The Doors - The Doors

1967 was quite a year for music, The Beatles released Sgt Peppers, Jimi Hendrix let loose with Axis Bold as Love, The Velvet Underground released their début, as did The Doors. This landmark album combined psychadelic rock with blues and dionesian poetry altered the minds of millions at the drop of a needle.

Break on Through was the first single to explode from the album. Raw and evocative, it was censored because Jim Morrison said “she gets, she gets, high” Such controversy only fuelled the public's hunger for the band and their music. Another track on the album the final track The End was also censored, though not for a drug reference, but because Jim said the word fuck over and over again, its not exactly Public Enemy, but they were the most controversial band of their day.

One of my favourites from the album is the Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's Alabama Song. The one great whimsy on the album, it works well with dark nature of The Doors sound and the heavy drinking nature of its tragic lead singer

The other big hit from the album, Light My Fire went to number one. This song has set a template for psychedelic rock and even psychedelic jazz. When the band performed the song on the Ed Sullivan show they were asked to change the lyrics from "Girl we couldn't get much higher" to “Girl we couldn't get much better”. Morrison agreed, but when the show went out live he never changed the lyrics. Ed Sullivan was so furious he refused to shake Morrison's hand. The band were due to appear on seven shows but this was cancelled after the performance, the response from Jim, “ Hey, man, so what, we just DID the Ed Sullivan show” God that man was cool.

The album ends with The End. A 12 minute opus with a haunting spoken word section which begins with “the killer awoke before dawn...” the ending of this section has long been controversial for its not so suttle Oedipal references. When Morrison screams “Mother... Yes Son..... I want to fuck you” little was left to the imagination of the more conservative in the late 60's. Lifted from many Greek theatre plots, The Doors set it to rock and roll, no one had heard anything like it before.

Other high points, pardon the pun, on the album are Take it as it Comes, The Crystal Ship and the Willie Dixon penned Back Door Man. They may have realesed more albums, but L.A.'s greatest band begun something remarkable when they put this onto vinyl and changed the rules forever.

Track Listing

1. "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" – 2:30
2. "Soul Kitchen" – 3:35
3. "The Crystal Ship" – 2:34
4. "Twentieth Century Fox" – 2:33
5. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)" (Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill) – 3:20
6. "Light My Fire" – 7:08
7. "Back Door Man" (Willie Dixon) – 3:34
8. "I Looked at You" – 2:22
9. "End of the Night" – 2:52
10. "Take It as It Comes" – 2:18
11. "The End" – 11:44

Nina Nastasia - The Blackened Air

This week's critical junction is a little left of field, and well perhaps an artist few of you will have heard of let alone the album.

So first things first I suppose, who is Nina Nastasia? Nina is a New York based singer songwriter, who has released 5 albums all of which have been produced by the worlds best non-producing producer, Steve Albini. Blackened Air is her second album and was released in 2002. The late great BBC DJ, John Peel was a huge fan and had her record six sessions for the BBC. Her song Ugle Face, from Blackened Air made it to number 4 on Peel's annual festive 50 in 2002!

So Blackened Air, why is it included in our little corner of musical criticism? Well we guess its something of a personal choice, but it is an achingly beautiful album worthy of our and many others praise. The folk infused album is filled with tracks that will undoubtedly stand the test of time. Nina's coutry twinged voice and delicate guitar are the driving force of this album. Short songs like All For You achieve more in 1:42 seconds that most artist accomplish in a lifetime! Compared this to the more forceful song In The Graveyard, which despite its despairing lyrics is filled with a redemption not often found in ballads of loss. Perhaps the finest moment on this astonishing collection of songs is This Is What It Is, which blends chamber music, country and folk into something rarely heard, new music!

If you haven't heard of Nina, or heard her music, then this is the place to start, Blackened Air and Nina Nastasia are gaining momentum, get on board and go to wherever her music takes you.


Track Listing

1. "Run, All You…"
2. "I Go With Him"
3. "This Is What It Is"
4. "Oh, My Stars"
5. "All for You"
6. "So Little"
7. "Desert Fly"
8. "Ugly Face"
9. "In the Graveyard"
10. "Ocean"
11. "Rosemary"
12. "The Same Day"
13. "Been So Long"
14. "The Very Next Day"
15. "Little Angel"
16. "That's All There Is"

Louder Than Bomnbs - The Smiths

Ok, so Smiths fans will be shaking their heads at us this week, at the very idea of us putting a compilation album up as a critical junction, but, and this is a genuine but, the songs on this album, albeit compiled, are truly magical and this also means we can play way more tracks on the show, so without further half hearted apologies which the previous 67 odd words are actually supposed to be, we will get down to the nitty gritty.

Originally released in the US as a counterpart to the UK album The World Won't Listen, Louder Than Bombs consisted of all the singles and pretty much all the b-sides that had not been available in the US to the point, however since the album conatined Sheila Take a Bow and so many B-Sides that fans of the band started buying it as an import. The Smiths record label Rough Trade, were not about to loose some easy cash, decided to release it in the UK.

The album cover was designed by Morrissey and has a photo of Shelagh Delaney, a Manchester playwright whose début play inspired Morrissey greatly.

