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Radiohead - Amnesiac
***¾
The
inferior sister album to Kid A - similar but less ambient and more discordant. Less beauty, but there still some nice
instrumental textures with the Eastern and jazz influenced Pyramid Song a real highlight. Not everything works but
its an oblique grower. Released - 2001 Acquired by me: 25.12.01 - Present (Mum)
Radiohead
– In Rainbows
****
So what do you think of it then? This was a question raised in the autumn of 2007 by a few friends who had downloaded In Rainbows from Radiohead’s
website before its release in the shops. I felt a bit embarrassed to answer as
I hadn’t got my act together to perform the task and, by the time I had, the offer was over. Determined out of principle rather than thrift not to buy the album from a regular shop, the library eventually
came to my aid. So now, finally I can answer my friends’ query…
So
what do I think of it then? In Rainbows is a very good album, though like most
of Radiohead’s output, is rather unsettling and certainly not easy listening.
The band are not big on catchy melodies, preferring to build their songs on the power of repetition, moods and textures. This is something they are excellent at with Jonny Greenwood’s playing pleasing,
semi-ambient arpeggios on the guitar rather than the bombast of their early LPs and Thom Yorke’s versatile vocals often
almost acting as a further instrument – sometimes centre stage and sometimes barely decipherable in the background.
In
Rainbows begins with two of the most individual tracks on the LP. Opener 15 Steps
is reminiscent of the Kid A LP with its scratchy beats and lolloping bass whereas anyone looking for the blitzkrieg, distorted
guitar work of the past should go to the second track Bodysnatchers. Further
highlights include the brief Nick Drake influenced Faust Arp and gradual acoustic build of Jigsaw Falling Into Place which
describe an increasingly drunken payday evening with Yorke’s typically sparing but often effective use of vocabulary. Another excellent dark lyric looks at the temptations of infidelity on House Of Cards,
a song centred around a repetitive yet hypnotic damped electric guitar strum.
Musically In Rainbows is arguably Radiohead’s
most coherent LP to date and lyrically it is excellent in places. Not easy listening
for sure but a worthy addition to any serious music connoisseur’s collection.
It may have originally been available free of charge but is still worth paying for now if, like me, you missed the
boat first time around.
Acquired by me: Spring 2008 - Borrowed (Letchworth Library)
Radiohead - Kid A
****¼
Ambient and often unmelodic but not as great a departure from OK Computer as many say. Some of
the songs work really well though a few are unmemorable and dont really work. Some beautiful musical textures on this challenging
album which is rewarded with patient listening to the point that it is probably now my favourite Radiohead LP.
Released
- 2000
Acquired by me: 14.3.01 - Bought
Radiohead - OK Computer
****½
Now considered quite rightly as a ground-breaking, absolute classic, OK Computer contains ambitious, unformularised
songs with some beautiful textures and excellent instrumental passages. There are many exciting and brilliant moments although
the overall quality of the songs is inconsistent. Don't worry though as the highlights are stunning. These include Karma Police,
the atmospheric Exit Music (For A Film) and delicate Velvets-like No Surprises. Best of all though, is Paranoid Android, one
of the best songs and most ambitious single releases of the 90s. A Bohemian Rhapsody for a new generation, it has about 5
song sections joined together to make an awesome cohesive whole. The kaleidoscopic opening vocal line, angular bass and clipped
guitars towards the middle and frenetic, distorted, white noise guitar-work in the middle and end are all stunning. A fantastic
song on a pivotal album.
Released - 1997
Acquired by me: 3.8.97 - Borrowed (Mike E)
Radiohead – The Bends
****
Radiohead’s second LP The Bends is considered an absolute classic and always finishes
very high in any best album polls. So why do I consider it as merely a very good
LP with a handful of classic songs and am not compelled to play it again and again?
Maybe it’s because most of the
arrangements are a bit too layered and the production a little too level and flat for Jon Greenwood’s brilliant guitar
playing to jump excitingly through the mix, Maybe it’s also due to the quiet verse / loud chorus dynamic being a tad
formulaic despite exceptions and valiant efforts by the band to the contrary. Thom
Yorke’s cold and consistently ugly images also don’t help the situation, though, despite these moans, there is
still much I really like about The Bends.
