Category Archives: McCOY
McCOY – Unreal Anthology
With tracks pulled from McCoy’s own archives, the back shelves, his solo album, and bringing it back up to date with his latest project, a number from GMT, this anthology is one hell of a ride…
All Music (March 2007)
The one thing tying all these tracks together is John McCoy’s distinctive bass sound, which is almost as heavy and imposing as the man himself. As always with Angel Air releases, there’s a very informative booklet, with liner notes by John McCoy himself…A fine overview of the big man’s career.
Metal Nose (February 2007)
…behind the power, heavy bass, and shaven head, is McCoy’s sense of humour
Joe Geesin, Record Collector (April 2007)
Giant bassist’s career highs with Gillan, Samson etc…This two-disc retrospective covers his entire career, from obscure late-60s pop acts to his current power trio GMT…
Classic Rock (April 2007)
This two-disc retrospective covers his entire career, from obscure late-60s pop acts to his current power trio GMT…Inevitably, it’s the Gillan songs that really shine…
Paul Elliott, Classic Rock (April 2007)
The 30 compositions that the anthology’s comprised of can be enjoyed at their face value, and that would be rather eclectic mix of styles, but adjust the low frequencies of your player for the puzzle fragments to fall in their places. Still, even in the entire mosaic the gems like ZZEBRA’s “Karrola”, a high-octane fusion which could give McLaughlin a run for his money in 1973, will shine hanging on McCoy’s bass runs.
Dmitry M. Epstein, www.dmme.net (May 2007)
This presentation not only brings us almost more than half of the projects in which John McCoy has been involved, but also embodies much of the metal in English history over four decades, on a single disc.
El Portal del METAL
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McCOY – Brainstorm
…With tracks that range in style from the haunting album opener Dreaming Of The Dead through the satirical Heavy Metal Cowboy, the seriously heavy Outrageous to the weirdness of The Prophets of Doom, McCoy is certainly not afraid to mix things up a bit. And he doesn’t ignore the ballads, giving us Don’t Walk Away and Josephine amongst others.
But one thing that stands out is McCoy’s somewhat off the wall sense of humour, as shown by the opening of Steamtrain and, even more so from the epic Pythonesque The List. I can’t finish without mentioning what is probably the most unusual track on the album, Hawaiians 2 Electrolux 1 a track that consists of some Hawaiian guitar music, supplied by Arthur Guitar, accompanying a selection of dialogue from the classic British comedy film Our Man In Havana, followed by a long conversation with a telephone sales woman from Electrolux. Definitely not for the faint hearted, some of it may take some getting used to, but it’s well worth the effort.
Adrian Lyth, “Highway To Hell”
“The gems are so plentiful that it is difficult to single out a few for discussion..Fans of British hard rock are highly encouraged to pick up these discs, all others should trade in their N’SYNCH and SPICE GIRLS for a real bit of rock before you rot your brains with that stuff!”
“On The Record”, Music America magazine
John McCoy is a well known bass player known as much for his musical skills as he is for his bald head, dark glasses and beard. For this album he has teamed up with Al Romano on guitar and vocal and Michael Sciotto on drums to produce an excellent heavy rock album…
Alistair Flynn, Classic Rock Society (September 2002)
Solid and slick hard rock throughout, it’s guaranteed to get your head nodding…Slip on them split-knee ‘loons for a smile or two in between the more serious offerings.
Joe Geesin, Record Collector (October 2002)
Bassist John McCoy is best known as GILLAN member, but he also released a bunch of records under the moniker MCCOY. ‘Brainstorm’ is one of these albums, a very diverse record that contains Hardrock, AOR, and instrumental soundtrack pieces…I can really recommend this CD to AOR fans, although MCCOY/GILLAN fans should also grab this album a.s.a.p.! (8/10)
Strutter magazine (August 2003)
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McCOY – Think Hard…Again
McCoy is John McCoy, best known as the Big Bad Bearded Bass player with Gillan, plus fellow ex-Gillan member Colin Towns, Paul Samson (of Samson fame), Ron Rebel (Iron Maiden’s original drummer) and vocalist T-Bone Rees. The newly released CD, Think Hard…Again, was originally two albums, The Mini Album from 1982 and Think Hard from 1985. Musically we’re talking the sort of heavy rock you would expect from the musicians featured. A mixture of hard rocking tracks and ballads. Of particular note are Because You Lied (a song for Ian Gillan), which came out of the way McCoy and the rest of Gillan were treated when the band split, and a high energy version of the Fleetwood Mac classic Oh Well!.
Classic Rock Society
It’s not my kettle of fish, but then there are those who are
partial to the odd kipper
Sammy Jones, Metal Hammer
The music is surprisingly commercial heavy rock of a style that was quite popular in the early Eighties
Bernard Law, Wondrous Stories (October 2001)
The big bald bassist who made his name with Zzebra in the 70s and with Gillan at the turn of the 80s went solo in 1983 and produced two superb metal albums, featured on this package…With help from Gillan pianist Colin Towns…you get a pretty essential collection.
Record Collector (March 2002)
The music included here is classy early 80s NWOBHM with some Melodic Rock elements, not unlike Rage, UFO, Praying Mantis and Export…a great release by Angel Air Records, recommended to fans of classy British Melodic Rock.
Strutter magazine (July 2003)
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