BLUE MURDER’s original line-up of guitarist/vocalist John Sykes, bassist Tony Franklin and drummer Carmine Appice are strongly rumoured to be reuniting.

The new album by Rush, called Snakes And Arrows, will be released by Atlantic Records on May 1.

Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, and ex-Television guitarist Tom Verlaine are among the guests on Patti Smith’s new covers album. Twelve is released through Columbia Records on April 16 and includes songs by Stevie Wonder, Tears for Fears, the Allman Brothers and Nirvava.

Escape Music will release the new studio album from The Ladder on April 23 in Europe. The Ladder is: Steve Overland – Vocals (FM, Shadowman) / Pete Jupp – Drums (FM) / Bob Skeat – Bass (Wild Life / Wishbone Ash) / Gerhard Pichler - Guitars.
Track List: Body & Soul / Sacred / Something To Believe In / All Of My Life / Believe In Me / Run To You / Here I am / Sea Of Love / Make A Wish / Mean Streets / Abandoned.
The new album is produced by Steve Overland and Pete Jupp and was recorded at Voodoo Lounge Studio's, Harrow, London, UK.

Simon Wright will fill in for Andy Parker on the upcoming UFO tour next month.

PRESS RELEASES

We are very pleased to announce that the forthcoming gig with our
great friends, Mr So & So, at the HLC in Rotherham for the Classic
Rock Society on the 3rd March 2007, will feature a very special guest…
none other than Marillion's very own Steve Rothery.

Steve will be joining us on stage to play "Within Cold Glass" – the
version on our debut album "Awakening" (to be released very shortly)
features a solo by the man himself. We are highly honoured to have
been given this opportunity to perform live with Steve, since his
musical talent has provided such a huge inspiration throughout our
lives. This promises to be a unique and truly fantastic night - so
don't miss it! You can order your tickets now - directly from the CRS
at – www.classicrocksociety.net

With regard to the album, I am happy to say that the CDs will be
delivered to me on Friday 16th February. For all those that pre-
ordered the album - thank you all!! - the CD will be posted to you on
Monday 19th February. The official release date for "Awakening" is
26th March 2007 – from when the album will be available nationally
and internationally from all good music outlets including Amazon,
iTunes, CDBaby… and of course directly from us!

Don't forget our official launch party at The Point in Cardiff on the
24th February. Support will be provided by our other good friends,
Touchstone, and the evening promises to be a fun filled one! There
will also be a raffle for a selection of memorabilia from our
collective musical past - more details on the night. Tickets are
just £8.00 and can be bought from the venue in advance or on the
door, or – if you prefer - directly from our record company, Comet
Music – www.comet-music.co.uk – by sending an e-mail request to –
info@comet-music.co.uk

Other dates in the calendar are as follows –

Feb 24 2007 8:00P The Point,Cardiff
Mar 3 2007 7:00P The HLC for the Classic Rock Society,Rotherham
Mar 17 2007 7:00P The Riga Music Bar,Southend-On-Sea, Essex
Apr 14 2007 8:00P The Peel, Kingston-Upon-Thames
Apr 19 2007 8:00P The Limelight, Crewe, Cheshire
May 26 2007 8:15P Newark Beer Festival, Midlands

More dates to follow soon - see you on the road! Please do come and
say hi after the show and share a beer or 2 with us…we look forward
to catching up with you all.


We now have the live CD for sale on the It Bites websites at www.itbites.com. The CD is compiled from the December 2006 shows and was mixed at Outhouse Studios by It Bites.

We didn't have enough space to get the entire show on a single CD, so we had to choose which tracks were used and which will be kept for use in the future. We hope you enjoy the new versions of the old songs with JM singing and playing guitar, and also the new song Playground which you can now listen to at your leisure.

The inspiration for the album artwork came from a paper plate upon which we all did a quick doodle of ourselves backstage in Manchester. This was kept as a bit of fun but when we needed some artwork Dick said "why not use the plate as it was a tour memento and hand drawn by us."

So we did! The end result is a collaboration with our old friend Vitamin P and everyone knows you need a good shot of that from time to time.

We did have plans for another tour in the spring but have now decided to put this on hold in favour of getting the writing finished for the new studio album. I'm sure some people will feel a little bit let down, especially if they didn't get to any of the shows last year but rest assured we will be back on the road by the start of the summer.

Thanks again for your support and we will see you again soon.

It Bites xxx

PS T-shirts and mousemats are also available to buy from the website now!

GIG NEWS

BREED 77
19th Belfast, Spring & Airbrake
20th Dublin, TBMC
21st Manchester, Academy 3
22nd Glasgow, Cathouse
23rd Nottingham, Rock City
24th Norwich, Waterfront
25th Bristol, Academy
26th London, Underworld
27th Peterborough, The Park
28th Birmingham, Academy 2
29th Newcastle, Academy
30th Oxford, Zodiac

THE POLICE
28-May Vancouver, BC GM Place
06-June Seattle, WA Key Arena
09-June Denver, CO Pepsi Center
15-June Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
16-June Manchester, TN Bonnaroo Festival
18-June Phoenix, AZ US Airways Arena
26-June Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
30-June New Orleans, LA New Orleans Arena
02-July St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center
22-July Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
25-July Montreal, PQ Bell Centre
28-July Boston, MA Fenway Park
01, 03-Aug New York, NY Madison Square Garden

