Category: New Music

Another Legendary Rock Band Returns

“The Black Crowes” have just released their 10th studio album, Happiness Bastards, their first album of all new material since 2009’s Before the Frost… Until the Freeze. The rock band from Atlanta Georgia burst onto the scene in 1990 with their bestselling debut album Shake Your Money Maker, which included hits like “Hard To Handle,” “Twice As Hard” and “She Talks To Angels.” The album made the top 10 in the USA, Canada and New Zealand.

Happiness Bastards is a new album full of vintage Bluesy Rock tracks. The Black Crowes’ “Wanting and Waiting,” the album’s first single, is new this week on RadiJohan.

The Return of a Legend

American rock band “Bon Jovi” will be releasing a brand new album, called “Forever,” on the 7th of June. It’s the band’s 16th studio album, their first in four years, and the first to be released following frontman Jon Bon Jovi’s vocal cord surgery.  According to Jon Bon Jovi:

“This record is a return to joy. From the writing, through the recording process, this is turn up the volume, feel good.”

The band has also released the album’s first single “Legendary.” Speaking about the song in an interview Jon Bon Jovi revealed that the song is a tribute to his wife.

Bon Jovi’s “Legendary” is new this week on RadiJohan.

North Sea Echoes

“North Sea Echoes”is a new band featuring “Fates Warning” members Ray Alder and Jim Matheos. The bad new for “Fates Warning fans is that the band appears to be in a state of permanent hiatus. The good news is that Ray and Jim’s “North Sea Echoes” released their debut album Really Good Terrible Things last month. Unlike the progressive style of Fates Warning, this album can perhaps be described as ambient rock and the new single, “Unmoved”, is a great introduction to Really Good Terrible Things.

Speaking on the lyrical concepts behind “Unmoved“, Ray Alder shared:

Some people dealing with depression often exhibit a remarkable ability to conceal their inner struggles by presenting a facade of happiness to the world.”

“Unmoved” by North Sea Echoes is new this week on RadiJohan.

Homage to Howlin’ Wolf

Guns n’ Roses guitarist “Slash” will be releasing his new solo album in May. Orgy of the Damned will revitalize some blues classics and will feature diverse guest vocalists including Billy Gibbons, Chris Stapleton, Dorothy, Iggy Pop, Paul Rodgers, Demi Lovato, Brian Johnson, Tash Neal, Chris Robinson, Beth Hart and Gary Clark Jr.

The first single is a superb cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s 1964 Chicago blues standard “Killing Floor” which features Brian Johnson of AC/DC on vocals, and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith on harmonica.  According to Slash:

‘Killing Floor’ is one of my favorite Howlin’ Wolf songs, but also one of the iconic blues riffs that turned me on as a young guitar player. I’ve always wanted to cover it in some capacity and this record was the perfect vehicle. But playing it with this band, and with Brian Johnson singing, it was an achievement I would never have imagined back then. Let alone Steven Tyler providing the harp.

“Killing Floor” by Slash ft. Brian Johnson is new this week on RadiJohan.

We Love to “Feel The Heat”

Formed in Nottingham in 2015 by bass-player Nick Hogg, melodic hard rockers “Nitrate” released their fourth studio album, Feel The Heat, last October. Influenced in no small way by the eighties rock scene, Nitrate’s sound may make you feel like you’ve been transported back in time to the heydays of Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Loverboy and Europe.

Feel The Heat, an album packed with rockers and seasoned with a few ballads has featured four official singles to date, including “All The Right Moves and “Needs a Little Love.” Easily one of the best albums of the past year it includes quite a few other great tracks that could easily have been single releases as well.

“One Kiss (To Save My Heart)” is one such track. It’s a beautiful duet which features highly regarded Norwegian star “Issa Oversveen” on vocals alongside Nitrate’s Alexander Strandell. Back in the eighties this song would have been a massive hit. It’s new this week on RadiJohan.

From Austin to Norther: Shane Smith and The Saints

“Shane Smith and The Saints” formed in 2011 when Shane Smith moved to Austin, Texas and met fiddle player Bennett Brown. They began playing shows in Austin and soon connected with the rest of the band. In 2013 they released their debut album, Coast, followed by Geronimo (2015) and Hail Mary (2019).

