Liverpool‘s imperishable heroes – one of Turn Up The Volume‘s
all-time fav bands – ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN released their
third longplayer 40 years ago, on 4 February 1983.
AllMusic wrote: “Porcupine, Echo & the Bunnymen’s third album, has garnered
a reputation for being as prickly as its namesake. Although the record is lined with
jagged guitars and is arguably the band’s darkest offering, these aspects suit the
Bunnymen just fine. Ian McCulloch, in particular, sounds right at home on this
brooding set of songs; his deep, Jim Morrison-esque vocals perfectly convey his
intriguing, shadowy tales. Score: 3.5/5.
TUTV: It was hard to match their first 2 classic LPs (Crocodiles / Heaven Up Here)
although they reached its grandeur with the two sublime singles The Cutter
and The Back Of Love and tracks Heads Will Roll, Gods Will Be Gods, and the title
track. It was their most successful chart LP, reaching #2 in the UK.
This day 50 years ago, on 7 February 1973, Michigan rock legendsTHE STOOGES
fronted by their out-of-his-fucking-mind dopehead IGGY POP released their 3rd LP,
named RAW POWER.
Just as with their 2 previous longplayers the recognition only came up over the coming years. Most critics still had no clue what Pop and his immense impact on the future of outlaw rock ‘n roll would be at the moment of this 3rd power-Stooge-house release. Of course, most of them claimed afterward they always knew that the lust for life rebel was
a natural-born gamechanger.
Search and Destroy – Live in Paris in 1991
Pitchfork said back in 2010 when the album got a Legacy Deluxe Edition: “When Iggy Pop commanded a generation of glam-rock kids and biker-bar burnouts to “dance to the beat of the living dead” on Raw Power’s totemic title track, he wasn’t just talking B-movie nonsense– he was heralding his band’s back-from-the-grave resurrection. Because the Stooges heard on Raw Power were not the same band that produced 1969’s self-titled debut or 1970’s Funhouse, but rather some mutant, zombie version… It speaks volumes about the songs’ pure immediacy and charisma that, even in its original mix, Raw Power became the album most responsible for giving the Stooges a life after death. Where the primordial caveman blues of The Stooges and the proto-metallic grind of Funhouse made them touchstones for future grunge, stoner-rock, and noise artists, Raw Power provided a mainline for first-generation punks and the 80s hard-rockers that followed in their wake.” Score: 8.3/10.
Raw Power – Live in Paris in 1991
David Bowie mixed the record and remembered it well afterward: “The most absurd situation I encountered when I was recording was the first time I worked with Iggy Pop. He wanted me to mix Raw Power, so he brought the 24-track tape in, and he put it up. He had the band on one track, lead guitar on another and him on a third. Out of 24 tracks there were just three tracks that were used. He said ‘see what you can do with this’. I said, ‘Jim, there’s nothing to mix’. So we just pushed the vocal up and down a lot. On at least four or five songs that was the situation, including “Search and Destroy.” That’s got such a peculiar sound because all we did was occasionally bring the lead guitar up and take it out.”
While punk was busy to explode in the UK and the USA in 1977, massive bands and artists still dominated the charts. Like FLEETWOOD MAC II (the original, blues-oriented, band was formed in 1967 by Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, Jeremy Spencer and John McVie. After Green and Spencer left the late great Christine McVie joined in 1970 on keyboards. Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks came in 1974).
45 years ago, on 28 January 1978, their masterpiece LP RUMOURS hit the spot
on the UK Album Charts. The longplayer has sold over 40 million copies worldwide
since its release.
Singles/clips: Go Your On Way / Dreams / Don’t Stop
Artist: DAVID BOWIE
8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016 Career: 26 studio LPs between 1967 and 2016
Anniversary album: STATION TO STATION – his 10th LP Released: 23 January 1976 – 47 years ago today
The title track introduced Bowie’s new persona, the Thin White Duke
that became the mouthpiece for the whole longplayer. The late genius
used the moniker thereafter on tour.
