rock/metal rewind
Classic Compilation: Slade – Wall of Hits
The early 70s were a grim time here in the UK. Vast unemployment, the three day week, civil unrest, four day guitar solos. The much needed antidote to this misery was the playful escapism that was glam rock, which consisted of largely simple rock and roll tunes with a defined commercial edge, ridiculous stage costumes …
Classic Compilation: Queen – Greatest Hits I & II
When it comes to compilations, there is one mega-selling release that overshadows even ABBA Gold and The Beatles Red and Blue Albums for the sheer amount of units shifted. Queen’s Greatest Hits is as much a definitive statement as any of their studio albums, and is the single biggest selling album of all time here …
Classic Album: Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell
40 years after its release Bat Out Of Hell remains big, preposterous and totally mad. This is the album that took it upon itself to fuse hard rock, doo wop, insanely overwrought ballads, prog-rock and Wagner to create something that to this day no one has been able to emulate, least of all the two …
Classic Album: Electric Light Orchestra – Out of the Blue
When it comes to bloated and pompous 70s pop / rock not many matched Electric Light Orchestra for ridiculously overwrought statements, and 1977’s Out Of The Blue is their most overwrought album by some distance. Nevertheless, I think it’s fair to say that Out Of The Blue is my (as long as many others’) favourite …
Not Forgotten: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – Live / 1975-85
40 tracks of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band live and rocking in various theatres, arenas and coliseums over a decade may seem excessive, until you consider the fact that, over three decades later since this live monolith’s initial release, few live acts can come close to matching the heavyweight reputation of their epic, …
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 …
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 …
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 Album: The Who – Who’s Next
Ambition and enthusiasm are great things, but sometimes you need to understand your limitations. Since The Who had released the cracking concept double album Tommy, Pete Townshend had come up with his next big idea for the next Who album, but he was unable to explain it properly to his band mates and other interested …
Classic Album: Def Leppard – Hysteria
The trials and tribulations on the road to releasing Hysteria have been well documented, and given the amount of work Def Leppard and producer Mutt Lange put into this album, it is perhaps no surprise that it sold in the eye-watering volumes that it did. What is more of a surprise is how little credit …