After many hints and teases Manic Street Preachers have confirmed the reissue of a deluxe edition of their 1993 second album ‘Gold Against The Soul’. Available as a 120 page A4 book featuring unseen images from the bands’ longtime photographic collaborator Mitch Ikeda, many personally annotated by Nicky Wire and original typed and handwritten lyrics from the bands own archive. Pre-order now in CD Book, on Vinyl and in a bundle.
Pre Order Here
Enduring and endearing that’s the threesome that makeup Therapy? they’ve have never been ones to follow convention even when they do something quite conventional like releasing a greatest hits album.
‘The Greatest Hits’ takes tracks from throughout their career of highs and maybe not so highs. This their 30th-anniversary run sees this new album breathing a fresh breath of brutality into already fiery songs. I’ve always seen Therapy? as an iron fist in a velvet glove kinda band. they can write some right out and out abrasive in your face slabs of noise but they can also be touching and heartfelt whilst delivering that punch (if you know what I mean?) Oh and before I forget it also comes with a bonus live album. Always offering value for money. I always thought the old adage about Motorhead applied to Therapy? because they will survive after any holocaust along with the cockroaches then probably put on a show before feasting on the mites such is their dogged determination to push on and never stand still even when looking back at themselves and what they’ve achieved they twist it and push the boundaries rather than offering up some cut and pasted best of and that’s because they give a shit about their legacy, their fans and the future.
‘Teethgrinder’ is first up and with a sparkling production, it has to be said. The band worked with producer Chris Sheldon, who produced the original ‘Troublegum’ album as well as working on ‘Semi-Detached’, ‘High Anxiety’ and ‘Cleave’ so a safe pair of hands – someone who knew the band and what they were/are about and was able to give them that extra piece of x-factor needed on this project. No cost spared as they headed for Abbey Road none the less and its paid off in spades.
The 12-track album includes all their UK hits including ‘Screamager’ and a reworking of ‘Diane’; Featuring James Dean Bradfield of the Manics. I forgot how fuckin’ menacing ‘Turn’ sounds with that grinding bassline twisting the listener’s inner ear throughout. The one thing that stands out is how damn fresh these songs sound. They never suffered from a shit production but this is another level as 2020 sees songs reborn. ‘Nowhere’ still sounds epic and a real rush of adrenaline. I can’t help but feel there’s a little chuckle being made having James Dean Bradfield singing on ‘Die Laughing’ maybe they should have renamed it ‘Dai Laughing’.
‘Diane’ is one of my favourite song from the band and this new take is brilliant. Welcome to the church of noise one and all and those old-timers this is a great celebration happening here and those new to this band you’re most welcome but where the fuck have you been you maniacs? Heres to the next milestone and something else from Therapy? Oh, I guess I should mention the bonus disc, well, that’s fifteen songs one from each album live as a bonus with the CD version. It’s a great time to be a fan of the band then with so much going on as they head out the door to promote their 30-year plan so you can see them after you’ve played this greatest hits package to death.
As far as greatest hits go this one is up there with the best in the noisy bastard genre. Still on fire – Still not compromising – Still doin’ the biz. Therapy? I love em
Greatest Hits (2020 Versions) here
Author: Dom Daley
Wayne Hussey & The Divine – ‘Live At Yellow Arch’. Recorded over 2 days – 31st October and 1st November – during the rehearsals for the one-off show at Whitby, the album comes in CD and limited clear vinyl. with the CD having more tracks.
An incredible group of musicians along with Hussey has produced a mesmerising interpretation of some of the best tracks from The Mission back catalogue but also something new from the recent ‘Beauty in Chaos’ release, a song that Wayne wrote in the 1970s, and a version of Mazzy Star’s ‘Look On Down From The Bridge’.
Wayne said Working with The Divine was one of the musical highlights of his life. Something he might well revisit in the future. To be honest, I’m not sure what I was expecting here, as I saw the tracklist there were songs I love that had been chosen and was certainly interested in hearing how they interpreted them but I can honestly hand on heart say I never expected them to sound quite so stunning.
