Old Reviews Archive
Heres how it works....
The car cassette case only has room for 10 tapes. Every once in a while some are taken out and their reviews come here for a rest. Here they are.... (click on smiley face button to get to review)
 The All Seeing I - Pickled Eggs and Sherbet Babylon 5 - music by Christopher Frake The Beegees - The Very Best of... Blur - Leisure / Modern Life is Rubbish Blur - 13 **David Bowie** - Station to Station **David Bowie** - Low **David Bowie** - Black Tie/ White Noise Cardiacs - Archive Cardiacs Cardiacs - Sampler Cardiacs- Sing To God (parts 1 & 2) Chemical Brothers - Surrender Sheryl Crow - The Globe Sessions The Cult - Pure Cult Garbage - Version 2.0 Gail Ann Dorsey - The Corporate World Genesis - Three Sides Live Jimi Hendrix - Live At Woodstock Manic Street Preachers - Generation Terrorists Manic Street Preachers - This is my Truth.... The Mavericks - Trampoline |
George Michael - Ladies and Gentlemen Misty In Roots - Wise and Foolish Page and Plant - Walking into Clarksdale Pretenders- The Singles The Prodigy - The Fat of the Land Queen - Sheer Heart Attack Queen - Hot Rocks REM - Automatic For The People REM - Up The Rolling Stones - Bridges to Babylon Simply Red - Greatest Hits Suede - Coming Up Suede - Head Music Pete Townshend - Another Scoop Pete Townshend - Live at the House of Blues Chicago U2 - War UB40 - Present Arms Paul Weller - Modern Classics/ Live Classics The Who - The Kids Are Alright(soundtrack) The Who - "Numbers Who Face Hard" The Who - Its Hard |
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The All Seeing I - Pickled Eggs and Sherbet
This is an unusual album recommended to the human by one of his good mates. Its a bit strange - theres very little information on this tape about the band itself (a three piece from Sheffield) and you are given pictures on the inlay sleeve of various artists plus a picture of most of them in a chip shop. One of the guys in the chip shop picture is looking at the pickled egg jar and what he sees makes up the front cover of the CD. A jar of pickled eggs with three faces sort of superimposed on 3 of the eggs. Five of the songs are co written with Pulps' St. Jarvis of Cocker (oh no I am becoming a Q journalist !!!) who also sings on one track (Drive Safely). Another song is written by someone called "Bono" ...? (Beat Goes on) while another co-written with someone called "Vega".... Suzanne???( I Walk) Theres also a mixture of guest players and especially vocalists by Jarvis, a bloke from Baby Bird, sixties balladeer Tony Christie and electronic demigod Phil Oakey (as well as others).The music ranges from kicking dance tracks such as Sweet music and Beat Goes on , to sort of ballads - Walk life a Panther, Stars on Sunday, to great pop rock songs such as 1st Man in Space . This is my favourite track on the album mainly I think due to the presence of electronic demigod Phil Oakey who is a national treasure. I find some of the instrumentation on this tape a bit disturbing unsettling and sinister in places. I can't say why. Something unusual the All Seeing I do is keep the same song going from one track to the next but change the vocalist, lyrics & subject matter. They do this very effectively from "Walk like a Panther" to "No Return" and from "Happy Birthday Nicola " to "Plastic Diamond".
A story - the first time I heard this album it was on in the background and the CD version I heard it on got knocked to "repeat track" so Jarvis's Drive Safely went on and on and on subliminally for nearly half an hour. It nearly drove me mad ! I had to quickly find the remote control to rescue me from this nightmare of being told to drive safely yes Jarvis I know drive safely darling yes Jarvis I know drive safely YES JARVIS I KNOW !!!! etc (for the record- I had a great evening out in nice company and this was just a minor irritation thats all). There are two extra uncredited tracks on this album . More information is available on the bands web site at www.the allseeingi.com/home.htm. I will keep listening. I really haven't made my mind up about this tape although I do like it A LOT
Review date 26-01-2000
updated 110600
Babylon 5 - music by Christopher Franke
Babylon 5 - music by Christopher Franke"The Babylon Project
was our last best hope for Peace
....... it failed !
and so it begins, the opening narrative of, what was in my opinion, the greatest TV series ever made. Babylon 5 is a sci-fi series set on a space station in and around the year 2260.
Nothing is what it seems. Although in the first series it appears to be a Star Trek series, mysteries abound, there are hints and accusations, politics and fights between the various alien races living on the station and questions such as
"how, why and where did Babylon 4 disappear to?"
"why was the original station captain Jeff Sinclair chosen by one of the alien races - the Minbari - over all other candidates?"
"why did the Minbari surrender at the end of the Earth v. Minbari war just when they were about to win easily?"
"what does Ambassador Kosh (the Vorlon (= they made me)) look like???" if you listen carefully you can hear him at the end of track one.etc etc.
you'll have to watch the series's and see ! There are 5 the first three were great (3rd is the best one), the fourth one starts great and sort of tails off and the fifth is OK, but ends up being a sort of prelude for "Crusade " - the follow on series, which was dropped by the studios after the first series.
As well as the fab stories, excellent acting and amazing special effects one of the highlights of the series is the music (see I got there in the end) which was written by Christopher Franke (ex of Tangerine Dream). The music is powerful stuff lots of strong climax and loud strident bits as well as the more quieter sections. Some of the pieces are very atmospheric. I'm not sure if it works for me, cos what he has done is link together the various short musical themes in the first 3 series into 4 long pieces called Chrysalis, Mind War, Parliament of Dreams and The Geometry of Shadows. All are very good pieces but the problem for me, as per all soundtrack albums is that they tend to rely on the visual and when its not there,its a bit empty. I will need to listen to this some more. I think also I would have liked the music from series 3 played straight as it is (with narration) rather than being "cut up" and amalgamated into Geometry of Shadows, but hey ! thats just my opinion!. A "must" for Bab5 fans but non Bab5 fans might like it, but I'm not sure. more info on www.babylon5.com
review date 290500
the BeeGees - The Very Best of ....
yes, its true, this is not a misprint !. In one of my more light hearted moments I made the human buy this CD as I had fallen deeply in love with the crashing ploddy drums of You win again and the magnificent chorus which I loved at the time (and still do). As you know, one thing the old BeeGees are good at its good harmonies and the harmonies on this track are really fab. Its a nice song about love too. ( I make him play this song repeatedly over and over again, and whats even funnier is that he doesn't know why - sad ****** that he is)There is great production on this track.
Another highlight for me is the BeeGees first single, New York Mining Disaster 1941 which is once again simply magnificent. ( magnificent seems to be my word of the moment). Its so haunting and sad, and I love it to bits. Its is very evocative.
Other famous great great BeeGees tracks on this album include Tragedy, Jive Talkin, Night Fever, Stayin Alive, How Deep is your love , however there are also some tracks that I simply cannot bear e.g Saved by the Bell, More Than a Woman, Nights of Broadway etc. This is very much a tape to listen to it with one finger hovering near the "FF" button.
I think the most disappointing aspect of this tape is the way the boys have covered tracks by great legendary mega talented bands such as Streps, Bogzone and Tacky That and claimed them as their own ! Outrageous. As if only three people could produce such a string of high quality pop/ dance songsreview date 280500
Blur - Leisure / Modern Life is Rubbish
Early magic from a great band.I have reviewed these albums together as I feel they are quite musically similar. I really like Blur and I like their musicianship. I really like the drumming on their albums and I love the guitar work too. Damon's lyrics & keyboard work are also fab, and lets be fair the bass playing is good too!
What I like about Damons lyrics is that he writes stories and conjures up images & pictures and makes up believable characters that you feel you could actually meet in real life. These albums are reminiscent of The Whos' "Sell Out" and "A Quick One" albums which also were made up of carefully crafted pop songs with excellent character observations, well written and well played. Theres even a Blur version of Cobwebs and Strange in the form of *Interlude*.
Leisure was released first and I think there was some sort of delay in the release of "Modern Life...." due to legal difficulties of some sort its release was delayed until after Parklife started selling by shedloads. Funny that how the legal problems were all magically solved when there was the prospect of money in the offing.. ah the power of money
I like all the songs on this album. I will put a list of my faves on shortly, this is supposed to be a music review after all!!
Review date 220599 Did not get round to reviewing this tape properly before it was archived.170799
Blur - 13
I really like Blur and their latest album is brilliant. This is significantly different their previous albums; a bit more experimental and darker. But its not unrecognisable as Blur.
Blur are very much a band that are growing and changing in a great way. Its a band where there are no weak links, just 4 great musicians / songwriters.
When I first heard "Tender" I thought, oh no the seemingly obligatory Gospel song that British bands feel obliged to release at some point of their careers. But this is an excellent song - a great sing a long that I like every time I hear it
The next song - Bugman is a bit more thrashy and I really like "Coffee and TV" another great song. My current favourites are "Caramel" - a gentle drifting song, "Trimm Trabb" which is just brilliant (play this quite loud the first time you hear it with the lights turned off - you'll see why) and the sad, sorrowful "No Distance left to run"
This is a great album by a great band.
review date 050599
I have listened to this tape a bit more and I'm not too sure whether I like it or not now ! On the whole it has quite an unsettling feel to it. It makes me feel a bit uncomfortable and I get the feel that while Blur may have been keen to be liked on previous tapes, this is very much take it or leave it if you don't like it.
I previously forgot to mention Battle which I saw an excellent live version of on TV and also forgot to mention the little "tune-lets" in between songs which I love that Blur tend to put on their albums.
So as I write this, I'm not sure ..... (still love Trimm Trabb No Distance left to run and Caramel though!)
review update 060699
** David Bowie** - Station to Station
This album contains 6 tracks most of which are 5 minutes plus , the only exception being Go-oh-oh-oh-olden Years (four minutes). Its from David's "American funky" period and contains the great singles TVC15 and Golden Years. I really like Golden Years for its up beat positive message. I love the running guitar part through this song which starts the song off. These are both great songs, which are well played and there is not much more I can write about them except listen to them !
One of the highlights for me of this tape is the excellent cover version of Wild is the Wind. This really is a brilliant performance from Bowie, in fact one of the best songs he has ever sung leading up to the climax of the song. This is a great one to belt out (though not in a traffic jam with the windows down!) I keep thinking of the atmospheric black and white video that was shot for this song which is very evocative and in my mind video isn't that one of the guys from Tin Machine playing in the background - I will have to check.
Word-on-a-wing is good and another track "Stay" is like an undiscovered classic Bowie song that was never and should have been released as a single. Its a superb song - even better on the CD as there is a brilliant live version which is truly great with some great guitar playing. This is something that must be mentioned in this review. Bowie surrounded himself with some truly excellent musicians for this album. The brilliant Carlos Alomar plays on this album - he is often overlooked but shouldn't be. Its very easy to say, its a Bowie album and only think, about him but there is some superb playing going on which adds extra "meat" to the bones of Bowies excellent songs (many of which are co-written )
I've reviewed 5 of the songs - the sixth is the title track Station-to- Station . I like the discordant threatening way this song begins - there was a Thunderbirds episode about a machine that was out of control tearing across the countryside and the build up of this song reminds me of this - like Bowies somehow out of control relentlessly tearing across the States.
