This potentially will annoy many people but I remember these guys having a really big hit and I thought that it sounded good. Definitely a new sound and worth checking out. I bought this album and liked pretty much all of it, but I just don’t play it anymore. Then the singer chap died. That’s very sad but it didn’t make me play this album. I reckon I’m just out of the age bracket for this to be a formative sound.
Iron Man 2 – AC/DC
This is a compilation so songs will be reviewed elsewhere.
- Shoot To Thrill
- Rock ‘n’ Roll Damnation
- Guns For Hire
- Cold Hearted Man
- Back In Black
- Thunderstruck
- If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)
- Evil Walks
- T.N.T.
- Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be
- Have A Drink On Me
- The Razors Edge
- Let There Be Rock
- War Machine
- Highway To Hell
Iowa – Slipknot
In terms of Slipknot canon I don’t know where this fits. I think it might be their second album. Just not sure. I’ve bought a few Slipknot albums but never really played any other than the first one. Having now listened to it I can say that some of the songs I recognise from the live album Antennas To Hell. They also play some of these songs live.
Highlights are:
- People=Shit
- Disasterpiece
- My Plague
- Everything Ends
- The Heretic Anthem
- Left Behind
I do like the Heretic Anthem and the chorus is something I have sung with my childerbeasts.
Invasion Of Your Privacy – RATT
This is a teenage fantasy album. It’s pretty obviously a load of cock-rock and remarkably a product of its time. I’m pretty sure I own this on picture disk and the cover is likely the reason I bought it. All my vinyl disks are stored in decent boxes in a cupboard. I haven’t put them in the loft as I harbour secret desires to play them again one day. I don’t have the same response with my tapes, they are less tactile and less loved, tucked away in the loft somewhere getting heat cycled.
Look, if you want 80s LA rock then get this. It’s does exactly what it says on the cover.
If You Want Blood You’ve Got It [live] – AC/DC
Holy Shit!
This album has been with me throughout most of my life and I still rate it as one of the best albums I have ever heard. Blow Up Your Video came out in 1988 and the singles were released before then in the wonder-year of 1987. so, you love AC/DC and start looking up old albums. Then, the excitement that there are thirteen albums is palpable.
This is a best of the first few albums, and it fucking rocks. They hadn’t even released Highway To Hell yet and all the songs on here rock.
This album has healed me emotionally when I have felt broken. It has calmed me when I have been un-calm and it has restored me to who I am on many occasion. SR once told me to go and listen to “If You Want Blood”, it’ll make you happier. That was somewhere in the early 90s and I hadn’t realised its effect was so obvious.
I had to re-purchase this on music cassette because I had listened to my first version of this so many times the tape had stretched in places and it made the music sound wrong.
I’ve bought this on CD since. And then I ripped that to save onto an MP3 player. Then I used the CD to rip to a higher specification and it is now on the NAS Drive.
After you’ve listened to this a lot you can hear the smiles in the band, you recognise every note, you can imagine where they are on stage and what they are doing there.
For many years I had only seen the front of this album, the rear cover wasn’t part of the tape version I had. When I saw the back cover I wasn’t disappointed.
I dare you to find a song on this album that can be considered weak. I dare you.
Hysteria – Def Leppard
Wow. This album was released in my summer of music awakening. 1987, when I was fifteen, was, in my mind, a year of Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet and Hyteria by Def Leppard. It was the year of my second summer camp and moving into the fifth year at school.
I think Armageddon It was released as a single and I loved it. So I bought the album. It’s great. Well, it was then. It’s a product of its time and I’m happy with that. It has consistently been in the top of album lists.
Then you hear that the drummer only has one arm. He lost the other one in a car accident and you think, wow. This is really impressive.
I was meant to see Def Leppard as my first concert. They were playing the Royal Albert Hall in the round in April 1988. I had a friend to go with and everything. But I got a cadet trip to Cyprus and so did that instead. I’m still glad I went to Cyprus, it was a brilliant, but frustrating experience. That left Iron Maiden to become my first concert on December 10 1988.
I finally did see Def Leppard play. They opened one of the NFL games at Wembley Stadium that I’ve been to. I had grown up then and they didn’t really bother me.
So, the album.
It’s full of hits and power ballads that knocks the 80’s out of 1987. It’s probably another great driving album.
The thing is, once you’ve listened to this, you seek out other Def Leppard and you get some excellent stuff like “On Through The Night”, “High n Dry” and “Pyromania”. Each of these is a better album, but not as popular.