Shane Smith and The Saints have built a reputation with an unrelenting work ethic and a very busy touring schedule playing in a variety of places, from dives and honky-tonks to major venues, peaking at 240 shows in a single year. The band’s music has been featured regularly on the American prime time television soap opera Yellowstone.

They’ve just released their first new album in nearly five years. The 13-song collection, called Norther, features a mix of genres including rock, country, folk and Americana. This wide-ranging approach traces back to the tastes and backgrounds of the five band members.

In one of the album’s singles, the narrator reminisces on a past romance and desperately laments the situation in which he finds himself in the present. “Adeline” by Shane Smith and The Saints is new this week on RadiJohan.

When All Appears Lost, Go Dancing!

“Shed Seven” are an English alternative rock band formed in York in 1990. At the height of their popularity between 1994 and 1999 they had fifteen Top 40 singles and four Top 20 albums in the UK. Their latest album, A Matter of Time, was released on 5 January 2024 and became the first number one album in their career.

Already a fan favourite from the band’s recent sold-out shows, “Let’s Go Dancing” is the latest single to be released off the chart topping album. The song is a plea for one final chance when all appears to be lost, a message of hope at a time when the odds seem stacked against you.

“Let’s Go Dancing” by Shed Seven is new this week on RadiJohan.

Classix Nouveaux?

English new wave band “Classix Nouveaux” enjoyed success in the 80’s in Europe, releasing three albums and eleven singles between 1979 and 1985. They even had a number 1 hit in Portugal, Never Again (The Days Time Erased).

40 years after their last album Secret was released in 1983, Classix Nouveaux have returned with a brand new album called Battle Cry. In the words of lead singer Sal Solo:

The reason this project came about after 40 years is really because of the fans. About 10 years ago, some of the Classix fans were making Facebook pages but it didn’t really come to our attention until a couple of years back. We realised these people are really dedicated and decided to give them a kind of birthday present.

The title track of the new Classix Nouveaux album Battle Cry is new this week on RadiJohan.

Rachel Returns

American singer-songwriter Rachel Platten studied classical piano from the age of 5 and then took up guitar in high school. “1,000 Ships,” a single from her first album, Be Here, peaked at number 23 on the US Billboard Adult Top 40 chart. Her real breakthrough came in 2015 when the single “Fight Song” charted in numerous countries and reached the top 10 in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland and topped the chart in the UK. The follow up, “Stand by You,” although not quite reaching the heights of its predecessor, was also successful. Since then Rachel Platten has released a handful of less successful singles, while her last album was released in 2017. We would argue her music deserves more exposure and success.

“Mercy” is Rachel’s latest single and provides serves as an appetizer for her forthcoming new album which is due for release in May. The song is deeply personal. In her own words:

I wrote ‘Mercy’ alone in my studio in the middle of the night, during the darkest part of a very painful battle with my mental health. I ran to my piano and banged on the lower register and let out a guttural cry, ‘oooh mercy,’ I can’t take anymore, please stop this pain……. It came all at once, so fast that I had to try to catch the words as they spilled out of me.”

Rachel Platten’s “Mercy” is new this week on RadiJohan.

The Grace of a Dragonfly

British hard rock band “Lionheart” first appeared on RadiJohan in 2017 with their cover of Chris Deburgh’s Don’t Pay The Ferryman.

Formed in 1980 but failing to make any headway, the band split up in 1986. Thirty years later they resurfaced, appearing as part of a seven-act line up at the three-day Rockingham 2016 melodic/hard rock festival, held in Nottingham. Following that event, the band decided to continue working together.

Since then Lionheart have released three albums, Second Nature (2017), The Reality of Miracles (2020), and, this past week, The Grace of a Dragonfly (2024).

The latest Lionheart single tells the story of “Operation Dynamo” when, between 26th May and 4th June 1940, hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers were evacuated from Dunkirk with the aid of hundreds of “little ships” ranging from merchant fishing boats to yachts. 

“Little Ships” by Lionheart is new this week on RadiJohan.