I love the unusual melody in the start of the song which makes you feel a bit uncomfortable continuing this threatening theme. Its very distinctive and is relieved to a certain excellent by" the return of the Thin white duke" chorus. Its quite a bitty song cos all of a sudden it changes to a sort of guitary rocky section and then skips again to the "its too late" part which reminds me a bit of Ziggy/ Aladdin Sane. So its a bit of a strange cobbled together song - like Zooropa by U2 - four distinct themes all joined together. But the first section is by far the best (although the guitar solo is great once again in the last part.) I think this is what I like about Bowie - the risks he takes, it really is an unusual melody but he pull it off with style !
review date 160699
We were caught in a traffic jam on the way to Stansted album today in blazing Sun, but it was OK as we had this tape to enjoy. Stay really is an excellent song
review update 110799
a dreamscape.....
you are walking down a familiar street when you walk past a derelict building that you have walked past a thousand hundred times before....
only this time you hear faint music coming from inside.....as you push your way through the boards blocking up the doorway and walk over the uneven floor
covered with broken bricks and rubble, you catch a glimpse of the band..... they are in one corner of the room, and are playing the music for themselves; they ignore you as you enter the room....
the singer sings a song of love, about begging his lover to fly away with him, wanting his lover to cling to him like leaves to do a tree, and something about the sound of mandolins. its a sad melancholic song which he sings for himself sitting on a stool with the musicians around him....
you are ignored.... he sings down to his feet.... his eyes are half shut but from where you stand you can see they are funny looking
like they are different colours .....the music swells and soars around you and you notice the room is foggy and that the band look unreal, like film projection......
your heart is swept away by the song and you realise you are on your knees crying like a baby, caught up in the melody and the song and its beauty.....
the song finishes.... you look up and the band is gone, the air is clear and a man is standing in the corner of the room pointing a shotgun at you shouting at you to get out... all you can murmur is "the band the band the band"....
to which he shouts "don't be stupid there hasn't been a band here since before the War " update 281199
** David Bowie ** - Low
Heroes pt2 ?? (though not as good???) I'm not sure I think this tape will prove in time to be a bit of a grower.the second of the BOWIE/ ENO Hansa on the Wall collaborations. This album includes guest vocals by Iggy Pop and excellent guitar work from Carlos Alomar. Its breaks into two halves - the "songs" half and the "instrumental" half.
The songs are nice/ OK/ nothing special although to be fair they sound much better live. The exception is Sound and Vision which is a masterpiece that feels like its going to be an instrumental but has lyrics which add to the music and don't distract from the groove of this song. Its great. One of Bowies best singles I also like Breaking glass and like I said the others are ok, I think they will grow.
Maybe I'm being a bit unfair as I listened to this tape comparing it with the brilliant "Heroes". Heroes has magic to it, which I think was only in the songs selected for that tape.
The instrumentals are good, very atmospheric although presented all in one go, one after another can be a bit much as they sort of end up blending into one another. They are good though especially Warszawa, Subterraneans, Weeping Wall and "Some are" (last track only available on "new" CD and is technically not an instrumental) Hindsight is a wonderful thing, if it had been up to me I would have structured this tape differently with some of the songs (with lyrics) in between the instrumentals. I know this might have taken away from the atmosphere but it would have made them more individual. It is remarkable that an artist such as Bowie was able to release an album like this with such a large content of songs he never sang on. Overall - its not a bad album - I just think it needs more listening to.
review date 160699
Low - The more I hear this tape the more I love it. review update 110799
I think I was being unfair to this tape when I approached it, in that I expected it to be like Heroes and when it wasn't I was a bit fed up. As you can read from the above, the more I have listened to this tape, the more it has grown on me and the more I like especially the evocative, atmospheric instrumentals. Review update 021199
**David Bowie - Black Tie / White Noise**
The wonderful David Bowie. Reading between the lines you may have detected a slight pro-Bowie bias to these pages.This is a great album by Duke Dave, its not one his experimental albums, more a collection of excellent pop/rock songs with a punchy driving underlying beat.
The album starts and ends with The wedding song which is OK : not good/ not bad. This song was reportedly played at his wedding to the unfeasibly beautiful Iman. Its after this track that the magic begins.....
The next track "You've been around" is really fab. It starts with a rumbling low bass note punctuated by light percussion. Then the drums come in proper and a sort of "E-bowed/ fuzzed" guitar makes occasional sounds. When Bowie starts singing his voice is treated so that there are cold machine like harmonics to it and a really funky bass kicks in under him. During the verse the tension builds to be relieved by the chorus. In the second verse theres a funky guitar chord strum giving even more depth to the sonic mind picture. This track just keeps getting better and better
No sooner has this track finished and you're straight into a really great dance version of the Cream classic - I feel free. I know people may hold their hands up in horror, but this is much much better than the Cream version with some great guitar work. Black Tie White Noise follows is a slower more laid back funky sort of tune which is apparently about the LA riots. It features excellent guest vocals by Al B. Sure. The lyrics are good although I never feel Bowie does well writing about "social" issues although as I think this "Under the God" from Tin Machine 1 is an exception.
Jump they say was the first single and this is brill. Classic Bowie. Its just so brilliant I cannot explain it in words. It has a really great chorus with good lyrics supporting the "They say Jump" hooks
And then if this was not enough, Bowie gets even better with a cover of Night Flights. His singing on this song is excellent. He has never sung better. The music is great especially the descending notes in the back ground cant explain - this track is best heard. This is followed by a great instrumental Pallas Athena, which features excellent sax work by Bowie and a really good chant in the background.
And then just as you think its getting too good to be true....
Bowie Album second side syndrome kicks in and this magnificent album dramatically crashes
I have listened to Miracle Good night hundreds of times and I think this is one of the worst Bowie songs ever. Don't let me bring you down & down is not much better and the following instrumental "Looking for Lester" which is mainly a brassy affair is well played but meaningless. And then " I know its gonna happen someday" a cover of the track written by the tedious Morissey. I really hate this song, It is so dreadful.
The tape finished with the worded version of the Wedding Song and theres aremix version of Jump they say (not the one with the "Hes the commander and I'm the space cadet quote" unfortunately) but its a good mix and a reminder that this album was really mega fantastic before the huge let down that was side two.
So overall, a mixed album. Side one more than makes up for side 2. Side one is brillant. Bowie at his best
review date 160599
review updated 220599
Cardiacs - Archive Cardiacs
I feel a bit guilty about this tape.I really love Cardiacs music.
This is a collection of their early recordings released "without the knowledge of the band" by their mysterious Manager "The Consultant" a representative of the equally mysterious "Alphabet Business Concern". I listened to it once and found it pretty impenetrable. I love Cardiacs music and Tim Smith is a great song writer. I suppose its good to know they have always been the way they are , i.e ploughing their own individual musical furrow in a field of their own. I guess the best analogy, is that Tims brilliance is now a highly focussed targetted beam of light like a light from a lighthouse, whereas at this early stage of the bands career it was a bit more unfocussed beams of light firing in all directions. There are moments of brilliance in this album but there are some other moments which maybe aren't so hot ! Normally Cardiacs albums can take a bit of work and listening to, to get into them. I listened to this tape once and had to force myself to listen to it a second time. This is very interesting as a way of completing the whole set of Cardiacs albums and for interest to see "where they came from musically", but I'm afraid I don't really want to listen to this tape. Sorry ! Review date 01-03-2000
Cardiacs - Sampler
This is a clever idea. Cardiacs are a great band, but their music is not to everyones taste therefore a good idea is to release a low budget tape of some of their best tracks by way of introduction to new fans. This tape includes some Live tracks - Big Ship, Tarred and Feathered (....cos Jims too fat and is going to die probably....), and 2 Bites of the Cherry. Also some great studio tracks including the magnificient Is this the Life? Goodbye Grace, Burn Your House Brown, Angleworm the Angel, and the fantastic Everso Closely Guarded line. Plus there are a couple of tracks from solo projects including the beautiful Christ AliveThis is a great selection.
Cardiacs are a great band live and I would recommend you to see them. I first saw them supporting Marillion in 1984 on the Fugazi tour and have been hooked ever since. If you can't see them live buy this sampler. More Cardiac info is available on www. cardiacs.com Review date 01-03-2000
Is this the Life? is a great track. It has a really great guitar part, lyrics and tune. The guitar solo in this track is so great it takes my breath away. Like Hendrix - Tim Smith manages to cross the boundary from "NOISE" into desperately unremitting beauty in this solo.Review Update 03-03-2000
Cardiacs- Sing to God (Parts one and two)
The Cardiacs (or more correctly just "Cardiacs") are a brilliant band whose magnificence is too rarely acknowledged. This is a tape of a two CD masterpiece of an album released in 1995. As an aside, the human had this CD three years before he felt ready to listen to it. It is well worth the wait, both he and I agree (although lets be honest his opinions are irrelevant). I like Cardiacs an awful lot but I must admit I had to work at this album and listen to it say 20 times before I could truly say I liked it. Now I am spell bound by itWhether or not there is a concept to it, I have not ascertained, but it doesn't matter as the songs are great. The first track on CD one, Eden on the Air gently welcomes you into this tape before you are hit by the fantastic "Eat it up worms hero" which demonstrates Cardiacs brilliance and musical excellence. You cannot play this music and not be master musicians. Theres a section in it that sounds like how it would feel to be eaten alive by a large insect with quickly moving arms munching through your rib cage
The main creative genius behind Cardiacs is Tim Smith, but he is not the only songwriter, it would not be fair to ignore the fact that Jon Poole and Bob Leith also wrote/co-wrote tracks on this album. The term " genius" is a vastly overused label but in the case of Tim Smith it is justified. In the future people will mention Smiths name in the same sentence as Chopin, Beethoven etc. His musical "universe" is different from most of ours, entailing sudden key changes, time signature changes, discords that are resolved, noise, "jerky" passages of music, plus a melodic sensibility and a different way of constructing melodies involving unusual chromatic leaps. Hope this is not putting you off.
At first, it can be v. slightly uncomfortable on the ear, but you adapt and enjoy the musical surprises he springs. To describe the music generally it is sort of "punky" sort of avant garde (though not in a pretentious sense) and like I said full of unexpected changes. Its actually hard to sum it up in words- I think people either love or hate Cardiacs music. It creates those sort of strong reactions.
The musicianship is great on this album, bass and guitar work are faultless and I think the drummer (whose name escapes me) has the hardest job going due to the time signature changes and sudden STOPS. Tim's singing is great backed up by great backing vocals which are sometimes recorded to sound like a mob and are at other times single voices.
Tim's lyrics are sometimes quite forward but on other occasions include disturbing unsettling images hinting at something slightly dark and of "madness". A squalid house in suburbia, filth and dirt abound in every corner, is the way he introduced a song on their live album, This also seems to sum up the band. That while things seem 0K- theres something undeniably a bit weird and dark in there. We live in a mad world and Cardiacs music reflects this madness
My current favourite tracks on part 1 are Eden on the Air, Eat it up worms hero, Dog like Sparky, Fiery Gun Hand (which has a great guitar solo), Bellyeye (which has a great verse melody) and Wireless which is just fantastic . It has a hypnotic "circular" backing melody which goes round your mind all day, coupled with percussion that plays this circular melody in your mind even when its no longer being played
Sing to God Part2 begins with a magnificent opening anthem in the form of "Dirty Boy". Other great tracks are Odd Even, Bell Stinks, Flap off you filthy beak (which once again has a great melody), Quiet as a mouse is "fun" and darkly atmospheric, and theres a great version of Nurses Whispering Verse
Like I said, its early days. I'm still "learning" this tape, but I have no doubt its a masterpiece. More Cardiac info is available on www.cardiacs.com
review date 280799
The Chemical Brothers - Surrender
Surrender ... NO I Won't !! (and you can't make me)I am broadly disappointed with this tape.
Electronic keyboard based music is always a bit hit and miss with me and this album is very hit and miss.
There are some really nice, good instrumentals on this tape: Orange Wedge, The Sunshine Underground (which is a bit Sgt. Pepper-y), got glint? and the title track Surrender. Of these Surrender and Sunshine Underground are by far the best and got glint is ok until the robot vocals when it plummets.
There's also a nice opening track music: response which is quite funny and quirky. I like this track an awful lot.
