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![Television - Marquee Moon [Bonus Tracks]](product_images/183000/183575_thumb.jpg) | Television - Marquee Moon [Bonus Tracks] | |
 | "Sophisticated/alternative pop/rock. Arty, not really punk. 70/100" | 2009-10-26 |
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Came across this band when discussion punk online. Somebody recommended this album, and I saw them listed on Australian Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 essential albums, from a few years back. Two positive recommendations in other words, and since I've lately been exploring punk, I thought I'd check it out. Have to say that I really struggle to see how this band/album get viewed as punk. Being cynical, I'd have to say that the bar is set very low for being labelled "punk"...I'm guessing that playing at the music venue "CBGB's" would suffice, sadly. Anyway, if you are buying this album expecting to hear some pioneering punk, I think you will be annoyed. Being kind, the vocals are mildly/vaguely punk in style. Don't really listen to any progressive forms of rock, but I think this album may qualify. Or maybe you could it, ironically, "post-punk" music. Why ironically? Because it was released in the year that punk exploded around the world, with The Sex Pistols and, earlier, The Damned, The Saints, Radio Birdman and The Ramones, of course. Television seems post-punk before punk had even really started! What to expect: mildly punk vocals, simple complexity of sound, alternative type pop/rock, wordy lyrics, squiggly melodies and simple riffs. Lyrics are poetic and literate for the most part. Songs can be epic pop/rock constructions, and you get a dual lead guitar formation. The cd has a crisp sound and the music is mostly mid-tempo. If this is really punk, it is of a bohemian sort. Vocals are strangled at times, but I do have to say that I found the drumming on the album interesting, as were the guitar work, which got varied. Initially, on first listen, I was looking to score this album 65/100, but on second listen I liked it better, so am giving it 70/100. Best song: Torn curtain - the lushest song on the cd and slightly gothic too. Runs 7 minutes long. Occasionally the guitar sounds like a distressed kitten, and the piano features as well. Next best songs: Guiding light - a mellow track with melodic lead guitar notes. Bassy, piano features. Pleasant track. Little Johnny Jewel - the guitar sounds strangled in this track...highly tunes, perhaps, though I don't play any instruments. 7:09 running time. Quite jazzy at times. Has some of those poetic style lyrics I mentioned before. Has a nice guitar solo. The rest: See no evil - has an AC/DC style mini-riff and Kylie Minogue's song "Clever girl" (I think that is the name of the song) is also brought to mind. The other riff in the song brings to mind the kind of stuff Thin Lizzy does. For some, this dual guitar thing could be catchy. One of the guitars sounds 'throaty' and the other guitar has a circular thing going. In this opening track, the vocals sound a bit punk, and there is a not bad guitar solo in this song. Sound quality very good. Venus - there's a harpsichord kind of sound on this song and I'm not sure if it's not created by a guitar, somehow. The lead guitar has notes that ring out. A wordy song with a nice mini-melody to it. Friction - a bassy track which brings to mind Australian band The Ferrets' song "Don't fall in love" as far as the guitar bit in the intro and throughout goes. Drum solo outro, and vocally Television do to the word "diction" what The Sex Pistols do with the word "problem" or "vacant" in two of their songs from their debut album. I.e. make the word strange and sort of obscene! Marquee moon - one of those songs with a squiggly lead guitar lick, which bookends the song. Runs at 10:47. The intro notes reminded me of Joan Armatrading's classic song "Me myself I". There is a simple rhythm guitar, and bass is noticeable. The middle part of the song is mostly an instrumental, with a 3 minute guitar solo in it. One part of the song is similar is Led Zeppelin's classic "Kashmir". Elevation - bassy, nice note picking on the guitar (which has a nice tone to it) . The guitar's tone and melody, at times, puts in mind "The break up song" by The Greg Kihn Band. Think my notes are saying that this song also has a guitar sound like a yowing cat, but tweaked or something (old notes, been a while since I listened to the album). Prove it - nice bass guitar intro, 1960's style guitar lick...seems familiar, but I just can't place it. I like the drumming and the tone of the drums in this song. See no evil - has a Thin Lizzy rhythm to it. Don't listen to Thin Lizzy, but they may have been another band with a dual lead guitar set up. The cd I have has got a few bonus tracks on it. There are variations on three of the tracks on the original album, "Friction", "Marquee moon" and "See no evil", as well as an untitled instrumental. "Little Johnny Jewel" is the last bonus track on this cd. The bonus track version of "Marquee moon" also has a good guitar solo to it, but it runs around half a minute longer than the original version. As for "Untitled instrumental", well, it has a driving bass guitar and solid drumming. It gives a nod to 1960's surf rock and has a vaguely Shadows style lead guitar. The rhythm guitar has that surf sound to it and it sometimes gives a wink to that famous guitar effect of a breaking wave sound. Not sure which song first introduced that..."Wipe out"? Recommendations: Radio Birdman - Radios appear. Australian pioneers of punk. This album came out around the same time as Marquee Moon. If Television really were punk, they might sound like Radio Birdman. Some of their tracks are nice and pleasant too...a bit jazzy. Patti Smith - Horses. Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten called this album "Horseshytte". Not very punk. Like Television, Smith is arty and literate. Probably called punk because she performed at CBGBs too...as did Blondie. The Stooges - Fun house. The second half of that album is quite jazzy, noisy. The Velvet Underground - either their 1st album (with Nico), or their self-titled 3rd. They also do 'pleasant' well. | ||
![The Clash - The Clash [US]](product_images/165000/165954_thumb.jpg) | The Clash - The Clash [US] | |
| "Punk, reggae, pot-shots at the police...must be The Clash. 75/100" | 2009-10-19 |
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Well, I've just found out that I have bought the US version of this album, and that has ticked me off no end...I thought only AC/DC were subject to that kind of American contrariness and that it ended in the early 1970s, with them. Really, you should get warnings that you are buying what an American record executive thought you deserved to hear...which is often a bad opinion, going on what they did to classic AC/DC albums. Anyway, I bought this as part of a two for one box set along with the follow up "Give 'em enough rope". Recently I've been exploring the origins of punk, so I thought I'd check out The Clash, despite it being my impression that they are over-rated...based on the very little I've heard of them. On first listen, I was inclined to give this album 72.5 out of 100, but on second listen I got more out of some of the songs, so I've bumped my score up to 75/100. The sound quality on the version I got was excellent and there seemed to be two guys who took lead vocal duties...one had a masculine sounding voice, which I liked, and the other guy, I assume, had a more effeminate voice, favoured by English pop singers...like Pete Shelley et al...not something I was overly enthusiastic about. The Clash deliver a more polished and poppier brand of punk than The Damned, who released Britain's first punk album, "Damned damned damned". It has the former's element of laddish, pub punk rock, but, like I say, more poppy and polished. The album is pretty much entirely listenable, which is good for an album with no killer tracks as such. Unfortunately, the lyrics are often hard to understand. Before I go into what songs I think are the best, I'll just state that The Clash's brand of punk is more in line with that of The Ramones and The Saints...urban/suburban challenges...not the overarching Philosophy or fauxlosophy of The Sex Pistols. The best track (on second listen): Clash city rockers - has a cool, familiar mini-riff. Not sure, but maybe Gary Numan's song "Bombers" (I think) drew on this riff. In fact, The Clash liked this riff so much that they 100% recycled it for their follow up album, "Give 'em enough rope", in the song "Guns on the roof". Song features buzzing electric guitar sound and the piano as well! Hooks to this song are the catchy mini-riff and the punk snarling of the lead singer. Not so into the girly sounding backing vocals in this track...but if you don't either, be prepared for lots of this style of singing...either on lead, or backing vocals. The best track on first listen: What's my name - sort of alt pop/rock kind of song. Vaguely arty pub rock. Bassy track with backing vocals. The best of the rest: London's burning - catchy, laddish vocals...a melodic sing-a-long. Has thumping drums. I fought the law - I like the drum intro to this song and the handclaps. It's a catchy, sing-along type song, with its backing vocals. Nice melodies at times. Career opportunities - catchy song/chorus. Has cool, emphatic drum bits. The best of the rest (on second listen): Complete control - a neo rock'n'roll song with hard rock guitar sound. The vocal melody is familiar, but I can't place it. Has melodic, laddish backing vocals. There are some nice/pretty lead guitar note picking and solos. The rest: I'm so bored with the U.S.A. - has a familiar guitar intro...might be The Sex Pistols' "Pretty vacant" intro...something from their debut in any case. A lot of this song isn't really very punk...more rock'n'roll. Bassy track and throaty vocals at times. Remote control - a mid tempo song. Has some pretty vocal parts at times...poppy, sort of Ramones like, when they go pop, but drawing on different sources. The main singer has that effeminate quality to their voice. Handclaps, laddish singing at times. Some unintentional distortion at times too, I think. White riot - punk/rock'n'roll type of song. Bassy, with populist, pub/laddish lyrics. (White man) in Hammersmith Palais - has a reggae vibe to it, as many other songs on this album do. Bassy, more of those effete, pretty-ish backing vocals. Lyrics have looong notes at times and, to the extent that I understand what the singer is singing, they seem to be reflecting on the punk scene at the time. Adolf Hitler is mentioned as well as Robin Hood. Janie Jones - not sure, but I think that an upright bass may be used in this song...it has a melodic role in the song anyway. Song has backing vocals. Hate and war - back to the effete sounding singer again. Bassy track, not very punk. Police & thieves - the intro brought to mind alt pop/rockers Pixies...maybe they were influenced by this album, or this song in particular? Another song which has a reggae vibe to it. Song runs to 6 minutes and has repetitive lyrics. Bassy track, not very punk...slower tempo, but not a bad song. Jail guitar doors - Effete sounding guy again. Sort of a slowed down punk song vibe to this track. Has a pure rock'n'roll sounding guitar break (by "rock'n'roll" I mean the kind of stuff recorded in the 1950s). Has a nice, Status Quo type guitar bit near the end. . Garageland - the guitar intro is pretty much The Rolling Stones' "Brown sugar", and a harmonica features. Bassy. Good lyric in "But the truth is only known by guttersnipes". In conclusion, looking at the differences between the UK and the US release of this title, I notice that three of the songs I liked best from this album were not on the UK release. So, it MAY be superior to that version, but the UK version also has tracks which this version does not have, making a comparison moot, as I haven't listened to those other tracks. The unique content to this cd makes it good buy in any case. Recommendations (punk and proto-punk albums): The Damned: Damned, damned, damned The Saints: (I'm) Stranded Radio Birdman: Radios appear The Heartbreakers: L.A.M.F. The New York Dolls: The New York Dolls The Stooges: The Stooges The Sex Pistols: Never mind the bollocks. All titles above reviewed by me here...mostly. | ||
 | Led Zeppelin - Presence | |
| "Bluesy, album orientated rock. 7/10 ish." | 2009-10-12 |
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Best song: Nobody's fault but mine - I gave this song a tick in my notes, which means I quite like it...it's unusual for me to like their songs enough to give them a tick...their fourth album got more than one tick, which is why I rank it as one of the all time great albums. IF this song isn't on a compilation, it really should be! The lead guitar wails like a banshee in this track, and lead singer Robert Plant nicely harmonises with it. It then turns into a bluesy, boogie rock song. I like the low-down sound of the guitar here. Song also features the harmonica. Next best song: Tea for one - running at 9:26 minutes in length, this song has a Moody Blues vibe to it. Languid, with long, bluesy notes on the lead guitar. The guitar has a ringing sound on this track. Not a bad song: For your life - a bluesy, boogie rock track, which is bassy. Did find this rootsy kind of song more engaging than their earlier forays into those kind of genres. The rest: Achilles last stand - another monster length track...10:24. Has a driving rhythm to it, which is vaguely "Barracuda" ish...i.e. the classic hard rock song by Heart. Bonham's drumming is fast and as tough as nails in the middle of this track. Lead guitar is bluesy at times. Royal Orleans - a quirky track which has some bongos. Candy store rock - a bluesy, 1950's style rock'n'roll song. Robert Plant seems to be channeling Elvis Presley when he sings. Bassy, with a grumbling guitar sound to it. I think that one of the lines in this song is "Inside your jaw", which sounds quite suss! Hots on for nowhere - a bluesy, bassy track with a solo. Lyrics feature the words "la la la la". Recommendations: Led Zeppelin IV - their greatest album and an all time great album. Led Zeppelin III - a rootsy album which works well for me where other albums of theirs don't. Led Zeppelin: Houses of the holy - not a bad album. The Heartbreakers: L.A.M.F. Early punk stylings from this American punk/rock band. Lots of 1950s influences and boogie rock. The New York Dolls: The New York Dolls. Rock'n'roll, boogie rock, featuring Johnny Thunders, who would later go on to form The Heartbreakers. The Stooges: The Stooges. Influential rock band which influenced the pioneers of punk. Radio Birdman: Radios Appear. Australian punk pioneers, with The Saints. The Stooges were one of their influences. Blue Cheer: Vincebus Eruptum. The first heavy metal album, influenced by The Jimi Hendrix Experience. The Damned: Damned, damned, damned. The first English punk album. Also had 50s influence on them. | ||
 | Black Sabbath - Technical Ecstasy | |
| ""Feel good" hard rock, riffy, bluesy solos. 70+/100" | 2009-10-12 |
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Even though I generally haven't found Black Sabbath to be the kind of band which delivers 'killer' songs (they did on "Paranoid" though), their albums have always been interesting enough to warrant further exploration, especially since "Paranoid" onwards. This album is a bit of a departure from the vibe of their earlier albums. It's bassy, riffy, "feel good" hard rock, with heavy metal riffs and bluesy lead guitar solos. I'm giving this album around 7/10 purely as an album experience...it's not really an album for songs that make a big impression on your memory, like many of the songs on "Paranoid", or "Sweet leaf" off of their "Master of reality" follow up album. Best song: You won't change me - in my notes I put a tick next to songs I rate very highly, and dots for songs that aren't bad. It took around 3 listens, but 3rd time around I gave this song a dot. It starts off with an air-raid siren. It has a doom laden gothic rock riff. The vocals sound strained and electronic sounding. The lead guitar is bluesy and the solos are expressive and quite good. Track features a good chruch organ sounding melody too. The next best song: She's gone - features violin/strings. Has a nice, delicate, sharp sounding steel string accoustic guitar (sound puts in mind bands like Boston and Midnight Oil). Lyrics are mournful. Can perhaps be seen as a companion song to "Changes" off of "Vol.4". The rest: Back street kids - a modern sounding heavy metal song, with a pulsing riff and a slower, melodic solo bit (and vocal). Track has a nice change in vibe when the synth comes in. It's alright - a light pop/rock kind of track. It's a positive sounding song...you could imagine it as being the theme to a sitcom or something! Piano and accoustic guitar feature, and there is vaguely "Carry that weight" vibe to proceedings. Short drum solo, Ozzy not on vocals here, I don't think. Gypsy - has a Latin sounding intro, perhaps and funky drum beats. The riffing then makes the song upbeat. Lyrics aren't the best in this song...it sometimes has a Broadway musical kind of vibe to it. Has a bluesy, expressive guitar solo to it. All moving parts (stand still) - has a groovy, dirty sounding riff to it. Bluesy lead guitar and a catchy vocal melody. Bassy, with power drumming. Rock'n'roll doctor - sort of sounds mono at the start of the song. One of those "good time" kind of songs I alluded to before...a hard rock song with a party riff. Honky tonk piano and power drumming. Might even be cowbell percussion in this song too. Ozzy has phlegmy vocals on this track. Dirty women - Ozzy caricatures his singing style on this song...screechy and throaty sounds come out of his mouth. Track has a weird synth sound, and there are long, extended, hypnotic elements to it. The outro has a guitar solo which I like...gets into a good groove. Recommendations: If you are new to Black Sabbath, I think that their first three albums are the most important...none of them really sound like eachother. Their debut has a certain folk rock vibe to it. "Paranoid" is the band producing 'hits' and it's their best album, I think. "Master of reality" is their third album and really set the template for the proto-typical Black Sabbath album. If you like that, keep going on up til "Sabotage", which is my second favourite album, behind "Paranoid". If you like "Technical ecstasy", you might like "Mob rules", which is Black Sabbath with Dio on vocals...their second album together...similar spirit to this album, I think. | ||
