Tag: review

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Core – Stone Temple Pilots

I am smellin’ like the rose that somebody gave me on my birthday deathbed.
I am smellin’ like the rose that somebody gave me ’cause I’m dead & bloated.

These lyrics pretty much sum this album. I downloaded it recently because I have had these words circling in my head for the last twenty years. After that time the song seems a bit of a let-down but worth playing now and then anyway. I think I have looked up this band on Wikipedia and they sold loads, but maybe I got that mixed up with someone else.

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Computer World – Kraftwerk

Got this album off John S. Wanted to know some Kraftwerk and I’m pretty sure that when getting to know a new artist it’s best to go early in their career. I’ve listened to this once, in the car, when the family were there so I wasn’t allowed the music loud.
The comment from the other in the car was:

This sounds a lot like all the other stuff you listen to

Quite simply – it doesn’t! It’s early electro-pop music which is really well written. More listening required!

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The Collection – Ugly Kid Joe

Wavy guitars!

That’s how Rich described the sound of Ugly Kid Joe many years ago and I argued against it for about a year. Eventually we asked a Mossad agent and he agreed with Rich. So, wavy guitars it is!

“I Hate Everything About You” was my first UKJ song and a brilliant little song of teenage angst and annoyance it is. Then they released “Neighbour” although they probably spelt it “Neighbor”! I bought some albums on vinyl, I think, you can check on my older websites. Much like Dan Reed Network, when I went digital I decided to get a best of. I really like this collection of songs. UKJ really were / are a good band.

When I saw Bon Jovi at Wembley Stadium there were two support bands. Van Halen and Ugly Kid Joe. Actually, I think there was a third band but they were rubbish. Ugly Kid Joe were brilliant and blew away Van Halen and were pretty close to dumping on Bon Jovi. I would say that BJ and UKJ were about even!

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The Collection – Dan Reed Network

I saw this band without having heard of their stuff when they supported Bon Jovi in about 1990 at Wembley Arena. It was a good concert overall and BJ were pretty much on form. The support band was Dan Reed Network. I thought they were pretty good and so I bought “Slam” and “Heat” when that eventually came out. When I went digital as the previous albums were on music cassette I just bought a “best of”.

Now, every song on here is worth listening to. The sound is a weird rock-funk crossover thing. It sometimes sounds very 80s, but I kinda like that. My highlights are:

  • Baby Now I
  • Rainbow Child
  • Stronger Than Steel
  • Tiger in a Dress

Now, I can remember being with my dad in the car driving along Gilden Way in Harlow. I had put “Slam” in the tape player and we had heard the first side and the player reversed direction for the start of side two (check that out you digital freaks, two sides of TAPE for an album). The start of the second side starts with police sirens. There was a moment of panic as both dad and I thought there were police chasing us or coming up and we’d need to move over. Once the music cut-in it was a bit more clear what was happening. Fools!

I’m not sure I can let you know just how highly I think of the song “Rainbow Child”. It is just rather beautiful. I originally bought this on a YELLOW vinyl 12 inch single. I love the old days. There aren’t many songs that can reduce me into an emotional wreck but this one comes extremely close. I just can’t rate it highly enough. “Rainbow Child” along with “White Wine In The Sun” crumble me!

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The Collection – Anthrax

Look, this is a collection of the best songs by Anthrax. If you like Anthrax then this should be brilliant. I can now confirm that it is.

All the songs on this album are great. It’s pretty hard to choose the songs I should highlight. I’ve already mentioned “Anti-Social” in a previous review so I can skip that. There’s something special about the music produced by bands at the start of a new movement. It really does affect how you think and move. Anthrax were, and still are, one of the big four, so the recognition amongst metal fans is great. It’s a shame that only Metallica have really penetrated the main market, but then they had to sell out to do so.

My favourites are:

  • Armed and Dangerous
  • Bring The Noise
  • Make Me Laugh
  • Got The Time

If you don’t know anything by Anthrax then get this. It’s a great introduction although I think the songs sound better in their original homes on the proper albums in the chain of songs and time where they were put [Not sure if that scans well, I’ll re-write if it’s poor].

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Burn My Eyes – Machine Head

This is one of two Machine Head albums I bought while I was living in Brentwood. The sound is rather more industrial and heavy than a lot of the other stuff I listen to. It’s good stuff, somewhere on the way to Nine Inch Nails and Slipknot.

The guitars are heavy, the drumming pumps and the vocals are dark. It’s very good winter music. I do suffer a little with Old Dog syndrome with this album. Not to take anything away from the album, it’s just a bit too new for proper song selection. I listened to it this morning in the car and remembered all the songs. It’s good.

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Brave New World – Iron Maiden

This is probably the last “new” album by Iron Maiden that I bought. There were some duff ones from “Fear of the Dark” and I gave up for a while. I’m not really sure why I got this but it may have been to do with seeing them at Earl’s Court Arena.

This album opens with “The Wicker Man” which is a good song and classic, it has nice pace and rocks along. “Ghost of the Navigator”, “Brave New World”, “Blood Brothers” are all good songs. After that I start to lose interest in the album. I think that, perhaps, the Maiden sound only takes me so far now.

Overall, this is a good album. It’s not like the first seven studio albums but it is good. My main issue with Maiden at the moment is Jannick Gers. The band doesn’t need three guitarists. Mind you, I’m very much looking forward to seeing them at Download this year [probably because they are playing all the old stuff].

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Boys In Heat – Britny Fox

This album was originally bought on vinyl, I can’t remember why but it was probably in the rock/metal section and the cover looked good. It’s very much an album of cockrock and a good one at that. All the songs are good and well constructed.

Every now and then I find that I’m humming a tune and it happens to be Britny Fox. I wasn’t aware that the song “Hair Of the Dog” was a cover version until I bought the Spaghetti Incident by Guns’n’Roses.

My highlights:

  • In Motion
  • Standing in the Shadows
  • Dream On [lovely song]
  • Long Way From Home
  • Shine On
  • Angel In My Heart

On further listening it turns out that there isn’t a bad song on the album!

If it’s a classic LA rock style that you want then this is a great album.

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Boston – Boston

There’s something about the energy and flair of a first album that normally shocks you awake. I’d only really known “More Than A Feeling” from this album for years because it’s on every bloody rock compilation collection.

However, I started playing Rock Band about 5 years ago and the song “Foreplay, Long Time” was on the game. I found this to be a genius song. It’s brilliant and operatic and full of riffs that make you want to dance. So, it was time to check out the whole album. To be honest I kinda started on a Boston freak time trying to get all their music, which was a bit harder than you might think.

There are eight songs on this album. They are all brilliant. They all deserve special mention but I won’t because of my old age / new song thing. Every one is a classic. I love how easy and great to listen to it is. I also think the songs are pretty predictable but the thing is there that before this band and some others around the same time this sort of song didn’t exist. It’s predictable because this band wrote this stuff in the first place.

Get it, play it. LOUD. In the car.

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