It seems such a shame to end this series with a stub of a post, but I only have two albums that begin with Z. One is Zeitgiest by the Smashing Pumpkins and the other is this, "Ziggy Stardust" by David Bowie. I've got nothing really special to say about it. It's got Ziggy Stardust, Starman and Rock 'N' Roll Suicide on it. It's pretty pleasant but I've no real memory atatched to it, or an anicdote to share.
A top quality Megadeth album, packed full of classics such as Reckoning Day, Train of Consequences and A Tout Le Monde. A Tout Le Monde is a song that I want played at my funeral, tho it's probably heresy to say this I do prefer the rereleased version with Cristina Scabbia that was on United Abominations in 2007. Please note that this superseeds any previous instruction for Wrestlemania VIII to be shown.
Aside from the famous tracks, there is some real quality here such as Elysian Fields, with its chorus of Elysian Fields... / We are storming the heavens / To raise the swords and shields / We ascend to our destiny / To the Elysian fields and Blood of Heroes with Still alive / Blood of heroes / Never die / They never die which both get spins when I'm plotting anything D&D related.
Also, I didn't realise it when I first heard it many moons ago, there is the song Victory which uses other Megadeth song titles heavily in it's lyrics.
The tenth studio album from the mighty Maiden, was the first to feature Blaze Bailey on vocals. I've no special attachment to it, it's the only album I own that fits in the X category. It does have "Sign of the Cross","Man on the Edge" which are pretty good tracks.
To get the negative out the way with first, I don't like the last track Happy Birthday Jane, not that I have anything against people called Jane having birthdays you understand. I just don't think that it's very good. Right, with that out of the way on to the positives...
Any album that shows a bit of bollocks with the guitar and it's first lyrics are Call the police, / cos things are getting ugly (on Aggro is on to a pretty damn good start in my opinion. Throw in a ridiculously good sing-a-longable chorus in ahhhhh we'll set the streets on fire / and when it comes on top / we'll give it lots of aggro / were giving it lots of aggro and you're onto a winner straight away.
The album is full of really good lyrics designed to be sang in a field on a summer's day. The refrain of Awayaway oh oh oh away from here on Away from Here, Hey hey / What's the matter with your face, face? on Had Enough and 40 Days And 40 Nights Ohhh on er.. 40 Days And 40 Nights. Which was pretty handy, to be honest, when I saw them in a field in Leeds whilst waiting for Rage Against the Machine to come on.
A common theme in some songs is the pointless of a nine to five existance Stop living your life for the alarm / that wakes you up every day at eight / leave your Peugeot on the forecourt / it's all too much for you to take / ... / now you're not so young it's too easy / to be a dreamer, wake up and be free / your clock is ticking fast friend, believe me / you only get one chance, can you hear me / it's not OK to be this way / it's not OK to be a slave on It's Not Ok and and you wonder / why you cant get no sleep / when you've got nothing to do, / and you've had nothing to eat / your life's slipping / and sliding right out of view / and there's absolutely nothing / that you can do well / we'll live and die, / we'll live and die in these towns / don't let it drag you down / don't let it drag you down now on We'll Live and Die in These Towns. Good stuff.
VAST stands for Visual Audio Sensory Theatre (or Eye, Ear, Hand, TV as Gav insisted on interpretating it as.) so this is almost an eponymously titled album. For the first few years, and certainly the first two albums (of which Visual Audio Sensory Theatre is the first) VAST was essentially the solo project of Jon Crosby, although I understand nowdays they are more of a standard four peice band. I got into them when someone on IRC sent me a few tracks to listen to, I was hooked and told pretty much anyone who would listen about them. They've appeared on soundtracks a bit, most notably on a few episodes of Angel. "Touched" was featured in Lonely Hearts and either "Here" was used on the trailer here. I think some other songs featured in the series also.
