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McCartney, Paul and Linda - Ram
****
An
early post Beatles solo album, Ram is a grower which is gloriously shambolic, whimsical, touching and charming in its best
places though it's a bit too repetitive and amateur at times. Highlights include the eccentric whimsy of Uncle Albert / Admiral
Halsey and rustic Heart Of The Country though the most poignant track for me is Long Haired Lady. Many of Macca's solo ballads
are a bit twee but Long Haired Lady is a whimsical yet touching affirmation of Paul's love for Linda with an extended coda
where they both repetitively sing "love is long" - meaning long term. Ram is a happy, charmingly eccentric album with a nice
sparse production.
Released - 1971
Acquired by me: 28.4.03 - Borrowed (Library)
McCartney,
Paul – Chaos And Creation In The Backyard
****1/2
There’s not a
lot of chaos in the end result but lots of dedicated creativity to produce the best album Paul McCartney has made in a long
time – if not his best post-Beatles LP ever.
A lot of credit has to go to renowned producer Nigel Goodrich who insisted
on Macca eschewing his touring band and playing virtually every instrument. No
respecter of reputation, Goodrich by all accounts worked his charge very hard to get the best results. His production also gives the album a modern sound whilst retaining those distinct McCartney characteristics.
Some
credit also has to go to the brilliant arranger and sometime Divine Comedy member Joby Talbot who arranged the background
strings and brass on several songs. Talbot’s arrangements always embellish
rather than take over the tunes with his work on the gloriously whimsical English Tea being a particularly fine example of
his talents.
Most of the credit though has to go to Paul McCartney himself for a set of stripped down, catchy but long-lasting
songs and some excellent playing. The lyrics – so often a cloying bugbear
of Paul’s solo work – are also excellent being slightly vague and very readable.
It’s a measure of Macca’s creativity and confidence that several songs on Chaos & Creation are rightly
two-three minutes long rather than being unnecessarily fleshed out to use up CD space.
Particular highlights for me range
from the poppy Fine Line and Friends To Go to the more atmospheric Riding To Vanity Fair.
Further highlights include the brilliant, meditative Jenny Wren, deliberately written and arranged in a similar style
to The Beatles’ Blackbird, and the aforementioned quintessentially eccentric English Tea. No one plays either of these styles as well as McCartney.
Although there was plenty of chaos in
the creation of C&CITB, it was well worth all the studio conflict. A brilliant
album by an artist making his best music for many many years.
Released: 2005
Acquired
by me: 25.9.05 – Present (Naomi)
Madness –
Our House: The Original Songs
****1/2
Our
House was released in 2002 to coincide with a West End musical of the same name for which Madness were associate producers. It contains a handful of new songs which are perfectly OK interspersed with most of
their classic singles from the 80s which is what we really want to hear…
Madness were undoubtedly the best singles
band of the 80s with a nearly flawless run of 21 Top 20 singles to rival those by The Kinks and The Beatles from the 60s. They started as a ska band though soon developed their sound into classy, quintessentially
English pop, much like an 80s version of Ray Davies’ mob. They also of
course became one of the first bands to embrace the new market for videos with a series of promos so brilliant and witty that
the watcher was at risk of not appreciating the quality of the musical away from the visuals.
Unlike many acts from the
80s, Madness’ music has dated very well. This is largely due to them using
classic instruments and sounds rather than the fashionable synths of the time which have, of course, dated rather badly. The rich though not overcooked arrangements are excellent and, though long-time producers
Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley take a lot of credit, most of the praise should be given to the magnificent seven nutty men
themselves. Their playing is exemplary and, though there is not a weak link in
the band, special praise should be given to pianist Mike Barson and guitarist Chris Foreman who usually provides a memorable
motif in every song. There are catchy hooklines and melodies-a-plenty with all
seven members writing or co-writing in various combinations.
On to the songs themselves, upbeat highlights for me include
Night Boat To Cairo, Return Of The Los Palmas 7 and Our House itself. Despite
their crazy image, Madness were also masters of an essentially English type of melancholy as the equally superb Grey Day,
The Sun And The Rain and One Better Day testify, Sure, they had the occasional
over-trite single such as Driving In My Car and House Of Fun though their exceptional moments easily outweigh any naff ones.
