Not Forgotten
Not Forgotten: The Supernaturals – A Tune a Day
Released in 1998, The Supernaturals’ A Tune a Day followed the same trajectory as a large number of sophomore Britpop efforts did, in that it failed to match the commercial impact of the act’s debut, leaving their record label wondering if they had a future with them. What made it stand out from the pack …
Not Forgotten: Billy Joel – An Innocent Man
Billy Joel is a musician who has always been capable of greatness. The Stranger is a brilliant slice of singer songwriter greatness, and Cold Spring Harbor is a genuinely pretty album that remains ripe for rediscovery. He could even knock out a novelty hit like “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” with insolent ease. …
Not Forgotten: Pugwash – Play This Intimately (As if Among Friends)
Sometimes it’s just nice to discover an act that you weren’t expecting. I first encountered the name of Pugwash when I stumbled across footage of Pugwash main man Thomas Walsh fronting Matt Berry and his backing band to deliver a storming version of Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die”, but it took my longer than …
Not Forgotten: The Wonder Stuff – The Eight Legged Groove Machine
Those guitars you hear chugging into hearing range at the start of “Red Berry Joy Town” heralded the arrival of an act that would point the direction for British guitar music for the next decade. The Wonder Stuff, with their smart-arse guitar pop, bitter lyrics of jilted love and avarice, huge choruses and confrontational relationship …
Not Forgotten: Paul Rodgers – Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters
The thing that I have always found frustrating about Paul Rodgers is that post-Free, the quality of the material he has recorded has not always matched his formidable reputation as one of the UK’s finest blues-rock vocalists. After Free Rodgers joined forces with Mick Ralphs of Mott the Hoople fame, King Crimson refugee Boz Burrell …
Not Forgotten: The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
It kicks off with a riff that screams “Rock and roll!”, and you’re either in or out. If you’re not sure who this is, then welcome to the world to the righteous rock and roll world of the Hold Steady, where choruses are singalong, riffs are massive, keyboard players are moustachioed, and narrative lyrics are …
Not Forgotten: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Some Loud Thunder
Second album syndrome that seems to have fallen out of fashion in the last twenty years. It seems that record labels have become wise to the phenomenon and ensure that new acts have at least enough material to fill two albums these days. Now second album syndrome doesn’t usually strike until the third album, and …
Not Forgotten: U2 – Zooropa
Zooropa is one of the few U2 studio albums that I can listen to all the way through without it making me want to throw my stereo out of the window. Sure, I like a few of their singles, but for me U2 wear thin very quickly at album length. Thankfully Zooropa is the least …
Not Forgotten: Jethro Tull – A Passion Play
Jethro Tull had made their point with Thick as a Brick. Progressive rock simply didn’t have to be overblown and pompous, it could be cheeky, subversive, and (dare I say it) fun. Having successfully lampooned the genre with stunning results resulting in an album which was far better than the majority who took this sort …
Not Forgotten: The Duckworth Lewis Method – Sticky Wickets
For those unfamiliar with them The Duckworth Lewis Method are a collaboration between Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy and Thomas Walsh of cult power pop act Pugwash. They’re a band boasting two top draw creative forces whose records just happen to be themed around cricket. Now, on the surface, many might assume that you …