We start the review of the best (and no doubt worse too) albums with 'Greatest Hits' by Morrissey the best way to start and The Verve's 'Forth' album must be genuine contenter for album of the year.

The Verve – Forth

Parlaphone

10 Tracks – 64 minutes 24 seconds

Intro –Do bands like The Verve need an intro? Well if so here goes: The Verve are one of Britain’s most important bands of the last two decades. Nobody and I do mean nobody does the deep hearted, spaced out guitar frenzied melancholy that The Verve create, nobody. So intense are The Verve that they have imploded and split twice already, with a string of critically acclaimed comeback gigs and festivals behind them ‘Forth’ is the album to show they aren’t ready to sit of the rather regal laurels just yet. The Music – ‘Sit and wonder’ just shows the intent, The Verve are back in business like the world had stopped since ‘Urban Hymens’ catapulted them into the musical premier league. Then up springs the ‘comeback’ single ‘Love is Noise’. Much has been made of the ‘teletubbies’ backing vocals but they just fit and with or without them this is truly a great song, easily as good as ‘Urban Hymens’ singles but really accessible, what a comeback single! ‘Rather me’ has a real familiar sound to it, laid back and just trademark Verve. That’s a pretty spellbinding way to start any ‘comeback’ album. It could be argued that ‘Judas’ would be as at home on one of Ashcroft’s solo offerings, again laid back with twinkling guitars and sweet Ashcroft’s vocals. ‘Numbness’ sees The Verve back in darker territory, not much on the tempo front but plenty of bass in the mix and some epic guitars. ‘I see houses’ is another track that has a familiar ring to it (you can guess!) and another that would easily sit head and shoulders with Ashcroft’s best solo work. ‘Noise epic’ is a fair title, it has a bit of a garage feel to it with dark throbbing guitars and the vocals way down in the mix, sounds like a vicious road trip encased within eight minutes of music with a blow out ending (like all the best riotous road trip movies have!). ‘Valium skies’ is the downer song, after ‘Noise epic’ anyway, the name suggests. The wonderful vocal wouldn’t go amiss on ‘A Northern Soul’ and there’s no better compliment than that. It takes a while before ‘Columbo’ gets up and running but it’s worth the wait, more great deep bass and guitar work provides a throwback feel with great vocals and at over seven minutes there’s plenty of it to enjoy. They have to end proceedings in epic fashion and ‘Appalachian Springs’ does just that in spades, as with classic Verve it’s dark and full of melancholy but uplifting none the less.  Highlights and Lowlights – It’s hard to top the opening trio, what a stunning statement of intent. The dark rumblings and monster ending of ‘Noise epic’ mean it’s up there. There isn’t a duff track and what’s better the album just sounds right as a whole. Verdict – This is a stormer of an album, it’s doubtful it’ll sell as many copies of ‘Urban Hymns’ (not much does these days) but dismiss it at your peril. Let’s face it Verve don’t do average albums and they haven’t decided to start now. ‘Forth’ proves when these four blokes get together in a room with instruments magic is created, it’s just a shame they explode and implode with equal regularity. The Verve are class and have just added another classic to their name, just pure and simply spellbinding. File Under behold the comeback kids!

The Automatic – This is a fix

B Unique / Polydor

12 Tracks – 43 minutes 49 seconds

Intro – It’s unusual for bands to face this much pressure on just their second album, it’s more usual for their third to be heaped up to the hilt in pressure and expectation. But with the departure of Pennie who gave The Automatic a lot of their character and charm the pressure is on and in a big way. Pennie has and hasn’t been replaced, gone are his trademark vocals to be replaced by a more straightforward approach. The Music – Well ‘This is a fix’ starts brightly enough, their stab at the nanny state gone mad ‘Responsible citizen’ shows that they haven’t lost of their big pop ethos. Second up is the stunning comeback single ‘Steve McQueen’, it’s the bastard son of ‘Monster’, one hellfire romp which has the catchiest chorus of the year. So far so good and no mention of Pennie, oops! The tempo is held up pretty well with a rant through ‘Magazines’ and a single in the waiting, radio friendly ‘This ship’. The band have publicly said that this album is their take on American music only with a British slant and ‘In the mountains’ is fair testament to that especially with the female backing vox and greater accent on the guitars. Title track ‘This is a fix’ definitely has a heavier grungier, American sound but still retains The Automatics pop sensibility at its heart. The tempo of the album doesn’t really drop, keeping it on the up is ‘Secret Police’ which has more than a passing resemblance of Feeder at their finest. When the speed drops, it’s not for long ‘Make the mistakes’ starts of slowly but doesn’t take long to skip into action! It finishes in fine fettle too, ‘Light entertainment’ is another trademark power pop guitar stomp. Highlights and Lowlights – ‘Steve McQueen’ is the obvious highlight but the overall result and sound of the album is the other high point, it would have been far too easy to replace Pennie with something of the same but they’ve taken a bit gamble and it’s paid off. Verdict – Everyone was expecting the worst for ‘This is a fix’ especially after their warm up tour was given luke warm reviews but this blows the expectations out of the water. A fine second album and a damn fine listen.File Under Pop, pop and more pop!