 | New York Dolls - New York Dolls | |
| "Good time rock'n'roll and boogie rock. 77.5/100" | 2009-10-05 |
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This is a review of the regular cd, not the product description given here. New York Dolls is one of those bands I've heard OF here in Australia but never actually heard. You never hear them played on commercial FM radio over here. They do have some songs which might make good candidates for radio over here, I think, which I'll go into in a moment. Found the sound quality on the cd to be excellent. As for the music, I'd describe it as good time rock'n'roll, of the boisterous sort. Maybe you could describe the band as an alternative Sha Na Na too. They have some boogie rock songs on this cd and they have a punk guitar sound at times without the kind of rhythms you associate with that genre. There is a good booklet which comes with the cd and it has an amusing photo on the flipside...a couple of the band members look like they are smuggling guinea pigs in their trousers! Anyway, on first listen to this album, I was inclined to give it around 70+ out of 100, but on second listen I've bumped that up to 77 1/2 out of 100. Nowadays bands tend to pack the start of their cds with their best tracks. For me, on second listen, I started liking the songs on the B side more second time around. Actually, the last track of what was the vinyl release's A side, up to the second last song of the old B side impressed me more second time around. My thoughts on the songs: The best tracks: Private world - has a heavy bass intro; elements of the song are familiar to me (e.g. the rhythm), but I can't place them exactly...perhaps "Louie Louie" is an inspiration for this song. A catchy song, more so second time around; has hand clapping parts too. The guitar solo at the start and the end also seem familiar. Some of the guitar is of the heavy rock kind, at times. There is a funky piano bit in this song which just gets catchier on subsequent listens. Frankenstein - at 6 minutes in length, this track sustains interest with its catchy groove. Although I'm not really familiar with The Cramps, perhaps you could liken this song to something by them, or perhaps The B-52s. Has screeching vocals but the vocal melody is catchy. Next best track: Trash - this song strikes me as a proto-Ramones song...it has the same kind of influences, but the bands produce something different even though they share a taste in certain kinds of music. Also, this song makes me think that The Strokes' great song "Last nite" may have been influenced by this track. Sound wise, it has a jive, jitterbug type vibe to it, and I like the backing vocals. In fact, the lead vocals are just as catchy as the backing vocals. The lead guitar is nice in this song, and a solo features. Bassy track too. On second listen, songs I liked more: Bad girl - a rock'n'roll track with a boogie rhythm to it. Has a catchy 1950s style vocal rhythm to it...think "Get a job" without that line from the song. The guitar sound is heavy, hard rock. Lead guitar parts too. Subway train - a 1950s style ballad with a touch of Mick Jagger-ish vocals and a nod to The Doors' "L.A.woman". I like the part of this song which reminds me of "Last kiss", which I first heard, probably, in a Pearl Jam compilation where this cover song is included. A mid-tempo rock song with some grating guitar to boot. Bassy, with backing vocals at the end. Not bad: Pills - features the harmonica. Catchy vocals and the chorus is simple, but also catchy. Dual rhythm guitar and backing vocals. There is a good 1950s style lead guitar solo. The rest: Jet boy - has some heavy metal-ish guitar, hand claps and nice backing vocals, which is sometimes quite laddish in style. Personality crisis - rock'n'roll song with some honky tonk piano. R'n'r style lead guitar solos and some screechy vocals at times too. Looking for a kiss - boogie rock. Sometimes the rhythm guitar and drums remind me of T-Rex's classic song "Get it on". Song has drug references. Vietnamese baby - boogie rock which is grating to a certain extent, but mildly so. Has a whiny lead guitar. The drums get an interesting swooshy effect at one point in the song...a studio created effect. Lonely planet boy - pleasant, dual accoustic guitars, vaguely reminiscent of The Byrds (I think) and a certain Barry McGuire song. There is a nice bit in the song which is made by the saxophone, I think, or some such instrument. In a way this song is a bit like splicing The Velvet Underground with The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger, in mild mode...i.e. the vocals are quite smooth here. Recommendations: AC/DC: Let there be rock. Perhaps the ultimate example of Australian pub rock. Like the New York Dolls, they do rock'n'roll and boogie rock. | ||
 | Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti | |
| "The two Led Zeppelins. 7/10" | 2009-09-28 |
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I'm giving this double cd 7/10 and I'm breaking it down like this: the first cd gets 3/5 and the second cd gets 4/5. Led Zeppelin get classed in the "classic rock" category as far as bands go, and I can't say that I can see why, based on having recenltyish heard all their albums, up to Presence. Occasionally, they will come up with an iconic song worthy of the kind of classic rock that gets played on Australian commercial radio, but usually it is surrounded on the album by less commercial songs. The first cd of Physical Graffiti is ample demonstration of that. "Kashmir" is the band's crowning glory, in my view, but the rest of the songs on that cd, whilst often harder than anything they've done until that album, don't really have the quality which makes them unforgettable, like "Kashmir" and the (usually) one great song of their first three albums (though I don't think their debut had one such song in any case. Led Zeppelin IV is the album where they actually nail what it is to be a Classic Rock band...an immortal album). The second cd cements my conviction that Led Zeppelin aren't really a rock band...they're sub-rock...folk rock, if you will. They nailed that genre, in my view, on Led Zeppelin III. That is my second favourite Zep album after IV. So, whilst I'm not convinced that the band has much in the way of classic rock credentials, apart from a few classics (too few, in my view, for a band of such enormous stature), they do do an interesting line in folk rock, which the second cd illustrates well. Here's my thoughts on the cds: CD 1: Their greatest ever song: Kashmir - an epic song at 8:28 minutes length. It's the kind of song that whilst long, would not suffer for being doubled in length, like, say, The Velvet Underground's best song "Murder mystery". This song has a cool beat and a classic, immortal guitar riff. Also features violins and brass instruments. When the violins get an Arabesque feel to them, it makes the song even more of a classic than it already is. Has one of the great lyrics in song history too "Leaves no trace like thoughts inside a dream". Just a brilliant turn of phrase. The sound on this song seemed more stereo than hi-fi to me though, which is a niggle. On second listen some songs which sounded more interesting: The rover - a hard rock song with grinding guitars. Sort of reminded me of Foreigner's later song "Urgent". A bassy track with a riff. Good, melodic lead guitar. Spanking drums. Track sounded staticky to me though. Features the lyric "The sandmen". Which brought to mind Metallica's later song "Enter Sandman", which is a classic. In my time of dying - notable for the drumming. A slide guitar is used throughout and the intro has a country flavour to it. The rest is bluesy, with booming bass drums and just generally the drums being thumped. Actually, the drumming reminded me a bit of later band INXS, although I think INXS made that kind of thing more interesting...and metal band Coldseed seemed to do similar things to INXS on occasion, drumming wise. The rest: Trampled under foot - synthesiser has a sort of Stevie Wonder "Superstition" ambience to them. A boogie/funky track, where lead singer Robert Plant has a cool, raspy and phlegmy quality to his singing. Custard pie - has harmonica. Has a strange guitar sound to it, though that may in fact be the synthesiser...in any case, it's a signature sound for the band. Houses of the holy - a bassy track with a guitar and bass riff. CD 2: The best song: Ten years gone - on second listen I marked this one down as the best on this cd. The guitar has a nice tone to it and the bass guitar is distinct. This track has quite a nice melody going for it. It's mostly a mellow track but goes a little rock sometimes. Plant, I think, has a raspy voice in this song. Next best songs: In the light - has a bagpipe sounding synthesiser, I think. Later you get a harpsichord type sound. A melodic track and Plant revisits some prevous songs, vocally. 8:46 long. Bron-yr-aur - a nice, airy track with two accoustic guitars. An instrumental with a folksy ambience to it. Down by the seaside - amiable, country flavoured electric guitar song. A gentle song which has the organ. On second listen, some songs which sounded more interesting: Night flight - features the organ, and has a chugga-chugga riff to it. Reminds me of "I hear you knocking". Been a while since I've listened to this album, so I assume that I have the Dave Edmunds' song in mind. The wanton song - a heavy sounding song with bluesy vocals. Boogie with Stu - has an interesting drumming sound...synthesiser sounding. Honky tonk piano sound to it, and the vocal style is 1950s sounding, I think. The rest: Black country woman - has interstitial banter, like that found in the album "Trout mask replica". Drum sounds bassy and a harmonica is featured. Accoustic guitar. Sick again - a heavy rock track as far as the riffing and drum beat goes. Recommendations: If you want to hear Led Zeppelin in Rock Gods mode, you can't go past Led Zeppelin IV. If you want their more folk rocky sound, Led Zeppelin III is good. For something which I think can grow on you, and which I rate higher than Physical Graffiti, go for Houses Of The Holy. Try: Black Sabbath: Black Sabbath. To me, this unique Black Sabbath record also has a folk rock kind of ambience going for it. Their greatest album is the follow up, Paranoid. Their next, Master Of Reality, is also pretty good, and if you like that, pretty much all the albums after that, up until Sabotage, are similar and of good quality. In fact, I rate Black Sabbath the more important band out of the two. Or: Midnight Oil: Place without a postcard. Political pop/rock band from Australia. This is also a unique album for them. Not my favourite, but it does have a folk/traditional style to it which fans of Led Zeppelin may appreciate, if they like that in Led Zeppelin. | ||
 | Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti | |
| "The two Led Zeppelins. 7/10" | 2009-09-28 |
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I'm giving this double cd 7/10 and I'm breaking it down like this: the first cd gets 3/5 and the second cd gets 4/5. Led Zeppelin get classed in the "classic rock" category as far as bands go, and I can't say that I can see why, based on having recenltyish heard all their albums, up to Presence. Occasionally, they will come up with an iconic song worthy of the kind of classic rock that gets played on Australian commercial radio, but usually it is surrounded on the album by less commercial songs. The first cd of Physical Graffiti is ample demonstration of that. "Kashmir" is the band's crowning glory, in my view, but the rest of the songs on that cd, whilst often harder than anything they've done until that album, don't really have the quality which makes them unforgettable, like "Kashmir" and the (usually) one great song of their first three albums (though I don't think their debut had one such song in any case. Led Zeppelin IV is the album where they actually nail what it is to be a Classic Rock band...an immortal album). The second cd cements my conviction that Led Zeppelin aren't really a rock band...they're sub-rock...folk rock, if you will. They nailed that genre, in my view, on Led Zeppelin III. That is my second favourite Zep album after IV. So, whilst I'm not convinced that the band has much in the way of classic rock credentials, apart from a few classics (too few, in my view, for a band of such enormous stature), they do do an interesting line in folk rock, which the second cd illustrates well. Here's my thoughts on the cds: CD 1: Their greatest ever song: Kashmir - an epic song at 8:28 minutes length. It's the kind of song that whilst long, would not suffer for being doubled in length, like, say, The Velvet Underground's best song "Murder mystery". This song has a cool beat and a classic, immortal guitar riff. Also features violins and brass instruments. When the violins get an Arabesque feel to them, it makes the song even more of a classic than it already is. Has one of the great lyrics in song history too "Leaves no trace like thoughts inside a dream". Just a brilliant turn of phrase. The sound on this song seemed more stereo than hi-fi to me though, which is a niggle. On second listen some songs which sounded more interesting: The rover - a hard rock song with grinding guitars. Sort of reminded me of Foreigner's later song "Urgent". A bassy track with a riff. Good, melodic lead guitar. Spanking drums. Track sounded staticky to me though. Features the lyric "The sandmen". Which brought to mind Metallica's later song "Enter Sandman", which is a classic. In my time of dying - notable for the drumming. A slide guitar is used throughout and the intro has a country flavour to it. The rest is bluesy, with booming bass drums and just generally the drums being thumped. Actually, the drumming reminded me a bit of later band INXS, although I think INXS made that kind of thing more interesting...and metal band Coldseed seemed to do similar things to INXS on occasion, drumming wise. The rest: Trampled under foot - synthesiser has a sort of Stevie Wonder "Superstition" ambience to them. A boogie/funky track, where lead singer Robert Plant has a cool, raspy and phlegmy quality to his singing. Custard pie - has harmonica. Has a strange guitar sound to it, though that may in fact be the synthesiser...in any case, it's a signature sound for the band. Houses of the holy - a bassy track with a guitar and bass riff. CD 2: The best song: Ten years gone - on second listen I marked this one down as the best on this cd. The guitar has a nice tone to it and the bass guitar is distinct. This track has quite a nice melody going for it. It's mostly a mellow track but goes a little rock sometimes. Plant, I think, has a raspy voice in this song. Next best songs: In the light - has a bagpipe sounding synthesiser, I think. Later you get a harpsichord type sound. A melodic track and Plant revisits some prevous songs, vocally. 8:46 long. Bron-yr-aur - a nice, airy track with two accoustic guitars. An instrumental with a folksy ambience to it. Down by the seaside - amiable, country flavoured electric guitar song. A gentle song which has the organ. On second listen, some songs which sounded more interesting: Night flight - features the organ, and has a chugga-chugga riff to it. Reminds me of "I hear you knocking". Been a while since I've listened to this album, so I assume that I have the Dave Edmunds' song in mind. The wanton song - a heavy sounding song with bluesy vocals. Boogie with Stu - has an interesting drumming sound...synthesiser sounding. Honky tonk piano sound to it, and the vocal style is 1950s sounding, I think. The rest: Black country woman - has interstitial banter, like that found in the album "Trout mask replica". Drum sounds bassy and a harmonica is featured. Accoustic guitar. Sick again - a heavy rock track as far as the riffing and drum beat goes. Recommendations: If you want to hear Led Zeppelin in Rock Gods mode, you can't go past Led Zeppelin IV. If you want their more folk rocky sound, Led Zeppelin III is good. For something which I think can grow on you, and which I rate higher than Physical Graffiti, go for Houses Of The Holy. Try: Black Sabbath: Black Sabbath. To me, this unique Black Sabbath record also has a folk rock kind of ambience going for it. Their greatest album is the follow up, Paranoid. Their next, Master Of Reality, is also pretty good, and if you like that, pretty much all the albums after that, up until Sabotage, are similar and of good quality. In fact, I rate Black Sabbath the more important band out of the two. Or: Midnight Oil: Place without a postcard. Political pop/rock band from Australia. This is also a unique album for them. Not my favourite, but it does have a folk/traditional style to it which fans of Led Zeppelin may appreciate, if they like that in Led Zeppelin. | ||
 | The Stooges - Fun House | |
| "One half Stooges album, one half a jazz/band jam session. 72.5/100" | 2009-09-21 |
