Reviews by richardwiggins

There is absolutely nothing subversive or surprising about Red Headed Stranger. Willie Nelson is as straight up as they come providing some truly robust country music that is often wistful and occasionally (my favourite bits) even a little romantic. There is an admirable confidence and clarity to the performances which never leave you in any doubt that Nelson knows how to craft a song.

The start of this album hits you with a very professional, rich sounding take on country. There are moments of absolute brilliance sprinkled thereafter, but there are also whole songs which are quite plain and forgettable.

RHCP are on strongest ground when they are acting as funky alt rock radio hit makers. Sure - its dated badly over the last 25 years, but they made a spectacular impact on culture with this. They also get some miledge out of the sweeter, quieter, straight-forward moments like Porcelain and Road Trippin'.

The weakest moments are easily the rap-rock tracks and the more affected "woah man" rock songs which are just lame. Anthony Kiedis has terrible lyrics throughout this record but it is when he starts straining his voice and trying to sound cool that the whole thing falls over.

The peppier, spicier first half makes for especially good Elvis, before it settles down into his take on some more typical ballads. Fever is a weird and hilarious listen, but not unenjoyable. An above average Elvis record.

Usually when Jazz gets this unhinged there is a more aggressive slant to it, a more menacing edge. But Bitches Brew does crazy in an amiable way. It’s oddly structurally robust despite the fact it follows no formula. It wanders, but Miles Davis knows where he is going. He is in control of the whole thing. The music is pouring out of him. Every choice he makes is strange, fascinating and always obviously the best choice.

Elsewhere we have heard Davis stand out against a more typical backdrop, but here we get the benefit of his band being on exceptionally very fine form, clearly improvising around a general sense of where Davis is going.

Albums of this length are always a little unwieldy, so I had to listen in two parts, but it was a very pleasurable couple of listens and a key to unlock a bit of jazz rock fusion history.

More Specials is an aptly bland title for an album which sounds like discarded tracks from the seminal album that immediately proceeds it. Some of the songs truly stretch credulity, with Sock it to ‘Em J.B. being most firmly in my crosshairs. God knows if in 2025 they would continue on naming every title of every James Bond film to date. They sound a bit looser, but not in a good way.

A pleasant and low key record which is ultimately a bit one note for the running time. I could have done with Gene letting rip at some points but though it’s clearly emotional and smart it’s also restrained.

Hearing the more familiar, earlier Doors sound that I know from the self-titled perfectly blended into traditional 12 bar blues is as powerful as it is unexpected. It’s a blend you can’t hear anywhere else that no other band could deliver. Oh - and of course it’s got tonnes of great songs on it.

I love the improvisation. You get the sense that Van Morrison knows exactly what it is he wants to do, he knows the through line, and that the band are vibing around him, both him and the band adapting to each other’s movements. This is undeniably cool. The melodies themselves are a not as interesting as the song structures, but it’s a very cool artefact.

Hard to hate, hard to enjoy. Some interesting explorations into symphonic prog rock which bounds about the place with great enthusiasm but never really delivers a clear vision which balled me over.

I like Belle & Sebastian in this preppy, peppy, low key energetic mode. They have great songwriting chops and even on this debut have a unique, instantly recognisable sound which is theirs alone and still intact today. My favourite of their records, Dear Catastrophe Waitress, amps up the silliness and theatricality in a way that I always crave elsewhere across their discography. I could always handle them being slightly more unhinged!

A uniformly fun and free record. Each song has a strong lyrical concept behind it and the band do a great job of balancing the structure of clear, concise songwriting with looser, more longform moments. There’s not a weak spot on the LP - the gap in brilliance between flawless singles and good album tracks is only due to the strength of the former rather than the weakness of the latter.

To Alice in Chains' credit they have managed to create a cohesive blend of grunge, metal and hard rock. There are many more genres besides that you'll be given glimpses of too - shoegazey moments, post-punky moments. It all adds up to one band, which is impressive. However, the vocals, come across as affected to me, leaning into an archetype which I prefer elsewhere.

The most forward thinking moments from this record come when it delivers something removed from the Northern UK 1990s scene. I love accessible, expansive take on psych. As good as it is, I'm less mad about the more brit-pop-esque songs because it not unique to them. If you trimmed those moments out you'd have a healthier (and still full length!) LP. Having said that, if the takeaway is some of the 1990s most iconic rock singles, and some wonderful side alleys taken on album tracks, you can't say fairer than that.

It’s remarkable that on this, The Smiths’ least popular album, 70% of the tracklist is absolutely 10/10 perfection. Marr and Morrissey finished things off with so much juice in the tank. God only knows where they would have gone next.

Stop Me… In particular is a propulsive powerhouse, melodic pop genius with such an addictive circular structure. Girlfriend in a Coma is such a huge single that it’s easy to forget just how compelling and frankly odd the lyrics are. Marr has possibly never sounded so consistently good.

The only thing that could improve things is if there was a big burst of energy at the end, like that in plentiful supply in the first half.

There is more than one moment of genius on this record, where I can see exactly what others see in it. For me though these are often swathed in vocals that are not my flavour and interspersed with awkward transitions. More bad than good but an interesting listen nonetheless.

Sam Cooke is my Elvis. What a show! The energy he is able to whip up in the room and his crowd work is out of this world. What a joy that this performance was recorded for posterity. Chain Gang and Cupid particularly sent me into a frenzy, but there wasn’t a soft spot on the record.

Marianne Faithfull has a totally unique, brittle, roughed up vocal style which in and of itself is compelling. She could hang any song off the quality of her vocals alone. I particularly like it when this is paired with the slightly weird, off kilter, shoddy synths and bass guitar combo.

When it hits it hits. Broken English, What’s the Hurry? and Working Class Hero all being stand outs. On the first half of the record the music isn’t generally firing on all cylinders, but the vocals save the day.

Final track Why’d Ya Do It stands on its own, musically removed from what precedes it. The whole album blooms at the point she grabs the mic and unleashes the last half hour of pent up energy, using her bitterness in its most palpable and attractive form. It’s her angriest and most provocative performance.

I can understand why Stevie Wonder charms so many with his smooth, glistening performance. It transitions neatly between sweet ballads and huge party tracks, the high point being the 1-2 of Superstition into Big Brother. I’m not quite as bowled over by this as the majority, but it does have a lazy Sunday afternoon with wine kind of vibe which is very attractive.

On an album with such certified hits as Dancing Queen and Money Money Money, it surprised me that my top moment was Dum Dum Diddle into Knowing Me Knowing You. The singles are, of course, absolutely stellar. The multilayered musicianship and songwriting on Dancing Queen in particular are era defining. Of the album tracks, most of them do enough to keep the propulsive energy in play. As a non-obsessive, it’s a joy to hear a familiar group deliver some melodies that I’m unfamiliar with.

In fact the only weak spots for me is the comparatively durge-like Why Did It Have to Be Me? which has a melody uningonorably similar to the middling closer Happy Hawaii. Without these tracks it would be a hands down classic.