The second track on this tape - Under the Influence is musically exceptionally irritating like a fly buzzing around your face and track after - Out of control which is sung by Bernard from New Order (whom I like usually) is very lacklustre with some dodgy lyrics, especially the moustache line. Dream on = tedious and too long, asleep for a day = also extremely irritating - God I really do hate this song (though not as much as under the influence).
I bought this tape on the strength of the two excellent singles I'd heard from it - Let forever be and Hey Boy Hey Girl
I like the Hippy trippy feel to Let forever be and the reverse beginning followed by nice shiny drum and cymbal sound. Theres a great bass line to this track and I think the lyrics were written and sung by Noel Gallagher. The lyrics are great, a series of open ended questions.... how does it feel like to.... and there are some really lovely sonics going on, including the "computery" quiet bits. The video was great and very clever, if you haven't seen it.
Hey Boy... has a really good build up and lyric hook. The music is incessant and unforgiving and you are basically swept up in the excitement and drive of the keyboard melody. Theres a great beat to this track too. I really like this one.
So what do you have?
Two great singles.
Some good to ok instrumentals, a nice quirky opening track
and some other really rather hateful tracks.
Some albums grow on you with repeated listening, but I find some of this tape so irritating I can't be bothered. What I think I'll do is tape the good tracks onto a tape and never listen to this tape in its entirity again
Review date 271099
Sheryl Crow - The Globe Sessions
Sheza is a fab songwriter. When you listen to this album there a no dud tracks on it. I really love Riverwide which has a sort of folky "celtic" (?) feel to it and "Crash and burn" which has a good hendrixy style guitar backdrop to it. All the songs as well as being well written and crafted are also performed excellently. Sheryl has a great voice and she has chosen great backing musicians.Am i getting through parts 1 &2 are great, and I love "You're My Favourite mistake" (been there) and "You don't bring me anything but down" (done that & got the T shirt). The songs have catchy singalongable choruses and thought has been put into the lyrics so they tell stories and create images in my mind thing.
I don't know how best to describe this tape. Its adult rock, but I hate the term "adult orientated rock" as this tends to apply to bland manufactured tedious American bands. This tape is none of these. Its Great.
And shucks, lets be honest shes pretty cotton picking darn pretty too.
review date 090599
On re-listening, I have become faced with a dilemma about the best track on this tape. I really like "Am i getting through" part 1 with its slow gradually building up melodic verse counterpointed by the rough fuzzed half shouted chorus which is really a magic combination. I also forgot to mention "The difficult kind" which has a great verse coupled with an excellent chorus with great vocal harmonies.
So there are about 5 or 6 "best tracks" in this tape. Rather than getting het up about this I will just sit back and enjoy them all !.
review updated 100598
The Cult - Pure Cult
The Cult - Pure Cult, for rockers, ravers, lovers and sinners scrubbers, losers, bankers and boozers....I have to be very carefully how I spell "Pure Cult" cos by accident I may write a rude word, you know, puke. Yes well thats the only rude word I can think of. This is a sort of "greatest hits" compilation of the Cults career (another £7 Our Price special I'm afraid). Its a great album of Rock n Roll. ROCK 'N' ROLL featuring such classics as She Sells Sanctuary (... by the shea shore) Rain, Love, Spirit Walker, Revolu-shan etc.
What makes a good band good, a great band great and a legendary band legendary? A ha. The secret every record company exec wants to know. I, MajorTom knows. Its all to do with cheese you know. The Cult are a great great band who should be legendary but somehow it never happened (wrong sort of cheese lads). Maybe it was the frequent line up changes that stymied them. Ian Astbury (vocals), Billy Duffy (guitar) and Jamie Stewart (bass & keyboards) are listed as permanent members, but there have been no less than 3 other bass players, 3 other keyboard players and, get this, seven different drummers !! including my favourite Mark Brzeqzdndiazsfwezzzpfwewzzbqyqxzcxczkkapfsenaki from Big Country. Ian Astbusy has a great rock and roll voice. A sort of combination of Freddie Mercury, Jim Morrison and with the odd Robert Plant style "baby baby baby"s thrown in during songs like Love Removal Machine. Billy Duffy is a guitar demigod. A great guitarist. Billy and Ian seem to dominate the band in that its just their two faces on the back of the CD with no Jamie.Somehow the combination of Ian and Billy have not powered the Cult into U2 mega star status when at one time 1984-1985 ish they had similar numbers of fans at least in the UK, The Cult give the impression of being a band that trail blazed their way across the states on massive stadium tours and maybe they did/have but when you get people to name great British bands I doubt they will appear on the list in the top 20/30/40. (more another time)20-03-2000
Garbage - Version 2.0
Garbage - this is a double platinum selling album but I get the feeling that too many people are overlooking Garbage. I think they are a great band. Their lead singer Shirley Manson is excellent with a powerful voice, image and presence. I saw her on your BBC2 recently and she has a scary, cyber girl - "do not mess with me" image. The songs are probably not bland enough to be played on the radio as they are "dark" sometimes slightly sinister songs. I love Push it, Paranoid, in particular. Hammering in My Head, Medication and Special are also cool. There also the great slowie "You look so fine" that sounds like it should be in a film.On one track (Special) as a special extra bonus theres also backing vocals by the fab Chrissie Hynde. I find this album is a bit of a downer so it helps to listen to a couple of songs, then listen to something less intense, then go back to this one. Its very good though -- don't less this last sentence put you off!
review date 080599
review updated 150599 060699
Gail Ann Dorsey - The Corporate World.
Gail Ann Dorsey has a fab voice, is a great bass player and is a great songwriter.So good in fact that she is currently the bass player in D. Bowies excellent band. This album was released in 1988 and I first heard it soon after its release so looks like I discovered her first before everybody's favourite Sarf-Londoner (DB). It reminds me very much of Cardiff, especially the area around Cathays Station. All tracks on this tape are very well played by professional musicians and the tape is well produced. In fact, if I have one criticism of this tape is its maybe a little bit too well produced so the music teeters on sterility when you can feel the musicians want to jam these excellent songs and put more oomph in to them.
Gail's singing is excellent throughout with loads of feeling, and what was that, could I hear some of her bass playing ? no surely not. ( her Bass could have been done with being mixed louder)
My favourite track is the title track The Corporate World, which is all about the cut throat business world and greed and flashy people who show off how much money they have made. I especially liked the intro. about "I have no idea how much money I have - I can write cheques ha ha ha". Its a brilliant song - which is regularly rewound on the humans car tape player for repeated re-listening and accompanied by his frankly quite crap singing. This song leads into "Where is your love" another great song about all the fab bits of technology you humans have, but as Gail says "where is your love - can you find it?" Wishing I was someone else (the story of my life) is also on this tape as is the great "Just Another Dream". My 2nd fave track on this tape is "Wasted Country" about pollution. A great well written song about something close to my heart .
A mistake on this album is that it feels it should finish after "If only you" but it doesn't there are two more tracks. But overall its great.
Gail is fab - can anyone tell me if she has released any other albums?
review date 020899
She has , by the way. I have answered my own question. I found this info on an excellent web site that referred to Gail as being a "bass goddess". But to true form, have lost the sites address. Anyway Gail released a second album called Rude Blue (ref Island GAD 9999 s12-579-2 for the CD version)
I will endeavour to get this. She is also apparently working on a new solo project........review updated 271099
Genesis - Three Sides Live
Genesis's post Abacab peace offering live album.Released as three live sides in the States with a side of the Studio tracks that made up the 3x3 EP released in the UK (plus a few other tracks) while in the UK it was released as four sides of live tracks the fourth side being made up of "out takes" from the Seconds Out live album (featuring the extraordinary talents of the legendary Steve Hackett on guitar). The live album sort of covers the period in Genesis's career from "Wind and Wuthering" through Steves departure, "And then there were 3", "Duke" and "Abacab". I find, as is common with these four albums there are highlights and low lights and this is one to listen to with one hand hovering over the fast forward button. Highlights for me on this album include the live version of Abacab, which is really cool, much better than the ploddy wooden jam on the studio album with some really great soaring guitar solos from Mike Rutherford. I like this song- I always have. (am not too sure about the rest of Abacab but will talk about this another day!)
Another highlight is the live version of "Fountain of Salmacis" (feat Steve Hackett) the original track coming from the first Genesis album Phil Collins and Steve played on - Nursery Cryme. A fab song based upon the classical story about the encounter between Hermaphrodites and a mystical fountain nymph. (what happens? - ha ha - you'll have to get the album or ask me nicely!) A great live version of this fab song. Phil Collins singing is really good in this. Theres also a live version of "IT" (from the Lamb) which I much prefer as a standalone song because I've always felt it feels like it was sort of grafted onto the end of Lamb and doesn't really fit in with the rest of the album. This version is great and it leads on to a musical hint at the fab Watcher of the Skies - not the whole song - just the beginning and end sections , but it really is a fab song.
Another great , and I feel underated song is "Duchess" off of Duke. This is a great song about success and the perils of fame and rejection. There is a live section which starts with Behind the Lines and then onto Duchess as per the original album. This really is Genesis at their best, pounding drums, great melody and bass parts and yes Phils singing is really ace. I know now that he has become a v. successful solo artist in his own right plus has left Genesis, it is v fashionable to slag him off, but he is/ was a great rock vocalist and frontman and his singing on these Duke tracks is great. They are his own. Following P. Gabriel was a very hard act but "The Cage" , which is for me the highlight of this album is an excellent example of Phils talent in taking a Gabriel song and making it his.
The Cage is a veritable orgy of Genesis brilliance. To start with it is a great great brilliant song full of lots of imagery , great lyrics, melody etc Genesis fans have a special way of requesting this song by double clapping in a particular way (which is featured on this tape) and all over the world we double clap in this way when we want to hear this song. Tony Banks's playing is fantastic on this track and what is great is the way the band members are all playing so well together letting each other have their moment. There is a medley at the end of this song that I find intoxicating - one minute we are trapped under New York in a cage in the catacombs - next minute we are talking to an old man (Father Tiresius - hope this is spelt ok) who is telling us there is more Earth than sea (Cinema Show) and just as this is sinking in we are catapulted back to NYC for an encounter with the cruely twisted and deformed Slippermen. This is so fab and finishes up with the revelation of the "Afterglow" which I have always prefered live. So there are some truly great Genesis live performances on this tape. Review Date 26-01-2000
Jimi Hendrix - Live at Woodstock
"Jimi Hendrix doesn't play notes when he plays his guitar.....he plays beautiful Rainbows of LOVE that stretch from the end of infinity
back to way before the Beginning of Time" ukmajortom - 1999
A quote for you pop-pickers that you can quote me on
This is a fantastic live tape of Hendrix at his most mega-cosmic fantastic best from the Woodstock festival. Very few of the acts at this festival could be said to have given legendary performances at this festival but on the basis of this tape, Hendrix very obviously did, stepping into a beautiful vibe of LOVE, Harmony, one-ness etc. This was the first gig played by Hendrix's new band - "Gypsy Sun and Rainbows" a.k.a. the Band of Gypsies. According to the liner text and Hendrix's own words the band had only rehearsed together 2 times before this gig, so its quite startling, or more likely a tribute to the individual band members musical talents how well they work together. Although let face it, any band featuring Mitch Mitchell on drums and fab Billy Cox on Bass can't go wrong.
By all accounts as well as being a mega brilliant awe inspiring talent, Hendrix was quite a good egg too. This comes across in this between song comments which are on the whole funny, a bit self depricating in places and quite ironic, you imagine they fly over the heads of most of the stoned, tired, hippy audience present at the gig. His comments about the problems with the bands' tuning and the non-working mikes are very very funny. A minor irritation, (nothing to do with the music) is the way when you tape the CD the song intros (to the song about to be played happens before the 3 second between tracks, so you get a disjointed intro followed by a sudden silence then song start. Must we put up with these musical philistines who don't have the soul enough to realise an introduction should lead straight into the song???
