Not Forgotten
Not Forgotten: Ian Hunter – All American Alien Boy
He could have taken the easy route and trotted out facsimiles of his brilliant eponymous solo debut, but Ian Hunter is a smarter cookie than that. He knew that if he was going to really establish himself as a solo artist, he’d have to distance himself from preconceptions of him that had developed when he …
Not Forgotten: Nilsson – A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night
Back in the early 70s, there was still a distinct generational difference between what ‘the kids’ listened to and what ‘the olds’ listened to. Only particularly foresighted adults were listening to what current music was offering at the time and very few kids had anything but a passing interest in their parents music collection. Pop …
Not Forgotten – Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense (1999 Special Edition)
It starts with audience noise, David Byrne scrolls out and utters immortal opening lines. “Hi. I’ve got a tape I wanna play you.” A basic electronic drum pattern starts up, there’s a sharply strummed acoustic guitar and then the bare-bones live version of “Psycho Killer” blows the studio original clean out of the water. Just …
Not Forgotten: Atomic Rooster – In Hearing of Atomic Rooster
In Hearing Of Atomic Rooster is a remarkable album, but not for the most obvious reasons. On first listen, it’s a heavy psych-prog album by a band centred around former Crazy World of Arthur Brown organ-botherer Vincent Crane and the band’s only album featuring the vocal talents of former Leaf Hound vocalist Peter French (who …
Not Forgotten: ZZ Top – Degüello
Pretty much smack inbetween the career high-water mark that was Tres Hombres, and the ultra-commercial, MTV-courting, mega-seller, Eliminator, ZZ Top’s Deguello is something of a stand-alone for the band. Whereas all their earlier albums albums were re-released on CD in the latter-half of the 80s slathered in drum machines, and their next album, El Loco, …
Not Forgotten: REM – New Adventures in Hi-Fi
New Adventures In Hi-Fi can be a difficult album to digest. It doesn’t flow particularly well, it can drag and in places it can sound rather dull. There aren’t many REM fans that would claim that New Adventures In Hi-Fi is their favourite album. It’s reputation has suffered because of comparisons to those albums that …
Not Forgotten – Ian Hunter – Ian Hunter
Walking away from Mott the Hoople at the point they were beginning to make their mark in the USA, a lot of people must have questioned Ian Hunter’s desire to make it as a rock and roll star. Apparently he was burnt out, and having finally achieved success in his early 30s, he had seemingly …
Not Forgotten – The Replacements – Let It Be
After a clutch of scruffy punkish releases, Let It Be was where The Replacements started to indicate that they were slowly starting to mature, starting to blend more considered material like “Unsatisfied” with the likes of “Gary’s Got a Boner”. Where once there was sloppiness and youthful exuberance, here there is self reflection and youthful …
Not Forgotten: Humble Pie – Smokin’
Humble Pie are a band I had certainly heard of, but beyond knowing that they were the band that post-Small Faces Steve Marriott formed with pre-Frampton Comes Alive! Peter Frampton and that they were a harder-rocking proposition than both, I knew very little, beyond the fact that Smokin’ was reputedly their best studio album. Within …
Not Forgotten: Cheap Trick – At Budokan
You know something, it’s taken me years to come to terms with it and stop being bitter about the fact that I wasn’t blessed in the looks department, but I’m actually quite content that I’m not one of the beautiful people. You see, the beautiful people get attention without ever having to try, whereas those …