rock/metal rewind
Classic Album: Dire Straits – Brothers in Arms
That’s the trouble with first love – it only ever happens once. While some of us finally find what we are looking for later in life, you can never turn the clock back and recapture that feeling you had when you were a goofy adolescent with your hormones bubbling over and lusting after someone that …
Not Forgotten: The White Stripes – White Blood Cells
From the first press they received here in the UK, it’s fair to say that The White Stripes came across as gimmicky as hell. Allegedly brother and sister, the garage rock duo restricted their wardrobe to red, white and black (which at least would make sorting loads for the washing machine relatively easy, but potentially …
Classic Album: Motorhead – No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith
Black clad, rickenbecker-bass wielding, rock and roll enthusiast Lemmy spent much of his post-Hawkwind career fronting Motorhead, a band that could play a range of slow, medium and fast-paced numbers, as long as they were loud. No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith was a well-received live album which cast a long, often mutton-chopped shadow over the band’s …
Not Forgotten (Glastonbury 2016 Special Pt3): Electric Light Orchestra – Eldorado
The clue is in the name. Electric Light Orchestra. The brainchild of Jeff Lynne and fellow Brummie and future Wizzard Roy Wood, they had initially started out as sideshoot of Sixties popsters The Move. They got off to a good start too, with debut single “10538 Overture” becoming a top ten single, however their self-titled …
Classic Album (Glastonbury 2016 Special Pt1): Muse – Black Holes and Revelations
Few would dispute the fact that Muse have been one of the most consistently successful British rock bands of the last twenty years. The unchanging power-trio line up has steadily mined a seem of modern rock that has seen them release a string of high-charting albums, which has seen them plastered across the front pages …
Classic Album: Queen – Sheer Heart Attack
Sometimes when a band gets it right, the results can blow their previous work clean out of the water. Sheer Heart Attack was the first album where Queen got it unarguably right, despite it being still consisting of elements of hard rock, prog and glam, this time they were blended in such a way that …
Not Forgotten: Fuzzy Duck
Sometimes curiosity can get the best of most of us. From the gloriously weird cover art, to the band’s name being a spoonerism, there’s enough here to indicate that there’s something just a bit offbeat going on with Fuzzy Duck’s debut album. Add to this the fact that a bit of research reveals that it …
Not Forgotten: The Sensational Alex Harvey Band – The Impossible Dream
Having established themselves as one of the best value acts on the live circuit, and releasing a pair of albums that captured an idiosyncratic style, by their third studio album The Sensational Alex Harvey Band were ready to make the next step towards commercial acceptance. Or as accepted as any band fronted by a diminutive …
Not Forgotten: Steely Dan – Countdown to Ecstasy
Countdown To Ecstasy was an album that I initially struggled with. After the radio-friendly songs of their debut, Steely Dan decided to stretch things further, cut a set of longer than average songs (only two tracks on the entire album clock in at under five minutes) and put an increasing amount of focus on the …
Not Forgotten: Little Feat – Dixie Chicken
The third album from Little Feat saw a subtle move towards a more groove-laden funk style. While Lowell George was still band leader, he was starting to share more in the way of songwriting duties, and the addition of new band members, Paul Barrere and Sam Clayton, saw Little Feat approach Dixie Chicken with a …