On a happier note, this is a Hendrix family authorised version which means that the artist- or at least his family actually get to see the Royalties (for a change).
Musically the tape starts well with Message to Love and then, for me, it sort of lulls for a couple of tracks. But don't get me wrong I'm not saying the following tracks are rubbish. Theres some really good playing on these tracks and , for example, some really good blues in Red House. For me the tape really picks up with a rocking version of Foxy Lady. Amazing. The remaining tracks are brilliant live versions of Hendrix's "greatest hits" , Purple Haze, Izabella, Voodoo Chile, Hey Joe. All demonstrate that yes Hendrix was great in the studio, but that he could actually play guitar just as brilliantly live. And he could sing along with his funky cool voice at the same time - this makes me very jealous ! This tape also includes Hendrix's fantastic version of the Star Bangled Banner. This is a truly amazing piece of rock history.
America was at a very confusing time in its History and this confusion, pain and also Glory are reflected in this rendition. Non Hendrix fans dismiss his music as "noise" but somehow he has managed to inject beauty in to this "noise" and the feedback sounds like screams of anguish from the souls of the Angels in pain. America is a Great beautiful country, it bailed Europeans out 2 times in World Wars this century, it said it would send men to the moon and return them safely (and it did), it is a major industrial power house and yet amidst all this greatness there was the racism and poverty highlighted by Martin Luther King and his followers, the country made great inspirational leaders such as the Kennedys (Bobby and Jack), Martin Luther King only to have them gunned down by its own citizens and America had, at the time, got itself involved in the Vietnam War and had accidentally become the sort of imperialist "invading" power that it had itself kicked out and fought vigorously against when it became independant of the "couldn't care less" Brits in 1776.
Young men had been conscripted to fight in a War only to return to find themselves shunned (because of the Wars unpopularity) Hendrix had himself fought there. So in this version there is all the beauty/ pain/ anger/ confusion/ greatness/ hurt/ glory/ pride that it felt to be an American at that time
This album improves and grows and grows with repeated listening. It is truly a great work of Art, and yes a great work of Beauty
Review date 151199
The Manic Street Preachers - Generation Terrorists
The Manic Street Preachers - Generation Terrorists The kicking snarling spitting double album debut from this great band.I heard this tape for the first time the week it was released and yes hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I don't care if you believe me or not, but I knew then that I was witnessing the birth of a Great Band. Look at what has happened since.
Its a shame in a way (!), its one of those weird psychological things that when you find a great band, they are "yours" you want them to be successful and to continue, but in the same way its great to be able to see them at small venues and to introduce them to your mates and say "listen to this great band I like". And so it was when Gen Terrorists was released.
They had already built up a growing cult following - but they still felt like "yours". These days you can't get tickets and their gigs are full of people who know the words for "Design for Life" and "If you tolerate this...." and people who go to gigs just because a band is the "in-band" to listen to. Like Oasis were a couple of years ago, The Manics are now. But this is being extremely selfish. The band members have worked very hard and have received no special favours in their route to their current status so best of luck them.
I think part of the appeal of Gen Terrorists is that you know that it will not appeal to their current "fair weather" fans
Gen Terrorists is about (in places) alienation, despair, anger, loneliness, drug abuse, depression, suicide, and a bit more alienation.
The songs are brilliantly written and well played. It would be very easy to imagine that in fact the Manics didn't play on this album but that session musicians were bought in instead - such is the excellence of the musicianship on this, the bands first album. As well as the excellent drum, bass and guitar playing, James's singing is excellent. What each new band needs is a trademark, a tag to set it apart from the others and James's strong singing voice and brilliant guitar playing sets the band well apart from any others. And yes, it is a band. Not dominated by one member with all writing either the music or the lyrics. Its very easy to think Richey Edwards wrote all the lyrics when in fact Nicky wrote about half of them - credit where credits due. Sometimes the lyrics read more like cleverly crafted slogans rather than actual song lyrics - but its ok
It was very brave of the band to debut with a double album and because of the broadly "down" feel to this album, the length of the album kind of works against it. There are many brilliant classic tracks on this tape though including the classic soaring anthem Motorcycle Emptiness the kicking "You love us" and "Slash and Burn" and the great singalong "NatWestBarclaysMidlandsLloyds". I also love, yes LOVE, the metal thrash of the closing track "Condemned to Rock and Roll", the fab lyrics and brilliant chorus of "Spectators of Suicide" and the two excellent versions of "Repeat" whose lyrics I cannot unfortunately include here for copyright reasons. "Methadone Pretty" I also love and "Stay Beautiful" I absoluletly love with its "why don't you just... " lyric hook.
All of the tracks I have mentioned above are rock and roll classics.
I cannot emphasise this enough
This is a great debut album from a very great talented band.Review date 021199
Manic Street Preachers - This is My Truth Tell Me Yours
Manic Street Preachers - This is my Truth Tell Me YoursI really really really really like the Manics, and although I have never met them myself have seen them interviewed many times on TV and they come across really well like good blokes. I have seen them a couple of times at Small venues and they are great live. What I like best about them is that they have had no special favours, or help from anyone, but they have achieved success purely off their own hard work and talents. That said, I feel a bit guilty about my feelings towards this tape. It would be unfair of me to describe it as "Nothing Special" or " musical wallpaper", but I find myself putting it on and 63 minutes later noticing it has finished. Its a bit like Peter Davison as Dr. Who. You know, you'd watch out of loyalty, but did you really enjoy it????
For me what I think this tape lacks is SPARK. I loved the Manics first 3 albums as I identified with their anger and loved the raw power of their playing, but bands have to move on / things change/ people change and for me this tape and its predecessor Everything Must Go have lacked something for me. I guess part of the problem is that they used to feel like they were "my" band and now anyone who is anyone likes them (or at least claims to)
Musically the songs are all well played and performed. The tape starts with The Everlasting which is OK, nice melody, carries on with If You Tolerate this which once again is OK,carries on with a really nice melodic song called You stole the Sun from my Heartwhich I like, Tender and Tired is ok as is Be Natural which has an opening which is like a revelation, and Nobody Loved you is a great track with a clever lyric hook and great backing vocals that sound like Roger Taylor from Queen. My 2 fave tracks are I'm Not working which, yes, is fantastic, one of the Manics best ever tracks and SYMM which is by the far the best track on the tape. But there you go, maybe it is just me. SYMM is a very bleak black track so maybe I'm the one whose out of touch.
All tracks are well played and I like the way James sings.
review date 280500
All the above taken into consideration I spent the early part of this week singing The Everlasting and If you tolerate this... to myself, so as you can see , the songs on this tape are by no means crap or rubbish at all.update 100600
The Mavericks - Trampoline
The Mavericks are a great band and this is an excellent album. While their early albums were "country and western" this one has a sort of latin "tex/mex" feel to it. Basically an album of well written melodic songs about love, lost love, being dumped and then "dancing the night away" etc.
The strength of this album is the Brilliant songs on this album including the hit single "Dance the Night away" which followed by the excellent "Tell Me Why" which is a classic single that was never released (why???). Tell me why has a soaring melodic chorus that its great to belt out. The progression of the "why"s in the chorus is pretty fab.
Other great tracks include "I don't even know your name" "All I get" and two magnificent ballads " Fool Number 1" and "Dream River". These 2 excellent songs are worth buying this album for on their own.
I've listened to this album countless times and never tire of the excellent melodies. I braved the bright lights of Cambridge (on earthdate 15/09/98) to see them live and as with all true great bands they are excellent live,especially Raul Malo their lead singer and main song writer. He has a voice which is a combination of the other Elvis (Presley) at his most powerful combined with the range and versatility of Roy Orbison.
I particularly like this album as its not a doom and gloom album but has a generally happy upbeat feel to it. Its not a "revolutionary" or ground shattering album but is proof that there are still quality song writers out there able to write great song melodies. Contains many classic songs. My fave tape of 1998!!
review date 050599
Raul Malo played a solo gig in Cambridge on 23 Oct this year and he was absolutely magic.
He started the gig on his own and was joined 1/3 of the way through the set by two excellent musicians, a cool percussionist and a second guitarist/ vocalist
The whole feel of the gig was very laid back. The stage was set up like a sort of lounge with a sofa and lampstand and a sideboard and Raul himself
wore quite "sloppy" casual clothes, you know the sort of clothes you kick around in when at home.
He is a sickeningly talented individual with a brilliant "angelic voice" which he accompanied on an acoustic guitar.
He writes great songs, he plays them fantastically. He told some funny stories between the songs too and was very relaxed about playing the gig.
If he tours again acoustically, I very much recommend you go to see him. Review update 281199
George Michael - Ladies and Gentlemen
Mostly Harmless. Naughty Bad Boy George Michael chose to name his Greatest Hits album after toilets, not that I am inferring anything of course music lovers. There are 2 parts to this tape - "For the Heart" ( Ballads) and "For the Feet" (Dance Songs). I've never been a great fan of Georges ballads so apart from the excellent "Jesus to a Child" I avoid being there when this tape is being played. I'm not saying they're bad, I just don't like them thats all.The other half - For the Feet - is the best half although it is not perfect. There are some songs I really detest especially"Knew you were waiting" with Aretha Franklin. Outside is an excellent song though. The Fact GM has been through what he has and then made a song poking fun at the situation and having a laugh at his own expense (in the video) is the sign of a true talent.
This is followed by the excellent STEVIE WONDER song - As - a duet with Mary J Bilge. (I'll be loving this song until..... )Other great songs on this tape are Fast Love, Too Funky, Spining the Wheel, and Star People. Theres also a great live version of "Killer/ Papa was a rollin' stone" and a great version of Somebody to Love (with Queen) from the Freddie Mercury tribute concert which I always enjoy. George has a super singing voice especially live.
So out of the 29 tracks on this tape , I like 10 ! But the 10 I like are excellent.
review date 080599
review updated 150599
Misty in Roots - Wise and Foolish
A great album, a bit of a downer in places but great all the sameMisty are a cool reggae band who are brilliant live. The songs are on hard hitting topics such as Slavery, and there are lots of biblical type references in there about "Babylon". One of my fave tracks is Wise and Foolish, based on the parable about the foolish man building his house on sand, wise man on stone etc etc. Its a great song, well written and played. In fact all the songs are well written and played
Other great tracks are "Life Boat" and "Bail Out" on the general theme of the world or Babylon is sinking so we either need to "bail out" the boat or find a life boat. City Blues is a great track. A bit of a downer, but that is because it is so evocative of the oppressive feeling you get in a big built up city especially on a hot, sticky muggy day when theres no breeze, the buildings are radiating out heat and the air is full of traffic (esp. diesel fumes). This song reminds me of parts of North London. Its brilliant
. Its not all down, Jah bless Africa is great and upbeat as is "Live up" (cos only Jah can help us through).
I don't share Mistys obviously deeply held religious beliefs or their outlook on life generally, but this is not a problem. This is not an album of drum beating about religion. If you share their beliefs - great, if not, not to worry just listen like I do to the fab songs and their brilliant execution by Misty in Roots.
review date 020899
Page and Plant - Walking into Clarksdale
Page and Plant - Walking Into ClarksdaleI hate Page and Plant and I think Led Zep are CRAP !!
(not really :-))
Some monsters are very scary and dangerous like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park that you wish would have bitten off the heads of those bratty American kids in the film (they survive unfortunately) and some monsters are terrfingly beautiful and worthy of worship (you know like King Kong - not sure on the beautiful bit!) Walking into Clarksdale is a "monster" album of the latter sort. Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and two very talented musicians - Charlie Jones (bass) and Michael Lee (Drums) have made a monster of an album that grows and grows with repeated listening. It is truly magnificent and brilliant. This tape will obviously appeal to Zep fans but also I think non Zep fans will like it
There are twelve tracks on this tape - all new. The album starts with Shining in the light which has a great chorus, well sung by Robert with some really good strong - jang jang jang - type chords from Jimmy Page at the start of the chorus. Some nice strings as well.The electric guitar sound at the start sounds a bit "muddy" on the first couple of strums but it picks up. A good opening number. Theres some great acoustic guitar playing on this track which I love.
