Never Mind The Bollocks - Sex Pistols

Never Mind The Bollocks (35^th Anniversary reissue):- Sex Pistols

Punk’s genesis gets its 35th anniversary reissue.

Rating 8/10

                35 years after its release and Never Mind The Bollocks is still seen as one of the defining moments of the 70’s Punk scene, taking the Pepsi challenge with albums such as The Clash’s London Calling & The Ramones self titled. The bands influenced by this album are as broad and as diverse from Gallows to indie bands like The Libertines.

                Its amazing to think that four adolescents from London with limited musical knowledge (in Sid Vicious case absolutely none), assembled by Malcolm McLaren  created and shaped the UK’s thoughts about what punk sounded like, looked like and the attitude of Punk rock embodied.  They may not have been Burklee College of Music graduates, but with their fuck you/take no prisoners attitude they went on to define a generation.

                The album still sounds as raw as it did the, even after being reissued and remastered for what seems the one millionth time. Lydon’s vocals still have that snarl that made the songs sound so unique and distinctive.  Guitarist Steve Jones, who is still in my opinion one of the most, underrated song writers in British music and here he displays his greatest work, even if he was dismissed from the band for allegedly admitting to liking The Beatles. Songs like Anarchy In The UK, Holiday In The Sun and Pretty Vacant are still as anthemic  as ever and remind you that although the band where essentially a construction in order to jump on the Punk bandwagon, they did produce some of Punks most legendary songs. The reissue also comes with a good quality live show from Scandinavia featuring live tracks as well as DVD footage. The collection also comes with a selection of B sides, which are good but it is clear why they were left of the final cut of the album.

Overall this release is an essential release for Pistols fans; the album still holds up after all this time, Filled with special features and bonus material. I can’t see any fan being disappointed by the album, even if Mr Lydon himself isn’t too happy about its rerelease.

For fans of: - The Clash, Green Day, The Stooges

Hot Cakes - The Darkness

Hot Cakes – The Darkness

British rockers make their long awaited return

                Jump in your DeLorean and travel back to the magical time of 2003, Peter Jackson finished making cinematic gold with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The world was introduced to Captain Jack Sparrow and a certain rock n roll band from Suffolk where destroying anything in their path, winning multiple Kerrang and Brit awards and coming second to the most depressing Christmas number one of all time. This band was The Darkness, their album Permission to land  was a massive part of my childhood and I (like many people of my age) consider it to be a modern classic, with tunes like I Believe in a thing called love, Black Shuck and Growing on me which are as good as any songs created by the original hair metal bands. Sadly after 2005’s One way ticket to Hell and back, which was really an album of two halves, first half being easily as good as the debut containing anthems such as the unforgettable Is it just me? But the second half of the album of the album was overblown and flabby. The less said about it the better. The band parted ways in 2007. The rest of the group (minus Justin) formed the good but not spectacular Stone Gods, whilst Justin decided against blowing coke up his nose and decided to just blow in his new and diabolical band Hot Leg. The band reunited in 2011 and received critical acclaim for their tour featuring a lucrative main support slot at the Download Festival. Apparently reinvigorated, the band began work on the tricky third album Hot Cakes.

The album see’s a return of the spontaneous fun of the first album, it sounds like the band are really enjoying themselves again allowing their personalities to become ever present especially on the second single Everybody have a good time and the added charisma of Concrete makes the track stand out from the rest and shows The Darkness were not just a flash in the pan. The Queen influence is as ever plastered all over this album in its production and song structure, the track Nothings gonna stop us could easily have appeared on A Night at the Opera with its layered harmonies and over the top bombastic production. From start to finish Hot Cakes is exactly what you would expect from The Darkness that is until track 10 hits which is a cover of Radiohead’s Street Spirit (fade out). The Darkness covering Radiohead? That’s as bizarre as Lou Reed doing an album with Metallica (oh shit I forgot that happened). Unlike that abomination the group pull off this unlikely cover adding Justin’s typical high pitched falsetto vocals and a heavier guitar tone. The album however does contain a few songs which kill the records pace and momentum especially the pointless and generally flabby ballad Forbidden love and even though the album does contain some really good songs none of them hit the heights of I Believe in a Thing Called Love or in the same league as tracks from Permission to Land.

Overall, Hot Cakes is a decent return to form for the group. They’ve stuck to what they know best and delivered exactly what their fans would want from them, With the Radiohead cover a side the album is exactly what you thought you would get from this album and for most of it the band live up to their reputation for delivering kick ass Rock N Roll anthems. It seems the band are here to stay and I for one am happy to have them back.

Rating: - 7/10

Stand out track:- Concrete

For fans of :- Queen, ACDC, Thin Lizzy

Born Villain - Marilyn Manson

Born Villain – Marilyn Manson

The AntiChrist Superstar attempts to find himself on 8th album

      From the God of Fuck to the God of Fuck all? Over the past 10 years Marilyn Manson has been on a Downward Spiral, destroying his legacy and his infamous notoriety that made him the Anti Christ Superstar we all know and loved. Whether it was his disastrous performance at Download 2009 (in which he made as much sense as Boris Johnson fronting Converge), to Eat me Drink me which bombed and alienated his fan base by ditching the industrial metal template and focusing on a more new romantic, gothic sound. His last album “The High End of Low” was defiantly a step in the right direction, but lacked the quality or edge of his previous work. In this time period he’s lost members and seemed to loose his ability to not only be dangerous, but also be entertaining. The question is does the world still need Marilyn Manson?