Among the highlights of the album are the two songs that best eschew the quiet
/ loud pattern elsewhere – the gradually building Street Spirit (Fade Out) includes a circular melody and guitar motif
learnt by budding players everywhere whilst Fake Plastic Trees offers an early acoustic commentary on Yorke’s disillusionment
with the consumerism of modern society. Further highpoints include the blistering
three-part guitar solo on Just, the ballad (Nice Dream) and High & Dry with its memorable acoustic guitar lick.
All
excellent stuff and whilst The Bends is consistently very good it frustratingly doesn’t quite reach the realms of brilliance
for me. Still a fine rock album though it was probably good in retrospect that
Radiohead followed it up with the progressively more experimental OK Computer and Kid A – albums which are arguably
less consistent but have moments of sublime beauty. The Bends is certainly worth
its place in any serious music collection though it should be bolstered by also owning these more left-field LPs to give a
balanced perspective of the quite magnificent, visionary band which is Radiohead.
Released:
1995
Acquired by me: 25.9.06
(Present)
Rainbow –
Catch The Rainbow: The Anthology
***
Very
popular at the beginning of the 80s, Rainbow were the first heavy rock group I really got into as a teenager. Unlike Rush, Black Sabbath and Ritchie Blackmore’s previous band Deep Purple however, my appreciation
of them didn’t continue as I ventured into adulthood. Listening to this
compilation now in (lower!) middle age, this largely continues to be the case.
Ritchie Blackmore formed Rainbow after becoming
disillusioned with the funk-y direction of Purple’s Stormbringer LP. Never
a democracy, he was always considered a difficult man to work with as the vast number of musicians in the band over the years
testifies. There were a few such as Ronnie James Dio (RIP), Cozy Powell and Roger Glover who stayed the course over several
albums and had a palpable impact on the Rainbow sound though the majority of Ritchie’s sidemen were one or two album
wonders.
Ah yes the sound! Listening back to Rainbow, it’s clear that
there were two distinct phases in the band’s career which are neatly separated by the two CDs in the Catch The Rainbow
anthology. Phase one up to and including the Long Live Rock’n’Roll
LP consists of prog-influenced heavy rock with plenty of swords and sorcery in the lyrics whereas phase two contains blatantly
commercial pop metal. Needless to say, I much prefer the epic rock of the first
CD.
Highlights of the first album include Man On The Silver Mountain, Stargazer
and Gates Of Babylon though even the band’s best work does not touch the heights of Blackmore’s previous group. Maybe the lack of democracy is a factor here.
I Surrender and Spotlight Kid with its slightly folky middle section are my favourite songs on CD Two with the rest
of the music pretty much the antithesis of everything I like about pop and rock music I’m afraid.
Having
said this however, Catch The Rainbow is an excellent, well–presented compilation for anyone wanting a two CD overview
of Rainbow so deserves a reasonable overall rating. For this particular band,
it is quite correctly in chronological order so that the listener can trace their development – or otherwise depending
on your views. I think you can gather which side of the fence I am on…
Acquired by me: Early 2010 - Borrowed (Library)
Razorlight
– Razorlight
****
Razorlight’s second album is more concise than
their debut LP Up All Night in a number of ways. The 10 songs are more reigned
in and less rambling with barely a note wasted and, at just over 35 minutes, the running time is considerably shorter. A move towards the mainstream and away from stumbling Libertines-like street poetry
for certain but, overall, a very good move.
With its clear and economical arrangements, most of the songs on Razorlight
can be almost exactly replicated live by the band. Many of the lyrics are rather
upfront though notably a couple of the highlights are much more understated. The
excellent number one single America successfully captures our rather ambiguous relationship with the US whilst the slightly-skewed
country-ish Kirby’s House is another highpoint. Further highlights include
I Can’t Stop This Feeling I’ve Got with its catchy guitar motif and Hold On with its Motown-like rhythm that reminds
me of Wham. Don’t let that put you off though as it is an excellent indie-pop
song.
All good stuff though there is something of a downside with two or three songs being rather unmemorable. With the brevity in terms of tracks and arrangements, it’s tempting to suggest that Razorlight over-rushed
album number two. Possibly true though I’m not sure as sparse tracks such
as America and opening single In The Morning would have been ruined if they had been over-arranged and overtly overdubbed.
