Reviews by richardwiggins

There is clearly an interesting vibe, a robust, very full sound and excellent production on Central Reservation. I especially enjoyed the unexpected downtempo songs, which there could have been more of. However this record is also overlong and does not have a song power to match the gorgeous overall “feel.” You could slim down the tracklist to arrive at a more pleasing version, but even then it could do with a couple of singles, at points it gets a bit dreary without them.

The Queen is Dead is the height of both Morrissey and Johnny Marr’s collective and individual creative efforts. Part of The Smiths’ genius comes from how thick and fast they wrote songs (this is just one of 4 albums written and released in 4 years). Never is that more true than on this LP where at points Marr sounds like he is in a hurry to get all of his riffs out, notes falling perfectly into place on conception. This rush of creative inspiration is beautifully captured by Stephen Street. Nothing overconsidered or overwritten.

Morrissey’s vocals are at their most fluid and his lyrics are their most balanced. Of course you have the usual floral notes of tragic nostalgia and self pity but they are offset by plenty of outward-looking humour (occasionally harsh but more often just absurd). Nowhere else does he sound quite this playful, allowing his voice to take him to unexpected places.

Its an all time classic!

Deep Purple put on quite a show. They are rarely subtle, and in fact I prefer it when they make no attempt to be subtle, as they find their best light in the moments of drum twacking, guitar crunching and fidgeting about on the fretboard. This is best played loud and is a hell of a lot of fun.

I suspect how much I enjoy this record is simply a reflection of how much I enjoy Jazz-Funk Fusion. I'm not mad about that genre, in fact it sounds like hold music to me, so am not really one to judge its success. I can say that I preferred the opening track thanks to its R&B vocals which nicely brings together the sound of the band, who without the vocalist wander off into all sorts of blind alleys.

Without looking you can tell this is Beasties Boys’ debut because the blend of hip hop and rock is not as refined as what comes later. They are still building their rapping abilities and their music doesn’t sprawl and stretch into the different sub-genres (i.e. hardcore punk) that make later records such a delight.

Having said that, the track list is home to plenty of treats, especially in the middle of the record. The barbershop quartet-esque Girls is absolutely brilliant and seems to come from nowhere, a nice contrast with the energetic breakout hit single that follows Fight For Your Right, which acts as their rawdy mission statement. You can see how these boys whipped up so much excitement among the teens!

The propulsive, good natured boogie from the band drives the record along nicely and won me over in the end. They sound like a very polished blues bar band. The vocals and lyrics are foregrounded and unignorable which is fine when they suit my sensibilities but at points sound hokey or harsh. As long as the vocals are pointed towards lifting spirits and keeping things fun I tend to be on board!

My only exposure to Lenny Kravitz before now is the side-splittingly hilarious Architectural Digest videos. It’s pleasing to see that he is the exact same character here. He takes the most dramatic and forceful elements of The Beatles and adds a dash of Soul singing. It’s all a bit cheesy and overwrought for my personal tastes. He regularly pushes the performance too hard into quite grating territory.

I’ve always had a lot of affection for this Ian Dury album. It’s all drums and bass and vocals; and surprisingly it makes you want to dance in a pub rock kind of way. It’s really carefree and loose with a big emphasis on fun / just having a good time.

It’s a totally untapped idea to repackage Cockney music hall and blend it with rock, pop and even disco bass / drums. If anyone else out there is doing it it’s certainly not left the mark Ian Dury makes with this record.

My copy has Sex & Drugs & Rock’n’roll on it, uncredited, and it does boost the overall tracklist. I don’t know why he was shy about putting singles on the LP, although one of the best tracks has to be the album track Blackmail Man which is pure angry punk energy. Fantastic.

My wife told me today that the child on the front cover is Baxter Dury which I didn’t realise - he himself has had a really full music career. You should check out Leak at the Disco if you’ve never heard him.

It’s a rare pleasure to reunite with a record you played a lot in your teens to find you like it even more than you did at the time.

It’s a step up from The White Stripes, especially their later records, with every song bursting with melody and creative energy. The expansion in his sound in part comes from the abundance of different musicians across the tracklist, the line up changing substantially from track to track, keeping things energetic and nervy.

I didn’t want this album to end because every track truly delivers, there isn’t a dud in the bunch.