A highlight for me is Most High. Page and Plant have an excellent knack of playing a Moroccan/ Egyptian/ North African type groove thing which doesn't sound at all lame or contrived but sounds brilliant with excellent instrumentation & North African instruments accompanying the band. A great drumming rhythm throughout. A true rock classic which keeps getting turned up louder and louder everytime I hear it. It swirls me away and in my mind picture I am racing across the Sahara touching every grain of sand as I go. What I like about this track is the way you can help Robert out at the end of the song with a couple of well placed "baby-baby-baby-baby-baby-baby"s if you are for example, bored and stuck in a traffic jam on the M25......... again
I suppose my favourite track is Blue Train.When I first listened to it, I was stuck on the M25 - (W. Europes largest car-park) - in the pouring rain, hemmed in by lorry drivers (add your comments about lorry drivers here ............)
By a coincidence - or maybe it isn't ?- the windscreen wipers on the car were perfectly timed to the beat of this song and it basically tied in with how I was feeling at the time.The bass work on this track is lovely. Roberts singing is excellent and it builds to a great powerful climax with brilliant playing throughout. I have had to make some difficult decisions recently and this song perfectly encapsulates my mood and some of the confusion I have been feeling. It is too beautiful for words. Listen to it. Its slightly melancholy as the title suggests.
There are some strange lyrics on this album. The slightly thrashy "ill formed" final track on this tape - Sons of Freedom talks about Robert getting so scared, he wet the bed - yeah right - rock God R.Plant wetting the bed ..... and in Burning up it sounds like he's burning up ....... like a bonking mule??????
When I was a child is a gentle song,very nicely played by all and excellently sung. Robert has a really fab voice and there are great lyrics in this song with child like imagery. When the World was young is another true classic rock song with great lyrics. I also love Please Read the Letter which for some reason makes me think it has a sort of late 60s (1967-8) sort of feel to it. Its good. A bit poppy. Nice
Walking into Clarksdale has a sort of "incongrous" feel to it. It feels a bit clumsy and once again - great lyrics from Robert who was obviously eating the right sort of cheese when it came to writing the lyrics for this fab album. You know, probably a nice mature cheddar. Theres a really good climbing arpeggio type opening riff before the sort of incongrous bit. Nice bass beating out the sound of the train on the tracks. The tension builds up in the verse to be resolved by Jimmys once strummed chords. The lyrics sort of tie in with how I feel right now "sad to be leaving...."
House of Love is another great track with a superb "swampy" riff from Jimmy, and once again magnificent drumming. A great rock track that is instantly likeable.
Heart in your hand is another nice track. A slow one. Jimmy plays very open chords that sound like the American prairies. Great lyrics from Robert about lost love and regret.
Upon a golden horse is my favourite track. Its a real stormbringer of a song. Jimmys chords are magnificent and powerful and conjure up images of a massive storm over the North Sea smashing through the sea defences and flooding the land (the Fens). For me, its an important image. Time to move on. The track starts with a decending bass "scale" which as a teaser to this tracks magnificence. There is a very special way that string players play, which you only hear on Led Zep albums. I imagine that Robert Plant keeps them freeze dried in a special capsule he wears on his necklace to release them out to the world on special magnificent occasions as on this track. They are here in full force - the magnificent Led Zep string players - adding to this tracks brilliance. Robert is singing for his life as the waves crash in....
you know sometimes the right album comes along at the right time and it means more to you than it really should. Well this is one of those albums for me. Its a pivotal album for me, just as Radiohead the Bends was when I was being bullied at work . It is magnificent. Very highly recommended. I can't stop listening to it !!!!( I have seen them live a couple of times and they are brill) review date 160500
I keep forgetting to mention, an excellent Page & Plant/ Led Zep web site is at www.linwood.demon.co.uk updated 110600
Pretenders - The Singles
£7 in the Our Price summer sale. BARGAINPretenders are a great band and this is a greatest hits collection covering hits from their first four albums:
Pretenders, Pretenders 2, Learning to Crawl and the other one, the one I didn't buy Get Close
Pretenders 1 and 2 are two of the greatest abums ever recorded. (see my topten).By the time "Crawl" was recorded two of the original members had died and I think it was on Get Close that another original member , Martin Chambers, was "let go" (as it were).
Pretenders for me were always very much a band. Yes the majority of their songs were written by one person (Chrissie Hynde) but they worked very much as a very powerful team. The image they had was of this tough "do not mess with me" ex-American lady lead singer with three equally "do not mess with us" blokes from Herefordshire. They worked well as a team Chrissie's strong though sometimes so vulnerable singing, her strong brilliant songs, Martin Chambers strong drumming reinforced by Pete Farndons bass work and James Honeyman-Scotts beautiful melodic jangly guitar playing and his great solos.
With these talents, they could not lose
For me however, Pretenders lost something following Pete and James's deaths. They were replaced by very very talented musicians but the chemistry had gone, the magic had gone, the image of them being a band rather than them being a sort of support band supporting Chrissie's mega talent (i.e Chrissie Hynde and the......) was over. The reason for all the above is that it broadly reflects my feelings towards the tracks on this tape. I think also there is the psychological thing when a band starts, they are "yours" while as they get famous you can find you don't love their music as much as you did cos they are no longer "yours" and the ******s that spat at you for having Pretenders badges now have them themselves, devaluing something you loved. I think this may have coloured my judgement to an extent.
I'll start with the "worse" track......
The duet with UB40, I've got you babe. I love UB40's music and obviously Chrissies, but I felt this was an unnecessary cover version. The original Sonny and Cher version is so well known and played, it seems pointless recording a new version. Better would have been a cover of a more obscure cover version or even better a co-written UB40/ Chrissie song ! (wow!). That said I find myself singing along to it in my weaker moments
How do you do a greatest hits album? You either jumble all the tracks up or in the case of this album, you list them chronologically so tracks 1-4 are Pretenders, 5-7 are Pretender 2 8 to 11 are Crawl and the rest are Get Close (although am not sure about I got you Babe)
The songs.....not all of the singles released by Pretenders as singles were written by Chrissie Hynde. I got you Babe was written by the late Sonny Bono (did you know this? I didn't)and both "Thin Line..." and "Hymn to Her" were written by other songwriters (non Pretenders members). Of the remaining songs Brass in Pocket and Day after Day were co-written with Jim Honeyman-Scott and two of the tracks were written by the great Ray Davies.
Stop your sobbing was Pretenders first single (it was produced by Nick Lowe) and what an excellent choice for a single it was. Showing Chrissie's "tough" side. Beautifully played throughout and Chrissies singing is great throughout. (I will abbreviate Chrissie to "C" from now on as I keep telepathically spelling Chrissis). The song is very beautiful, lovely words and melody. The other "Ray" song is also very beautiful - I go to sleep - with a nice horn intro and echoey guitar and a story about being far away from someone you love, but dreaming they are with you even though they are miles away. Ray Davies is an incredibly under-rated brilliant songwriter. I'm listening to this track while I think these thoughts and the chorus kicked in - its so lover-ly! Yes, back to Ray Davies - he has written more great songs than Waterloo sunset !!!
Writing about the song above and about missing someone - gives me an excuse to write about 2000 miles. A great C song with a nice jangly guitar part and a "Christmassy" feel to it. One about missing someone special - and once again dreaming about them. I love the chorus of this song.
Its all very well being in love with someone, but imagine what it must me like to secretly want someone. It must be such a drag sometimes. Especially if you said something about it to yourself whilst surrounded by people and someone heard about it and started gossiping (Talk of the Town) Theres a lovely guitar intro and guitar playing throughout this song - C's singing is great - the way she sings in this song is great and the regretful pained way she sings "You've changed" like you love someone wish that someday you might pluck up courage to tell them , and then something about them has sort of put you off, or made you hesitate. its a beautiful bitter sweet song with a great chord strum at its end.
Chrissie Hynde said she wore no knickers (under her leather trousers!) when she played Brass in Pocket on Top of the Pops. See who says using the Internet is not educational! Brass in Pocket, is a great classic song. Its special! Reportedly C introduced it on stage sometimes as being by Led Zeppelin because she had got sick of the hype surrounding the song, but it IS a great song, with great lyrics and the sort of provocative description throughout the song is good (about whats shes going to use to get noticed.) C co-wrote this with James Honeyman-Scott. It went to number 1 in the UK. In fact it was the first No1 of the eighties in the UK. See ? another thing you've learnt off the Internet today !
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oops sorry a satellite got in the way then -I'm downloading this from space.... The final Pretenders 1 single on this tape is "Kid". Reportedly , so says David "Kid" Jensen written for him by Chrissie, at least thats what I read he said. This is a great song.Chrissie sounds quite sad and mournful as she sings this song, although once again theres that lovely jangly guitar in the background and a nice melodic guitar part and solo. I think the video was set in a fairground cos all I get in my mind is pcitures of the band in front of a fairground ride
"Hymn to Her" is a good song, as are "Thin Line Between Love and Hate" (yep, been there), "Chain Gang" and "Don't get me Wrong" but I have never been too keen on "my Baby" nor "Middle of the Road". The latter is a great song, but it has never clicked with me no matter how many times I have listened to it."Show me" is a great song, one of my faves of "Crawl",its got nice playing in it,a good bass and some nice drumming plus some great melodic guitar playing. It talks about welcoming an alien from outer space, which is obviously about ME.
I think my fave tracks are Day after day and Message of Love. I like the lyrics to message of love, the sort of drum loop drum track and the way the guitar part seems to bounce between the two guitarists.
Day after day has a great soaring guitar part, great lyrics again (including a line about dolphins), good playing from the other guys in the band and a great line about "when the war is over...." Listening to this song makes me feel like I am flying through the clouds. Once again a song about being miles from someone you love and wanting to meet up with them.I think this is my fave Pretenders single although I am also rather partial to "Talk of the Town"
So all in all. A great collection of singles from a great band showingcasing Chrissie Hyndes exceptional songwriting talent. Review date 311099 (Halloween!)
The Prodigy - The Fat of the Land
I like this album an awful lot. What I like best about the Prodigy is the fact that they are not writing music more like they are producing sonic landscapes in the same way that Curve do. (did? are they still going, Curve?). This tape includes the utterly fantastic Firestarter. I love the drum beat in this song and the "conversation" between the boom of the bass coupled with the higher snary/ cymbal drumming.The lyrics add to the darkness of this song and whenever I hear this I imagine the vid of the band underground in the Jubilee line extension with the lights in the tunnel switching on in time with the "Art of Noise" hey hey heys and Keith looking menacing and looking like he's asking any challengers out for a fight. This really was (is) a great single.
Theres also the menacing dark "Breathe" on this tape once again clever video-ed with centipedes feet walking in time to the beat. I like the throbbing bass line in this song coupled with the thrashy guitar and the clicking "castanet" type sound on evry 4th beat of an 8 beat (2 bar) loop. This is contrasted with the quiet sections of descending acoustic guitar strummed chords.
Another track I like on this album is Diesel Power. This is on the face of it a rap but its not one of those tedious "I'm the best you can forget the rest" ones but is well written punctuated by another booming bass line that acts like a hypnotic mantra underpinning the rhythm of the words. I like the "blows you mind...." lyrical hook.
