Fee, where have you been?!! Fronting The Tubes reunion shows mostly… but it doesn’t matter – he’s back! And Richard Marx is with him once again. The singer/songwriter/producer is the foundation that this record is built upon, with a MVP performance delivered.

Popping up for a cameo is Michael Landau and Matt Scannell on a couple of tracks.

For physical collectors the package is a flimsy cardboard thing that you can barely pull the CD out of. My pet hate without doubt.

Musically though there are no disappointments here. From the opening hard rock of Faker to the anthemic masterpiece How Dare You (classic Fee), to the funk-riff-rock of Don’t Want To Pull The Trigger onwards through the album via a modern rock ballad in Say Goodbye, a lyrically biting Promise Land, the moody Man Of The World (more classic Fee) and three more classy rock songs.

Only 9 tracks here over 33 minutes, but there isn’t a filler in sight or a minute wasted. This is all Fee Waybill at his very best and Richard Marx does a superb job producing it and co-writing all tracks with Fee.

Sharp, snappy, loud – everything you could wish for from a Fee Waybill record. Another essential purchase here I dare say.

The mighty Jeff Scott Soto celebrates his birthday week with the release of a brand-new solo album that seems him paired for the first time with Frontiers in-house go to guy Alessandro Del Vecchio. That will draw some automatic presumptions over the sound and style of this record, which I must immediately dispel.

This is not a project release that has Jeff phoning in his vocals. Fans of Jeff will already know that he doesn’t put his name on anything that doesn’t include his heavy involvement, and this is even more true of a record that bares his name.

Tasked with production and music, Alessandro has worked in partnership with Jeff, who wrote all the lyrics and additional melodies. And the in-house band isn’t the usual ADV crew, with long-time Soto/JSS drummer Edu Cominato taking command of the kit and really belting out a powerful performance.

What I love about this record – and what I told Jeff after he sent me the album some months ago - was that I thought Alessandro had done a superb job in crafting a set of songs that play like a JSS Greatest Hits record. Throughout the record you hear parts of Jeff’s career, solo as well as a taste of Talisman, Yngwie Malmsteen and even WET. I can hear parts of Lost In The Translation, Prism and Damage Control.

Wide Awake (In My Dreamland) sounds like the best of all parts of Jeff’s career, wrapped up in a seriously well produced and sounding package. On top of that, Jeff himself sounds as fresh as ever.

This is a classic Jeff Scott Soto record.

To showcase just a few of the songs, the album opens with one of the best solo tracks of Jeff’s career is the Talisman sounding Someone To Love, this is just everything fans love about Jeff.

Paper Wings again heads back to the heavy groove of Talisman, mixed with some Yngwie guitar hero stylings.

The heavy but melodic Love Will Find A Way has groove, funk and driving attitude that wraps up several eras in one song.

Between The Lines is a superb AOR ballad while the dark and heavy Wide Awake (In My Dreamland) is almost at the opposite end of Jeff’s spectrum.

No filler, just winner after winner, with the inspired paring of ADV and JSS really delivering for fans. As already stated, this is the best of JSS comprising of 11 new songs and another killer live set as a 10 track bonus disc.

Essential!

Proof that everything happens eventually, here’s a brand-new AC/DC album, designed to drop some rock n roll healing on a shitty year. Could this be the last ever new AC/DC studio album? Never bet against accadacca but given it has been 6 years since the last album, it’s entirely possible.

Having cranked the contents of ‘PWR/UP’ several times in quick succession, I wouldn’t say the band have delivered a career defining record befitting a grand exit, but they have exceeded expectations to deliver a very credible late-career record that I think will please most fans.

It is true that the guys could possibly have written this album in their sleep and there is no deviation from the style or delivery of the last several records, but there is something very comforting about new AC/DC tunes.

Twelve tracks at 41 minutes in length should give an accurate summary of the contents here. I am comfortable stating that the first 4 tracks are amongst their best in many a year. Realize is a superb opener, with Rejection, the single Shot In The Dark and Through The Mists Of Time all delivering great riffs and hooks.

Elsewhere it’s a pretty consistent run. Only track 8, Wild Reputation, drags significantly for me.

I do wonder how good this would have been with someone like Bob Rock or Kevin Shirley at the helm. The lack of urgency and a harder hitting sound is what I think it missing from latter day records.

Brian Johnson sounds as good as ever, which I’m really pleased about. He’s one of the good guys.

God bless AC/DC, may their reign over metal heads until the end of time itself.

Normally anything with the name Magnus Karlsson attached to the credits would be an instant blind purchase. No questions asked! His output with Allen/Lande, Codex, Starbreaker and his own Free Fall project has been nothing short of exemplary. 

Now we have The Ferrymen, a project with vocalist Ronnie Romero (Lords Of Black, Rainbow), together with drummer Mike Terrana. I struggled with this from day one. And I kept at it because its Mangnus Karlsson right? But it didn’t take. Now after a month without listening, I’m again playing at maximum volume and really soaking up that monster guitar and rhythm section Magnus so easily delivers. But the vocals still aren’t doing it for me.

I’m used to a warmer, more melodic tone to accompany Magnus’ work. But more pointedly – I’m really still failing to connect with the songs themselves. The opening bombastic anthem End Of The Road is cool; Still Standing Up has a good vocal melody and the ballad One Heart certainly has impact.Tracks like Darkest Hour have the ingredients there, but just don’t have the warmth of past material.

 The songs just aren’t there and the vocals leave me cold I’m afraid to say. There’s no issue at all with the musical performances or production, it is just a project that looked good on paper, but failed to deliver in reality.