Our
House is an excellent compilation though possibly not the best Madness Best Of on the market due to the inclusion of several
newer songs. Despite this, it contains all of their classic singles except One
Step Beyond and Cardiac Arrest and is very highly recommended. The best singles
band of the 80s – no contest!
Acquired by me: 5.09 – Borrowed
(Library)
Manic Street
Preachers - Forever Delayed: The Greatest Hits
****1/2
Manic
Street Preachers are undoubtedly one of the best British bands of the last 20 years.
Forever Delayed contains many of their best songs though its compilation is rather skewed against certain albums.
First
the good news – the five best songs from the band’s first two rather patchy albums are featured even though they
weren’t necessarily the biggest hits. Yes, doomed anthems Motorcycle Emptiness
and From Despair To Where are included alongside the cocky You Love Us, La Tristesse Durera and lyrically poignant pop of
Little Baby Nothing.
Album number three for the Manics was the harrowing, nihilistic art-rock of The Holy Bible, now considered
by many to be the band’s masterpiece. So why is only the exhilarating Faster
included from it on Forever Delayed. She Is Suffering and Revol were also Top
30 hits so why couldn’t at least one of them feature – possibly at the expense of some of the four tracks included
from each of the band’s subsequent two albums, the triumphant Everything Must Go and This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours.
Forever
Delayed breaks off after album number six by the band. Be My Enemy was relatively
speaking, a commercial and critical failure though surely the moving Ocean Spray should have been included in addition to
the untypical Beach Boys like pop of So Why So Sad. The best of also includes
a couple of non-album singles in The Masses Against The Classes and the band’s sadly poignant cover of Suicide Is Painless
(Theme From MASH). It also features two new tracks There By The Grace Of God
and Door To The River, which, unusually for new tracks tagged onto compilation albums, are excellent and well worth their
place.
Despite my quibbles about album allocations, Forever Delayed is still
an excellent compilation which gets more right in its track selections than it gets wrong.
It is also a fine introduction to the Manics though I would also recommend buying the Holy Bible and This Is My Truth
LPs, both of which have several outstanding tracks not included on this compilation album.
All in all, an excellent summary of much of the best work by one of the best bands of the last 20 years.
Acquired
by me: 5.09 – Borrowed (Library)
Manic Street Preachers - Generation Terrorists
**¼
Their first album. Apart from the excellent, poignant Motorcycle Emptiness
and Little Baby Nothing and the statement of intent which is You Love Us, its mostly uninspiring (punk) rock with cartoonish
sloganeering. The Manics went on to much better things than this.
Released - 1992
Acquired by me: 14.5.01 - Borrowed
(Library)
Manic Street Preachers
– The Holy Bible (10th Anniversary Edition)
*****
One of the best albums of the 90s has become even more essential. The 10th Anniversary
Edition of The Holy Bible comes in three discs with extras galore.
The original album superbly matches metallic art-punk
with horrific yet compulsive lyrics. Musically, it is quite a departure for a band whose other albums have
more of an anthemic rock element – the influences here are strictly edgy (post) punk with James Dean Bradfield on superb
form on vocals and
guitar. The first 60% of the album is pretty near musically perfect with just a couple of not-quite-so-brilliant
songs later on.
The Holy Bible has of course passed into mythical folklore with the disappearance of chief lyricist Richey
James a few months after the album’s release. Was the LP his extended suicide note?
The words are often absolutely horrific and nihilistic yet also compulsive when they do connect. The (self) disgust of the repeated “Who’s responsible. You
f—king are.” at the end of Of Walking Abortion is brilliant as are the more beautiful (yet still horrific) images
of 4st 7lb “I want to walk in the snow and not soil its purity”. Even a song whose words I
don’t agree with such as the pro-capital punishment Archives Of Pain is effective – “Give them the respect
they deserve”.