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I'm reviewing the version of this cd which I got in a "2 in 1" with "The Stooges". The sound quality is excellent. Like I said in my header, the first side of this album (were it on vinyl) would be straight up Stooges. The second side, starting from the song "1970" is more band jam or jazz rock or noise rock, depending on your view. It's this change in tone which makes judging this album difficult. If you were to take a cynical view, you could view the band as having running out of material to make a full album, so they just 'padded' it out with 'filler' of a non-descript sort. I didn't mind the second half of the album, which is not to say that others won't hate it. So, I think that album would have a 'natural' scoring range of anywhere between 5 out of 10 to maybe up to 7.5 out of 10, depending on your disposition. Just by the by, I make a note of a couple of songs sort of having a drug related sound to them...those songs are: (at the start) "Dirt", "1970" (sort of at the end of that track) and "L.A.Blues", if I am reading my notes correctly. Dunno...to me it sort of sounds like a bong sound! Best song: Dirt - coming in at around 7 minutes, this is a slower, bluesy song with a keyboard intro. It's smooth sounding, with a bassy riff. There is also some pretty guitar playing...sort of Dire Straitsy lead guitar work, sometimes. There are also some nice changes in tone. Next best song: T.V.Eye - a garage rock type guitar sound comes only from the left channel. On the right channel, the drums are dominant, but not exclusively there. The guitar definitely has a 'punk' quality to it, and it also reminds me, somewhat, to the atmosphere evoked in their debut album song "I wanna be your dog". Bass guitar sounds rich in this song. Iggy demonstrates a sense of theatre with his screeching on this song. My first contact with this song was via Australian punk pioneers Radio Birdman's version in their debut album "Radios appear". Their version is more energetic. I'll mention this Aussie band for the song below, too. Best of the rest: 1970 - a jumping, bluesy rock song, with a bassy sound...running bass. Not sure if Aussie band Radio Birdman misheard the lyrics in this song (like I initially did, but having being 'primed' to hear it, maybe, due to listening to them a short time before I heard The Stooges for the first time), which goes "Radio burnin', up above". Anyway, "Radio Birdman" sounds a cooler band name than "Radio burnin'", right? When I review Radios Appear, I'll mention when that band name drops bands like The Stooges in one of their songs. ANYWAY, this is the track which marks the right angled turn into jazz rock/noise rock. The song is quite catchy until this change of direction, which features a jazzy saxophone outro. The song definitely has a groove to it though. The rest: Down on the street - a mid-tempo blues rock song opens the album. Has an interesting drum pattern and some fuzz rock guitar. The guitars have a 'proto-punk' sound to them. This song also has a quiet/loud/quiet structure, which is the structure which alternative rock group Pixies would later be identified with. Song features bass and guitar solo. Iggy's voice reminds me of Aussie Tex Perkins in this song (especially his band The Cruel Sea). Loose - another track with a proto-punk guitar sound. Song is garage rock, with a punkish sounding rhythm guitar, bass guitar, and a whiny sounding lead guitar. The other jazz rock/noise rock songs: Fun house - comes in at a long 7:46 minutes. The intro reminds me of The Doors' "Roadhouse blues" (their debut album also had echoes of The Doors in it...see my recent review for more details). Perhaps you could describe this song as a continuation of the jazz rock outro from the previous song, "1970". Both feature the sax, and the early lyrics to this song also make that connection. A bassy track. 3:49 into this song, there is some distortion. Iggy's occasionally screeching vocal style is also an echo of The Doors' Jim Morrison's foray into this vocal technique. Anyway, when The Stooges do 'jam' on this album, they always play tight. L.A. Blues - in my notes I write "jazz rock (?)". Maybe it's a jam...money for jam. Saxophone again adds unity to the second half of this album's style. Iggy again screeches in this song. It sounds like two sets of drummers are used in this song. Recommendations: Radio Birdman: Radios appear. A recent critics/industry poll voted this one of the top 10 Australian albums of all time. Captain Beefheart: Trout mask replica. Not exactly a favourite album of mine, but it does go further down the 'experimental/jazzy' route than The Stooges do here. Critics love it. | ||
 | The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground | |
 | "Shades their debut and they out Dylan Dylan. Has their greatest song too." | 2009-09-21 |
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Having recently decided to check out this band's work despite never hearing them before (sure, I'd heard OF them, but they never get played on commercial radio here in Australia), I found myself likening lead singer Lou Reed's style and lyrics to Bob Dylan's...but better. Dylan's lyrics often button-holed you when you would rather let them wash over you...like in his worst excesses on "Blood on the tracks" (which I go into in a review at this site). Personally, I find this album to be better than Dylan's "Blood on the tracks", as it has none of the guff of that latter album. Both albums are pleasingly mellow though. The Velvet's 3rd album is a return to the atmosphere of their first album, after taking a right-angled turn for their second album, which proved less effective, in my view (as I state in my review of that here, recently). Listening to their self-titled third album, about mid-way through it I was thinking it was probably just as good as their debut, but I was looking at marking it down, because their debut had 'been there, done that' first. One song changed that and made me give this album a perfect score: Their greatest song: The murder mystery - coming in at an epic 8:56 minutes in length, this is perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing example of 'experimental' music I've ever heard (granted, my repertoire is small!). A while back I reviewed a Moldy Peaches album and was particularly taken with one song, which had duelling vocals. Perhaps this Velvet's song is the first of its kind in modern music and maybe inspired the Moldy Peaches. Musically, it featured a catchy guitar for the low-end sounds, as well as an organ. The last two minutes of this song has a different character...features the piano. Honestly, this is a song I could have still gladly embraced had it been twice the length, which is rare for me to say. In fact, they should re-record this with double the length! The duelling vocals perhaps bury some unpleasant lyrics, but that doesn't detract from the majesty of this song. On their second album, "Lady Godiva's operation" puts those 'off' lyrics front and centre, which maybe marks that song down in my estimation. On this song, they do everything right. The next best songs: What goes on - uptempo track, with dual guitars, which sound 'jaunty' later. Organ also features, and that instrument, as well as the vocals prove a bit catchy. The ending to the song seems to feature brush drum sticks, which perhaps swoosh side to side, jazz style. Pale blue eyes - a very mellow, and soothing track, which is why I like this kind of stuff and rate their albums highly, despite them not have classically 'great' songs, which you get in Classic Pop/Rock. Dual guitars feature again, picking notes. Think I hear a tambourine playing in this. The guitar notes are vaguely like "In my life" by The Beatles. Jesus - dual lead guitar note picking, again. Dual vocal harmonies too. One lead guitar has a melody which reminded me of "Day after day", I think (Google tells me that this is a Badfinger song). Since V.U has often mixed easy listening, mellow music with slightly dodgy lyrics, perhaps this song was an attempt to appeal to a more mainstream, Christian audience? On second listen, this was also a good song: Beginning to see the light - a folk rocky, jaunty song with catchy guitar and vocals. Dylanesque, with some of Dylan's trademark quirks, like laughing at his own lyrics. As I found this song catchier the second time around (it's probably the second best song on the album, now), I get the feeling that this is the shadow of a great pop song...maybe the band couldn't, or wouldn't search harder to find that pop gem. The rest: Candy says - a pleasant, mellow dual guitar note picking song, with a soft brush drum beat. Interesting lyrics, and the first song on this album (literally) to have a touch of "In my life" by The Beatles about it. Some kinda love - dual lead guitars, with a little country style twang to them. Has a deep beat to it as well as a Knights Of Nee beat to it. I'm set free - pleasant, ethereal dual lead guitars. Notable drum patterns, which I quite liked. For some reasons I've joined a line between this song and "Jesus"...not sure why now. Because I like the drumming? Oh well. That's the story of my life - another mellow track. Sounds like the drummer is using glass lids or something for percussion. Interesting. Oddly, when you press "back" to re-listen to the start of this song, you miss the first three seconds and some lyrics. Not sure why that would be...it doesn't happen when you press "forward" from the previous track...where you get the full song. Hmmm. After hours - a Moldy Peaches sounding song, as far as the female vocals go (of course, they came after V.U, but I heard them first). A pleasant song in any case. Features a tuba, I think, which does sound distorted on this track. Recommendations: The Velvet Underground & Nico The Moldy Peaches The Dandy Warhol's "Thirteen tales" and "Come down" Radio Birdman "Radios appear". An Australian punk band, but they have some jazzy, pleasant sounding tracks on that album. Television "Marquee moon". Called a punk band for some reason, this album is easy listening and features dual guitars too. Not a favourite album of mine, but some might like it a lot more than me...critics love it. | ||
 | The Stooges - The Stooges | |
| "A solid album which channels Hendrix, The Doors, Jagger. 75/100" | 2009-09-14 |
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This is a review of the version of the cd bundled into a "2 in 1" with "Fun house". The sound quality is excellent. Listening to this album bits of it would remind me of The Doors, or The Jimi Hendrix Experience, or the singing of Mick Jagger or Jim Morrison. There is a 1950's style rock'n'roll influence to this music as well. Anyway, here are my thoughts on the songs on this album: The best song: We will fall - comes in at an epic 10:18 minutes. Early in the piece, you hear Iggy coughing in the background, I think (perhaps this was the first band to include this case of incidental noise? Pink Floyd have done it for songs like "Wish you were here). Musically, it's an eerie track, with what might be described as 'black' buddhist chanting, if that makes sense (well, maybe the chants sound sort of sinister, if that helps). Iggy sings in intervals, with a Jim Morrison (of The Doors) style/sound. Song has handclapping and a violin appears too. The next best song: I wanna be your dog - I'd describe this as a heavy metal kind of a song. It has an evil sounding riff to it. A while back I bought Iggy's 2 cd anthology, and it's my impression that on that cd, this song sounded a whole lot more evil, so maybe this particular cd has had its mix altered. Anyway, I probably heard this song first as a cover in speed metal band Slayer's covers of its punk influences. That is itself a pretty good cover, though it didn't introduce the evil sounding riff to their version. They mainly changed some lyrics to be more forward than The Stooges dared to be, perhaps. The bass guitar is noticeable in this song, and you hear what sounds like sleigh bell jingling or something, which works. A single piano note, perhaps, is also used throughout, to good effect. Not that I am a familiar with the following genres, but the labels are quite evocative and seem to be relevant to this song: stoner rock; doom metal. I'd be happy to nominate this song as a kind of heavy metal, beating the likes of Black Sabbath to that particular punch, but I do acknowledge hearing a metal band playing this song first, from memory. The rest: No fun - The Stooges are often described as 'proto-punk' or as an influence on the first wave of punk. Can't say that I have really heard that to a great extent, but I would count this song as being proto-punk. It has cool, 1950s style handclapping. The rhythm guitar and singing style also have a proto-punk feel to them. The outro has Pop and the guitar screeching. Probably first heard this song on The Sex Pistols debut, so that might explain why I'm happy to call this song 'proto-punk'. 1969 - having 'slacker' type lyrics, it would be possible, I think, to view this as being proto-punk too. The intro features Hendrix style guitar, then moves onto 1950's style rock'n'roll and handclaps. Iggy channels The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger in this song, for his singing style. Lyrically, this isn't a strong effort, but if you like alt.rock, you might like this song...it has screechy guitars and they just get better, or worse, depending on you like screechy guitars. Real cool time - the intro to this track is mildly similar in atmosphere to "I wanna be your dog". There is some Jimi Hendrix type lead guitar. Lyrics are repetitive, but the song has a real groove to it. Ann - Iggy gets to channel The Doors in this song, with his Jim Morrison style singing (the song itself has a Doors sound to it too)...I'm probably thinking of Doors type tracks like "The crystal ship". A slower tempo track, it gets noisier towards the end...more a noise rock kind of sound to it. Not right - lyrics are a bit of a downer, has a guitar riff to it. Little doll - the drumming has an interesting pattern and tone to it. Intro features a very deep bass guitar. Song has a 50's style vocal rhythm to it, but just a bit slower. Overall, having only previously heard Stooges songs via my Pop anthology, I have to say that with this kind of music, it's better to get the studio albums instead of these kinds of anthologies. Personally, having heard this album, I'd say that a track like "We will fall" would have been a good inclusion on Iggy's anthology. The Amazon editor's review marks this song as the band's weakest. I like it the best, of their first two cds so far, but then again, I like The Velvet Underground, which the editor says influenced that particular track. As for my comment that this album draws on 1950s rock'n'roll influence, I suppose I have in mind the kind of vibe in songs such as "Born to hand-jive", featured in the Grease original motion picture soundtrack...that kind of feel. Recommendations: I'm not personally a big fan of The Velvet Underground's second album, "White light/White heat", but it does have some alternative sounding music and lyrics on it, which you may like. Australian punk pioneers Radio Birdman also cite The Stooges as a source...they named themselves after what I think was a misheard song lyric in a later Stooges song. They also name drop The Stooges in one of their songs. So, check out their debut album "Radios appear". I've got the re-issue, with the bonus tracks on it, but now I wish I'd gotten the original, as the re-issue has messed with the track order, and not limited themselves to merely tacking on bonus songs at the end of the cd. | ||
 | The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat | |
 | "Despite some mellow tracks, it rejects their debuts' vibe. More experimental." | 2009-09-07 |
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It's odd that the Velvets reject their debut album's feel in their second album, only for them to return to their origins with a vengeance in their self-titled album. Of their first three albums, which is all that I've heard by them, it's this, their second album, which justifies this band as being labelled 'proto-punk' or 'experimental' etc, because albums either side of it are, for the most part, quite easy listening. Not sure how many people have noticed this, but the cover art for "White light/White heat" is remarkably similar to what Metallica would use for their self-titled album, which was itself all black. Co-incidence? Before I go into my thoughts on the songs on this album, I should say that I was tempted to give this album 7/10, but then I listened to their third album, and it being similar in style to their debut, I thought I'd better leave some clean air between my scores for those three albums. If you love their 1st and 3rd albums, I don't think you will find much to enjoy on this album. Alternatively, if have heard their debut album or their 3rd album, and you can't understand why this band has the alternative reputation that they have, then you owe it to yourself to listen to this album. It's the kind of album that you will either really like or really dislike. So, I'd give this album an scoring range between 5 and 7 out of 10. Let's call it 65/100. It's a pity Amazon don't give scores by halves...3.5 stars out of 5 seems fairer than it giving it 3 stars or 4 stars. Best track: White light/white heat - this song strikes me as the kind of song that you could have found on Bob Dylan's "Blonde on blonde" album. Lou Reed often strikes me as being a Bob Dylan pupil who could often outshine his master. Track features a honky tonk piano and is catchy. There is distortion in this song...it sounds sort of fluffy and muffled. The band provide backing vocals on this. Outro is a bit experimental in vibe. The gift - a bit like Dylan at his worst...here we get a shaggy dog story, a la "Blood on the tracks", by someone putting on an educated, Indian type accent. The left channel is devoted to that voice and the right channel has the music...electric guitar, bass and drums. It isn't quite as annoying as Dylan's shaggy dog stories on Blood, but it is so lucidly narrated and in such a matter-of-fact style that it doesn't really qualify as art, I don't think. Certainly there is no comparison with Malcolm McLarens lovely spoken word fairytale which introduces The Sex Pistols' album "The great rock'n'roll swindle", or, for that matter, the lovely Cream song called "Pressed rat and warthog", which because of their fairytale nature have enduring appeal. They never get old, I don't think. Unlike this song. Heard it once, heard it a thousand times. Some of the lyrics strike me as being saucy though. This is a track which could annoy some listeners, and maybe might have been better off placed last on the album. Lady Godiva's operation - lyrically, this song strikes me as being proto-death metal! It's quite gruesome, in a graphic way, and there's nothing to distract the listener from the lyrics, unlike on their masterpiece from their third album, "Murder mystery", which is the band at their experimental height. This track is a slow tempo melodic song with an interesting drum pattern/tone. Occasionally you get a child like vocal appearing, and you can hear a violin used as well. Here she comes now - a genteel song, with melodic note picking on the guitar. Lyrics are quite repetitive. This track is part of this album's schizophrenic nature...mellow tracks like this, mixed with tracks that push the envelope a lot, like the song above. I heard her call my name - this track sounds proto-punk to me. Haven't really heard anything else which would deserve that label by this band, despite them being described as such in some circles. In my notes I describe this track as a proto-punk spiritual song. Maybe it's the backing vocals which conjures the 'spiritual' adjective. Other punkish elements to this track are the rhythm guitar and the lead guitar...generally there is a "have a go" feel to proceedings, where 'having a go' is placed above sounding like a professional musician. And that's part of the punk philosophy, right? This track also has distortion and feedback in it. The outro sounds noise rock. Sister Ray - at 17:27 minutes in length, this track comes across as a trancy Doors song, complete with organ, which is what The Doors had to create their signature sound. At the start the organ is quite catchy. You later hear a keyboard riff...in Platonic terms, this track sounds to me like the shadow of a much better/catchier song, as far as the keyboard riff goes. I have to say, I really liked the drum solo in this song, which runs from around 14:10-16-10. It's excellent. Don't normally associate that element to this band. All round, this track sounds fuzzy, and features the violin. Ding dong, this review is over. Recommendations: If you like this album...gee, I don't know what to say...I don't normally listen to albums this weird. Maybe try Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica which is quite a jazzy album, but experimental too. Or The Stooges debut. That's pretty much all I've got at this time. My wall of weird as far as cds go is quite limited. | ||
