Released 45 years ago (4th August 1975) this album marked Ritchie Blackmore’s departure from Deep Purple, after he became more disillusioned during recent recordings and tours.  Allegedly he disliked the funkier elements of Purples later songs and wanted to return to a hard rock approach including suggesting the song Black Sheep of the Family as … Continue reading Classic Rock Albums: Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow

On 25th July 1980 AC/DC brought out their seventh studio album Back in Black.  This was their first album since the tragic death of singer Bon Scott who was replaced by former Geordie singer, Brian Johnson.  There was a lot of pressure on the band.  The death of Bon Scott when the band had reached … Continue reading Classic Rock Albums: Back in Black

While searching for the classic album of the week a couple of weeks ago I realised that back in July 5th, 1984 American singer/ songwriter Billy Squier released his fourth album – ‘Signs of Life’.  When this album was released Billy Squier was at the peak of his career opening for bands like Whitesnake and … Continue reading When life imitates art … the video that killed the radio star…

Rainbow’s second album, Rising, is often regarded as one of the best rock albums of all time, with Kerrang readers voting it the greatest heavy metal album of all time (in 1981).  Featuring Ritchie Blackmore on guitar, Ronnie James Dio (born this week on 10th July 1942) on vocals and Cozy Powell on drums alongside … Continue reading Classic Rock Albums: Rising

Born this week (3rd July) in 1952, Andy Fraser was the original bass player with classic rock band Free.  After releasing two albums which failed to chart, their third album ‘Fire and Water’ highlighted the songwriting abilities and musicianship of the band.  Released in June 1970, this album was a huge success largely due to … Continue reading Classic Rock Albums: Fire and Water

Released on 27th June 1981, No Sleep ‘til Hammersmith was Motorhead’s first live album. It reached no.1 in the UK album charts, capitalising on the preceding success of the St Valentine’s Day Massacre (with Girlschool) and Ace of Spades.  However, Lemmy believed its success was due to a building anticipation from their fan base for … Continue reading Classic Rock Albums: No Sleep ’til Hammersmith