Unknown Component – In Direct Communication

Available via www.unknowncomponent.com

10 Tracks – 38 minutes 05 seconds

Intro – Unknown Component hail from Iowa, which to those unaware of world geography is in America! It’s the project of one man, Keith Lynch who has written and recorded ‘In Direct Communication’ and even designed the artwork (although that looks like a losing attempt at the London 2012 logo!). The Music – Well it’s fair to say its pretty lo-fi, in fact the production is such that Keith sounds like he is at times singing underwater! But give it a few listens to get used to the production woes and then you’ll be able to switch this off and be able to concentrate on the music. Keith cites the likes of Radiohead, Bob Dylan, Bright Eyes, Coldplay and Elliott Smith as influences so you can expect slow introspective indie with genuine hints of melancholy.  Highlights and Lowlights – ‘Between guilt and relief’ and ‘On your mind’ have good melodies and sounds ‘nice’. Flip the coin and you have to watch Keith’s vocals as they can sound a bit tuneless and flat at times. The stand out track here is ‘Identifying interpretation’ which with a post production going over and making the vocal clearer could be a real winner. Verdict – Not an album that instantly grabs nor is it going to win any prices for innovation. Also as mentioned previously the production ain’t sparkling neither. That said it is pretty endearing and once you get a handle on Keith Lynch’s vocal style it’s a pretty listenable album. File Under Nice try!

 

Scars on Broadway –

Velvet Hammer / Interscope

15 Tracks – 45 minutes 05 seconds

Intro – Two members of System of a down follow five platinum albums with their new project, Scars on Broadway.The Music – Not recommended for the faint hearted, in fact not recommended that highly at all! ‘Funny’ and ‘Insane’ aren’t too bad as they actually possess a tune and even melodies! A lot of the album is just noise for the hell of it, ‘Exploding / reloading’ has the speed but none of the melody and something like ‘Stoner hate’ is just dreadful. Lyrically at times it’s just awful, ‘Stoner hate’ is just a joke and ‘Chemicals’ is just plain vile, trying to shock for the sake of it so they can put the parent advisory sticker on the case. ‘Cute machines’ tries it’s best but it descends into all guitars and shouting which is a bit of a shame. Highlights and Lowlights – The Likes of ‘Kill each other / live forever’ and ‘Funny’ are tolerable and on their own they are listenable. ‘Chemicals’ on the other hand is just a crime against music! 15 tracks is just far too many tracks, there’s a distinct lack of quality control which affects the flow of the album. Scars on Broadway never sound any good as a shock rock combo and never really convincing as they try to be more ‘serious’. Caught between pretty poor stools. Verdict – If you were a fan of System of a Down then I’m sure this will appeal to you however there are far greater, cleverer and more interesting rock albums out there than this. File Under rock at it’s most average and unoriginal!