![The Ramones - Ramones [Expanded]](product_images/167000/167071_thumb.jpg) | The Ramones - Ramones [Expanded] | |
| "The American side of the foundational punk triangle" | 2009-09-02 |
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This seems to be the album which gets nominated as the first genuine punk album. I won't go into who started punk in this review, as I haven't really checked out enough acts that get called "proto-punk". In any case, The Ramones did, from what I've read, have a big impact in the UK, where many of what would become the first wave of British punk, came to see them and hang out with them. That's the U.K end of the foundational punk triangle I mentioned in my header. The final side of that punk triangle lies in Australian bands like The Saints and Radio Birdman, who had no first hand contact with The Ramones or that British scene, so can't really be said to have been influenced by either the Ramones' side or British side of the punk scene. In fact, these Australian acts' releases predated most, if not all UK releases from that part of the world. Basing my following comments on this album from a 2 for 1 release of "Ramones/Rocket to Russia", I have to say that I do find The Ramones to have that distinctive punk guitar sound, and lyrical themes associated with the American sense of the word "punk" (i.e. before the British sense came to be universal, with bands like The Sex Pistols). However, by comparison to The Saints' more seminal sounding debut "(I'm) Stranded", I have to say that The Ramones would have been better served taking The Saints' approach to the guitar sound in the mix. With The Saints, their sound is clean, clear, abrasive and to the fore. With The Ramones, unfortunately, it sounds like Mrs Ramone was in the mixing booth and toned down the punk guitar sound as it was a bit 'noisy' or something. If that is a faithful reproduction of the sound from their original album, then I must say it would be good to have a new remaster where the guitar sound is prominent and abrasive. Leaving that aside, The Ramones bring a rhythm based approach to their pop punk. Their lyrics concern themes and concerns of the US 'punk'...snapshots of the seedier side of their city, and their proclivity for taking drugs. There is none of that phoney Philosophy which The Sex Pistols would bring to the table and brand the punk movement...a corporate takeover which excluded bands like The Saints and maybe The Ramones from the new mainstream punk scene. Ok, to the songs I like on this album...this is my first Ramones studio album...a while back I reviewed their 3cd anthology, which I liked. Without looking at my review of that here, I am guessing that if I have passed over any songs in that review, it is because at the time they didn't stand out so much. Now, I seem to find some of these catchier, I think. Best songs: I wanna be your boyfriend - a very sweet, 50's style song...maybe the kind of vibe you'd get from girl-groups. One guitar sounds pretty, whilst the other has that typical punk sound happening. If you like Blondies' lovely "In the flesh", this song should appeal equally. Or maybe The La's "There she goes" is another point of comparison for this song. Anyway the lead guitar in this song is pretty and the other Ramones provide backing vocals. It's hard to think any mother wouldn't push her daughter in Joey's direction after listening to him on his best behaviour here! The demo version later on in this cd has more backing singing. 53rd & 3rd - has a catchy chorus and seems to be about a Vietnam War veteran who is an unsuccessful prostitute! Next best songs: Blitzkrieg bop - a song which grew on me on second listen. Has a classic guitar sound, is catchy and features some nice beats and noticeable bass. The Clash's "I fought the law" is brought to mind re vocal melody. Down on my knees - 50s style rock'n'roll, bassy, with nice backing vocals and hand claps (actually, I think that my 2 for 1 has the wrong song title..."Down on my knees" did sound suspiciously similar to "Judy is a punk"...so, wonder if my cd with track listing error is worth more resale?). The demo version of "Judy is a punk" doesn't have very good sound quality but it does feature a piano at the end. Let's dance - another 50s style rock'n'roll song, bringing to mind such artists as England's Cliff Richard and Australia's Johnny O'Keefe. I've reviewed compilation albums by both of those acts here...recommended. This song has an organ or keyboard and frequent cool drum fills. The rest: Beat on the brat - has some heavy metal-ish fuzzy guitar sounds. In End Of The Century, The Ramones name drop Blue Cheer, which may be a source for this heavy approach to music. Chainsaw - I think that this is the second song on this album which features Joey putting on the dog, so to speak (i.e. trying on an English type accent when singing, on occasion). A final example of this occurs with "I don't care", near the end of the album). The intro has the classic punk guitar sound...like angle grinders going to work on metal. My notes suggest that I found this song to function sort of as a theme to the movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre...a score to a horror movie, in other words. Now I wanna sniff some glue - bassy, classic punk guitar tone, lead guitar solos featured. Makes me wonder if the title owes a debt to a Stooges' song title. I don't wanna go down to the basement - a track with good bass guitar lines. Here the bass guitar practically functions as the lead guitar, I think. Has the classic punk guitar sound, but, again, it's a pity that all that goodness is way down in the mix, backgrounded. The next track, "Loudmouth", sounds sort of similar to this track, too, bass guitar wise and elsewhere. Havana affair - by this point the bass guitar is sounding samey, but the amped up fuzz guitar bits are nice...in other words, you sometimes get a feel in this song for how it might have sounded if the guitar was foregrounded. Listen to my heard - bassist seems to be playing punk type riffs, but by notes, not chords. Seems to be a song about love lost. I don't wanna walk around with you - cool, driving, funky bass...it's really going places. Reminded me of The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Has backing vocals. Today your love - the lyrics are hard to understand, as usual. Songs discussed below are part of the bonus tracks this cd offers... I don't care - a good track if you like bass guitar...I'm reminded of the classic "Little green bag" or, say, The White Stripes "7 nation army". This is the other track where Joey tries to pull off an English accent but is just hard to understand, ironically. I can't be - bassy track, with a bit of amped up, grungy sounding guitar...has a CLASSIC punk sounding riff...makes me wonder if it draws on the riff from "Chinese rock", which The Ramones would record later, and which was recorded by one of the Ramones earlier in his career, with another band (The Heartbreakers, going on memory). Now I wanna sniff some glue - highly distorted guitar with a prominent lead guitar bit. Has some bass guitar bits which remind me of "7 nation army". I don't wanna be learned/I don't wanna be tamed - a bassy, fuzz rock song. You should never have opened that door - interesting bass, I think, and has sounds similar to a needle jumping on a vinyl record. Has a classic punk lyrical structure, as far as the chorus goes. The lyrics are horror themed...menacing, in other words. Blitzkrieg bop - the intro sort of sounds mono on this song. In conclusion, this is a solid punk album. It has excellent sound quality, especially as far as the sound for the bass guitar and vocals go (prominent in the mix). It's a pity that the punk guitar sound is short-changed in this album. Would have liked more of an edge to that, as you get with The Saints' debut album, which preceded any album by a British punk band, I think. I'd give the original album 8/10, but including the bonus tracks, I'd give this particular cd around 85-90/100. Recommendations: The Saints: (I'm) Stranded - to me this album seems to have songs that pre-empt later movements in music like speed and thrash etc. Takes more than one listen to get into though. I rate it a superior album to The Ramones' debut, but it took me more than one listen to come to that view. Radio Birdman: Radios appear - get described as 'proto-punk', but this Australian band released their debut the same year as The Saints. Has some variety of sound...from "Oi!" type punk, to more speed based punk, to easy-listening jazzy tracks. Have heard Television's Marquee Moon, which I don't really consider to be punk, despite it being classed as such. If Television were punk, Radio Birdman might be what they would have sounded like. If you like Radio Birdman's jazzy, easy listening tracks, you will be rewarded by a listen to Marquee Moon, although I did not get that much out of them. The Damned: Damned damned damned - the first English punk band to release an album...a fact which was brought to my attention in a recent issue of "Classic rock" magazine, by Joey Ramone, in an interview which was finally published, despite being conducted years ago (this interview is in the 'alternative history of heavy metal' issue, of some months back. Joey takes full credit for every first wave of punk band to come out...an assertion I do not agree with, at least as far as the Australian punk scene goes). | ||
 | Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath | |
| "Assured album of Frankenstein songs. Ozzy at his vocal best. 75/100" | 2009-08-25 |
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Black Sabbath deliver another album full of their usual brand of metal and quirky oddities. Lead singer 'Ozzy' Osbourne also attains his high water mark for singing, I think. Best track: Fluff - long time listeners to this band will know that from their second album onwards, they always brought out one or two tracks per album afterwards which were utterly quirky. This is one of their better ones. An instrumental featuring multiple accoustic guitars, piano, and perhaps a harpsichord type instrument or some such. An electric guitar also features in the lead position, but plays some country flavoured sounds. Melodic, with a hint of John Mason Williams and Bach (I'm guessing...someone like that...I'm not a classical music nerd). Next best: Who are you - an interesting sounding track featuring the synthesiser, bass and drums. The piano enters the fray later on. A slow tempo song Best of the rest: A national acrobat - has a pretty riff, which I like the most from this song, as well as the vocals here. Also has a poppy melodic bit near the end of the song. Looking for today - a rock track but with poppy parts. Has a pretty vocal melody, for the title, I think. Features handclapping sounds and one bit makes use of the flute or some such instrument. I like the bluesy lead guitar and the drum outro. The rest: Sabbath bloody sabbath - one of those Frankenstein type songs I allude to in my header - a Jekyll and Hyde type song, if you will: has a heavy metal riff but is easy listening in other parts. Ozzy is at his vocal best in this song, I think, and the track has a heavy beat. The opening riff to this song reminded me of Metallica's later classic "The memory remains" of their brilliant "Reload" album (a great hard rock album, under-appreciated by the band's core 'thrash' fans). Sabra cadabra - a heavy riffing love song. Also features the piano and the bass is noticeable. I like the drum outro to this song. Killing yourself to live - a heavy rock track where the bass guitar is more noticeable than usual. Some of the guitar work has a 'gurgling' quality to it. Spiral architect - has an accoustic guitar intro which later morphs into something which sounds like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's "Love the one you're with". Track also features the violins (or a synth mimicking this). The rock bits of this song reminds one of The Who for the electric guitar and drums. Occasionally the stereo soundstage seems to drop out. On first listen, I was leaning towards giving this album 7/10, but on second listen I think I'll give it 75/100. If you like this album, I think you'll like pretty much everything that this band has done from "Master of illusion" onwards. They are pretty consistent with their output. Alternatively, if you like those other albums, I don't think that this album will disappoint. Personally, I think that "Paranoid" is far and away their best album, but "Master of illusion" is their next best up to the time of this album here. "Sabotage" would surpass "Master of reality", when that came out, I think. | ||
 | Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath, Vol.4 | |
| "Heavy riffing and variety within and between songs. 75/100" | 2009-08-18 |
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It's not unusual for any of this band's first three albums to get accorded the honour of "best Black Sabbath album". Their third album, "Master of reality", pretty much is the prototypical Sabbath album from then on. Even albums after that, up to "Sabotage", have their fans, who view that album as the band's best. From my point of view, "Vol.4" is down a notch in quality from "Master of reality", but up to, and including "Sabotage", the band have a remarkable consistency of output, quality wise. Best song: Changes - a slow tempo song with heartfelt lyrics. Ony the piano and the synthesiser are utilised. Melodic, with Ozzy providing good presence on vocals. Next best: FX - an experimental instrumental track, perhaps featuring a guitar or something like that. Maybe it is also a synthesiser. Here the synthesiser sounds like it is providing incidenctal music for a sci-fi or horror movie. Cornucopia - the guitar sound makes this track sound like Swamp Rock. Supernaut - grinding guitar and has a Lenny Kravitz vibe to it (think "Are you gonna go my way". For that matter, sometimes this song brings to mind the riffs in Pseudo Echo's version of "Funky Town"). Under the sun - the intro brings to mind their debut album's vibe of Gothic Rock. Can be read as a statement of the band's Philosophy, although, contrasting this song with their previous "After forever", it has to be remarked that a Black Sabbath 'philosophy' seems more of a mask which they wear and discard for something else later...like The Sex Pistols with their superficial embrace of anarchy and, remarkably, fascism (as if those two philosophies aren't like oil and water)! Drummer Bill Ward provides some big drum fills in this song. Outro is good too...it's like a rock band's version of Tubular Bells. The rest: Wheels of confusion - an epic 8:14 in length. Intro features a wailing blues sound and then steps into a Steppenwolf type riff (think "Born to be wild") on both guitar and bass. Guitar has a buzzing sound to it and the vocals lack presence. A prog-rock kind of song. Tomorrow's dream - has a boogie rock vibe to it with tinny percussion (sort of like a cow bell). Guitars sound synthy and the vocals lack presence, again. Snowblind - a riff song with a nice vocal shift in it, where it becomes more melodic. Lead guitar is bluesy and I think the song features the violins at the end. Has a synthesiser too. Laguna sunrise - the second instrumental on this album. Has two accoustic guitars and what sounds like a symphony, perhaps...violins do feature in this song. A gentle, melodic track. St.Vitus dance - has a BIG sounding riff (heavy and grating). Instruments have a greater presence in this song than other songs on this album. Think that my notes on this song subbest that the percussion on this song is like that in 60's pop...a "She loves you" type vibe, or something of the sort. Recommendations: Master of reality Black Sabbath albums after "Vol.4". Blue Cheer's debut album. In my view, this band were the first to have a heavy metal album. Very influenced by Jimi Hendrix's sound. If, like me, you enjoy Black Sabbath's experimental tracks, you might want to try out Vanilla Fudge's debut album, which came out before Black Sabbath was created, and was also heavy sounding, for its time. | ||
 | Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy | |
| "Led Zeppelin's "Blood on the tracks"...mostly mellow. 72.5/100" | 2009-08-18 |
