Lush, Split

Lush, Split (4AD-1994)

Album number two for Lush and for me my favourite, a little bit of a step forward from the previous album and I think it is due to the relentless touring and promotion of previous releases. The album for me is a proper album production where the album is made to fit well together. Similar sound and feel throughout the album.

I remember reading their was some trouble in recording this album as the band were not happy with how it was all working out. I wonder how they like it now as it really does sound great and due to the top end production the album is crystal clear and sounds fantastic. I swear the guitar sound here was stolen by Oasis and used on their first two albums. That slight buzz distortion noise that is non stop in Oasis is used here to give a more visual feel tot he music. Not so much an art music but it has so much more going for it than a typical 90s chart band.

This is a very personal album with love, life and relationship issues big part of the album. The lyrics sound way more direct and unlike last album Spooky (1992) where many of the lyrics were pronounced and made longer this is way shorter and clear for the listener to gain access quicker to what is being sung. It is a brave move as it really changes the bands sound, kind of making it more pop and radio friendly. I also think the older material had some studio effects to the vocals as well as Miki and Emma sounds so much real here briefly going back to the long strung out vocals style on 2nd single "Desire Lines" a classic shoegaze song clocking in at over seven minutes it builds up with nice guitar picking to head nodding heavy middle then back to the classic vocals. needless to say it would never have got on radio one as single of the week. And here may well be where things went wrong for this album as two different songs were released as singles on the same day. Crazy even today to do something like that but both songs were very strong and showcased both sides of the band as the other single "Hypocrite" has a more ballsy rock feel to it not a million miles away from the britpop sound that was just about to come in.

The singles aside there are some real great tacks on here with my favorites being the album opener "Light from a Dead Star" it has a nice slow start to it very artistic in a kind of into feel to it. And album closer "When I Die" is almost just a simple acoustic track, very direct and very personal lyrics. This track for me ends the album well as it has a similar sound found on the next bands album "Lovelife" and funnily the name is a track on this album, also one of my favorites. The sort of track that made sure Lush was not going to be flung onto the same pile of CDs as many others in the mid 90s a proper dream pop style song.

One thing about this album I think in 1994 it would be hard to fit it in anywhere as the new Britpop explosion really was not the band also just not the style of pop that was selling well then (much of the chart pop was one hit wonders in the 90s)

But again mainstreams loss is our gain, a great album by a bad who really did end too soon as the suicide of drummer  Chris Acland shocked the band members to the core and felt best to call it a day. Thankfully the will come back for a few gigs in 2016 and I feel people will start talking about them as their music really could do great on radio today.

Twitter: 29xthefun 

Sons and Daughters, This Gift

Sons and Daughters, This Gift (Domino-2008)

Glasgow based indie/rock band Sons and Daughters were onto album number three here. For me their was enough hard work done in the last two albums for the band to have a shot at something more.

I am not too sure why they never made it further with this album as it is back to back great music. Catchy poppy rock tunes that would make a radio melt with fun. The mixture of male and female voices on the singing really does catch the ear along with some nice harmonies it could get the worst karaoke singer grabbing a comb for a sing song in the toilet.

One thing I have to say is this really is not an all out pop album it has some very nice rock touches with nice riffs here and their in a kind of old school rock n roll style and first song 'Gift Complex' starts out with a fine example. With some nice production and the song opens up after the riff. Also some nice and loud bass lines here that are great for catching someone's ear and made for the radio.

The first few songs really are fantastic as is the production. 'Split Lips' and 'The Nest' really make you wonder who is working on this album and the name is very much familiar to most in Bernard Butler. he is ideal for this band.

One of the rare albums in the 00's that has that hit single feel to it and the tunes keep coming with 'Rebel with the Ghost' and 'Chains' making me wonder not where these songs fit on the radio but how often. Only two singles were put out with the second being a double A side with 'This Gift/Darling' sadly scraping in at the low end of the chart. A real shame as each song gives a a little bit of a different feel to the band all out pop song 'This Gift' being a classic A side and 'Darling' having a more rock feel to it.

The music here and the quality of the delivery would have stood out on Top of the Pops but this may well be where this band missed out as that show was cancelled in 2006 (two years before the album). I am not sure if the record label was right for this band as they really could have been big if the promotion was right.

But Again I am not blaming the label I am blaming you lot for not digging a little. Why not make up for it and get a copy of this album.