Pete Brame – My Secret Suicide

Impact Music

10 Tracks – 45 minutes 36 seconds

Intro – Should we know who Pete Brame is? His press release gives the impression that we should but his name really doesn’t ring any bells at all but still anyone who claims to be unable to live without his record collection and includes the likes of The Beatles, The Verve and Ryan Adams in his favourite bands makes our ears prick up. (additional info: turns out he was in fame academy and used to date fern Cotton!) The Music – It’s fair to say that this isn’t hardcore metal! ‘Lost for good’ takes heavily from the Ashcroft influence but it’s more akin to Richards solo work than that of uber group The Verve. In fact those who love the earth that Ashcroft walks should seek out Brame cause it’ll be right up their street. It’s laid back, heavily acoustic guitar based melodic anthemic indie rock. Do we see that as a bad thing? No, Pete does have the Ashcroft vocal style at times but his vocals are usually pretty warm and moving. Highlights and Lowlights – It’s solid stuff, which really means there aren’t any peaks and troughs to speak off. ‘Long Time blues’ is pretty good whilst the layered vocals of ‘Things’ works darn well. Title track ‘My secret suicide’ closes proceedings in real style, understated glory with piano adding another level of atmosphere. Verdict – Those of a semi acoustic melody driven indie pop disposition should seek out Pete Brame and ‘My Secret Suicide’ and add them to their collection poste haste. Pete knows the value of a melody and how to write touching songs that will stay with you. Should we know who Pete Brame is? On the evidence of ‘My Secret Suicide’ hell yes. File Under melodies to burn.

Look See Proof – Between Here and There

Weekender Records

12 Tracks – Length 34 minutes 07 Seconds

Intro –‘The band are creating the sort of angular, choppy, vocally layered, danceable music that people are fast finding hard to ignore’ quote their press release… discuss! The Music – Yep, they have quite frankly nailed that one! Most of the time press releases aren’t exactly accurate with their descriptions but that is really on the money. It’s choppy, in yer face, guitar frenzied indie of the first order, no song is longer than 3 minutes 27 seconds so they follow the three minute wonder pop blueprint right to the wire. If you need reference points take a pitch of The Futureheads, add a tad of Foals then stir in a chunk of Boy Kill Boy and you have a fair musical soup to hit the taste buds. Highlights and Lowlights – It’s difficult to pick out any fillers on ‘Between here and there’ which is testament to what a fine debut album it is. The tracks never stay around long enough to get offensive but suffice to say the angular guitars of ‘Keeping mistakes’ grabs the attention and ‘Casualty’ fits in snugly early doors. ‘High Horse’ aims to have a more epic sound whereas stuff like ‘Do you think it’s right’ goes for and succeeds with a more accessible ‘simple’ indie sound.  Verdict – Look see proof is apt as ‘Between here and there’ is the proof that this band has the magical indie touch, first rate.  File Under - Indie new kids on the block do good.

Gavin Rossdale – Wanderlust

Interscope

14 Tracks – 61 minutes

Intro – Now widely known as Mr Gwen Stefani which is a tad unfair to say that his former band, Bush were a mega stadium act on the other side of the pond and sold shed loads of albums. Even after selling mega units they never had the critical acclaim of Nirvana or even Pearl Jam. And their brand of blatant sub Americana grunge rock didn’t really strike any chords with his fellow brits hence his tag as Mr former No doubter come fashion solo artist.The Music – Well if you’d have asked what this album was going to sound like before it entered the CD player the response would have been, ‘bland, average, unexciting, middle of the road bland rock’ and hey guess what after a couple of listens that’s right!  Highlights and Lowlights – There is no highs or lows on ‘Wanderlust’ as it never gets out of second gear and there’s no danger of it ever hitting overdrive. Verdict – Apparently ‘Wanderlust’ was recorded in Rossdale’s home studio in Maui and you can tell, it’s just too comfy, there’s just no edge to it at all. Unfortunately Rossdale ain’t gonna step out of the Stefani shadows with this, he’s managed to put out an average album of background music which some might say kinda sums up his life. File Under obvious and uninspiring.