How To Do Battle – Senser
I remember trying to persuade my Events Manager at college to book Senser in 1995. I wanted to see them play but he refused, they would cost too much. I had owned the Stacked Up album for about a year and found it thrilling. This album is the classic mix of political lyrics, heavy bouncy guitar riffs and chilled out beats that made Senser an awesome band. I have seen them twice. Once in Southsea and once at the Underworld. If you want to hear Senser then buy Stacked Up. If you want more buy this.
Hot Rocks 1964-1971 – Rolling Stones
This is just a quick one really. You grow up knowing that certain bands are very influential. You hear about them and then you listen to them. For me The Doors were meant to be really good but I just don’t like their material, I mean I understand how and why they were such an influence but I just don’t like their stuff. The Beatles are another band who pretty much leave me cold!
The Rolling Stones are a little bit different. I like their music. But then, I don’t have all their albums, just this. And, this is meant to be the best of all their stuff covering seven years. So it’s not really surprising that it is full of very good music.
All of the songs on this album are very good. It should really be in every collection, much like the White album, which I don’t have.
A particular favourite here is Sympathy For The Devil. It builds brilliantly and is crafted so very well [unlike the Guns N Roses version which is shit in comparison]. Whenever I hear this song it reminds me of a couple of overnight parties we had next to the river Stort in Pishiobury Park in Hertfordshire. We pretty much stayed up all night drinking, playing cricket and generally having a laugh and I remember putting this song on the music player just as the sun was rising and a mist was settling over the river. It’s a very atmospheric song and this was the perfect use for it.
Holy Diver – Dio
I bought this on vinyl originally. The cover of the Devil chaining a priest and drowning him was probably quite shocking for the time. I probably bought it because of the cover and it was in the heavy metal section of the record shop. Back in those days we couldn’t pre-listen or try a song, only the posh shops did that. I bought records on the cover and recommendations of friends.
Ronnie James Dio’s voice is strange, I wasn’t aware of his history with Black Sabbath and I still haven’t listened to any of his stuff with them, but I can see how he could follow Ozzy. I’ve just looked up that the guitarist was Vivian Campbell which explains a lot. I first heard of him when he worked for Whitesnake and the 1987 album.
Holy Diver has lyrics, but I don’t really pay attention to the lyrics. For me music is the riff, rhythm and tune of the vocals. This is an excellent 80s rock album with a perfect combination of sound and feel. It’s great. I can imagine a crowd of 80,000 all jumping in time to the heavy crunching riffs.
I can remember once being on Imperial College Radio and commenting that I thought Rainbow In The Dark sounded a lot like Living On Video. I had phone calls objecting but I maintain I was correct, or at least correct about the keyboard riff.
Rainbow In The Dark
Living On Video
Do you know what? I was right! Yes, for some reason I have both. I think I bought Living On Video as a single before I developed my love for screaming loud guitars.
High Voltage – ACDC
1976.
AC/DC.
Debut international album.
This album. Is. Awesome.
I’m not sure if I’ve gone into my relationship with AC/DC before. My attention to them was first awakened by the song “That’s The Way I Wanna Rock n Roll” off the Blow Up Your Video album. When I found out there was a back catalogue of about 12 albums I was so excited. All that music to be consumed.
This album is their first major release. I believe that the track listing is different in Australia along with the cover. I have owned this on cassette tape, CD and now digitally. I didn’t buy much AC/DC on vinyl because I couldn’t carry around a record with me to listen as I moved.
AC/DC are masters of riff driven rock with a dirty guitar sound, perfectly crafted rude lyrics and brilliant accompaniment to balance out the sound.
It’s A Long Way To The Top If You Wanna (rock and roll) – fucking bagpipes.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Singer – includes the lyric “yes I are”, which I maintain is lyrical genius.
The Jack – better live as the lyrics are truer.
Live Wire – AC/DC Live video opens with this song. It’s a great sing along tune.
T.N.T. – riff-tastic.
Can I Sit Next To You Girl – pace change in the rhythm guitars is great.
Little Lover – “Killed me when I saw, The wet patch on your seat, Was it Coca Cola?”
She’s Got Balls – Opening riff just floors me. Lovely bass work. Beautiful.
High Voltage – Still played. Still loved. Like every song here.
This is an album to horrify the elders. To rip fear into grown ups. The lyrics are rude without being offensive [kind of] and the sound is pure dirt. Put it on. Play It Loud. Really Loud.