Classic Compilation: The Lightning Seeds – Like You Do… The Best of The Lightning Seeds
For some the phrase pop-music is an instant turn off, but in truth they are missing the point a little. The whole point of music is for an audience to be entertained, be it the moody teen listening to their favourite epic maths-rock opus, my jazz playing friend getting into the swing with his Count …
Not Forgotten: Mott the Hoople – Mott the Hoople
As debut albums go, Mott the Hoople’s self titled effort is an enthusiastic display of aspiration, even if it does ultimately fall short of being an all out success. Kicking off with an instrumental cover of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” which gives an impression of the crackling energy levels that the band routinely …
Classic Compilation: B. B. King – His Definitive Greatest Hits
B. B. King was a legend and legend is not a word I use lightly. He was and remains an icon of popular music. A blues guitar player whose career ran parallel to rock and roll and who managed to maintain a dignified career for multiple decades, he outlasted contemporaries, weathered constantly shifting fashions in …
Not Forgotten: Elton John – 17.11.70
After years, if not decades, of wandering about the cultural wilderness, it has reached the point where even the most indifferent music fan has to admit that between 1970 and 1975, Elton John put out some pretty good music. While it is albums like Tumbleweed Connection, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Captain Fantastic and the …
Album Review: Sparks – Hippopotamus
When Sparks roared back to relevance with 2002‘s Lil’ Beethoven, it was treated as a glorious return to form. How long that form would last was another matter. Was it a one off, or the start of a more sustained period of creative success? 2006’s Hello Young Lovers very much confirmed that the previous album’s …
Not Forgotten: Jethro Tull – Crest of a Knave
Like many acts from the 60s and &0s, when the 80s rolled around Jethro Tull struggled with something of an identity crisis, desperately trying to blend the traditional core values of their sound with new and exciting possibilities that the latest technology offered. The result was a genuine mixed bag of albums, from the synthetic …
Classic Compilation: James – The Best of James
James are one of those bands that I return to every now and again. It’s not as if I am a massive fan, but they have slowly crept into my album collection over the years and The Best of James ably demonstrates what a great band they were when it came to the pop song. …
Not Forgotten: Edwyn Collins – I’m Not Following You
Pity poor old Edwyn Collins. If the world were a just and fair place, we would be hailing Orange Juice as the crown princes of 80s indie, but instead it’s The Smiths that everyone remembers. Understandably peeved, Collins went off in a huff to record a string of micro-budget solo albums which failed to sell, …
Classic Album: R.E.M. – Document
Like many R.E.M. fans here in the UK, it wasn’t until the early 90s that I first became aware of them through hit singles like “Shiny Happy People”, “Losing My Religion” and “Everybody Hurts”. As a result of this, I am most familiar with the albums from their period signed to Warner Brothers Records. Sure, …
Not Forgotten: Stereophonics – Word Gets Around
It is the late 90s, the Britpop bubble has just burst, New Labour has started to settle in to governing the UK and I find myself studying in Wigan, birth place of Stuart Maconie, Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls and George Formby. In terms of popular music, girl groups, boy bands and annoying dance-pop have started …