I’ve long since admired Hussey and his music following the Sisters and then the Mission and collecting everything he’s ever recorded so I guess a bit of a fanboy if you like seeing him live many times over the years but I have also been critical along the way of what I thought didn’t work on times (very few I might add) and happy to hear what did.
These recordings came for the rehearsals for the Goth festival in Whitby and in True Mission-style Hussy invited some fans along for the rehearsals and had the foresight to record what took place in front of the thirty or so onlookers over those two nights in Sheffield.
live, no overdubs, no going back to fix ‘things’ as you can hear when the lyrics go wrong on a couple of songs. (Nothing new there then.) It’s all about the performance. For Hussey to suggest these songs would touch the listener in a way the originals didn’t is very astute because he was right on the money there.
The musical arrangements are nothing short of genius and interpretations stunning what the add and what to leave out is quite magical and you almost want to stop breathing so as not to miss one second of what’s going on. It must have been awesome to witness this happening let alone playing on it.
It’s a simple concept of a small ensemble of strings, percussion, a piano and guitar with a few voices t pull it all together. But don’t be fooled its as much about what gets left out as what you put in with the heartbreaking violin solo on the opening ‘Look On Down From The Bridge’ and the softly sung vocal its truly stunning from that opening drum shuffle. Of The Mish tunes songs like ‘Never Again’ are reborn as is the beautiful ‘Like A Child Again’ but the ones that are changed the most like ‘Crystal Ocean’ is where the gold lies. It must have taken forever to trawl through such a catalogue of songs to find what would work and to get it quite so spot on over all fourteen songs is extraordinary.
Of the more recent Mission songs ‘Swan Song’ is stripped bare maybe a more traditional interpretation but none the less dramatic in its delivery. Of course ‘Tower Of Strength’ is still epic it always was and always will be but the violin here is brilliant but it is overshadowed by the delivery of ‘Forevermore’. A diamond of a record all fans of Hussey’s work need to hear this. I am well aware that I’ve showered it in superlatives but hell, it deserves it. Uplifting and inspiring. there’s always room in the world for light and shade and this is going to be a staple of relaxation and calm and stunning music by a genuine talent whos delivered over many decades and continues to do so.
If you do want to do this again Wayne you can bring the divine round my house and do it all again it would be a pleasure and I’d even chill the blue nun.
Buy ‘Live At Yellow Arch’ Here
Author: Dom Daley
Everything was better in the old days. Everything but Christmas who became more unstoppable from year to year. While other bands pop up and quickly burn away, CHRISTMAS just gets better and better. More resilient, more brutal and more like the cockroach after a nuclear holocaust. It was said that if Motorhead moved next door your lawn would wither and die unless the next-door neighbour happens to be Christmas. They wouldn’t give a shit the lawn was dead because they were going on tour anyway
Christmas has spent the last ten-year making music with over thirteen releases in those ten years, playing a mammoth 500 gigs across countless countries and gone through a spinal tap amount of band members. Rock ‘n’ Roll is said to be on its last legs and hardcore punk is a dying genre, funnily enough, nobody sent Christmas the memo and if they did they’d use it to light the stick of dynamite they’re about to throw into your speakers.
This album is ignited when ‘Turn Me Lewd’ kicks off in your speakers with a really addictive brass line running alongside the vocals and those guitars are white-hot like a rabid ‘Nasty’. I might be mistaken here but this seems to have upped a gear or two from previous recordings from Christmas ‘Hey Mate’ is cheeky whilst the title track is an exercise in how to riff.
‘Waterloo’ has a brown noise rumbling low end on that bass guitar before sounding like its been fired out of a cannon. Great stuff – classic Christmas. Hold the front page ‘Elvis Is Dead’ if only he had sounded like this or he sang a song like ‘Fuck It Up’. Brutal and uncompromising Christmas go full tilt on us on ‘Born To Booze’. As we raise a glass to yet another top record from Max and co and if you were in any doubt ‘Go Hard Or Go Home’ is a rocket ride of pure aggression and pounding hardcore that is done exceptionally well. Man, we’ve reached the end as there is only ‘Candy Me’ to play out. Max has got this down to a fine art now and he knows what it takes to pen a Christmas record and not a sleigh bell anywhere just hardcore punk rock done to perfection. How long will it be before these guys are treated the same way as Bronx or Zugly for being as good as punk rock gets in the motherfuckin’ roaring ’20s.
