Jon Bryan, Author at Backseat Mafia

Classic Compilation: Aerosmith – Big Ones

Aerosmith’s career is a strange one. During the 70s they came out of nowhere to establish themselves as America’s home-grown stadium fillers, take all the drugs and make minimum commercial…

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Not Forgotten: Neil Young and Crazy Horse – Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

It was with Buffalo Springfield where the embryonic talents of Neil Young were first displayed, then his self-titled debut album revealed Neil Young the solo artist, while it was Everybody…

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Not Forgotten: Weezer – Weezer (Blue Album)

Recently Weezer have returned to prominence via their cover of Toto’s “Africa”, and long term fans have subsequently howled in derision at their decision to release a covers album. Actually,…

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Classic Compilation: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young – So Far

For years I shied away from the work of Crosby, Stills and Nash (both with and without Neil Young). There was something a little too soft and fluffy about them,…

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Classic Compilation: Sam and Dave – The Best of Sam & Dave

Sam and Dave, while not regularly being the first name to spring to the lips of members of the general public when asked to name a great soul act, released…

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Not Forgotten: Ben Folds Five – The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner

Woah, did I misjudge this album when I first heard it. I’ve never known an album take so long to burn into my psyche, but The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold…

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Not Forgotten: Tom Waits – Mule Variations

Mule Variations starts with what sounds like a rhythmically capable panel beater knocking seven bells out of a steel filing cabinet with hammers, and it gives you a glimpse of…

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Not Forgotten: Sparks – No.1 in Heaven

Career reinventions don’t come much more well executed than Sparks’ recently reissued 1979 album, No.1 in Heaven. While brothers Ronald and Russell Mael had found an enthusiastic audience for their…

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Not Forgotten: The Zutons – Who Killed the Zutons?

Sometimes you hear a band and you go, ‘Yep, that’s for me’. It was like that when I heard Who Killed the Zutons? for the first time. It was, and…

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Not Forgotten: Terrorvision – How to Make Friends and Influence People

Terrorvision were one of those acts that really deserved more than they got in the 90s. Forging a sturdy pop metal alloy at a time when so many acts at…

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