At an age when he should be more concerned about whether the government will stick to its promise regarding the Triple Lock, shocked at the price of Lurpak and wondering what the hell he went upstairs for, Barron instead embraces the philosophy of Ronnie Van Zant on Sweet Home Alabama and proceeds to ‘turn it up’.

I should warn you (SPOILER ALERT) that Cruising the Void begins benignly, lulling the listener into a completely false sense of security with the opener Molly’s Theme, a short, lovely, semi-classical piece, bringing to mind pictures of Mozart snorting coke in a Viennese garret, quill in hand as he runs off another timeless classic while watching Series Three of Game of Thrones. At this point you might be tempted to pick up the CD cover – just to make sure this is a Peter Barron album – and if you’re wearing earphones you’ll quickly drop it again as Fifty-Fifty assaults your aural appendages with power chords straight from an overload on the National Grid. This is Heavy – with a capital ‘aitch’.

It’s a bit like what a combination of Judas Priest and AC/DC would sound like if they were a Buddy Holly and the Crickets tribute band playing Not Fade Away. Barron growls his way through it like a half-starved dingo while drummer, Nick Harradence obviously has no need to work out at the gym – as he gets all the exercise he requires behind his kit. I hope he appreciates that Barron must be saving him a fortune.

Let It Rock is more in the way of mainstream, with Marc Bolan, Chuck Berry and the Stones jamming in a parallel universe – and what’s not to like about that? It has a great groove about it and if your toes aren’t tapping then it must be because you’re legless. The barrage of sound continues with She’s Too Tough (For The Boys), Barron’s tribute to pioneering Punk Princess, Joan Jett. Excellent riffing here with an interesting change in melody in the chorus which I found myself singing as I was preparing my fish fingers next day.

There’s now a welcome chance to catch our collective breath with Brighter Day, a song with a sixties vibe – I could imagine it playing on the car radio in an episode of Randall & Hopkirk – Deceased, and maybe a nod to Donovan’s Museum. Barron hopes for better things to come when his sins are washed away – don’t we all! Nice 12 string guitar embellishments and it’s an excellent song with a feel good factor that’ll put a smile on your face.

…until Frankenstein, in which Mary Shelley meets Black Sabbath and they all live happily ever after in Transylvania in Boris Karloff’s ruined castle where they hear I’m Cryin’ – and proceed to jive to images of The Beatles singing Everybody Wants to Be My Baby while Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt are writing Paper Plane with Igor in the next room. There’s no let up as Backs Against The Wall continues the ‘Air Guitarist’s Guide to Heavy Metal’. Is this a song about climate change – or just a paean to the Universe in general being shafted? Gloom is the keyword here anyway – the Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth has ended up in the paper recycle bin and been carted off.

Brand New Shoes is a breath of fresh air – it could be a duet by Harry Belafonte and Paulo Nutini. It sounds deceptively cheery, but the lyrics belie that – he bought her new shoes and all she used them for was to walk out on him, Better stick to a Prada handbag next time Peter. Annabella is a return of power chords in a wind tunnel with Edgar Allan Poe strutting his stuff on a radio mic. It’s the heavy metal equivalent of the folk standard She Moved Through The Fair – Barron has past form for entering these quasi Twilight Zone regions – and he’s perfectly at home there. God only knows where Nick Harradence gets his energy from – it’s got to be more than a Vitamin B supplement, surely?

The album ends on a poignant note with My Dreams Don’t Know You’re Gone – a personal tribute which those of us of a certain age will identify with only too well. It features a superb lead guitar solo that made my eyes mist over.

I read last week that Katy Perry has sold her back catalogue for $225 million. I wonder what Barron would get for his? A fine from the Noise Abatement Society probably. It’s an unfair world – but he knows that.

Davy McGowan.