Classic Album Review. The Misfits, Walk Among Us

The Misfits, Walk Among Us (1982 Slash)

One of the most unusual bands on the planet, the are the first to really use the horror punk sub genre.
People tend to be put off now by the look of the band with them adorning skulls and face paint and a look that really only works on Halloween.

But back in the punk years that would have looked normal to most punk fans. But the band seem to take years to get anywhere and mostly due to choice. Singles and EPs were made and released by themselves. They must have had about three albums worth made and pressed but all was split on singles so when the time was right and on a proper label with distribution they made an album.
With the band now in 1982 the style they played was considered hardcore punk but really it is just punk music and one of the best at that.

The guitar sound is sharp and simple with thrash style, rhythm section that could cut through rock the music was loud and gave no apologies to the listener. The album contains some of the best tunes you could ever hear and I mean real dance floor rockers.
A nice mix of 50s and 60s rock n roll and punk music set to the visuals of a horror movie it was a change from the political punk bands of the 70s. 

'I Turned Into a Martian' could get anyone jumping about the place. I mean we all want to be a martian for five minutes and for a little while you could think you were as no bugger gets this tune at all. Quick and simple with oooo oo ooo's as a chorus.

'Vampira' is one for the karaoke fans with about three lines and more o's than a bowl of alphabet spaghetti. This song is not hard and nothing here is any more punk than the 70's but it IS all catchy and makes you feel that some bands just did not get that a great tune is not a bad thing.
'Mommy Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight' a live track in the middle of a debut is a risky one but it does work and splits the tempo a little bit. I think of it more as an advert for the band live, like it so far then buy a ticket next time.

The singsongs come again fast and you are air guitar riffing and singing along before you notice there was a change.
'Night of the Living Dead' is a tribute to the classic films and one great song live. Looking at the album now you are two thirds of the way through it and it has only been on for fifteen minutes. And quite right so we all have things to do. Full length debut at 24 minutes no duff track and leaving you wanting more.  The production is pretty bad as is the mixing but that is what we wanted right? No money anyhow so get it on tape and get on the road.

The band just never got on and Glenn Danzig leaving the band was a killer blow as he wrote and composed all songs on the albums. The band parted ways just before the release of the second album. With just two albums and a load of singles the band had two collection albums put out as so many fans had missed the indie singles they wanted more.
The band reformed minus Glenn Danzig in the 90s after a lengthy battle over writing royalties was settled.

This for me is still a classic album and one of the best punk albums made. The album was on an indie but had good distribution and sometimes that is all you need to get success. People missed this more due to the metal boom from the UK and the new wave bands that were coming out. Punk was in the past so this could have been a few years late. Such a shame as I think I would have had a "devillock" haircut as well.

Out on CD and Vinyl and easily available online via Amazon.

Classic album review Baby Chaos, Love Your Self Abuse

Baby Chaos, Love Your Self Abuse (East West 1996)

Difficult second album? No, not at all easy as can be for Baby Chaos. Two years after the first album "Safe Sex, Designer Drugs and the Death of Rock‘n’Roll" the time was right for a band like this.
Big punk rock melodies that were catchy but still held the grunge guitar riffs and attitude. Many other rock bands were doing great in 96 and this band had done all the hard work in touring all over the place to gain a record deal with East West.

This album took many sessions to record and with the band still on the road it must have helped the sound of the album. The first and only single Hello went out and seemed to be missed by the public. Such a shame a great song and one that does the album justice as there were more to come. The first single was really a teaser for what was to come up next.

A video was made for 'Ignoramus' but I really don't remember any promotion for it. Again a great song that really shows the band can do catchy chart rock. Thankfully the album is nothing but classic British rock and one of the finest examples of it. It is a nice mix of punk and alt rock at times as well.
The song titles may show the band were just on tour too much 'Mental Bruising for Beginners' a title that suggest a real heavy song and yes but much like the album it catches you and does not let you go. It is not often you hear a rock song with la la la's on the heavier songs but it works.

'Confessions of a Teenage Pervert' may cause a snigger or two at the title but the song shows the band can be very serious and again vocals from Gordon that are mixed of harmonies and shouting out the next minute makes the title seem weak.
Not at any point in the album does it feel a track is a filler. It may even suffer for not having some proper songs as in catchy three minute songs that have a start and end, the album could easily be one track long.

'Rearrange You' near the end of the album really shows a band intent on making a mark. With britrock all over the music papers it may have been seen as too heavy for the rock fans. Certainly too much for radio and titles like 'Love Your Self Abuse' I may not have been listed on Radio One.
Last track clocks in over 10 minutes and aptly titled 'Loud and Clear' shows what this band can do. Great production and a band that sound so great together even now it sounds fresh and not over produced one bit.