Get on it people because they’re going to keep on regardless but Max needs to crowd surf and the more people who get into them the easier it will be to be carried around like royalty. It’ll be a ‘Hot Night’ anywhere if Christmas are playing any of these top tunes.
Buy ‘Hot Nights In Saint Vandal’ Here
One of Norway’s most legendary bands, (that you might be forgiven for never having heard of them, Right? Right) anyway Norway has a good history of knocking out some fantastic bands and a lot of them have been mentioned here on RPM. Backstreet Girls, Turbonegro, Gluecifer, Good Bad the Zugly, Razorbats, and of course Mayhem.
Well, these punk/hardcore veterans are fronted by Billy Cockroach, one of the first vocalists of Mayhem he performed on the 1987 album “Deathcrush” under the moniker of Messiah and they offer us well-aged vintage punk rock full of cheerful aggression and infectious tunes. throwing in Mayhem is a bit of a red herring because its nothing like Deathcrush this is polished positively glistening in the production stakes compared to that Black Metal demo.
‘Songs about Blunt Knives and Deep Love’, has only taken 22 bloody long years to reach our ears kinda puts Axel to shame with his Chinese Democracy. They’re being heralded as one of Norway’s most legendary bands, it basically consists of new recordings of old hits as well as a handful of new tracks and a cover of Mountain Goat’s “Going to Georgia”. It started out as an idea from producer Hugo Alvarstein (The Good the Bad and the Zugly, Raga Rockers, etc…) Who suggested the band go rehearse their best songs from the 1990s then call him up and he’d take em into his studio and get them recorded and give the songs the justice they deserve. To be fair he’s clearly a man of his word and has recorded one hell of an album..
The band started out as far back as 1994, building a loyal fan base and a reputation of being a riotous live band along the way. Compared to the bands two previous offerings this one is the dog’s bollocks and one that should rightly exalt them to the top table of punk rock.
Having honed the tunes by sharing the stage with acts like The Toy Dolls, Discharge, UK Subs, The Exploited, Cock Sparrer, Anti-Nowhere League, Vice Squad and GBH through the years, now it’s about time they put their hat in the ring with a bunch of songs that justified their boast of being up there with the best of them.
The album begins with a cover, ‘Going To Georgia’ and it drops its music bombs right square in the middle of the speakers with it’s spoken/sung verses holding up rather well over a musical backdrop that just crackles along with a joy and sound of a band just killing it doing something they love for the love. ‘You Have A Bun’ is a breath of fresh air as it has plenty of bounce and whilst the vocals are aggressive (often quite shouty) what did you think he was going to sound like? Ian Gillan? that’s the thing its aggressive as fuck but it sounds content and dare I say it – Happy at the same time, oh and the production is great and really lifts the songs.
‘Fantasyland’ has a little bit of Thin Lizzy in those dueling guitars on the intro. I did a little momentary gasp on the intro of the piraty ‘Three Wishes’ as I thought we were getting some h ho ho shanty music but worry not me hearties it was only a false intro. Still, it’s quite piraty its the good end of piraty.
‘On An Island’ is just a banger with its head down its one foot in the Motorhead camp and the other, say, Argy Bargy – Imagine that? To be fair the middle part of the album isn’t fucking about and gets stuck in like The Adicts on a good day. ‘Facts On The Wall’ is Ramones rapid with a dumb yet happy melody and ripping solo this is shaping up to be an excellent record. ‘Necktie Party’ has a bit of a Crass vibe about it. These boys and these songs would go down a storm at somewhere like Rebellion Festival.
