell Me Why
The New Roses – Whiskey Nightmare
Shape Of Water – The World Is Calling Me
Revival Black – So Alive
Gin Annie – Devil In Me
CD2
Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons – Son Of A Gun
The Dust Coda – When The Tide Comes In
Skam – Iron Cross
Collateral – Merry Go Round
Bad Touch – I Get High
Gorilla Riot – Still Doing Time
Thundermother – Driving In Style
King Creature – Captives
Rews – Today We’re Warriors
Twister – Call To Arms
South Of Salem – The Hate In Me
Jack J Hutchinson – World On Fire
Bootyard Bandits – Hoedown Showdown
Haxan – Killing Time
Doomsday Outlaw – Turn Me Loose
Ashen Reach – Fighting For My Life
Bastette – Talk About It
Ryders Creed – Money
Takeaway Thieves – This Is Rock N Roll
Ward Xvi – Broken Toys
Blackwater Conspiracy – Soul Revolutionaries
It must be around three years ago now that I first started to take notice of the term ‘New Wave of Classic Rock’ being bandied about. I admit to being rather dismissive of it as just another categorisation that we, as music fans could well live without and I confess I was intrigued to see the upcoming release of a compilation labelled under this movement.
I am an advocate for new bands – brimming with talent, energy, new material and absolutely deserving of maximum exposure, this is the future of rock music and these are the bands who will be gracing our stages in the years to come, long after all the old favourites are dead and gone or have laid their instruments to rest, when only their legacies remain. The echoes of influence resonate strongly in many, if not all of the bands featured in this collection but that does not in any way detract from the excellence of the songwriting or the skills of these musicians, in fact it is a credit to them, they have listened to and learned from the best.
‘Not so new’ band Massive Wagons kick start this fast paced, hard hitting, guitar spiraling 42 track music frenzy which also features regular favourites on the scene including Mason Hill, Anchor Lane, Daxx & Roxane, Jack J Hutchinson, Gin Annie, Blackwater Conspiracy and many more… It is refreshing to hear a few girl bands thrown into the mix for good measure, including the exclusively female, hard rocking Thundermother, making their mark in what, even by today’s standards is a male dominated music environment. Expertly blending the old with the new, ex Motorhead guitarist Phil Campbell also makes an appearance with The Bastard Sons.
Luckily, I have had the pleasure to review the albums of many of the bands on this compilation and have probably reviewed even more of them live, having followed their careers from their infancy and watched them progress and flourish musically and move onto bigger and better venues to accommodate their ever expanding fan bases. Has the best material from these bands been chosen to feature on this release? In my opinion, no. The content is strong but I would have chosen entirely different tracks to showcase their talents – of course this is just a matter of personal taste.
It goes without saying that we must sample and embrace new material in order for the industry to thrive and survive and while this is undoubtedly an excellent introduction to some of the new or lesser known bands for anyone who may be musically ‘living in the past’, it must be borne in mind that this is a mere taster only of what these bands have to offer and I would implore listeners to check out the albums in their entirety, some have several releases already under their belts, all fantastic and absolutely deserving of a place in any decent record collection.
For me, album highlights include; ‘Shine On’ – These Wicked Rivers, ‘Without You’ – Daxx & Roxane, ‘War Machine’ – Dean Man’s Whiskey, ‘Whiskey Nightmare’ – The New Roses , ‘Still Doing Time’ – Gorilla Riot and ‘World on Fire’ by Jack J Hutchinson… I could go on, and on…
Even in a society seemingly obsessed with labels and categorisation, is it necessary to club ALL the artists on this release together under the ‘New Wave of Classic Rock’ movement?’ It may just be clever marketing, but I’m not so sure it works, I was familiar with most of these bands long before I was familiar with the term… Whether they are classic, hard, southern, blues, been around for 5 months, 5 years or 50 years…its all Rock N’ Roll to me!
SCORE 8/10
REVIEWED BY KAREN HETHERINGTON
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