Category: Album Reviews

I bought this album on music cassette form in Saffron Walden in the run up to some Christmas sometime. I knew of Yngwie Malmsteen as he was kind of infamous in my sixth form. A number of people had seen him in concert and so I got this. I think he was the first super-speedy, how does he do that, kind of guitarists I had heard about. There are plenty more but there’s a certain melody to his playing. I have and continue to listen to this album regularly.

Now, here’s the thing. When I played this album a while ago I was trying to come up with ways to describe the differences in the songs. You, know , to be able to do a track listing and description of each. Now, the rub is, they all sound quite similar. Same pace, beat, style. I don’t mean to diminish how good this album is because I really do enjoy it. I like every song. If I had to choose a favourite then I would go for “Heaven Tonight”, it’s a lovely romantic song.

All I can say is that Yngwie can play very well. I enjoy this stuff. He was pretty good when I saw him in Shepherds Bush however many years ago.

Comms#1963 so here are some things that happened that year as curated by me:

• George Wallace becomes Alabama Governor, what a cunt.
• Valentina Tereshkova is first woman in space.
• Kenya gains independence from the UK.
• Sam Cooke and his band are arrested after trying to register at a “whites only” motel in Louisiana.

I have played this album precisely three times in its entity. I was given this by Shredder as a recommended thing to listen to. He was not wrong. I have played this album when I drove some pupils to Canterbury for a school visit – you want something you think most people will appreciate when driving others around. I have so much obnoxious music that it’s hard sometimes to find something suitable. I played this album over my Sonos system when building a climbing frame for the kids and then finally I played it the other day in preparation for this communication.

This is a brilliant album full of dirty, gritty, blues inspired songs that all sound great. It has a real down low feel to it whilst not being obnoxious. I do like it. I think it’s an album I will go for more often when I need something decent in the background.

This album is not anything like you would expect if all you know about ZZ Top is their songs from the eighties. It’s actually way better and I even like their rock stuff.

This is communication number 1957 so here are some things that happened then in the year of our lord:

• The first frisbee
• A hydrogen bomb accidentally falls from a bomber near Albuquerque.
• A hurricane killed 400 people in Louisiana.
• The Wolfenden Report was published in the UK recommending the legalisation of gay sex between consenting adults.
• Gordon Gould invents the LASER.

There must be something about movie soundtracks when they are done well because I have a few. I’ve even got the Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs soundtracks somewhere but I’m not sure they are on my Sonos system, I’ll have to look into that. The slightly bigger issue is that my PC does not have an optical drive. I’d have to break out my laptop from 2008 to rip the files onto the system, that’s easy enough even though I’ll have to chuck some coal in the fire.

This album is a great collection of songs used in the film Trainspotting. I think I would say they are all rather middle of the road, gentle paced songs. I don’t think there’s a bad song on there.

I do have some words to say about Born Slippy. This isn’t really anything about the song but more an anecdote about terrible behaviour by me. I was at a wedding reception/evening do, you know, the kind of thing where you aren’t good enough to be at the ceremony but you are allowed the food. I think it was at the Weald Of Kent golf club building thing. It was somewhere there, I don’t entirely remember for alcohol reasons. I might have had some drink because it’s a wedding. The DJ person put Born Slippy on and I danced a stupid dance but they cut the song halfway through before all the drumming bits. I recall having a bit of a go and made them play the whole song. I think it was just me on the dance floor but when the music moves you . . . .

This is communication number 1952 and so here are some things that happened that year of the common era:

• Rioters target British and upper-class Egyptian businesses, it’s almost as if the class struggle and recognition for fair wages and rights has been eternal.
• The B-52 flies for the first time.
• The Roman Catholic church bans the books of Andre Gide.
• The Great Smog of London.

I bought this album because Smith and I were due to see this band at some festival somewhere at some time. I haven’t seen this band. I seem to remember the album being OK. Nothing special but also not terrible.

This is communication number 1938, here are some things that happened in that year:

• Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
• The Yellow River flood kills at least 400,000.
• “I have in my hand a piece of paper”.
• LSD is first synthesised.
• Nuclear fission of uranium discovered.

Not overly sure why I got this! I think I had seen Blade Runner and wanted some nice calming music in the same style. I don’t know. I’m not sure I’ve played it al the way through. Sometimes songs will come on as part of a shuffle and it depends on my mood as to whether I skip or not.

This is communication number 1934. Here are some things that happened that year:

• The Japanese invaded Manchuria.
• The Philippines is given some autonomous control from the USA.
• A typhoon in Japan kills 3036 people.
• Australian Frontier Wars end.

I am not sure if I’ve ever really listened to this album.

This is communication number 1931. Here’s what happened that year:

• Oswald Mosely founds the New Party.
• Porsche is founded.
• The China floods have deaths between 400,000 and 4,000,000.
• The Panama Canal is closed for a while due to damage by earthquakes.

I think all I had to say about FFDP I said in the previous communication about them. There seems to be a bit of a dip in quality albums in this area of the alphabet. Or, it’s just that there are a lot of Ts and coupled with my mistake of the “THE” word creates a stretch of albums I’m not fussed about.

