Critical Junctions

Nina Nastasia - The Blackened Air

2008-07-23T06:57:00.004+01:00

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

"Run, All You…"
"I Go With Him"
"This Is What It Is"
"Oh, My Stars"
"All for You"
"So Little"
"Desert Fly"
"Ugly Face"
"In the Graveyard"
"Ocean"
"Rosemary"
"The Same Day"
"Been So Long"
"The Very Next Day"
"Little Angel"
"That's All There Is"

Louder Than Bomnbs - The Smiths

2008-07-16T21:10:00.000+01:00

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

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

The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

2008-07-09T14:03:00.007+01:00

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

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

Side 2

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

Sri Yukteswar Gigi (guru)
Aleister Crowley (dabbler in sex, drugs and magic)
Mae West (actress)
Lenny Bruce (comic)
Karlheinz Stockhausen (composer)
W.C. Fields (comic)
Carl Gustav Jung (psychologist)
Edgar Allen Poe (writer)
Fred Astaire (actor)
Richard Merkin (artist)
The Varga Girl (by artist Alberto Vargas)
*Leo Gorcey (Painted out because he requested a fee)
Huntz Hall (actor one of the Bowery Boys)
Simon Rodia (creator of Watts Towers)
Bob Dylan (musician)
Aubrey Beardsley (illustrator)
Sir Robert Peel (politician)
Aldous Huxley (writer)
Dylan Thomas (poet)
Terry Southern (writer)
Dion (di Mucci)(singer)
Tony Curtiss (actor)
Wallace Berman (artist)
Tommy Handley (comic)
Marilyn Monroe (actress)
William Burroughs (writer)
Sri Mahavatara Babaji(guru)
Stan Laurel (comic)
Richard Lindner (artist)
Oliver Hardy (comic)
Karl Marx (philosopher/socialist)
H.G. Wells (writer)
Sri Paramahansa Yogananda (guru)
Anonymous (wax hairdresser's dummy)
Stuart Sutcliffe (artist/former Beatle)
Anonymous (wax hairdresser's dummy)
Max Miller (comic)
The Pretty Girl (by artist George Petty)
Marlon Brando (actor)
Tom Mix (actor)
Oscar Wilde (writer)
Tyrone Power (actor)
Larry Bell (artist)
Dr. David Livingston (missionary/explorer)
Johnny Weissmuller (swimmer/actor)
Stephen Crane (writer)
Issy Bonn (comic)
George Bernard Shaw (writer)
H.C. Westermann (sculptor)
Albert Stubbins (soccer player)
Sri lahiri Mahasaya (guru)
Lewis Carrol (writer)
T.E. Lawrence (soldier, aka Lawrence of Arabia)
Sonny Liston (boxer)
The Pretty Girl (by artist George Petty)
Wax model of George Harrison
Wax model of John Lennon
Shirley Temple (child actress)
Wax model of Ringo Starr
Wax model of Paul McCartney
Albert Einstein (physicist)
John Lennnon, holding a french horn
Ringo Starr, holding a trumpet
Paul McCartney, holding a cor anglais
George Harrison, holding a flute
Bobby Breen (singer)
Marlene Dietrich (actress)
Mohandas Ghandi (painted out at the request of EMI)
Legionaire from the order of the Buffalos
Diana Dors (actress)
Shirley Temple (child actress)
Cloth grandmother-figure by Jann Haworth
Cloth figure of Shirley Temple by Haworth
Mexican candlestick
Television set
Stone figure of girl
Stone figure
Statue from John Lennon's house
Trophy
Four-armed Indian Doll
Drum skin, designed by Joe Ephgrave
Hookah (water tobacco-pipe)
Velvet snake
Japanese stone figure
Stone figure of Snow White
Garden gnome
Tuba