RUSH
Jun. 13 - Nashville, TN @ Starwood Amphitheater
Jun. 15 - West Palm Beach, FL @ Sound Advice Amphitheater
Jun. 16 - Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheater @ Florida State Fairgrounds
Jun. 18 - Atlanta, GA @ HiFi Buys Amphitheater
Jun. 19 - Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Jun. 27 - Mansfield, MA @ Tweeter Center
Jul. 02 - Wantaugh, NY @ Jones Beach Amphitheater
Jul. 04 - Darien Lake, NY @ Six Flags
Jul. 07 - Homdel, NJ @ PNC Arts Center

REVIEWS

JAMES MORRISON ‘Undiscovered’ Polydor (2007) www.myspacemusic.com/jamesmorrisonmusic

James Morrison has already made as big impact here in the UK and is know ready to have a crack at the US market. He has a cracking voice, not like that whiny waste of space James Blunt and goes from the gentle pop of ‘Under The Influence’ though to the soul flavoured ‘You Give Me Something’ (reminded me of Lenny Kravitz in his good moments). ‘The Last Goodbye’ is a great number to finish the album on amply highlighting what a voice this man has (and he is only in his early 20’s!). Very well produced with some lush backing as and when required.
The only real downside of this album is that it could do with an up tempo number just to add some variety and break things up a bit. Definitely a singer/songwriter with a great future ahead of him.

***1/2
Jason Ritchie

L.E.O. ‘Alpacas Orgling’ (2007) Cheap Lullaby www.myspace.com/bleuleo

L.E.O. is a power-pop ‘supergroup’ conceived by Bleu and includes contributions from Andy Sturmer (Jellyfish), Mike Viola (The Candy Butchers), Jason Scheff (Chicago), Steve Gorman (The Black Crowes), Hanson and many more! Yes it is a big tribute to all things Jeff Lynne/ELO (even the band’s name is an anagram of ELO!). Bloody hell is it good as well! ‘Goodbye Innocence’ could easily be a Jeff Lynne solo number right down to the Lynne styles guitar solo. The same goes for ‘Private Line’. Then we have ‘Make Me’ which takes the riff of ‘Do Ya’ and goes into ELO overdrive! ‘Don’t Let It Go’ recalls prime time ELO in all their pomp whilst the rock ‘n’ roll feel reminds you of the Travelling Wilburys. Simply wonderful! Album closer ‘Sukaz Are Born Every Minute’ gets those strings and harmonies set to max. Listen right to the end of this track (it reads a mere 42 minutes on my RealPlayer!) where L.E.O. cover the ELO classic ‘Don’t Bring Me Down’, in acoustic mode.
There are many aural delights on this album that reveal themselves with each play, just like an ELO album. I really do hope they do another album to follow this one and maybe they can rope in Jeff Lynne for a guest spot!
A must have for lovers of Jeff Lynne, Travelling Wilburys and ELO music. They wanted to pay tribute to the genius of Jeff Lynne and they did big time.

****1/2
Jason Ritchie

GINGER ‘Yoni’ Cargo Records (2007) www.myspace.com/silverginger

Ginger is back with a new solo album, although not a double like 2006’s ‘Valor Del Corazon’. Unlike that album though this one has a lot going on musically from string sections through top horn sections and even tubular bells on the very catchy ‘When She Comes’. Ginger really is one of the world’s best tunesmiths as he keeps on producing great tunes regardless of whether it is in the Wildhearts, silver Ginger 5 or solo. Highlights are many from the pop rock gem ‘Siberian Angel’, the harmony filled ‘Holiday’ and ‘Jake’ which verges into power ballad territory! The strings and keys on the later are simply stunning. Bernie Torme (GMT/Gillan) guests on a couple of tracks as well including ‘His Bed Is On Fire’, one for airplay that’s for sure. Check out the guitar solo halfway through the track, classic stuff.
Another great solo effort and with a Wildhearts album to come very soon 2007 is shaping up to be a vintage year for all things Ginger. If you’re a fan buy it and if you’re not why not?

****1/2
Jason Ritchie

MAGNUM ‘Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow’ SPV (2007) www.magnumonline.co.uk

Magnum return with possibly their most intricate album in regards to production and instrumentation. They really have put the pomp back into rock on this little beauty! Keyboards player Mark Stanway really gives the album that extra edge of gloss and you will be worn out with all the air keyboard solos I can tell you… Drummer Jimmy Copley fits seamlessly into the overall Magnum sound as well, this being his studio debut release with the band. Highlights? Where to start…‘When We were Young’ is a grand opening statement with lush keys and a great drum sound with Tony Clarkin’s guitars giving just the right amount of hard rock edge to the music. ‘Be Strong’ with its neat percussion and guitar riff is another stand out, along with the big ballad ‘Inside Your Head’. Bob Catley always had come to the fore on the big production numbers and he is in fine voice on this one. ‘Desperate Times’ harks back to the ‘Vigilante’ album, with a clean, crisp sound and very keyboard led. The rocky ‘Dragons Are Real’ you can see becoming a live favourite, along with ‘Eyes Wide Open’.
The album follows on naturally from the last two albums ‘Brand New Morning’ and ‘Breath Of Life’, with the emphasis on a big, rounded production coupled with Clarkin’s consummate songwriting. What with a Rodney Matthews cover to admire and discover whilst listening to this album, Magnum fans are in for a real treat.

*****
Jason Ritchie