The real brilliance of The Holy Bible is how superbly the songs, playing and music match the intensity of the
lyrics. The audio extras on the 10th Anniversary Edition include a whole US mix of the album
(which the band prefer to the original), radio sessions and live versions of Holy Bible tracks recorded in 1994.
Even better, the third disc is a DVD including TV and live appearances at the time and an interview with the band.
Since I stopped the ridiculous practice of awarding quarter stars in my reviews, I’ve
been trying to award five stars for albums and films when it’s deserved. It is this time – a brilliant album with extras
galore.
Acquired by me: 3.1.05 (Bought)
Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible
****¼
Urgent,
quite arty new wave with fine guitar-work, singing and melodies which effectively match Richie Edwards bleak, disturbing lyrics.
A fantastic but quite horrific LP.
Released - 1994
Acquired by me: 13.2.01 - Borrowed (Library)
Manic Street Preachers - Lifeblood
***1/2
During the recording of Lifeblood, Manics bassist Nicky Wire commented
that the band had banned power chords from the studio. It's admirable that the band are trying to do something different
but sadly, the resulting album is not among their best work.
Lifeblood has a very 80s sound - a sheen of keyboards with
James Dean Bradfield's guitar much lower down in the mix. Unfortunately the 80s influence extends to the poppy melodies
- right down to some quite horrendous call-and-response backing vocals. Bizarrely it is in many ways the most commercial
album the band has ever made.
The lyrics are also sadly disappointing. Unlike the articulate melancholy of the superb
This Is My Truth - Tell Me Yours album, the words here are largely listless, defeated, over-repetititve and rather bland.
This
all sounds rather depressing and I'm probably being over-negative as the Manics are one of my favourite bands and I expect
so much more (maybe too much) from them. There are some good moments on Lifeblood with the best song probably being
the understated first single The Love Of Richard Nixon - how typical of this most contrary,liberal-hating of bands to write
a song seemingly defending the disgraced former President. 1985 and To Repel Ghosts are among the other better tracks
on the album.
Liifeblood is quite a good album within its 80s style but not the Manics we know and love. There's
some evidence that the band feel the same way in that they seemed more interested in promoting the 10th Anniversary Edition
of the brilliant Holy Bible, released just a month or so after Lifeblood, rather than promoting their new LP. Which
kind of says it all really...
Released - 2004
Acquired by me: 8.1.05 - Present (Jenny)
Manic Street Preachers - This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
****½
Although maligned by many (not least the band themselves), I think that this is the Manic's best LP. Moving,
sad lyrics which are particularly relevant to people in their late 20s and early 30s. There are also very sympathetic musical
arrangements, fine restrained guitar-work and strong melodies. Similarly to Blur's Great Escape LP, it's an honest, melancholy
album which regularly gets slagged off. Sadness (as opposed to angry intensity) does not mean bad art. A classic, introspective
album.
Released - 1998
Acquired by me: 1.12.98 - Bought
Mann, Aimee - I'm With Stupid
****¼
Excellent, contemporary
songwriter album with superb, unusual and catchy melodies, effective sparing harmonies, some interesting musical textures
and just the right level of musical arrangement being neither over or under-arranged. On this album, Mann is refreshingly
more poppy and less tortured than many solo songwriters. Grunge, the prevailing music in the United States at the time, clearly
had some influence on the guitar sounds on this excellently produced and arranged album. Virtually all of the songs are excellent
but particular highlights include the grunge-pop Superball, sparing snare drum and piano led waltz Amateur and acoustic You're
With Stupid Now (possibly written about the fellow Parliamentarians of her friend at the time, Labour MP Tony Banks). Critics
often say that I'm With Stupid is disappointing compared to its predecessor Whatever and Mann's subsequent LPs. If this is
the case, they must be absolute classics! A superbly made, excellent album.