A lot of the pace and tempo of the songs remind me of a Norweigan Sham 69 and none more so that ‘Do It Again’ which is one of the highlights of the record on the breakdown it’s like vintage high jinx Damned who always threw in some cool off the wall melodies in fact there are plenty of influences I am feeling here more than ripping off a band they dance to their own tunes and just let their influences just bleed through..
With twelve songs on offer, I would highly recommend you at least give these cats the benefit of doubt and check em out and once you do that I’m sure you’ll be convinced. Great album I’m glad has seen the light of day and hope it’s given the band the energy and drive to do it all again except to say next time don’t leave it so fucking long. – Buy it!
The first new record from Lucas and his Subhumans in a while (Twelve Years?) and with the current global situation its not like Lucas has had writers block or lacking the inspiration. Everywhere you look there’s a meltdown – climate change, government leaders lying, despots taking over, smiling, lying and cheating yet it seems OK to the public. Nobody loses their jobs its all fair game. Summed up nicely on ‘Fear & Confusion’. A more polished sounding record that their last outing ‘Internal Riot’ but it every bit as sharp and relevant.
To be fair Subhumans have always released intelligent records their Anarcho leanings have always been dressed really well in big riffs, tight time changes and some sharp as fuck punk rock. ‘Crisis Point’ seems apt as Lucas starts the war cry with the flurry of opening punches on ‘Terrorist In Waiting’ great lyrics (as usual) thunderous drumming and riffs raining down on the listener with an energy and excitement that sets the album up really well.
throughout the albums eleven tracks the ebb and flow is excellent. I love the attitude on ‘Atom Screen War’ emanating from the riff as it pounds away but it’s nicely pinned by the bass thats rumbling away underneath. To be fair the sound is reminiscent of the last few UK Subs albums. ‘Follow The Leader’ takes that edginess up a notch as the album has warmed up and is really taking flight. Strange land has the feel and sound the band had back in the ’80s with that flange riff and repetitive beat its a really good tune and one that shows how bloody good a band Subhumans are.
Its no good looking for a weakness because there isn’t one. Its a really consistent album its focused and as you’d imagine thought provoking with excellent lyrics and a great production. ‘Crisis Point’ is ticking all the boxes whats not to like? If you want fast no nonsense heads down punk rock then Subhumans do that ‘Poison’ if you want intricate musicianship Subhumans can do that for you, if you want lyrics that are well constructed and thought provoking to prick your conscience subhumans can do that. They were a big part of that early ’80s punk explosion and are still going strong along with the Subs, they always turned in better records than Crass and Conflict in my humble opinion and this record is proof that they are as relevant now as they always were. ‘Crisis Point’ can cover all your modern punk rock needs as well as you old school punks wondering if Dick has still got it. Of course he has. My advice is get hold of ‘Crisis Point’ now and get on board its never too late. Buy it!
Pick up a Copy Here
Author: Dom Daley
Strung Out has been together for almost 30 years –You would be forgiven for thinking they are a new band such is the energy of these songs. Produced by Cameron Webb, who was behind the helm of 2009’s Agents of the Underground, it’s a record that has the fire of a new band.
The band are older (obviously) and dare I say it wiser. Yet they play like young men musically and lyricly they view a “big Picture” as they struggle to make sense of the chaos of the world we live in.
Much of frontman Cruz’s lyrics come from the death of someone he was incredibly close to. That’s something which has exaggerated and exacerbated Cruz’s emotional fragility and continues the spiritual and philosophical journey he says he’s found himself on in recent years. At the same time, though, these songs are also infused with a spirit of hope and defiance.
“I lost my best friend six or seven months ago,” explains Cruz. “It was right before we started writing this record, and that really put a shadow on things. Some of these songs – especially “Monuments” and “Bloody Knuckles” – reflect that loss. But that’s what’s always made our band work. The music is this metal machine and then you get these vocals that express this vulnerability in a melodic way – and there’s love and there’s searching in all that machine. This record starts out hopeful and then it kind of degrades. It sobers and ends with loss. But there are so many things on this record that I’m still figuring it out.”