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Stampin' Ground, Carved From Empty Words

Stampin' Ground, Carved From Empty Words (Century Media-2000)

Back in the 90's there was a great underground music scene in the UK. Many outsiders looking in would simply see a more loud style of punk and they are kind of right but the fans had a title for it in UKHC (United Kingdom Hard Core) Mixing elements of punk and metal this album is a great example of a cross over band that nailed it. And believe me there were many more.

I have chosen this album as it really did help define the style and move it into the 00's. The album production is pristine and clear as a bell. Drums and bass sound fantastic all adding to much head banning. First track "Officer Down" is a ferocious attack to new ears may well be a mess of guitars but it is in fact quite a slow song. Vocals are again in your face but listen to it. The song and the whole album has riff that still 15 years later make much of the so called extreme metal bands look like they should should do photo shoots with a bunch of flowers.

The whole band seem to blend as one big riff machine and evidence is so blindly there in track three "The Symmetrie Of Hatred" the intro builds up nicely with drums playing all over the shop and into a vocal style that to me sounds like a riff as well. Back in the UKHC days bands would book a pub and have say six bands on one bill the music was fast and loose the fans would just want music to jump about to and this is what this album has in all songs.

"Bathe My Wounds" again brings in the fantastic rhythm build up and shows the band have moved on to the point vocals are not needed all the time. Again music like this is falsely looked at as very fast, not on this track it is a slow head nodding tune and I have seen myself in the window of the bus nodding to the beat.

Produced by Dave Chang he was the go to guy in the 90's for any style of metal music and always does a fantastic job. This for me is one of his highlights as after seeing the band a few times he has captured all the energy so well. Guitars sound big but not so out there vocals really do mean something on this album it all works great. Later track "Mid-Death Crisis" is the classic sound of what UKHC sounds like in the basement of a pub and feel nostalgic to me but to new ears may well open some doors.

The band were on Century Media so never going to conquer the world with this style but they may well have done so much better now with the amount of metal festivals in Europe and America I think they would have done way more sales if people saw them live. But back then there really were non of the smaller festivals for metal music. They went on to do one more album before splitting up at the last show as the first band on the new Donington festival (now Download). If you are a metal fan check out this album but alt music fans who like the likes of Converge will love this album to bits.

Still available at Amazon 

Warren Zevon, Sentimental Hygiene

Warren Zevon, Sentimental Hygiene (Virgin-1987)

This is an artist I never really knew much about and to be honest I rarely had a chance to hear his music, but I can see why as his career has been rather unusual. He initially came to light in the very late 60s and the album "Wanted Dead or Alive" this album by his counts was a total disaster and he ten decided to leave behind his solo dream and took a job with the Every Brothers.

This job got him working with many in the music business and by 76 he got a second attempt at solo fame. But by his fourth (or 5th inc album in 69) album in 1982 the wheels had came off and drink took over his life. Rehab and then again working for others leads to this album. And I think it is his best work. And again another shot at a solo career was offered.

This album is really just a rock album but it has some little hints of folk and country. Some could even say it is more an alt rock album but essentially it is a great album.

The songs are nothing elaborate and I think that is how the album connects so well with me 'the Factory' a song about working for the boss six days a week catches anyone's attention as we have all done the crap min wage work. The song also has a nice touch in the harmonica is from Bob Dylan. This is not the only big name R.E.M. co write the song 'Even a Dog Can Shake Hands' and also provide vocals on the song 'Bad karma' again all done in the rock/folk style I feel is best suited to Warren.

My favourite track is 'Boom Boom Mancini' a song about the boxer Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini. It is as catchy as can be and a fantastic tribute as the boxer was involved in a match that killed his opponent, the death of Duk Koo Kim changed boxing forever as rules were changed to have less rounds and more medical involvement before the matches. Like Mancini, Warren has also had to rebuild his career after divorce and his label dropping him.

This album helped to re start his career and I feel it is his best album. He never got to the dizzy heights of 'Excitable Boy' (a 1978 Platinum seller) but it did gain him enough sales and respect to continue making albums all the way up to his death in 2003.

Warren Zevon managed to achieve a very rare thing in the music business and that is to last for five decades. His catalogue of 12 albums are all very good and for consistently never sell out to the hype of the time again another very rare thing indeed. Even when he was diagnosed with cancer his attention was on the music and in 2002 recorded 'the Wind' recognition came with three Grammy nominations and a win for best folk album.

