Mark Diggins, Author at The Rockpit

ALBUM REVIEW: Denman – Raw Deal

13 January 2020 Mark Diggins

There are always a few releases that we just don’t get time to review over the course of the year and before the floodgates open on 2020 there are a few I’d like to […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Dolls Raiders – Free Yourself

12 January 2020 Mark Diggins

Starting off with an alarm clock going off before a crushing riff and then a shuffling groove you could be forgiven for thinking we’re back on the Strip in the late 80’s and indeed whilst […]

EP REVIEW: The Weapons of Anew 2019 Tour Special EP

11 January 2020 Mark Diggins

New Jersey-based melodic metallists Weapons of Anew have a new EP out cunningly titled the ‘2019 Tour Special EP.’ Recorded live on July 30th, 2019 from the Palace Theatre in Greensburg, PA, the five-track release […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Conny Bloom – Game, Set, Bloom!

10 January 2020 Mark Diggins

Electric Boys frontman Conny Bloom is back with a new solo album sung entirely in Swedish. “Bloom born as Ulf Conny Blomqvist in Stockholm 1964, learned his trade in bands such as Road Rats and […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Gun – The Best of Gun R3loaded

9 January 2020 Mark Diggins

OK so I know we don’t review ‘Best Of’s’ but there are always exceptions to any rule and there’s few reasons in the case – Gun just happen to be in my short list […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Paul Di’Anno – Hell Over Waltrop: Live in Germany

8 January 2020 Mark Diggins

OK shoot me now, I know the world loves Iron Maiden but for me it’s those first two albums that have always resonated most with me. I remember being a kid and thinking that […]

EP REVIEW: Marvel – Marvellous

7 January 2020 Mark Diggins

I really enjoyed Marvel’s ‘Guilty Pleasures’ covers album from last year and so to see the ‘barons of rock’ back so soon with new material is great even if it is just the four […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Magnum – The Serpent Rings

6 January 2020 Mark Diggins

From the opening bars of opener ‘Where Are You Eden?’ you can tell Tony Clarkin is particularly inspired as Magnum his baby since the early 70’s see in the new decade. It’s a solid […]

EP REVIEW: Felony Case – Strangers Give More

5 January 2020 Mark Diggins

At just four tracks (five if you count the alternate edit of ‘Whiskey Night’) Greece’s Felony Case’s debut is one that shows promise but doesn’t yet appear to be the definitive article. Opener ‘Still Not […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Re-Machined – Wheels Of Time

4 January 2020 Mark Diggins

Nice ‘back to basics’ Rock and Roll always sounds good in the right hands and for all its lack of sophistication its hopefully more than compensated for by it soul. Re-Machined aren’t a band seeking […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Dirty Shirley – Dirty Shirley

3 January 2020 Mark Diggins

This is an interesting one at the start of the year – the impressive pipes of Animal Drives’ Dino Jelusic plus the guitar of George Lynch creating Hard Rock in the style of vintage Rainbow […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Work Of Art – Exhibits

31 December 2019 Mark Diggins

I love the days after putting out the Best of the year lists when I get deluged with comments and e-mails telling me what I’ve missed. the truth is that The Rockpit gets sent about […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Magpie Salute – High Water II

28 December 2019 Mark Diggins

There’s a rich psychedelic swirl that sells around the opening track ‘Sooner or Later’ and a stomp and groove to ‘Gimme Something’ that give High Water II the most satisfying of openings. This is […]

MARK ROCKPIT’S ‘BEST OF HARD ROCK’ 2019

25 December 2019 Mark Diggins

It’s hard to compare apples with oranges let alone bananas so this year we’re not even going to try. This year our ‘Best of’ lists will feature Hard Rock, Metal and Blues categories picked by […]

OFF THE RECORD: Eric Mårtensson – Eclipse

24 December 2019 Mark Diggins

Sometimes we get a little time at the end of interviews to cover off some of the questions readers have sent in, or simply just to ask a few random questions we’d not normally ask […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Collateral – Collateral

24 December 2019 Mark Diggins

The February 2020 release makes me feel like an insider having already lived with this album for a few weeks now a good 120 days before the release that has already been preceded by […]

ALBUM REVIEW: The Babes – Dive Bars and Muscle Cars

22 December 2019 Mark Diggins

When talking about Adelaide’s The Babes I once said… “Some bands have that indefinable ‘something’ – an attitude and a belief that both transcends the music they make and also helps define it. The Babes […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Revolution Saints – Rise

21 December 2019 Mark Diggins

Revolution Saints have returned with their third album and when you listen to opening track ‘When The Heartache is Gone’ you’d be forgiven for thinking that Revolution Saints had turned into Journey so strong […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Piston – Piston

21 December 2019 Mark Diggins

It’s hard to sit here in the same year as an album is released and contemplate if it will be one of the greats, but seven years in the making and many gigs and many […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Buffalo Crows – Picnic At Buffalo Rock

20 December 2019 Mark Diggins

2016’s ‘Bovonic Empire’ was a great release from Buffalo Crows, but turning this one over in the hands from the artwork you’d be pushed to realise that ‘Picnic at Buffalo Rock’ is by that […]

ALBUM REVIEW – Raddar – Transmission

19 December 2019 Mark Diggins

Get ready for a seventeen song time-capsule. Texan Rockers Randee Lee, Razar King and Gary Priest have unearthed some old recordings from 40 years ago that are finally seeing the light of day on […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Kings County – Kings County

19 December 2019 Mark Diggins

Every band these days needs to grab your attention fast and Kings County’s rather short bio is bith unusual and intriguing… “Originally from Long Island, NY, Orlando, FL-based KINGS COUNTY creates hard-hitting rock n’ roll […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Albatross Overdrive – Ascendant

19 December 2019 Mark Diggins

Now there’s Stoner Rock and there’s Stoner Rock and Orange County’s Albatross Overdrive may well leave the sting of desert sands in the nostrils but they do so much more too. Three albums in ‘Ascendant’ […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Heavy Pettin’ – Lettin’ Loose

18 December 2019 Mark Diggins

Some bands just evoke a place and a time and to me Heavy Pettin’ always reminds me of the early days of my lifelong love affair with Rock and Roll when I first started […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Dirty Rats – End In Tears

17 December 2019 Mark Diggins

Formed in 1982 Melbourne’s The Dirty Rats finally got off the mark with their debut album release last year and now they’re back with a second in quick succession. If you expected the ensuing decades […]