Album Club Review - ????

[Irish Ian]

Ok, seeing that no-one is biting can I offer two albums that were heavily influential on my life growing up in the 70s. There are others, Pink Floyds Animals, Marillion, Script for a Jesters' Tear, Motorhead, Bomber, AC/DC Highway to Hell. Springsteen BITUSA and I could go on

But these two will suffice as they aren't over long, and were recorded in a frenzy.

1. Van Halen 1.
2. Sex Pistols NMTB.

Both these albums just grabbed me by the throat from the word go.

My mate Bruno had bought the VH album and had been blown away so much he brought it out to lend to me as he wanted to convert someone. It was Friday night and we had been inside the local School ground playing cards. The game broke up around 11.30 and we walked home. It was only when I got back I remembered that I had left said LP behind up at the school. So fast forward an hour and I am back home, everyone is in bed and I slip the disc out of its international Inner sleeve, slip it onto the wee plastic Murphy stereo we owned and sat back, headphones on to try and find out what Bruno was so excited about...

In error I had selected side to start with side 2!

And it happened, the soft little drum intro of Jamies Cryin, leads you directly to Eddie Van Halen and his wailing guitar, then Dave Lee and those cheeky confident lyrics.. Jamie, you are going to get seduced tonight, it is inevitable, give up... And I was. One sleasy cheeky track leads to the next, executed with such precision, I learn later that this debut album was cut live. Precision Wildness. These guys are so talented. It just builds and builds.

The band don't have enough songs, so they throw in Eruption, the Kinks classic you Really Got Me. They cover Ice Cream Man.


The intro to Running with the Devil. Such confidence, such fun, Bay Area HM arrives in the UK. Stratospheric guitar. Roth wails like a loon.
2. Eruption/ You Really Got Me. Air Guitar is Born. Celebration. Then it returns edgy, fuzzy, party time when I heard the kinks version later I was so let down haha.
And so it goes on, Party time!

Look beyond the spandex, the chest hair, the showing off, the posing. This is one bloody good album. Remember this was a debut album recorded over three weeks on a shoestring.

Enjoy


Ill write up NMTB another time.

[Sara]

Good choices, but Steve Hackett did tapping first, man...

[gessa]

A mate managed to get a white label copy of Saxon's debut about a month before it's official release, he was raving about it, about a week after the official release 3 of us went to see them at the Lafayette in Wolverhampton, not a place for the faint hearted, there were about 50 people there, they put on a great show though. The stage was about 12 inches off floor level, so when they finished my mate just followed them off stage into their dressing room, told them what a great album it was, they gave him a Jack Daniels, had a chat , he still loves em for accepting him so readily, especially after being such a cheeky pratt.

[Irish Ian]

Good choices, but Steve Hackett did tapping first, man...

Unfortunately Hackett belonged to that category commonly known as Boring Old Fart in the circles I moved in.

Give me a Gary Moore or even Ritchie Blackmore any time.

[Irish Ian]

A mate managed to get a white label copy of Saxon's debut about a month before it's official release, he was raving about it, about a week after the official release 3 of us went to see them at the Lafayette in Wolverhampton, not a place for the faint hearted, there were about 50 people there, they put on a great show though. The stage was about 12 inches off floor level, so when they finished my mate just followed them off stage into their dressing room, told them what a great album it was, they gave him a Jack Daniels, had a chat , he still loves em for accepting him so readily, especially after being such a cheeky pratt.

That is a great story.

[The Subhuman]

I'll pass on the Van Halen. I own it but only played it once

NMTB is a nailed on ..love the energy and the rawness. Lydon's vocals are stand out

[Sara]

Unfortunately Hackett belonged to that category commonly known as Boring Old Fart in the circles I moved in.

Yeah, but... Voyage of the Acolyte!

Have you seen him recently? He still looks about 35.

[Muppet the Cat]

Sex Pistols - NMtB

I remember that I ordered (I probably even had to send a Postal Order ! (do they still do them ?) this album from an advert in the back of NME, as opposed to buying in a shop (at that time 'Sanctuary Records' in Lincoln was the place where we went to buy our vinyl) and can recall my mother interrogating me what on earth I'd bought after she saw the cover and probably overheard 'Bodies' playing.

That copy/pressing I bought (and still play) came with 'Submission' as a one sided single with the album, together a large fold-out poster (which is still present and correct).

I consider this one of a handful of albums I can track my stages of my life by. In the period 1977-80 I bought more records than I have ever since and this album (together with London Calling and to a slightly lesser extent Inflammable Material and Scared to Dance) are the ones that I would always go back to from that time.

