The now 78-year-old shock rocker ALICE COOPER, and his troops released
their 3rd and breakthrough LP LOVE IT TO DEATH on 9 March 1971, today 55 years ago.
It peaked at #35 in the US and #28 in the UK.
The record consolidated the band’s aggressive hard-rocking sound, instead
of the psychedelic and experimental rock style of their first two albums. It was
the first longplayer on which the members received individual credit for songs.
The album has come to be seen as a foundational influence on hard rock,
punk, and heavy metal; several tracks became live Alice Cooper standards
and got frequently covered.
He has released his 4th solo album, titled SMOKE RING FOR MY HALO on 8 March 2011,
today 15 years ago.
Pitchfork said: “Kurt Vile’s fourth full-length may also be his best, as it distills classic
American guitar music into one singular and sublime vision. He’s still cycling between strummers and fingerpicked mazework, but the battery of pedal effects is mostly gone.
Vile has acknowledged limits in length for the sake of depth. It makes for a full-blown
journey.”
The LP got to #8 on the US Independent Albums Charts.
American slacker rockers DINOSAUR JR. led by commander J Mascis
have released their 4th LP GREEN MIND, today 35 years ago, on
19 February 1991.
It was the band’s first release after their bassist Lou Barlow left to form
his own bands, Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion, as well as the first on
a major label.
The record is close to being a J Mascis solo album. He played most
of the instruments, with founding drummer Murph only featuring
on three tracks.
It peaked at #168 on the Billboard 200. Single The Wagon went to €22.
Rolling Stone: “Green Mind “sounds every bit as energetic and full-blooded
despite much of the record being performed solely by Mascis, whose guitar
playing, will bowl over even confirmed louder-is-better zealots.”
Swedish electro pop duo THE KNIFE – siblings Karin
and Olof Dreijer filled dancefloors from 1999 until 2014
with
Their 3rd album, titled SILENT SHOUT, came out 20 years ago, on 17 February 2006.
It topped the Swedish charts, got to #12 on the US Dance Charts, and to #28 on the
UK’s Independent Albums.
Album artwork
Pitchfork wrote: “Ditching the springy Europop of 2004’s Deep Cuts, Sweden’s the Knife here pits dark, ghostly electro backdrops against elastic vocals, which they mash through a wringer of digital manipulation. A far cry from the duo’s friendly first singles, Silent Shout gorily births the Knife’s mutant twin. The result is creepy enough to warrant its own genre: haunted house.
Silent Shout inspires similar imagination and pushing outwards; after all, no matter how heady and interior electronic music allows itself to become, it could never get as scary as the world outside. ”
Band: THE BLUETONES Who: Britpop legends from London Active: 1993–2011, 2015–present
Album: EXPECTING TO FLY Released: 12 February 1996
25 years ago today Score: #1 in the UK – platinum
25 years ago
Q magazine wrote: “Perhaps the most accomplished rock debut album since
The Stone Roses in 1989, Expecting to Fly avoids the usual primitive drive of
first recordings, in favour of technical brilliance and adventurous songwriting.
A classic rock album.”
Canadian prog rockersRUSH started their musical enterprise
way back in 1968. Forty-seven years and 19 LPs later they called
it a day.
But 10 years later, in 2015, they returned to tour. And last year they celebrated
the 50th anniversary of their-self titled debut LP, which got a deluxe reissue
treatment.
Today marks the 45th birthday of their 8th album MOVING PICTURES, released on 12 February 1981.
It was a big hit, topping the Canadian charts and reaching #3 in both the US and UK.
Promo picture
PopMatters wrote in retrospective review: “Moving Pictures is, without any question, not only Rush’s masterpiece but one of those rare albums that epitomizes an era. It represents both a culmination and a progression: the peak of the band’s development as well as the blueprint for Rush’s subsequent work.”
Singular voice and songwriter CAROLE KING was
born in Brooklyn 84 years ago. She released 16 LPs
between 1970 and 2001.
Her magnum opus, TAPESTRY came out 55 years ago today, on 10 February 1971.
Rolling Stone wrote back then: “Carole King’s second album has fulfilled
the promise of her first and confirmed the fact that she is one of the most
creative figures in all of pop music. It is an album of surpassing personal
intimacy and musical accomplishment and a work infused with a sense of
artistic purpose. It is also easy to listen to and easy to enjoy.”
Turn Up the Volume says: I’m pretty sure songstresses like Sheryl Crow,
Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten, Adele, Céline Dion and Alanis Morissette
have this record in their collection.
DAVID BOWIE released a single, titled HOLY HOLY
on 15 January 1971, today 55 years ago.
A great glam groover that
didn’t chart. God knows why.
A different version of the song was recorded in
the same year for The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust
And The Spiders From Mars LP, but was dropped from
the album before the release. God knows why.
The record jumped to No. 1 on 14 January 1996, today 30 years ago,
for 10 weeks. The album sold a record breaking 345,000 copies in
its first week and stayed in the charts for a phenomenal 145 weeks.
It also led to the band’s breakthrough in the US, reaching #4
on the Billboard 200 and being certified 4× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Rolling Stone Magazine wrote: “What’s the Story is more than a natural
progression, it’s a bold leap forward that displays significant musical and
personal growth. Tension and instability have been inherent traits of great
rock teams. For Oasis, the addition of shared genes gives their songs extra
impact and dimension.”
TUTV: I saw Oasis 28 times (so far), including Wembley Stadion, London, on August 3. I guess
I’m a fan.
Oasis, Wembley London, August 3rd – Photo by Turn Up The Volume
Noel Gallagher: “Those songs are just a privilege to be a part of. It’s like when
you do great gigs, you come off stage and say well it was a privilege to be at that
gig, regardless of my part in it. ‘Wonderwall’, ‘Don’t Look Back’ and ‘Champagne
Supernova’ when I play them sometimes I think ‘wow it is a privilege to be a part
of this.”
Liam Gallagher at the time: “Without my voice he’d still be ironing
Clint Boons knickers.” A reference to Noel’s past as a roadie for Inspiral Carpets.
SINGLES: Some Might Say / Wonderwall /
Don’t Look Back In Anger / Champagne Supernova
The late great voice and charismatic performer JANIS JOPLIN
(January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) had her second and final
solo LP, named PEARL, out on 11 January 1971, today 55 years ago,
3 months after she passed away following a drug overdose.
The LP went to No. 1 in the US and #20 in the UK.
Pearl features the number one hit ‘Me and Bobby McGee’, written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster (Joplin played acoustic guitar on this track); ‘Trust Me’ by Bobby Womack, Howard Tate wrote ‘Get It While You Can’. ‘Move Over‘ and ‘Mercedes Benz‘, the latter co-written by Joplin, Bobby Neuwirth, and Michael McClure.
Rolling Stone: “Pearl is a good record and Janis is often magnificent. The voice cut off was clearly in its prime. I suspect that some of the tracks are not in their final shape, but these are not scraps, and there is every indication that Janis was working toward a new maturity and confidence.”
Janis Joplin: “I’m one of those regular weird people.”
TUTV: That voice! A pearl of a record! Janis 4ever!