Hot Fuss - The Killers

2008-07-02T12:47:00.003+01:00

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

After the Gold Rush - Neil Young

2008-06-24T11:33:00.009+01:00

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

2008-06-18T16:09:00.012+01:00

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

2008-06-11T22:56:00.003+01:00

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

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

Ok Computer - Radiohead

2008-06-04T15:51:00.008+01:00

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

Closing Time - Tom Waits

2008-05-27T13:17:00.003+01:00

Tom Waits’ debut album “Closing Time” was released in March 1973. Waits’ gravely voice is instantly recognizable and was once described by a critic as sounding “like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months and then taken outside and run over with a car.” With this trademark growl, his incorporation of a mish-mash of styles including blues, jazz, and Vaudeville, and his openess to experimentation, Waits has built up a unique and distinctive musical persona. Lyrically, Waits’ songs are known for atmospheric portrayals of bizarre, seedy characters and places, although he has also shown a penchant for more conventional ballads. His influence on other songwriters, despite having little radio or music video support himself, has meant that his songs are better known to the general public in the form of cover versions by more prominent artists, eg. “Jersey Girl” performed by Bruce Springsteen; “Downtown Train” performed by Rod Stewart; actress Scarlett Johansson’s 2008 debut album “Anywhere I Lay My Head” predominantly featuring covers of Waits’ songs; and “Ol’ ‘55” performed by the Eagles but present in its original glorious form on “Closing Time”.

“Ol’ ‘55”, one of the album’s finest tracks, is about driving down the freeway in the early morning in a state of post-coital euphoria. Just as compelling is the ballad “I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You”, a story about meeting eyes with a girl in a bar and aching to ask her out, but ultimately being too shy. “Lonely” is what it is. “Martha” is perhaps the most poignant song on the album, a simple piano ballad about lost love and written when Waits was only 19 years old. “Closing Time” received good reviews on its release, but overall it was not a huge commercial success. However, it did reach a wider audience through a number of cover versions by more successful artists. Later in 1973 Tim Buckley released his album “Sefronia” which contained a cover of “Martha” , the first ever cover of a Tom Waits song by a known artist. This cover was also collected in the 1995 compilation “Step Right Up: The Songs of Tom Waits”. The Eagles’ cover of “Ol’ ‘55” was a big hit for them and it featured on their 1974 album “On the Border”.

Tom Waits has composed for a number of movies and musical plays including the soundtrack of the film “Shrek 2”, in which he also appears in a shared role with Nick Cave as a piano-playing Captain Hook singing the track “A Little Drop Of Poison”.

1. “Ol’ ‘55”
2. “I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You”
3. “Virginia Avenue”
4. “Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)”
5. “Midnight Lullaby”
6. “Martha”
7. “Rosie”
8. “Lonely”
9. “Ice Cream Man”
10. “Little Trip to Heaven (On the Wings of Your Love)”
11. “Grapefruit Moon”
12. “Closing Time” (instrumental)

Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones

2008-05-20T17:23:00.003+01:00

Released in 1969 Let It Bleed was a musical stepping stone between the Bluesy sound of Beggars Banquet and The Rolling Stones standard rock sound on Sticky Fingers.

Brian Jones, the Stones founding member, died while the album was being recorded and only performs on two tracks, You Got The Silver and Midnight Rambler.
Let It Bleed opens with the classic, apocalyptic, Gimme Shelter, which surprisingly was never released as a single. Jagger called it an "end of the world song" clearly evidenced in the lyrics.
"Oh, a storm is threatening, My very life today; If I don't get some shelter, Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away"
"War, children, it's just a shot away, It's just a shot away; War, children, it's just a shot away, It's just a shot away"
Although they had had a hit with Honky Tonk Woman, they chose to leave it off the album and instead recorded an alter ego for the single Country Honk. This was also the album where Keith Richards performed his first solo vocal lead on You Got The Silver.
Other highlights include the drugtastic Monkey Man, which features on the Goodfellas soundtrack, and the title track Let It Bleed.
Closing the Album is yet another classic, You Can't Always Get What You Want

Written on the inner sleeve of the original album is a simple message "This record must be played loud" Turn up the volume, Let It Bleed is Thursdays Critical Junction.

Track listing
1. Gimme Shelter
2. Love In Vain
3. Country Honk
4. Live With Me
5. Let It Bleed
6. Midnight Rambler
7. You Got The Silver
8. Monkey Man
9. You Can't Always Get What You Want

Hounds Of Love - Kate Bush

2008-05-14T06:50:00.008+01:00

Hounds of Love, Kate Bush's 1985 album was her most commercially successful to date. That is not to say it isn't packed full of kate's eccentricities but it has also some of her finest pop moments to boot.

The album was produced by Bush in her own 24 track studio. She split the album into two parts. The first half had her accessible pop tracks the second showing her more adventurous side.

The first single to be released was Running Up That Hill. Apparently Kate is singing about men and women and how we can never really understand each other (I think she is on to something). The song was originally just titled Deal With God, but Kate was warned that if the title remained it wouldn't be played in any religious countries, like Ireland! The video was a dance number that even had a weird pre curser to being John Malcovich where Kate Bush gets swept down a corridor by a stream of people wearing Kate Bush masks, even weirder still MTV never played it, preferring a live performance of the song to the video.

