album review
Not Forgotten – The Rutles
After years of only being available as a hideously overpriced import, when The Rutles finally received an official CD release in the UK, it was at least a decade too late, but hey, we have it now and the pre-fab four have never sounded better. So why was it at least a decade too late? …
Not Forgotten – Mercury Rev – All Is Dream
After the totally unexpected comeback that was the brilliant Deserter’s Songs, Mercury Rev had to put out an album that was a suitable follow up to one of the key albums of the late 90s. Their track record of coming up with the goods when the chips was so far untested and there was the …
NOT FORGOTTEN – JELLYFISH – BELLYBUTTON
The early 90s were an unexpectedly fertile time for power-pop. The Posies blended harmonies and overloaded guitars with dreams of joining Big Star, Matthew Sweet proved it was possible to be a power-pop solo artist, Del Amitri were a little more rock, but were more than welcome to sit at the table, Crowded House were …
NOT FORGOTTEN – WARREN ZEVON – WARREN ZEVON
There are some albums where you can actually hear the substances that went into their creation. This album is much like Hotel California and Rumours and pretty much every LA rock album recorded in the late 70s, in that they all sound big, flashy and possibly suffered a little from having too much money thrown …
NOT FORGOTTEN – NEIL YOUNG – TIME FADES AWAY
As this alphabetic odyssey of overlooked albums draws to an end I look back on the last few weeks and have to admit I’ve surprised myself about some of the albums that I’ve selected to celebrate (Billy Joel’s Cold Spring Harbor?) and even discovered a gem that I myself had previously overlooked (the great Songs …
NOT FORGOTTEN – XTC – APPLE VENUS VOL. 1
The British terraced house is a humble dwelling. I’m not talking the huge Edwardian terraced villas that sell for obscene amounts of money in London, no I’m talking about the rows upon rows of two and three bedroom houses that make up the bulk of the majority towns and cities across Britain. Houses where your …
NOT FORGOTTEN – TOM WAITS – CLOSING TIME
Throughout his career Tom Waits has made his reputation for being a wilful and wayward force of creativity in music. His reputation is legendary, his output is revered by his peers and if anything, he’s become increasingly uncompromising as his career has progressed. As a result of this his best known albums like Heart Attack …
NOT FORGOTTEN – VIOLENT FEMMES – VIOLENT FEMMES
It’s been some time since I realised that I am getting out of touch with the guitar music that appeals to today’s youth. I can understand why the music in question appeals to those in their teens and early twenties, but it just doesn’t appeal to me, I’ve moved on, I’ve (for want of a …
NOT FORGOTTEN – U.N.P.O.C. – FIFTH COLUMN
I’ve been writing for Backseat Mafia for a while now, prior to that I honed my music reviewing on a website where members of the public were encouraged to review the music in their collection. It was as a tiny part of this small but enthusiastic online community that I first encountered Fifth Column, the …
NOT FORGOTTEN – SPARKS – HELLO YOUNG LOVERS
Once in a blue moon a new album is released by a well established act that stands out as the best of their career. It’s a rare thing for sure and it almost invariably only happens to acts that have not previously experienced the level of success that they had so richly deserved (the trappings …