Soundchecks Rock and Pop Music Reviews

  • Welcome to SOUNDCHECKS.co.uk! Our current main features and reviews, covering the best in all types of music, are listed below... Subscribe to our emailing list for news about this site.
  • Top 10 Metal Albums 2009 In From Doom to Progressive, our resident critic Octavio Ramos Jr presents an overview of last year's finest heavy metal releases. This top 10 listing spans the whole genre of 2009's best metal albums, including The Devil You Know by Heaven And Hell, Blue Record by Baroness, Those Whom The Gods Detest by Nile, and Megadeth's Endgame.
  • Beach Boys US pop's official spokesmen for surfing, cars, and girls (perhaps not in that order?) The Beach Boys were international hit makers whose 1960s' music swept the world, and their story of summer continues today. British reviewers Andrew Darlington and J.C. Hartley comment on a couple of recent DVD releases... An American Band and Summer Dreams.
  • Dave Stewart What is Platinum Weird? Who is Erin Grace? Dave Stewart has moved on from The Eurythmics - back into the past. Re-launching a band he was part of in 1973... or is he? Was he..? Like the album title, is it all Make Believe? Is Platinum Weird Dave Stewart's Gorillaz? Andrew Darlington gets some answers...
  • Heri Joensen Octavio Ramos Jr interviews Heri Joensen, vocalist and guitarist with prog Viking folk-metal band Týr, and hears about the band's fascination with Norse mythology, their musical influences, and life on the Faroe Islands. Read our reviews of Tyr's CD Eric The Red, and concept album Ragnarok, a tale about the end of the world...
  • Tall Poppies Australian twins Catherine and Susan Hay have a charismatic vibe as singer-songwriters Tall Poppies, with rich melodies and wonderfully lilting vocals, they exude beguiling charm and quiet sophistication. Christopher Geary reviews these lovely ladies' unique debut album Thursday, and we catch the Poppies' marvellous live set for Alienation, at Ryde Theatre on the Isle of Wight.


Edited by Tony Lee
for PIGASUS Press