The second single taken from the album was the wonderful Cloudbusting. Written about the relationship between a father and son in this case controversial psychologist Wilhelm reich's arrest as seen through the eyes of his son.

Hounds of Love was the third single and was yet another commercial and critical success for Kate. It is actually my favorite from the album too.

The second side of Hounds of Love is a concept suite of songs called the Ninth Wave. It seems to be about a young woman who is terminally ill, and has repeated hallucinations. The critical success of hounds of love was further proof of the huge talent that is Kate Bush. The singles released from the album are still mainstream radio staples which is testament to the craft and originality of the album.

Track Listsing

1. "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" – 5:03
2. "Hounds of Love" – 3:02
3. "The Big Sky" – 4:41
4. "Mother Stands for Comfort" – 3:07
5. "Cloudbusting" – 5:10

The Ninth Wave

6. "And Dream of Sheep" – 2:45
7. "Under Ice" – 2:21
8. "Waking the Witch" – 4:18
9. "Watching You Without Me" – 4:06
10. "Jig of Life" – 4:04
11. "Hello Earth" – 6:13
12. "The Morning Fog" – 2:34

The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill

2008-05-08T08:18:00.001+01:00

Blank Generation - Richard Hell and the Voidvoids

2008-04-30T20:53:00.005+01:00

Its 1977, Jimmy Carter becomes the President of the United States of America, Fleetwood Mac released Rumours, Elvis Presley dies, Liv Tyler is born (swoon) and Richard Hell and the Voidvoids release Blank Generation.

Ok, Lets start with the basics.

Punk: "a style or movement characterized by the adoption of aggressively unconventional and often bizarre or shocking clothing, hairstyles, makeup, etc., and the defiance of social norms of behavior, usually associated with punk rock musicians and fans."

Richard Meyers: Aka Richard Hell. Born 1948 in the US. Hell was one of the originators of the Punk fashion look. He was one of the first to spike his hair, wear ripped up written on shirts mostly held together by safety pins andwas an important inspiration on how Malcom Mclaren would make his boy bandm The Sex Pistols look and act. He was also in The Neon Boys, Television, The Heartbreakers and The Voidvoids.

The Voidvoids: A New York based punk band fronted by Richard Hell (See above), best know for releasing the nihilistic punk classic Blank Generation.

Blank Generation: An album recorded by Richard Hell and the Voivoids in 1977. A pivotal Punk album that has influenced music for decades. It is lyrically intelligent and is driven by the spiky guitar of one Robert W. Quine. (Robert worked with them all Brian Eno, Tom Waits and Lou Reed to name but a few. Sadly Robert killed himself with a heroin overdose in 2004 after being left inconsolable after his wife died)

The albums title track is one of Punks seminal tracks. It has often been cited as one of the top 10 greatest and most influential Punk songs. The complex punchy guitar style of the album was more Post Punk than Punk and can be heard at full speed on Love Comes In Spurts and Liars Beware. The album may have been nihilistic but it was not stupid. Lyrically Richard Hell was closer to Patty Smith than to The Ramones or New York Dolls and this easily heard on tracks like New pleasures, Betrayal Takes Two and Another World.

The Voidvoids show that they can appreciate music while still ripping it up with their unique cover of Credence Clearwater Revivals Walking On Water.

Blank Generation, doesn't follow the punk crowd down the road of mediocrity, it is a fresh sonic blast in the face of all that came before and still sound's new an exciting today.

Track Listing

1. Love Comes in Spurts
2. Liars Beware
3. New Pleasure
4. Betrayal Takes Two
5. Down at the Rock & Roll Club
6. Who Says? (It's Good to Be Alive)
7. Blank Generation
8. Walking on the Water
9. The Plan
10. Another World
11. I'm Your Man
12. All the Way

Julie Is Her Name - Julie London

2008-04-23T10:02:00.006+01:00

1955 saw the release of Julie London's debut album Julie Is Her Name. The girl with the come hither voice, a husky instrument that lingers on every syllable, Ms London, and the other torch singers of the 1950's, had men across the world quivering in the well polished shoes and slacks, and the statuesque Julie represented the genre.

The production on the album is sparse with a hint of jazz throughout, and the intoxicating vocals demand the listeners rapt attention for 31 minutes 11 seconds.

