ROCK CANDY MAGAZINE – Issue 1 / 2 / 3
As you know, Rock Candy Records is one of the best reissue labels out there. Since a couple of years, they are releasing a magazine, actually printed on paper like in the good ‘ol times.
In the style of the essay included into each CD booklet about the band in question, ROCK CANDY MAGAZINE is a bi-monthly, 100-page Rock publication produced and managed by a bunch of specialized British Rock journalists with decades of experience in music and mags, writing for legendary publications including Kerrang!, Metal Hammer and Raw.
Simply put, in each issue there’s loads of great features and articles on many great bands and artists from the classic eras of Rock and Metal’s history.
The quality of the material is excellent, ranging from reviews, band’s history, recommendations, ‘lost bands’ section, rare tracks, video guide / YouTube hidden gems, and a lot more.
Rock Candy is a bimonthly 100-page, full-color print magazine that focuses on classic hard rock and heavy metal. Derek Oliver (founder of Rock Candy Records and former Kerrang! writer) is the owner and publisher, Howard “HoJo” Johnson (former Kerrang! writer and editor for Metal Hammer and Raw) is the magazine’s editor, and Malcolm Dome (formerly involved with Record Mirror, Kerrang!, RAW, Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Prog, and Metal Forces; author of several books on rock bands; and radio personality) is editor-at-large.
These are indeed legendary scribes of the metal faith, and amazingly the credentials don’t stop there, as the rest of the writing staff consists of former Kerrang! writers.
The first three issues are nothing short of outstanding.
Some of my favorite articles from the debut issue include Howard Johnson’s “Person of Interest” piece on Doc Neeson, dynamic frontman for Australian rock legends The Angels, who were known as Angel City in the United States. Johnson’s thoughtful piece shines the spotlight on a performer who should have been a household name.
Also there’s a nice Jani Lane (Warrant) article and great, vintage gig tickets photos.
Issue two’s feature article is an insightful piece about Rob Halford’s departure from Judas Priest in 1991, and includes comments from replacement singer Tim “Ripper” Owens and former guitarist KK Downing.
Dave Reynolds’ “Overlooked” column takes a look at the mystery of why Angel, one of my favorite hard rock bands, never hit the big time despite having a look, stage presence, and sound that should have rocketed the group to the big time.
Howard Johnson offers an incredible article with former UFO (another of my all-time favorite bands) bassist Pete Way giving his opinions on this top-notch British group’s classic album output and his fellow band members. Way has never been one to mince words, and this article is no exception to that rule.
We have also a complete essay about Foreigner and how they became radio Gods.
Speaking of Judas Priest, issue three includes a look back at the band’s court appearance that happened as a result of being accused of back-masking subliminal messages about suicide on some of their songs.
A look at German legends Scorpions’ career in photos and an article about fellow German rockers Accept are two other stand-out articles in this issue, as well as an exclusive Jack Russell interview, plus a complete Steve Perry insight.
Besides the articles that I have mentioned, each issue has loads more interesting material on just about every hard rock or heavy metal act from the Seventies and Eighties that you can remember — along with some that may have slipped your memory!
A couple more reasons that I highly recommend Rock Candy is that it has gorgeous graphic design and layout, and it is also profusely illustrated with fantastic photos of metal merchants back in the day and quite often in the present, as well.
Everything about it screams Rock, true, Classic Rock
A Must Have
BUY IT !
www.rockcandymag.com/
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