Classic Albums
Not Forgotten: Ian Hunter – You’re Never Alone With a Schizophrenic
While Ian Hunter’s self-titled solo debut was met with enthusiasm, the increasingly muted reception that met his next two albums must have been disappointing for the former Mott the Hoople frontman. Reconnecting with regular collaborator and general guitar genius Mick Ronson, while also engaging the services of three members of the E Street Band, two …
Classic Album: Queen – The Works
The Works is frequently seen as a concerted effort by Brian May and Roger Taylor to return Queen to their rocking roots after far too long dabbling with a horrible mix of funky disco pop rock. As an album, The Works contains some of the band’s biggest global hits, finds them if not creatively recharged, …
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. …
Album Review: Manic Street Preachers – This Is My Truth: Tell Me Yours (20th Year Collectors Edition)
I remember moving to London during the peak of the Brit Pop years in the midst of the Blur versus Oasis hyperbole. But the albums from that era that really struck me were Pulp’s “Different Class”, The Verve’s “Urban Hymns” and most of all, “This is My Truth Tell Me Yours” from The Manic Street …
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 …
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. …
Classic Album: The Who – Quadrophenia
After his failure to realise his full ambition ambition with Lifehouse, Pete Townshend must have been doubly determined to get his next concept album made and for it to be an all round improvement on The Who’s conceptual high-water mark, Tommy. It needed to have a complex narrative, have all the trademarks of a landmark …
Classic Album: The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland
For better or worse, my opinion of the work of Jimi Hendrix has always been smothered somewhat by the blanket opinion that he was the greatest guitar player in the history of the fretboard. This is an opinion held by the cool police, nostalgia freaks, my dad, and the music press. It is expected that …