They toured the UK in the winter of 2000 (that was a proper winter, none of this snow nonsense, just dark and a bit chilly) and I ended up going to a couple of shows. On the 12th November I went to a show at Manchester Academy 3, but I think that it was called Hop & Grape back then. It was a quality gig, I remember that the music inbetween the support and VAST was some sort of best of the Doors music on a loop which was pretty cool. The support was My Vitriol, who I didn't really like so the Doors was a nice break, well first time through the loop at least. One thing that I remember about the support, which in itself is unusual as I don't normally remember supports but this was pretty ludicrous - the lead singer / guitarist guy during their final number threw his guitar off stage. "Hey, that's pretty rock and roll" thinks I. At least until a roadie carries a guitar back on, fully intact a few seconds later whilst packing their gear away. Anyway, a good time was had by all and we went outside to meet the band. Not as rock 'n' roll as it sounds, as meeting the band isn't as hard as you would think, especially for small scale gigs. Essentially the theory is that the band has to get from the venue to the tour bus, so if you hang out around there you should bump into them. It worked quite well while I was at uni, Type O Negative, Fear Factory and Justin Sullivan among those whom I met, but I digress slightly. That's a young me with Jon above there, and a time faded signature on the cover to this album. As everyone was getting Jon to sign stuff and whatnot we had a chat with the guitarist for a bit, my mate got his ticket signed saying something along the lines of "No food until guitar practice." A top end to a top night
A few days later on the 15th I went to see them again at Nottingham Rock City, in the basement room there. We got there fairly early and as such were reasonably close to the front, but not making a play to get to the barrier or anything pretty happy with our position, besides a couple of guys ahead of us seemed to be clutching onto the barrier and not paying much attention to the support which was again My Vitriol , who were not any better the second time around, but at least this time I had some idea of when they would finish. He didn't try the guitar trick again tho, I don't think the Rock City basement room was set up for that sort of con, there was a little walkway from the door to the stage which sort of elongated the front where the band would walk past to get to the stage. Anyway, I figured that those guys were VAST fans, just waiting for the main event like us. To our surprise as the familliar sounds of the Doors loop tape kicked in again they vacated there spot, and I noticed that they had been wearing My Vitriol shirts. So we slid in and ended up right near the front without trying. Now for the really cool bit - as Jon was coming to the stage, he spots me as he walks past turns back a couple of steps and shakes my hand recognising me from a few nights previous. A wicked memory and this album always reminds me of this pair of gigs.
It's impossible to mention The Yo Yo's without mentioning The Wildhearts. The Yo Yo's were formed by former Wildhearts bassist Danny McCormack whilst the Wildhearts were on hiatus between 1998 and 2001 (aka the years I was at university). This came out in 2000 and it is very similar britrock to the Wildhearts, along the lines of the Earth vs album (which I wrote about back in December) that Danny McCormack also played on.
The album is very rooted in my university years, Time of Your Life was something of an anthem that I always had on in halls, paired with the track before it Home From Home which conjured up images of that pub where everybody knows you. I never got to see them live, but the track Head Over Heels with it's multilayered 'Help Me' chorus suggests it would have been a riot of a gig.
A cracking fun rock album, well worth tracking down.
This album is like a time machine. No song on it is longer than 4 minutes, including Brainsaw which ends with You are My Sunshine skipping like a stuck record. You listen to it, everything is a short sharp punch. Before you know it has run it's 45 minute course. What better way to kill time?
You start with Knives which clocks in just under two minutes, with it's whispered opening and it's screamed promise to 'get drunk and fuck you up.' and it's refrain that 'all people are shit', long before a masked behemoth from Iowa coined it for the next disenchanted generation. Before you know it, you are Going Nowhere and about to Die Laughing 'Lost in a world with no reality'.
Along the way to this midpoint you have been told that 'Your beauty makes me feel alone / I look inside but no one's home' on the immense Screamager (surely one of the best rock tracks to break Top 10 in the charts). Hellbelly has told you that 'I'm not afraid to die, / I'm just scared of going to Hell / Your car salesman smile says it all, / you just wanna be / Jesus without the suffering, Jesus without the suffering ...' as it seemlessly picks up where Screamager leaves off (My personal favourite transition between two tracks on any album, tho Stop It Your're Killing Me to Going Nowhere is a damn close second). You know that 'The world is fucked, and so am I / Maybe it's the other way round, I can't seem to decide' (from Stop It You're Killing Me) and you've had a great time getting there.