Razorlight
is a very good album with some excellent highpoints. Not quite a classic, but
the band’s expanding musical palate yet discipline with regards to composition and arrangements bode well for the future. Worth buying and certainly worth downloading for the best tracks.
Released:
2006
Acquired by me: 6.07 – Borrowed (Library)
Razorlight
– Up All Night – Special Edition
****
From being hailed as one of a number of promising
indie / punk bands courted by the music press in 2004, Razorlight have emerged into the mainstream in 2005, becoming a major
Summer festival draw and leaving the others behind. The reasons for this are
partly the band’s unshakeable belief in themselves and partly due to the quality of the songs on this debut album.
Up
All Night is full of scruffy rock’n’roll songs with good sparse arrangements making them relatively easy to reproduce
live. There are certainly elements of indie and punk but for me the album has
just as much of a Stones-y swagger. Furthermore, singer and mainman Johnny Borrell
sounds uncannily like Bob Geldof – an interesting comparison as, like Razorlight, the Boomtown Rats emerged as part
of a movement but were not afraid to have wider, more mainstream ambitions.
Some of the highlights of Up All Night include
the singles Golden Touch and Stumble & Fall as well as the piano-led opener Leave Me Alone. The sound is lo-fi, stop-start indie rock until we get to the final track which is altogether much grander. Somewhere Else was released as a single in early 2005 and added to this Special edition. It’s an epic string-laden ballad, reminiscent of the finest work by The Verve
and had critics musing that the band had finally found a sound as big as the lead singer’s ego!
It will be interesting
to see if Razorlight’s second album continues this epic trail or will they return to the looser sound of the rest of
Up All Night? Whichever path they choose, Up All Night will remain an excellent
debut, full of catchy, sleazy rock’n’roll.
Released: 2005
Acquired
by me: 2005 – Bought (by Naomi)
Reason Why - Live At The Virtually Acoustic Club 12.10.00
***½
Melodic pop by acoustic duo with strong melodies, guitar work and vocals. Beatles influenced
but not over-derivative. Not mind blowing but likeable and pleasant music with a good vibe. A popular act on the London
Acoustic Circuit.
Released - 2000
Acquired by me: 16.11.00 - Present (John from The Reason Why)
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - By The Way
****
More Beach Boys than Beastie Boys as one critic
recently said, By The Way is a superb album by the veteran rockers. On the album charts for over 18 months, its crossover
appeal is easily apparent - good songs with great harmonies, superb imaginative funk influenced guitar, amazing bass
playing, enough nods to modern music with Anthony Kiedis' melodic raps and importantly, a sparse, clear production. There's
no need to pad the songs out with unnecessary overdubs when the playing is this good and tight.
The album is summed up by the opening title track which includes all of the above and has more imagination than whole albums
by some bands. The Chillis play a variety of styles though all songs eschew the band's identity. Other highlights include
Minor Thing which has amazing funk guitar and Can't Stop with its superb harmonies as well as the Spanish tinged Cabron. Virtually
every song though is worthwhile on By The Way, one of the best rock albums of recent years.
Released - 2002
Acquired
by me: 14.9.03 - Present (Mum)
REM - Reveal
***¾
Much lauded new REM
LP considered by many as their best since the classic Automatic For The People. I find it perfectly competent with more melodic
tunes than their recent LPs but there's nothing really new here to excite me. Not very inspiring I'm afraid.
Released -
2001
Acquired by me: 25.12.01 - Present (Nicole)
REM - Up
***¾
Contains 3 great songs
in the moving lead single Daysleeper, the pretty Parakeet and fantastic Beach Boys influenced ballad At My Most Beautiful
which is beautiful with superb multi-harmonies. Much of the rest of this album unfortunately consists of rather dark
and dreary semi-gothic songs with unmemorable melodies and unexciting musical arrangements. Understandably in a dignified
decline overall since the absolutely brilliant Automatic For The People but REM are still capable of the odd gem.
Released
- 1998
Acquired by me: 15.2.99 - Taped (Victoria)
Rice, Damien
– 9
***
I saw Damien Rice live in a one-off show at the London Palladium
in 2005 and it was one of the most stunning, captivating performances I’ve ever seen.
A compulsive live act but often frustrating on record, Rice’s second album 9 offers glimpses of his greatness
but is often disappointing.