There are some great instrumentals too. Funky sh*t was used as the closing music for the film Event Horizon and has a great driving beat. Playing it while driving its like being in a video game driving through tunnels and having red sort of bombs fired at you that hover outside your car matching your speed to your left amd right and then exploding to form a sharp 1m thick horizontal line of bright red colour at your eye level. The best way to experience this song in its full magnificance is to drive from the west on the A14 and having it playing loud as you go round the wiggly bend near the British Sugar plant at Bury St Edmunds
Climbatize is another great mind picture evoking instrumental which makes me think about a slow motion forest fire burning away in front of a fast motion sky of flowing clouds. I 'll leave you to figure out what the "rattling" sound in this song represents (you don't expect me to do everything do you?) Narayan is another great song with a great hook and more fab drumming. Makes me think of waking up in a Buddhist monastery in the Himalayas and looking out at the mountains opposite as the sun rises painting them red.
The song that causes me the most trouble is Smack my bitch up. The music is great, I love the way the song builds up at the start & the tension in the lyrics and Shahin Badas singing in the middle of this song ( the mid Eastern singing) is totally fantastic, unbelievable and the long note is very difficult to hold (needs about 3 breaths).
What makes me uncomfortable is the title hints at domestic violence, I'm sure its not meant that way, but its a bit like "Sexy MF" by the Beautiful one that its one of those tracks thats a bit awkward to play to some people that you'd really like to share its excellence with.
That aside, this is a great album which I really get a kick out of.
review date 160599 I have been listening to this album again a lot recently and this really is a great album. Prodigy are apparently releasing a new album this year (2000) - can't wait ! review update 26-01-2000
Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
This is one of my all time favourite Queen albums , if not my favourite one (see TopTen). The human was first played this tape shortly after its release by his Brother.Queens 3rd studio album and all the pieces have fallen into place. The songs are perfect and the way they are played and recorded is excellent and faultless. This tape contains the excellent singles "Killer Queen" which is so perfect and brilliant and is so well sung and written by Freddie and "Now I'm Here" with Freddies double echo vocals and great guitar work from Brian May. The way the echoes are made to harmonise towards the end of this song is a masterstroke and listen to Rogers tight snatch-deadened cymbals which are so sharp they could cut your ears. I also love the line about "being down in the dungeon with Peters and Lee"
Mercury's singing is just fantastic . Listen to his singing on "Dear Friends" for example. So pure and clear and sung like its so easy for anyone to sing like he did.(if only)
Queen are a truly great band and a lot of care has been taken in the layout of this album with tracks blending into one another and the two versions of "Lap of the Gods" sandwiching side 2. (How else can you finish "Lap" revisited other than to blow up the world?) Minor irritation (nothing to do with Queen but with technology) is the way thats CDs pause when you tape them... so on "Flick of the Wrist" Freddie sings at the end " Baby you've been .........(3 seconds pause)...... had" which is exceptionally exceptionally irritating and a symptom of the way that music is being packaged and treated like a piece of mindless plastic product these days as opposed to being ART.
I also like the contrast of the songs, one minute Queen are a rock group, then they're pure pop (Misfire), then they do ballads (e.g. Dear Friends), and the joke song Leroy Brown is sort of "prohibition era" . "She Makes Me" is a truly excellent brilliant song with good acoustic guitar work. You listen to this song and think its just a love song and then another masterstroke , the sirens at the end of the sing making me think Brian Mays character is leaning out of the window of a "Batman" style gothic skyscraper with a gun to some ones head in an armed siege. Its so great. In addition to Freddie Mercury, Brian has an excellent singing voice, and what about Roger Taylor's singing in Tenement Funster. Wow this is a great song with great lyrics .
Stone Cold Crazy is a great rocker and Flick of the Wrist is also equally great . Both are well played and written and Freddie could just skip from song type to song type, singing excellently like its the easiest thing in the world to do.
My fave is the magnificent opener "Brighton Rock". This is a show case of Brian Mays excellent guitar talent and I think it was a necessary sing for Queen to record as a way of blowing away the opposition. They are saying "your band may be great" but listen to our guitarist. Brian is pushed to fore but is fully supported by the rest of the guys. Brighton has a sort of mystical appeal for us Brits (esp. Londoners) its a place of escape, a place to go to get away from the grime and dirt of the city, to fall in love, and more importantly to kick one anothers heads in (esp. on Bank Holidays). Thats was this song is. Its a knife fight, the arrogant strut of the Matador just before the kill, a fight to the death, i.e. disrespect Queen at this stage of their career and your days are numbered.....
review date 090799
Queen were on Tv the other day, with a performance of Killer Queen from Top of the Pops - a long running British chart based show.
The band were all looking very young, the performance was unfortunately a mime but Freddie looked rally fab (!) in a big fur coat with his black nail varnish on, his Cleopatra hair style and loads of silver jewellery. What a mega talent. All of the band were fab. Review update 281199
Queen -Hot Rocks
Queen are a great band and Brian May is a truly excellent guitarist.Brian May, the man who made "Brian" a rock and roll name (see below). This is a sort of greatest hits of Queens "rock" tracks and Brian's guitar playing is definitely at the fore.
A great album to play loud to wake up the Suffolk countryside !! They are all here.... Now I'm here, Seven Seas, We will Rock You, Headlong, Put out the Fire, Hammer to Fall, Stone Cold Crazy, etc. etc. etc. Though regrettably no "Brighton Rock" and no live tracks. you can't have everything.
Must not forget , yes Brian is great, but so also are John, Freddie and Roger .....
review date 090799
Brians - this is not true as I had overlooked Brians Jones, Epstein & Wilson ! review update 271099
REM - Automatic for the People
REM's classic album, Automatic for the People spawned 4 to 5 hit singles ; Drive, Sidewinder, Everybody Hurts, Man on the moon and I think Nightswimming was also released as a single. We have only just started listening to this tape and the singles are dominating the album for me at the moment. I find with REM songs that they don't "hit" immediately but tend to gradually grow with repeated listening on me, so no doubt if I update this review, in say a couple of months, I will talk a lot more about the other seven tracks on this brilliant tape. I write this in an extreme mood of bias towards REM. I love their music an awful lot, they are my favourite American band (closely followed by the Mavs, ZZ Top and of course - the BackStreet Boys = only kidding !!!!). This is a great album
Everybody Hurts is a great classic and its in my favourite time signature too. Theres nothing I like more at the end of the day than to come "home" and listen to something in 6/8. This track has unfortunately been overplayed by moronic radio DJs so its one of those songs that when it starts I sort of groan inwardly thinking oh no not this song again. It starts simple with a picked chord. I like this songs straight forward direct message of comfort and consolation from Stipe (makes a change for me to understand what he is singing about !) and the way this song builds up with the string accompaniment getting louder and louder to the end. It is a sign of the power of this song that it can overcome the "inward grown" factor and make me enjoy it everytime I hear it
Another great great song is Drive I don't really understand what this is aboot, but sometimes understanding is not really what REM is about. It is an unassuming song, which starts quite quietly with a really nice acoustic part and Stipes lyrics echoing in places - ( I like the tick (tick) tock (tock) echo - a nice touch). The lead guitar 6 notes that come in loud are some of the greatest six notes in musical history, giving a great kick to this song taking it from something quiet, slow & slightly contemplative to a swirling powerful anthem. I would buy this tape just for Drive and Everybody Hurts.
Sidewinder and Man in the moon are once again, great singles although I get a bit irritated by their wordiness sometimes and to be honest have not really understood what Sidewinders apparent cryptic meaning is (if there is one). I find Stipes obscurity a bit annoying sometimes, but that said, I do love his singing style and I've seen him interviewed and he comes across as a nice solid sort of bloke.
Nightswimming is lovely , full of images to me about the subject with a nice flowing piano part (like the river). A sort of song about a "private" moment that is being shared with friends/ someone special. A nice relaxed feel to this song.
thats it, theres a comet coming this way I really want to see, more another time - majortom
review date 150500
REM - UP
The best album the REMs have ever released (?) so the PR blurb goes. Not sure but this is undoubtedly a masterpiece. Great songs on this album are:- You're in the air, Walk unafraid, Lotus, Hope, the Apologist, Sad professor,Why not smile and Parakeet.The other songs are good too, although if I had to pick the "worst" song on the album its Daysleeper (sorry!) the first single.
While some of the songs have some oomph to them like the Lotus, the majority of the songs are quite quiet unassuming "growers". ie. I found this album improves with repeated listening as do the other REM albums I've heard
This is the pleasure of this album, while on first listening it might sound a bit samey, it grows and you'll wonder how you ever lived before you heard the beautiful hypnotic "Why not Smile". Songs like this make life worth living
If you like REM you'll love this album. I do.
review date 050599
I like this album, its definitely a grower, although at the moment I think I prefer "hi-fi". That was an album I "couldn't" stop listening too, whereas "Up" is the sort of tape I can listen to , leave, listen to , leave etc.
REM are a very unusual band in that I tend to find their music acts on a subliminal level gradually growing on you. I listen to this album and enjoy the songs but they are not like a band like say U2, where individual songs stand out. Theres more of a general "feeling" from the whole album. They (REM) are not writing songs to change to world or anything like that. No, sometimes on the face of it Stipes lyrics have on the face of it hidden or obscure meanings or very little apparent meaning at all. But this I think is the joy. They grow - the songs - with repeated listening.
PS Daysleeper really isn't that bad a song, I just think there are better tracks that could have been released as a first single from this album. I love REM's music - they are great. I enjoyed listening to this tape as when I popped in during a drive to Brampton today
review update 080799
I take back all the above. I have listened to this tape and it is brilliant and if I was still human it would tear my heart to shreds.review update 250799
Rolling Stones - Bridges to Babylon
Don't laugh, but the first time I heard a proper Stones album (as opposed to a live or greatest hits style compilation) I was surprised at how good the quality of their songs are. I know this sounds strange to the initiated !.Their songs don't tend to have ground shattering lyrics (the exception being the line about the Kennedys in "Sympathy for the Devil") but tend to be based on the chorus being a statement of the position the songs narrator is in; such as "you'll never make a saint of me", or "has anybody seen my baby" or "already over me", and the verse is a bit more flesh on the bones of the story of the song. The songs are therefore lyrically quite simple but thats the magic, they are simple they are therefore easy to pick up, easy to sing along to, very catchy (compare with Oasis - Morning Glory - same thing). Any fool can massively over complicate things but the Stones have got it just right. Intelligently written songs which are therefore accessible to mass market.I really like the way the Stones play, especially Charlie Watts drum playing. Compared to most drummers he has a teeny drum kit, but he still manages to sound much better than the majority of them and on stage he looks embarrased to be in the limelight, just wanting to play with the minimum of fuss. Keith Richards and Ron Wood are fab guitarists espcc live and Jagger is a great front man. But you know this already
There are some great songs on this tape. Anybody seen my baby is a classic song and was a brilliant single. This is very much a "90s" sounding song rather than a rehash of some old seventies "groove". It confirms the mastery of Mick and Keef song writing prowess (if this was ever in doubt). Another song I love is the touching "already over me" and also "always suffering". I also really like Saint of me which is a great Stones narrative type song. Another favourite is the first track "Flip the switch" with its middle eastern style opening feel and "Out of Control" is a great song with good lyrics espec in the verse
I really like Keefs rough rough voice. He sings on 3 tracks on this tape, Thief in the Night, How can I stop, and my particular favourite the dancey "You don't have to mean it", which is a classic single that was not released.