Coldplay – Viva La Vida or Death and all his friends

Parlaphone / EMI

10 Tracks – 45 minutes 53 seconds

Intro – If you don’t know who Chris Martin & Co are then what the hell have you been doing for the last decade! Coldplay have redefined moody indie guitar music and turned it into a stadium artform. Without Coldplay it wouldn’t be acceptable to do the following: have a band outfit (Muse tried it and looked like Muppets), be a southerner (Radiohead and Keane still come across as mardy, southern bedwetters), have a celebrity film star wife (and not look like media hungry whores) and even name your kids stupid names (Apple looks okay while Lennon looks a bit daft!). The Music – ‘Viva La Vida’ (it’s true title is just too damn long for this review) isn’t as straightforward an album as it’s predecessors but saying that it’s not a bad album. It’s just not as immediate and would be truer to class as more of a ‘grower’. Probably the first signs of the familiar ‘big’ Coldplay sound is ‘Lost’ with it’s organ vying with Martin’s vocals for maximum impact, it’s a bit of a belter. Then they follow it up with ‘42’, Martin’s rich vocals are all over a low-key intro before it blows into life. ‘Lovers in Japan / reign of love’ has gained much critical claim leading up to ‘Viva La Vida’s release but just don’t be put off by it’s plinky plinky beginnings, it matures into a fantastic song with quite a pace to it and lyrically it conjures up some great imagery. ‘Yes’ is one of those understated, growers but piano and Martin go together like strawberries and cream, he has such a great voice. ‘Yes’ is no shrinking violet, it has influences of George Harrison and sounds different yet blatantly Coldplay (if that makes any sense). Then out of the blue comes Coldplay in My Bloody Valentine shocker, that layered showgaze guitar sound with Martin way down in the mix playing second fiddle to those blinding guitars, mighty and suprising in equal messages! And the winner is… the single ‘Viva la Vida’ is that stand out track, bizarre mid section but those strings and Martins lyrics are spot on. As sure as eggs is eggs a number one single at both sides of the Atlantic, deserved too, still not as obvious and accessible as singles off previous albums but perhaps that makes it a greater feat. We all know about ‘Violet Hill’ a great free marketing tool of a song, not as good as ‘Viva la vida’ but with a big, big chorus. ‘Strawberry swing’ brings the tempo down while ‘Death to all his friends’ brings down the curtain with some style. Highlights and Lowlights – ‘Lovers in Japan / reign of love’ is a great, great song with champion lyrics and musically Coldplay the band in top form.  The single ‘Viva la vida’ has all the credentials to be that first number one single. That surprising My Bloody Valentine moment is up there too! Verdict – ‘Viva la Vida’ isn’t a four single plus six album tracks kinda record, it’s more an album that tries to flow and not have the big ups and some downs. It’s definitely an album to love from day one but the more you listen the more you can get out of it. ‘Viva la Vida’ is a multi dimension piece of work that in years to come with be held in greater reverence than it is now and that’s the sign of a great album. File Under classic in five years time

The Futureheads – This is Not The World

Nul Records

12 Tracks – 39 minutes 35 seconds

Intro – Sunderland’s finest or overhyped? Well over the last few years probably a bit of both, but there hasn’t really been much competition! That said this is their third long playing offering so it’s time to put up or shut up, oh no it’s the difficult third album! The Music – Blatantly indie, shed loads of guitars and energy This is Not The World is an album that once and for all puts the nails into the overhyped coffin. It delivers, and in some style too. The opener and first single dropped ‘The beginning of the twist’ is a blinder, it’s immense, everything you want out of a song which is why it went top 20 and graced the likes of radio 1 and mtv. ‘Walking backwards’ don’t hang around neither, like a blueprint for the album and ‘Think tonight’ has that blueprint, adds a punk ethos and power and goes into overdrive. The pace never seems to give up, title track ‘This is not the world’ has a great riff flowing through it and then they just drop in killer rhythm and drums onto of it, genius. ‘Broke up in time’ has the whole punk power pop genre done in less than three minutes. If you ever listened to The Clash, The Buzzcocks or even The Jam and thought yeah like it then This is Not The World should be number one on your shopping list.  Highlights and Lowlights – Opener ‘The beginning of the twist’ is such a gem it’s gonna be hard to top it in their career let alone in the other 11 tracks! Verdict – The Futureheads answer all the questions ever levelled at them and in some style too. They never lose sight of their past or influences but just really raise the indie guitar bar higher and higher.  File Under – essential indie.

