Not to be confused with the platinum-selling glam metal miscreants active in the late 1980s, the original Skid Row blazed a much overlooked trail some 20 years prior, as one of Ireland's earliest contributors to the hard rock field. Skid Row began to coalesce in Dublin, Ireland in October 1967, around vocalist Philip Lynott, bassist Brendan "Brush" Shiels, drummer Noel Bridgeman, and guitarist Bernard Cheevers, who would be replaced the following January by a 16-year-old prodigy hailing from Belfast, north of the border, named Gary Moore. The quartet threw itself into playing pubs and working men's clubs so as to develop their chops and repertoire, eventually recording a 1969 single for Irish label Songs Records entitled "New Places, Old Faces."

Sinuous rhythms, conversational singing, and, most of all, intricate, bluesy guitar playing characterize Cale's performances of his own songs. This compilation, covering 11 years of recording, includes the songs Eric Clapton, who borrowed heavily from Cale's style in his 1970s solo work, made famous: "After Midnight" and "Cocaine".

Although released in 1971, the debut self-titled album by Spirit of John Morgan was actually recorded two years earlier, before the spirit of the '60s dissipated into the excesses of the '70s. But even back in 1969, the British quartet were already fish out of water, gasping for R&B in a Technicolor age of psychedelia. So they created their own, an entire album's worth of strong, shadowed, R&B numbers underlit by magnificent musicianship and powerful rhythms. The set opener, a menacing cover of Graham Bond's "I Want You," is a case in point, stalker-like in its intensity, with John Morgan's organ conjuring up a phantom of the opera from which there is no escape.

You might call Jimmy D. Lane a natural born bluesman. His father was the legendary Jimmy Rogers, who Jimmy D. shared the stage with for many years before recording on his own. Lane can play it '50s-style, as he did with his father and on Eomot RaSun's album, but he can also turn it up and rock out with any of the finest guitar slingers. For It's Time, Lane tackles a program of original tunes (except for one), with the aid of Double Trouble, Stevie Ray Vaughan's rhythm section. These guys bring decades of experience to their blues rhythms, and know exactly how to support a player like Lane. Keyboard duties are split between Celia Ann Price on B3 and piano, and Mike Finnigan on the B3. In addition, the album was produced and engineered by the one and only Eddie Kramer, who adds crisp, clear production values and some very subtle studio tricks (check out the panning in the slide solo on "Stuck in the Middle"). As a writer, Lane sticks close to standard subject matter "What Makes People" is certainly a close cousin of Willie Dixon's "The Same Thing," but the variety of tempos and grooves and great playing all around keep the album exciting.

Power guitarist Gary Moore's Live at Monsters of Rock is a dream come true for every guitar freak out there. Teamed with his trio of Cass Lewis and Darrin Mooney, Moore turns it up to 14 and powers his way through razored, crunching covers of the Yardbirds' "Shapes of Things" and Free's "Wishing Well" before delving into his own rather voluminous catalog. Performances of the riff-laden "Rectify," the bluesed-out "Stand Up," and the completely adrenaline-fueled metal of "Out in the Fields" take this over the top. But the final track, a deeply moving version of "Pariesienne Walkways," is a fitting tribute to the tune's original vocalist and former Thin Lizzy bandmate Phil Lynott. There is nothing but pure power here – no restraint, no mixing, no overdubs, nothing but pure Monsters of Rock power. This is the guitar record Moore had been promising his entire career.

The Boneshakers are back with Live To Be This, their 11th studio album and their most electrifying release yet. Set to drop on renowned Blues Label Gulf Coast Records, this album brings the band's signature Blues & Soul energy to soaring new heights, fueled by the powerhouse vocals of Jenny Langer and the masterful guitar work of Randy Jacobs.

The legendary Robin Trower continues his prolific period with the release of a brand-new studio album, Come And Find Me. The record will be released on 25 April via Provogue. As he reaches his eighth decade, with a lifetime of accolades and a seminal body of music behind him, Robin Trower is still chasing the biggest high he knows. It always starts the same way, with a road-scuffed Fender Stratocaster and a revved-up Marshall amplifier, those skilful fingers exploring the fretboard until a riff sticks and a new song ignites. And from the cultural flashpoint of Sixties London with Procol Harum, through 1974’s stadium-filling Bridge Of Sighs, right up to this year’s acclaimed Come And Find Me, it’s these addictive moments of creation that have kept the guitarist vital, relevant and contemporary while his peers trade on past glories.