If you ever hear someone whinging about how rock is dead and there are no good new bands anymore, please feel free to lean over and give them a slap! Or alternatively point them in the direction of Northern Ireland. Maybe it’s something in the water, or maybe in the beer and whiskey, but we do produce some great rock n roll bands! The latest album that you should add to your collection is the second release from the Screaming Eagles. “Stand Up and Be Counted” was released through Off Yer Rocka Records on 13th July. Add that to other releases, in just the first six months of this year, by The Answer, Trucker Diablo, Gasoline Outlaws, Sinocence and Midnight Transmission (to name a few) plus upcoming releases from Stormzone and “Million Dollar Reload” (presuming that a new band emerges and releases the album that was recorded) and I reckon there’s no arguing that rock is alive and living very happily in our wee country. Rock bands these days may not be making millions, or even thousands (unfortunately for them), but they do make great music!
Adrian and Kyle from the Screaming Eagles were guests on the Friday NI Rocks Show recently - http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/interviews/2067-ni-rocks-interview-with-screaming-eagles-july-2015.html - and talked about recording the new album at Railway Studios in Lisburn. They also talked about the first single and video from the album – “Save Me”. This was released as an EP along with a cover of “Good Times” (featuring a duet with Pontus Snibb from Bonafide) and five live tracks recorded at Hard Rock Hell in 2014. I’d also recommend that you go and buy that!
The Screaming Eagle’s debut album “From The Flames” was outstanding (and one of my first recommendations back in Jan 2013 - http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/back-stage/music-reviews/1139-ni-rocks-recommends-screaming-eagles-qfrom-the-flamesq.html ), but “Stand Up And Be Counted” has definitely lived up to expectations. All 10 tracks are excellent, but some stand-out tracks for me are “Ready For The Fall”, “Save Me”, “Bow Down To The Blues” and “Screaming Eagles”.
Check out https://www.facebook.com/screamingeaglesrock
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 he 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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