Wednesday, 26 November 2008
It Has Just Occurred To Me That....
... Cream played their farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall on this day in 1968... which means that Eric Clapton has now been more-or-less treading water for 40 years!
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
The Black Ice Project – 28 Days Later
A month on from its release and I’ve only just taken the CD off heavy rotation in the car. Largely the impressions I formed in the first week are unchanged and if anything this album has improved as it settles into my consciousness. I have found myself hitting the skip button occasionally on Stormy May Day and frequently on Money Made but this is probably going to be my album of the year and deservedly so. It is disappointing that the band seem to have included just two songs from such a strong album into their live set – perhaps they don’t hold Black Ice in the same high regard as I do. Anyway the next Black Ice Project update will be in January - three months after release. Perhaps by that time they will have noted the ecstatic reaction Black Ice has received from the majority of listeners and will add a few more tracks into the show.
Monday, 17 November 2008
Album Reviews - Queens, Chavs & Hobos
The Cosmos Rocks - Queen + Paul Rogers
Firstly let’s get the name-thing out of the way. No doubt Roger Taylor and Brain May own the rights to the Queen name so they are quite entitled to do whatever they want with it. What is irritating is their repeated justification for doing so.
If they were as confident of the quality of this product and disinterested in monetary reward as they make themselves out to be then surely they would be called Taylor Rogers May or TMR or anything other than QP+R. I suspect the real reason is that utilising the Queen name ensures an audience far greater than they could otherwise expect. Unfortunately that audience will be largely disappointed – this is not a Queen album. Without Roger Deacon the unfathomable magic that makes for a great rhythm section is missing and, although it is pointless to compare the entirely different singing styles of Paul Rogers and Freddie Mercury, it’s hard not to ponder if Freddie’s unique delivery would have added just enough fairy dust to make these songs special.
Not that this is by any means a poor album – the enormous talent on display makes that all but impossible. It’s just that it’s all a tad safe & boring – reminiscent of The Eagles Long Road To Eden album. Say It's Not True (a depressing tale exploring the inevitability of tragedy) manages to raise the stakes to something approaching former glories but other than that only the undeniably catchy Small and a smattering of blues numbers that showcase Rogers’ soulful voice to good effect manage to lift the bar above average. And there lies the root of the problem – this is good but not great; and for a product carrying the Queen brand that's a disappointment.
Rating: Good
Dig Out Your Soul - Oasis
Oasis – where does Endlessly Rocking stand on Oasis? Well, as far as I can see, every rock that has ever been thrown at Oasis was probably justified. Beatles-clones, plagiarists, copyists – each and every one them describes Oasis to a tee. Yet I find it very hard not to like these guys. If what they do isn’t exactly
original there is no doubt that they do it very, very well. At their peak they were pretty much untouchable as a live act and they helped keep the flag of balls-to-the-wall rock music flying during the wilderness years of Grunge and Brit Pop. Okay – they haven’t made an album of real quality since Definitely Maybe, but each of the albums since have contained one or two quality tracks. Songs that get your feet tapping, your fist punching and dare you not to sing-a-long with the chorus. In that regard Oasis are the Status Quo of their generation. Rarely brilliant but can always be relied on to deliver a good time. Dig Out Your Soul is different though. Whilst it lacks those one or two stand out tracks it is an album largely devoid of filler with a consistent quality throughout. The crowd pleasing choruses are eased back in favour of a slow but fiercely burning intensity that is maintained right across the album. Time and care has been taken on the production - and it shows. This is the most ‘adult’ album of their career – a satisfying collection of mature songs with serious intent.
Rating: Good
I Started Out With Nothin’ And I Still Got Most Of It Left – Seasick Steve
OAP Steve is very much flavour of the month at the moment and deservedly so. Strip away the record company hype and the hobo image and you’ll find an extremely accomplished musician that has been performing professionally since the 1960’s. Add that wealth of musical experience to a life obviously well-lived and you have in place most of the ingredients for a top-notch blues album. Deceptively simple in both music and lyrics this is a highly individual and surprisingly fresh take on the blues that with any luck will bring a legion of new fans to the genre.
Rating: Good
Firstly let’s get the name-thing out of the way. No doubt Roger Taylor and Brain May own the rights to the Queen name so they are quite entitled to do whatever they want with it. What is irritating is their repeated justification for doing so.
If they were as confident of the quality of this product and disinterested in monetary reward as they make themselves out to be then surely they would be called Taylor Rogers May or TMR or anything other than QP+R. I suspect the real reason is that utilising the Queen name ensures an audience far greater than they could otherwise expect. Unfortunately that audience will be largely disappointed – this is not a Queen album. Without Roger Deacon the unfathomable magic that makes for a great rhythm section is missing and, although it is pointless to compare the entirely different singing styles of Paul Rogers and Freddie Mercury, it’s hard not to ponder if Freddie’s unique delivery would have added just enough fairy dust to make these songs special.Not that this is by any means a poor album – the enormous talent on display makes that all but impossible. It’s just that it’s all a tad safe & boring – reminiscent of The Eagles Long Road To Eden album. Say It's Not True (a depressing tale exploring the inevitability of tragedy) manages to raise the stakes to something approaching former glories but other than that only the undeniably catchy Small and a smattering of blues numbers that showcase Rogers’ soulful voice to good effect manage to lift the bar above average. And there lies the root of the problem – this is good but not great; and for a product carrying the Queen brand that's a disappointment.
Rating: Good
Dig Out Your Soul - Oasis
Oasis – where does Endlessly Rocking stand on Oasis? Well, as far as I can see, every rock that has ever been thrown at Oasis was probably justified. Beatles-clones, plagiarists, copyists – each and every one them describes Oasis to a tee. Yet I find it very hard not to like these guys. If what they do isn’t exactly
original there is no doubt that they do it very, very well. At their peak they were pretty much untouchable as a live act and they helped keep the flag of balls-to-the-wall rock music flying during the wilderness years of Grunge and Brit Pop. Okay – they haven’t made an album of real quality since Definitely Maybe, but each of the albums since have contained one or two quality tracks. Songs that get your feet tapping, your fist punching and dare you not to sing-a-long with the chorus. In that regard Oasis are the Status Quo of their generation. Rarely brilliant but can always be relied on to deliver a good time. Dig Out Your Soul is different though. Whilst it lacks those one or two stand out tracks it is an album largely devoid of filler with a consistent quality throughout. The crowd pleasing choruses are eased back in favour of a slow but fiercely burning intensity that is maintained right across the album. Time and care has been taken on the production - and it shows. This is the most ‘adult’ album of their career – a satisfying collection of mature songs with serious intent.Rating: Good
I Started Out With Nothin’ And I Still Got Most Of It Left – Seasick Steve
OAP Steve is very much flavour of the month at the moment and deservedly so. Strip away the record company hype and the hobo image and you’ll find an extremely accomplished musician that has been performing professionally since the 1960’s. Add that wealth of musical experience to a life obviously well-lived and you have in place most of the ingredients for a top-notch blues album. Deceptively simple in both music and lyrics this is a highly individual and surprisingly fresh take on the blues that with any luck will bring a legion of new fans to the genre.Rating: Good
Friday, 14 November 2008
Mitch Mitchell 1947 - 2008
The passing of the last surviving member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience hasn’t received a great deal of media attention to date and that’s sad. Mitch was very much a pioneer of rock drumming – one of the first to move away from simple beat keeping to an improvisational style that established the drums an instrument in their own right. I’ll always think of him in black & white, head down, deep in concentration and no doubt wondering where the hell Hendrix will take this song next.! Sleep well.
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