Rock

This month we review: Jones, Wasuremono, Keywest and Hackney Colliery Band

This month we review: The Skints, Matthew Edwards And The Unfortunates, The Cranberries and Pretty Archie

This month we review: Jon Amor, Delicate Steve, Crows and Nick Waterhouse

This month we review: Raoul Vignal, Me And My Friends, Michael Blyth & The Wild Braid, & Frankie Davies

This month we review: KT Tunstall, John Butler Trio, Ian William Craig, and Advance Base

This month we review: Protoje, Tom Bailey, Jack Carty And Gus Gardiner, and C Diab.

If only for his relentless persistence in the face of all the evidence that the world doesn’t need this sort of thing anymore, it’s hard not to harbour a sneaking affection, maybe even admiration, for Meat Loaf. A huge drum beat leads into a portentously cacophonous orchestral intro, after which it’s business as usual – double-scoops of the Jim Steinman patented blend of bar-room boogie mixed with gothic operatic bombast, decorated with tongue-in-cheek lyrics like, ‘Next time you stab me in the back you better do it to my face’. Steinman, however, isn’t involved so the whole thing’s just a knowing pastiche. Still, as a wiser man than me once said, this is the sort of thing you’ll like if you like this sort of thing.