The latest reviews from Kevin Bryan.

Tygers of Pan Tang, "Noises  From  The  Cathouse" (Angel Air)- This Whitley Bay outfit were once one of the leading lights of the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal," the media generated  musical phenomenon which flourished briefly  during the late seventies and early eighties. The hirsute rockers recorded four well received albums for the MCA label during this period, but never really recovered from the departure of demon guitarist John Sykes in 1982, and founder member Robb Weir had been saddled with the unenviable task of keeping the band's name alive when he helped to mastermind this muscular  set with producer Chris Tsangarides in 2003. The original release has now been fleshed out a little with the addition of three bonus tracks and should be required listening for devotees of melodic hard rock everywhere, with "Highspeed Highway Superman" and "Godspeak" emerging as the pick of a punchy package.

Etta James, "At Last" (Music Club Deluxe)- This fine new 2 CD retrospective traces some of the most memorable moments in the lengthy recording career of legendary soul / r&b performer Etta James, including  gems from the early sixties such as  "At Last," "All I Could Do Was Cry" and Willie Dixon's "Spoonful." These tracks were all captured for posterity during her  richly rewarding stint  with  Chess Records, but  her later career was to be  sadly dogged by the deadly effects of drug addition and alcoholism, although the use of the classic "I Just Want To Make Love To You" in a  TV commercial did bring  Ms.James  an unexpected UK hit in 1996.

Julie London, "Cry Me A River" (Music Club Deluxe)- Julie London was one of America's most distinctive vocal performers during her creative heyday in the far off fifties, and this new  anthology serves up some excellent  examples of  her smokily detached sound , including her stylish signature song, 1955's "Cry Me A River."  A mood  of languid understatement permeated much of Julie's best work, and she's in particularly fine fettle here during sultry offerings  such as  "Round Midnight," "Love For Sale" and  Noel Coward's "Mad About The Boy."

The Monochrome Set, "Access All Areas" (Edsel Records)- The Monochrome Set were one of the leading indie outfits  of the late seventies and early eighties, drawing much of their appeal from Indian born frontman Bid's quirkily memorable approach to music-making. This splendid audio-visual package was recorded at the Central TV studios a decade or so later and represented something of a trip down memory lane for the band as they revisited golden oldies such as  "Jet Set Junta," "He's Frank" and  "Strange Boutique" alongside tracks from their then current Japanese chart  album, "Dante's Casino."