Inglorious: Inglorious

Brian May’s favourite new band. They will rock you.

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The debut album from Inglorious comes endorsed by rock royalty. Brian May describes the band as “a potent young Deep Purple”. And while May didn’t suggest that Inglorious sound like Queen, there is a similarity between them.

Just as Adam Lambert was a runner-up on American Idol before joining Queen, so Nathan James, Inglorious’s Berkshire-born singer, has previously been a contestant on The Voice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Superstar.

Playing that game isn’t good for your rock’n’roll credibility, but James has redeemed himself with Inglorious and an album of classically styled heavy rock evoking Purple, Zeppelin and Whitesnake.

James has a huge voice, reminiscent at times of Bruce Dickinson. And the songs are built to match: the roaring, riff-driven anthem Until I Die, monster power ballad Bleed For You and an epic track, named Inglorious, with a whiff of Kashmir. For Nathan James, the talent show bullshit is over. Now it’s serious.

Paul Elliott

Freelance writer for Classic Rock since 2005, Paul Elliott has worked for leading music titles since 1985, including Sounds, Kerrang!, MOJO and Q. He is the author of several books including the first biography of Guns N’ Roses and the autobiography of bodyguard-to-the-stars Danny Francis. He has written liner notes for classic album reissues by artists such as Def Leppard, Thin Lizzy and Kiss, and currently works as content editor for Total Guitar. He lives in Bath - of which David Coverdale recently said: “How very Roman of you!”