Geoff

Just had a quick look in my archives and although I can't remember it too well off the top of my head, it looks like I actually quite liked 'The Circle' too. Especially a few tunes. Nice. I definitely didn't enjoy 'What about now' onwards, though.

Sounding wonderful.

Wow, just absolute garbage.

Pretty decent. Gotta say, still definitely sounds like Talisman. I wonder if there'll be a new album to follow. Wouldn't hate that idea.

Awesome new song.

Absolutely 0% chance of anything like their first five and anyone who expects that would be a pure madman. I also don't believe there'd be anyone who expects that. But 25 years is a broad brushstroke. 'Crush' had a couple of cool songs, as did 'Bounce,' with 'The Distance' being a highly regarded BJ track... by myself, at least. 'Have a Nice Day' is easily their best album since 'These Days' are a far more than decent album. I even really love a couple of songs on 'Lost Highway' too... and had no idea Dann Huff produced so much of that album. After that it's not so pretty, but it's definitely not 25 years of absolute shit. Congratulations. Making sense makes sense.

I have to admit that kind of excites me. They can’t continue dishing out output in the style of their recent releases, tarnishing an absolutely brilliant legacy. It must end at some point. Not hoping or expecting anything like their 80s albums, but they released plenty of great songs from ‘These Days’ until ‘Lost highway,’ admittedly less with each release. But they proved there was life after the 80s in the Bon Jovi camp. Hoping they can recapture some faint piece of that. Though, without Sambora it’s not really “proper” Bon Jovi, is it?

It’s actually II that I do own and I think it is pretty solid, from memory.

Absolutely superb.

Yeah, I wasn’t expecting anything from the album, to be honest, and I’m also assuming that was due to a poor previous album, because I also recall digging these guys a few years back. So yeah, this does appear to be a return to form of sorts.

It is very cool. I should point out that obviously the album track doesn’t have all the talking through the second verse and chorus. Kinda weird for an official video, but the album track is just the song uninterrupted.

Yeah, it's definitely unfortunate. As noted, it's probably a massive deal for Olli within the confines of Finland, but certainly a bummer for fans of Reckless Love worldwide. I also think we will see Reckless Love return again one day, but it's obviously impossible to even guess any kind of timeline. Guess it's one we just have to wait out. Perhaps, Stefan, next time you cross paths with Olli at your local supermarket you could mention that we'd prefer if he returned to Reckless Love asap. And next time Popeda are at your house for a Sunday BBQ you might want to encourage them to call it a day, again?

Good, solid album. Not too many outright winners for me, but I did like 'The Wrong Side of Love.'

Interesting album. A fair chunk of these tunes do feel a bit like the b-sides to the last album, but the first two tracks are absolute beauties and there's enough others to make it a pretty good album, again, overall. 'Against The Winds' and 'Changing My Mind' are great, though. Special shout out to Joel Hoekstra too. Haven't specifically paid too much attention to him in the past, but his guitar work on this is quite a drawcard for me. And it's not the solos I'm talking about. Some of the guitar work in the verses and pre-choruses of my favourites songs on this album is particularly tasty.

At the end of last year I noticed a trend of far more female fronted releases compared to dude-fronted releases within in the realms of the music I enjoy, and this trend has continued into the first part of 2024. Decent EP from this band; Find The Beautiful 1 . Run 2 . Kill The Noise 3 . Find The Beautiful 4 . Barracuda 5 . Hope it Hurts 6 . Left Behind Favourite song is; They released another EP a year or two ago, didn't they? I think I preferred that one (if I can remember it, lol), but they're a solid band.

1 . Memorial 2 . Dramatic Day 3 . Break Down The Walls 4 . Running 5 . Lost In The Mist 6 Red Sky 7 . Desert Night 8 . Holy Roar 9 . Bright Lights 10 . Gonna Get Close To You There's definitely hints of what made that debut so appealing, but for me, this one misses the mark a bit. There's still some cool riffs and decent songs, but it's not done what the debut did for me back in the day.