One of Damien’s shortcomings in the studio is his insistence on going for the right feel
rather than a balanced mixture and layering of instruments. This is an admirable
trait in many respects but listening to a whole album of intense ballads when not in the mood is close to excruciating.
A
bigger problem with 9 is the lack of melody and melodic variety in the songs. Several
tracks such as Coconut Skies and the P J Harvey-influenced Me, My Yoke & I over-rely on one (admittedly good) melodic
line being built up and down for dramatic impact. Other songs sound like not-so-good
versions of tracks from Rice’s first album O with Elephant’s similarity to the sublime Blower’s Daughter
being the clearest offender.
In amongst these disappointments is one moment of beauty.
The Animals Were Gone has a picked Spanish guitar and lilting melody reminiscent of early Leonard Cohen before transcending
into a glorious cacophony of strings. It shows how brilliant Damien Rice can
be when he gets it right. Some of the other stronger melodies on 9 are on Dogs,
the opener 9 Crimes and intense piano ballad Accidental Babies.
The final 10th track Sleep Don’t Weep
descends into 20 minutes of quietly humming keyboards during which nothing much happens at all – an awful, misleading
way of ending an album which deserves the docking of at least half a star. Sadly,
the words unsatisfactory conclusion are also a suitable description for the whole of the 9 LP.
It’s not a bad album, and I’m sure that these songs will be incredible live, but it’s frustrating
as it could have been so much better.
Released: 2006
Acquired by me: 25.12.06 (Present for Naomi)
Rice, Damien - O
****1/2
When I first heard Damien Rice's music, it
brought back bad memories of the London acoustic scene of the late 90s / early noughties of which I was on the fringes.
Memories of unmelodic songs by confident, earnest young people with designer angst. Prejudiced memories as they were
musically and vocally much more talented than me even though their songs were rather dull. Damien's music bears some similarities
to the troubadours on this scene except that he is so very very good at it. He is the real thing!
O is a quite stunning
album with Damien's extraordinary vocals ranging from a haunting whisper to a scream. His excellent acoustic guitar plucking
is mostly backed where appropriate by his touring band - sparing bass and drums, cello and earnest, yet effective
backing vocals by Lisa Hannigan. There are also extra musicians employed when required including some astonishing operatic
vocals on Eskimo Friend.
Every track on O is excellent though a particular highlight for me is Blowers Daughter with its
hypnotic, haunting chorus of "I cant take my eyes from you". Other highlights include Volcano, Older Chests, Amie with
its sweeping orchestration and Cheers Darling which in vaudeville fashion is set in bar after the drink has flowed and hidden,
inarticulate feelings are beginning to be exposed.
O is a superb and quite astonishing album which arguably develops
acoustic music in much the same way as Jeff Buckley transformed rock with Grace in the early 90s. Hopefully Rice will
live longer than Buckley to enjoy his success and further develop his music. Maybe he will even eclipse my prejudiced
memories of the London acoustic scene...
Released - 2003
Acquired by me: Late 2003 (Bought)
Rolling Stones
– Forty Licks
****1/2
Forty Licks is the definitive Rolling Stones compilation
in that it is a Best Of covering the band’s whole career. All previous
collections have covered either the 60s or the early 70s to date due to the band’s material being on two different
record labels. Now that the bigwigs have finally come to an agreement, the band
get the retrospective they deserve…
Not that it’s all fully integrated though with disc one exclusively covering
the early period and disc two the latter years. For better or worse, this means
that the first disc will get far more plays in most households. Not a bad thing,
as it is a virtually faultless collection of 20 classic 60s songs with there only being extremely minor quibbles over which
tracks are included. All the classic singles are included such as Satisfaction,
Lets Spend The Night Together and Paint It Black as well as key album tracks like Mother’s Little Helper and the full
version of You Can’t Always Get What You Want.
The second disc is inevitably a patchier affair but still contains
all the major songs from the band’s latter career such as Angie, Undercover Of The Night and Miss You, that fine fusion
of Stones-y swagger and 70s disco. Also included amongst the better-known songs
are four new tracks recorded for this 2002 compilation.
With the correct balance of songs between the band’s 60s
heyday and less prolific 70s to noughties, Forty Licks is the absolutely definitive Rolling Stones compilation. If you want just one package with virtually all of the band’s best songs then this is undoubtedly
the album for you.
