"Nothing but the rain"
I had a complaint or rather more of a suggestion.
Could I somehow differentiate my standard communications from my album reviews?
So, standard communications are now tagged and categorised under the code word:
Penguin
If you want to avoid my album reviews the search Penguin or look for that category.
Thanks Marc.
This is a favourite show of mine. It’s a simple, delightful animation from the BBC. Ladies and gentlemen I give you Dipdap:
I found this in the local church magazine [You’ve got to look at these things if only to get the gossip]. What amused me most was the utter lack of mention of christ or god. It appears that this person goes for social and meditation reasons. We are tribal animals and feel the need to be in like minded groups, that’s why I see my friends. I don’t need to try and believe in a man-in-the-sky to get fulfilment in my life.
As I say in the page about me, follow the evidence. Find out for yourself. Ask questions. Reject dogma.
That was about as calm as I’m willing to go on this matter.
Here’s what my sons took to nursery to play with today.
#1
#2
Went to see the classic cars at Bearsted green earlier. Here’re a couple of shots that #1 son took. He can definitely frame a photo well.
Here’s our resident slow-worm showing off in the afternoon sun. It’s about 30cm long and was found near an ants’ nest. Is that what they eat? Don’t know.
Not sure these are native (!) but nice to see anyway.
I am smellin’ like the rose that somebody gave me on my birthday deathbed.
I am smellin’ like the rose that somebody gave me ’cause I’m dead & bloated.
These lyrics pretty much sum this album. I downloaded it recently because I have had these words circling in my head for the last twenty years. After that time the song seems a bit of a let-down but worth playing now and then anyway. I think I have looked up this band on Wikipedia and they sold loads, but maybe I got that mixed up with someone else.
If there existed a friendly cylon then I would hope it watches over me and my sons. Battlestar Galactica was a superb tv series.
Nothing but the rain.
So they had a big hit with the main song from the album although I’m not sure which one that was now. I even listened to this in the car about 3 days ago in preparation for writing this but nothing really sticks in my mind.
It’s well written, played and produced but it lacks a certain something! Maybe the hate and angst of teenage song writing?
Got this album off John S. Wanted to know some Kraftwerk and I’m pretty sure that when getting to know a new artist it’s best to go early in their career. I’ve listened to this once, in the car, when the family were there so I wasn’t allowed the music loud.
The comment from the other in the car was:
This sounds a lot like all the other stuff you listen to
Quite simply – it doesn’t! It’s early electro-pop music which is really well written. More listening required!
Wavy guitars!
That’s how Rich described the sound of Ugly Kid Joe many years ago and I argued against it for about a year. Eventually we asked a Mossad agent and he agreed with Rich. So, wavy guitars it is!
“I Hate Everything About You” was my first UKJ song and a brilliant little song of teenage angst and annoyance it is. Then they released “Neighbour” although they probably spelt it “Neighbor”! I bought some albums on vinyl, I think, you can check on my older websites. Much like Dan Reed Network, when I went digital I decided to get a best of. I really like this collection of songs. UKJ really were / are a good band.
When I saw Bon Jovi at Wembley Stadium there were two support bands. Van Halen and Ugly Kid Joe. Actually, I think there was a third band but they were rubbish. Ugly Kid Joe were brilliant and blew away Van Halen and were pretty close to dumping on Bon Jovi. I would say that BJ and UKJ were about even!
I saw this band without having heard of their stuff when they supported Bon Jovi in about 1990 at Wembley Arena. It was a good concert overall and BJ were pretty much on form. The support band was Dan Reed Network. I thought they were pretty good and so I bought “Slam” and “Heat” when that eventually came out. When I went digital as the previous albums were on music cassette I just bought a “best of”.
Now, every song on here is worth listening to. The sound is a weird rock-funk crossover thing. It sometimes sounds very 80s, but I kinda like that. My highlights are:
Now, I can remember being with my dad in the car driving along Gilden Way in Harlow. I had put “Slam” in the tape player and we had heard the first side and the player reversed direction for the start of side two (check that out you digital freaks, two sides of TAPE for an album). The start of the second side starts with police sirens. There was a moment of panic as both dad and I thought there were police chasing us or coming up and we’d need to move over. Once the music cut-in it was a bit more clear what was happening. Fools!
I’m not sure I can let you know just how highly I think of the song “Rainbow Child”. It is just rather beautiful. I originally bought this on a YELLOW vinyl 12 inch single. I love the old days. There aren’t many songs that can reduce me into an emotional wreck but this one comes extremely close. I just can’t rate it highly enough. “Rainbow Child” along with “White Wine In The Sun” crumble me!
I’ve been spending a little bit of time trying to complete various seasonal events in Gran Turismo. A by-product of this is my collection of cars. It has now surpassed one thousand by some way!
I might have also have been watching a little bit of Tales of the Golden Monkey. One of the stars is a Grumman Goose. Lovely.
Look, this is a collection of the best songs by Anthrax. If you like Anthrax then this should be brilliant. I can now confirm that it is.
All the songs on this album are great. It’s pretty hard to choose the songs I should highlight. I’ve already mentioned “Anti-Social” in a previous review so I can skip that. There’s something special about the music produced by bands at the start of a new movement. It really does affect how you think and move. Anthrax were, and still are, one of the big four, so the recognition amongst metal fans is great. It’s a shame that only Metallica have really penetrated the main market, but then they had to sell out to do so.
My favourites are:
If you don’t know anything by Anthrax then get this. It’s a great introduction although I think the songs sound better in their original homes on the proper albums in the chain of songs and time where they were put [Not sure if that scans well, I’ll re-write if it’s poor].
This album is quite clearly the product of a band who are finding their ground. It’s good but unfortunately it’s not as good as their later stuff. This was the last album by this band that I downloaded and probably just as well. Had I got this one first I wouldn’t have carried on. As it is I consider Combichrist and Aesthetic Perfection to be at the peak of their music genre.
As this is a recent purchase and I’ve only really listened to it on runs I can’t be sure about stand out tracks. Just having a look at the titles doesn’t help apart from noticing that the second song on the album is missing. How does that happen?
So they had a hit song that sounded rather different and had a white man rapping and then you buy the album. The first song gloats about how many times you can sing the word “fuck” in a song and you suddenly realise that they are rubbish.
It’s just not very good. Makes me laugh just thinking about it!
This should really be called Chinese Democracy by a man called Axl and some mates. how long did we wait for this album? I think I have played it twice. I just don’t care anymore.
This was the first Machine Head album I bought and I can remember driving in a car somewhere with Andy Smith with this on in the background. I think it was about the time I lived in Brentwood. Much like the previous review it’s a very good heavy album. Well worth listening. On first play I got confused by song number 8 as I knew the lyrics and melody of the vocals! somewhat worrying for an album I hadn’t heard before. Only when the chorus came in did I realise it was a cover version of “Message in a Bottle”.
This is one of two Machine Head albums I bought while I was living in Brentwood. The sound is rather more industrial and heavy than a lot of the other stuff I listen to. It’s good stuff, somewhere on the way to Nine Inch Nails and Slipknot.
The guitars are heavy, the drumming pumps and the vocals are dark. It’s very good winter music. I do suffer a little with Old Dog syndrome with this album. Not to take anything away from the album, it’s just a bit too new for proper song selection. I listened to it this morning in the car and remembered all the songs. It’s good.