Each songs rolls seamlessly into the next, each one a ballad none of them up tempo. Cry Me A River, (not to be confused with the pop shenanigans of one Mr Timberlake) opens the album. The song originally written for Ella Fitzgerald but was not recorded because producers believed audiences would not accept a black woman using the word "Plebeian" Julie got the opportunity to be the first to record it. For the nerd out there it is also on the V for vendetta soundtrack.

The beautiful Cant Help Lovin' Dat Man from Showboat is thrown into the mix, Cole Porters I Love You, Irving Berlins Say It Isn't So are among the many jazz standards that steam their way off the LP.

While Cry Me A River was the big hit from the album and made Julie London as star, my personal favorite is Easy Street, every time Julie finishes a line my legs go weak. The vibrato and breathy delivery is something you just don't find any more. This album says all you ever needed to hear about the torch singers of the 50's

Track Listing

1. Cry Me A River
2. i Should care
3. I'm In the Mood For Love
4. I'm Glad There Is You
5. Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man
6. I Love You
7. Say It Isn't So
8. It Never Entered My Mind
9. Easy Street
10. 's Wonderful
11. No Moon At All
12. Laura
13. Gone With The Wind

Troublegum - Therapy?

2008-04-16T10:00:00.000+01:00

“Troublegum”, released on February 7, 1994, was the second major-label album by Northern Irish metal/punk rock band Therapy?. It is often remarked that “Troublegum” is Therapy?’s “Black Album”, as it is probably their most accessible work. Frontman Andy Cairns, who formed the band in 1989 with friend and drummer Fyfe Ewing, was particularly interested in subjects such as isolation, psychosis and psychiatry, and his lyrics dealt mainly with the recurring themes of unrequited love, loss and loneliness, a trait which has persisted throughout Therapy?’s career.
1993 and 1994 were the most successful years in the group's history. 1993 saw the release of the “Shortsharpshock” EP, featuring the band’s classic song “Screamager”, which stunned many when it catapulted into the UK Top 40, peaking at 9. “Troublegum” became an instant metal classic on its release in 1994, delighting Therapy?’s old fans and sucking in new ones. “Screamager” also featured on the album and the song earned the band the first of many appearances on the world-famous UK music show “Top of the Pops”. It was clear that their sound was changing, evolving from experimental noise cacophony into something far more accessible even for those wary of a band with the “metal” tag. A seething but sleek slice of angry rock music, with dark and brooding lyrics paired with upbeat riffs and interwoven with masses of feedback and Ewing's phenomenal drumming, “Troublegum” earned the band appearances at a string of rock and indie festivals over the next couple of years, as well as a clutch of Top 40 singles including “Trigger Inside”, “Nowhere” and “Turn”. It remains the band's high point for many fans and it gained them a string of nominations at the annual Kerrang! Awards, celebrating the best of the year’s metal music. It was also rated the top album of 1994 in the 1000th issue of Kerrang!, published in 2004.
“Troublegum” makes for uncomfortable listening in parts, but it’s indisputably a grower and an album that no metal fan should be without.
Various theories have been put forward over the years by fans and critics as to why the group placed the unusual question mark suffix to their name. However, the truth is rather mundane. When designing the band's first home-produced single, Andy Cairns accidentally misaligned the Letraset adhesive label on the sleeve and decided to simply use the "?" icon to fill the space instead.

1. “Knives”
2. “Screamager”
3. “Hellbelly”
4. “Stop It You’re Killing Me”
5. “Nowhere”
6. “Die Laughing”
7. “Unbeliever”
8. “Trigger Inside”
9. “Lunacy Booth”
10. “Isolation”
11. “Turn”
12. “Femtex”
13. “Unrequited”
14. “Brainsaw”

Hotel California - The Eagles

2008-04-09T10:00:00.000+01:00

The Eagles released Hotel California in 1976, a concept album, it went on to become one of the top selling albums of all time, and included the karaoke favourite Hotel California and the hits Life In The Fast Lane and New Kid In Town, (surely the inspiration behind all that is Bagatelle)

Don Henley best describes the album himself in an interview for rock magazine Zig Zag

"This is a concept album, there's no way to hide it, but it's not set in the old West, the cowboy thing, you know. It's more urban this time (. . . ) It's our bicentennial year, you know, the country is 200 years old, so we figured since we are the Eagles and the Eagle is our national symbol, that we were obliged to make some kind of a little bicentennial statement using California as a microcosm of the whole United States, or the whole world, if you will, and to try to wake people up and say 'We've been okay so far, for 200 years, but we're gonna have to change if we're gonna continue to be around."