Released - 1995ish
Acquired by me: 2.12.97
- Borrowed (Howard)
Mansun – Attack Of The Grey Lantern
***1/2
To
commemorate the release of their single Taxloss, Mansun came up with a publicity stunt
where commuters at London’s Liverpool Street station were showered with £25,000 to herald the record’s release. A typically arty and subversive gesture by this singular band though I always thought
that Victoria or Waterloo station would have provided a more apt location…
Like the Beautiful South and the Divine
Comedy, Mansun’s lyrics were often perverted and subversive whilst their music was much less radical. Attack Of The Grey Lantern was their debut album, a concept album of sorts with an assured multi-layered
sound though sadly little to make me want to play it again and again.
Is it that the guitars are too far back in the mix? The songs maybe not quite memorable enough or their archness making them difficult
to love.? Probably elements of all three and, though AOTGL still has a substantial
cult following, I find it a worthy and good LP rather than a great one. The highlights
for me are the glam-tastic Taxloss, tellingly a track that many Mansun devotees may consider as one of their worst, and the
glorious opening strings to The Chad Who Loved Me.
Attack Of The Grey Lantern is a good acquisition to make if you like
80s influenced indie-rock with a touch of sinister subversion in the lyrics. It’s
not really my sort of thing, despite making some effort to love it, though still a worthy part of our large family CD collection.
Released: 1997
Acquired by me: Present (to Naomi)
– 10.05
Mercury Rev - Deserter's Songs
***¾
Critically
acclaimed last chance for the Rev which has succeeded and brought them to much wider attention. Quite varied in style but
overall a kind of modern American with more keyboards and synths. Some good songs and nice instrumental textures.
Released
- 1998
Acquired by me: 7.8.02 - Borrowed (Library)
Mitchell, Joni – Blue
****
Blue is nearly always the highest
placed Joni Mitchell album in any polls of favourite LPs. Although the under-rated
Clouds is my personal favourite, I can understand why so many people can relate in moments of sadness to the desperate, pure
introspection of Joni’s fourth LP.
Yes, stark, fragile and uncomfortably intimate are all words generally used in
any review of Blue and though they tell a large part of the story they don’t quite reflect the whole LP. For in amongst the beautiful fractured ballads, there are more buoyant upbeat songs such as Carey, This
Flight Tonight and A Case Of You though it’s still fair to say that it’s the heart-wrenching slower songs that
define this album. Such an emphasis is further placed by the artist herself with
the selection of a sad looking, blue and white photo on the cover rather than one of Joni’s more colourful paintings
which adorn most of her other releases.
On to the music itself, it’s interesting to notice that the main composing
instrument in the majority of songs is piano or Joni’s recently acquired dulcimer rather than guitar. The piano preference is a further pointer towards the downbeat mood with highlights for me being the classic
River, soulful Last Time I Saw Richard and My Old Man, a song written I believe about Joni’s former partner Graham Nash. Among the songs written on the dulcimer are the opener All I Want and California,
a well phrased, more upbeat hankering for home by Mitchell whilst on soul search intercontinental travels prior to the recording
of Blue. All personal stuff though the most private song of all was written on
the guitar. Green features oblique lyrics which only years later were revealed
to be about the baby daughter a young Joni gave up for adoption with whom she was movingly reunited in the 90s.
Very personal
music indeed with the introspective mood enhanced by the very sparing but well chosen instrumental embellishments provided
by Stephen Stills, James Taylor, Sneaky Pete and Russ Kunkel. Indeed for much
of the album’s recording the only people in the studio were Joni herself and engineer Henry Lewy.
Blue is an excellent
desolate album which, although not immediately melodic and catchy, is well worth persevering with. It is one of the ultimate, introverted singer-songwriters LPs and is well worth purchasing though don’t
just buy the Joni Mitchell poll topper – try the more upbeat, fuller musical palettes of the aforementioned Clouds,
Ladies Of The Canyon and Hissing Of The Summer Lawns as well….
Released: 1971
Acquired
by me: 26.2.05 (bought)
Joni Mitchell
– Court & Spark
***
Court & Spark was something of a departure for Joni with the dominant
melodic style being jazz rather than folk. It’s still a singer-songwriter
album of sorts and, though it hasn’t dated well musically or lyrically, still offers rewards for patient listeners.