I have an ill feeling I never got around to checking out their debut, but I'm going to do that asap. Countless bands try and fail at this style these days. I was trying to think of the last decent band and I think it was maybe Loud N Nasty... whenever that was. Seems like an age ago. Either way, a lot of bands make a meal of it and I kind of expected the same from this, but I must admit I was very pleasantly surprised. I wouldn't hate a slightly more polished product, but where they excel is the song writing. Very good stuff. That 'All night' tune above is my favourite on here. 'Manimal,' riff and all, is my second pick, but most songs are pretty damn good on this.

Another new album just released; s/t 1 . Dumbstruck Dumbf**k 2 . Sort Yourself Out 3 . This Is All My Fault 4 . We Need More Bricks 5 . Heartbreak Of The Century 6 . Go Outside! 7 Take Me With You 8 . They May Not Mean To (But They Do) 9 . It Won’t Be Like This Forever 10 . Moody Weirdo Solid, nice, pop punk. Not sure of their vintage these days, but one could probably argue it's a bit "childish" at times for an aging band, but it sounds like a million dollars are I dig some of the songs. It's tongue in cheek but still tacky, and either way, I dug this one most of all;

Expedition One 1 . Expedition One 2 . Aurora 3 . CtrIAltDel 4 . Cyberdome 5 . Blazing Skies 6 . Outer Worlds 7 . New Generation 8 . In My Dreams 9 . Disciples of the Stars 10 . Free 11 . Legendary 12 Paradise 13 . Sanctum of Light 14 . Utopia 15 . Take My Hand (Bonus Track) 16 . Hurricane (Bonus Track) Really solid album, for what it is. I think this one could gather a few fans on the forum if given a chance too. Favourite tune for me was;

Excellent album. A lot of great tunes, and a genuinely likely high finisher come the end of the year ranks, I think I can already say. 'Crash And Burn' is an absolute killer, and second highlight, for me, is 'Kryptonite.' 'Out Of The Blue,' 'Achille's Heel' and 'When We Were Young' not far off. Very nice stuff, and overall I think it's a better, more complete album than the debut... even if there's not quite a 'Stone Cold' on here.

Terrible band name, but yeah, pretty good album. Gotta say, I heard this blind and I assumed it was the current singer for Gotthard on vocals. Does Ronnie Romero usually sound like this? He's one of those dudes who's name I hear a lot, but I don't actually really know much about him. Assume he's just generally not on albums I like? But yeah, this sounds ten times better than anything Gotthard have released since Steve Lee's tragic passing. 'Love Will Find Its Way,' 'Undercover,' 'Without Your Love' and 'Reason To Live' are my picks.

Missed this first time around, but going to check out this album asap. They just released a new album and I want to love it, as I love their sound, but the songs are not as instant as those above. Or as catchy / hooky. A very fine band, though. Dust of the Human Shape 1 . Void Voyeur 2 . Panorama Daydream 3 Lesser Gods 4 . Gaps In The Armoire 5 . Seeker (Stretch The Night) 6 . Riding The Blindside 7 . Tomato Red 8 . Polyphonic Mind 9 . Bedsheet Tourniquet 10 . Dust Of The Human Shape 11 . In The House Of Leaves 12 . Death Confetti

Cool song on a surprisingly good album. To be straight up, I didn't find a bonafide keeper on it, but the entire album is on the cusp. Killer production and good, solid songs throughout. I hope people give it a chance because this should surprise some.

So turns out the album is better than the sampler suggested it might be. Which shouldn't be unexpected. As far as I recall, I've viewed every one of their albums more or less identically. A few tracks don't really click, but otherwise, there's generally enough melody in all their tunes to look past the stupid screams. And the the musicality / production is pretty sublime too. Plenty of keepers on this album, but my favourite song is;

Couldn't really get into this one, personally. Safe, pretty unspectacular. 'Let Me In' is a kind of nice tune, but the rest just quietly and safely plods by.