The albums starts with ‘Rebels And Saints’ and don’t get lulled into a false start becasue its a woven dash and the sunny Californian feel hits you. Melodic and fast. whilst ‘Daggers’ might be darker its almost punk metal in the riffs and pace it tells a story of personal turmoil within the backdrop of an increasingly dystopian America. Strung Out’s trademark melody and aggression is more metal than Bad Religion and its ebb and flow is maintained throughout the album. Its not really a scene that has taken off massivly in the UK and has a very American feel to it songs like ‘Dissapearing City’ cross over as does the pacey and layered harmonies of ‘Politics Of Sleep’.
Penultimate track ‘Strange Notes’ is bordering on Anthrax metal thrashing mad with a frantic drum roll on the intro like I say some might say it ebbs and flows through the gears throughout the album whilst the next man might say its that constant ebb and flow that pulverises that detracts from the songs as there doesn’t seem too much light and shade throughout the three quarters of an hours worth of music. They could totally land a slot at Download though which might well help US punk cross over to the UK.
The band head out in support of the album for the rest of the year throughout North America where I’m sure they’ll hoover up audiences with their energy alone. To be fair they’ve always had a tonne of energy but this is a little more metallic that say ‘Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues’ that was just the right side of this frantic paced style of music.
Buy Songs Of Armour And Devotion Here
Author: Dom Daley
Strung Out will be making the following appearances this fall. Dates below.
SEPTEMBER
18 – Ybor, FL – Crowbar
19 – Gainesville, FL – The Wooly
20 – West Palm Beach, FL – Respectable Street
21 – Jacksonville, FL – 1904 Music Hall
22 – Atlanta, GA – The Earl
24 – Wilmington, NC – Reggie’s 42nd St.Tavern
25 – Virginia Beach, VA – The Bunker
26 – Baltimore, MD – Otto Bar
27 – Asbury Park, NJ – Asbury Lanes
28 – New York, NY – Le Poisson Rouge
29 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
OCTOBER
01 – Portland, ME – Port City Music Hall
02 – Montreal, QC – Club Soda
03 – Quebec City, QC – La Source
04 – Ottawa, ON – The 27 Club
05 – Toronto, ON – The Opera House
06 – London, ON – London Music Hall – Rum Runners
08 – Pittsburgh, PA – The Crafthouse Stage & Grill
09 – Detroit, MI – Small’s
10 – Chicago, IL – Cobra Lounge
11 – St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
12 – Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room
13 – Englewood, CO – Gothic Theatre
31 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
NOVEMBER
01 – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre
02 – Seattle, WA – El Corazon
03 – Boise, ID – The Olympic
04 – Salt Lake City, UT – Metro Music Hall
08 – Dallas, TX – Three Links
09 – Corpus Christi, TX – House of Rock
10 – Austin, TX – Come and Take It Live
12 – Scottsdale, AZ – Pub Rock
13 – Las Vegas, NV – Dive Bar
14 – San Diego, CA – Irenic
15 – Santa Barbara, CA – Velvet Jones
16 – Sacramento, CA – Holy Diver
17 – San Francisco, CA – Slim’s
19 – Fresno, CA – Strummer’s
20 – Morro Bay – The Siren
21 – Lancaster, CA – American Legion
22 – Garden Grove, CA – Garden Amp
23 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre
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Vancouver’s hard-rock icons ART OF DYING are set to release a new studio album, “Armageddon”, on the 4th October 2019. The album will be preceded by a new title track single taken from the album
The Art Of Dying story starts with their talismanic front man Jonny Hetherington. From hours busking on the corners of frozen streets to gatecrashing some of North America’s biggest venues, to writing and recording records of truly earth-shattering proportions, the trajectory of the quartet’s career has astonished both fans and industry insiders alike.
ART OF DYING have been able to create muscular, vivacious hard-rock bursting with lung-shattering choruses and a sincerity that is impossible to fake. Equally at home with a lead-fingered riff or a deft slow-burner, there is an ease of breadth in AOD’s repertoire.
