Teenage Fan Club - Howdy!
*¾
Although refreshing at the Fleadh Festival 2001, this album is very disappointing. Bland, over-produced and rather wimpy. Overrated music press darlings on this evidence.
Released - 2001 ?
Acquired by me: 28.6.01 - Borrowed (Library)

Thin Lizzy – Wild One:  The Very Best Of Thin Lizzy
****1/2
Phil Lynott was the archetypal 70s rock star with what could be argued are the archetypal set of rock star contradictions.  Wild yet sensitive, sexual yet lyrical, this leather bound rocker also wrote some beautiful ballads.  Wild One collects together the best of his work with Thin Lizzy and is an excellent representative collection.
After forming in Dublin in 1969, Lizzy had a one off hit in 1973 with a superb rock version of the Irish folk standard Whisky In The Jar.  Whisky featured some exquisite work by original guitarist Eric Bell and is featured on Wild One along with another Bell co-composition The Rocker which showcased the harder sound to come.  Bell was replaced soon after the band's “freak hit” with guitarists Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson joining Lynott and drummer Brian Downey to complete what was undoubtedly the definitive Lizzy line-up.  Gorham and Robertson’s dual riffing and harmonising guitars were key components of the classic Lizzy sound along with Lynott’s tough yet occasionally sensitive vocals, lyrics and persona.  Together they created several classics featured on Wild One such as Jailbreak, The Boys Are Back In Town, Don’t Believe A Word and Bad Reputation over a series of hit albums.  This culminated with the double Live & Dangerous LP (from which Rosalie and Still In love With You are featured) which even now is still considered one of the best live albums of all time.
Unfortunately the youthful, fiery Robertson left the band soon after L&D and was replaced by a succession of guitarists over the next few years including Gary Moore, Snowy White and John Sykes.  Although none of these line –ups quite matched the band with Robertson, they still produced some excellent music as featured tracks such as Do Anything You Want To and Chinatown testify as well as Gary Moore’s solo single Parisienne Walkways which features vocals from Phil Lynott.
Thin Lizzy were the first rock band I saw live as a 15 year old on their farewell tour of 1983.  Not a bad choice for a first gig though it was sadly one of the last concerts by this great band.  Even more sadly, before I was 18 Phil Lynott was dead, a pointless victim of a lifetime of rock’n’roll indulgences.
Although acknowledged as a major act, it is perhaps surprising that Thin Lizzy are not more revered in the annals of rock music than they are.  The sexism prevalent in much of their work may not have helped matters but this was the less politically correct 70s after all.  Archetypal lyrics then by the archetypal rock star of his period, Wild One in an excellent, well-chosen overview of the tough yet sensitive Philip Lynott and is well worth acquiring.
Acquired by me:  7.09 – Borrowed (Library)

Thompson, Richard – Mock Tudor
***1/2
Richard Thompson’s 1999 album Mock Tudor seems to follow the trend of much of the former Fairport Convention guitarist’s solo output.  It’s well crafted with some fine gutsy singing and tasteful playing.  All in all very worthy…but a little dull!
Despite this, there are some highlights with the early Joe Jackson-like new wave reggae of Crawl Back (Under My Stone) being a particular favourite of mine.  Other tracks that will definitely make it onto my ipod are the John Martyn-ish update of Streets Of London which is Sights & Sounds of London Town as well as Sibella and Bathsheba Smiles.
Most of the rest of this loosely-based concept album is well played but let down by some rather bland arrangements and an over-production that takes it too close to stadium rock for comfort. Furthermore, the melodies and performances contain very little which is memorable or exciting enough to demand repeat playing.
Despite these criticisms, Mock Tudor is a worthy album warranting further investigation if you are a fan of the great man.  Those looking for an introduction to Richard Thompson however are probably better off looking elsewhere.  Whatever you choose, you are entering into the vast canon of work of one of the only performers equally adept as a front man or supporting player or on acoustic or electric guitar.  An often undervalued national treasure in fact though don’t let your judgment of his contribution to both popular and folk music be clouded by this slightly disappointing LP.
Released:  1999
Acquired by me:  1.09 – Borrowed (Library)

Thompson, Richard & Linda – In Concert November 1975
****
Folk-rock with greater emphasis on the rock than the folk, In Concert November 1975 was finally released in 2007 and is a fine live recording and period piece.  It features a complete live show recorded at three venues and finds Richard and Linda Thompson in excellent form.  Linda’s powerful vocals contrast superbly with her then husband’s lower harmonies.  RT is also on excellent form on electric guitar turning even a relatively minor piece such as the Thompsons' cover of Hank Williams’ Why Don’t You Love Me into a necessary download with his spiky six-string work,
Highlights of the album range from the strident folk pop of Jet Plane In A Rocking Chair to A Heart Needs A Home which is simply one of the most beautiful love songs ever written.  The decadence of the early 70s is also apparent in the words of the excellent Streets Of Paradise as well, to a lesser extent, in Richard and Linda’s signature tune I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight.  Another pre-punk period piece is the inclusion of the long song with three tracks running at over eight minutes.
The Thompsons are backed on In Concert by the heavily-in-demand Fairport Convention rhythm section of Dave Pegg and Dave Mattacks as well as John Kirkpatrick on anglo concertina and accordion.  Like most Fairport-related live albums, the whole LP is too much to take in on one sitting but, with such catchy choruses and excellent playing, is well worth persisting with.  All in all, a very good addition and souvenir of the golden period of the English folk-rock genre.
Released:  2007
Acquired by me:  29.9.07 – Present (Richard B)

