This might be a shocking admission but I’m not really bothered by this album. Something about it doesn’t quite work for me. I bought it after being amazed with the song “Killing In The Name Of”, which I first heard in its entirety on Radio 1 if you can believe that! There’s a couple of good songs on this one but largely I’m left feeling rather “meh”.
Pyromania – Def Leppard
Def Leppard was one of my gateway bands into metal. If you read my Descent communication I expect they’ll be mentioned there. Def Leppard along with Bon Jovi and Guns ‘n’ Roses got me into guitar based music and this album was one of the special ones. The band had just hit it big with the Hysteria album and so I was seeking out whatever else they had done. The sounds of this album, its production, the guitar riffs, the drumming, all these things can make me feel a teenager again, fortunately without the emotional bullshit that goes with that period of time.
This is a great album. It is what it is. Very commercial rock. It turned this band into a massive hit across the pond. I don’t think it’s quite dinner party background music but it’s close. Non offensive rock. This band got lumbered with the NWOBHM label but they aren’t. The vocals are more haunting and the riffage doesn’t follow that BHM style. Def Leppard just happened to emerge at the same time.
- Rock Rock (Till You Drop) – great upbeat song.
- Photograph – remember those lonely times when all you had was a picture to look at and the knowledge that you’d speak in a couple of days at 6pm once the phone calls got cheap.
- Stagefright – meant to start live, think it’s studio. Good rolling riff.
- Too Late For Love – a ballad, still it is pretty good.
- Die Hard The Hunter – not the best on this album.
- Foolin’ – starts gentle. Gets better. Great cow bell use, that instrument always makes me laugh.
- Rock Of Ages – starts with something backwards?? Proper radio rock. Has a good rolling bass with melodic vocals creating a great rhythm. Worth listening to.
- Comin’ Under Fire – not the greatest on here either. Vocals well aligned but a little boring for me.
- Action Not Words – formulaic rock. A good song but not top ranking.
- Billy’s Got A Gun – good triples on the bass, song could do with being a little faster for my liking. Love the outro, when I first heard it I wondered about the effort that goes into creating a new melody or sound and how bands use that for just a couple of bars.
The singing in this album is great. The riffage is great. It’s a bloody good representation of that era of music. It also sold masses in the USA and made this band huge. I probably still prefer their first album though!
Purple Rain – Prince
I’m not sure when I got this album. I’m not a massive Prince fan but I can definitely see that the guy was a genius. I mostly remember the albums: Diamonds and Pearls, Batman and Love Symbol. This one is a classic, I know that much, but I’ve just not really listened to it along with Love Sexy. I do feel slightly ashamed that I don’t know this album well. When Doves Cry and Purple Rain I am aware of and would recognise. Oh well. Such an interesting communication for number 1600 [the address of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue].
Psalm 69: The Way To Succeed & The Way To Suck Eggs – Ministry
This album is really called ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ but Psalm 69 is much easier.
Holy Maloly. This album is a biggie. When you discover a new sound you want to keep buying and listening to it, get the most out of it. This was probably my first encounter with industrial metal.
JESUS BUILT MY HOTROD
Soon I discovered that this rock thing was true, Jerry Lee Lewis was the devil, Jesus was an architect previous to his career as a prophet. All of a sudden, I found myself in love with the world, so there was only one thing that I could do: Was ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long.
If Hotrod doesn’t get you rocking then there’s something wrong with you. You listen to that first because of the speed and the power and then you settle into the other songs and they hit you, slowly at first. It’s like a punch that starts a mile away and comes at you slowly over hours.
N.W.O. – Bloody amazing. The extended edition is better with about a minute of feedback before the main riff blasts in.
Just One Fix – I’ve got the extended edition of this and I just love the structure of the song. This is a nightmare song about drugs [probably].
TV II – Shouty and powerful.
Hero – Manic riffs and beats to bang your head.
Jesus Built My Hotrod – genius.
Scare Crow – a slow beat song to wake up the neighbours and bounce to.
Psalm 69 – Praise Jesus. An Epic.
Corrosion – Crazy sounds and drums, unique.
Grace – It’s noise, man.
This whole album is what happens when you have musical geniuses out of their heads on drugs and arguing. It’s great. Bloody marvellous.
Pretty Hate Machine – Nine Inch Nails
I bought this on CD thinking I would listen to it lots because I really like NIN. I haven’t listened to it.
Powertrippin’ – Almighty
There was a period of time when The Almighty were the best british metal band out there. I thought they were great. I saw them three times. The best was probably when they supported Megadeth at the Cambridge Corn Exchange. Also I saw them when they supported Iron Maiden at the Cambridge Corn Exchange and they also supported Metallica and Megadeth at the Milton Keynes Bowl in 1993 (ish).
I don’t think I owned an Almighty album before this one. I have since bought a couple of extras but this one is very good. I bought it on CD back in the day and was pleased as there was a bonus disk of the band playing at Donington in 1992. This whole album is a good one. Well worth it. A good mix of acoustic and rock along with a few parts of thrash. The main riff in “Addiction” is super.
Favourites of mine are:
- Jesus Loves You But I Don’t – a good break up song.
- Powertrippin’ – (Hear the drummer get wicked)
- Addiction
- Takin’ Hold – (I watched a snail . . . . )
The bonus disc has a great short set from this band live at the Monsters Of Rock concert in 1992. The intro says enough:
Donington – Would you please welcome, from Glasgow, Scotland, the all-loud the all-wild the all-fucking-mighty.