The music on this compilation is actually pretty breathtaking From Sheila Take a bow, Panic, Ask, the sublime Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now to the aching Asleep the album is not only a document of how essential The Smiths are to British musical history but to the fact that they practically single handedly save 1980's music in the UK from being a void of plastic disposable pop rubbish.

Track Listing

1. "Is It Really So Strange?" - 2:42 (John Peel session)
2. "Sheila Take a Bow" - 3:02
3. "Shoplifters of the World Unite" - 2:58
4. "Sweet and Tender Hooligan" - 3:33 (John Peel session)
5. "Half a Person" 3:36
6. "London" 2:08#
7. "Panic" - 2:20
8. "Girl Afraid" - 2:49
9. "Shakespeare's Sister" - 2:08
10. "William, It Was Really Nothing" - 2:11
11. "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby" (alternate mix)* - 3:33
12. "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" - 3:34
13. "Ask" - 3:12
14. "Golden Lights" - 2:43
15. "Oscillate Wildly" - 3:25
16. "These Things Take Time"* - 2:23
17. "Rubber Ring" - 3:48
18. "Back to the Old House"* - 3:04
19. "Hand in Glove" (single version) - 3:15
20. "Stretch Out and Wait"* - 2:46
21. " Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" - 1:52
22. "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" (John Peel session) 3:40
23. "Unloveable" - 3:56
24. "Asleep" - 4:11

The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

Ok so this has been coming for a long time so here it is. One of the most influential albums ever produced, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Amazingly this was The Beatles eight studio album, took 129 days to record, was produced by George Martin and a host of engineers and was released on June 1st 1967.

By the time they began recording the album the Beatles had decided that they would no longer tour.The idea behind Sergeant Peppers was to create and album that could tour for them, thus the creation of a fictitious group Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. The theme is a bit loose it must be admitted, as the only Sgt. Peppers band bits are the introduction and With A little Help With My Friends both of which are sung by Ringo Starr aka band leader Billy Shears. The rest of the album albeit astounding is not really connected to any overarching concept, but who cares!

The use of state of the art recording technology and innovations in the use of this equipment was far ahead of its time, but then again they had free reign in the studio for 129 days. Even on the album itself there are loads of little quirks, such as in the run-out groove the band put in some playful sounds, there is a high pitch tone that was put there to annoy peoples dogs and instead of the record just repeatedly winding at the end there is laughter and gibbersh.

The arrangements on the album are also quite elaborate, and required a team of engineers and musicians. There was a clarinet ensemble on When I'm Sixty Four the George Harrison song song, Whithin You Without You is quiet long and features a group of Indian muscians and Harrison on sitar ad acoustic guitar. The John Lennon song Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite
is made up of a sound collage recorded and pieced together by George Martin and his team of engineers. The explosion of orchestration on A Day In The Life is an unforgettable moment in pop history and somehting that had never been heard before by pop fans. For the nerds out there there are some clips of the recording of A Day in the Life right here on youtube, which was recorded as part of a planned for TV special that never came to fruition.

When Sgt. Peppers was released most people got it straight away, well the critics anyway. The New York Times called it "an over attended child". Frank Zappa thought the Beatles were cashing in on the flower power generation. Even without Mr Zappa's criticism it, of course went to number one on both sides of the Atlantic.

The front cover of the album has become part of rock iconography and has been imitated on a number of occasions. It was designed by Peter Blake, the packaging was created by Robert Fraser and all in close collaboration with Paul McCartney. as a means to divert your attention from a days work we have included a picture of the cover with all those involved named, for the lazy just click here for an interactive picture.

Sgt. Peppers is one of the most important records of all time, it is fun and exciting and part of the Zeitgeist at the time. It is also the last album where The Beatles actually sound like they are having fun.

Track Listing

Side 1

1. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" – 2:04
2. "With a Little Help from My Friends" – 2:46
3. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" – 3:30
4. "Getting Better" – 2:49
5. "Fixing a Hole" – 2:38
6. "She's Leaving Home" – 3:37
7. "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" – 2:37

Side 2

1. "Within You Without You" (George Harrison) – 5:07
2. "When I'm Sixty-Four" – 2:37
3. "Lovely Rita" – 2:44
4. "Good Morning Good Morning" – 2:43
5. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise)" – 1:20
6. "A Day in the Life" – 5:33

