After the Gold Rush - Neil Young

Neil Young's After The Gold Rush was his third solo release, and one that came at a very prolific time for the young Canadian songwriter. Having written 3 solo albums and the Crosby Still Nash and Young album, Deja Vu in 3 years. After the gold Rush was released in 1970 climbing to number 8 in the US charts and is, as per usual on a Neil Young album packed with his trademark song craft.

Young intentionally tried to merge the sounds of Crazy Horse (His backing band) and Crosby Stills and Nash, helped in no small way by a 17 year old Nils Lofgren.

The album contains many of Young's best loves songs including, After the Gold Rush, Only Love Can break Your Heart and Southern Man.

The Title track After The Gold Rush, is a call to arms for environmentalists, the Lyric "look at mother nature on the run in the 70's" seems to be a premonition to many of the major issues today. (Thom Yorke of Radiohead has often played the song live)

Only Love can Break Your Heart, is the third track on the album and one of his best known. Apparently the song was written for Graham Nash after he split with Joni Mitchell. It a simple ode to the troubles of love and the hurt that can be caused when it ends.

Oh Lonesome Me is the only cover on the album. It is an old Chet Atkins song written by Chet and Don Gibson in 1958. Young slows down the tempo of the song in his own version and creates a much more depressing mood than the original.

My favourite track on the album is the wonderful Southern Man. The Lyrics are directed towards racism in the American South. Apparently the song was written after Young was beaten up by a bunch of rednecks in a roadhouse bar because he had long hair. It i the first song to have upset Lynrad Skynard, but it wasn't until Young wrote Alabama that they were forced to write their response to him in Sweet Home Alabama.

Although the album was poorly received by Rolling Stone upon its original release it has since became one of its top 100 albums of all time ad why not. Even though the album was recorded in a mere two weeks the style of production seems more relevant today. This is helped by the fact that so many lo-fi bands have been influenced by Young.

After The Gold Rush is one of the finest American albums ever written and one of Neil Young's greatest releases. That's no small praise for a man of 63 currently on his 34th solo album (if you include all releases it's his 63rd) A fantastic critical junction from one of the all time greats

Cream - Disraeli Gears

Its been said many times about Cream, but it is essentially true, they were the first super group. Consisting of guitar legend Eric Clapton, bass virtuoso and vocalist Jack Bruce, and drumming meistro Ginger Baker. They had all played before in various guises, and were considered the cream of the crop of British musicians, thus the non egotistical name of Cream!

Their first album Fresh Crea,m was released in 1966 and went to number 6 in the UK charts and number 39 in the US. However, what came next is still considered to be there greatest album, Disraeli Gears.

Recorded in a mere 4 days, from May 11th to May 15th 1967 in Atlantic Studios New York. It was the album that broke them in America going to number 4 in the charts.

The title of the album is something of an in joke. When Cream were touring their first album Eric Clapton wanted to buy a racer bicycle. One of their roadies Mick Turner commented on the performance of "those Disraeli Gears" actually meaning "those derailleur gears". The band thought this was hilarious an decided that their next album would be called Disraeli Gears!

The opening track Strange Brew, sets the tone for the album, a blues psychedelic journey with 3 powerful musicians. It's short length, barely 3 minutes, is more in tune with how cream liked to write their songs, even if their live sets had 20 minute jams in them. Apparently if they did not play long jams people would leave gigs angry, asking for their money back.

Up next is Sunshine of your love, Creams best selling single and indeed Atlantic's best selling single to date! Believe it or not but Atlantic originally rejected the song and only that Booker T heard the song and insisted Atlantic release it!! From the moment the riff kicks it is instantly recognisable and has influenced everyone from Black Sabbath to Queens of the Stone Age.

The third track on the album, World Of Pain featuring both the vocals of Clapton and Bruce, it s best known for the tremolo effect used on the guitar and the unusual style Clapton adopts during the solo. It is followed by two of the weakest songs on the album, Dance the Night Away and Blue Condition, however calling a song weak on this album is probably somewhat unfair, but there you go.

The fantastic, Tales of Brave Ulysses is a 2 and a half minute masterpiece, the lyrics of which were written by poet Martin Sharp on the back of a beer mat for Eric Clapton after a chance meeting. It is inspired by Homers Odyssey and bears more than a passing resemblance to another Cream song, and one of my favourites White Room.

The album is packed with other fan favourites. We're going Wrong, (which features some rather nice drumming technique it has to be said and a haunting vocal performance by Bruce) Outside Woman Blues, SWLABR (pronounced Slobber) and Take it Back all shine in this album of gems.