But touring with The Wildhearts, Terrorvison and Elastica should have got the band an audience. They did 130 UK gigs one year not counting trips abroad. Still the rock fans did not buy this album and give the music world one of the most interesting bands to come out of Glasgow.
Not only interesting but utterly unique at the time many bands were trying to write pop songs to be the darlings of the radio and get on Top of the Pops. For many of those bands it did not work and well I suppose my CD collection shows that as they still have dust all over them from not being played as much.

From first single released on there own label to a splitting up they lasted three years and made two amazing albums and this one for me is a fucking masterclass in rock music. Many singles and live gigs all in that 36 months just did not get this band a break. With major label backing and so much touring I have to blame the public, yes you I blame you so make up for it and find this sucker soon.

The album is still available easily on Amazon and E bay. It has been released in Japan and America but with a different track listing. make sure it has 'Loud and Clear' as the last track.

Classic album review. Flotsam and Jetsam, Doomsday for the Deceiver

Flotsam and Jetsam, Doomsday for the Deceiver (Metal Blade-1986)

Thrash metal was still pretty much new in 1986, for the old school metal fan it was just too fast and too loud. Hair metal seemed to be popular at this point and it was time for a new sound. Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth all made albums that made thrash metal sell many albums but one missed out.

Underground music back then was not able to have MP3s available on I Tunes or have a website to spread the bands name and sound. All you could do is turn up and play wherever you could. That is what they done and luckily got a deal with Metal Blade.

Notably the band included a Jason Newsted who would later join Metallica. But in this band he was the main songwriter. And he was regarded as being the band member who lead them all.
The music is heavily influenced by his bass playing. More in a style of Steve Harris from Iron Maiden, a fast train like ramble that forces the drummer to play fast as well. Constant drum and bass fills in songs with some solos taking a step back.

Some of the album is a kind of cross of punk and metal, along the lines of Discharge with a rock singer and faster riffs. But the album does contain acoustic parts arpeggiated for the classic music sound that then drills into the full on band playing faster and giving Slayer a run for there money.

Something they have really different is that singer Eric A.K. seems to think he is the Ronnie James Dio, but he does pull it off and at times the album sounds better for his high singing. Most thrash bands had singers who would hide the vocals away under the music to save blushes when trying to impress the listener.

Something I like in this album is how each track seems to have its own unique start. 
For some reason the metal buying public missed this one out. When Metallica and co do the Big Four tour it really should have been a Big Five. One thing that this album did do was give the band a major label deal for the next record with Elektra Records.

Later albums seem to have slipped by as well but this being the debut and while the band was still learning and to think they were all so young at the time. It has the whole attitude of the underground 80s music feel to it and the songs are still so good.

This album is why the likes of Metallica and Pantera had to move on and change there sound. 

If you want the nostalgic 80s feel you can get this on 2x12" reissue and CD 

Classic album review, The Wildhearts, Endless Nameless

The Wildhearts, Endless Nameless (Mushroom-1997)

Yeah I know the band did sort of make it. Plenty of top 20 singles and a ton of touring in the UK and Europe placed this band into rock royalty. But there is a missing link and an album that splits fans so much even now 15 years later the album is still hated by diehard fans.

I think that hate is unfair, more intensive dislike is what I have felt from fans. But I really love this album. At the time it was a new start after the shambles of the East West record deal they signed a new contract with Mushroom records and done it in fashion on the entrance to East West records in London.

The band toured before the release of the album and one or two songs were played. Sounded good to most but in the studio they seem to up the levels on everything. I mean EVERYTHING the drums and bass got the same treatment. My stereo at the time just could not handle this one and the only way to hear it was on my headphones.

With the band in a drug fueled frenzy and an album needed by the record label I think they just did not have time to do anything that was well polished so they made the album all bands want to make. Plug in, play and fuck off. Simple but here the songwriting took a turn, the bass player wrote and sung on the first single. Sill charted as well and a Top of the Pops performance to eclipse anything was done.

I remember at the time looking at the screen in shock, it was just not anything like I have heard or ever heard. Noise that could make you vomit but rock out at the same time. The industry in 97 was very boring. Many indie bands had sunk without trace and the whole charts were dance and pop music only. Thank fuck for this album!

The drugs took the main spot in writing as well with titles like 'Junkenstine' and cover 'Heroin' making sure more singles were not possible even if the music could get radio play 'Pissjoy' has a chorus that has kids singing 'pissjoy na na na na na'. Singles 'Anthem' and 'Urge' were the most like a rock song but the heaviness of the music was just way too much for most. But for people like me who love new music and who were fed up with the crap on the charts it was like walking through a field on a summers day.

After a few listens and the shock of the production passes the tunes come through, mind you singing along and humming are things you just cant do with this album.