“I was blown away when I first heard their independent record,” enthuses DISTURBED guitarist Dan Donegan. “I lived with it for quite a while and I was so impressed with the quality of the songwriting that I had a feeling there was something special going on. David (DISTURBED vocalist David Draiman) and I had been looking for someone to sign to our imprint for a while, but I wanted to make sure the guys could do it live – it’s hard to find a band that are the complete package these days. So, we invited them out on a DISTURBED tour of America, we really threw them in the deep end!”
The band introduced guitarist Tavis Stanley and bassist Cale Gontier to their ranks on the eve of the run with DISTURBED – the quartet playing onstage together for the very first time during the soundcheck of the opening show of the tour. But suddenly, everything clicked. “The moment I knew that we had it right was when our voices started harmonizing,” says Hetherington, of the band’s now-trademark three-way vocals for which David Draiman has dubbed them “Eagles in Chains” referencing a blend of 70s supergroup The Eagles and 90s grunge rockers Alice In Chains.
Now, with two critically-acclaimed and widely-played major label releases under their belts, Art Of Dying are returning with Full Length Album “Armageddon”, their most imperious effort to date. “It’s a dark record.” Says Jonny. “Even the cover art (featuring NYC artist Stefano Losi’s painting of Pharaoh Thutmose III) is inspired by the album title. Thutmose lead the historic battle in Megiddo, (aka Armageddon) the first war in history where proper records were kept and a body count was taken.”
Themes like “No One Ever Wins”, “Dark Days” and “Unoriginal” take the listener down to visit the depths of the deep end. But no Art of Dying record would be complete without the inspirational balance of spine-tingling anthems like new single “Armageddon”, “Cut It All Away” and “ShatterProof”.
Of first single “Armageddon” Jonny Hetherington says, “Life sucks. Life is beautiful. Writing Armageddon got me through a tough time and helped shake a few of the demons off my back. If you feel like your world is caving in, like you’re trapped in your own personal Armageddon, I hope you will find the strength to get out.”
If ARMAGEDDON is about one thing above all else it is a study on the power of human will and the uplifting capacity of one’s own self belief. This is rip-snorting rock ’n’ roll that will smash your self-doubt into a million pieces.
“Armageddon” is released through Get A Grip on the 4th October 2019. The new album is available to preorder now, including a limited transparent red vinyl pressing:
Here
I’ve been a huge fan of Ricky Warwick for a long time and have enjoyed whatever music he has put out whether it’s the loud punk-metal of The Almighty or his storytelling solo albums and what we now come to know the great rock’n’roll of the Black Star Riders.
On the first trio of the Black Star riders albums, the songs have been largely co-written by Ricky and guitarists Damon Johnson and the legend that is guitar slinger Scott Gorham.
So it was a surprise when it was let known that Damon Johnson was moving on to pastures new and that the vacant guitar player slot was being filled by Christian Matrucci who is guitarist of Stone Sour and also to my delight I have discovered he has had various bands of his own over the years which I have found too have released top draw music but the question is would he gell with Black Star Riders.
Fear, not Christian has not only fitted in but the music is all the better for it.
Starting off this new album titled “Another State Of Grace” we have the track “Tonight The Moonlight Let Me Down” and immediately the ears are treated to a great guitar riff and Ricky’s trademark gruff vocal. Scott and Christian’s guitar mesh together beautifully to create a great rock’n’roll sound and we even have some saxophone added into the mix which fits in perfectly.
On track two we get the song “Another State Of Grace” which was the first song to be released as a single and this song has a big Celtic sound to it with a backing chant of “hey” being shouted which really makes the track stand out.
Up next we have “Ain’t The End Of The World” which is the second single to be released and this track has what I would call the classic Thin Lizzy sound with Scott Gorham’s trademark guitar all over it yet has a freshness that while takes you back to the glory days of Thin Lizzy it also shows how the Black star riders are very much their own band with their own identity.
“Underneath The Afterglow” starts off with a great classic rock guitar riff with a great vocal by Ricky and what strikes me is how Christian’s backing vocals go together so well with Ricky’s that you would think they have been in a band together for years.
