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Category: CD Reviews

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MUSIC REVIEW: OF VIRTUE – Sinner [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: OF VIRTUE – Sinner [EP]

| 13 September 2022 | Reply

Label: Arising Empire Release Date: August 12, 2022 Rating: 94% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur According to a recent press release: “Michigan metalcore band Of Virtue have announced their upcoming EP, titled Sinner. it arrives on August 12. What began as a humble, promising metalcore act born from the blistering chill and barren fields of mid-Michigan has continued to […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: EAT YOUR HEART OUT – Can’t Stay Forever

MUSIC REVIEW: EAT YOUR HEART OUT – Can’t Stay Forever

| 7 September 2022 | Reply

Label: Fearless Records Release Date: September 9, 2022 Rating: 92% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur According to a recent press release: “Everything changes. As days roll into years, we grow and transform with each passing season. Eat Your Heart Out creatively harness this perpetual forward motion in their music. The Newcastle, Australia band —Caitlin Henry [vocals], Will Moore […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: DAVID PAICH – Forgotten Toys

MUSIC REVIEW: DAVID PAICH – Forgotten Toys

| 18 August 2022 | Reply

Label: The Players Group / Mascot Label Group Release Date: August 19, 2022 Rating: 95% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur According to a recent press release: “If you’ve listened to music in the last 50 years, including any of the iconic artists above, you were hearing David Paich. Music is the soundtrack of our lives, and […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: JODI ESSEX – Fearless [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: JODI ESSEX – Fearless [EP]

| 10 August 2022 | Reply

Label: 4031 Records Release Date: July 8, 2022 Rating: 95% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur Forget EVERYTHING you ever heard, learned, or misconceived about Christian Rock.  It’s rock with a message.  All great music has a message… sometimes it is personal, other times it can be misguided, and with Jodi Essex it is spiritual.  But it […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: NELSON – Greatest Hits (And Near Misses)

MUSIC REVIEW: NELSON – Greatest Hits (And Near Misses)

| 10 August 2022 | Reply

Label: UMG Recordings Release Date: July 8, 2022 Rating: 97% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur Reviewing live albums or greatest hits packages are not my normal fare.  While I love hits albums for the easy access to the more well-known tracks, you often miss some great uncovered gems that radio, the label, or casual fans dismissed.  […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: CAPITAL THEATRE – A Hero’s Journey

MUSIC REVIEW: CAPITAL THEATRE – A Hero’s Journey

| 29 July 2022 | Reply

Label: Reslau Records Release Date: June 24, 2022 Rating: 99% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur When recently asked to describe the new music, frontman Adam Stevenson told me in a recent Dirty Dozen installment: “Our debut album A Hero’s Journey is a concept album based on the hero’s journey archetype coined by Joseph Campbell, so for lovers of […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: PROJECTED – Hypoxia

MUSIC REVIEW: PROJECTED – Hypoxia

| 26 July 2022 | Reply

Label: Rat Pack Records Release Date: June 24, 2022 Rating: 93% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur It seems every five years, Projected unleashes new music.  After the double album opus released in 2017, I feared we may have to wait 10 years, but the pandemic allowed the band to crank through some new music for us […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: ALICIA BLUE – Inner Child Work [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: ALICIA BLUE – Inner Child Work [EP]

| 14 July 2022 | Reply

Label: Magnetic Moon Release Date: July 15, 2022 Rating: 94% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur Another fresh and new to me artist Alicia Blue is dropping an EP with five great songs that spread her musical talent across the various tracks in different ways.  Disc opener “Dog Days in LA” is more of a singer-songwriter style […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: THE LICKERISH QUARTET – Threesome, Vol. 3 [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: THE LICKERISH QUARTET – Threesome, Vol. 3 [EP]

| 25 June 2022 | Reply

Label: Stranger Danger Records and Tapes Release Date: May 20, 2022 Rating: 98% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur Wrapping up the trio of discs that make up The Lickerish Quartet’s Threesome, Vol. 3 comes at us with four more slabs of goodness that not only build on the other tracks, but help tie them all together […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: CINEMA STEREO – Cinema Stereo

MUSIC REVIEW: CINEMA STEREO – Cinema Stereo

| 24 June 2022 | Reply

Label: Independent Release Date: June 24, 2022 Rating: 98% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur If nothing else, 2022 has introduced me to some new artists – new in general or just new to me.  The former is the case of Orlando, FL’s Cinema Stereo who are dropping their debut release this week after delivering three singles […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: ROZZI – Berry [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: ROZZI – Berry [EP]