 
Jack McManus – Either side of midnight

Polydor / Universal

12 Tracks – 43 minutes 37 seconds

Intro – The album sleeve boasts quotes from the Sunday Times Culture magazine and The Guardian plus Jack McManus is another to slip effortlessly from this ‘ere Brit school onto a major label. So we hate him right? Further investigation suggests that the entire album is co written with a variety of  talent, oh we’re really going to hate this bloke then… aren’t we?? The Music – Lets face facts this isn’t going to trouble the like of Radiohead! But as it’s released in the spring and on the eve of summer perhaps we’re going to be looking for something less ‘challenging’ to listen to anyway. It’s starts off in true bubbly fashion with the wonderfully lightweight and catchy ‘Milky Way’ and debut single (and daytime television fav) ‘Bang on the piano’. Title track ‘Either side of midnight’ follows in a similar vein and can’t be faulted, a wonderful ‘pop’ song. After a opening trio like that ‘You think I don’t care’ could be seen as a bit of a let down but not a jot, all could easily be single material and I bet Polydor damn well know it (so get used to hearing Jack McManus on the wireless all summer through!). ‘Too much of yesterday’ is the first to slip too far down the syrup road, too sweet and a bland, too close to MOR that the album promised to be. ‘Fine time to lose your mind’ is alright but don’t really go anywhere, bit of a mid album lull. ‘Living in a suitcase’ is bang back to form, great melody and a damn sight more ‘up’ which to be truthfully is where this album really succeeds. ‘In the breeze’ lives up to it’s light and airy title but ‘She’s gone’ sounds too much like Maroon five for it’s own good. Fortunately ‘Not the hardest part’ adds some strings but strangely is the ‘hardest’ song on the album (not that this is saying much, it ain’t no rage against the machine!). ‘Amy’ is a ‘nice’ ending, the strings are a hark back to The Beatles and is pleasant enough without doing much of anything. Highlights and Lowlights – The opening trio take some beating and we’ll really have some rotation on radio 2, expect them to pour out of middle class convertibles all summer long! A few tracks are a bit too MOR for their own good but as a nine tracker it would be about spot on. Verdict – Let’s face we want to hate these brit school wannabees but it damn hard when they come up with something this ‘nice’. It may be done to a well worn formula but McManus’ vocals are neat and tidy and he (and his chums) don’t half know how to create a melody and a half. McManus knows how to crash round the ivories too and by the way he has big, big hair! File Under Summer has arrived!


The Whip – X Marks Destination

Southern Fried Records

10 Tracks

Intro – So lets get this right, The Whip have gained a mighty reputation as being THE best live band from Manchester and that is some accolade judging from past greats from the city that never stops buzzing. We’ve witnessed them at first hand and they lived up to the hype too, so no pressure with there debut album then.The Music – Wow, X Marks Destinations opens in some style, ‘Trash’ is a fully fledged corker! It pushes all the right buttons from the intro, the buzzing beat and classic vocals. It truly blows you aware. ‘Frustration’ comes up all New Order in the dark atmospheric best. ‘Fire’ lays some serious grooves, a blinding tune, which really kicks on. ‘Sirens’ is more straightforward tune, coming out of the New Order stable but brilliantly listenable. Whereas ‘Divebomb’ is an out and out dance tune with disco beats, one for the hands in the air! ‘Blackout’ follows adding a little more structure and some vocals but still has those Electro beats banging around to great effect. ‘Sister Siam’ has all the bleeps and beats and a neat and tidy vocal too, nice Electro juncture mid song before building back up to the big finish. Unfortunately ‘Dubsex’ doesn’t quite fit the big finish bill which is a minor quibble, perhaps it would have been more appropriate to spin ‘Sister Siam’ and ‘Dubsex’ round which may have given the album the finish it deserves.Highlights and Lowlights – Lowlights, what are talking about? ‘Trash’ is a showstopper but there really isn’t a duff track on X Marks Destination. If you love indie, Electro dance fusion you’ll blooming well love this.Verdict – This is a barn stormer of an album, it includes all the beats, the grooves and then some. Another killer offering from the Country’s premier musical city. The Whip are another stella name to add the ever-growing list of manc stars. As debut albums go this is up there with the best, pushing all the right buttons (quite literally!) and getting the feet onto the floors and hands in the air. A stunner. File Under Buzzing

The Charlatans – You cross my path

Cooking Vinyl (or free download via XFM)