Hmmmm...probably should have called themselves The Egos.....

Hotel California is Thursdays Critical Junction.

Track Listing
1. Hotel California
2. New Kid In Town
3. Life In The Fast Lane
4. Wasted Time
5. Wasted Time (Reprise)
6. Victim Of Love
7. Pretty Maids All In A Row
8. Try And Love Again
9. Last Resort, The

At Folsom Prison - Johnny Cash

2008-04-02T10:08:00.005+01:00

The Man in Black breaks an album out from behind the walls of one Americas most notorious prisons to deliver an album which has not only stood the test of time, but has grown in cult status and popularity year on year.

Recorded on January 13th 1968 at Folsom Prison, it is Johnny Cash at his most charismatic. He stands with his wife and band before a crowd of hardened convicts and plays the concert of his life. Giving these men a voice and acknowledging that no matter what they had done to get where they were, they were still part of the human race.

Ok so what of the music on this album. Ably backed by June Carter, Carl Perkins, and The Tennese Three Cash delivers hit after hit. Folsom Prison Blues, Cocaine Blues, Jackson, Long Black Veil amongst many others.

Many poignant songs were sung by cash for the prisoners, Send A Picture Of Mother is the tale of a prisoner being released and the friend he leaves behind. The final song Greystone Chapel. The song was written by Glen Sherley who was an inmate at Folsom Prison. Cash heard the song the night before he was to play at the prison and soon as Cash heard the lyrics:

"There's a Greystone chapel here at Folsom,

A house of worship in this den of sin.

You wouldn't think God had a place at Folsom,

But he's saved the soul of many lost men."

He had to play it the next day.

Johnny Cash is the face and voice of country music his popularity has prevailed for decades. this si the album that put him on the map, and led to him going to San Quentin in 1969 and to him having his own TV show on CBS.

The original recording was released on LP and only contained 16 tracks, the CD re-released has 19 and thats the one we will feature on this weeks Crititcal Junction.

Track Listing:

1. Folsom Prison Blues (J. Cash) – 2:42
2. Busted (H. Howard) – 1:25
3. Dark as a Dungeon (M. Travis) – 3:04
4. I Still Miss Someone (J. Cash - R. Cash, Jr.) – 1:38
5. Cocaine Blues (T. J. Arnall) – 3:01
6. 25 Minutes to Go (S. Silverstein) – 3:31
7. Orange Blossom Special (E. T. Rouse) – 3:06
8. The Long Black Veil (Wilkin - D. Dill) – 3:58
9. Send a Picture of Mother (J. Cash) – 2:05
10. The Wall (H. Howard) – 1:36
11. Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Dog (J. H. Clement) – 1:30
12. Flushed From the Bathroom of Your Heart (J. H. Clement) – 2:05
13. Joe Bean (B. Freeman - L. Pober) – 3:05
14. Jackson (duet with June Carter) (B. Wheeler - J. Lieber) – 3:12
15. Give My Love to Rose (duet with June Carter) (J. Cash) – 2:43
16. I Got Stripes (J. Cash - C. Williams) – 1:52
17. The Legend of John Henry's Hammer (J. Cash - J. Carter) – 7:08
18. Green, Green Grass of Home (C. Putman) – 2:13
19. Greystone Chapel (Glen Sherley) – 6:02

Dusty In Memphis

2008-03-26T15:18:00.006Z

This week we get some soul on Live Drive as we step back to 1969 and the sultry sounds of the incomparable Dusty Springfield with her classic album Dusty In Memphis. Recorded surprisingly enough in Memphis Tennessee and produced by production legends Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin.

Dusty In Memphis was Springfield's first album with Atlantic Records. Dusty signed with the label to reinvigorate her career and boost her credibility. Atlantic was the home of a number of soul artists including Aretha Franklin who was a hero of Dusty's. Memphis was chosen as the location to record as a number of blues musicians had come from Memphis including Dusty's new backing band The Memphis Cats, who had backed Wilson Picket and Elvis Presley. Not only that but her backing vocalists were The Sweet Inspirations (Founded by Whitney Houston's mother Cissy)

The album is filled to the brim with Dusty's signature vocals, warm and seductive she drifts the listener from track to track, most of which were written by greats such as Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Gerry Goffin, Carole King, Randy Newman of course Burt Bacharach.

Not only is this some of Dusty's finest work it is some of the finest soul music ever recorded. If Dusty wanted to revitalise her career and in due course boost her credibility she did it in style with Dusty In Memphis.