Like most of Mitchell’s music, C&S is not full of obvious hooklines and choruses
and takes a few listens to be appreciated. Among the more immediate songs are
the three hits – Help Me, Raised On Robbery and Free Man In Paris. Help
Me is an elegant, jazzy ballad making good use of the full 12 notes whereas ROR is an irresistible combination of doo-wop
and rock and one of Joni’s most commercial recordings. Free Man In Paris
is catchy sophisticated pop with lyrics in sympathy with Joni’s flustered record company boss David Geffen, constantly
besieged by his egotistical artists. Can you imagine anyone writing a song in
sympathy with the plight of a recording executive today?
Another highlight
of the album is the title track, more stripped down to piano and vocal than most of the other music here. Piano however remains the dominant instrument although there is good, often sparse use of electric guitar
and brass in places. This early 70s jazz-rock style has not dated very well. Also badly dated are Joni’s lyrics about the relationships of her rich, coke-fuelled
artistic friends – it’s difficult to feel much sympathy for most of the characters depicted here.
Although now dated Court Of Spark is excellent in places and will reward the patient listener.
Released
- 1974
Acquired by me: 26.2.05 (Bought)
Mitchell, Joni –
Hits
****1/2
An excellent compilation, Hits includes
some of the best tracks from Joni’s early, confessional acoustic period as well as some great tracks from her later
more experimental albums.
All of her most famous early tracks are here such as Big Yellow Taxi, Woodstock, Both Sides Now
and River, ably supported by other choice cuts from her early albums. Also included and less familiar to
me are some excellent songs from the mid 70s where Joni fused her primitive influences of jazz and early rock’n’roll
/ doo-wop with singer-songwriter grace to create a contemporary sound of her own.
One of the aims of a compilation is to
inspire the listeners to go back to the albums they are already have and re-appraise them. This has certainly
worked for me as both Ladies Of The Canyon and The Hissing Of The Summer Lawns were last weekend retrieved from my attic even
though Hits doesn’t include any songs from the latter LP…
Hits is a compilation which makes me want to hear
more. This is probably because it’s a single CD so space is limited rather than one of those double
compilations with excess baggage aplenty. It does however have a companion album, Misses which was released
at the same time and cheekily includes Grade 2 Mitchell songs which didn’t quite make the first compilation rather than
complete no-hopers.
Hits in an excellent introduction to Joni’s vast body of work – or a useful prompter for
re-appraisal like it’s been for me. Strongly recommended.
Released – 1996
Acquired by
me: 29.1.05 (Bought)
Moby - 18
***½
The follow up to the
mega successful Play, 18 has its moments and some interesting musical variations but is often a too similar, inferior version
of its predecessor. Hard going and rather dreary in places.
Released - 2002
Acquired by me: 15.7.02 - Bought
Moby - Play
****¼
Excellent big selling
ambient album. Soulful and accessible with strong melodic motifs, excellent sparse arrangements and a great use of old folk
and gospel samples. A classic.
Released - 1999
Acquired by me: 28.9.00 - Present (Jenny)
Morrissey – You Are The Quarry
****
The
comeback of 2004! After several years amazingly without a record deal, Morrissey re-emerged with a bang.
Amidst more promotion than he has done for years, he came back with You Are The Quarry, his best album for a long time.
But have the years of indifference and neglect increased his bile against the masses who have ignored his perceived
genius?
Yes, they sure have! On How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel he rants against the judge
who called him an unreliable witness in the Mike Joyce royalties case with the sort of petulance only he can get away with.
Elsewhere his singing and lyrics are on top form, covering different subjects in different ways than anyone else as
is evident in America Is Not The World and the superb comeback single Irish Blood, English Heart. Despite
living in the US, Morrissey still clearly loves (his mythical idea of) England as is clear in Irish Blood… and the excellent
Come Back To Camden.
His lyrics still have plenty of wit too. The First Of The Gang To Die combines
his dubious fascination with the criminal underworld with a hilarious lyrical coda. Who ever heard of a
criminal called Hector anyway?
The First Of The Gang… is one of the musical highlights of You Are The Quarry.
