Highway Companions

I've been away for a few days, taking a short break. The only advantage of a long drive is that I finally got chance to work my way through a pile of CD's I've been meaning to listen to for a couple of weeks. Of those, Tom Petty's latest 'Highway Companion', is a truly awesome album and finds him returning to the type of catchy-guitar-jangle that he excelled in the late eighties and early nineties - before Rick Rubin made a complete balls up of his sound. Talking of producers, the new Iron Maiden album has taken a really raw approach, thanks to the work of Kevin Shirley (read his entertaining blog at his website http://www.cavemanproductions.com ). The tracks aren't half bad either and it''s their finest recording in years.

I'm hoping to divulge some more info on the DT book in the next week or so, and things appear to be finally moving in terms of sourcing a printer. In the meantime, there are a stack of CD's and DVD's that need reviewing for Classic Rock. No rest for the wicked or the hungover . . .