It is at the end of the day a riff album and any rock and metal fan should be able to tell a riff from noise. The band managed to record more than ten tracks here in this style. All B sides were the same and with some real stand out songs as well. Jason and the Scorchers cover 'White Lies' is as nearly as good as the original and the house shaking Zomboid will be played when the world ends.

Witness an album split the fans and critics and then wait a few years and see the many other bands jumping up and down with Nu Metal (Overproduced noise) hit the charts and make a mint.

As the first single goes,

I'm in love with the rock and roll world.

Endless Nameless is easily available via download and CD but a reissue in 2010 adds all the b side tracks as well. Worth it for Zomboid alone I say. 

Classic album review, The Icicle Works

The Icicle Works, The Icicle Works  (Beggar's Banquet-1984)

Liverpool in the 80s seemed to be engulfed in great music and bands that were all a part of the new wave of music coming out of the UK. The Icicle Works for me are one of the best bands and this one of the best albums.

The single "Love is a Wonderful Colour" managed to chart in the uk at number 15. back then that was such a big thing to do. Top 20 could make you overnight.

But it just did not happen for the band, the album went out and charted well but sales were far lower than what the record company would want. More singles and albums were released and in 1990 the band split.

Ian McNabbs voice on this album is fantastic, helped by his song writing, it is just so direct, no messing about with fancy harmonies here just his great voice and lyrics that seem to never age.
It is a guitar album but it does not take center stage and that is something I don't get, why was this not a big radio hit. "Whisper to a Scream (Birds Fly)" was a single demanding top ten but it did not happen. Well here it did not. The band had a hit in America where they would tour but again the next album was not even looked at in America.

The music here is fast with a kind of erratic drumming on many of the songs that feels like a dance beat to most. This is great music to dance to, try as hard as you can to not dance to 'Nirvana'. Try not to air drum to 'Chop the Tree' and all the time singing along.

For me ten tracks and ten singles that any fan of music would instantly get. Everybody get love song, but not every song can be seen as a love song to the untrained ear 'Out of Season' is to most a song about weather. But the fact people did not buy the album means they could not have had a chance to work out the songs here.

Call it new wave or post punk it really just did not fit neatly into any of them and that is why you need this album. How about 'catchy post punk pop rock'? No?, well I did try. 

Every debut album is a bands best of album from the time they formed. This band could have done a double as the extra disc on the re issue is just as good. Seriously if you have £9 spare go get this album. You will thank me for it and even if it is for the top 20 single Love is a Wonderful Colour it would still be worth it.

Another four albums followed this one with each one changing the bands sound a bit that it made this just a little bit special.  Ian McNabb would move onto a solo career and make many more albums and even help sing and write songs on the Lightning Seeds multi platinum Jollification album.

The Icicle Works is available on a 2CD reissue from 2006 on Beggars Banquet now.
I also recommend the book Mersybeast by Ian McNabb more for understanding what the music industry was like in the 80s.

Classic album review. Refused, The Shape of Punk to Come

Refused, The Shape of Punk to Come: A Chimerical Bombination in 12 Bursts (Burning Heart-1998)

I recently saw this album on a downloading site and it only had three downloads where next to it was other punk bands with 100s and 1000s of downloads. Shame but other peoples loss is my gain and well now it is our gain.

Swedish Hardcore Punk band Refused were about for seven years until they made this album. For some reason the band just never got along. But this was the 3rd album by them and for me a total classic. Mid 90s was a wash with pop punk music and thank fuck this came along. The album made a statement in that it was punk but not as we know it. Green Day and the Offspring managed to change mainstream views in what was punk. But any fan of punk music knows that it has few boundaries.

The music contained here is varied with at times drum and bass and pop music on the same track. Between songs are small parts of political satire mixed with jazz and even techno. It is not a punk rock album but is one of the most important punk rock albums (Ha get your head around that one Green Day fans).

Hearing this album is like flicking through the history of music in the last 30 to 40 years and reading a newspaper at the same time. The guitar work here is for me amazing, not often am I left with my mouth open at what is being played but it is just so good. The singer is on another planet at times screaming like the end of the world has arrived. I have no idea how this was recorded but it just sounds so complete. The drums and bass have a task in keeping up but do it so well.

It is hard to explain how important this album is, fans loved it and keep it close but outsiders just don't get it. I have played it to friends who just look at the cover in disgust as the album continues it is then disregarded as noise and forgotten about.

The band just did not get along, they were without a permanent bass player for the whole time they existed and the last tour was so bad the band split. Great reviews were not going to keep them on the road or even in the studio. No major label would touch this album. The band seemed to want to move onto other things and so they did in 1998. No last big gig or farewell tour.

I know I am not alone as a reissue in 2004 and 2010 shows people do hear about it and buy it. I had an argument with a moderator of a website after I placed it in the punk section to be told it is not punk.

