Jon Bryan, Author at Backseat Mafia

Not Forgotten: The Levellers – Mouth to Mouth

Mouth to Mouth was an almost totally unexpected return to form for the usually argumentative and finger-pointing Levellers, mainly due to the fact that they dialled down their argumentative nature…

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Not Forgotten: Super Furry Animals – Radiator

Sometimes a band just gets it right. Prior to Radiator’s release in August 1997, only Super Furry Animals’ most optimistic and fervent fans would have put good money on the…

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Classic Compilation: Neil Innes – Re-Cycled Vinyl Blues

When is a compilation not a compilation? When it is an album padded out by a few contemporaneous bonus tracks. Except it isn’t, because those additional b-sides, singles and rarities…

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Album Review: Public Service Broadcasting – Every Valley

I must admit, Public Service Broadcasting had me going for a moment there. After their debut album Inform – Educate – Entertain wonderfully demonstrated that Willgoose, Wrigglesworth and Abraham could…

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Classic Compilation: Ed Harcourt – Until Tomorrow Then

Ed Harcourt was one of those artists that came tantalisingly close to mainstream success, but for whatever reason feel short and has spent the majority of his career being feted…

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Classic Album: The Who – Who’s Next

Ambition and enthusiasm are great things, but sometimes you need to understand your limitations. Since The Who had released the cracking concept double album Tommy, Pete Townshend had come up…

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Classic Compilation: Marvin Gaye – The Very Best of Marvin Gaye

Of course it’s been said far too many times over the years that Marvin Gaye was one of the definitive voices of Soul, but it’s true. His vocals can seduce…

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Classic Album: Def Leppard – Hysteria

The trials and tribulations on the road to releasing Hysteria have been well documented, and given the amount of work Def Leppard and producer Mutt Lange put into this album,…

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Classic Compilation: Free – The Free Story

There’s a load of stuff about The Free Story that just shouldn’t work. Released a little while after Free disbanded for the final time, yet just long enough for 50%…

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Album Review: Richard Thompson – Acoustic Classics II

Richard Thompson has been performing his particular brand of folk rock for the best part of five decades now, and his career has seen him regularly release critically acclaimed albums.…

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