I’m pretty sure I got this album sometime in my third year of university. Although I can’t remember the specifics I do suspect it was in the “metal” section at a music shop. Obviously this was in the days before streaming and even previewing an album. What you bought was what you got.
I’m not sure this is a serious album. I mean musically it’s pretty good and the songs are good but there are plenty of songs with humour in them and start with clips of audio from film etc. If you like heavy slow paced thrash metal then this is a good album for you, assuming that you don’t mind the odd piece of fun.
The following songs are stuck in my head, even after twenty (or more) years.
Rude Awakening
Kipper ‘n’
Research – has French spoken at the beginning
Another Fine Mess
Monkey See, Monkey Dance
Don’t Patronise Me
I guess you could stream this album now, for nothing, listen to it and then dismiss it. Over the last few months I’ve come back to the idea of paying for music properly! Sad old me and my liberal sensitivities.
The other day I went to see the Michael Bay film Bumblebee at Rochester Cinema. On the way to the cinema the tide was low, but was lower on the way out, possibly at a minimum, all the mud banks were showing. Out in the river there’s a crane on a barge! A proper crane with wheels and stuff, just sitting on a large barge. I do love the big stuff we make. So, I started looking for a satellite picture of the mud flats at the edge of the river and ended up getting excited about the historical photographs available in Google Earth. I probably owe them something for using these clips.
1940 Pre Motorway
If you move slightly further east from this picture you can see the Shorts Brothers Flying Boats resting on the river Medway, that must’ve been such an amazing sight. Sunderlands taking off from the Medway before Shorts was relocated to Northern Ireland.
1940 Shorts Flying Boats
Next up are the 60s decade of sex and drugs and rock and roll. No motorway though.
1960 No Motorway Yet
The original Medway motorway bridge opened in 1963 and on closer inspection I think the construction work in the photograph is the building of the supports.
1990 M2 Bridge
By 1990 you can see the bridge and then the area that will be reclaimed for the entertainment complex.
2003 New Bridges
In this photograph the cinema and nightclub are there, along with the new Channel Tunnel Rail Link bridge for the high speed train network and another road bridge. I think the original is also being “beefed up”.
2006 Bridges Complete
The bridges are complete and it looks like there is a trail bike track the other side of the railway.
2015 Medway Gate Houses
This last picture has the new housing estate in the Medway Gate. I’m not sure what their sunlight is like as they live in the bottom of a pit.
Back to the process of writing this film review. I rated the film on IMDB, as usual, and there’s a communication buried in this site to explain the rating process. I tweeted this result, because it makes this site look prettier than me just writing the result.
Well, this film was the usual mess of a Michael Bay film. It starts somewhere and leads us in the knowledge of how Bumblebee and the others got to Earth along with some stuff about saving the world. It really wasn’t an interesting film and I got bored with the middle hour. Worth a watch if you want to complete your set of Transformers movies. But much like the very first movie the transformers were too “busy and quick”.
Would robots fight each other the same way that humans do? Would they try to hit each other about the head until they pass out? Would they have a voice module in the same place as a human? Would they have independently developed bullets and missiles that look like our Earth weapons?
Fleisch were the main band in the venue Fire last night. They are an industrial metal band from somewhere up north. The first band though were called AlterRed.
I honestly can’t remember a huge deal about AlterRed! I don’t remember hating it but I don’t remember being incredibly impressed. It was watchable. I think Smith and I gave it about a 3/10 score, although the grading system for watching bands isn’t as rigorous as the cinema review section of this site.
I didn’t take any photos during the gig, it wasn’t that sort of place so I have found a music video and you can judge for yourself:
The only other band playing that night were Fleisch. There were better and rated at about a 5/10 by Smith and me. I’m not sure the sound was super brilliant and I certainly didn’t get a Rammstein feel, which they claim but it was a good performance. What I don’t understand is the need for separate bass tracks in the backing track and also a bass player, one or the other folks. Your sound doesn’t need two lots of deep sounds, one will do.
I’ve got to stop doing this. I think to myself that I’ll go to the cinema and there’s not a lot on that I want to see so I go see the superhero film. Even though I know superhero films annoy me. Even though I know I don’t like them. Even though while I can appreciate the canon, I don’t care. Film versions annoy me. There was even a guy in the cinema wearing a jacket with patches all over it, each one was a superhero patch. Gosh I hate these films.
That score isn’t really a surprise is it? This film is about privilege, it’s about the firstborn child born to a queen out of wedlock who then claims the throne to be his own. If this was a true patriarchal society then the half-breed usurper wouldn’t have any grounds for complaint. This, once again, is a film to reinforce the idea of our position in society is one we are born to. I don’t want to rant again like one of my recent movies and so I shall pour a glass of red wine instead. Read my rantings here.