Track Listing

1. Just A Little Lovin
2. So Much Love
3. Son Of A Preacher Man
4. I Don't Want To Hear About It Anymore
5. Don't Forget About Me
6. Breakfast In Bed
7. Just One Smile
8. The Windmills Of Your Mind
9. In The Land Of Make Believe
10. No Easy Way Down
11. I Can't Make It Alone

Watermark - Enya

2008-03-11T12:09:00.006Z

For the St Patrick Says week that is in it we're featuring an album from home from perhaps one of the most enigmatic Irish artists, Enya.
Watermark was released in 1988 and quickly won critical acclaim. The unusual fusion of celtic music and synthesised technological layering gives Enya her signature sound.
Album tracks have featured in numerous advertisements and Films, Exile features on both LA Story and Green Card
Singing in Gaelige, Latin and English, Irelands best selling solo artist created a mysterious and spiritual multi million selling new age classic. Watermark is this Thursdays critical Junction!

Track Listings
1. Watermark
2. Cursum Peficio
3. On Your Shore
4. Storms In Africa
5. Exile
6. Mis Clare Remembers '59
7. Orinoco Flow
8. Evening Falls
9. River
10. The Long Ships
11. Na Lacha Geal M'oige
12. Storms In Africa II

Dirt - Alice in Chains

2008-03-10T14:55:00.004Z

Their second full-length album and released on September 29th, 1992, “Dirt” was recorded while lead singer Layne Staley was suffering from a crippling heroin addiction, an affliction that overshadowed both this release and most of the band’s career. Although steeped in doom and gloom, this album is one of the best metal/alternative rock records ever recorded and is considered by many to be Alice in Chains’ best album. “Dirt” was released on the same day as the Stone Temple Pilots album “Core”, another very important and successful album of the grunge era. The group received massive exposure in 1992 when one of the songs from “Dirt”, “Would?”, appeared on the soundtrack for “Singles”, a motion picture by filmmaker Cameron Crowe based on the lives of a group of Seattle singles. The band also appeared in the film, performing the songs “Would?” and “It Ain't Like That”, from their debut album “Facelift”, during one of the club scenes.
While never officially labelled with the often debilitating term “concept album”, “Dirt” shows the slow but steady decline of the habitual heroin user. Tracks like “Sickman”, “Junkhead”, “Dirt”, “Hate To Feel”, “Down in a Hole” and “Would?” all showcased this and sadly they also showed just how quickly, in real life, Staley’s heroin addiction was spiralling out of control. However, a track almost halfway through the album sees one of the band’s best efforts and the only song not about drugs and the inevitable misery that comes with them. “Rooster” was written by guitarist Jerry Cantrell and is based on his father’s experiences of the Vietnam war. Cantrell Senior’s nickname was Rooster, the origin of which is believed to be connected to the time he spent in Vietnam. Along with his fellow members of the 101st Airborne, he wore a patch on his arm featuring a bald eagle; as there are no bald eagles in the country, the Vietnamese referred to them as “roosters”. The uneasy relationship between father and son was healed somewhat by this song along with the music video that accompanied it, cut with clips of an interview Cantrell’s father did with film director Mark Pellington, the first time he had ever spoken about the war. “Iron Gland”, the untitled track before “Hate to Feel”, is a parody of the Black Sabbath song “Iron Man” and features vocals by Tom Araya of Slayer, whom the band brought in so he could provide an “Angel of Death”-style scream (“Angel of Death” being the opening track on Slayer’s 1986 “Reign In Blood” album).
During the summer of 1993, Alice in Chains joined bands such as Tool, Rage Against the Machine and Babes in Toyland for the alternative music festival Lollapalooza. It would be the last time that Alice in Chains would undertake a major tour. Although mostly on hiatus, the band briefly came together again on a number of occasions in the following years. 1996 saw them record their first concert in three years for “MTV Unplugged”, in 1997 they appeared at that year’s Grammys and in 1998 they recorded two new tracks for the “Music Bank” box set, released in 1999.
After more than a decade spent fighting his heroin addiction, Layne Staley was found dead in his Seattle condominium on April 19th, 2002.

Track listing:
1. “Them Bones”
2. “Dam That River”
3. “Rain When I Die”
4. “Sickman”
5. “Rooster”
6. “Junkhead”
7. “Dirt”
8. “God Smack”
9. “Iron Gland”
10. “Hate To Feel”
11. “Angry Chair”
12. “Down In A Hole”
13. “Would?”