Theres four or five songs on this tape which are OK/nothing special, but who am I to criticise? There are at least 4 tracks that are Classics.
review date 200699
Simply Red - Greatest Hits
Simply Red are a strange band in the way that Pretenders are a "band" in that they are both very heavily dominated by one person. Simply Red is very much Mick Hucknalls vehicle and he appears on his own on every cover of the "bands" albums. That said, he is a very talented songwriter and I have seen him live and hes one of these sickening people who is a great musician, great amazing singer and a great dancer to boot. How hateful. To start bad and end good..... there are some tracks on this tape that I quite simply detest with a vengence. Holding Back the Years is one I absolutely hate and hate and hate. He played it live when I saw them live at Wembley this year, it was a nice acoustic version and thank heavens, he forgot a verse so it finished quicker.!!! I hate this song. One year my humans family decided to inadvertently set fire to their kitchen table and it was only cos this song was on TOTP that the human went into the back room and found the kitchen table on fire, thus saving the house burning down !! - its still a crap song though. Another song I hate on this album is their first single Moneys too tight to mention which was so extensively overplayed by DJs in the UK that it is sickening to hear it ever - a bit like Georgie Michaels "Careless Whisper".There are however some great tracks on this tape. A bit like George, I don't like the ballads but really like the dancey numbers. Something got me Started is a great track, a really fab song as are Thrill me and a New Flame. My particular best fave is Stars which I think is a great classic song with a really fabulous melody line to it and I like the lyrics (they're a bit lovey - dovey - yuk!)Plus Fairground - this is a great track live and I really like it with its great melody and sort of Brazilian feel to it
review date 280500Suede - Coming Up
I used to really dislike Suede . They used to be press darlings of the pointless British music press who seemed to fill up columns and columns with mindless "is he /isn't he" speculation and oh yes, that dreadful song Animal Nitrate was I thought over hyped over played and weak weak weak.And then one of the humans friends played him this album and we both fell in love with it. Great songs abound on this album including Trash, Beautiful ones, Lazy and I love "Filmstar". This is my fave song on this album. I really love the in your face immediacy of this track. Its great. There are also excellent "slowies" such as Saturday night and I think "By the sea" is just great. It is very atmospheric and reminds me of Felixstowe on a foggy cold day with the fog coming in off the North Sea
I don't like "Chemistry Between us" which I think has a weak premise that was clever for about 5 minutes but that said I always sing along with the "la la la la's" in the chorus. A great album overall. A revelation !
review date 080599
Suede - Head Music
At first I was disappointed when I first heard this album but on repeated listening it has grown on me. I think this is because I fell in love with the previous Suede album (Coming Up)immediately and expected the same immediate love of this album - which didn't really happen. I think on first listening, some of the tracks sounded a bit "samey" so I was a bit disappointed. Not any more though ! I love this great albumThe first single Electricity is magic. I really like its funky wah-wahed bass line and the way Bretts words have been echoed in time with the music. I'd really like this track playing the background of the "Welcome" page of this Web Site but copyright forbids it. Basically, if you own this track, play it as you log on and you'll get the full effect I would like to achieve
There are many great tracks on this tape, however I find the riff of the Elephant man song exceptionally irritating
I really like Asbestos, Shes in Fashion, Hes Gone, Can't Get Enough,Down, Everything with flow. I saw Suede described as being Bowie-esque trash rockers recently. He's gone has a sort of Bowie feel to it ,a bit reminiscent of "wild is the wind", don't know why maybe its the chords and the way this song builds up and Crack in the Union Jack has that sort of laid back strummed 12 string acoustic sound of early DB.
The PR blurb for this song describes it as being political. Might be if you could hear the words and Bretts singing hadn't been recorded in his bathroom! This is not particularly a fave and I tend to wind through this one.
Head music the title track.. erm not sure if I like this or not. The chorus is one that is very easy to find yourself singing as you walk down the street or by the office photocopier(!) but its all a bit crass really.
There are some really glorious tracks on this album that should have been the title track. This is a very evocative album. I find Electricity, Down. Hes Gone and Everything will flow very descriptive of walking down windswept rainy wet streets of London around the area where the Telecom Tower (a.k.a. the GPO tower) is
review date 230599
complete review update and rewrite 151199
"Hes gone" or, if you prefer "shes gone" is all about how you feel when you've been dumped. How heartbroken you feel and how you go through life after the event hoping it wasn't true or a permanent break up and how you just feel so numb and hurt. You know you go to work and people say how are you and you feel hurt and raw like someone has taken a broken bottle and run it up and down your insides,but you're obliged to say "oh I'm alright" when really all you want to do is die (but you get over it pop pickers !!!)
I really like the immediacy of can't get enough which reminds me of the immediacy of Filmstar on Coming up. Everything will flow is a great beautiful track with a really lush sounding "string" backing track. I think this starts off as a synth backing but think theres a mixture of real players too. The chorus is really great in this song - as is the words. Indian strings has a great string part too (obviously)
I think "Down" is my favourite track - very descriptive and evocative. It makes me think of the busy - ness of London and how somehow in order to survive you have to sort of go numb - go into work , do your job, go home , shut the curtains etc. The sort of lifestyle that its very easy for someone outside the daily rush and hurly burly to sit back and criticise, but also a lifestyle that its very easy to fall into and get trapped and you are 20 and before you know it, you are 60.
There is a bridge I know that overlooks a very busy road in North London which also has a good view into the Banks and big offices in the City. Its a notorious suicide spot.... But you can imagine looking down at the rushing traffic from the view point and feeling very remote from it all. Watching the people and traffic rushing by sometimes in real time
sometimes very gracefully in slow motion
and sometimes in fast motion -like in those films when the traffic swarms from traffic light to traffic light in a jerky insect like stop start motion
Imagine what it would be like to be remote from all this traffic and rush and to climb on the handrail of this bridge and lean forward like a diver about to dive with your arms outstretched behind your back like an angels wings with only the heels of your shoes on the rail and as you step off (when the guitar solo starts ) you float upward and your face starts to blaze like the Sun giving out warmth and happiness to all the people in their houses. People draw back their curtains and where your sun face rays shine the colours change from black grey and white to multicolours..... and you fly away and are free.
Well thats what this song makes me think about.Don't use the above text as an excuse to leap - use it as an excuse to buy this brilliant tape.
Yes, dammit. This is the best tape released this year. This is my FAVE TAPE of 1999. Review update 201199
Pete Townshend - Another Scoop
Pete Townshend is the greatest song writer ever bornand much has been written in the past about the high quality and standard of his demos. (= demonstration tapes a songwriter makes to play his songs to other musicians). He has always been interested in getting hold of the best recording equipment to use at home as soon as possible and this is obvious from the quality of the tracks on this tape. Another Scoop is the second collection of demos commercially released by Pete and what is great about this tape and its predecessor (Scoop) is the way songs from all of the periods of Petes career have been jumbled up, one minute theres a demo for a classic WHO single from the 60s e.g. Pictures of Lily, the next theres a bang up to date new song Pete has recorded that has never been released at all before. These are demo tapes, i.e the first time the song has been recorded and what is great about them is they capture the songs with all their rough edges, sometimes dodgy lyrics and more importantly they catch the spontaneity and JOY a song writer feels when he/ she has just written a song they feel is great.
Demos of the following classic WHO songs are included on this compilation Pictures of Lily, Kids are alright, Call me Lightning,La La Lies,Substitute, Happy Jack. Pinball Wizard as well as the more "recent" you Better you Bet and the luscious "Don't Let go the coat" with its brilliantly warm sounding melodic harmonies. I love this song. The Who was a big lumbering powerful juggernaut of a band and in some cases the "quietness" and personal nature of some of these songs was lost between the demo and the WHO version. The other band members were broadly quite lucky in a way in that Pete presented them with largely finished songs for them to maybe changes parts to, but he'd done most of the hard work. In other bands I imagine there are more gaps in the demos whereas in the Who it appears the band members were largely able to listen to all the demos first and pick and choose their favourite tracks to record. The high quality of Petes demos was confirmed in the recent "Classic Albums - Whos Next " TV programme where his demo backing track for Won't Get Fooled was lifted from the demo to the final Who version. Petes home recording of parts of Quadrophenia and the Tommy film soundtrack also backs this up.
Amongst the new tracks on the album are three featuring the excellent string arrangements by Petes father in law that we are familiar with from Street in the City on the "Rough Mix" Ronnie Lane collaboration album. In Streets Mr Astley (sorry have forgotten his christian name) made the accompanying strings sound like the ebb and flow of people in a busy London street, the black cabs and the red buses and also like the old crashing Fleet Street printing presses. On this album he creates the feeling of a huge river Buddha is crossing in the track "the Ferry man" which feels very majestic with a part sung part narrated vocal track from PT and in Praying the Game (not a particular favourite ) there is another great accompanying string arrangement."Football Fugue" is an unusual track once again with the same string accompaniment which is sort of a mix of an anti football hooliganism song mixed up with images of an orchestra talking about the cellist being fouled and the conductor must be blind. Its a strange mix which I'm not entirely sure works as a concept but it sounds good.
A complete contrast is "Driftin Blues" which I think was recorded at the "Townshend kitchen table" just Pete and his acoustic guitar. A great unaccompanied blues song, just Pete and his guitar with some great lyrics - a great one to sing at work when you are feeling worthless beaten defeated demotivated and demoralised. Petes family life also intrudes into this tape in the form of the Viscious interlude when he interupts recording a demo to tell one of his children off.Its quite funny.
There are some great instrumentals on this tape - never previously released - Prelude #556 and also Baroque Ippanese which I think was named in tribute to the victims of a ship sinking and it is a very majestic evocative song which conjures up images of a large sailing boat racing through the waves, the sails flapping, dolphins darting on front of the bow blazing sun making rainbows in the bow waves.etc Theres a great acoustic version of Pete singing Begin the Beguine which is a great performance from him, sung with a lot of feeling, Pete says this was one of Meher Babas favourite songs, Theres also the demo of "Christmas " from the Tommy album which I really like as this has always been one of my favourite Tommy tracks.
See how I am skipping backwards and forwards through Petes career ? This is what is so great about this tape. It encourages you to look at Petes songs and his career as a whole rather than in isolated album sized chunks. A song I have fallen desperately in love with is "Never Ask Me" This is a track that was submitted to Frank Sinatra for him to record but he never did (DOH !) although to be fair to Frankie it probably wasn't him who chose not to record the song, probably was his producer at the time Quincy Jones. What the heck does Quincy Jones know about selecting songs for multi million selling albums anyhow?!!! next you'll be telling me he produced one of the top selling albums of all time e.g Thriller.Its a great song with great lyrics and a fab melody . oh and the guitar solos great too. Another brill song is the Shout which is one of the best songs Townshend has ever written. A gently drifting reflective sort of song. The sort of song you'd play at the end of a great gig as a way of sending people home with a smile in their hearts. 2 other highlights are Cat Snatch and Ask Yourself both from Petes abandoned "Siege" project which might have been the Whos album after Its hard. Cat Snatch has a repeating underlying hypnotic bass rhtyhm / part that remind me of a track called Marakesh that was on the WOMAD album that Petes Ascension 2 track was on, but it is different from it . Ask Yourself has a great echoey feel to it with great noise build ups and tension which are resolved and a series of confused feelings type questions. I've really not described it very well at all but it is very good and features a really nice gentle lead out. Which is where I will sign off. More Pete info is available on www.petetownshend.com. I am sometimes in the sites chat room - maybe our minds will touch one day.Review date 26-01-2000
More... I really didn't describe some of the above tracks very well so I forced the surrogate to listen to the tape today so I could listen in.The Shout is a drum machine/ acoustic guitar type of feel with great Pete lyrics about lost love and a nice sort of open loose feel to it. Lovely. Ask Yourself is quite a musically over whelming song. Layers of notes are thrown at the listener erm .... its a bit like,,,, imagine if you were pushing your way down through a busy street against a flow of people you know like Bury St Edmunds on Market Day or say Oxford Street (in London) and your pushing against these "strangers" who are all actually yourself and they are shouting questions at you (the songs lyrics) and you have to get to the end of the street, you have brief respites from the pressure of the crowd when you get in into a door way for a while. but basically that is what this song is all about - I think.