The middle section has Unbeliever telling you that I 'Don't belong in this world or the next one / Wasting every day to my own end / Feeling awkward, feeling clumsy, hating / Everything I've ever done before'. Trigger Inside with 'I was awkward as a child / Blueprint for my wretched life / Confidence I've been denied / Lonely, lonely'. Through a Lunacy Booth to one of my all time favourite covers, Isolation (originally by Joy Division).
The album brings it home with Turn's suggestion that we should Turn and face the strange, the door is open, you're awake / You're storming Heaven without thought, you're storming Heaven without God. Followed by the revelation that 'Masturbation saved my life' on Femtex. 'Don't wake me, I'm so empty / I, I, I tried, I'm sorry on Unrequited'. Ending with the (IT workers) refrain of 'User, user, you sucked it all from me / User, user, your bullshit I believed / I'm in Hell and I'm alone'. Ok, ok, so it's not about a life in IT, but it could be!
Pure brilliance. I told you it was a time machine, I've not noticed the time go by whilst listening to this album writing this.
At school, everyone had a band. Not in the sense of performing in one you understand, but you had a band that you liked and defended to the ends of the earth, particularly in the big 3 of grunge, namely Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Soundgarden. Soundgarden were mind, and this was there best album.
Black Hole Sun was one of the first tracks I got into as a teen. I don't know why, I always associated it with a light orange colour. Probably the word sun in the title I guess!
The album itself is a fusion of styles, much like some of Faith No More's albums. You have the straight out thrash of Kickstand and the eastern influences of Half (for me the worst track on the album). And then there's spoons. Spoons! In a rock track - how cool is that?
I think at times it's quite a desolate album. She lived like a murder / But she died / Just like suicide from Like Suicide, Words you say never seem / To live up to the ones / Inside your head / The lives we make / Never seem to ever get us anywhere / But dead from The Day I Tried to Live, I know I'm headed for the bottom / But I'm riding you all the way from Mailman and I'm only faking / When I get it right / Cause I fell on / Black days / How would I know / That this could be my fate from Fell on Black Days. But with Chris Cornell's voice it is the uplifiting kind of desolation. I hope that makes sense.
Just remembered when I tried to find out the lyrics to Mailman while I was at school. Good times.
We've also spoken about bands that got away previously, I have something that ties into that - a mental list of must see bands. Soundgarden were a band that got away, but since they've reformed they've moved to my mental list of must see bands. Currently that's Rob Zombie, Weezer and Soundgarden. This list is how I end up in fields with Dizzee Rascal.
I'll always be alive in the superunknown...
Seriously, the article for Nevermind could almost be cut and pasted for this one. Tho I'd have to mention the power of the cover too... With a little tweeking it would read something like this:
First off, what a powerful cover to an album, then there is that opening to the album... the instantly recognisable sound of Bombtrack. What can you say about "Killing in the Name" that hasn't already been said? Not a lot, but I'll try anyway. It was one of the songs of being a teenager in the nineties, completely defining. Around the millenium when I was a student in Manchester, no matter what nightclub you stumbled into it was always a possibility "Killing in the Name" would be played as one of the token rock track.
The rest of the album is quality too, for me the only slightly iffy track is "Settle for Nothing" but that's only slightly.
But that would be cheating and I wouldn't do that to you. I could talk about the fact "Killing in the Name" was christmas number one, but that topic has been well covered elsewhere. Instead we'll have another "amusing" anicdote:
For years, Rage were the band that got away. I never got around to seeing them live and they split, so it wasn't going to happen. It was like Soundgarden all over again. Sure, I could go and see Audioslave, but it wouldn't be the same. It would be like when I saw Chris Cornell solo, no matter how good his first solo album was (and it was very good) I'd much rather have been watching Soundgarden. It never helped that Bec had been to Reading when they headlined back in 2000 or '99 and could always end music gig discussions with ".. but I've seen Rage live." Happy ending, they reformed and after much hassle I managed to get day tickets to leeds, they were great (it was awesome to see Tom Morello's guitar work live) and all was right in the world.
Hmm... looks like the bit talking about the album was the cut and paste job from Nevermind. I'd ask for my money back if I were you. See you next time.
