Every Record Tells A Story
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Rush – Why Moving Pictures is one of Rock’s Greatest Albums
Moving Pictures is Rush’s finest album. With the Beyond The Lighted Stage documentary fresh in our minds and a great (it really is – their best since Hold Your Fire to my ears) new album, Chocolate Orange Clockwork Angels just released, there has never been a better time to delve into Rush’s past. There’s certainly…
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Rush: Geddy Lee, Asterix and The Geneva Convention
There are many reasons why you should listen to Rush. They’re incredible musicians. They have, over the years, been as experimental as Radiohead. Neil Peart is unquestionably the best rock drummer alive today. Better even than John Keeble. But there is just one fly in the ointment… Back in 1986, undaunted by my premature teenage…
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Rush Release New Clockwork Angels Keyring
Rush Clockwork Angels Keyring described as “return to form” and comes with free magazine and CD. Excitement was building for Rush fans today on the eve of the band’s latest Keyring release, in association with Classic Rock Magazine. Drummer Neil Peart looked enthusiastic at the press conference to launch the Keyring. “The Keyring has been a…
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Richard Hawley Breaks Leg, Plays HMV Forum, Kentish Town
“Well – as you can see we’ll be Sitting At The Sky’s Edge tonight” quips Richard Hawley, who is brought onstage in a wheelchair to the considerable surprise of the sold out crowd for this live show to support his Standing At The Sky’s Edge album. “I broke my leg in Barcelona” he explains “I’d…
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Donington ’86 – Monsters of Rock: Ozzy, Scorpions, Def Leppard, Motorhead and More Bad News…
My first Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington (that’s Download for the youngsters) was headlined by Ozzy Osbourne in 1986. Although a Winged Chariot would have been a more appropriate vehicle to take us to this most holy of heavy metal shrines, we settled on taking a National Express coach from outside John Menzies in Chelmsford,…
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Guns n Roses at Donington ’88 – The Triumph and The Tragedy
The Donington Monsters of Rock Festival in 1988 was headlined by Iron Maiden, but Guns n Roses – and a tragedy – stole the headlines. Now known as The Download Festival, the annual pilgrimage of UK Heavy Metal fans to a field outside Nottingham (Castle Donington) is as essential a rite de passage for every…
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Wilko Johnson Book Launch: How Dr Feelgood Were Inspired by a Disastrous MC5 Wembley Appearance
Wilko Johnson, former lead guitarist of Canvey Island‘s finest export Dr Feelgood, was at Rough Trade East last night to launch his new autobiography alongside co-author Zoe Howe, a local Leigh on Sea resident. Wilko spoke eloquently about his life in front of a packed crowd and was then joined by his band, featuring former Blockhead…
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Girls: Live at The HMV Forum, Kentish Town
I saw Christopher Owens play live last night in London with his band Girls. For a band that has twice featured in the Top Ten of Pitchfork’s Best Album end of year poll, Girls are keeping their ankles pretty well hidden from the outside world. Last night’s gig at the Kentish Town HMV Forum (always…
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The Judas Priest Controversy: Backwards Messages and A Tragic Death
Judas Priest have had an interesting and turbulent history – including going on trial in the USA having being accused of causing the suicide of a boy through inserting backward / subliminal messages into their songs. Perhaps Judas Priest have the craziest history of any metal band. Including Manowar. Or even Metallica. One that makes Spinal Tap…
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Judas Priest – Live at Hammersmith
When I think of all the heavy metal bands the UK has produced, my absolute favourite is Judas Priest. And Judas Priest are very metal. They sing about metal. Metal Meltdown. Metal Gods. The former is about a metal meltdown. The latter is about, well, metal gods. You can even hear the metal gods’ footsteps…
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UK wins Eurovision….because no other country has ever got close…
Every year, millions of people tune in to see a singing contest which serves up a musical kaleidoscope of vomit. An über-camp spectacle of ridiculous pop wannabes looking for their fifteen minutes of fame in the hope that it will lead to a Europe-wide hit single and perhaps immortality, only to be instantly forgotten until…
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Guns n Roses at The Marquee Club
I have very few regrets in life…. Perhaps I should have danced with that pretty brunette at the school disco when I was ten years old instead of looking horrified. On reflection I didn’t take enough care when using that scalpel when twelve, resulting in an unscheduled trip to A&E. As a teenager that haircut…
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Every Record – The 50th Episode – And Best Bits So Far (and A Versatile Blogger Award)
Hey – remember when the Friends or Seinfeld writers needed to deliver two more shows to the network, but had run out of budget, so they cobbled together a story by playing highlights of old episodes introducing the clips by Chandler (or Kramer) saying ” Hey – remember when…..”? Hey – remember when you stumbled…
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Kiss – Exposed!
After the Kiss Animalized Uncensored Live video, I was keen to see more. This led me to the new video release Kiss – Exposed!. This was packed with archive footage of the band, and set (apparently) at the band’s home. Yes, it appeared that like a comic book Morecambe and Wise, Kiss all lived together like…
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Kiss…..And Things You Don’t See Anymore #3: Denim Jackets With Band Names on the Back
So what is one of the most powerful advertising weapons utilised by bands such as Kiss and Aerosmith to attract the youth of Britain to buy products? YouTube? Facebook? Search Engine Optimisation? TV? Oh no. Compared to the real success story of the last forty years these things are mere bagatelles. In fact, over two…
Every record tells a story 