There were two female characters? Out of thousands.
One of the women imprisoned the father into a daily ritual of being at the dock at sunrise just in case she came back. What utter psychological abuse.
This is another film about how beating up people and asserting your physical strength over every other aspect of your personality will win. What a load of bullshit. It was annoying and stupid.
Last night I went to the cinema in Rochester [not in Rochester] to see the latest action film release – Die Hard 30th Anniversary edition. This was an utter delight but there are conventions I need to follow here and although I broke them for the review of Skyscraper I shall not be doing that now.
It was dark driving along the promenade road but I could see the state of the tide reflecting lights from the houses and boats on the other side of the valley. The water was not covering the mud flats at the edges of the river and so that tide was definitely not in.
I also rated this film on IMDB and there’s a communication that deals with the rating system, you should probably read it and the follow up.
What is there to say about this film? It’s iconic and brilliant. It has so many moments that are captured in the collective psyche that there were many times the entire audience [the cinema was full] giggled or laughed or just huffed a sound of appreciation at the film. It’s worth watching and seeing over and over.
This is the last of the “k” albums. I got this album after getting Pandemonium by Killing Joke which is an awesome amazing album. This one though excites me less so. I don’t often listen to it but there are some highlights.
Requiem, Wardance and The Wait are all excellent songs and The Wait has been covered by Metallica so that gives you an idea of the influence of this band and their music.
Before you read this review of a terrible film please be aware this is published Fooyah.net communication number 1400!
This afternoon after a break of quite a while I went to the cinema. The last film I saw was First Man and that was pretty shit. When I was browsing which film to see this weekend there weren’t really any that moved me but out of all the choices I chose the one with massive cities roaming the Earth. Normally about this time I also mention the state of the tide. It’s one of those things that has developed over the last few years, I mention Rochester or wherever else I went and then I also comment on the tide. I think it was low, but when I was driving along the road I did see a lovely lighting of the river:
River Medway And The Sun
This picture perfectly sums up what the view looked like. The sun was glowing through the clouds and created a great light, but you’ll have to trust me as you can see that I took the photo with perfect timing to block the sun with the CCTV warning sign. What a terrible photograph!
I also rate all the movies I see on the IMDB website. There are warnings and you should read this communication which deals with how that rating system works.
I’m not sure that 6/10 is right. This film left me feeling oddly empty. It didn’t do anything for me. Let’s get a few things out of the way first this movie is based on a stupid, but fun premise. The story was full of clichés. The love story was boring. The terminator was a bit of a surprise and didn’t really fit in any of the plot. In fact it could have been removed and the story would have worked perfectly well. This movie even had a “I’m you father” moment. What shit!
Overall this film was quite boring and dull. It did nothing to excite me or make me feel there was danger or any imposing sense of doom. Terrible. Normally when I see a film I get snippets of sentences and words I am going to write in this communication. Not a lot came to me during this film. The only thing that did bother me was the suspension on these cities. It seemed impressive to be smooth enough to keep the buildings standing through all manner of surfaces and turns.
Perhaps this film should be interpreted through the lens of Brexit and political leadership. A massive city [London, for it is she] is heading to destroy the known world and ruin everything the world has because the “leader” is determined that his mission must succeed. The “leader” is willing to ensure that his plan works at all costs. He is willing to destroy the peaceful land-dwellers using a weapon of ultimate power. The city can’t be turned and must be kept on course no matter how deranged the plan.
This film also illustrates the problem with “class” and being born to the right family. It’s not really dealt with towards the end of the film but it is very clear early on that people born below should stay there and have nothing to do with the leadership of the city. We have that in our own society. This is built into our collective psyche from a young age. We are bred to accept our position and that those who come from certain families are there to serve the country and look out for us.
Think about how many fairy stories and pantomimes have someone born to rule who gets lost and resumes command once their birth story is discovered. Think how many princesses end up poor and in the shit until their true identity is discovered. Think how many poor people are only allowed to get to power if they are beautiful and marry a prince. Think about all those Disney cartoons designed to keep women and the lower classes away from dreaming about doing good and ruling.
Then, you have the royal family. From an early age we look in awe at these people. These poor fucks, whose own human rights are abused, are born into such a one-way life that they don’t dare escape. The role of these people is to rule over us. We fawn over their lives and loves and we have books about their children and photographs in all the newspapers. Their weddings and childbirth are treated like national celebrations because we have even more people to rule over us. It is in our nation’s psyche to be subservient to those in authority. Look at the power projecting from all the TV shows about the royals. Those gold trappings, the army, the flypasts, the glitz, the carriages, the clothes the fucking bullshit. It’s all designed to enforce their position and authority over us plebeians.