Some of what Throbbing Gristle offers up falls under the category of music, but the majority of the material on Third Report does not as they are engaging in sound art rather than songwriting. As sound art it is somewhat interesting, but as an album of music it is lacking many of the features you should judge when writing an album review (melody, rhythm, etc.) They successfully create an uncomfortable and uncompromising atmosphere which I will not be returning to. I find the life story and personality of Genesis P-Orridge much more interesting than the output of Throbbing Gristle itself.

I’m sure there is a time, a place, a setting where I could get more out of this. It sounds like winding down music at a big party which I wish I’d already made my way home from. It’s nice, not particularly hateable but very chilled and drawn out for something which didn’t grab me.

This is clearly a major turning point in The Beatles’ (and pop music’s) development. Despite this being their sixth album in three years, the number of ideas and quality of songwriting is only increasing and an edge has been gained. At this point you couldn’t swap their songs out for any other group without the complex and unique compositions losing something.

The original Christmas album which inspired countless compilations and covers. Almost every song here is the progenitor to a “classic” version of the same song but a couple of songs still survive as the ultimate version on deeply unoriginal Spotify playlists. A handful of oddities (most notably A Marshmallow World!) stand out for no reason other than the fact they do not have the world-beating fame of the other songs surrounding it.

And it stands up! It was the best party record in our household this Christmas.

You can imagine this coming out at the peak of the Hacienda’s powers. On first listen, based on the opening moments, I was convinced it would be a full on dance album, instead it’s a pleasing mix of synthpop and dance. No big hits but it works well as full album experience. The only small shame is that All the Way sounds unignorably similar to The Cure’s Just Like Heaven - even including some of the same lyrics!

There’s some good songwriting on display here, but all together it added up to a dreary mid-tempo listen which never got me out of the slump it put me into. I was very bored of hearing about her ex by the end!

The covers on this album range from sublime and iconic (Hurt); radio 1 live long quality (Personal Jesus); and faintly ridiculous (Danny Boy). I’d have limited these to the best and then folded in some of the old favourites from his back catalogue, brought to life with his seasoned older voice.

Having said that - how sensational is The Man Comes Around? A Cash original and the best song on American IV by yonks. This song alone justifies the collection.

I know I’m in for a treat when I see an album by a band I’ve never heard of described as their “most accessible work.”

Lightning Bolt prioritising the cathartic percussive qualities of the bass and drums over everything else makes me feel like I’ve had my ears cleaned out. This is not to say there aren’t melodic hooks, but they are delivered with such caustic blows that it’s the feeling of buzz, fuzz and distortion that I’m left with.

Though energetic, relentless bursts of noise are my thing, I would say that the second half is just like the first but not quite as good. I’d be interested to see how they progressed this sound on their “less accessible works.”

A couple of months ago I listened to The Man Machine for the first time in 15ish years and really enjoyed it but was slightly disappointed that I was head over heels in love with it like I was when I was 17. It's got amazing melodies, compositions and (of course) cutting edge use of synths but there was a very slight disconnect which stopped me falling totally in love.

Listening to Autobahn for the first time today rekindled my love for this band. I had an almost spiritual experience at points. The explorative use of synths, full of childlike creativity, joy, wonder and awe is extremely satisfying. At some points it’s more structured and melodic and at others it stretches out and elongates beautifully.

They are working out everything they can do with their emerging technology at their disposal. But these aren’t just experiments, they are emotionally rich songs. I like how the peaks and troughs of the 20 minute title track reflect the experience of driving on the Autobahn. Very clever.

I’m hearing the way it influenced Tubeway Army and I’m even hearing bits of The Fall in the occasional vocals. It’s way ahead of its time. I hope Kraftwerk has more records like this.

I am impressed at how fresh this sounds, a familiar genre (blues) given a fresh coat of paint. Interesting writing throughout and a consistently good mood.

John Coltrane presents a series of contradictions as if they are totally natural. I’m in awe at the tension between the smooth and discordant elements which are both disconnected and entwined, manic but present, busy but slow. The band are in tune with each other but in a way which is totally at odds, yin and yang.

It works as an abstract description of love, but he could be describing any “lost in the moment” passionate force. It’s a work of art.