rock/metal rewind
Not Forgotten: Ray Davies – The Storyteller
The rock star’s autobiography is big business these days, but rarely are they as revelatory, or as informative as they could be and even rarer do they actually make for enlightening reading. There are, of course, honourable exceptions. Indeed, both volumes of Julian Cope’s autobiography are wildly entertaining (whether you are actually a fan of …
Not Forgotten: Thin Lizzy – Live and Dangerous
The live album was a right of passage for the majority of 70s rockers. By and large it was a great leveller, as it could find otherwise massively successful acts amplify their lesser qualities (Led Zeppelin’s The Song Remains the Same, Yes’s Yesshows, etc), on the other hand it could be a handy document of …
Not Forgotten: Fleetwood Mac – Fleetwood Mac
The career path of Fleetwood Mac has been a long, complicated and much storied one. Following their Brit-blues-boom beginnings, they enjoyed a flurry of initial success in the UK before band founder Peter Green departed. They would then have difficulty retaining guitar players until American Bob Welch gave them a sense of stability during which …
Not Forgotten: The Waterboys – This Is the Sea
Following a number of false starts, A Pagan Place had finally established The Waterboys as not only an act of great promise, and had come tantalisingly close to establishing them as one of the key acts of the decade and masters of the sort of epic and emotional Celtic rock that was poised to fill …
Not Forgotten – Nazareth – Razamanaz
Nazareth were (and still are), one of the hidden gems of hard rock. Admittedly their first couple of albums weren’t spectacular, as they struggled to capture their hard rocking sound in the studio. However, during a tour supporting Deep Purple, they voiced their frustration to Purple bass player Roger Glover over a few beers one …
Not Forgotten – Mott The Hoople – All The Young Dudes
1972 was the turning point for Mott the Hoople. Having decided to throw in the towel after four poorly selling albums and multiple sold out tours, they wound themselves down by fulfilling their final commitments and casting their minds to the future. In search of a new gig, bass player Pete ‘Overend’ Watts called rising …
Not Forgotten: Steely Dan – Can’t Buy a Thrill
Steely Dan are one of those acts who are spoken of in hushed tones. Be it their studio perfectionism, their increasingly deft blending of rock and jazz as their career progressed, or their smart arse lyrics, Steely Dan are a band beloved by those who take music very seriously indeed. For many Steely Dan fans, …
Not Forgotten: Jethro Tull – Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll : Too Young to Die
Frequently disregarded by their fans as an attempt by bandleader and benign dictator Ian Anderson to simplify the Jethro Tull sound, Too Old to Rock ’n’ Roll: Too Young to Die is in some senses one of their most interesting works. Wedged between the band’s grandiose work of the early 70s, and their late 70s …
Not Forgotten: Silver Sun – Silver Sun
Silver Sun were a bit of an oddity during the dying years of Britpop, as they were far more of a straight power-pop act than any of their contemporaries. Specialising in Weezer-esque geek-pop guitar tunes blended with Posies-style harmonies, they were a far fizzier and fuzzier proposition than the bands they inevitably toured with. They …
Not Forgotten: Marillion – Brave
It’s odd isn’t it, the amount of importance we put on being ‘cool’. Of course, the pressure on us be perceived as cool can be crippling in our teenage years, but it’s something which can continue to linger throughout our twenties, and for some of us, well into our thirties and beyond. Of course, what …