The request line is open for the show cover on April 5th with me, Dame Pen, in the chair. Normal rules apply of two requests per person and please keep it clean. The request line will be open until 7pm on Saturday the 4th (so plenty of time to get your choices in). Over to you for your choices.

It is me, Dame Penny, in the chair, so please let me have your 2 rock requests either here or in FB on the SRS page. Usual rules, we do have a watershed but don't go crazy and let please me know if a choice does have swearing in it. Deadline is 6 pm on Saturday 25th Jan. Over to you guys.

The theme of this week's show is Geographical Places, so expect songs about towns, regions, nationalities, continents and the like. There will be all the usual features including Pen's Featured Album, her Movie and Rock Picks, What's Your Style?, Doc's Formative Years, Baron's Blockbusters, Rob's Sizzlers, It Runs In The Family, Doc's Ladies, Dame Pen's Chill Zone and All That Jazz-Rock-Fusion. The Chuckle Challenge will have Ronnie Barker, The Goodies, The Barron Knights and Cabin Pressure to amuse you. The Classical Finale will be the glorious Warsaw Concerto by Addinsell. There will be the usual eclectic mix of music with plenty of rock, blues, pop, country and jazz-rock fusion from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Asia, David Bowie, Sari Schorr, Samantha Fish, The Clash, Freddie Mercury, The Highwaymen, Return To Forever, Bruford Levin Upper Extremities and many more. Come and join us at 2 pm on Tuesday on Revolution Radio Online.

The day arrived, we have new stuff, old stuff, slow stuff, fast stuff, 3 hours of Avantasia and Edguy with a few extras thrown in, its going to be awesome!!

Comment here and add pictures throughout the show, this week covered by me, the Dame and we have some cracking choices this week :)

The request line is open for the show cover on July 7th with me, Dame Pen. Normal rules apply of two requests per person and please keep it clean. the request line will be open until Saturday the 6th so plenty of time to get your choices in Over to you for your choices :)

A Showcase featuring the work of Tobias Sammet. From his albums with Edguy through to the metal opera of Avantasia, with some surprising guest appearances thrown in, its going to be symphonic rock heaven!

On a lovely Tuesday afternoon we drove 4 hours to London for a gig for the first time ever. This happened to be Avantasia’s only UK date and I was not one bit disappointed. The venue (the O2 Forum) was lovely, only a small place but plenty of space for those attending and been sat in the balcony, we had a great view. From the moment the theatricals started before the curtain came up with a piece by Beethoven, they had the crowd in the palms of their hands! Chants, singing, applause and that was just the off, what I loved most about the whole thing is how theatrical the whole performance was. I love theatre and the combination of an almost pantomime approach to the audience combined with the music was just absolutely awesome! Playing a mixture of old and new with all the guest stars getting their moment on the stage. They were joined by Bob Catley (Magnum) , Geoff Tate (Queensryche), Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids) , Eric Martin (Mr Big) & Jorn Lande (Masterplan). I expected them to just playout the new album and throw in the classics, what we got was a mixture of both, with no idea of what they would play. The opening track was Ghost of the Moon which is a genius song and one of my favourites and they had me hooked into the enjoyment of the show straight away. Surprisingly there was 4 tracks from the album ‘The Scarecrow’ which happened to be the only one I don’t have, however I found myself singing along to it in any event getting carried away with the rest of the audience. Others included the epic 13 minutes of ‘Let the Storm Descend Upon You’ played 2 hours into the show, the classic ‘Avantasia’, 'Reach Out for the Light' , 'Dying for an Angel' and many more with the new tracks mixed in mostly in the first hour. To finish the set was an outstanding encore featuring one of their most popular tracks ‘The Story Ain’t Over’ which had them all on stage together, each playing their own part, it is hard to put into words how great it was! The element of surprise and the banter with the audience was just brilliant. At one point, Tobias was calling the standing crowd ‘the kids’ and the balcony ‘the parents’ - it was one of my favourite comedic moments and there were many of them throughout the set. This is hands down the best gig I’ve ever been to, the atmosphere was electric, the band were nothing short of awesome and their wizard of a drummer was playing for 3 hours straight like a man possessed! Those three hours passed by so fast, great job Avantasia!

AVANTASIA MOONGLOW After I bought their last album The Mystery of Time, I have been eagerly awaiting a new release from Avantasia. Every album is unique with its own set of guest stars and Moonglow is no different. Featuring guest stars from the likes of Bob Catley, Candice Night, Geoff Tate and Jørn Lande (amongst others) it features a range of music that showcases Tobias Sammet’s voice, and those that sing with him, throughout the album. Though some of the tracks are long, I never tired of hearing them. It also includes a very interesting cover of the song Maniac which I loved! Some of my favourites included Lavender featuring Bob Catley, rocky but not too heavy and the sound of Bob’s voice is unmistakable, As for Heart, which is one of only 3 tracks on the album that is Tobias solo, it is really catchy and I loved the sound of it. Moonglow featuring Candice Night was a great duet with Tobias’s heavier vocals contrasted with the melodic beauty of Candice’s voice - it is a great title track! One of the best tracks in my opinion was that of Ghost in the Moon with Tobias solo. This completely passed me by until I had the album playing on random and it full on hit me. The guitar work and the instrumentals mixed with the vocals, made it just amazing to listen to! To sum things up, this is a great album if you love symphonic rock. There is such a mixture of tracks and after the wait for the new album, I was not disappointed. It has become one of my favourites by them and is a fab edition to any symphonic rock fan album repertoire!

I’ve loved Within Temptation from the moment I heard The Unforgiving after which I purchased most of their back catalogue. So, when I found out they had a new album in the pipeline it was eagerly awaited. Resist, for me, is a fine example of what Within Temptation are about. All albums are different, but they always have that great symphonic metal sound! With a five-year gap between albums, I found myself eagerly wondering what it would be like and I was not disappointed. There are driven guitars, keyboards, strings and choirs, all topped off by the beautiful and unmistakable voice of Sharon den Adel. There were 3 or 4 tracks that particularly stood out for me on the album. Particularly the track In The Reckoning (which was released as a single back in September). Jacoby Shaddix makes a guest appearance which adds to the quality of the song. Sharon and Jacoby’s voices sound very good together during the chorus and it makes for a brilliant track! Firelight was a track originally written for Sharon’s solo project My Indigo but was seen as more suitable for Within Temptation. With Jasper Steverlinck on guest vocals, the song comes through great as a duet and their voices complement each other nicely. In the track Mad World you have a great heavy mix that sounds great, with the male backing vocals in the chorus it gives it a great edge. The entire song is very catchy and definitely stood out for me! Mercy Mirror was my favourite track on the album. It showcases Sharon den Adel’s vocal range beautifully with that stunning voice and is full of emotion. The use of the full band on the track gives a great musical backing to what is a wonderful song. All in all this album is coming up on top for me right there with Hydra and The Unforgiving. After a break in recording Within Temptation are on top form and in summary it’s a great album of fantastic tunes that should be enjoyed by all!

A showcase into Van Halen, featuring a look at all eras of the band including a touch on solo careers and Eddie Van Halen guest appearances!