It has come to that time of year where I join the chorus of people wishing everyone a safe, happy and healthy holiday over the next week or two. I hope that Santa recognises the need for melodic rock goodies for everyone.

Thanks to everyone that has supported MRC this year and continues to support the MelodicRock site, even though I added fewer reviews than at any point in history.

In 2022, MelodicRock will be back with a focus back on delivering reviews and hopefully fitting in alongside the busy schedule I have planned for MelodicRock Classics label.

I do have another reason to be thankful before signing off for the year…

2021 is the 25th Anniversary of MelodicRock!

I have been far too busy to make a big deal of that fact, but I better do it now before I miss the occasion altogether. I started my first very basic site in October 1996, moving to the MR domain name in August 1998.

In 2022 I will continue to celebrate surviving in the wild for this long, with a series of “Top” 25 from 25 Awards, which will no doubt be good for some debate.

But right now, I’d like to celebrate 25 years in this business and managing to survive the ever-changing landscape that only ever seems to get more complicated year after year.

I will reminisce further at another time as there have been some truly bizarre, funny, insane and fantastic moments along the way.

Today I would like to thank each and every person that has ever read the site, or ordered a CD, sent an email (not the abusive ones!), made a donation, bought merch, thanked me for introducing a new band to them, posted on the message boards (again, not the abusive ones!) and gathered at any one of the MelodicRock Fest events over the years.

I’d like to thank all the artists, labels, sponsors, CD stores, distributors and other businesses that have helped support MR over the years.

I’d like to thank my wife Catherine and my 3 boys for putting up with everything that comes with running this site and the stress of being self-employed for the majority of this time.

If I strip everything back, the best thing about the last 25 years is the friendships I have made for life and the privilege of being part of all your lives, sharing the love and passion for great music and realizing there a lot of people out there that feel the same.

Cheers!