Erm... I only own one album that matches the rules beginning with Q. So what to say, well, I'm reliably informed by online translators that the title means "That above, so below". It's a black metal album that I got because I liked their later release Demonized (2007). This isn't as good.
See you next time.
Here's a story for you... I ended up going to Big Day Out 1999 at the MK bowl on my todd, I can't remember exactly why but it had to do with there being an Ozzfest that year that got cancelled and most of us being poor students.
Anyway, not knowing what the stage times were like and what not, my mate suggested that I check out this band "Monster Magent" who he was into, I said I'd see what I could do. Long story short, I was blown away by their set of awesome tracks, which included setting fire to the stage in protest at how long they had and I came back not only having seen them live, but getting their t-shirt as well!
The t-shirt had the lyrics from Powertrip on the back "never gonna work another day in my life". That was worn often to work.
Some albums open with a bang, some build up to an creshendo. This album opens with microphone / speaker feedback and a message from the band. The fun doesn't stop there, some tracks like Green Man stop abruptly with no warning, causing me to wonder at the time if there was something wrong with the CD. Also there is quite possibly the longest track name in my collection in "The Glorious Liberation of the People's Technocratic Republic of Vinnland by the Combined Forces of the United Territories of Europa".
The standout moment on the album and a staple of rock clubs of the late 90s is the synth intro to "My Girlfriend's Girlfriend". Great stuff.
First off, there is that opening to the album...What can you say about "Smells Like Teen Spirit" that hasn't already been said? Not a lot, but I'll try anyway. It was one of the songs of being a teenager in the nineties, completely defining. Around the millenium when I was a student in Manchester, no matter what nightclub you stumbled into it was pretty much a given that "Teen Spirit" would be played as the token rock track.
The rest of the album is quality too, for me the only slightly iffy track is "Lounge Act" but that's only slightly. I think I've mentioned this before, but in this age of mp3 and cds ripped to iPods and the like, hidden tracks can really ruin the last song on albums and "Something in the Way" doesn't get the plays it deserves due to "Endlesss, Nameless" causing it to clock in at 20 minutes+.
M is the halfway point and for once, an album I don't have to sell you. If you like metal you own it. It's that simple.
So, funny story. I borrowed it on tape when I was at sixth form, and my tape player ate it, so I had to send my dad to Andy's Records in the waterside to buy a new copy. He did notice that it wasn't his original due to it not being old and played to death, but it's the thought that counts. Hmm... not that funny I guess.
This is another album that reminds me of 6th form and in particular playing d&d.
| # | Title | Length |
| 1 | Battery | 5.10 |
| 2 | Master of Puppets | 8.36 |
| 3 | The Thing That Should Not Be | 6.33 |
| 4 | Welcome Home (Sanitarium) | 6.27 |
| 5 | Disposable Heroes | 8.15 |
| 6 | Leper Messiah | 5.42 |
| 7 | Orion | 8.25 |
| 8 | Damage, Inc | 5.31 |
| 54:45 |
For L we have a bit of modern folk, from highlighting the battle of the beanfield, in the song of the same name to inspiring uplifting songs for life such as One Way.
If you only do one thing with this post, watch the last video.
The Boatman, with it's "if I could choose the life I lead..." lyric reminds me of bus journeys to and from De Aston. (For the record, I'd be a free man.) The whole album was on the jukebox at Harry's Bar when I was a student and always used to get a couple of plays. And later, to more recent years, One Way is used as a kick out tune at a manchester nightclub. So it's an album that's always been around me and probably always will be.
| # | Title | Length |
| 1 | One Way | 4.08 |
| 2 | The Game | 3.28 |
| 3 | The Boatman | 5.57 |
| 4 | Liberty Song | 4.29 |
| 5 | Far From Home | 3.47 |
| 6 | Sell Out | 4.17 |
| 7 | Another Man's Cause | 4.34 |
| 8 | The Road | 4.00 |
| 9 | The Riverflow | 3.02 |
| 10 | Battle of the Beanfield | 3.41 |
| 11 | Fifteen Years | 3.08 |
| 44:24 |
Where to start... that cover art is just so damn iconic of the 1990s. Then there's the absolutely crazy ammount of genres involved on the album from jazz funk (Evidence)to heavy metal (Digging The Grave, Cuckoo for Caca) and stopping pretty much everywhere inbetween.
