I guess I bought this because I really like the first Body Count album. I don’t think I’ve really listened to it.
Bonfire – AC/DC
There comes a time when all bands sell-out. I think they have to, it maintains their income and produces the goods for the record company. Metallica have done it loads and I find a lot of their stuff nauseating. AC/DC by all measures have done it too. Branded Monopoly and anything else that you want but I don’t see it as selling-out. I see it as giving the fans what they want. For some reason it’s different for AC/DC [there’s cognitive dissonance for you!].
Bonfire is a collection of music from the Bon Scott days of AC/DC [when they were at their best]. The discs are split up into the following:
- Back In Black [not Bon but it’s there]
- Atlantic Studios
- Paris I and II
- Volts
The Atlantic Studio recording is of them live in the early days. It’s great. Really raw and lovely. The Paris CDs is just the CD version of the video “Let There Be Rock”. Volts is a collection of rare recordings from the early days.
I bought the Let There Be Rock video in about 1989, over an Easter break. I remember watching it. Videos were new to me and this was AC/DC live. At the end after the concert when the screen goes black and “To Bon” is written on the screen I cried. It’s hard not to. The world lost an extreme talent the night he died. On my return to school after the break Steven, who was the other AC/DC nut in my year group, had also watched the video. He had shed a tear too. The soundtrack is lovely. It’s nice to hear slightly different versions of the songs.
Volts is good but it freaks me out hearing classic songs with different lyrics.
If you are a Bon Scott fan then this is grade A merchandise.
Body Count – Body Count
I’m sorry. Who?
Ice-T?
Singing metal?
What?
That’s right. Ice-T has a band called Body Count and they play metal. Ice-T “sings” his stuff. This is a great album. It makes me laugh and slightly sad at the same time. Ice-T definitely has a message to portray and it seems to be one about the desperation of black people in society and getting laid. It’s funny how these things fit the music but when written down they just don’t scan very well.
My favourites:
- Body Count’s in the House
- Body Count
- KKK Bitch
Blood Sugar Sex Magik – Red Hot Chilli Peppers
I have a feeling the Chilli Peppers along with some other bands mentioned before are somewhat over-rated. I bought the album What Hits? and I really liked it. The songs were fast and raw.
I bought this album. Now, I can recognise it is a good album and I can almost see why people rave about it and the Chillis but they just don’t do it for me and so are over-rated.
“Suck My Kiss” and “Give It Away” are my favourites. The rest don’t bother me. I really disliked the Chillis when they became super popular (it’s in my psyche to dislike popular stuff) and stuff like “Dani California” etc just makes me want to puke.
Blade Runner – Vangelis
Every now and then you need a bit of chill-out music. Where would someone like me turn for that?
Films.
Most of my classical and easy listening knowledge comes from music in films. Blade Runner is an excellent film made atmospheric by the music contained within.
This is that music. Simple.
Blackout – Scorpions
In the late 80s those cheeky Scorpions had a massive hit with “Winds Of Change” from the Crazy World album. I bought that album – no bad songs there just classic straight talking rock.
After a while I bought this on music cassette. The cover has a man screaming with his eyes being impaled with eating forks. Just sayin’!
Look, this was released in 1982 and I listen to it still. The songs are really good and catchy. It’s not ground breaking rock, in fact it’s rather derivative, but it is a very well constructed album and brilliant. How many great German bands are there? [quite a few in these pages].
There isn’t a bad song. My personal favourites are:
- Blackout
- Can’t Live Without You
- Now!
- Arizona
- China White
There you have it. I’m a fan of the Scorpions. Not enough to have a tattoo but a fan.
Black Ice – AC/DC
This album proved to be a return to greatness for the grandfathers of rock. This band have been around for so long and made some less-than-brilliant albums that all hope had been given up. I heard about this album while listening to the Bruce Dickinson rock show on BBC Radio 6 Music. He was raving about how good he thought it was and what a return to form it showed. I was curious. Bruce is a big AC/DC fan and so he couldn’t be wrong.
This is a complete wonder of an album. It doesn’t have the gritty rawness of the Bon Scott albums but it is crafted and written brilliantly. It has everything you could want. Blockbusting riffs, brilliant drums, good lyrics and thundering bass. It’s great.
All the songs are good. Well worth putting on in the car for a summer drive. It’ll cheer you up.
Black Gives Way to Blue – Alice In Chains
This album was part of the “catch up with what bands I used to like have been doing” phase from about a year ago. I had thought that Alice were dead, much like their singer but then this was released in 2009 with a new singer.
I’m amazed at how good his voice sounds and how much like the original he is. It is very much an “Alice” album. Slow, heavy, melodic and haunting. It’ll freak you out. Well done Mr Alice.
A Bit of What You Fancy – The Quireboys
At sometime in the sixth form someone saw The Quireboys support another band. That’s all the memory I have about why I would know this band. I bought this album on vinyl and I would classify it as good old fashioned British pub rock and roll. This album is well worth a listen. I like the melodies and the singing. This is definitely a summer album. I can imagine playing this in the garden with the sun glaring down and saturating the whole village in glorious shine.
I listened to this album so much in my formative years that I think all the songs are ingrained. My favourites are:
- 7 O’clock
- Sex Party
- Long Time Comin’
This was a great purchase.
Biohazard – Biohazard
You go through life aware of some bands who really influenced other bands or perhaps they were there at the beginning. Then, you hear a collaboration song by that artist and think, hey, that’ll be good.
It’s ok. I’ve listened to it twice. Probably won’t listen to it again. Not fussed by it.