The houses of parliament are designed to keep reminding us that they have the power. That they deserve the power. That we are subservient to them. Nothing has made this clearer to me over my existence than the petty bullshit infighting in parliament over this Brexit bullshit. A broken system of representatives who are failing to do the best for the country as a whole. They’ll be ok in the end. I’ll be ok in the end as I have a decent profession. But it will fuck our country over. I mean we already have millions in poverty and families relying on foodbanks. This country is a disgrace and the time for revolution is nigh.
I honestly have come to the conclusion that we need riots and mass civil disobedience to force a change in the way this country is governed. We need to remove the barriers to social progression. We need all people to be represented equally and we need those in charge to do what is right for the country as a whole and not just play bullshit games with the future of the country because it serves their own egotistical ambitions.
But this won’t happen. Not here. We aren’t citizens. We are SUBJECTS. We have been trained to obey and follow the rules. We all believe that those in power are there because it is their right. That they will do the best for us. Look at the last two years. What a shit-show.
I read recently that one of the main reasons the first world war ended was that there are a massive popular uprising in the German empire and that the Kaiser resigned because of that. The next day the war ended. It wasn’t anything to do with us winning or being better than the Germans. It was because their people decided to revolt. Do you know what our ruling classes did? They forced our society to become more observant of the ruling classes and forced large parades on the people to force the masses to forget about revolution. It happened in Russia, in France many times and Germany. We were next but it was all suppressed. The ruling classes held us down and created more generations of subjects. Women only got the vote because they fought for it. Our collective experiences as SUBJECTS forces us to accept these pathetic imperialist ways.
Look at our national obsession for stately homes. I go around them and my anger increases all the time. These massive houses built on the profits of the poor and downtrodden. All that money used for a few while the many have to accept their fate to living a life of shit and misery while the ruling classes continue to benefit.
While I’m on this I’ll have a side swipe at religion. Mostly because it reinforces this whole idea that there is a plan for us. That there is destiny and no matter how shit life is down here once you die and, as long as you’ve followed their rules, you get to live forever in heaven where the big boss will rule over you. Religions are great. It’s how you keep the power. It’s how you enforce the populace to be subservient to you.
In summary. We are screwed because we so readily accept the idea of class and being born to elevation.
God, I’m such a lefty on some matters that it surprises me so much. I thought we were meant to become more selfish and cunty [sorry, I spelt conservative wrong there] as we got older. All I see more and more is the delusion our people are under and the pain and suffering of those oppressed by the rulers of this land.
And O you mortal engines whose rude throats/Th’immortal Jove’s dread clamors counterfeit
This is a Megadeth album which I came to late. My start with Megadeth was watching a BBC2 documentary called “Heavy Metal”. In the film there was a clip of Megadeth playing Peace Sells at an outdoor venue in Northern Ireland. Quite a while after watching the show I kept playing the riffs over and over in my head and I thought I ought to get the album. I wasn’t quite a full on thrash metal fan and I remember being disappointing at the opening song Wake Up Dead. “just another thrash band” I thought. The song “Wake Up Dead” is listed on this site as one of my favourites, THREE classic riffs in one song.
When I got hold of this album a good few years later I was surprised and shocked. It has a very much less-polished feel that the other albums, I guess as you would expect for a band’s first album. It’s faster and more melodic than Metallica, which, given the history, you would expect. MegaDave play hard and fast melodies and it’s their signature sound.
Last Rites / Loved to Deth – piano opening getting you to think you’ve got the wrong album and a little wiggly guitar work and BLAM – Megadeth riff hits you. A fast, heavy, bruising song.
Killing Is My Business – that opening riff is ace. The bounce and feel of it is enough to get anyone jumping around. The songs ends in a speed fueled repeating chorus, lovely.
The Skull Beneath The Skin – the title sounds gross but is really probably just a line from a biology text book. Cantering opening and then a Dave scream with a climbing riff followed by ring chord strokes and then – Kaboom! A galloping ride of guitars and drums over the fields. It’s always amazed me how some riffs are so amazing and then bands only use them for tiny sections of their songs.
Rattlehead – Here I Come. A bass line I can’t comprehend, smash cymbals pushing you to jump either way and this is a dose of metal you need.
Chosen Ones – Oddly this is not a song that sticks in my head. It’s not that it’s bad, it just doesn’t quite do it for me.
Looking Down The Cross – very wiggly at the start. A good song with a blisteringly paced kick drum through. Excellent.
Mechanix – If you want a proper version of Four Horsemen by Metallica then this is where to come. I remember seeing Megadeth play this live at Cambridge and it blew me away. Amazeballs.
These Boots – you can guarantee that there’s always one shit song on a Megadeth album and this is the one on this album. They are like The Crue, chuck in one song that’ll annoy everyone. I do not like this one.