The combination of genres and the abrupt switching between them has no right to work. It shouldn't work. It should have been abandoned at the idea stage as it would be impossible. But it does work and works sublimely. Pure genius.
Lyrically, the songs that speak to me most are Digging the Grave "It would be wrong to ask you why / Because I know what goes inside / Is only half of what comes out / Isn't that what it's about ? / To remind us we're alive / To remind us we're not blind / In that big, black hole / Comfortable" and Just a Man "Sky is clear tonight / Sky is clear tomorrow / - And every night I shut my eyes / So I don't have to see the light / Shining so bright / I'll dream about a cloudy sky, a cloudy sky" tho you can't help but chuckle at Ricochet's refrain of "It's always funny until someone gets hurt... / And then it's just hilarious !".
Historically this album puts me back at school in the mid 1990s, tho I guess the strongest memory attached to it is the vaults again as @Tim2323 had the t-shirt. It sort of got lost in the move from tape to CD as I got the best of Who_Cares_a_Lot? when it came out in 1998 when I was at university and only just recently picked up the album itself again.
On release the album didn't sell as well as previous releases, but hot diggity that just makes it more cult. Enjoy.
| # | Title | Length |
| 1 | Get Out | 2.18 |
| 2 | Ricochet | 4.30 |
| 3 | Evidence | 4.55 |
| 4 | The Gentle Art of Making Enemies | 3.30 |
| 5 | Star AD | 3.25 |
| 6 | Cuckoo for Caca | 3.43 |
| 7 | Caralho Voador | 4.01 |
| 8 | Ugly in the Morning | 3.07 |
| 9 | Digging the Grave | 3.06 |
| 10 | Take This Bottle | 4.59 |
| 11 | King for a Day | 6.36 |
| 12 | What a Day | 2.39 |
| 13 | The Last to Know | 4.29 |
| 14 | Just a Man | 5.36 |
| 56:49 |
I only own 3 albums begining with J, and this is the best of them. It's power pop punk in the vain of The Donnas. I aquired it around it's release date, it was dark times, The Vaults had shut and I was going through an extended indie phase.
It's pleasant enough, I just don't have any real stories to go with it. The standout tracks are Alright Alright and On Top of your World both of which are singles and the videos are linked to below.
If anyone has any recomendations I'm all ears.
| # | Title | Length |
| 1 | Alright Alright (Here's My Fist Where's The Fight?) | 2.08 |
| 2 | On Top of your World | 3.17 |
| 3 | Fire Alarm | 3.08 |
| 4 | With or Without Control | 3.34 |
| 5 | Keep Up The Speed | 3.08 |
| 6 | No Big Deal | 1.55 |
| 7 | Down and Out | 2.41 |
| 8 | Only The Fakes Survive | 3.43 |
| 9 | Whirlwind Reaper | 3.38 |
| 10 | Fall Into Line | 3.29 |
| 11 | Are You Happy Now? | 2.33 |
| 12 | Out of the System | 2.39 |
| 35:42 |
This is the ultimate chill out album, perfect to relax to. One of the best albums of my youth and indeed the 1990's.
Rather than read waffle, just play the videos below and you'll see what I mean.
| # | Title | Length |
| 1 | Rockin Stroll | 1.48 |
| 2 | Confetti | 2.45 |
| 3 | It's a Shame about Ray | 3.07 |
| 4 | Rudderless | 3.20 |
| 5 | Buddy | 2.52 |
| 6 | The Turnpike Down | 2.34 |
| 7 | Bit Part | 1.51 |
| 8 | Alison's Starting to Happen | 1.59 |
| 9 | Hannah & Gabi | 3.55 |
| 10 | Kitchen | 2.55 |
| 11 | Ceiling Fan In My Spoon | 1.48 |
| 12 | Frank Mills | 1.45 |
| 13 | Mrs. Robinson | 3.44 |
| 35:18 |
I mentioned The Vaults the other day, this was another CD that was on the jukebox, and it always used to get a great deal of use when we were in, except probably Ten Shades of Grey which probably isn't the sort of track to kick start a night in a rock pub, tho I'm pretty sure it would've got played when fingers and brains weren't too engaged late in the evening, tho my memories of this album go back to comprehensive school in '94 when it was released and we were all coming of age.
