_{“23 Years” by Jeff Brown is one of two albums being released on 13th November by Mausoleum Records that I’ll be posting recommendations for and both kinda mark the outer edges of either end of what I’d consider to be my musical “comfort zone”. Both are albums where maybe not every track ticks the box for me; but there are more that do than don’t! That’s OK with me; but maybe that’s because I remember the days when you bought an album on the strength of one single you’d heard – long before the time when every track from an album was “streamed” weeks in advance or when you could browse iTunes or Amazon and decide which tracks to download!}

_{Anyway, enough of memory lane!! Jeff Brown has been a member of The Sweet, Wildfire, The Tremeloes, Cats In Space and many other bands and is now releasing a solo album that has been labelled “time honoured, classic melodic hard rock”. Anyone, who reads these album recommendations will know that anything too “melodic” or AOR is something that I can struggle with. There are quite a few tracks on this album that I really like though. The others are all great examples of the genre; just not really my thing. I played the track “Calling Me, Calling You” on the NI Rocks A-Z Show broadcast on 3rd November. Other favourites would be the title track “23 Years”, “Casino Royale”, “Fallen Angels” and “Once In Every Lifetime”.}

_{Jeff Brown provides lead vocals and bass on the album. He is joined by two guitarists from Warlock – Peter Szigeti and Niko Arvanitis – as well as Jurgen Reinert on drums and Gary Moberley on keyboards. There are also a number of guest appearances.}

_{For more info, including a more detailed account of Jeff Brown’s career since the late 70’s, check out http://www.jeffbrownrocks.com/}

_{About “NI Rocks Recommends”}

_{The simple idea behind “NI Rocks Recommends” is to acknowledge and promote some of the great music being submitted to Rock Radio NI. I'll not be giving marks or ratings or analyzing the tracks in great detail; just telling you something about the artist and the album. It’s a personal recommendation, not a traditional “review”!}

_{My musical tastes cover most things rock; from the not too melodic to the not too heavy. The albums that I’ll be recommending are merely those that I would buy myself and which you’ll be hearing played on my shows on Rock Radio NI.}

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