10 Tracks - 36 minutes 47 seconds

Intro – Some people think the internet is a good thing and some people think it’s a bad thing, the same goes for giving downloads away for nothing. Fortunately for a band of the stature of The Charlatans they can do it with little adverse effect for their earning potential especially if there is a nice sponsorship tie in too. For those who like their music a little bit more physical there’s a couple of Cd editions and even an old skool vinyl release by the revitalised Cooking Vinyl boys. The Music – ‘Oh Vanity’ is an absolute stonker, the hammond is in full effect (bits do sound like they have been nicked straight out of the swinging sixties but we ain’t bothered about that) with top notch drums and Tim’s vocals sounding the real deal. This is some opener and The Charlatans in full flow, what a start. But then it’s a bit weird Tim’s vocals go a bit Bernard Sumner and on the whole the keyboards start to have more of a New Order tinge to them too. ‘Bad Days’ is more about the bass and drums but there’s still a hint of their north west contemporaries. ‘The Misbegotton’ sounds like the result of a New Order and The Charlatans cross pollination experiment, Tim’s vocals landing on ‘Get ready’ era keys and bass combo, great if you are a fan of the whole Manchester experience! One thing that can be said that this is one of the most accessible albums to date, there isn’t too many dark and brooding moments to be found on this album. The hammond returns for ‘A day for letting go’ and Tim’s vocals are on the money for title track ‘You cross my path’ which flys along at a fair old pace as does a mega ‘Missing beats (of a generation)’. ‘My name is despair’ is perhaps the darkest track on the album but it fails to get going and hit the high notes and swirls around in a haze of keyboards and Burgess vocals. ‘Bird’ is a mix of New Order and strangely My Bloody Valentine (listen to the guitars) and is the least Charlatan track on the album. The hammond dominates the finale ‘The is the end’ which is a neat way to end proceedings, Tim sounds great.Highlights and Lowlights – ‘You cross my path’ and especially ‘Oh vanity’are both top notch Charlatans and stand up against their vast back catalogue, this is high praise indeed. ‘Missing beats (of a generation)’ is a blinder too and even gets a bit of an electro wig out. There are times when they do go too far into New Order territory which is a bit of a shame (‘Bird’ been the main culprit) and ‘My name is despair’ doesn’t really get off the ground. It ends if fine fashion and ‘This is the end’ means it leaves on a high. Verdict – This sounds strange but this isn’t the most Charlatans sounding of albums but even though it should contain enough to impress old hands and the pop edge should bring in some new followers too especially if they are getting it for nowt! And anyhow something as good as ‘Oh Vanity’ deserves a place in any music collection whether it been stuck on a hard drive or on a neat little shiny disc.File Under a new order for The Charlatans.

I Forward Russia – Life Processes

Cooking Vinyl

11 Tracks – 52 minutes 38 seconds

Intro – Second album from Leeds lads and lasses who constantly seem to be unsure to be Forward, Russia or I Forward, Russia! The Music – Musically this seems I Forward, Russia have kicked up through the gears. They have a ‘bigger’ sound, harder edge but still manage to mix this with a softer, brittle side too, which kinda, mixes things up a bit. They are able to pump the gas too, ‘Spring is a condition’ has a real pace about it as does ‘Don’t reinvent what you don’t understand’. The bug bare that holds Life Processes back is Tom Woodhead’s vocals, when pressed the range just isn’t there and he sounded ill at ease and too often cringe worthy. This starts right from ‘Welcome to the moment’ and really ruins vast chunks of the long player. It’s a bit of a shame really as musically at time Life Processes is on the money and when Woodhead puts his mind to it he actually sounds quite charming on the eerie ‘Fosbury in discontent’. Then it’s back in troubled waters on the rock out ‘A shadow is a shadow is a shadow’. It just makes the album patchy at best and in parts pretty unbearable. Highlights and Lowlights – The lowlights seem to concentrate on the limitations of Woodhead’s vocals, that said when they are kept within check they can come out on top. ‘Spring is a condition’ is the way forward (Russia!). Whereas ‘Gravity & Heat’ the vocal distracts from a great rock guitar blitz, shame. The finale ‘Spanish triangles’ is another where Woodhead is held with the music and both benefit for it, a half decent way to end things. Verdict – Disappointing vocal ruins what could have really pushed them on in a way that Biffy Cylro have achieved. Bit of a missed opportunity then. File Under Leeds lad requires tutor for singing lessons!