There’s something about the raw power and sound in this album that has stayed in my core. Along with Iron Maiden, Killers has that kick in the teeth, it pushes you around and beats you up with its riffs and lyrics. I bloody love this album. My feelings for the first two albums often goes against the grain of general fandom. In my view Iron Maiden were good until the end of Seventh Son. After that they went shit. Or maybe I just grew out of them?
The Ides Of March – Borrowed from Samson and written by Bruce before he was part of Maiden. This opener gets you ready for the onslaught.
Wrathchild – rolling bass line with bouncy riffs. A great song.
Murders In The Rue Morgue – such a melody that I get shivers down the spine.
Another Life – You can imagine jumping around to this song in an East End pub in the early 80s. The riff change halfway through is ace.
Genghis Khan – This song pops with the main riff. What out for the speed change that doesn’t accelerate it just knocks you flat.
Innocent Exile – Another bouncy tune that keeps me jumping around the room.
Killers – Entirely about stalking someone and killing them. What do you expect from a band named after a medieval torture device?
Prodigal Son – Devil’s got hold of my soul. But with a ballad feel. Although it’s not a ballad.
Purgatory – high speed danger in this song. It races along daring you to join in.
Drifters – The symbol crashes on the off beat excite me in this song. Just one of those things. This song canters along with room for a breather at the end of each verse.
This whole album encapsulates a teenage yearning for power and respect. You can feel the angst in the writing and the production. It still excites me after over thirty years of listening. I bloody love it.
“Sanctuary” isn’t on this album and so probably wont’ get mentioned until “Live After Death”. That’s an “L” album and so won’t be too far away. As a clue I’ll let you know that “Live” is simply the best Maiden album.
I’ll keep posting album reviews here while I suffer from such anxiety and anger about the current state of politics in this country and the world. The entire Brexit bullshit needs to be mostly ignored else I’ll get too worked up and angry about it all. An electorate who were lied to with illegal spending and Russian money voted to leave an organisation it knew mostly nothing about because of a systematic campaign over thirty years by right wing newspapers to remove cooperation and friendliness between countries. If you aren’t sure about that last bit then have a look at this website. It’s a list of all the lying claims by the UK press.
Now it’s time to be happy about reviewing this album. This album starts a small series of “Kill” albums that are bloody amazing and ground-breaking. Kill ‘Em All is the fist studio album by a tiny band called Metallica and while they are shit now this collection of songs is bloody amazing. The sheer raw power and energy in the songs is more than in anything else they have produced. It is probably something to do with Dave Mustaine having helped write a lot of it. Once you get to the Black Album it’s all gone wrong. I’ll review that one in about a year I guess.
I was asked recently what is the last decent Metallica song. I took some time and went with “Harvester Of Sorrow”. The question asker plumped for “Shortest Straw”. Fair play. Blackened is also a choice for that but the rest of “Justice” aren’t that good.
Back to “Metal Up Your Ass”. This album, in my view, helped create thrash metal as a genre and introduced chugging as a “note” to be used below lyrics rather than the swinging bouncy guitars used by Iron Maiden.
Hit The Lights – starts with a crash ending of a song and I’ve always loved that. It’s hard and busy.
The Four Horsemen – smashes you in the face with it’s blistering pace and makes you want to rush into the pit.
Jump In The Fire – would be great to sing out loud. It’s got a good moshing pace and plenty of Hetfield trademark “yah!”.
Pulling Teeth – blows my mind. The noise and cacophony that Burton pulls from the basss guitar makes me smile and wonder at the talent. When Ulrich enters the drums create a rhythm perfectly matched that gives a good swing to this bass solo.
Whiplash – I can remember playing this at top volume in school. We were in the sixth form and there was a music box in the common room, which was opposite the staff room. We would open the windows, put Whiplash on full volume and leave the common room leaving the music playing as loud and obnoxiously as possible to the staff trying to enjoy their break time away from those pesky kids. Fast, heavy and a standard song in thrash. Seeing Newstead play this at Download in 2013 was brilliant.
No Remorse – chugs away with a canter. Brilliant. No regrets.
Seek and Destroy – I don’t think you can get better on this album than this song. It’s my favourite and I love it. I once saw Metallica at Milton Keynes bowl and I think the concert was broadcast live on Radio 1. I got a friend to record it from the radio for me and the version they played there crunched away in my head for years. Brilliant.
Metal Militia -we all are aren’t we? Why don’t normal people “get” this music? Why is it that when you play metal to someone who doesn’t understand you can hear their brains pop? You can see the disconnect in their minds as they struggle with the noise. I’ve tried to persuade people to metal over the years and now I don’t bother. I’ve tried playing aggrotech to people but they don’t get that either. It’s all fine by me. Being at a music festival with eighty thousand people all enjoying the same music gives a kinship.