As well as praise for Morrissey, his rather scary looking band should also be congratulated for providing their best
music in years in backing their singer. Another musical highlight is the moving ballad I’m Not Sorry
which has a nice woodwind arrangement.
Although it tails off slightly towards the end, You Are The Quarry is an excellent
album, fully deserving its comeback of the year status. The difference between this and previous releases
is that Morrissey sounds like he really means it and is hungry to make up for lost time. Welcome back Mozza.
Released
– 2004
Acquired by me: 3.1.05 (Bought)
Mull Historical Society - Loss
***¾
Nicely packaged LP of refreshingly
upbeat, new wave and indie influenced pop by what is essentially a one man band. Includes plenty of strong catchy melodies
though it may ultimately prove to be more immediate than long lasting.
Released - 2001
Acquired by me: 25.9.02 - Present
(Mum)
Muse
– Absolution
****1/2
There’s little doubt that Muse main-man Matthew Bellamy is a genius.
Effortlessly swooping vocals, blistering heavy metal meets Johnny Greenwood guitar and virtuoso, semi-operatic piano
flourishes. Most artists would love to have one of these talents – Bellamy has all three.
And he writes good lyrics as well…
The first vocal song on Absolution is fittingly called Apocalypse Please,
as the “A” word is the best way to describe Muse’s music. Their music combines urgent
rock and classical theatrics with an indie sensibility – a kind of cross between Queen and Radiohead or maybe the next
step in musical development from those two great bands? Despite the rocky nature, there is also some subtlety
in the arrangements, most notably in the tense Blackout, a slow-burner which threatens to rock out at any moment but superbly
holds back.
The surprisingly-good-lyrics-for-a-rock-act are also apocalyptic though more in the context of the agonising
stress of new love or fear of losing love rather than (literally) the end of the world. Although the words
are all written by Matt Bellamy, the music is credited to all three members of the band. Bellamy is the
band’s genius but Chris Wolstenholme plays some excellent fuzzy bass-lines and Dominic Howard’s drumming is also
exceptional, not least in keeping to some of the stop-start song structures present here.
Highlights include the aforementioned
tracks and singles Time Is Running Out and Butterflies & Hurricanes with its superb classical mid-section as well as Thoughts
Of A Dying Atheist which has one of the catchiest choruses. However, there isn’t really a weak track
on the whole album by this frighteningly talented band. It’s hard to see how they will ever follow
this though I’m sure they will give it a blisteringly good try. A landmark, rock album.
Released
– 2003
Acquired by me: 8.1.05 (Bought by Naomi)
Muse – Black Holes & Revelations
*****
In 2003, Muse released
the landmark rock album Absolution. Instantly deemed a classic, it combined the
prodigious talents of Queen and Radiohead circa The Bends with classical piano flourishes and has featured highly in most
top album polls since that date. A defining album, surely impossible for the
band to top…
But no, with Black Holes & Revelations, the Devon-bred trio have achieved the seemingly unachievable
and released an even better album. They’ve pulled off this amazing feat
by exploring new musical and lyrical avenues whilst retaining that distinct Muse sound.
To the music, the most obvious
development is the influx of dance into the melting pot. This is most evident
in the Prince-influenced lead single Supermassive Black Hole and the splendidly-titled Map Of The Problematique which, with
its gliding keyboard chords and lead bass, is surely the band’s tribute to New Order.
Other new developments include exquisite Queen style harmonies on the plaintive Soldier’s Poem and mariachi trumpet
on the Middle Eastern sounding City Of Delusion.
The Middle East also forms part of Muse’s growing lyrical horizons
with the opener Take A Bow and Soldier’s Poem savagely commenting on Blair and Bush’s foreign policies and Assassin
and City Of Delusion seemingly written from inside the mind of an activist on the other side.
Apologies to all concerned if I’ve misinterpreted the meanings here
but even the most romantic words can sound apocalyptic when performed by this band…
It’s not all heavy-going
though with the words to the epic closer Knights Of Cydonia probably written with the tongue somewhere near the cheek. Cydonia is another musical highlight with its prog-stylings, Thin Lizzy-ish riffing
and excellent harmonies.