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Although, like Bob Dylan's album "Blood on the tracks", this album is mostly mellow in sound, it does have some rock moments. Not being a true Led Zeppelin convert, I can't really call any album other than "IV" a "masterpiece" but albums like "III" and this one are their next best. Although I like the roots rock of "III" the best, behind "IV", I do think that an album like "Houses of the holy" has the potential to grow on you more, which is something I can't say about their other albums that I've listened to, even though Believers consider them some of the greatest albums of all time. Anyway, the best song on this album is: D'yer mak'er - really like the drumming in this song. It has a reggae infused pop/rock flavour to it. The lyrics are catchy as is the squealy vocal style. Interesting drumming too. Next best songs: The rain song - running at 7:39 minutes in length, this is a sort of pretty song featuring accoustic guitar. The electric guitar emits Hawaaian sounds. A mellow track which puts into mind songs like E.L.O's "Strange magic" and maybe even a melody which Shirley Bassey may have sung. The ocean - a boogie rock song, with riffing that is definitely in AC/DC's territory. Ordinarily I wouldn't have thought that Led Zeppelin could have been an influence on AC/DC, but maybe, with this song, the argument could be made. The track has static at times, e.g. at around 1:45 into this song. The outro to this song is 1950's style do-wop, I think. Songs that grew on me on second listen: Over the hills - starts with an accoustic guitar, in a mellow manner, then gets a little more rock, with a country flavour to it. Has a hymnal outro and is otherwise sometimes pretty, with some rock'n'roll type vocals at times. No quarter - another track which is at least 7 minutes in length. A very mellow, dreamy track but does verge towards rock music at times. Puts in mind Black Sabbath (think "Planet Caravan") or Pink Floyd type tracks. Good riff in this song and the keyboard has a watery sense to it. The rest: The song remains the same - the intro puts in mind bands like The Who...you could mistake the intro for a Who song in any case...perhaps Led Zeppelin were influenced by that band, for this song at least. A bassy track, with lead guitar, and I initially thought that a woman was singing this song(listen to the end of the song. Some falsetto is utilised, vocally)! The crunge - a funky song with a disco flavour to the bass guitar and lead guitar. Dancing days - a sort of interesting track...with sort of catchy guitar playing and vocal melodies. Personally, I think that this album is better than their first two albums, but not as good as "IV" and "III". However, it is the kind of album that may improve with age and repeated listens (haven't explored Led Zeppelin's studio albums until this year, so the 'age' of this album for me is just less than one year!). Also, I like this album better than "Physical Graffiti", which, for some reason, gets nominated as an all time great album. Also prefer this album to "Presence" as well. | ||
 | Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy | |
| "Led Zeppelin's "Blood on the tracks"...mostly mellow. 72.5/100" | 2009-08-18 |
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Although, like Bob Dylan's album "Blood on the tracks", this album is mostly mellow in sound, it does have some rock moments. Not being a true Led Zeppelin convert, I can't really call any album other than "IV" a "masterpiece" but albums like "III" and this one are their next best. Although I like the roots rock of "III" the best, behind "IV", I do think that an album like "Houses of the holy" has the potential to grow on you more, which is something I can't say about their other albums that I've listened to, even though Believers consider them some of the greatest albums of all time. Anyway, the best song on this album is: D'yer mak'er - really like the drumming in this song. It has a reggae infused pop/rock flavour to it. The lyrics are catchy as is the squealy vocal style. Interesting drumming too. Next best songs: The rain song - running at 7:39 minutes in length, this is a sort of pretty song featuring accoustic guitar. The electric guitar emits Hawaaian sounds. A mellow track which puts into mind songs like E.L.O's "Strange magic" and maybe even a melody which Shirley Bassey may have sung. The ocean - a boogie rock song, with riffing that is definitely in AC/DC's territory. Ordinarily I wouldn't have thought that Led Zeppelin could have been an influence on AC/DC, but maybe, with this song, the argument could be made. The track has static at times, e.g. at around 1:45 into this song. The outro to this song is 1950's style do-wop, I think. Songs that grew on me on second listen: Over the hills - starts with an accoustic guitar, in a mellow manner, then gets a little more rock, with a country flavour to it. Has a hymnal outro and is otherwise sometimes pretty, with some rock'n'roll type vocals at times. No quarter - another track which is at least 7 minutes in length. A very mellow, dreamy track but does verge towards rock music at times. Puts in mind Black Sabbath (think "Planet Caravan") or Pink Floyd type tracks. Good riff in this song and the keyboard has a watery sense to it. The rest: The song remains the same - the intro puts in mind bands like The Who...you could mistake the intro for a Who song in any case...perhaps Led Zeppelin were influenced by that band, for this song at least. A bassy track, with lead guitar, and I initially thought that a woman was singing this song(listen to the end of the song. Some falsetto is utilised, vocally)! The crunge - a funky song with a disco flavour to the bass guitar and lead guitar. Dancing days - a sort of interesting track...with sort of catchy guitar playing and vocal melodies. Personally, I think that this album is better than their first two albums, but not as good as "IV" and "III". However, it is the kind of album that may improve with age and repeated listens (haven't explored Led Zeppelin's studio albums until this year, so the 'age' of this album for me is just less than one year!). Also, I like this album better than "Physical Graffiti", which, for some reason, gets nominated as an all time great album. Also prefer this album to "Presence" as well. | ||
 | Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum | |
| "1st heavy metal album. Influenced by Jimi Hendrix. 75/100" | 2009-08-13 |
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Having seen the documentary "Metal: A headbanger's journey" some years back and finding a cover of pop song in the 60s to be my idea of a true heavy metal song, I bought this album (and Vanilla Fudge's debut) on the chance that it did have the song featured in the documentary. Not sure that I have found the song I heard. Should have made a note of the song when I saw the movie! Anyway, since exploring the origins of heavy metal for myself, I suppose that it's easier to convince myself that this was the first heavy metal album. More so than for Led Zeppelin's and Black Sabbath's debut albums. What I found most interesting about this album is how -it seems to me- that Blue Cheer were inspired by Jimi Hendrix's guitar playing. This album is infused with blues based rock of the kind that Hendrix played. The songs on this album are often heavy, with fuzzy guitar, and at times the male lead singer sounds like the male version of Janis Joplin (I don't know which one of those two started performing first though). Anyway, here are my picks as the best songs on the album, plus the rest: Second time around - I like the drums in this track, from the cool intro, to the extended solo later on. The riff is really cool too...though it does sound familiar...not sure...maybe Blue Cheer were the first with something like this? Lyrics feature the phrase "You better straighten up child. You better fly right". I know of that phrase from the annoying Stephen Sondheim song (I think) "Straighten up and fly right". Might be an old fashioned common phrase in any case. The end of the song has some distorted guitar sounds. From an Australian perspective, I think that this is the kind of song that a Jet or a Spiderbait could do a good cover of, not that this original is lacking in any way. Be good for someone to put this song out there again. Out of focus - I liked this song first time around, but more so on a second listen. The lead guitar and bass guitar are funky and nicely play together. The lead guitar also reminds me of Jimi Hendrix. The lyrics seem to deal with a lack of self esteem. The rest: Summertime blues - this MIGHT be the song that I heard on that documentary. If it is, then the cd doesn't capture the effect of hearing this in the cinema, which made it seem like a true heavy metal song, way before any band got labelled that as such. Has a fuzzy, throbbing heavy metal guitar sound, influenced by Hendrix' "Foxey lady", I think. Features fills by the drum and bass guitar. Rock me baby: the lead guitar picks notes here and then the signature blues drum beat and bass guitar note sequence kicks in. Has some gravelly vocals. A cover of a B.B.King song, I think. Doctor please - has a Hendrix style lead guitar style and it predates Black Sabbath's heavy metal style riffing. Parchment farm - a cover of a traditional song, this one in particular being a version by Mose Allison. Ity's bassy with a long instrumental bit. Blue Cheer is a band I never would have heard of unless I had decided to explore heavy metal. At the moment, I'd give them the kudos of bringing out the first album which was heavy metal to any great degree. It's the original compositions on this album which stand out the most...and I actually prefer them to any of the songs on the debuts of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, which are two bands that often get credited with inventing heavy metal. | ||
 | Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV (aka ZOSO) | |
| "Led Zeppelin finally make a rock album...their greatest hits..." | 2009-08-02 |
My first experience of Led Zeppelin on cd was through their two cd compilation. I can't say that that made me hold them in the regard that many people seem to. I knew that IV was often considered one of the all time greatest albums too, but when I occasionally browsed it in cd shops, I can't really say that I felt the urge to buy it...I could take it or I could leave it, and it was the latter I did, until recently. That's mainly because I thought I'd explore this band's earliest studio releases. Nothing in those albums up to this one really made see why this band is held in such high esteem. They seem more of a roots rock band than the rock'n'roll legends that they are made out to be. That roots rock formula may be why some people tend to find the band over-rated, which I agree with. Most of their albums are not conventional rock'n'roll, so it takes a special taste in music to appreciate this band. However, after having continued to stick to buying this band's albums, I have to say that they finally rewarded my perseverance here. Like I said, this album itself works as a Led Zeppelin greatest hits album. To the extent that the amount of songs that Australian FM radio stations play (I mean the ones that play "classic" rock") and the frequency with which they play those songs, then, by that measure, IV is a great album. I don't think that any other Zeppelin album gets more than one song played from them, and their debut album doesn't get any songs played from it, despite the high esteem that it is held in-at least on the stations that I like to listen to. Even though die hard Zeppelin fans will dismiss this criterion of quality, it is in keep with my own thoughts on the band...in other words, they don't really make a lot of "classic" rock type songs, at least in the sense of making the kind of songs that could get released as singles and sell a million. Anyway, what made me initially reluctant to buy this album when browsing was that the songs that I did know didn't really move me that much, and I didn't know any of the other songs. It must be said, that despite these misgivings, this is a truly great album. It has the well known radio friendly unit shifter type songs on it, and some of the songs I had never heard of impressed me as quality album material. My pick as the three best songs on this album are: Rock and roll - has a terrific drum intro and outro by Bonham, good riffing and some good, intense playing of one note on the piano, by the sounds of it. The battle of Evermore - a pretty folk song with a weird stringed instrument, by the sounds of it...mandolins perhaps. It has fantasy theme, lyrically, and there may be another vocalist on this, apart from Plant. I'd liken this song to the kind found on Led Zeppelin III, but a step up in quality. III is my second favourite Zep album, after this one...but not too many people are fans of that album, but I like its European folk sensibility. Stairway to Heaven - apparently the most requested song of all time, in radio. So it's probably their most famous song. No doubt for some people, this song is grating, purely for the fact that it gets flogged to death by radio stations. Can't say that I would want to have to listen to this everyday, but it is a really good song. Fortunately, in Australia, this song hasn't been as flogged as much as AC/DC's classic "You shook me all night long", which has now made me try and avoid that song, apart from the ringing intro with the guitar. Anyway, back to Stairway...has a nice gentle, accoustic guitar build up and a mediaeval sounding flute type instrument. This song is an epic 8 minutes in length and it's magic in the lead up to the electric guitar being introduced. The electric guitar solo at the end is noteworthy. The next best song: Black dog - along with "Stairway to Heaven" and "Rock and roll" this is one of the three songs that will get played on Australian FM radio stations which play 'classic' rock songs. It has a classic introduction, and Plant's signature cocky vocals to match the cocky sounds of Page and Bonham. Page has a lead guitar solo in this song and there is a strange synthetic sound quality to the guitar riff...I'm assuming that the guitar's tone is being altered in some way, and the riff is not being played by a synthesiser. In any case, this kind of weird guitar sound is a signature of the band. Best of the rest: Misty mountain hop - an interesting sounding song, featuring keyboard. Plant's vocals are glassy here and the song has a certain swing to it. The rhythm guitar, I think, makes me bring to mind the song "Mama Told Me (Not To Come)" by Three Dog Night. Think that that is the song I had in mind. Going to California - a pleasant multi accoustic steel stringed guitar ballad. Plant's longing lyrics have an American twang to them. When the levee breaks - this might be my pick as the best of the rest. It's a 7 minute long blues epic featuring the harmonica. I like the blues rhythm to this song, and the lead guitar work is good, as is the riff. The only song that I don't find particularly interesting is "Four sticks". It's sort of like "Misty mountain hop", in some ways. Has accoustic parts and a synthesiser part...the melody is nice. Anyway, for me to give a Led Zeppelin album five stars is saying a lot...for me, in any case. I don't think that Led Zeppelin ever approached the heights of this album, before or afterwards. Next best I like III, and Houses Of The Holy isn't bad, and maybe the kind of album that grows on you. Must say, I have been more impressed with Black Sabbath as a band, despite also being reluctant to buy their albums for similar reasons to that of Led Zeppelin. | ||
 | Led Zeppelin - 1972 Interview | |
| "Led Zeppelin finally make a rock album...their greatest hits..." | 2009-08-02 |
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My first experience of Led Zeppelin on cd was through their two cd compilation. I can't say that that made me hold them in the regard that many people seem to. I knew that IV was often considered one of the all time greatest albums too, but when I occasionally browsed it in cd shops, I can't really say that I felt the urge to buy it...I could take it or I could leave it, and it was the latter I did, until recently. That's mainly because I thought I'd explore this band's earliest studio releases. Nothing in those albums up to this one really made see why this band is held in such high esteem. They seem more of a roots rock band than the rock'n'roll legends that they are made out to be. That roots rock formula may be why some people tend to find the band over-rated, which I agree with. Most of their albums are not conventional rock'n'roll, so it takes a special taste in music to appreciate this band. However, after having continued to stick to buying this band's albums, I have to say that they finally rewarded my perseverance here. Like I said, this album itself works as a Led Zeppelin greatest hits album. To the extent that the amount of songs that Australian FM radio stations play (I mean the ones that play "classic" rock") and the frequency with which they play those songs, then, by that measure, IV is a great album. I don't think that any other Zeppelin album gets more than one song played from them, and their debut album doesn't get any songs played from it, despite the high esteem that it is held in-at least on the stations that I like to listen to. Even though die hard Zeppelin fans will dismiss this criterion of quality, it is in keep with my own thoughts on the band...in other words, they don't really make a lot of "classic" rock type songs, at least in the sense of making the kind of songs that could get released as singles and sell a million. Anyway, what made me initially reluctant to buy this album when browsing was that the songs that I did know didn't really move me that much, and I didn't know any of the other songs. It must be said, that despite these misgivings, this is a truly great album. It has the well known radio friendly unit shifter type songs on it, and some of the songs I had never heard of impressed me as quality album material. My pick as the three best songs on this album are: Rock and roll - has a terrific drum intro and outro by Bonham, good riffing and some good, intense playing of one note on the piano, by the sounds of it. The battle of Evermore - a pretty folk song with a weird stringed instrument, by the sounds of it...mandolins perhaps. It has fantasy theme, lyrically, and there may be another vocalist on this, apart from Plant. I'd liken this song to the kind found on Led Zeppelin III, but a step up in quality. III is my second favourite Zep album, after this one...but not too many people are fans of that album, but I like its European folk sensibility. Stairway to Heaven - apparently the most requested song of all time, in radio. So it's probably their most famous song. No doubt for some people, this song is grating, purely for the fact that it gets flogged to death by radio stations. Can't say that I would want to have to listen to this everyday, but it is a really good song. Fortunately, in Australia, this song hasn't been as flogged as much as AC/DC's classic "You shook me all night long", which has now made me try and avoid that song, apart from the ringing intro with the guitar. Anyway, back to Stairway...has a nice gentle, accoustic guitar build up and a mediaeval sounding flute type instrument. This song is an epic 8 minutes in length and it's magic in the lead up to the electric guitar being introduced. The electric guitar solo at the end is noteworthy. The next best song: Black dog - along with "Stairway to Heaven" and "Rock and roll" this is one of the three songs that will get played on Australian FM radio stations which play 'classic' rock songs. It has a classic introduction, and Plant's signature cocky vocals to match the cocky sounds of Page and Bonham. Page has a lead guitar solo in this song and there is a strange synthetic sound quality to the guitar riff...I'm assuming that the guitar's tone is being altered in some way, and the riff is not being played by a synthesiser. In any case, this kind of weird guitar sound is a signature of the band. Best of the rest: Misty mountain hop - an interesting sounding song, featuring keyboard. Plant's vocals are glassy here and the song has a certain swing to it. The rhythm guitar, I think, makes me bring to mind the song "Mama Told Me (Not To Come)" by Three Dog Night. Think that that is the song I had in mind. Going to California - a pleasant multi accoustic steel stringed guitar ballad. Plant's longing lyrics have an American twang to them. When the levee breaks - this might be my pick as the best of the rest. It's a 7 minute long blues epic featuring the harmonica. I like the blues rhythm to this song, and the lead guitar work is good, as is the riff. The only song that I don't find particularly interesting is "Four sticks". It's sort of like "Misty mountain hop", in some ways. Has accoustic parts and a synthesiser part...the melody is nice. Anyway, for me to give a Led Zeppelin album five stars is saying a lot...for me, in any case. I don't think that Led Zeppelin ever approached the heights of this album, before or afterwards. Next best I like III, and Houses Of The Holy isn't bad, and maybe the kind of album that grows on you. Must say, I have been more impressed with Black Sabbath as a band, despite also being reluctant to buy their albums for similar reasons to that of Led Zeppelin. | ||
 | Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold As Love | |
| "Modern sounding but moody, bluesy, experimental album.75/100" | 2009-07-29 |
This album didn't impress me much as their debut album, which I also reviewed here. In a sense, it sort of reminds me of Led Zeppelin's "Houses of the holy" album, in that is alright, but it may have the potential to grow on you more in future. On my first listen, the one song which I put a dot next to in my notes (signifying that I find a song interesting in some way...a tick means I really like it) was: You got me floatin' - features some experimental sounds which are generated in a studio. It has a modern rock sound and I liked the cool sound and playing of the bass guitar. This song makes me think that Lenny Kravitz may have been influence by this kind of material. The song also has backing vocals. Eric Clapton's song which features the lyric "tearing us apart" was also brought to mind listening to this song. On second listen, some more songs got dots next to them in my notes...chronologically: Spanish castle magic - has a heavy metal/hard rock kind of sound to it. The drum sound is chunky and I like the catchy vocal melody. Bass noticeable. Wait until tomorrow - the bass is in your face, so to speak. The vocals are of the sing-song variety, and the lead guitar is 'chatty', if you know what I mean. The guitar sound was sort of familiar to me, though I can't pinpoint what other songs it reminded me of. American born Australian "Diesel" has a song called "Cry in shame" which this song made me think of. The drums are chunky on this song too and I like the cute falsetto backing vocals on this song. Little wing - easy going song with nice lead guitar. I like the tone of the guitar as well. Sounds like glass objects are used for percussion too. Next best songs: Castle's made of sand - reliant on studio effects, features a guitar playing a melody in reverse (having recently started listening to Hendrix, I'm beginning to wonder if he beat The Beatles into innovating in the studio). Vocals are catchy and the lyrics are chatty. Lead guitar and bass guitar also play a part in this track. At 2:32 into this track, I hear a click, which may be a problem with the source tapes. She's so fine - more chunky drums and in your face bass. Features falsetto backing vocals, and the main vocals are catchy, in a Beatle-esque kind of way (I don't think that Hendrix sings in this song). The outro features distorted hard rock guitar playing. The rest: Exp - an experimental sounding track with heavy, distorted guitar sounds...it sounds like they are imagining what a U.F.O would sound like! Also features an radio announcer with an Australian sounding accent. This year, I think, a British movie called "The boat that rocked" covered this time frame in music history. A criticism that I had come across here in Australia was that the movie didn't really reflect the number of Australian voices on pirate radio...there is one New Zealand actor in the movie. Just guessing, but maybe this Australian sounding voice is recognition of the fact that such voices were common in Britain on the radio, at this time. Up from the skies - features brush drumming. A rootsy, bassy track with a twangy sounding guitar and sing-song mellow vocals. Reminded me of The John Butler Trio in style. John Butler is an American born Australian roots artist. Great song in "Zebra"...anyway... If 6 was 9 - the guitar and bass intro part reminded me of Led Zeppelin's "Living loving maid". You can hear Jimi chewing gum in this song, which is sort of cool! The middle part of this track has some intense drumming and the mood as a whole can be described as 'moody, bluesy rock'. But it does seem psychedelic at times, too. Song features a solo too, and I found the stereo quality in this song to be excellent, which I don't usually associate with music from this period, which often sounded 'faux' stereo, if you know what I mean. One rainy wish - has a velvety guitar tone, mellow in parts, but rock at other times (quiet, loud, quiet format). Features wailing lead guitar and noticeable bass. Little miss lover - I like the drum pattern at the start, as the track goes into a funky bass and lead guitar groove...a bit Red Hot Chili Peppery, in other words. Has a driving bass guitar sound. At 1:46 there seems to be a glitch in the vocals, which may suggest that the master tapes aren't perfect. Bold as love - another song which reminds me of Diesel's "Cry in shame". Think that the outro may have a harpsichord in it, and the drumming gets quite spacey. Generally I like the textured sound of the instruments in this album...from the crisp drums to the tone of the guitars and back to some chunky drumming. For the first time, I think I can hear the influence of Hendrix in Australian acts like Diesel, John Butler, and overseas acts like Lenny Kravitz. Like I said before, the music on this album does sound modern, but with a moody, bluesy, experimental rock bent. This album might be a grower for me. Recommended albums from this period in time: The Jimmi Hendrix Experience: "Are you experienced?" and "Electric Ladyland". Cream: Wheels of fire. | ||
 | AC/DC - Let There Be Rock (Dlx) | |
| "The ultimate Australian pub rock album. 75/100" | 2009-07-24 |
This album lacks the kind of killer, stadium anthems that the band is known for, but they come up with numerous live favourites on this album. Whilst not as raw as Powerage, their guitar sound does come close to that album...it's got an electric, buzzing guitar sound, but just not as jangling or grinding as Powerage's sound. If you want rawness, go for Powerage, but for something with hooks, Let There Be Rock is more accessible. It's foot stomping, raw guitar rock. Best song: Dog eat dog - has a catchy chorus and riff. Part of the song has got some interesting lead guitar sounds. Let there be rock - check out the official video to this song...the lyrics are matched with the appropriate visuals...Pastor Bon Scott, on his pulpit, giving a sermon on the Genesis of rock! Bassy track. Problem child - I like the riff in this. As the character in this song, Bon is quite a nasty piece of work...you wouldn't want to tangle with him in a pub. This is a superior pub rock song in the Australian style. It has some fast fretwork on the guitar, and the song does have some bass, which you don't really notice with this band. Not sure who plays the maracas in this song...Bon?! The rest: Go down - bar rocker boogie. It's an ode to fellatio. Think this may be the first instance of this band celebrating that particular sexual act (they do so later in their classic "Back in black" album, in the song "Givin' the dog a bone"). Bad boy boogie - the lyrics reminded me of Iron Maiden for some reason: "It was the seventh day, I was the seventh son". Don't know why... Overdose - Laid back intro; solid pub rock. Nice riff and and lead guitar. Hell ain't a bad place to be - features the lyric "Telling me no lies", which later features in their classic "Back in black" album for the song "You shook me all night long". Whole lotta Rosie - a live staple. On live videos you can often see an enormous, obese, inflatable woman. Bon sings about a sexual conquest of his in this song...the title character. If I heard him right, her measurements were 42, 39, 56 and she weighed in at 19 stone. Hmmm, he liked his women big, did our Bon! Recommendations: If this album is too hooky for you, try Powerage. If it's not hooky enough, try their classics like "Back in black", "T.N.T" and "Dirty deeds done dirt cheap" (the Australian versions for the latter titles, as they have different, and sometimes superior track listings. E.g. the original Australian version of Dirty Deeds had the classic track "Jail break", which, unfortunately, doesn't seem to get made anymore...the inferior US release gets made now, and is sold to even Australia. Bit of a bummer. If you like pub rock type music, some good Australian examples would be hard rockers like Rose Tattoo and The Angels. My favourite songs of theirs are: "We can't be beaten" for the Tatts, and "Shadow boxer" for The Angels. | ||
 | AC, DC - Let There Be Rock | |
| "The ultimate Australian pub rock album. 75/100" | 2009-07-24 |
|
This album lacks the kind of killer, stadium anthems that the band is known for, but they come up with numerous live favourites on this album. Whilst not as raw as Powerage, their guitar sound does come close to that album...it's got an electric, buzzing guitar sound, but just not as jangling or grinding as Powerage's sound. If you want rawness, go for Powerage, but for something with hooks, Let There Be Rock is more accessible. It's foot stomping, raw guitar rock. Best song: Dog eat dog - has a catchy chorus and riff. Part of the song has got some interesting lead guitar sounds. Let there be rock - check out the official video to this song...the lyrics are matched with the appropriate visuals...Pastor Bon Scott, on his pulpit, giving a sermon on the Genesis of rock! Bassy track. Problem child - I like the riff in this. As the character in this song, Bon is quite a nasty piece of work...you wouldn't want to tangle with him in a pub. This is a superior pub rock song in the Australian style. It has some fast fretwork on the guitar, and the song does have some bass, which you don't really notice with this band. Not sure who plays the maracas in this song...Bon?! The rest: Go down - bar rocker boogie. It's an ode to fellatio. Think this may be the first instance of this band celebrating that particular sexual act (they do so later in their classic "Back in black" album, in the song "Givin' the dog a bone"). Bad boy boogie - the lyrics reminded me of Iron Maiden for some reason: "It was the seventh day, I was the seventh son". Don't know why... Overdose - Laid back intro; solid pub rock. Nice riff and and lead guitar. Hell ain't a bad place to be - features the lyric "Telling me no lies", which later features in their classic "Back in black" album for the song "You shook me all night long". Whole lotta Rosie - a live staple. On live videos you can often see an enormous, obese, inflatable woman. Bon sings about a sexual conquest of his in this song...the title character. If I heard him right, her measurements were 42, 39, 56 and she weighed in at 19 stone. Hmmm, he liked his women big, did our Bon! Recommendations: If this album is too hooky for you, try Powerage. If it's not hooky enough, try their classics like "Back in black", "T.N.T" and "Dirty deeds done dirt cheap" (the Australian versions for the latter titles, as they have different, and sometimes superior track listings. E.g. the original Australian version of Dirty Deeds had the classic track "Jail break", which, unfortunately, doesn't seem to get made anymore...the inferior US release gets made now, and is sold to even Australia. Bit of a bummer. If you like pub rock type music, some good Australian examples would be hard rockers like Rose Tattoo and The Angels. My favourite songs of theirs are: "We can't be beaten" for the Tatts, and "Shadow boxer" for The Angels. | ||
 | Deep Purple - Deep Purple in Rock | |
| "The birth of mainstream, modern metal?" | 2009-07-23 |
Recently I've been checking out bands which get dubbed the originator of heavy metal...bands like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Have heard how Deep Purple sometimes gets given this label too, so I thought I'd check out their album which sometimes gets this distinction. To my ears, the debuts by Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin don't really sound like the heavy metal I know...they're both quite rootsy, but Black Sabbath do seem to introduce lyrical themes in their debut which heavy metal will obsess over in future (occultish ideas). Led Zeppelin II do have a kind of mainstream, heavy metal type song in "Whole lotta love", however, as a whole, I don't find it particularly metal. "In rock" does sound old school metal to me, and it came out before Black Sabbath's masterpiece, "Paranoid" was released. "Paranoid" DOES sound metal, whereas their debut didn't. So, for the moment, I'll give this album the distinction of giving rise to the heavy metal sound, in an album. It must be said, that it sounds to me like Deep Purple's new lead singer on this album, Ian Gillan, had a big influence on heavy metal singing, with his glassy wailing. Maybe that is jumping the gun a bit too much, as Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin did that kind of thing on Led Zeppelin II, which came out before this album, but maybe Gillan did it in a more metal way. If you want to go back further, pop star of the 1960s, Frankie Valli did a similar sort of thing, singing wise (think "Rag doll" and "Dawn" for starters), but it took guys with the guts to transfer that style into the rock arena, like Plant and Gillan, to make it a feature of some heavy metal music. Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson comes to mind as a singer who is treading down the Plant/Gillan path, vocals wise. Anyway, enough of that, here's what I think of this album: Best song: Black night - it's not on the original album, so it's a terrific bonus to get on this album. To me it sounds like that second version of this song on this cd is superior, sound quality wise. Can't say I can really tell the difference between the two versions, apart from the second version sounding crisp and fresh, as well as featuring a cool drum count in beat, which the first version doesn't have. On the cd display, the drum count in is lumped with the previous track, which I don't really appreciate. Child in time - an original album track. A 10:18 minute long epic song. Vocally, Gillan goes down Robert Plant's route from "Whole lotta love", but he takes it to whole new level...really hits the high notes, and riding the wave all the way into the beach. Both singers really play on the highly sexualised nature of their singing. The song itself is partly an organ heavy ballad, whilst the rest is more towards heavy metal. Deep Purple's organ sound is distinctive to them...The Doors are really the only other band that comes to mind when you think of bands utilising this instrument. One guitar solo in this song brought to mind Jimi Hendrix' style, and some of the fretwork in this song seems pure heavy metal to me, as is the drumming at times, which occasionally uses a military style rhythm, in an emphatic manner. The outro to this song is reminiscent of The Beatles. Gillan uses the phrase "Oh no" in this song, which may be referencing Black Sabbath's debut album...one of the songs off of that features the same lyric and sound, I think. Speed king - 5:53 in length. Features a raucous intro of heavy metal sounding noodling guitar solo. The organ in this song sounds like the church variety, and later it sounds like something that The Doors would compose. Lyrically, the song cites Little Richard, and Gillan has his heavy metal defining singing going on...high pitched shrieking. The song is bassy too, and the riff sounds like modern metal. Perhaps this song could be viewed as being influential for later movements in metal like Speed and Thrash. Just guessing. The song also features the lyric "Come on baby, drive me crazy" which is, if I'm not mistaken, also a line from a KISS song (on the third version of this song on this album, Gillan's voice actually reminds me of KISS' Paul Stanley, vocally). The third version of this song might have the better sound quality to it too. The second version of this song features the piano instead of the organ. Also, the second version of this song has what sounds like the guitar mimicking a vocal part from a 1960's soul song sung by Wilson Picket, called "Land of a 1000 dances", from memory, the "na na na na" part of that song. Bloodsucker - has a chugga chugga type riff which reminds me of Black Sabbath...but not sure if the Sabbath that it reminds me of came out before or after this song. Gillan gives his vocals a ballsy sound in this heavy metal type track. Features the organ too. Living wreck - a catchy track with a jagged, shrieky organ sound. Bassy with some of the lead guitar work being catchy in a funky kind of way. Gillan's vocals reminded me of the lead singer of Australian rockers Baby Animals, especially their classic track "Rush you"...the lead singer of the Baby Animals is a woman! Similar vocal style though. Think the Aussie group formed in the 1980s. Cry free - has some fast and intense drumming. The lead guitar is metaly, and the organ is featured too. Another bonus song which was not on the original album. The rest of the original album: Flight of the rat - 7:55 in length. The introduction to this song makes me think it might be influential as far as guitar style and song introductions go. The song is bookended by a sort of 1950s style rock'n'roll. The guitars sound very grungy and the lead guitar breaks reminded me of AC/DC, so perhaps AC/DC were influenced in this regard by Deep Purple. In the middle of the song, there is some funky drumming, and a drum solo near the end. Bassy track too, featuring the organ. Lyrics include "The memory is gone", which has echoes in Metallica's classic song "The memory remains". The second version of this song on this album has a funky sounding guitar bit in the middle...can't remember whether the original album version has this bit. Into the fire - heavy track with a catchy groove to it. Sometimes this song's riff reminded me of Black Sabbath's "Iron man", which would be released after this album came out. Hard lovin' man - has very nice sounding velvety notes on the bass guitar, I think. The riff reminded me of the later classic song "Barracuda" by Heart. Heart had two female singers...they sound pretty heavy metal in their singing in that song...remarkably similar to the sound that Gillan generates with his voice, when he makes it sound glassy. The outro to the song features some pure heavy metal guitar noodling. Lastly, the album has another bonus track in the instrumental "Jam stew" which is bassy and features lead guitar with solos. Overall, this is a good album which is entirely listenable (I'm not talking about the bonus tracks here, which are all separated by up to around half a minute of the band or engineers chatting. No gold in that, but the bonus version tracks often sound better than the original album versions provided on this cd). The length of the original album is about 43.5 minutes, but full material on this album roughly doubles the playing time. A good album to get for seminal works in the rock music, with Gillan's genre defining vocals, and the band's distinctive brand of organ based heavy rock! | ||
