rock/metal rewind
Not Forgotten: David Bowie – Live Santa Monica ’72
Due to the stylistic leaps that David Bowie made throughout his career, it’s inevitable that some periods of his career appeal to individuals more than others. My girlfriend loves his late 70s art-rock period, one of my closest friends will argue that Bowie’s single greatest artistic statement was 1995’s 1.Outside, another will argue that his …
Not Forgotten: The Black Crowes – Three Snakes and One Charm
Returning to Three Snakes and One Charm almost twenty years after it’s initial release is an interesting exercise, not least because of my own personal history with this album. Back in 1996 I was a slightly impoverished student, so no small amount of consideration went into selecting what CDs I purchased. With Britpop reaching something …
Not Forgotten: Mick Ronson – Play Don’t Worry
Mick Ronson was perhaps the ultimate limelight grabbing sideman. Be he by the side of Ian Hunter, Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, or, most famously, David Bowie, Ronno always gave whoever he was backing up a certain amount of legitimacy and added star power. Quite why his own solo career consisted of merely two mid-70s efforts …
Not Forgotten: Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers – Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
The first thing that strikes you about Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers ’ debut album is how rough it sounds compared to the slick and streamlined made-for American roadtrips that their reputation has hung upon. With this in mind it’s perhaps not surprising that they were initially mistakenly considered to be part of the punk …
Not Forgotten: The Black Crowes – Amorica
After two albums which had established them as the great hopes for American retro rock in the 90s, The Black Crowes hit bumpy ground with Band, an album they spent a significant amount of time and energy recording, before it was shelved, only for some of its material to be recycled for Amorica, the band’s …
Not Forgotten: Jethro Tull – Thick as a Brick
There are some albums that don’t just define an act’s career, or a moment in time, but a whole musical movement. It’s those albums where the act haven’t just pushed themselves creatively, but have comprehensively outsmarted each and every one of their contemporaries and produce a musical statement which the listener doesn’t just go ‘Wow, …
Not Forgotten: The Black Crowes – The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion
By mid 1991 The Black Crowes were poised on the edge of huge international success, but by the release of this sophomore album in 1992 the rising tide of grunge was washing away any hope they had of being America’s Biggest Band. Listening to the soon to be released vinyl reissue of The Southern Harmony …
Not Forgotten: Fleetwood Mac – Tango in the Night
Like many acts who hit their creative peaks in the 60s and 70s, Fleetwood Mac struggled with the 80s. By the middle of the decade, the willingness to experiment with their tried and tested formula that they had demonstrated so definitively on Tusk, had been lost. 1982’s Mirage had been a disappointingly standard Fleetwood Mac …
Not Forgotten: Little Feat – Waiting for Columbus
It starts with the band chanting along with each other instead of the usual crowd noise, which eventually gives way to the sound of an MC introducing the band and then the glorious sound of Little Feat ripping into one of their signature tunes. By 1977 Little Feat had long established themselves as one of …
Not Forgotten: Mott the Hoople – The Hoople
Sometimes you really do need to be careful what you wish for. After years of hard-gigging, road-hardened Mott the Hoople had thrown in the towel in March 1972, only for the towel to be caught mid-flight by David Bowie, who as an encore got them out of their unfavourable record deal, donated to them a …