Needless to say the band are once again on brilliant form throughout Black Holes & Expectations
with obscenely talented singer and guitarist Matthew Bellamy particularly shining. On
the uplifting Invincible, Mr Invincible plays two guitar solos…at the same time…
Stunning stuff and enough
said really. Black Holes & Expectations has achieved the seemingly impossibly
in trumping its illustrious predecessor. A brilliant, classic album, - it will
be mind-blowing to see how Muse can possibly top this one…
Released: 2006
Acquired
by me: 7.06 – Bought
Muse –
Origin Of Symmetry
****
I would probably consider Origin Of Symmetry a near
classic had it been the first Muse album I had heard. As it was, I heard their
third album Absolution before this second LP and, as this incredible band get better and better, I guess that OOS is merely
good by Muse’s supreme standards.
All of the instrumental ingredients which bore cohesive fruition with Absolution
and Black Holes & Revelations are there. Matthew Bellamy’s blitzkrieg
guitar work and stunning, breath-defying vocals are present as is the odd classical piano flourish. The only thing that’s missing in comparison to their subsequent albums is the high level of consistency
in the songwriting and arrangement departments.
Not that the songs are bad though, just not so quite so consistent over
the whole LP. The best songs are brilliant and worth buying the album for alone
with the pick of the bunch being Origin Of Symmetry’s two main singles. New
Born builds from a prog-influenced keyboard into an all-out intense rock attack whilst Plug In Baby is based around a
complicated but catchy lead guitar riff. Other highlights include Bliss and Hyper
Music with its Hendrix like guitar work. Funky overdriven chords though certainly
not played in the funk style…
Origin Of Symmetry is a very good album which displays the band’s instrumental
virtuosity to fine effect. Well worth buying if you are a Muse fan though potential
new converts would be wise to investigate Absolution or Black Holes & Revelations first.
If you like them then buy OOS as well to hear more from this supremely talented band.
Released: 2001
Acquired by me: Early 2005 (Bought)
Mustard,
Doc – Prizoner
****
Doc
Mustard is a busker well known for various musical projects in the Cornwall and Coventry music scenes. Now in his early 50s and with an acknowledged commitment towards global liberation, I was expecting the
Dr’s Prizoner LP to be acoustic music rooted in the ideals of punk. How
wrong I was as, though the lyrics offer plenty of social commentary, the good Doctor’s music is more influenced by the
80s than the 70s. I have to admit that I am not a big fan of the phased guitar
and keyboard effects prevalent in 80s music though there is much to like on the Prizoner LP.
The Prizoner contains lots
of keyboards plus occasional chunks of 80s Pink Floyd like electric guitar and dubby bass. Highlights for me of the more 80s
influenced numbers include the quirky opener Apathy, instrumental Touché and social comment of If They Were Animals.
The
songs on Prizoner which I generally prefer though are the ones where the Doctor turns down the effects and moves away from
the political to the personal. Carmen Of The Forest is a gentler highpoint as
is the highly moving, acoustic Smile On My Face towards the end of the LP. SOMF
is followed by Bums On Seats, a strangely nostalgic and touching lament inspired by Doc Mustard’s’ battle to busk
outside his local cinema in the face of opposition from the picture-house’s young management. A blow-by-blow account of this conflict can be read on the Doctor’s excellent www.prizoner.co.uk
website. As a former (far less committed) busker myself, I can certainly relate somewhat to his experiences…
Moving
back to more modern technology, the tracks already mentioned as well as some of the others on Prizoner are well worth a place
on your ipod. The whole of the album though is well worth investigating if you
like 80s music but also like a bit of heartfelt political sentiment in the lyrics. Doc
Mustard is a committed musical character, well known on his local scenes. Lets
hope the wider exposure of his internet site and strength of the Prizoner LP will extend his coverage to new geographical
areas and give him some hard-earned well-deserved success. He can be contacted
via docmustard@tiscali.co.uk or www.prizoner.co.uk
Released: 2008
Acquired by me: 9.08
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