Fuck it I will let you decide, punk or not it rocks like fuck and is one of the most essential albums of the 90s. 

I recently saw on the web the band have reformed for some live shows. Great news I hope they get the attention they deserve.

Available on CD and download, I say buy the limited 3CD and if you don't like it give it to me.

Classic album review. Scheer, Infliction

And from my vaults comes this gem.

Scheer, Infliction (4AD-1996).

Hailing from Northern Ireland this band started life by playing small venues in Ireland until signing to an independent who then released two EPs and were then quickly signed to 4AD in 1995.

The band were a real breath of fresh air, the music was a mix of Pixies and metal and at time could be just as crazy as any punk band. But the big difference was in Audrey Gallagher's vocals. She had a great voice for pop music but was it right for this? Yes is the answer. I don't know how but it worked and so the band were touring the country and building up to this debut album.

The album is a great rock album with some nice guitar work, not so much riffs but great tunes. No killer solos here more killer feedback. And again mixed up in that voice that was made for the radio.
I remember the hearing the single 'Wish you were dead' and being utterly shocked at its loudness. It was really different for 1996 and only a year after the britpop music that had filled the charts for so long. First album track 'Shea' was also a single and one I found for a pound in a second hand shop only a few months after it was released. That was it for me I need this album!

With ten well produced tracks clocking in at 44 minutes the album for me was easily on of the best albums of 1996. But they just never seem to get a break at all. I don't even remember them playing local to me. I am not sure if 4AD are the best at breaking bands, any bands on the label have taken years to do so. But also having an album cover depicting a stitched up laceration  wold not have got many people running to Our Price for this one.

Such a shame as a song like 'Deamon' could win over anyone who is not a rocker with some great melodies and the acoustic only 'Goodbye' could have got you looking at the CD to check you have the right album on. It is not often a music lover can get a debut album that is playable from start to end every time.

The band were to make a second album but it was shelved by the record company and then the band split. Sometime in 2000 the fans managed to finally get the second album, made available on the bands own label.

Still available from 4AD via download this is one album that will make you need an alt rock section.

Classic album review. Jason and the Scorchers, LOST & FOUND

Some you may have missed.

Right I have ran out of stuff to moan about so I will hand over this blog (moan page) to some classic albums that people for some reason have missed. It will be a real mix of music so if you only like 90s music or only listen to rap don’t bother looking back again.

First up is the reason I am doing this as I am still totally shocked they never made it.

Jason and the Scorchers, LOST & FOUND (EMI – 1984)

This band formed and done three full albums (this being the first) and then split after not making it in 1990. Just a year later you had the alt rock explosion from the likes of the Pixes, Nirvana and REM. They would all go on to sell millions and change music history by killing the glam rock/metal crap of the 80s.

The band came about as Jason Ringenberg (Vocals) was told his voice was crap when he sung other peoples songs. He decided to form a band and do it himself and not long after the self funded debut came out. An EP called Fervor in 1983 got them signed to EMI and then a proper full on album to be made.

Mixing country and punk rock the band made a new sound and most of all a great sound. Hated by both country and rock they done something similar as REM as they were just not taken well with the AOR fans. Many big REM fans don’t know that Michael Stipe co-wrote a song with Jason and can be found on the first EP.

The band were getting a lot of heat from country fans as the cross of punk and country was so unpopular that people picketed the gigs. I think this helped fuel the band to make them hate them even more and the band entered the studio. 

With no real budget they could only really capture the bands live sound and record it. And by hell they did, this album rocks like a motherfucker from start to end. Opening up with a big guitar drum harmonica start that you will never hear ever again. ‘Last Time Around’ is one of the best starts to an album I have ever heard it just sets the whole band up so well and I am sure it made many mums and dads scowl in hatred. The second track is the anthem ‘White Lies’, a real punk song that should have been a hit. A good video was made but MTV just don’t get it. The band was only really able to play the south and try and exploit the country link. 

‘Shop it Around’ was released and even managed to top 40 in the UK. But the band was busy in the US and could not do anything about it. I often think that this was a big mistake as Top of the Pops would have loved a band like that and I do think UK country and punks fans would have got it. This is a rare album where just about all the songs could have been released as singles. ‘Broken Whiskey Glass’ again a popular song here and a song Jason is still mostly recognized for mixes the styles of music so well that you just can’t believe a band can do this all on one grove of a 12” LP

Even listening to this now it is so much fresher now than it ever was. The guitars sound so loud and sharp something you just don't get now. This is one of those albums when yo put it on you have to turn the volume down a little. The way this album sounds is like a blueprint for the alt rock bands who came along after them. 

The album is out in the UK as the EMI Years and has extra tracks included. In the US you can get it as a double album Fervor and Lost and Found.