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In recent times, Detroit bandleader Marcus Malone has been playing his A Better Man album front-to-back live, which takes some balls and speaks volumes about his confidence in this material. There’s a whiff of career-best about these tracks, from the route-one muscle of Too Long Gone to the lighter touch and piano flourishes of Shine Your Light – and for Malone, that’s praise indeed.

Henry Yates has been a freelance journalist since 2002 and written about music for titles including The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Classic Rock, Guitarist, Total Guitar and Metal Hammer. He is the author of Walter Trout's official biography, Rescued From Reality, a music pundit on Times Radio and BBC TV, and an interviewer who has spoken to Brian May, Jimmy Page, Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie Wood, Dave Grohl, Marilyn Manson, Kiefer Sutherland and many more.

Marcus Malone - A Better Man album review

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