“Soldier In The Ghetto” is up next and this track adds a funky intro before relaxing back into a great Black Star riders chorus and shows a band that’s not afraid to mix things up a bit but when they do they do it well.
“Why Do You Love Your Guns” slows the pace down a bit with a beautifully crafted acoustic guitar intro before a crunchy electric guitar riff is introduced to build the song up and a great passionate vocal by Ricky makes this track another winner.
Next up we have “Standing In The Line Of Fire” and this track picks the pace back up with some pounding drums and driving bass and a shredding guitar solo that makes this a great rock song.
“What Will It Take?” is another track which features acoustic guitar mixed with electric to add to a song with great harmonies. Also, we have some great female backing vocals which yet again add another dimension to the Black star riders sound.
“In The Shadow Of The War Machine” is a awesome rocker of a track with some real biting guitar and lyrics that describe the troubled times we are living in yet even though this is a serious song it still has the great harmonies and an uplifting chorus that I hope to hear live on the upcoming tour.
Finishing off the album is the track “Poisoned Heart” and this is how an album should be finished off and that is with style with Ricky’s soaring vocals backed with great backing vocals from Christian and great all-round work from the rest of the band making sure this album goes out with a bang.
Overall words are hard to describe how great this album is because every song on here is a sure-fire crowd-pleaser with no weak tracks or filler to be heard anywhere.
This is a great album that on repeated listens is an album that will keep on giving and in this reviewer’s opinion is Black Star Riders finest work to date.
Buy ‘Another State Of Grace’ Here
Author: Gareth ‘Hotshot’ Hooper
The first album I ever owned was ‘Sladest’ the 1973 released compilation album by Slade. It came with a second hand cassette recorder my mother picked up for me for my 7th birthday and as such it left a truly indelible mark on my life.
Of the ten 7” singles featured here in this soon to be released box set from BMG the A sides of the first six singles were all featured on ‘Sladest’, so there’s no way I could feel anything other than total delight when listening to the likes of ‘Coz I Love You’ and ‘Gudbuy T’Jane’ and the only thing that kind of disappoints me is that the likes of ‘Look What You Dun’ and ‘Get Down And Get With It’ aren’t included too.
Still you can’t have everything I suppose, its just that after the lavish ‘When Slade Rocked The World’ LP box set released by Salvo back in 2015 which contained a cornucopia of wonderful Slade ephemera from the 1971 -1975 era the fact that nine of the ten singles contained within this set also draw from the same period I do have a real sense of deja-vu when revisiting these songs so soon after, and again if you are going to focus on this period and not include the seismic ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ single then you do start to wonder what BMG are really trying to achieve with this release.
The answer I guess lies in the fact that those nine singles all come housed in internationally released picture sleeves, complete (where applicable) with non-album B sides; songs like the acoustic stomp of ‘My Life Is Natural’, the Kinks-y pop of ‘Kill ‘Em At The Hot Club Tonite’ and the simply superb ‘Wonderin’ Y’, a song Noel Gallagher must have heard many times over when composing most of the ‘(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?’ album. Once again though these tracks have all been released previously on the expanded Salvo versions of the corresponding Slade albums, so it really does boil down to the fact that if you are a Slade completist if the tenth “promo only” 7” of ‘Night Starvation’ is really worth the admission price for this set?
Look, I’ll admit I’ve already pre-ordered a copy of ‘Feel The Noize’, but if you are something of a more casual fan there are certainly much more cost-effective ways of getting these songs. You just won’t have the pic sleeves or the (ahem) flip-top box.
Slade’s music is timeless, and (largely) faultless, they are THE BAND I go to whenever I lose faith in life, plus as I once got caught with me trousers down by Noddy Holder at an Ozzy gig in Birmingham Odeon I do feel like we connected that day. Oh and please remember Slade are for life not just for Christmas, but there’s certainly nothing stopping you adding this box set to your Christmas list.
Buy it Here
Author: Johnny Hayward
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