Mr Announcer
The tracks from this make one of the best short live EPs I’ve heard. Decent rock and good crowd interaction.
Practice What You Preach – Testament
Time to admit that although I have listened to this album quite a bit since owning it on a copied tape since I was about 18 there are only two songs that I can really remember. “Practice What You Preach” and “The Greenhouse Effect”. Sure, I’ve listened to the whole thing and I’ve enjoyed the album for many years but if you asked me which songs are on here those two would be your answer with some unqualified hand waving about the others.
I’ve seen Testament twice. Both times was pretty good. The first was alongside other greats of the 80s thrash revolution:
- Suicidal Tendencies
- Testament
- Megadeth
- Slayer
These four bands played a “Clash Of The Titans” tour and I saw them at Wembley Arena. I can still remember watching Testament and being excited at recognising the song “Practice What You Preach”. The other time I saw them was at Koko. Both times I was impressed.
This is one of those important albums where it helped forge the sounds in my head. It gave me breathing space and helped build the future mix of what I would like.
This album also contains a song about how humans are messing up the environment. This album was released in 1989. Climate change isn’t a new thing. It’s just been ignored by politicians for as long as we’ve known about it.
Pure Devotion – Various Artists
I was given this album by a friend, Vince, in the early 2000s. Curiously it was Vince’s wife who gave me two CDs by Rammstein around the same time! Pure Devotion is a compilation album by various artists attached to the Pure Devotion record label. This addition to my collection was worrying. Having been a metal fan for all this time and only really liking guitars, drums and vocals this album started to bring in electronic sounds with an industrial vibe. Along with the bands Senser, Ministry and Nine Inch Nails this was the start of exploring another music genre.
This album is a great starter into industrial-electronic music.
- Beers, Steers and Queers – Revolting Cocks – you know it’s probably good when you can’t tell which is the band name and which is the title. This is a brilliant song from the Revolting Cocks. Everyone should experience this at some point in their life.
- Supernaut – 1000 Homo DJs – this band come up first on my list of iPhone music. I think people find it amusing. This is a cover of the Black Sabbath song and it’s great. They’ve given it that industrial twist.
- No Name, No Slogan – Acid Horse – A classic beat and haunting melodies in the background. A deceivingly simple song.
- Murder Inc. – Murder Inc. – A heavier guitar based song with excellent lyrics. Funny how so much music is written to protest the state of the world.
- Teenage Mind – Hyperhead – This is a spooky early 90s sounding track with steady beats and a trance like quality. Delightful.
- July – Chris Connelly – This is a great song with a simple but working chorus. This man has been involved with so many greats, he’s instrumental to the whole scene: Acid Horse, KMFDM, Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Murder Inc., PTP.
- Faster Than Light – Lead Into Gold – Simple beats with sounds building up along with guitars and excellent vocals. What isn’t to like?
- Rubber Glove Seduction – PTP – Samples, steady beats, an almost “Relax” vibe to it. You can feel the early beginnings of industrial and how it would move music on creating newer metal bands in the late 1990s.
- Re-Release – Malhavoc – Speedy with a certain level of dischord and snarly vocals. This would get the pit going.
- Conquer Your House – Excessive Force – More dance like than most of the others but with distorted vocals. This is good enough for me to buy one of their albums.
- White King – Crow Force – A bit more rock with a rolling riff and faster beat.
- Sympathy For The Devil – Skrew – A delightfully heavy version of the ‘Stones classic. Makes the song darker and more sinister.
- Hoeda, Hoeda – Bomb Everything – A metal song with samples.
- Ten Ground & Down – Pigface – Feels a bit 70s experimental.
This whole album is a great starter into electro-industrial.
Pure Cult – For Rockers, Ravers, Lovers and Sinners – The Cult
I bought this album, a massive two LP disk set in a box, back when I still had a record player. I suspect I got this while at university. I remembered The Cult from school where there were one or two songs that were pretty good, if a little pop. As this collection was meant to be the best of all worlds I chose to get it. I think they had a massive album called “Electric” or “Blue” or a combination of those, I’m not going to check.
Apart from listening to the more pop side of this album I don’t think I’ve really listened to the rest. This is possibly a failing on my side of the bargain but I guess they’ve already had my money, the failure is mine.
Asteria
For the last few years I’ve really enjoyed the music of Faderhead. I was him/them play once at M’era Luna and it was an excellent show, a lot better than I was expecting, and I can’t wait to see them again some time. Because I enjoy the music and hope that Faderhead gets more success I’ve been contributing via Patreon to help out. I’ve also donated to Aesthetic Perfection over the years. I guess I’m in the fortunate position that I can offer a little bit and hope to enjoy the pay-off.
I donated some cash to help out with the costs of producing Faderhead’s latest album and my Patreon reward arrived yesterday:
This is a lovely touch and I’m happy to own a CD. This is probably my first CD in about four years as I download most of my music. Physical objects are good. Anyway, thanks to Faderhead.
Got my @faderhead CD yesterday and I'm so happy. Thanks Sami! #faderhead #asteria Really good album. pic.twitter.com/BI4WK1eOfd
— Ian Parish (@iparish) November 1, 2019