Label: BMG Release Date: April 22, 2022 Rating: 100% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur Another EP rolled across my email during tax season and planted itself in my ears and has remained there waiting for a proper listen and review to flow from my speakers, through my hands, and across the web.  This six-track collection has different […]

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CD REVIEW: ROGUE MALE – HARD CASE

CD REVIEW: ROGUE MALE – HARD CASE

| 4 May 2022 | Reply

CD REVIEW: ROGUE MALE – HARD CASE RM2K MUSIC 2021 Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar 85% It’s been a long time since Rogue Male burned brightly but all-too-briefly in the mid ‘80s and delivered two essential albums, First Visit and Animal Man. Frontman Jim Lyttle recruited Bernie Tormé, Robin Guy and John McCoy for a 2009 […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: STONE BROKEN – Revelation

MUSIC REVIEW: STONE BROKEN – Revelation

| 30 April 2022 | Reply

Label: Spinefarm Records Release Date: April 15, 2022 Rating: 96% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur According to a recent press release, for their latest release Stone Broken decided it was time to turn up the volume — to build on past glories with the intention of making everything bigger, bolder, and the best version of Stone Broken there has been. Disc opener “Black Sunrise” […]

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SINGLE REVIEW: THE VOLCANICS – Why’d Ya Do That?

SINGLE REVIEW: THE VOLCANICS – Why’d Ya Do That?

| 24 April 2022 | Reply

SINGLE REVIEW: THE VOLCANICS – Why’d Ya Do That? Independent April 2022 Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar 95% Let’s not mince words: the sound of a top-notch rock n’ roll band taking flight into the stratosphere and doing what they do is a beautiful, transcendent thing, and there are few who do it as well as […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: BRYAN ADAMS – So Happy It Hurts

MUSIC REVIEW: BRYAN ADAMS – So Happy It Hurts

| 11 March 2022 | Reply

Label: Badams Music Limited / BMG Records Release Date: March 11, 2022 Rating: 96% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur There are artists that deliver release after release, maintaining their musical vision regardless of the musical currents, tides, and sometimes floods, that wash over the world.  Bryan Adams is one of those performers.  From my first exposure in […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: SOPHIA MARIE – Foreigner [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: SOPHIA MARIE – Foreigner [EP]

| 11 March 2022 | Reply

Label: Independent Release Date: March 11, 2022 Rating: 83% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur Sometimes you need to just let go and enjoy something fun that strays from your normal musical avenue, even if it just seems to deviate.  The upcoming EP from Sophia Marie is one of those times.  The EP is short, but strikes hard […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: SYLVAINE – Nova

MUSIC REVIEW: SYLVAINE – Nova

| 5 March 2022 | Reply

Label: Season Of Mist Release Date: March 4, 2022 Rating: 89% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur With the day job keeping me busy in the office, I have had a lot of time to throw on some releases I wouldn’t normally check out.  After listening to the latest offering from Sylvaine, I had to revisit the disc […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: IGNESCENT – Ascension [EP]

MUSIC REVIEW: IGNESCENT – Ascension [EP]

| 5 March 2022 | Reply

Label: Independent Release Date: March 4, 2022 Rating: 88% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur I am always a big fan of a heavy bottom end swirled with lofty vocals and great six-string work, especially if done correctly.  The new EP from Ignescent points in that direction.  Disc opener and recent single “Remnant” is a head on display […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: IVY RYANN – A Nonaggressive Extreme Violation Of Boundaries

MUSIC REVIEW: IVY RYANN – A Nonaggressive Extreme Violation Of Boundaries

| 4 March 2022 | Reply

Label: Independent Release Date: March 4, 2022 Rating: 90% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur You never know when a certain release might strike you, even when it is out in left field from your normal musical fodder.  The debut from Ivy Ryann is one such release, as this one shouldn’t have struck a chord, but that it […]

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MUSIC REVIEW: PRISCILLA BLOCK – Welcome To The Block Party

MUSIC REVIEW: PRISCILLA BLOCK – Welcome To The Block Party

| 12 February 2022 | Reply

Label: UMG Records / InDent Records Release Date: February 11, 2022 Rating: 93% Reviewer: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur Good music is good music and if it gets you singing, dancing, and overall enjoying, it rocks… regardless of the actual genre of the music you are listening to.  The same can be said about the debut full-length release […]

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