This is communication number 1930 and I’m kinda trying to beat my “most in a month” record while at the same time trying to keep the quality up. It’s 19 days into the month and progress is good. I’ve got some ideas for longer communications too so maybe they will get written when I have some more time and freedom? Here are some things that happened in 1930:

• The existence of Pluto, dwarf planet, is confirmed.
• Lili Elbe begins sex reassignment surgeries.
• A fire in the Ohio penitentiary kills 320 people.
• The last recorded lynching of African Americans in USA.
• The Pope stresses the sanctity of marriage, the ban on artificial birth control and the church’s view on abortion [what a cunt].

I got a number of FFDP albums after I saw them at Download and then a location in London. I don’t mind when one of their songs comes on in a shuffle but I am definitely not bothered about playing a complete album. I’m not too fussed by their double bass drumming all the way through complete songs. Chaps, you have to have variation. But then, I’m old so maybe that is the way to go? So, there may be good stuff on here, there may not. I’m also trying to beat one of my previous best communications-per-month totals so that is why I’m publishing a lot this month.

In 1928 some of the following things happened:

• Frederick Griffith proves the existence of DNA.
• A dam failed north of LA killing 600.
• The voting age for women in UK lowers from 30 to 21. Prior to this only women over 30 and with property could vote.
• Farnsworth demonstrates the first all-electric television system.

This is actually a really good album in that late 1970s way. I’m glad Jeff has made a shit-ton of money from this. I like the fact that the first Martians land near Jase’s house, also loads of the place names are places I know. But those two things were more about HG than Mr Wayne. Oh well.

Communication number 1927 so in keeping with recent tradition and recognising this communication feels like a “cheat”, there’s not much to it, here’s what happened in 1927, curated by me:

• British troops land in Shanghai which is British [apparently].
• The UK formally becomes the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
• The Mississippi floods and kills 700,000.
• Iraq gains independence from the UK.

I think I own this because everyone thinks they should own this album. I don’t particularly enjoy Pink Floyd’s music and while some of it is quite good and catchy I find the rest dull and repetitive. Yes, I know, that makes me an awful person in the view of many but I just can’t quite get it. I’ve always felt like this about Floyd, not sure why, you can’t help what you like I guess.

Communication number 1923 so here we go:

• First flight of an autogyro.
• First Le Mans 24 hours race.
• Louis Armstrong makes his first recording.
• Large hailstones kill 23 in Russia.
• A damn bursts in Italy killing 356 people.

There’s something about “best of” albums that ends up meaning I don’t play them much. I think I buy a “best of” because I know some of the songs and want a few more but I don’t want to be saddled with an album that might be a bit shit. So, I get a “best of” and I hope that I enjoy listening to it. Broadly speaking I don’t enjoy listening to it and I don’t play it that often. With Van Halen I really love the album 5150 and enjoy listening to that all the way through but for some reason having the “best of” doesn’t bother me and I don’t play it. I think my emotional attachment to 5150 belongs with when I first encountered it in my life and it takes me back to the summer of 1988. Live albums are slightly different though and while they are a kind of “best of” they are also different from the studio recordings and so you discover new parts to each song.

This is communication number 1922, so here are some things that happened then:

• Snowfall causes a roof of a theatre to collapse in Washington DC killing 98.
• Insulin treatment is successfully used for the first time.
• Monza race track is opened.
• The Barbary lion and the Amur tiger both become extinct in the wild.

I’m pretty sure I bought this as an alternative to buying the album Practise What You Preach. The idea was that I would get all the good Testament songs and not have to worry about buying a few albums. Eventually I went on to buy the albums individually anyway as a couple of albums a month keeps me happy. I honestly don’t know what is on this album. I probably played it a few times when I got it but since then I’ve always done the right thing and listened to the proper albums.

In the communication number is the year that I write about continuation this is number 1920 and here’re some things that happened that year.

• The Treaty Of Versailles takes affect officially ending WW1.
• The Khan Of Khiva abdicates.
• The five interlocking rings of the Olympics are first displayed in Antwerp.
• UK, France and Italy discuss how to partition the Ottoman Empire.
• A bomb kills 38 in New York.

I’m not sure if this album came out before or after the Use Your Illusion duo and I can’t be bothered to check on Wikipedia, if you want to have a look then you can. What I can tell you is that this album is a bunch of covers and gave a return to a well-produced but still raw sound for GnR. Listening to this gives me real flashbacks to living in Fulham and spending loads of time with the Fulham Five. I really enjoy this album and I love the speed, energy and sound. You might find it a little derivative nowadays but at least it didn’t take fourteen years to produce like other GnR albums!

This is communication number 1981 so, here are some words to increase the word count:

• The 1918 flu pandemic first recognised in Kansas.
• Russia adopts the Gregorian Calendar.
• The last Carolina parakeet dies.
• Marie Stopes publishes “Married Love” and opens the discussion about birth control [which must be misnamed!]. She is also a massive eugenicist and so we can celebrate her positive contributions to society while still condemn her shit views.
• 453 people die in a fire in Cloquet.

I feel that this album really cemented where the Black Crowes were going with their style and sound. However, it’s not really my bag. I played this album yesterday and I enjoyed listening to it, the guitar blues sounds were really nice and it’s a lovely calming album. They have backing singers and the whole thing works really well. It’s a lovely album.

This is communication number 1917 and so here are some things that happened in that year:

• The King of UK changes his surname from Saxe-Coburg to Windsor.
• The “miracle” of the Sun in Portugal – ha ha.
• Women campaigners are deliberately assaulted while imprisoned.
• The world is still going to shit with war.