 | Deep Purple - In Rock: 25th Anniversary (UK) | |
| "The birth of mainstream, modern metal?" | 2009-07-23 |
|
Recently I've been checking out bands which get dubbed the originator of heavy metal...bands like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Have heard how Deep Purple sometimes gets given this label too, so I thought I'd check out their album which sometimes gets this distinction. To my ears, the debuts by Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin don't really sound like the heavy metal I know...they're both quite rootsy, but Black Sabbath do seem to introduce lyrical themes in their debut which heavy metal will obsess over in future (occultish ideas). Led Zeppelin II do have a kind of mainstream, heavy metal type song in "Whole lotta love", however, as a whole, I don't find it particularly metal. "In rock" does sound old school metal to me, and it came out before Black Sabbath's masterpiece, "Paranoid" was released. "Paranoid" DOES sound metal, whereas their debut didn't. So, for the moment, I'll give this album the distinction of giving rise to the heavy metal sound, in an album. It must be said, that it sounds to me like Deep Purple's new lead singer on this album, Ian Gillan, had a big influence on heavy metal singing, with his glassy wailing. Maybe that is jumping the gun a bit too much, as Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin did that kind of thing on Led Zeppelin II, which came out before this album, but maybe Gillan did it in a more metal way. If you want to go back further, pop star of the 1960s, Frankie Valli did a similar sort of thing, singing wise (think "Rag doll" and "Dawn" for starters), but it took guys with the guts to transfer that style into the rock arena, like Plant and Gillan, to make it a feature of some heavy metal music. Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson comes to mind as a singer who is treading down the Plant/Gillan path, vocals wise. Anyway, enough of that, here's what I think of this album: Best song: Black night - it's not on the original album, so it's a terrific bonus to get on this album. To me it sounds like that second version of this song on this cd is superior, sound quality wise. Can't say I can really tell the difference between the two versions, apart from the second version sounding crisp and fresh, as well as featuring a cool drum count in beat, which the first version doesn't have. On the cd display, the drum count in is lumped with the previous track, which I don't really appreciate. Child in time - an original album track. A 10:18 minute long epic song. Vocally, Gillan goes down Robert Plant's route from "Whole lotta love", but he takes it to whole new level...really hits the high notes, and riding the wave all the way into the beach. Both singers really play on the highly sexualised nature of their singing. The song itself is partly an organ heavy ballad, whilst the rest is more towards heavy metal. Deep Purple's organ sound is distinctive to them...The Doors are really the only other band that comes to mind when you think of bands utilising this instrument. One guitar solo in this song brought to mind Jimi Hendrix' style, and some of the fretwork in this song seems pure heavy metal to me, as is the drumming at times, which occasionally uses a military style rhythm, in an emphatic manner. The outro to this song is reminiscent of The Beatles. Gillan uses the phrase "Oh no" in this song, which may be referencing Black Sabbath's debut album...one of the songs off of that features the same lyric and sound, I think. Speed king - 5:53 in length. Features a raucous intro of heavy metal sounding noodling guitar solo. The organ in this song sounds like the church variety, and later it sounds like something that The Doors would compose. Lyrically, the song cites Little Richard, and Gillan has his heavy metal defining singing going on...high pitched shrieking. The song is bassy too, and the riff sounds like modern metal. Perhaps this song could be viewed as being influential for later movements in metal like Speed and Thrash. Just guessing. The song also features the lyric "Come on baby, drive me crazy" which is, if I'm not mistaken, also a line from a KISS song (on the third version of this song on this album, Gillan's voice actually reminds me of KISS' Paul Stanley, vocally). The third version of this song might have the better sound quality to it too. The second version of this song features the piano instead of the organ. Also, the second version of this song has what sounds like the guitar mimicking a vocal part from a 1960's soul song sung by Wilson Picket, called "Land of a 1000 dances", from memory, the "na na na na" part of that song. Bloodsucker - has a chugga chugga type riff which reminds me of Black Sabbath...but not sure if the Sabbath that it reminds me of came out before or after this song. Gillan gives his vocals a ballsy sound in this heavy metal type track. Features the organ too. Living wreck - a catchy track with a jagged, shrieky organ sound. Bassy with some of the lead guitar work being catchy in a funky kind of way. Gillan's vocals reminded me of the lead singer of Australian rockers Baby Animals, especially their classic track "Rush you"...the lead singer of the Baby Animals is a woman! Similar vocal style though. Think the Aussie group formed in the 1980s. Cry free - has some fast and intense drumming. The lead guitar is metaly, and the organ is featured too. Another bonus song which was not on the original album. The rest of the original album: Flight of the rat - 7:55 in length. The introduction to this song makes me think it might be influential as far as guitar style and song introductions go. The song is bookended by a sort of 1950s style rock'n'roll. The guitars sound very grungy and the lead guitar breaks reminded me of AC/DC, so perhaps AC/DC were influenced in this regard by Deep Purple. In the middle of the song, there is some funky drumming, and a drum solo near the end. Bassy track too, featuring the organ. Lyrics include "The memory is gone", which has echoes in Metallica's classic song "The memory remains". The second version of this song on this album has a funky sounding guitar bit in the middle...can't remember whether the original album version has this bit. Into the fire - heavy track with a catchy groove to it. Sometimes this song's riff reminded me of Black Sabbath's "Iron man", which would be released after this album came out. Hard lovin' man - has very nice sounding velvety notes on the bass guitar, I think. The riff reminded me of the later classic song "Barracuda" by Heart. Heart had two female singers...they sound pretty heavy metal in their singing in that song...remarkably similar to the sound that Gillan generates with his voice, when he makes it sound glassy. The outro to the song features some pure heavy metal guitar noodling. Lastly, the album has another bonus track in the instrumental "Jam stew" which is bassy and features lead guitar with solos. Overall, this is a good album which is entirely listenable (I'm not talking about the bonus tracks here, which are all separated by up to around half a minute of the band or engineers chatting. No gold in that, but the bonus version tracks often sound better than the original album versions provided on this cd). The length of the original album is about 43.5 minutes, but full material on this album roughly doubles the playing time. A good album to get for seminal works in the rock music, with Gillan's genre defining vocals, and the band's distinctive brand of organ based heavy rock! | ||
 | AC/DC - Powerage (Dlx) | |
| "Apparently Keith Richards favourite AC/DC album...extremely raw" | 2009-07-20 |
I mean Keef Richards, The Rolling Stones' geetar man. This is pretty much the factoid that made me want to buy this album, as otherwise the track listing held no appeal to me at all. I'm a bigger fan of AC/DC than of The Stones, but his word made taking a punt on this album seem worth it. To my mind, this is AC/DC at their rawest and most unrelentingly aggressive. The guitars have the sound of angle grinders on this album and have a unity of sound. That's all fine, but the main reason I can't give this album more than 3/5 is the fact that for the first time, perhaps, it lacks the kind of anthemic, iconic or stadium rocking song that the band does better than anyone else. Normally with an AC/DC album I can give at least one song a big tick, signifying that it is a classic by the band. Can't do that here. So, I'll have to say that this album might be appeal more to people who are into really raw and aggressive guitar music...say fans of raw punk or thrash metal. Lead guitarist Angus Young has said that this album is a bit of a lost classic in his view. I don't see it that way. If you have never heard an AC/DC album you like, then maybe this is the kind of album which you might like. Here's my thoughts on the tracks, starting with the best one, in my view, which is: Down payment blues - has a pulsing riff which sounds like it was recorded in a steel water tank or something. Has bass and lead guitar solo-ing. The songwriting is particularly good and has a grungy theme. Best of the rest: Sin city - not a bad riff in its favour, and has a very nice bass line in the middle. Lead guitar features as well. Gone shootin' - has a good psycho riff in its favour (stabbing sound) and the lead guitar work is good. The rest: Rock'n'roll damnation - the riff reminds me of Bowie's "Jean genie" and Foreigner's "Hot blooded"...there is a line about his temperature in the song. Sometimes the guitar sounds a bit like a harmonica, if that makes sense. Good drum outro, which is unusual, in that normally the drumming in this band is of the "streak and three veg" variety. Gimme a bullet - angle grinder sounding guitars. Bass. Riff raff - sounds to me if some of the distortion in this song is unintentional...i.e. the studio not being able to capture the sounds the band was making. Lyrically, Bon Scott pounds out the title. Bass. Kicked in the teeth - has a Led Zeppelin vibe to it, I think. Interesting lead guitar texture in one section. What's next to the moon - just made a note of this song for mentioning someone called "Casey Jones", which is obscure to me. Might have to look them up. I made no notes on "What's next to the moon" and "Up to my neck in you". Nothing much grabbed my attention in them. This isn't a bad album, it just lacks the kind of killer songs that the band is known for. And the band has never sounded this in your face either. Basically, I think that this album will either appeal to people who don't like the kind of AC/DC albums I love, or who like raw genres like punk or thrash etc. For the ultimate Australian pub rock album, I'd recommend AC/DC's "Let there be rock". Otherwise, for their best anthemic albums, something like: Back in black T.N.T. (still available, new too. "High voltage" is the international version of this album) Dirty deeds done dirt cheap (ideally, you want the Australian version which had "Jailbreak" on it, a classic) Razors Edge. Other genres which may appeal, if you like the rawness of this album: The Saints: (I'm) Stranded. Australian punk pioneers. Proto thrash/speed punk-metal type tracks. Slayer: Undisputed attitude. Punk covers by extreme speed metallers. Some classic punk tunes unearthed. Metallica: Master of puppets. The ultimate thrash metal album, probably. Nirvana: Nevermind. Has some very hard punk type songs on it. | ||
 | AC/DC - Powerage | |
| "Apparently Keith Richards favourite AC/DC album...extremely raw" | 2009-07-20 |
I mean Keef Richards, The Rolling Stones' geetar man. This is pretty much the factoid that made me want to buy this album, as otherwise the track listing held no appeal to me at all. I'm a bigger fan of AC/DC than of The Stones, but his word made taking a punt on this album seem worth it. To my mind, this is AC/DC at their rawest and most unrelentingly aggressive. The guitars have the sound of angle grinders on this album and have a unity of sound. That's all fine, but the main reason I can't give this album more than 3/5 is the fact that for the first time, perhaps, it lacks the kind of anthemic, iconic or stadium rocking song that the band does better than anyone else. Normally with an AC/DC album I can give at least one song a big tick, signifying that it is a classic by the band. Can't do that here. So, I'll have to say that this album might be appeal more to people who are into really raw and aggressive guitar music...say fans of raw punk or thrash metal. Lead guitarist Angus Young has said that this album is a bit of a lost classic in his view. I don't see it that way. If you have never heard an AC/DC album you like, then maybe this is the kind of album which you might like. Here's my thoughts on the tracks, starting with the best one, in my view, which is: Down payment blues - has a pulsing riff which sounds like it was recorded in a steel water tank or something. Has bass and lead guitar solo-ing. The songwriting is particularly good and has a grungy theme. Best of the rest: Sin city - not a bad riff in its favour, and has a very nice bass line in the middle. Lead guitar features as well. Gone shootin' - has a good psycho riff in its favour (stabbing sound) and the lead guitar work is good. The rest: Rock'n'roll damnation - the riff reminds me of Bowie's "Jean genie" and Foreigner's "Hot blooded"...there is a line about his temperature in the song. Sometimes the guitar sounds a bit like a harmonica, if that makes sense. Good drum outro, which is unusual, in that normally the drumming in this band is of the "streak and three veg" variety. Gimme a bullet - angle grinder sounding guitars. Bass. Riff raff - sounds to me if some of the distortion in this song is unintentional...i.e. the studio not being able to capture the sounds the band was making. Lyrically, Bon Scott pounds out the title. Bass. Kicked in the teeth - has a Led Zeppelin vibe to it, I think. Interesting lead guitar texture in one section. What's next to the moon - just made a note of this song for mentioning someone called "Casey Jones", which is obscure to me. Might have to look them up. I made no notes on "What's next to the moon" and "Up to my neck in you". Nothing much grabbed my attention in them. This isn't a bad album, it just lacks the kind of killer songs that the band is known for. And the band has never sounded this in your face either. Basically, I think that this album will either appeal to people who don't like the kind of AC/DC albums I love, or who like raw genres like punk or thrash etc. In one of the sleeve notes to an AC/DC album I've recently bought, it was mentioned that the band was considered punk by the British media. That was news to me. Perhaps the kind of laddish chants you found in songs such as "T.N.T" brought that judgement out of the music media. In any case, since Powerage was released in the wake of the punk movement which erupted the previous year, perhaps Powerage is sort of AC/DC's punk album. It just lacks the catchy punk riffs that the genre was creating. Over a year earlier, Australian pioneers of punk, The Saints, released "(I'm) Stranded" which also had egregious raw guitar sounds. Maybe AC/DC took that from their album? For the ultimate Australian pub rock album, I'd recommend AC/DC's "Let there be rock". Otherwise, for their best anthemic albums, something like: Back in black T.N.T. (still available, new too. "High voltage" is the international version of this album) Dirty deeds done dirt cheap (ideally, you want the Australian version which had "Jailbreak" on it, a classic) Razors Edge. Other genres which may appeal, if you like the rawness of this album: The Saints: (I'm) Stranded. Australian punk pioneers. Proto thrash/speed punk-metal type tracks. Slayer: Undisputed attitude. Punk covers by extreme speed metallers. Some classic punk tunes unearthed. Metallica: Master of puppets. The ultimate thrash metal album, probably. Nirvana: Nevermind. Has some very hard punk type songs on it. | ||
 | AC/DC - Powerage | |
| "Apparently Keith Richards favourite AC/DC album...extremely raw" | 2009-07-20 |
|