Grease

2008-03-05T10:32:00.005Z

The year is in 1978, theres a 50's revival in the air, the Fonz is burning up the small screen in Happy Days and John Travaolta is about to slick back his hair and become a superstar. 29 year old Olivia Newton John was about to squeeze her way into impossibly tight pants and become a house hold name. It was non other than Grease, the biggest grossing movie of 1978 and one of the biggest selling soundtracks of all time often selling 7,000 copies a week even today.

Opening track and indeed the title track Grease was written by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees and is performed by Frankie Valli the song became a number one hit for Valli in the US. It was'nt the only hit from the film, Olivia Newton John scored 3 top 5 singes from the film. Your The One That I Want written by John farrar was released before the film and went straight to number one. It spent 9 weeks at number one and sold nearly 4 million copies. Summer Nights Written by Werner Casey and Jim Jacobs spent 7 weeks at number 1 in the UK chart. Hopelessly Devoted to you, was also written by Farrar and was nominated for an Oscar, Newton John performed the song but lost out to Last Dance performed by Donna Summer.

The other big numbers on the soundtrack are Sandy, Greased Lightnin (which really should have been released as a single), Look at me I'm Sandra Dee and of course Beauty School Dropout performed by one other than Frankie Avalon. Not forgetting the big We Go Together the ensemble number.

The album contains some early classics, Blue Moon, Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing, Tears on my Pillow and Hound Dog which add to the 50's feeling of the entire musical. ut what is amazing about this album is the size of it 24 tracks!!! Every tune from the film is on here, its not only over indulgent its almost rude, well maybe not to a fan as you surely get your moneys worth.

Track Listing

1. Grease
2. Summer Nights
3. Hopelessly devoted to you
4. You're the one that i want
5. Sandy
6. Beauty School Dropout
7. Look at Me
8. Greased Lightnin
9. It's Raining on Prom Night
10. Alone at a drive in
11. Blue Moon
12. Rock N Roll is here to stay
13 Those Magic Changes
14. Hound Dog
15. Born to Hand Jive
16. Tears on My Pillow
17. Mooning
18. Freddy My Love
19. Rock N Roll Party Queen
20. There are Worse things I Can Do
21. Look at me I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise)
22. We Go Together
23. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
24. Grease

Sticky Fingers - The Rolling Stones

2008-02-26T11:18:00.016Z

The 1971 number one album Sticky Fingers was the first album released by The Rolling Stones on their own label, Rolling Stones Records. It was also the first in 8 consecutive number one albums released by the band. The album cover famously had a man in tight black jeans, with a working zipper on the front that revealed white cotton briefs, I kid you not, it was designed by non other than Andy Warhol. However it did have a tendency to destroy other record sleeves stacked beside it!

It is a dark album with over half the songs on the album mentioning drug use, and the rest alluding to it. Its bluesy sound with a country twinge is amply aided by the magnificent musicians the Stones called in to the sessions. Ry Cooder, Jack Nitzche and Paul Buckmaster all grace the albums tracks.

Sticky Fingers opens with Brown Sugar a heady mix if Heroin, Inter-racial sex and slavery. It easily became a number one single. The second track on the album Sway, is one of the Rolling Stones finest album tracks. Written about the many friends of the band who had fallen fowl of the rock and roll lifestyle, it features Paul Buckmaster on guitar.

Aside from Brown Sugar, Wild Horses is the best know track on the album and one of their most popular. It is a serious country song that tugs at the heart strings from the first chords.

Sister Morphine was originally released by Mariane Faithful however due to its drug refrences it was banned from many shops and sold poorly. It was co written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards but Faithful went uncredited so she would not have to pay royalties to her manager. She recieved one third of the royalties anyway. Ry Cooder and Jack Nitzche also play on the recording.

The album is rounded off by two wonderful songs, Dead Flowers (A reference to Heroin) and Moonlight Mile. Moonlight Mile ends the album on a weary note. This ballad shed light on the trials of being on the road and maintaining the rock and roll image.

Dark and seemingly ramshackle, Sticky Fingers proved difficult to record but this difficulty was ultimately rewarded in what became an incredible album by an incredible band.

