You will have no doubt why this woman has worked with everyone from Placido Domingo to Enrique Iglesias. Oh yes, in addition to amazing voice the song-writing is quite good as well. In the right hands, there are at least three songs on here that could be hits. "All I Ever Wwanted" and "Go" spring immediately to mind. On "Go" Vatsky sings like Gloria Estefan at her best. This is a quality  heavy rock album that ticks all the boxes and delivers in spades.

Sandalinas: Fly to the Sun

With this name you won't be too surprised to hear that there is some Spanish singing on this rather good heavy rock album. Band leader and namesake has a good pedigree to boot. They attended Spain's version of the Berklee College of Music (where Dream Theater met), but don't let that put you off. This isn't over-indulgent musicianship but rather quality. Not at all proggy in fact; falling far more into the metal category. "Fly to the Angels" has a distinctive touch of Helloween-esque power metal.

There is a cover by Derek Riggs, with appearances from members of Savatage and King Diamond to name a couple. This guy is one of Spain's best regarded guitarists and it's clear to see why on here. Europe is producing quite a bit of heavy rock these days and this album is no exception. A varied album delivered with equal amounts of ability goes a long way.

Bassinvaders: Hellbassbeaters

You would not be blamed for reacting in horror to the title and concept of this album. A bunch of bassists — Billy Sheehan (Steve Vai, Mr. Big, David Lee Roth), Rudy Sarzo (Dio, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Quiet Riot), Lee Rocker (Stray Cats), Marco Mendoza (Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Ted Nugent), DD Verni (Overkill), Wyzard (Mothers Finest), Dirk Schlchter (Gamma Ray), Joey Vera (Armored Saint, Fates Warning, Anthrax), Stig Pedersen (D.A.D), Nibbs (Saxon), Tobias Exxel (Edguy), Jens Becker (Grave Digger, Running Wild), Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69), Peter Baltes (Accept), Jan S. Eckert (Masterplan), and Michael Miller (Jaded Heart) — lead by Helloween's four-stringer Markus Grosskopfs, releasing an album of bass-centric music.

Well this isn't a bass instrumental album, the equivalent of the shred albums on Shrapnel back in the day. Instead this is a decent collection of proper songs of the heavy rock variety, including a Helloween cover "Eagle Fly Free". Toss in Firewind's vocalist Apollo Papathanasio and the lead singer of D.A.D. My feelings of dread and trepidation were unwarranted. While its not essential, it's a suitably enjoyable album that is full of a bunch of mates having a good time. It is rather heavy on the bass it has to be said.

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Well it's beginning of chemo for me next week. Got my chemo line in ready and I'm to go. Not exactly the type of “plugging in” I had in mind for this year but oh well. Fortunately, I still have a nice raft of CDs to review.

As always stay safe and make sure you find time to check out live music whenever and where ever you can.