Track Listing

1. Strange Brew
2. Sunshine of Your Love
3. World of Pain
4. Dance the Night Away
5. Blue Condition
6. Tales of Brave Ulysses
7. SWLABR
8. We're Going Wrong
9. Outside Woman Blues
10. Take It Back
11. Mother's Lament

Songs Of Leonard Cohen - Leonard Cohen

Released in 1968 Leonard Cohen's début album, Songs of Leonard Cohen was an apt answer to the psychedelic albums of the summer of love. The Canadian had long been a poet and a novelist and had waited until he was 33 before releasing an album of his folk songs.

While the album was not immediately successful in the US (only going gold in 1989) it was a hit in the UK and Europe which embraced the style and the lyrical content of Cohen's songs.

The album begins with the classic Suzanne. The song details an encounter Cohen had with Suzanne Verdal, the wife of sculptor Armand Vaillancourt, in Montreal. Suzanne Verdal is now homeless living in her car in Venice Beach California. Cohen said he never had relations with her, only imagined what they would be like. The song is like most of the album, sparse and dream like. With Leonard's lyrics taking the listener's by the hand and leading us all to that river.

This whole album brings the listener to different places. It burrows its way into your conciousness and takes root. Songs like So Long Marianne, Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye, and The Sisters Of Mercy are the big hitters and are instantly recognisable. But hidden amongst the crowd of hits is the superb Masters Song and Teachers

This lonely album is filled with Cohen's personal stories, sometimes listening to this album makes you feel almost embarrassed to have such access to his personal life. All put so beautifully in Cohen's forceful yet minimalist style. An album to be enjoyed on your own with a bottle of wine.

Track Listing

1. "Suzanne" – 3:48
2. "Master Song" – 5:55
3. "Winter Lady" – 2:15
4. "The Stranger Song" – 5:00
5. "Sisters of Mercy" – 3:32
6. "So Long, Marianne" – 5:38
7. "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" – 2:55
8. "Stories of the Street" – 4:35
9. "Teachers" – 3:01
10. "One of Us Cannot Be Wrong" – 4:23

Ok Computer - Radiohead

Unless you've been living under a stone or were in fact born yesterday, then you could not have possibly missed out on this genre genre defying and defining album from Oxfords greatest export Radiohead .

Ok Computer, is on many lists as the greatest album of all time if not automatically in the top 100, no small achievement from an album that was only released in 1997. Holing themselves up in St Catherine's Court an rural mansion outside Bath owned b the Actress jane Seymore. The atmosphere of this rather spooky looking house haunts the album at every corner. Recording was done along with then unknown producer Nigel Godrich and was finished in January 2007.

When Capital records heard the finished album they cut their predicted sales figures in half describing the album as commercial suicide! However once the début single Paranoid Android a 6 minute epic entered the UK charts at number 3 (a higher position than Creep Achieved or in fact any previous Radiohead track) They began to push the album relentlessly.

The music on the album blends effortlessly from track to track The opening track Airbag sounds like King Crimson and the Beatles blended into a car crash of guitars and vocals that shocks the first time listener into knowing they are about to experience something rather special and terrifying.

Paranoid Android began as 3 different songs that fit together in a disjointed and electrifying way. It has often been compared to the work of later Pink Floyd. Its title refers to Douglas Adams classic book and radio Play series The Hitchers Guide To The Galaxy in fact there are a number of references throughout the album to Adams and his work. The songs is a live favorite and one of Radiohead's signature tunes.

Karma Police is probably one of the most popular and Bends like songs on the album, and was the second single. Live Drive listeners are not alone in hearing the similarities to the song and The Beatles Sexy Sadie. The song is Radiohead's most successful song worldwide (not counting Creep of course) The title comes from a joke within the band that they would say to each other if they did something wrong, that they would call the Karma Police on them (nerds).

The next single to be released off of Ok Computer is No Surprises. This melodic track contains dark lyrical images of someone perhaps committing suicide or just being plane fed up with everything. It is beautiful, melodic and can transport its listeners from a mood of hollow depression to joy in a matter of minutes. The only song to contain the same qualities is the uplifting Let Down.

The singles are not however the best racks on the album, Aliens looking down at the word and wondering what these funny people are in Subterranean Homesick Alien drifts the listener into a bizzare word of images and superb musicianship. The empty promises of Politicians in Electioneering is the loudest song on the album with a crunching riff that ears through the lyrics as much as they do through the politicians. Climbing up the Wall is the one song on the album that hints of what is to come from Radiohead's following album Kid A. Exit Music for a film was commission by Baz Luhrman for the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack and Lucky was recorded as a single for the War Child Charity.

The album Killed off Brit Pop, inspired many of today's biggest bands from Muse to Coldplay. Mere words are not enough to do justice to this album, it is said in each track, how important Radiohead are as a band and to how important this albums is to music.

Track Listing:

1. Airbag
2. Paranoid Android
3. Subterranean Homesick Alien
4. Exit Music (For a Film)
5. Let Down
6. Karma Police
7. Fitter Happier
8. Electioneering
9. Climbing Up the Walls
10. No Surprises
11. Lucky
12. The Tourist