I mean Keef Richards, The Rolling Stones' geetar man. This is pretty much the factoid that made me want to buy this album, as otherwise the track listing held no appeal to me at all. I'm a bigger fan of AC/DC than of The Stones, but his word made taking a punt on this album seem worth it. To my mind, this is AC/DC at their rawest and most unrelentingly aggressive. The guitars have the sound of angle grinders on this album and have a unity of sound. That's all fine, but the main reason I can't give this album more than 3/5 is the fact that for the first time, perhaps, it lacks the kind of anthemic, iconic or stadium rocking song that the band does better than anyone else. Normally with an AC/DC album I can give at least one song a big tick, signifying that it is a classic by the band. Can't do that here. So, I'll have to say that this album might be appeal more to people who are into really raw and aggressive guitar music...say fans of raw punk or thrash metal. Lead guitarist Angus Young has said that this album is a bit of a lost classic in his view. I don't see it that way. If you have never heard an AC/DC album you like, then maybe this is the kind of album which you might like. Here's my thoughts on the tracks, starting with the best one, in my view, which is: Down payment blues - has a pulsing riff which sounds like it was recorded in a steel water tank or something. Has bass and lead guitar solo-ing. The songwriting is particularly good and has a grungy theme. Best of the rest: Sin city - not a bad riff in its favour, and has a very nice bass line in the middle. Lead guitar features as well. Gone shootin' - has a good psycho riff in its favour (stabbing sound) and the lead guitar work is good. The rest: Rock'n'roll damnation - the riff reminds me of Bowie's "Jean genie" and Foreigner's "Hot blooded"...there is a line about his temperature in the song. Sometimes the guitar sounds a bit like a harmonica, if that makes sense. Good drum outro, which is unusual, in that normally the drumming in this band is of the "streak and three veg" variety. Gimme a bullet - angle grinder sounding guitars. Bass. Riff raff - sounds to me if some of the distortion in this song is unintentional...i.e. the studio not being able to capture the sounds the band was making. Lyrically, Bon Scott pounds out the title. Bass. Kicked in the teeth - has a Led Zeppelin vibe to it, I think. Interesting lead guitar texture in one section. What's next to the moon - just made a note of this song for mentioning someone called "Casey Jones", which is obscure to me. Might have to look them up. I made no notes on "What's next to the moon" and "Up to my neck in you". Nothing much grabbed my attention in them. This isn't a bad album, it just lacks the kind of killer songs that the band is known for. And the band has never sounded this in your face either. Basically, I think that this album will either appeal to people who don't like the kind of AC/DC albums I love, or who like raw genres like punk or thrash etc. In one of the sleeve notes to an AC/DC album I've recently bought, it was mentioned that the band was considered punk by the British media. That was news to me. Perhaps the kind of laddish chants you found in songs such as "T.N.T" brought that judgement out of the music media. In any case, since Powerage was released in the wake of the punk movement which erupted the previous year, perhaps Powerage is sort of AC/DC's punk album. It just lacks the catchy punk riffs that the genre was creating. Over a year earlier, Australian pioneers of punk, The Saints, released "(I'm) Stranded" which also had egregious raw guitar sounds. Maybe AC/DC took that from their album? For the ultimate Australian pub rock album, I'd recommend AC/DC's "Let there be rock". Otherwise, for their best anthemic albums, something like: Back in black T.N.T. (still available, new too. "High voltage" is the international version of this album) Dirty deeds done dirt cheap (ideally, you want the Australian version which had "Jailbreak" on it, a classic) Razors Edge. Other genres which may appeal, if you like the rawness of this album: The Saints: (I'm) Stranded. Australian punk pioneers. Proto thrash/speed punk-metal type tracks. Slayer: Undisputed attitude. Punk covers by extreme speed metallers. Some classic punk tunes unearthed. Metallica: Master of puppets. The ultimate thrash metal album, probably. Nirvana: Nevermind. Has some very hard punk type songs on it. | ||
 | Cream - Fresh Cream | |
| "Blues and bluesy rock'n'roll debut not their finest. 65/100" | 2009-07-17 |
If this is the only Cream album I'd bought, then I'd have to say that I can't believe how they are held in such high esteem by critics. Truth be told, of the bands of this era that I've lately been exploring, Cream would have to be the one I was most reluctant to try. Have heard that Cream were influential in giving rise to heavy metal, which is why I explored them. Anyway, this is the first album of theirs that I bought, and here's what I think: With bands who have songs that I really like, I put a tick next to that song in my notes, which I use to write these reviews. No ticks in my notes for this album. The next best thing is a dot next to the song title in my notes, which signifies that the song is alright or of interest in some way. I give two songs a dot: Dreaming - has a 50s style to it, with nice multi-vocals going on, which complement and harmonise with each other well. Might appeal to people who like British icon Cliff Richard's 50's music. Sweet wine - has a poetic style lyrical form, good backing vocals and an angular, sharp sounding lead guitar. Since I was listening to this album to hear traces of what would become heavy metal, I did note that this song had a metal style lead guitar...but maybe I am too generous in this regard, perhaps. One song which might be of particular interest to music history buffs is: Toad - an instrumental comprising a band jam at the start and end of the track, and a very long drum solo by Ginger Baker in the middle. I'm not a big music history buff myself, but this is the earliest drum solo instrumental I know of in the modern era of music (which I put at the time of the arrival of The Beatles). Might as well go through the rest of the tracks here, in order: I feel free - has an a capella intro with melodic multi vocals. Nice keyboards, which maybe reminds me of Mike Oldfield. Also feature cymbals, I think (or maybe tambourine) and bass and lead guitar. N.S.U. - has a poppy lyrical style and noticeable lead guitar. Sleepy time time - a laid back bluesy lead guitar feel. Has inconsequential lyrics and noticeable bass guitar. Spoonful - bluesy, with harmonica and bass guitar. Vocals sound a wannabe African American! Cat's squirrel - an instrumental which includes the harmonica. Four until late - a country flavoured song with harmonica. Rollin' and tumblin' - high energy blues with a good harmonica part. Again, the singer sounds like he would rather be black. Has some laddish backing singing. I'm so glad - very simple, lyrically, with the title repeated a lot, as well as other lyrics repeated a lot, too. This song is catchy though. Has backing vocals and bass guitar. The melody sounds familiar though-there may be a song currently getting airplay at the time of this review which features a guitar melody like the melody in this song. If you've got any idea what that current song may be and whether I'm right or not, let me know! If you're a casual explorer of music and want to check out Cream, in my opinion "Wheels of fire" is a great album and definitely worth getting. If you like the second cd which comes with that title sometimes, then Fresh Cream may be for you-it even includes an extended version of Toad, with an even longer drum solo...insanely long, at around 13 minutes! Disraeli Gears has been included on the series "Classic albums". Whilst I like it, and find it decent/solid, I don't think it is a classic album in the way that Wheels Of Fire is. As this album was released in the mid 60s, it does have an issue common with releases around this time...faux stereo. By that I mean the stereo effect is quite limited to what you get today-it was until the 70s that albums generally had a good stereo sound to them. Also, in this cd the instruments often sound distant-not crisp, and fresh in other words. Other bands of this era which I've explored recently and would recommend more than this Cream effort include: The Jimi Hendrix Experience: "Are you experienced" and "Electric Ladyland" are essential purchases, I think, but "Axis: Bold as love" is in the same boat as "Disraeli Gears"...desirable. Led Zeppelin: "IV" is an essential purchase, whilst I think, maybe, that "III" and "Houses of the holy" are desirable. Black Sabbath: "Paranoid" is essential. Albums like "Sabotage" and "Master of reality" are very good too, but their post "Paranoid" albums are generally consistent up until "Sabotage". | ||
 | Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced | |
| "Doing it his way...85/100" | 2009-07-12 |
Recently I've been exploring acts which are credited with giving rise to heavy metal, so I've looked into Cream and Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Jimi Hendrix comes into that grouping in my exploration of this form of music. Do have to confess though that I reluctantly explored all these groups and wasn't expecting to find a lot to like them. That's because for most of them, you either hear very little of their music-or none at all-on mainstream Australian FM commercial music stations. So, the logic is, if they don't play them, they can't be that good, right? Wrong. First up, I have to point out that the version of this album that I bought in Australia seems to be modelled on the original American release, plus it also has the tracks which featured on the original British version, plus some bonus tracks. The British version was first off the rank, and the American version was more like a "Best of". All this makes it hard judging how good this album is, as I'm not sure which version critics are alluding to when they nominate this as one of the all time great albums. In any case, this version does stick quite closely to the track listings of both the American and British versions, with some differences. Must mention that I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the stereo field in this album. Was expecting the faux stereo treatment that you often get with albums of this era. It's superior to the stereo effect you often get with Beatles' music of this time. And I'm also wondering if some of the good studio effects generated on this album predated anything The Beatles were doing in this regard. Jimi Hendrix wasn't really an artist I was expecting to get a lot out of, but I must say that I found the album to be listenable in its entirety...no bad songs as such. Mitch Mitchell's drumming is satisfying (other drummers who I find satisfying to listen to are Stewart Copeland of The Police and Dave Grohl of Nirvana). Hendrix has own style of bluesy and heavy rock in this album, and the sonic experimentation in it is a revealation. His vocal style is also unique - he's not a great 'pure' singer, but he compensates with his charisma. Anyway, here's my rundown of the best tracks from this album- The best song is, in my opinion: Hey Joe - has a bluesy lead guitar intro and very nice backing vocals. Travails dark themes, lyrically, and has some spanking drumwork too. This song was added to the original American release of the album-so, it made the US version stronger. Next best songs: Are you experienced? - has a catchy vocal melody and utilises studio effects-backwards guitar sounds and the like, by the sounds of it. Not sure if this predated The Beatles' studio experimentation, but if it did, it must have influenced them. This song has some simply but catchy piano playing (notes), noticeable bass guitar and what sound like some of the effects the deejays of the hip-hop era produced with their turntables. Foxey lady - features a heavy rock rhythm Purple haze - a very heavy, bluesy song, with the vocals biased towards the right hand side of the speakers (the faux stereo effect I alluded to earlier), but which compensates with some better stereo effects elsewhere. Found this to be heavier than anything in Cream's debut. Another new addition to the original US release. Love or confusion - features distorted, country style guitars. Some of the distortion may just be bad remastering or the source not being the best. Catchy song in any case. May this be love - dreamy sounding in parts. Laid back vocals and style. Drums sound like tin-lids or something...interesting effect in any case. Third stone from the sun - has a familiar melody, which I just can't place (suggestions on this would be appreciated!). Heavily reliant on studio effects, the song features distorted vocals and poetic lyrics, in a Jim Morrison kind of way (the lead singer of Jimi's contemporary band The Doors). Has noticeable bass guitar. Can you see me? - has proper stereo sound as far as the vocals go. Catchy rhythm with tinny sounding drums. The track has some crackling sounds, so maybe the source wasn't perfect. Originally on the British release, but not the later US version. Other songs of interest: The wind cries Mary - has an iconic, laid back guitar groove. The guitar has a rich, velvety texture to it. Maybe this song deserves to be in my list above. Not on the original British version of this album. Manic depression - bluesy rock song, with a heavy metaly lead guitar. The drumming in this song is interesting...it comes in waves. I don't live today - bluesy garage rock. Has tinny drums that are nonetheless interesting. Features studio effects. Fire - the first song with noticeable bass guitar. Satisfying and interesting sounding drum sound. Stone free - sounds like it utilises a cow bell for percussion. 51st anniversary - I think that this song is about Jimi not wanting to get married or something! Features the bass. Highway chile - has a sort of country blues feel to it. There is a nice little guitar bit before the lyrics kick in. Features bass. Red house - has a bluesy, laid back groove to it. Lots of bluesy lead guitar too. On the original British release, but not the American release. Remember - didn't make any notes on this song. I think I've mentioned every song on this release now. The next Hendrix Experience album to rival this one was "Electric Ladyland", which I think marginally shades this one, though the comparison is unfair, in that the version reviewed here has so many bonus tracks. "Axis: Bold as love" is interesting, and may grow on me, but I don't think it reaches the heights of his debut or 3rd album. Other acts from this era who have albums I endorse include: Cream: "Wheels of fire" is an essential purchase. If you like the 2nd cd which sometimes gets lumped with it, you may want to check out their debut album. If not, go for "Disraeli Gears", which is desirable, but I don't think it deserves this critical acclaim that it enjoys. Led Zeppelin: "IV" or "ZOZO" as it is sometimes know, is an essential purchase. "III" is desirable and may appeal to Hendrix fans. "Houses of the holy" is in the same boat as "Axis" in my view...doesn't seem as good as their best work, but may have potential to grow on you. Black Sabbath: "Paranoid" is an essential album. Pretty much everything after that, until "Sabotage" is consistent in quality, though I do prefer "Sabotage" and "Master of reality" the most. Their debut is unlike anything they did afterwards-I'm not a big fan of it, but others are, so you may want to check that out. | ||
 | MC5 - Kick Out the Jams | |
| "The first hard rock album? 75/100" | 2009-06-26 |
This isn't an album I would have come across myself without any help. Talking music on online forums I might have heard one person recommend this album as being great. And some months back I saw it mentioned in a rock magazine. Those two things together made me want to check this album out. Musically, I find the sound harder than some other albums of the time that I've been exploring, mainly with reference to the origins of heavy metal. So, I'd say that I find the music in this harder than Cream, Jimi Hendrix and the debut albums of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Often the music is what you'd call 'heavy/hard rock'. If you are familiar with AC/DC's no hits album "Powerage", it's not a million miles away from that...sort of MC5 doing AC/DC before AC/DC. It's not as catchy as AC/DC's ultimate Australian pub rock album "Let there be rock", but it's in that kind of territory, or some of Alice Cooper's harder sounding songs. The following year, Australian band The Masters Apprentices released perhaps the heaviest rock song up to that point in time, "Turn up your radio", which was a killer track. To the album...it seems to be an entirely live performance, and it does have some strong swear words, occasionally. Some of the pre-song banter by the lead singer makes you think that the band is of African American origin, but looking at the cover art, they seem pretty white to me! Not sure, but maybe the band is playing to a black audience, and showing solidarity with them or something. Generally consistent in quality, the songs which I liked the best were: I want you right now: my pick as the best song on this album. It's very heavy rock (perhaps the heaviest sound in music to that point in time...certainly heavier than Black Sabbath's debut album). There is some good multi-vocals happening, and I like the slower tempo part of the song. The song's riff is ball park similar to The Trogg's classic "Wild thing". Best of the rest- Rocket reducer: Reminded me of Australian hard rock band of the 70s-80s The Angels, and their song "She keeps no secrets", with regard to the guitar sound. The vocals also reminded me of Australian band Gangagang's classic "Gimme some lovin'". The song has lots of lead guitar histrionics. Starship: An epic song which runs to 8:15 minutes. It's very heavy rock with a strong riff. It later gets a bit more performance arty, in a trippy kind of way. Lyrically, it's poetic in a The Doors kind of way. Experimental. The rest - Ramblin' Rose: has an introduction with evangelical zeal. Becomes heavy rock'n'roll, with fuzzy rhythm guitar and a squealing lead guitar. Kick out the jams: rock'n'roll song with spanking drums. The song which features a strong swear word, even by today's standards. Chorus is sort of catchy. Come together: Noise rock. Sort of equivalent to those AC/DC records I mentioned before....Let There Be Rock, and Powerage, with regard to the guitar sound. Borderline: Has grating guitars, some good rhythm guitar and multi-vocals. Motor City is burning: Bluesy rock'n'roll with a bassy boogie shuffle and B.B.King type vocals. If you like the rawness of this record, try AC/DC's Powerage album. If you like the hooks in the songs here, you might enjoy AC/DC's "Let there be rock" record. | ||
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