This album was just under the radar a little I feel the inclusion of R.E.M. could have been a catalyst to help drive this album as they went global in 87 with the Document album. Virgin may well have dropped the ball but again another album for my list for us to enjoy.

Available as a re issue in 2003 here. 

Fish, Raingods with Zippos

Fish, Raingods with Zippos (1999-Roadrunner) 

The ex Marillion front man had done a few albums up to this albums release. And I do remember at the time he was having some trouble in the industry. I think that is why the album is on a metal label. Some sort of new start and well listening to the music he has definitely got full creative control here. 

This album is very much in the feel of what Fish has done before but I have to admit it is way more adventurous. Again I wonder if being on a metal label has made him step up a bit. It is not so much metal but his classic rock feel but there are many guest musicians on here and I think all have given this their best. The first track is fantastic and captures the fun of this album. No way pretentious or at trying to put people off, you will either get it right away or it is not for you. 

As the album goes on there is some fantastic studio work in here as well, with Fish himself helping with recording and production by Elliot Ness. This is easily one of the best sounding albums I have ever heard and I really mean that. There is so much going on, with Fish singing and sounding amazing here you have to listen close to all the little bits of guitar, percussion and keyboards. This is a prog fans wet dream, but as I say there is no pretentious music here and many styles are used and done so well you barley notice. 

Take the drum and bass ending 'Rites of Passage' and at times the distorted guitar is more sounding like a tribute to his past works. There are instruments and sounds all over the place, a small sample here and a spoken work passage there. Not one second of the album is filler or even lets you get board. The last track of the album is split into six separate names but really is one full song 'Plague of Ghosts' clocks in at about 25 minutes and I think it may have been split up to look better on the album track listing for the record label. I don't know but it is fantastic. 

With Fish always being associated with the neo-progressive rock style from Marillion many people may write off his music if they were not a fan of his previous work. But this album is a must listen if you like something a little bit different (more so the last track). It is still in his very much down to earth style with lyrics I am sure come direct from inside the man himself. You could read into all the songs so much more if you wanted as it is that deep but you can also take it as a great fun trip in music, for me it is more like a ride at Alton Towers where you get an experience unlike any other ride in any other park. A one off, and those are always worth waiting in a long line for. 

This was never that big a hit but I got it as the metal press had a soft spot for it and I think the metal label was a problem for many of the older fans who could have missed it. But you are now with the internet at the front of the queue, so why not give it a go?

Twitter: 29xthefun 

Raging Violence, Hirax

Hirax, Raging Violence (Metal Blade Records, 1985)

Here we have a missing part of history, with the big four of thrash bands going on to sell millions and make a great living from it. Here we have a band that could easily have slotted into the Anvil documentary as they seem to not get any breaks as well.

This album is the first by the band and what a great start, first up is it really is quite a different album than most thrash bands. Some like Metallica had a very mediocre singer where as say Slayer had a vocalist that really just talked. The closest to this band is Flotsam and Jetsam with a more operatic style vocal. The album is very much in the 80s metal area but for me one of the better examples of thrash metal about. Even more so for the time.

The speed and timing of the music is very different to other metal bands and has a great punk feel to it bit like the Ramones drumming the relentless hitting of the snare drums you could use as a metronome. But it does come over as fresh and with those vocals it hits the spot. The recording even now does sound good considering it was on Metal Blade I doubt there was much money for the bands debut. Near everything sounds clear but with that more live feel, you can even hear the bass guitar (something very unusual for thrash).

With fourteen tracks over 29 minutes I really am not bothering to review each track as it is kind of all the same but here and there are blistering all out solos, way more epic than the other bands of the time. Not so much trying to steal the show but prove they have it as well. Some of the music has that great groove feel you got in the late 80s with Pantera and Faith no More metalers in any rock pub would be happy to hear this album.

The reason I have it here is more a shock to me as I was looking at gigs coming up and there they were playing near me soon. As they only did this and a few EPs back in the 80s before splitting I did get last years album "Immortal Legacy" (and great it is too) thinking I would never see them. But it seems after many false re activations they have managed to finally get to the UK for the first time ever. So an album you may have missed and a live gig I have never had the chance of seeing in one post.

Twitter: 29xthefun