Thrills, The – So Much for The City
****
So much for the city indeed!  Where do you go if you’re a youngish Irish band looking for somewhere even more laid back than your homeland?  Well The Thrills went to California where the mellow vibe rubbed off on their recordings.
The Thrills debut album has a sunny west-coast 70s sound without the excessive guitar doodlings.  This warm sound features plenty of slide guitar, arpeggios, harmonies and keyboards supporting Conor Deasy’s sparse, semi-whispered vocals.  It includes two of the best singles of 2003 – Big Sur and One Horse Town – but are the other tracks as good?  Possibly not quite, but Santa Cruz, Deckchairs & Cigarettes and Old Friends, New Lovers to name three are all good songs with memorable choruses.
All in all, So Much For The City is a good relaxing album for a Sunday morning.  It’s not an absolute classic but is well worth buying.  Unfortunately, the band have cocked up slightly in releasing a follow up in 2004 when there was still mileage in the debut album.  Lets hope that they can recover from this slight blip for album number three.
Released – 2003
Acquired by me:  8.1.05 (Bought by Naomi)

Travis – Good Feeling
***1/2
Bearing in mind the short attention span of most CD buying consumers these days, many albums deliberately have their best and most commercial tracks over the first half-a-dozen songs with much of the rest of the LP used for filler or more experimental pieces.  This is not quite the case for Travis’ debut album Good Feeling which is definitely an album of two halves…
The first half of Good Feeling is at times pretty awful yob rock heavily influenced by Oasis.  It’s hard to believe that this is the same band that produced their more introverted subsequent albums, especially with Fran Healy’s unconvincing Liam-esque vocalisations.  Released in 1997 at the height of Britpop, one has to wonder how much input the band’s record company had on the choice of songs and tracklisting…
Thankfully the second half of Good Feeling is much better with the band looking beyond Oasis to one of that band’s influences.  I Love You Anyways is built around a neat riff similar to that on Don’t Let Me Down and the sparse McCartney-esque More Than Us is probably the best ballad Travis have recorded.  Another highlight is the buoyant poppy Happy.
Not all of the first half of Good Feeling is terrible.  The best song of the openers is probably All I Want To Do Is Rock which I hope is written tongue in cheek (though have some doubts bearing in mind some of the other material here).  For a better use of loud guitars, check out the final track Funny Thing, which has effective feedback over a pretty melody.
A tale of two Travis’, it’s good that the band carried on to expand their sound from the blueprints on the second half of Good Feeling rather than building on the plodding rock of side one.  Otherwise, I doubt if they would have continued much beyond album number two and not made the superb 12 Memories, one of my favourite 20 albums which perhaps marries the rock and the quiet to best effect.  Good Feeling is quite a good debut album which only offers glimpses of what was to come…
Released – 1997
Acquired by me:  8.1.05 (Bought by Naomi)

Travis - 12 Memories
****1/4
I've always found Travis a bit wispy in the past but on 12 Memories they have toughened up musically and lyrically to produce what in my opinion is easily their best album to date.
There's a more rocky edge to 12 Memories and an increased politicisation in Fran Healy's lyrics.  Two of the best tracks are vaguely about the Iraq war - Beautiful Occupation which sounds like Document era REM and Peace The F-k Out a superb glam stomp.
Fran's lyrics are also uncomfortably personal in places - the first single Re-Offender is about the generational cycle of violent abuse and much of the rest of 12 Memories can be interpreted as being at least vaguely about his abusive father.
This all sounds rather depressing but there are love songs as well and more importantly, the melodies, playing and clear production are all so good.  Andy Dunlop's guitarwork is especially excellent - often used sparingly for maximum effect as in the instrumental section of Happy To Hang Around.  Other highlights from 12 Memories include Quicksand, the uncredited piano and vocal closer In The Chuch and Paperclips which has a superb discordant clarinet sounding instrumental section.
The bottom line is that 12 Memories is the strongest set of songs that Travis have produced with excellent clear arrangements.  The nearest comparison I can find is mid-late 80s REM but this only tells half the story.  An excellent underrated album and candidate for my top 20 Albums Poll of 2004.
Released - 2003
Acquired by me:  25.12.03 (Present)

Turin Brakes – JackInABox
****
”All in all it’s been a blast, but fame and fortune never last” are the first words sung on JackInABox.  Quite a startling opening gambit but lets hope that this doesn’t signify the end of Turin Brakes for this is a very fine album indeed.
JackInABox contains well-crafted, largely acoustic pop-rock with nice softly sung vocals and exquisite guitar-work.  The additional presence of tasteful slide guitar on several tracks gives it more of a US west-coast sound than the duo’s previous two LPs with the already quoted opener They Can’t Buy The Sunshine and Asleep With The Fireflies particularly benefiting from some superb six-string playing.  Other highlights include the more acoustic opening single Fishing For A Dream and final track Come And Go which is gradually swathed by whooshing synths reminiscent to me of Stereolab, the resolutely uncommercial 90s indie band.
All in all it is indeed quite a blast and Turin Brakes deserve a good measure of fame and fortune for this accomplished LP.  An excellent underrated album with some good songs and superb playing.
Released:  2005
Acquired by me:  18.6.05 – Bought (by Naomi)