       By the account of his new album “Born Villain” the answer is possibly. Whilst still not having the edge of his back catalogue this release at least ups the heaviness with tracks like “Hey, cruel world” which see’s a return to the anti Christ era sound. The albums first single “No Reflection” contains an almost Rammstein industrial riff and see’s a return to the industrial 4/4 of the Manson of old. Where this album falls down is on quality control, the album tails off near the climax and becomes repetitive and ploddy with the albums title track fading into insignificance. Manson, who is no stranger to covers caps this release off with a cover of the Carly Simon song “Your so Vain” featuring Johnny Depp, Seriously? Who wants to hear this in 2012?  This interpretation adds very little to the original and adds the Tim Burton effect (make something creepier for the sake of it), ironic really when you consider who’s playing guitar.

Overall this is not the return to form that most fans expected and wanted from Manson, but it does have encouraging signs of things to come. He may never be dangerous again, but by the sound of this album he can still have a role in contemporary music. Let’s just hope he can stop drugging himself into the abyss and put on a good live show again.

                                                                    

                                                                     Rating;- 6.5/10

For fans of:- Nine inch Nails, Ministry, Rammstein

Forcibly Fed - Wheres Billy

Forcibly Fed – Wheres Billy

British rising stars make a big impact on full length debut

                

On the back of a series of success UK tours, Kent based rockers Wheres Billy released their storming full length debut Forcibly Fed on 23^rd July. The album shows what a huge step up the band has taken from their first EP the Truth Hurts. The vocals have taken a huge step up allowing the melodies to stand out in juxtaposition against the massive post hardcore riffs reminiscent of Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation era Funeral for a Friend; this allows front man and guitarist Darren Robinson to deliver on of the catchiest and memorable chorus’s of the year on the albums lead single Tears and Essays. The production, handled by the ever reliable Chris Coulter (Arcane Roots) is slick and professional with a slight Indie touch on the track Aches, Pains and the Quiet Life which defiantly has a hint of Puzzle era Biffy Clyro. Unlike most debuts, the album has a high level of consistency allowing the band to hold the listeners attention from start to finish without becoming monotonous or repetitive.  Overall this album shows the group at a creative high and if they continue to progress they should have a bright future to look forward to, In an era where British rock is flying high on both sides of the Atlantic, Wheres Billy have huge potential to join the hierarchy of contemporary British rock and could easily join the company of accomplished bands such as 

Biffy Clyro or Young Guns.

Rating: - 8/10

For fans of: - Biffy Clyro, Funeral for a Friend, Lower than Atlantis

A Different Kind of Truth - Van Halen

A Different kind of truth

Van Halen

Interscope

Rating: - 8/10

Veteran Rock n roll legends return… with spectacular results

“I told you I was coming back” croons David Lee Roth on the track Blood and Fire, from this alone you should have grasped that Diamond Dave has returned and is performing a star jump for the first time in over 28 years.  As proven with recent classic rock bands returning and making albums, the results are mixed. They can be really good like Sonic Boom by Kiss or they can be the biggest pile of horse crap the world has ever seen like Chinese Democracy by Guns n Roses. I am incredibly pleased to say that the Van Halen album is as good and maybe on par with Sonic Boom.

After the commercial gluttony of the Van Hager era (5150’s a good album but there is little more than a few miscellaneous tracks) and the tragic and completely terrible Gary Cherone era which is best left unspoken of. After a hugely successful tour in which they managed to make as much money as Chelsea have wasted on players by just touring America (im not complaining but they’ve not been to the UK since 1995, so I believe were owed a show… lets say Sonisphere).

The album had to be great in order to live up to the hype and expectations following the hugely successful tour, which thankfully it is. The 80’s commercial sheen has been replaced with a gritty but well produced sound and the tacky keyboards have been replaced by a more stripped down sound similar to the sound of the bands 1978 debut. DLR proves he has not lost it; his bizarre lyrics which are delivered with a huge amount of character and charisma. Songs like Stay frosty (an ode to Ice cream man from the debut album) is both eccentric and   bizarre whilst being a incredibly well written song, However it does sound like the Hula Hula song from South Park. The trio of Van Halens Eddie, Alex and Eddie’s son Wolfgang who replaces Michael Antony on Bass all shine on this album. Alex’s thundering rhythms combine effortlessly with Wolfgang’s groove bass lines, for such a young man he proves he can play and easily fills the shoes of Michael Antony. However the highlight of the album is Eddie’s solo’s and riffs, many people doubted after his recent alcohol problems might have hampered his guitar playing ability. They couldn’t have been more wrong, Eddie sounds more inspired and energetic than he has since the mid 1980’s, showing every guitarist in the world why he is and will always be one of the greatest guitarists in the world. On tracks such as China Town and The Trouble with Never Eddie’s souring solo’s show off  how good he still is, without sounding forced or ever showing off.

Overall this album is a solid return from the band, by returning to their roots they have managed to remind the world why the band are one of the biggest bands in the world. Now please can we have some UK shows please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Influenced by Kiss, Led Zeppelin, The Jimmy Hendrix experience

Also try: - Sonic Boom – Kiss

Runnin wild – Airbourne

Dr Feelgood – Motley Crue