I forgot to mention - Kids Are Alright - there is a really great tape drop in on this version emphasising the home recording aspect of this demo which I think is really great. Holly like Ivy is another great song, Girl in a suitcase is a bit dubious but also very easy to sing along to and I forgot to mention Brooklyn Kids which is a sad, chilling song about a rich girl in New York and a poor kid from the streets who chats her up , but its a bit nasty as the song ends with him in a prison cell - "pick up didn't go quite as he planned " ie. there is an implied rape. A well written though chilling song. This song also features the excellent talents of Petes father in law who creates an image of skyscrapers, Central park etc. His name is TED ASTLEY - I have looked it up. He is a very talented chap.
This album was released in 1987 and was proceeded by "Scoop". Imagine if you had say a favourite painter or a playwright and you were able to look through their sketch books and note books to look at their creative process. Thats what these albums are like. Pete writes funny self mocking notes on the albums inlay about the songs, how and where they were recorded and the whole effect of the "package (!)" is very uplifting, Rumour control has it that Scoop 3 is in preparation can't wait.... Review Update 28-01-2000
Update : I SPOKE TO PETE TOWNSHEND TODAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 24-02-2000
The chat board on the official site has shut and I have opened one on www.ukmajortom.demon.co.uk/theshout.html 25-03-2000
Pete Townshend - Live at the House of Blues Chicago
"A Man never stands as tall as when he stoops down to help a child"says the quote on the inner sleeve to this fab CD. Pete Townshend is the greatest songwriter ever born and here he is in a live setting doing a benefit gig for the Maryville Academy which is a charity that cares for physically, sexually and emotionally abused children.
Pete is one of those artists like for example Pauls McCartney & Simon,Sting, Bowie, etc that they have an extensive back catalogue of songs they can dip into when they go on stage and play a variety of classic songs from different periods of their career. This recording was made (I guess no info on the CD) in 1999 which means Pete has a song writing career of 35 years to choose songs from. And he does.
There are renditions of classic classic Who songs such as Won't Get Fooled Again,Magic Bus, 2 from Quadrophenia - Drowned & I'm One, You Better You Bet, and an amazing rendition of Anywhere, Anyhow,Anywhere which is great. This version of AAA is so brilliant. Its the real highlight of the tape for me. Also there are great versions of Pete solo tracks - Now and Then (from Psychoderelict), Let My Love Open the Door, North Country Girl,and a Little is Enough plus theres a great opening laid back Blues track called "On the Road Again" which is really great and cool.( I have been advised this is a song by "Canned Heat")
I recently saw Pete live at one of his Sadlers Wells Lifehouse gigs (on 25-02-2000) and he was fab. I love the way he sings and plays his acoustic guitar. What I like is that he doesn't have a perfect Roger Daltrey "rock n roll legend" type voice, but that he (Pete) has a slightly dodgy rough voice like ours our. So he sounds like a bloke who has got on stage from the street and his normal job to sing some fantastic amazing songs, and they are. I would recommend this tape to anyone who has never really got into Petes music as a good introduction, as as I have said, it represents a good slice through his career.review date 25-03-2000
more I forgot to mention the great version of Magic Bus on this recording. This song was jammed out of all shape by the Who so it bears very little resemblance to the original Who studio version. It was stripped into a sort of bidding war between Roger Daltrey and Pete over the sale of the Magic Bus. Well this version is a more up to date slightly "funky version" and what is good is in the song Pete turns the Magic Bus from some thing to use just to get to my bay-by into a vehicle for spiritual redemption (..."as I drive to Jesus in my Magic Bus / as I drive to Mohammed in my Magic Bus... "etc). It actually works quite well.
The CD comes with an extra bonus 2 track CD featuring performances with a "Special Guest".... who? no less than.... (drum roll)....Eddie Vedder.... who??? isn't that that bird out of Fairground Attraction????? No apparently hes the lead singer of Pearl Jam. The tracks are another version of Magic Bus (!), not such a good one and a version of Heart to Hang Onto (off of Rough Mix) which would be good if not for E. Vedders weedy voice which makes it unlistenable to. Well at least he was also at the Charity gig so I'm being unfair, he gave up his time etc etc . I guess his voice is just not my cup of char. date as before
E Vedder is apparently a good mate of Petes so please take the above comments as you want to. updated 110600
U2 - War
U2 - War. The Troubles in Northern Ireland are an incredibly complicated and difficult subject to write about. It is very easy to write something well meant or, alternatively, to say something in anger that hurts and offends people.This album opens with the song Sunday Bloody Sunday which Bono insisted "is not a rebel song" but which he later said he was concerned may have alienated the Unionists while acting as a slap in the face for the Republicans.
Reportedly, when U2 first played the song in Belfast, they offered never to play it there again if it caused offence.
The song opens the album War - U2's third studio album, with Larry's military snare drum beat quickly joined by Edges arpeggios and Bonos vocals. The first couple of lines are just Larrys drums, Edges arpeggios and Bono , and its only when you get to the first "How Long" that Adams bass kicks in.
The song is a bitter angry song, but its not a sort of violent, spitting 100 words a minute sort of anger more a calm, brooding, resentful sort of anger. Theres also a feeling of disbelief.
U2 were very clever to write the song as a sort of "anti-The Troubles" protest song describing the situation, the results of the fighting, but not picking sides or seeking to blame or alienate anyone. And the theme of this song which is echoed in 40 is one of how long can this go on, when can we live in Peace
Its very easy for people outside of Northern Ireland to make glib (& often incorrect) statements about the situation there.
The song was very successful in that while New Years Day propelled U2 into wider market recognition, it was Sunday Bloody Sunday that got them noticed as a band to watch & listen to. They played it at Live Aid a couple of years later as their opening number.
I think its very easy for bands to sing love songs all day, or maybe to sing songs that "name-check" a war or a situation in passing but its obvious what this song is unremittingly about. Its a strident powerful song.
Whether songs about Northern Ireland actually make a difference and help to resolve the situation is difficult to say. The situation is far too complicated and complex to be adequately covered in a 4 and a half minute song However ignoring these problems will not make them go away and maybe its not the point of songs like this to solve problems all they can do at best is raise awareness, get people thinking and put pressure on all of the politicians involved in the Peace Process. (I don't want to get heavily involved in the Politics of NI on these pages - these are meant to only be music reviews - I will remove anything that offends you)
The song next on this tape is Seconds. The Edge has a lovely Welsh voice which he uses to great effect on this song. Its interesting how when Bonos voice sings the second verse how the listener feels they've gone from something unfamiliar (the Edges voice) to the more familiar Bono-voice (Bono-Vox?). Its a great song with a really nice strummy acoustic feel to it.
After Seconds is New Years day but I'm going to skip onto Red Light/ Two Hearts and Refugee.
This was U2's 3rd album and they were keen to move on musically. At the time, I read an article and I think it was Adam who said some of the tracks on side 2 are a try at something different and new.
These 3 tracks don't work for me and never have no matter how many times I've listened to them. They are different, yes, and its good U2 are experimenting but I have heard these songs hundreds of time and they don't do anything for me.
I don't hate them, they are not "rubbish" in anyway -they just don't click with me at all. Two Hearts is the best of the 3 (although interestingly it was left of the Best of 1980-1990 compilation)
After these 3 songs comes Surrender which I didn't particularly like at first but which grew on me especially once I heard it live. At the time, U2's stage set incorporated White Flags at the back and indeed, Bono himself said "Theres only one flag I believe in...... and thats a white flag" so we all cheered along, voted in the warmongers Reagan and Thatcher (again) and bought some more missles with our taxes to blow up our Russian brother and sisters many times over with.
The final track on this album is"40" which Bono "wrote" with a little help from King David (the Giant Killer!) its psalm 40 - for the unenlightened. This is a great song with great overlaid harmonies. I like the start of the song where the tape sort of "wows" as it is begun. This was a great song live with the band members leaving the stage one by one, leaving Larry at the end knocking out the beat while the crowd sing the "how long" refrain. Can anyone help me with this? Why did the Edge and Larry swap instruments so the Edge was second from last off playing the bass???
At the time this album was released (1983)U2 had become known as a band that was a bout to happen in a big way. They had toured the States and Europe extensively in support of their Boy and October albums and had gained a reputation for their original unique sound and instrumentation coupled with a great live show which sometimes involved Bono scaling the lighting rigs risking his life climbing way up above the stage to wave a white flag or a flag with U2 on it. They'd appeared a couple of times on National UK TV on the Tube and what they needed was a single to bring them to a wider audience than their "cult" status one.
This single as it turned out was New Years day. A hopeful, very upbeat epic song - which by coincidence predicted the day of Lech Walesa's release from internment in Poland. The song managed to capture the uniqueness of U2, the Edges sparse echoey guitar and piano playing his unusual non formulaic guitar solos, the strong bass and drums rhythm section coupled with Bonos strong voice, presence and inspirational words. There is 30 second musical intro to this song which sets the scene culminating in the Edges chopped echoey chords. Its quite brave for U2 to release a song where the vocalist isn's singing virtually straight away but it works in setting up the songs epic feel. The video showed the guys wondering (or should this be wandering?)in the snow (somewhere) and on horseback emphasising the sort of "celtic" folky check shirt and flying jacket image that was predominant at the time.
The song was followed up by the release of "Two Hearts" which consolidated them in the wider publics mind and this coupled with their live TV versions of Sunday Bloody Sunday demonstrated that U2 were a serious , non gimmick band that were meant to stay. I mean lets face it their looks haven't particularly sold them many records. What has sold them, is their great songs and playing and above all their uniqueness.
Like a song..... begins with more of Larry Mullen Jnrs fab drumming and all the way through the track it is his drumming that powers this song along. Bass and guitars are great as usual especially The Edges quick solo.
Bonos singing and words on this track are great, he seems to be singing from remote viewpoint like a bystander watching other people and their actions. The refrain "is there nothing left" is both powerful and remorseful. After the singing ends there is a great musical play out from the lads. This is a great song which I have never heard live. Its like Wire from Unforgettable Fire a great song that should have been released as a single or be played live more often but hasn't.
I have saved the best till last - Drowning Man. This is an absolutely fantastic track. Another "undiscovered classic" like the previous track. This IS one the best tracks U2 have ever recorded. Its is very atmospheric - but play it loud. The music gradually fades in with lap steel and acoustic guitar harmonics with a melodic bass line from Adam and Larry is sensitively playing quietly his snare drum.
Bono starts singing...... you are floating in the sea of Dublin holding onto a piece of driftwood, some one comes up to you in a boat..... more lovely acoustic guitar strumming & harmonics..... Bono sings in a higher range the second verse..... a storm blows up , you grasp the singers hand as the plank floats away, the storm intensifies as the music gets louder and the singer sounds like hes singing for his life (and yours)....... but the waves represented by the strings are too strong and as you are swept off into the Irish Sea the take my hand refrain echoes in your ears. The strings work for me in this song, but they don't in Sunday Bloody Sunday.
So what does this album represent?
It was a magnificient break through album for the band which consolidated their existing growing fan base and introduced them to new Fans. (It went to number one in the UK).
At the time of its release, there were a lot of plastic disposable bands about and U2 were a band you could believe in, like The Who for example.
This was the last album they recorded with Steve Lillywhite and his contribution and sensitivity as a producer are often over looked. In the studio he let the band grow and experiment over the course of their first 3 albums, ensuring that U2's uniqueness was nurtured and preserved rather than turning them into just any other band which could have sounded like a multitude of others.
This is a great album.... but better was to come later.....! Review date 171099
UB40 - Present Arms
the sound of approaching military drums, beating out in timean officer shouts loudly and stridently ...PRES - ENT !!!! ARMS !!!! (arms arms arms arms) - this bit in the brackets is echoed and then UB40