Classic rock
Classic Album: Queen – Jazz
Given the amount of effort that Queen had put in to create the more direct music and production of 1977’s News of the World, it’s follow up, Jazz, is quite an odd album, as it’s obvious that Queen were back tracking a little and trying to recreate the bombast of A Night at the Opera. …
Not Forgotten: The Moody Blues – In Search of the Lost Chord
The Moody Blues were in an interesting place when their third album, In Search of the Lost Chord, was released in August 1968. With their roots in the mid-60s Brum-Beat movement, their second single, a cover of “Go Now” hit the top of the singles chart, prompting the release of a tie in album. Follow …
Not Forgotten: Electric Light Orchestra – On The Third Day
Prior to On the Third Day, The Electric Light Orchestra looked to be in jeopardy. With co-leader Roy Wood having departed part-way through sessions for the band’s second album, and both of their albums to date being weighed down by some of the stodgiest of stodgy prog rock, things were not exactly looking promising. There …
Classic Album: The Who – Quadrophenia
After his failure to realise his full ambition ambition with Lifehouse, Pete Townshend must have been doubly determined to get his next concept album made and for it to be an all round improvement on The Who’s conceptual high-water mark, Tommy. It needed to have a complex narrative, have all the trademarks of a landmark …
Box Set Review: Mott the Hoople – Mental Train (The Island Years 1969-71)
Before “All The Young Dudes”, before Top of the Pops appearances, before David Bowie, Mott The Hoople were a brilliant live act that arguably struggled to transfer the tremendous energy that they generated on stage to the studio. It’s not that they didn’t try, indeed, they recorded four solid albums that were met with mass …
Classic Album: The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland
For better or worse, my opinion of the work of Jimi Hendrix has always been smothered somewhat by the blanket opinion that he was the greatest guitar player in the history of the fretboard. This is an opinion held by the cool police, nostalgia freaks, my dad, and the music press. It is expected that …
Not Forgotten: Bruce Springsteen – The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle
Even after four and a half decades, there’s still something oddly lovable about The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. I guess it’s the fact that it really tries to be something we all want it to be. Ultimately though, like anything that tries too hard, it fails to reach the goals it …
News: Mott the Hoople to release Mental Train (The Island Years 1969-71) six CD box set
The Mental Train’s a rollin’… It’s probably fair to say that Mott the Hoople had a career of two halves. While it took the Bowie-penned to catapult them to commercial success, it is notable that despite the meagre sales of their previous four albums Mott the Hoople had recorded for Island Records, they had earned …
Not Forgotten: Neil Young – Tonight’s the Night
The opening title track starts with the saddest piano notes you’ve ever heard, droplets of sorrow falling onto a lake of melancholy, and you quickly start to realise that this isn’t the same Neil Young that sent endless numbers of music fans to sleep with the bland Harvest, this is a Neil Young dealing with …
Not Forgotten: Warren Zevon – The Wind
The Wind is a difficult album to review, as the fact that Warren Zevon passed away barely a couple of weeks after it’s release casts a long shadow over it. It is an album which will forever be linked to his death and as such, it’s difficult to assess it on its own merits. Indeed, …