Classic Album: Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin
The New Yardbirds doesn’t sound like a particularly promising prospect does it? If you plonk the word ‘New’ at the start of something, most of the time you’re setting someone up for a fall. For all you want to make it sound like a fresh start and the exciting beginning of something, it usually denotes …
Not Forgotten: Creedence Clearwater Revival – Bayou Country
American rock music was in an interesting place in the late 60s, with the psychedelic sounds of the West Coast jam bands, a burgeoning singer-songwriter movement, arty outsider rock courtesy of the likes of The Velvet Underground and The Silver Apples, as well as a roots rock movement that had been spearheaded by The Band. …
Not Forgotten: Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse – Dark Night of the Soul
For some, the convoluted release of Dark Night of the Soul (the record label shenanigans, the fact that Danger Mouse, Mark Linkous and David Lynch released a lavish booklet with a blank CDR on which you could burn copy from files that would not be nefariously downloaded (wink, wink)) almost eclipses the fact that this …
Not Forgotten: Iron Maiden – Live After Death
How? How can it be possible for you to be nostalgic for something that you didn’t personally encounter in your own youth? How come Live After Death is the fourth Iron Maiden release I had bought since the beginning of 2018, after decades of me being fairly agnostic towards them and the New Wave of …
Not Forgotten: Paul McCartney & Wings – Band on the Run
A superior musician and with a deeper understanding of melody than his former writing partner, it seems that no one will ever forgive Paul McCartney for having the nerve to actually form another band after he had left The Beatles. Sure, there were a couple of solo albums in the interim, but in Wings McCartney …
Not Forgotten: The Kinks – The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
As unfeasible as it seems, there was once a time when the singles chart was of equal importance to the album chart. Actually, no, it was more important. In the first decade of rock’n’roll, the single was king. Admittedly in the 60s The Beatles were masters of the pop single, but the fight for the …
Classic Album: The Beatles – The Beatles (a.k.a The White Album)
Oh dear, the double album. A place for acts to stretch their legs and indulge their every creative whim, part diverse buffet of styles, part bloody mess. Dylan and Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention were the first rock acts out of the gate with their four sides of vinyl each, but once The …
Not Forgotten: Kate Bush – Lionheart
Kate Bush had exploded on the British music scene early in 1978 and had made an immeadiate impact, sweeping all before her and instantly becoming the biggest artist in the UK. Or at least that’s what her record company wanted you to believe. In reality Miss Bush had been groomed for fame for at least …
Classic Album: Queen – Jazz
Given the amount of effort that Queen had put in to create the more direct music and production of 1977’s News of the World, it’s follow up, Jazz, is quite an odd album, as it’s obvious that Queen were back tracking a little and trying to recreate the bombast of A Night at the Opera. …
Not Forgotten: R.E.M. – Green
These days the signing of a much respected alternative / indie band to a major label is met with trepidation from the band’s established fans. Some will accuse the band of ‘selling out’, others will simply fear that they will receive wider exposure and thus no longer feel as exclusive and special to them. To …