IN UTERO is definitely my favorite NIRVANA album because it showed more and more how the great late terribly troubled KURT COBAIN was evolved into a a fantastic high-quality singer/songwriter. The LP, their third and final one, was released on 21 September 1993. It topped the UK Albums Chart four days after its release, 26 years ago today. It also hit the top spot of The US Billboard charts.
Leeds‘ post-punk legends GANG OF FOUR released their ingenious and influential debut album ENTERTAINMENT! on 25 September 1979, 40 years ago. Their raw and snappy fusion of punk intensity, crepitating funk rhythms and spiky dub and their, lyrically, social and political criticism made them one of the most important groups of the late 1970s/early 1980s post-punk movement. ‘Entertainment!’ was ranked as fifth-greatest punk album of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine.
AllMusic wrote: “Entertainment! is one of those records where germs of influence can be traced through many genres and countless bands, both favorably and unfavorably. From groups whose awareness of genealogy spreads wide enough to openly acknowledge Gang of Four’s influence (Fugazi, Rage Against the Machine), to those not in touch with their ancestry enough to realize it (rap-metal, some indie rock) — all have appropriated elements of their forefathers’ trailblazing contribution. Its vaguely funky rhythmic twitch, its pungent, pointillistic guitar stoccados, and its spoken/shouted vocals have all been picked up by many.”
Full review here. Score: 5/5
Key tracks tracks: Ether / Damaged Goods / I Found That Essence Rare /
At Home He’s A Tourist / Love Like Anthrax
OH MERCY, the 26th studio album by living legend BOB DYLAN was released 30 years
ago today, on 18th September 1989. Thanks to the creative collaboration with Canadian producer and singer/songwriter Daniel Lanois, the LP was positively lauded by the critics. The inventive Lanois matched Dylan‘s nasal voice with a perfect fitting sound and it seemed to inspire Mister Zimmerman to write a set of his best songs of the past decade. The album was, compared to several previous ones finally a new commercial success reaching No. 30
on the Billboard charts in the United States and No. 6 in the UK.
ROLLING STONE wrote at the time: “Oh Mercy explores moral concerns and matters of the heart with a depth and seriousness Dylan has not demonstrated since ‘Desire’… ‘Oh Mercy’ can perhaps best be thought of as a collaboration between Dylan and producer Daniel Lanois… He hooked Dylan up with members of the Nevilles’ band — guitarist Brian Stoltz, bassist Tony Hall, drummer Willie Green and percussionist Cyril Neville — and fashioned evocative, atmospheric soundscapes that elicit every nuance of meaning from Dylan’s songs while never overwhelming them.” Full review here. Score: 4/5
Turn Up The Volume‘s favourite tracks: Where Teardrops Fall / Everything Is Broken /
Man In The long Black Coat / Most Of The Time
IAN McCULLOCH, the soul-touching, eminent songwriter and unique voice of Echo &
The Bunnymen released his debut solo LP titled CANDLELAND this day 30 years ago,
on 17 September 1989. Overall a very emotional and grieving album as McCulloch lost his beloved father, who he was very close with, and The Bunnymen‘s awesome drummer Pete De Freitas only a few months before the record’s release. Most of the songs are heartfelt little gems sung by a vulnerable, yet ingenuous vox looking to process his distressing grief and continue his life without those unforgettable important persons. Gripping sensibility.
The album reached number 18 on the UK Albums Chart.
ALL MUSIC wrote: “Ian McCulloch’s first solo LP represents his most accomplished work
since the 1984 Echo and the Bunnymen masterpiece ‘Ocean Rain’ haunted by the recent
deaths of the singer’s father as well as Bunnymen drummer Pete DeFreitas, Candleland is
a poignant yet ultimately triumphant album which probes not only themes of loss but also rebirth. McCulloch’s expressive vocals and impassioned lyrics recall past glories, but also tap newfound reserves of maturity and introspection.” Full review here. Score: 4,5/5
Today 42 years ago, on 16 September 1977, one of the greatest British pop talents and rock performers MARC BOLAN (born Mark Feld) the then only 29-year-old artist was killed instantly when the car driven by his girlfriend, Gloria Jones, left the road and hit a tree in Barnes, London. To remember the eternal glam icon here are three of his timeless knockouts with his legendary band T.REX…
25 years ago this day, 16 September 1994, legendary Belgian rockers dEUS released their dumbfound debut album ‘WORST CASE SCENARIO’. What started as a bunch of music freaks sharing albums they liked the best, from Tom Waits to Captain Beefheart and some Frank Zappa insanity in between, turned into one of the best Belgian bands ever, led by charismatic frontman Tom Barman. ‘WCS‘ was the spectacular start of a (still ongoing)
phenomenal career with many baffling LP’s, several line-ups and tons of astounding live performances (of which I attented many). Eventually Worst Case Scenario sold more than 300,000 copies and dEUS scored better and more with every new release from then on.