Pitchfork said: “Arriving in the wake of 1975’s glam-rock-shunning, Philly-soul-fetishizing Young Americans, Station to Station offered proof that Bowie’s fascination with American funk and disco was no one-off lark. But if Young Americans often felt like a studied genre exercise, Station to Station filtered that rhythmic influence through some of Bowie’s other obsessions at the time: the austere Krautrock of Neu! and Kraftwerk, the occult, Nazism, and, yes, a whole lotta blow.” Score: 9.5/10.
Turn Up The Volume: Up there with his best work during his golden years.
AllMusic: “The trio demonstrates that it’s capable of powerful noise, but not songcraft,
the only song with a discernible hook is their thrashing cover of Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman.” Still, the band’s hardcore is better than many of its contemporaries because its grasp of noise is superior. Even with the inconsistent songwriting, Everything Falls Apart rages with layers of blistering guitars and scorching rhythms that are exciting in their own right.” Score: 3/5.
TUTV: A studio album that sounds like it was canned in a filthy basement with no decent recording material, resulting in a raw, rough, and rip-roaring PUNK rager. Definitely not their best, but as good as the noise competition of that era.
The late NYC genius LOU REED made/released one of his most
supreme albums ever with his 15th solo one, named NEW YORK.
The Big Apple concept LP appeared 34 years ago, on 10 January 1989.
If you can make it in New York,
you can make it everywhere.
Artist: DAVID BOWIE
8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016
Album: BLACKSTAR
His 25th and final studio LP Released: 8 January 2016
7 years ago today, on his 69th birthday.
Today he would have celebrated his 76th one.
Pitchfork wrote: “Blackstar has David Bowie embracing his status as a no-fucks icon,
clutching onto remnants from the past as exploratory jazz and the echos of various
mad men soundtrack his freefall.” Full review here. Score: 8.5/10.
BLACKSTAR is a somber and sinister farewell record. Soul-stirring
and spine-chilling. Two days later The White Duke passed away.
British pop star duo EURYTHMICS – Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart – made 9 LPs
in their triumphant career. Their second one SWEET DREAMS (ARE MADE OF THIS)
turned 40 yesterday (released 4 January 1983).
Richard David James was born 51 years ago in Ireland. Back in 1985 he began
his musical journey as APHEX TWIN. His eccentric electronic wizardry impressed alternative critics who spread the news. Slowly but surely he gained notoriety among music fans who search for and love challenging artists.
It all started with his debut longplayer SELECTED AMBIENT WORKS 85-92.
A puzzling, yet accessible work (think early Brian Eno) of sound-exploring electronica.
It was released 30 years ago, on 9 November 1992.
AllMusic wrote: “One of the indisputable classics of electronica, and a defining document
for ambient music in particular, Selected Ambient Works 85-92 is Richard D. James’ earliest and most fully realized achievement. Reputedly created on homemade equipment deconstructed from standard synthesizers, the music within takes its cue from club beats and the techno rhythms of rave and acid-house culture… This landmark recording is one of the essential building blocks of any electronica collection.” Score: 5/5.
The late soul icon MARVIN GAYE (1939-1984) released his first post-Motown LP MIDNIGHT LOVE on 8 November 1982, 40 years ago. His most successful one, thanks
in great part to its huge hit SEXUAL HEALING (more than 308 million strems on Spotify).
Rolling Stone wrote: “This record, which has become the biggest crossover hit of the
singer’s career, is a comeback for Gaye, whose last couple of albums, despite their funkster
defenders, committed the unpardonable sin of tedium. The album has the rhythmic tension, melodic delicacy and erotic resilience of Gaye’s greatest music, and it extends those attributes by applying contemporary synthesizer gimmickry judiciously and soulfully. Gaye plays about eighty percent of the instruments here himself, and his synthesizer work, as well as his drumming, is a revelation. And everything here, including the ribald greeting-card verse
of the lyrics, underscores the relentless erotic obsession that’s at the core of Gaye’s concerns.” Score: 4/5.
TURN UP THE VOLUME 