Jon Bryan, Author at Backseat Mafia

Not Forgotten: Sparks – Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins

Sparks were in a weird position in the mid 90s. Once one of the most subversively inspirational acts, by the time Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins was released, The Mael Brothers has been…

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Not Forgotten: Supertramp – Crime of the Century

Few fans of the band wouldn't argue that Crime of the Century is by far and away Supertramp's best album.

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Not Forgotten: The Wonder Stuff – Hup

While 1987’s The Eight Legged Groove Machine was The Wonder Stuff’s statement of intent, ultimately it was little more than thrillingly scruffy post-punk guitar thrash aimed squarely at the pop charts. It…

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Not Forgotten: Super Furry Animals – Guerrilla

For years I felt that Guerrilla was Super Furry Animals‘ untidiest album by some distance, never quite really holding it as close to my heart as I have their other albums, despite SFA being…

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Classic Album: Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II

Led Zeppelin’s debut album was proof of concept for Jimmy Page, taking what Cream did with super-charged blues-rock, and just making it more slick and dynamic and marketing it directly…

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Not Forgotten: Flight of the Conchords – I Told You I Was Freaky

Follow ups to successful albums where the primary ingredient was humour are few and far between. Humour is a transient thing and can fall out of fashion even quicker than…

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Classic Compilation: Barenaked Ladies – Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991-2001)

Barenaked Ladies continue to get a bad rap, particularly here in the UK, where they are primarily known for their one hit wonder status courtesy of “One Week”, and the…

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Not Forgotten: Suede – Dog Man Star

For all the hype around the band, in retrospect Suede’s self titled debut album was pretty damn ordinary, with only a few decent singles to mark the band out as…

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Not Forgotten: The Beautiful South – Welcome to the Beautiful South

There are some songs from your childhood that you clearly remember hearing on the radio for the first time. It was summer 1989, and it was a period of change…

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Not Forgotten: R.E.M. – Monster

The late 80s and early 90s had seen U2 get big. Too big. They seemed to have reached critical mass with the live / studio hybrid Rattle and Hum, but…

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