ALL MUSIC wrote: “The five-piece spent its time exploring its own interesting rock zone, referencing back to classic rock influences and jazz pioneers as much as any of its many frazzled contemporaries. It’s a bit facile to say that if Tom Waits were a young guy in 1992 he might have formed this band, but there’s something agreeably impassioned and rough about Worst Case Scenario which calls to mind Waits’ own avant- garage jazz efforts in the mid-’80s… Tom Barman’s singing hits both loud, full-bodied shrieks, and low-and-slow as needed, while the band in general strike a great balance between straight-ahead performance and subtle studio trickery…” Full review here. Score 4,5/5
40 years ago today, on 9 September 1979, THE RESIDENTS released ESKIMO. The
album was originally supposed to follow 1977’s Fingerprince, but due to all sort of problems it was not issued until 1979. The critics loved its experimentation, its clever weirdness and its satirical view of the American people’s nescience and maltreatment
of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
ALL MUSIC wrote: “The most rewarding, the most difficult, and the most accomplished
of all the Residents’ albums, this was their departure into the field of imaginary ethno-musicography that they had begun on “Six Things to a Cycle” on Fingerprince. Ostensibly a musical documentary on the Eskimo, this is an album of icy atmospheres, poetic electronics, and imaginary landscapes, concocted around a loose narrative told in the liner notes… In any other group’s hands this would have been a pretentious disaster, but the Residents pull it off through spirit, humor, and sheer bravado.” Full review here– Score 4.5/5
20 years ago today, on 7 September 1999, British mega UFO obsessed supersonic rockers MUSE released their debut album SHOWBIZZ. It’s really amazing how this mind and soul-stirring first longplayer was actually the predetermined blueprint for all they achieved over two decades later. From bombastic and grandiloquent musical extravaganza to sweet and tenderhearted balladry. It made them superstars in the UK and Europe!
ALL MUSIC wrote: “The musical touchstone for the British trio Muse is obviously Radiohead
and that fact is crystal clear from the smoldering opening cut, “Sunburn.” Their John Leckie-produced debut, Showbiz, is strong on angst-filled vocals, esoteric lyrics, and dramatic shifts
in sonic dynamics.” Full reviewhere
This day 40 years ago, on 2 September 1979, innovative and influential post-punk legends WIRE released their third, highly acclaimed LP ‘154‘. A great piece of work which had not really much in common with the post-punk/new wave era it was made in, per se. It rather revealed a band that was moving on, on their own exploring and sonically haunting terms which resulted in probably their finest achievement ever although the group made some intriguing longplayers in their third musical life that started back in 1999 and still flourishes today.
Here’s what ALL MUSIC wrote: “Named for the number of live gigs Wire had played to that point, 154 refines and expands the innovations of ‘Chairs Missing’, with producer Mike Thorne’s synthesizer effects playing an even more integral role… The best tracks retain their humanity thanks to the arrangements’ smooth, seamless blend of electronic and guitar textures and the beauty of the group’s melodies… It’s difficult to believe that a band that evolved as quickly and altered its sound as restlessly as Wire did could be out of ideas after only three years and three albums, but such was the case according to its members, and with their (temporary, as it turned out) disbandment following this album, Wire’s most fertile and influential period came to a close.” – Full review here. Score: 4.5/5
Welsh legends MANIC STREET PREACHERS released their third album, masterpiece ‘THE HOLY BIBLE’ on 30 August 1994, 25 years ago. To my fan ears, this dark LP is the Manics’ most absorbing, imposing and unpolished achievement of their brilliant career.
It was the unfortunate Richey Edwards‘ last record before vanishing mysteriously. His cutting and at times very introvert, controversial and angry lyrics clearly showed that Edwards‘ demons were taking over. Musically it’s an irresistibly dynamic and terrifically edgy exploit. A solid gold magnum opus that still resonates as staggering as back then!
NME wrote: “Like most works of genuine genius, it’s a world away from anything else its creators ever set their hands to. Born as a reaction to the failure of their early bid to become a Valley Guns N’Roses, its white, seething fury at absolutely everything meant they could never go to such terrifying depths again… Musically, ‘The Holy Bible’ is incredible, the result of James Dean Bradfield’s decision to rein the band back into a shitty studio in Cardiff’s red light district. Abandoning stadium dynamics and embracing new wave, industrial, art rock and goth, the likes of ‘Faster’ and ‘Yes’ stand up as furious mutant metal hybrids.” Full review here . Score: 5/5
Three (of the many) highlights…
– REVOL –
– FASTER –
– THIS IS YESTERDAY –
(live rendition – Glastonbury 2003)