Released: 2002
Acquired by me: 25.12.05 (Present)
Rush – A Farewell To Kings
*****
Canadian
three-piece Rush made most of their best music in the late 70s and early 80s with 1977’s A Farewell To Kings the probable
pinnacle of their career. Made by a band at the absolute top of their game, AFTK
incredibly combines complex prog-influenced songs with accessibility and a power-trio sound.
It largely does this due to the sparsity of the arrangements and a perfect clear production.
Despite the intricacy
of the playing, the band could still reproduce the songs on AFTK quite accurately live due to the economy of the arrangements. And what brilliant, imaginative playing it was by these three exceptional musicians. Geddy Lee is simply one of the best bass players in popular music with a free-er rein
than most four stringers within the band’s three-piece format. He also
of course possesses one of the most distinctive yelps in music and is joined by guitarist Alex Lifeson whose combination of
imaginative, runs and power chords made Rush a popular band amongst heavy metal fans unlike many of their more prog-ish peers. Completing the line-up is Neil Peart on drums and a variety of bells and percussion. Peart also writes most of the band’s highly literate lyrics, bucking the trend
of all drummer jokes anyone cares to mention. Together they make the exciting, punchy sound that is A Farewell To Kings.
On
to the album itself, AFTK consists of just six tracks and is dominated in length at least by the epic Xanadu and Cygnus X-1. Xanadu used to frequently appear in Radio 1's Friday Rock Show’s Annual
Top 10 and is inspired by the Kubla Khan poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge though the absolute lyrical highlight for me of AFTK
is the excellent use of vocabulary in the superb title track. A Farewell To Kings,
the song, is another exceptional mini-epic of over five minutes though those who accuse the band of over-grandiosity should
move to Closer To The Heart and Madrigal, two intimate acoustic numbers clocking in at less than three minutes apiece without
a note wasted.
Despite the perception of Rush as a prog-rock band, the powerful sound and stripped down arrangements of
A Farewell To Kings place the album as close to The Who’s Tommy as the complex intricacy of Yes and Genesis. So cast aside your prejudices and investigate this album – with its brilliant yet economic playing,
intelligent yet heartfelt lyrics and superb production you are unlikely to be disappointed.
Obtained by me: 2007 – Present (Naomi)
Rush – The Spirit Of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987
***
Straddling heavy rock and prog and liked by fans of both genres, Rush were highly successful
in the late 70s and early 80s with their punchy, power trio sound. Excellent
stuff, though those buying The Spirit Of Radio may be slightly disappointed as the tracks chosen don’t quite follow
what tit says on the tin…
For many fans, Rush are particularly liked for their lengthy epics, especially the side-long
2112 and 11-minute Xanadu. Whilst I appreciate that there may not be room for
both songs on a single CD compilation, Spirit should surely include at least one of them in full – not just the
first two movements of 2112! These omissions are all the more grating when considering
some of the material which is featured such as the seven-minute sub-Sabbath rock of Working Man from their debut
album – a period and piece which hardly shows this highly talented band at the top of their game.
Another problem
with The Spirit Of Radio is that it includes too many songs from the mid 80s when the band were trying too hard to sound contemporary. Guitars are turned down, moogs swapped for synths and Neil Peart’s vast array
of percussion traded in for more mechanical drumming with the net result being unmelodic, over-complicated songs with less
dynamic edge than the best of the band’s mid-late 70s and early 80s output.
Despite these criticisms, there
are still some excellent songs on The Spirit Of Radio with hard-rocking highlights including the exciting title track, Tom
Sawyer and the first two movements of 2112. Quieter highpoints include the pastoral
Trees as well as New World Man with its clever wordplay and catchy pop-rock tune. Drummer
and lyricist, Peart is probably better at words inspired by literary works than his analyses of modern society though he gets
it right with NWM. Even when his lyrics are slightly awkward however, he should
still be praised for bravely tackling far more complicated concepts than most other wordsmiths.
Trying too hard is an admirable
trait though it sometimes leads to shortcomings as it does in Rush’s highly skilled music. Despite this The Spirit Of Radio is still a good introduction to the band though new listeners should be
aware that it doesn’t altogether represent the band’s best work from the 1974-1987 period.
Acquired by me: 8.09 – Borrowed (Library)
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