Track Listing
1. Brown Suger
2. Sway
3. Wild Horses
4. Can't You Hear Me Knocking
5. You Gota Move
6. Bitch
7. I Got The Blues
8. Sister Morphine
9. Dead Flowers
10. Moonlight Mile

Appetite For Destruction - Guns N' Roses

2008-02-19T14:24:00.005Z

With 27 million sales worldwide, the most sucessful debut of the eighties, Appetite For Destruction introduced the world to LA hard rockers Guns 'N Roses.
Axl, Slash, and the band went on to raise hell and a lot of controversy, but never surpassed the almighty punch of this album.
Welcome To The Jungle, the first single, languished until record company boss David Geffen convinced MTV to give it more air time and even though it got scant play, rock fans took note and it was soon charting. Sweet Child Of Mine (a poem by Axl Rose for his future wife) followed and by the time the band released Paradise City, they were touring to sold out stadiums.
The original cover features a tattoo Axl had designed, of a cross and skulls, each skull representing a member of the band. This artwork was actually a compromise, the original artwork featuring a robot rapist about to be avenged by a dagger toothed monster created too much controversy and was instead used on the liner sleeve.

Track listing
1. Welcome To The Jungle
2. It's So Easy
3. Nightrain
4. Out Ta Get Me
5. Mr. Brownstone
6. Paradise City
7. My Michelle
8. Think About You
9. Sweet Child O' Mine
10. You're Crazy
11. Anything Goes
12. Rocket Queen

Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan

2008-02-12T15:27:00.000Z

Bob Dylan released Blonde On Blonde in 1966, and, running at an hour and 13 minutes, it is believed to be the first ever double album, for those only acquainted with CDs, you could only fit so much on Vinyl record so they had to spread it over two.
It was recorded in Nashville Tennessee, released to critical acclaim, and is often featured in top 20 lists of the greatest albums of all time.
Lyrically the album mostly concentrates on romantic entanglements, a perfect example being Just Like A Woman, an enduring and complicated song, it's hard to know if Dylan is being critical or appreciative.
Dylan was involved with 3 women at the time that he write the album, his future wife Sara Lownds, Folk singer Joan Baez, and Warhol set "It" girl Edie Sedgewick.
Sedgewick is thought to be the debutante referred to in Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat. Visions of Johanna is, perhaps, about Joan Baez, she in turn wrote a number of songs about him including 1975s Diamonds and Rust. The final track on the album was always presumed to be about his wife, and in 1975's Desire, the track Sara includes the lyrics, "Sitting up late in the Chelsea Hotel writing Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands For You"

Track Listing
1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
2. Pledging My Time
3. Visions Of Johanna
4. One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later)
5. I Want You
6. Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
7. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
8. Just Like A Woman
9. Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine
10. Temporary Like Achilles
11. Absolutely Sweet Marie
12. 4th Time Around
13. Obviously 5 Believers
14. Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands

Are You Experienced - The Jimi Hendrix Experience

2008-02-05T10:26:00.000Z

The debut album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced was released in 1967 to imediate critial acclaim. Rocketing up the charts to number 2 in the Uk only to be held off the top spot by Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It is considers not only one of the most influential debuts albums but one of the greatest of all time and it spawned 3 top ten hit singles: Hey Joe/Stone Free, Purple Haze and The Wind Cries Mary/Highway Chile.

The album opens with Purple Haze probably one of the greatest guitar songs ever written. originally titled Purple haze, Jesus Saves, Hendrix wears his LSD influence on his sleave in the lyrical content of the song while singing "Scuse me while I Kiss the Sky" Pepsi made a hilarious add with a young Jimi Hendrix in 2004 making a rather significant career choice.

Foxy Lady or Foxey Lady as it is known in the states. This was a spelling mistake as believe it or not, Foxey is an old spelling of the word and can mean smelly or rank hardly Jimi's intention. Manic Depression the second track is a hard rock waltz, serioulsy its in watlz time but Jimi tears it appart creating a whole new interpretation to what a waltz actually sounds like. The album has been re-released a few times and has included the superb B-Sides to the singles.

This album turned music on it's head and openned up a whole new world of sounds that the electirc guitar could make and no one thought possible. Its combination of Blues, Soul and Psychedelia revolutionised rock in a way that was not repeated until it was brought back to groud zero with Punk.

Track Listing

1. Purple Haze

2. Manic Depression

3. Hey Joe

4. Love or Confusion

5. May This Be Love

6. I Don't Live Today

7. The Wind Cries Mary

8. Fire

9. Third Stone From The Sun

10. Foxy lady

11. Are You Experienced

Re-Released

12. Stone Free

13. 51st Anniversairy

14 Stone Free

15. Highway Chile

16. Can You See Me

17. Remember

18. Red House