In this day and age of MP3 and playlists and shuffle and what not, it's reasonably rare to sit down and listen to an old CD how it's makers intended. You just pick out you fave tracks and they go on some sort of über playlist. I know when I want to listen to some Terrorvision I put on my Terrorvision playlist on shuffle with all my favourite songs of theirs.
The latest Terrorvision tour in April to support the 15th(!) anniversery of this album they played the whole thing in order live. Before when I've seen bands play an album in order, it's not that much fun. Even when Iron Maiden did it in December 2006 supporting the A Matter of Life and Death (a fine album) it left me pretty cold. When Terrorvision did it with this album it was noticable how well it all hangs together even so many years on, with the quieter track Ten Shades of Grey coming in at the perfect time to give the crowd in the pit a breather.
The tracks Alice... and Oblivion are still floor fillers in rock clubs today.
The downside? If I had to pick one it's the hidden track. I can't stand hidden tracks at the best of times, but when it's just talking it's even worse, without it the album would be perfectly cyclic with the end of What Makes You Tick being the start of Alice, What's The Matter?
It's difficult to say what this album means to me. If you don't own this, you probably don't have a CD collection, imo.
| # | Title | Length |
| 1 | Alice What's The Matter | 2.44 |
| 2 | Oblivion | 3.04 |
| 3 | Stop The Bus | 3.44 |
| 4 | Discotheque Wreck | 3.18 |
| 5 | Middleman | 3.32 |
| 6 | Still The Rhythm | 3.32 |
| 7 | Ten Shades of Grey | 3.03 |
| 8 | Stab in the Back | 4.51 |
| 9 | Pretend Best Friend | 3.47 |
| 10 | Time O The Signs | 3.25 |
| 11 | What The Doctor Ordered | 2.18 |
| 12 | Some People Say | 3.03 |
| 13 | What Makes You Tick | 14.35 |
| 54:48 |
First off how iconic is that cover? Awesome.
Going back to tapes when I was second year of uni 99-00, I was travelling around from Manchester to Lincoln or Nottingham a lot by train. I never took CDs around with me because the cases were hard to port about and portable CD players hard to skip, MP3 players were new on the scene with not much storage for a lot of £££. It might not have been a lot of £££, but it certainly was to a student!
One tape that did the rounds with me a lot was Love of Hopeless Causes (A) and Ghost of Cain (B) by New Model Army, so this album always reminds me of that period in my life. In more generally New Model Army reminds me of @EdLittle, days spent killing time in science scribbling NMA and me crossing them out. Or later in business studies, him trying to remember the entire lyrics to "Ballad" to write down on his folder.
I was listening to this a lot as we were off to see them in Manchester in March 2000, but the strongest gig related memory to this album was at their 20th anniversery gig at Nottingham Rock City in october that year, when they aborted the intro to "Poison Street" and the crowd sang it anyway. I have this on video, sadly I don't have a video player :o( I wish they'd bring it out on DVD.
Album wise, it starts off with a tale of vigilante justice in "The Hunt", and doesn't let up. Lyrically my favourite track is "Master Race" with the refrain ... kids scrawl frustration on the back street wall / Most of them can't even spell bastard being my quit message on IRC for a very long time. "Heroes" comes close with And the man has the skill and the man has the power / But the boy has the will to win and so much time. Tho I'll never like "Lovesongs" that much. It's probably Eddies favourite track, it usually works out that way! :o)
I was never much one for the great "Big Bang" theory / Going out in a blaze of suicidal glory Never truer words sang.
| # | Title | Length |
| 1 | The Hunt | 4.14 |
| 2 | Lights Go Out | 3.57 |
| 3 | 51st State | 2.35 |
| 4 | All of This | 3.34 |
| 5 | Poison Street | 3.06 |
| 6 | Western Dream | 3.55 |
| 7 | Lovesongs | 3.02 |
| 8 | Heroes | 4.06 |
| 9 | Ballad | 3.55 |
| 10 | Master Race | 3.00 |
| 35:18 |
