Mark Diggins, Author at The Rockpit

ALBUM REVIEW: Marvel – Double Decade

19 November 2023 Mark Diggins

I really have a soft spot for Märvel (a.k.a. The Barons of High Energy Rock and Roll) – the masked men who hail from Sweden… but is it really that long? Damn it really is […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Big City – Sunwind Sails

11 November 2023 Mark Diggins

In the endless stream of Melodic Rock bands squeezed out by Frontiers you sometimes wonder what the business plan is? I mean some like me love this time of music but it doesn’t get to […]

ALBUM REVIEW: ART NATION – INCEPTION

10 November 2023 Mark Diggins

There’s such lush melodies and guitar-fed urgency to opener ‘Brutal Beautiful’ that you can’t help get sucked in. It’s a wonderful opener with passionate vocals and great driver, along with it’s mellower moments – […]

INTERVIEW: The Original Wailers – Al Anderson

8 November 2023 Mark Diggins

As a kid in the 70’s even if you were a primarily a Rock Kid there was one man whose music cut across all divides – Bob Marley and his band The Wailers. Listening to […]

INTERVIEW: Cassidy Paris

6 November 2023 Mark Diggins

It’s all happening for Cassidy Paris at the moment, with a tour of the UK imminent and a new album for Frontiers on the way, things have all started falling into place. If you’ve heard […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Dokken – Heaven Comes Down

5 November 2023 Mark Diggins

Dokken was the band that almost ruled the 80’s but never quite hit the heights of some of their contemporaries, and who knows had the classic line up prevailed what they might have gone […]

INTERVIEW: Devilskin – Paul Martin (The LAGERFEST 2023 catch up!)

4 November 2023 Mark Diggins

Devilskin has to be one of New Zealand’s finest exports and their last album ‘Red’ is quite frankly a bit of a minor Metal masterpiece to my ears though sadly in the music biz timing […]

INTERVIEW: BONAFIDE – Pontus Snibb talks ‘Are You Listening?’

29 October 2023 Mark Diggins

This week sees the release of Bonafide’s 8th album ‘Are You Listening?’ And it’s a cracking Rock and Roll album. Bonafide has always done what they wanted. There’s no place for posturing. No semblance of […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Missing Persons – Hollywood Lie

16 October 2023 Mark Diggins

‘Hollwood Lie’ begins with a flourish of organic keyboards before the trademark synth and signature drum sounds kick in followed by Dale’s voice with that robotic intonation – it all sounds just like it should […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Bonafide – Are You Listening

14 October 2023 Mark Diggins

Blues-based Hard Rock will always be loved by Rock fans of all ages and when one of the greatest proponents of that genre is making music of that kind so infrequently now is there […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Tygers of Pan Tang – Bloodlines

10 October 2023 Mark Diggins

If you love your Hard Rock distinctly old school with a Metal edge and yet still with plenty melody then this is probably one for you. Tygers were born in another age when bands […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Dirty Honey – Can’t Find The Brakes

3 October 2023 Mark Diggins

I could have written this review after the first listen because the impact was so intense, but that wouldn’t have been doing this record real justice. Dirty Honey’s new record ‘Can’t Find The Breaks,’ […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Gypsy Pistoleros – Duende A Go Go Loco!

27 September 2023 Mark Diggins

In a sea of similarities sometimes standing out doesn’t always get you to where you want to go, but self-belief and damn right stubbornness over time can pay off . I like to think […]

EP REVIEW: Cruzados – Land of the Endless Sun EP

23 September 2023 Mark Diggins

Earlier in the year Cruzados hit Europe again, taking on dates in France, Belgium, Spain, Germany and Austria. The year previous saw the release of ‘Live from Marseille’ is a full-length live album captured […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Inger Lorre – Gloryland

20 September 2023 Mark Diggins

I must admit to having had a real soft spot for The Nymphs, a band that along with Warrior Soul were the ‘could have been’ and ‘should have been’ the future of Rock and […]

ALBUM REVIEW: George Lynch & Jeff Pilson – Heavy Hitters II

18 September 2023 Mark Diggins

Whereas the first volume of ‘Heavy Hitters’ featured a mix of various guest vocalists, this time around Lynch and Pilson have brought in one of the best vocalists in the business, the longtime Stones backing vocalist Bernard Fowler. Powerhouse drummer Brian […]