1. Sri Yukteswar Gigi (guru)
2. Aleister Crowley (dabbler in sex, drugs and magic)
3. Mae West (actress)
4. Lenny Bruce (comic)
5. Karlheinz Stockhausen (composer)
6. W.C. Fields (comic)
7. Carl Gustav Jung (psychologist)
8. Edgar Allen Poe (writer)
9. Fred Astaire (actor)
10. Richard Merkin (artist)
11. The Varga Girl (by artist Alberto Vargas)
12. *Leo Gorcey (Painted out because he requested a fee)
13. Huntz Hall (actor one of the Bowery Boys)
14. Simon Rodia (creator of Watts Towers)
15. Bob Dylan (musician)
16. Aubrey Beardsley (illustrator)
17. Sir Robert Peel (politician)
18. Aldous Huxley (writer)
19. Dylan Thomas (poet)
20. Terry Southern (writer)
21. Dion (di Mucci)(singer)
22. Tony Curtiss (actor)
23. Wallace Berman (artist)
24. Tommy Handley (comic)
25. Marilyn Monroe (actress)
26. William Burroughs (writer)
27. Sri Mahavatara Babaji(guru)
28. Stan Laurel (comic)
29. Richard Lindner (artist)
30. Oliver Hardy (comic)
31. Karl Marx (philosopher/socialist)
32. H.G. Wells (writer)
33. Sri Paramahansa Yogananda (guru)
34. Anonymous (wax hairdresser's dummy)
35. Stuart Sutcliffe (artist/former Beatle)
36. Anonymous (wax hairdresser's dummy)
37. Max Miller (comic)
38. The Pretty Girl (by artist George Petty)
39. Marlon Brando (actor)
40. Tom Mix (actor)
41. Oscar Wilde (writer)
42. Tyrone Power (actor)
43. Larry Bell (artist)
44. Dr. David Livingston (missionary/explorer)
45. Johnny Weissmuller (swimmer/actor)
46. Stephen Crane (writer)
47. Issy Bonn (comic)
48. George Bernard Shaw (writer)
49. H.C. Westermann (sculptor)
50. Albert Stubbins (soccer player)
51. Sri lahiri Mahasaya (guru)
52. Lewis Carrol (writer)
53. T.E. Lawrence (soldier, aka Lawrence of Arabia)
54. Sonny Liston (boxer)
55. The Pretty Girl (by artist George Petty)
56. Wax model of George Harrison
57. Wax model of John Lennon
58. Shirley Temple (child actress)
59. Wax model of Ringo Starr
60. Wax model of Paul McCartney
61. Albert Einstein (physicist)
62. John Lennnon, holding a french horn
63. Ringo Starr, holding a trumpet
64. Paul McCartney, holding a cor anglais
65. George Harrison, holding a flute
66. Bobby Breen (singer)
67. Marlene Dietrich (actress)
68. Mohandas Ghandi (painted out at the request of EMI)
69. Legionaire from the order of the Buffalos
70. Diana Dors (actress)
71. Shirley Temple (child actress)
72. Cloth grandmother-figure by Jann Haworth
73. Cloth figure of Shirley Temple by Haworth
74. Mexican candlestick
75. Television set
76. Stone figure of girl
77. Stone figure
78. Statue from John Lennon's house
79. Trophy
80. Four-armed Indian Doll
81. Drum skin, designed by Joe Ephgrave
82. Hookah (water tobacco-pipe)
83. Velvet snake
84. Japanese stone figure
85. Stone figure of Snow White
86. Garden gnome
87. Tuba

Hot Fuss - The Killers

Hot Fuss is the debut album by post-punk band The Killers, released in June 2004. Who would have thought that the best British band to burst onto the scene in years would be American? The Killers’ music is based on British influences and on the music of the 1980s, particularly New Waveand according to lead singer Brandon Flowers, the band’s larger-than-life sound is down to “the influence of living in Las Vegas, a city where everything is about flash and who can top whom”.

The Las Vegas foursome introduce a perfectly tailored new wave-induced art rock sound on “Hot Fuss”. The eleven tracks span from first proper single release Somebody Told Me, the chunky-riffed song loaded with androgynous mystery which wooed MTV audiences and modern rock followers during the summer of 2004, to Mr Brightside, a tale of jealousy that depicts the moment in a relationship when you realise that your other half might be playing away and the fears and visualisations your imagination can then throw at you. On Top celebrates where Brandon feels the band is at, while Andy You’re A Star is a stalker’s story. Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine and Mr. Brightside are equally as fiesty as the album’s first single, confirming that a formula is indeed in motion. The gospel rock of All These Things That I've Done, which saw Flowers realise his long-held dream of using a full-on gospel choir in the band’s recordings, fits strangely well with the Cure-inspired synths of Everything Will Be Alright and “Believe Me Natalie”, as well as with the dark-sounding “Midnight Show”.

The Killers’ “murder trilogy” has been much debated amongst fans and critics since the release of “Hot Fuss”, two thirds of the trilogy appearing on the album in the forms of Midnight Show (the act and attempted escape) and Jenny Was A Friend of Mine (the capture and questioning of the accused). A tale of the murder of a girl by her jealous boyfriend, the band themselves have mostly been silent about it, apart from Flowers saying cryptically in interviews that “there was water involved, although he didn’t drown her”. Part one of the trilogy, Leave The Bourbon On The Shelf, about the planning of and motive for the crime, makes an appearance on the 2007 B-sides and rarities compilation Sawdust.

One may say it’s premature to call Hot Fuss a classic album, but we think time will prove us right…

Track listing
1. Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
2. Mr. Brightside - (Thin White Duke remix)
3. Smile Like You Mean It
4. Somebody Told Me - (Josh Harris remix)
5. All These Things That I've Done
6. Andy, You're a Star
7. On Top
8. Change Your Mind
9. Believe Me Natalie
10. Midnight Show
11. Everything Will Be Alright