Hello peoples and welcome to another edition of Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week, where the vibes are good and the tunes are hot. Thanks to everyone who voted in our last poll, and below are the artistes that made it into your top three (in reverse order):
3. Rickard Brorsson - Fly Bird
2. The Raconteurs - Sunday Driver
1. Girish and The Chronicles - Rock the Highway
Congratulations to Girish And The Chronicles! And to The Raconteurs and Rickard Brorsson, our second and third place winners. Now, who will sway your vote this week? We've got a delectable selection of big cheese and newer faces, so get stuck in and vote for the one that brings you the greatest joy - right after you've had a spin of last week's first prize winners and their winning, feel-good single Rock The Highway...
Gary Clark Jr - This Land
Politically charged new video and title track from Texas’s foremost 21st century blues hotshot. This Land mixes stylish blues rock licks with hip hop sensibilities and lyrics that tap into deep-rooted racial division. It makes for a powerful listen (not to mention a compelling watch), featuring one of Clark Jr’s most commanding vocal performances to date. Check out the full album on March 1.
Massive - Long Time Coming
The premise of this release from Aussie shitkickers Massive reads thus: “Over the years the band have met some serious super fans of rock n roll. On Dec 2nd the road dogs from Oz traveled hundreds of miles to the coastal town of Evans Head Australia to play the loudest house party around. These are the results.” If this rollicking burst of bullshit-free fun is any indication, we’d say it was a darn good night...
Glitter Wizard - Spell So Easy
The first single from new album (and how’s this for a title?) Opera Villains, which is out in April. Peddling addictive weird shit for a decade now - psych, glam, metal and prog are all terms that could all be applied to their rock’n’roll kaleidoscope, including this tune - they’re the sound of all your hallucinogenic 70s-based dreams coming true.
Dream Theater - Fall Into The Light
Even the most technically dexterous prog-metal masterminds just need to rock out sometimes. Which is exactly what Dream Theater have done on this deliciously riffy beefcake of a tune from upcoming new album Distance Over Time. It’s still DT, complete with the twiddly flourishes and comic book superhero sensibilities, but driven by a straight-ahead hookiness that reflects their classic rock and metal roots.
Tim Bowness - I Go Deeper
No-Man’s Tim Bowness has just released this luscious first cut from fifth solo album, Flowers At The Scene, which is out in March. “This was one of the last tracks written for the album,” Bowness comments. “I co-wrote it last summer with Italian musician Stefano Panunzi for use in a film. The original is in the more romantic tradition of no-man (and Porcupine Tree at its most lush), but I heard something very different in the piece so set about accentuating the differences between the sections and completely changing the instrumentation.”
John J Presley - Riders
His new album, As The Night Draws In, comes out next week but we’re getting a headstart with this bleak yet beautifully cinematic mesh of garage rawness and the darkest countrified blues. Painting a picture of a lone rider making his way across some desolate wild western expanse, it’s arresting stuff.
Gary Hoey feat Eric Gales - Under The Rug
Bluesy Boston singer/guitar slinger Gary Hoey almost became Ozzy Osborne’s guitarist (Zakk Wylde got the gig), but ended up doing pretty well making 20 quality records under his own steam. This duet with fellow six-stringer Eric Gales is the first taste of his upcoming album, Neon Highway Blues. If this is anything to go by, we’re in for a world of funked up blues rockin’ good stiff.
Ataurus Minor - Starman
It would have been David Bowie’s birthday last week, so Spokane-based muso Matthew Joseph Hughes (also the brains behind Atari Ferrari and Automatic Shoes) celebrated with this sparkling, note-perfect acoustic cover of one of his greatest hits. Complete with actual stars and a very snazzy jacket, it’ll give you all the feels - which, on a January Monday, is no bad thing.
