Black Ice – AC/DC

This album proved to be a return to greatness for the grandfathers of rock. This band have been around for so long and made some less-than-brilliant albums that all hope had been given up. I heard about this album while listening to the Bruce Dickinson rock show on BBC Radio 6 Music. He was raving about how good he thought it was and what a return to form it showed. I was curious. Bruce is a big AC/DC fan and so he couldn’t be wrong.

This is a complete wonder of an album. It doesn’t have the gritty rawness of the Bon Scott albums but it is crafted and written brilliantly. It has everything you could want. Blockbusting riffs, brilliant drums, good lyrics and thundering bass. It’s great.

All the songs are good. Well worth putting on in the car for a summer drive. It’ll cheer you up.

Black Gives Way to Blue – Alice In Chains

This album was part of the “catch up with what bands I used to like have been doing” phase from about a year ago. I had thought that Alice were dead, much like their singer but then this was released in 2009 with a new singer.

I’m amazed at how good his voice sounds and how much like the original he is. It is very much an “Alice” album. Slow, heavy, melodic and haunting. It’ll freak you out. Well done Mr Alice.

Bitter Sweet and Twisted – The Quireboys

This album came along with “A Bit Of What You Fancy” when I downloaded it from iTunes. It really bugs me when joint albums are downloaded. I don’t like them being stored on my phone as one album so I mess with the properties to make them into the original versions.

I’ve not listened to this album.

A Bit of What You Fancy – The Quireboys

At sometime in the sixth form someone saw The Quireboys support another band. That’s all the memory I have about why I would know this band. I bought this album on vinyl and I would classify it as good old fashioned British pub rock and roll. This album is well worth a listen. I like the melodies and the singing. This is definitely a summer album. I can imagine playing this in the garden with the sun glaring down and saturating the whole village in glorious shine.

I listened to this album so much in my formative years that I think all the songs are ingrained. My favourites are:

  • 7 O’clock
  • Sex Party
  • Long Time Comin’

This was a great purchase.