It is an absolute generation defining album that IMO still sounds 'alive' today more than 40yrs after its release. There are only a very few albums you can perhaps say that about.

If I had to pick any 'weaker' tracks on the album I'd probably say 'Liar' and 'Problems'.

Top tracks for me are PV, Holidays, God Save, Anarchy, EMI, No Feelings and New York.

I recall seeing, I think it was the BBC4 or SkyArts 'Classic Album' documentary series episode on NMtB and hadn't realised until then how much of the album was actually played by Steve Jones - undoubtedly a better guitarist/musician than he was given credit for at the time.

An absolute top pick Ian and from me an easy rating.

(as an aside, but Pistols related - some 8/9yrs ago my wife took my younger daughter to London for a weekend (shopping/take in a show etc..) and they went into Hamley's. When there Glen Matlock was up doing a promo demonstration for 'Paper Jamz', which I think was something like Guitar Hero. Anyway daughter gets picked to get up on stage and 'Jam' with original Sex Pistol ..................…she had absolutely no idea who he was, and worse still neither did the wife )

[Muppet the Cat]

Van Halen (self titled 1st album)

Having, on the whole always been a bigger fan of UK rock/metal than US Van Halen have never been a particular favourite of mine.

I do have a copy of this on CD, but bought it many years after its initial 1978 release.

While undoubtedly a very fine guitarist, EVH's and the bands sound doesn't really do it for me for a whole album. On the album Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, Little Dreamer and Ice Cream Man are my favourites. By no means a bad album, just not really stand out for me



The only time I've seen VH live was in the early/mid 90's at the Old Cardiff Arms Park (supporting Bon Jovi) but that was with Sammy Haggar. Although did see DLR on his solo A Little Ain't Enough Tour in Cardiff - I thought he was disappointing

Love later VH hit 'Hot For Teacher' though - great intro !

[Sara]

Sex Pistols

I loved it when it came out, and I still love it 800 years later. A gloriously decadent record which defined UK punk in the 70s.




Van Halen

In theory I approve of Van Halen because of the brown sound, and because Volume is Tone, but I've never bought a record, or actually listened to a record. It's alright, but I prefer Michael Schenker, or even Nuno Bettencourt.

[Durly]

Sex Pistols

Such an important record for so many reasons. Still sounds as fresh today as it did back then. Imagine how much incredible, subsequent music we'd have missed out on if the Pistols hadn't released this.

5 stars. Nailed on.

Van Halen

A very decent album for the genre but, unfortunately, just not my thing.

3 stars.

[Irish Ian]

Yeah, but... Voyage of the Acolyte!

Have you seen him recently? He still looks about 35.

Hi Sara, Hackett was a wee but before my interest in music awoke. Only two years or so but when you are a young teenager but it seemed a massive gap at time.

But I will spotify it and see how it goes. And yes he looks younger than me now

[The Subhuman]

Yeah, but... Voyage of the Acolyte!

Have you seen him recently? He still looks about 35.

Just listened to that...very of it's time and a bit too twee or fey for me. Images of animal skulls on sticks as we dance around the maypole thing..typical of a lot of prog.

Were you into the Eloy back then? Also prog of that ilk but I had a lot of time for The Planets as an album in early eighties

[The Subhuman]

Rush are really the only prog band I can still listen too, with maybe Porcupine Tree being the best these days. I am listening to The Planets as we speak...it's still ok

[Sara]

Wasn't into Eloy, never really came across them. Saw The Enid plenty of times, they began with E and had four letters.

Steve Hackett was part of the Steve H trinity with messrs Howe and Hillage. It was his guitar work with Peter Gabriel's Genesis I was mainly into. Foxtrot, Nursery Cryme and Lamb Lies Down are all five star albums which still stand up, although I wouldn't dare pick anything like that for this review. Rush up to Moving Pictures I still listen to. Yes and Gong less so.

[Sara]

Hi Sara, Hackett was a wee but before my interest in music awoke. Only two years or so but when you are a young teenager but it seemed a massive gap at time.

Hi Ian, I listened to old, unfashionable stuff from an early age, mainly because we had a great local record library, which was stocked with the back catalogues of virtually every band from the 60s and 70s. You could borrow three records at a time, so I systematically worked my way through it during my teens. At the time, prog was more interesting to me than anything else, although I liked punk, ska and metal too.

[The Subhuman]

Oh god, legends in their own lunchtime, the Enid, had a few mates who raved about their live shows and caught them once at Guildford Tech IIRC...It was amost a right of passage. Ok I guess but not really my kind of thing..Signals is probably as far as you want to go with Rush, change of prog direction but still worthy imo. Not a big Genesis fan but Lamb and Selling still get played here..