Iron Maiden - Death Or Glory
Iron Maiden’ll be bringing their spectacular show to Download this weekend, and you know what that means: galloping basslines, a 14-foot-monster, lots of pyro, and a swift trade in Trooper at the bar. It seems like it was ever thus, and we’re not complaining. This video, apparently assembled from footage accumulated during The Book Of Souls tour, suggests that the souvenir DVD won’t be too far away.
Jeff Beck - Live In The Dark
Mr Beck says new album Loud Hailer is “a statement about some of the nasty things I see going on in the world today”, but Live In The Dark is no love-and-peace 60s throwback, and sounds 100% 2016. Bonus fact: singer Rosie Bones, formerly of BIGkids and Bones (that’s two bands, not one) is the daughter of TV conservationist and former Goodie Bill Odie.
Left Lane Cruiser - The Pusher
Originally released for Record Store Day (where it received the gold vinyl “treatment”), Left Lane Cruiser’s chugging, soulful cover of the Steppenwolf classic is coming to an album format near you next month, appearing on the band’s upcoming Beck In Black long-player. God damn the pusher man, indeed.
Greenleaf - Tyrants Tongue
With thunderous riffing and a chorus as uplifting as the express elevator at the Empire State Building, Tyrant’s Tongue finds Swedish stoners Greenleaf in admirably buoyant mood. Bonus fact: the cover of Greenleaf’s current Rise Above The Meadow album features a bear in the woods, but it still doesn’t provide a definitive answer that age-old question.
Deap Vally - Smile More
For a band who met in crochet class (true story, we’re told) , Deap Vally sure make a surprisingly uncivilised racket, joining the ever-expanding ranks of sleazy blues duos and singing of sniffing glue and meeting strangers in bars. Terrific stuff.
Goo Goo Dolls - So Alive
Slicker than than oil spill and smoother than a baby Bing Crosby, Goo Goo Dolls’ new single has the kind of anthemic chorus that’s sure to alert TV producers on the lookout for songs to soundtrack epic, end-of-tournament sporting montages. This could be the surprise hit of Euro 2016, although we’re tipping Portugal’s Andre Gomes.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - We Turn Red
Loved and loathed in equal measure, the Chili Peppers are back with the kind of thing they do so well when they do it, whatever you think: slightly melancholy, widescreen funk with lyrics that baffle and a rather mournful demeanour. Wonder what Nick Cave thinks?
Queen + Adam Lambert - Don’t Stop Me Now
Meanwhile, down on the Isle Of Wight this weekend, Queen + Adam Lambert will be prancing their way through a singles catalogue that’s as good as any in popular music, and while Lambert might not process the astonishing charisma of Freddie Mercury — or the vocal riches — he does a really good job of filling in where no-one can, and there’s a level on high camp on show we’re convinced Freddie would have loved. The set will be a triumph.
Christopher Shayne - Give A Damn
A roaring beast that meshes hard rock cacophony with true Nashville craft, Give A Damn sounds like Big And Rich crossed with Clutch, and very good it is too. Christopher tells us he’s influenced by Alice Cooper and Waylon Jennings, but that he’s very much his own man. “I am just who I am!”, as the track proclaims.