Big Linda – I Loved You

Ursa Major Records

11 Tracks – 49 minutes 11 seconds

Intro – Rock’s dead then? Well according to Big Linda it isn’t! The Music – Let’s not beat around the bush, this is old-fashioned rock fayre. It’s opens with ’Suddenly attacked’ which starts off pretty softly before the Chris Cornell (Soundgarden & Audioslave) style vocals kick in and the whole thing perks up. Single ‘Golden Girl’ is more straight forward rock and roll but plenty of tune and melody are allowed to come to the fore, but there is a bit of a scream at the end just for the hell of it. Influence wise it’s the usual suspects; Led Zep, Guns’ n Roses, Aerosmith, Motley Crew, Soundgarden, Deep Purple etc etc. ‘Idelu’ is a heads down rock fest and ‘Windpower’ pins their Cornell influence firmly to the mast and says so what as it ends in real rock opulence! But as ever bands like Big Linda are best when they have the wind in their sails and going for it, ‘Jenny Don’t’ is as good as it gets. As ever though rock bands feel the need to show their softer side and ‘Gone’ is Big Linda’s take on that. Normal service is resumed for the bullish ’15 seconds’ but the finish with venerable Big Linda, the free bird spreading it’s wings in ‘Just passing’. Highlights and Lowlights – So there’s plenty of self indulgence on ‘I Loved You’ but that the point of rock bands, excess and indulgence, let’s face it this ain’t ever be a ‘Ok Computer’! ‘Golden Girl’ is a fantastic single and a fine rock moment to boot and ‘Jenny don’t’ is an immediate rush of a song. Lowlights are the times where they slip towards to the wrong side of the over indulgent line which they do on a few occasions, take the guitar solo in ‘Get it while you can’! Verdict – Who ever said rock was dead was a fool. Big Linda and co aren’t exactly pushing back the musical boundaries but whoever said every band needs to feel the need to be experimental! Fortunately Big Linda doesn’t ever get drawn into the hardcore trap and as rock goes Big Linda do indeed rock. If you want it, Big Linda have got in and in spades too.File Under Big Linda, big noise!

Morrissey – Greatest Hits

Decca

15 Tracks – Length 51 minutes 11 seconds

Intro – First of all the album cover shot says just about everything you need to know about Morrissey; the awkward beauty, the pose which begs the question ‘what is going through your mind’ but most of all you don’t even know who it’s by (that’s true – see the inner sleeve credits). Ah the mystery of it all. Anyway if you need a proper intro to a best of album by somebody like Morrissey you have literally had your head stuck in the sand for the last twenty odd years. Morrissey is about as close to living legend as you get.The Music – Morrissey is one of those rare breeds, jumping ship from one of the best and most important bands of all time and been able to say ‘my solo work is as good as that’ because to be fair to the man, it bloody is! He can do the beautiful and intense and that on the other hand he can give the rockabily and roll a real run for it’s money. ‘Greatest Hits’ has a good mix of the two. Of the beautiful, 2004’s ‘Let me kiss you’ has all the hallmarks of Morrissey at this poignant best, his voice simply lovely. To the beasts, the stunning Morrissey backing band (Boz Boorer is a gem) give opener ‘First of the gang’ real bite and the intro and guitars in ‘Irish Blood, English heart’ hold there own against those lyrics! That’s another thing lyrically all Morrissey’s favourite topics are covered from love, hatred, death, politics (state of England is his pet subject!) and even petty violence.Highlights and Lowlights – Putting two new tracks on a hits album also seems a bit low but when one is as good as ‘All you need is me’ then fair play. As ever most won’t be able to stop themselves searching for those ‘old hits’ and the trio of ‘Everyday is like Sunday’, ‘Suedehead’ and ‘The last of the famous international playboys’ is sure to statify the most hungry of musical appetites. Obviously every fan will complain of personal favourites missing, surely ‘November spawned a monster’ is worthy of a berth plus a bit more ‘Your Arsenal’ would be nice but that’s the pitfall of compilations. The sleeve is a bit of a disappointment, no lyrics or explanations just chart positions and dates but perhaps that Morrissey all over isn’t it? What you do get is a picture of an arse, allegedly Moz’s own none the less (if you believe that).  Anyway musically it’s still a tour de force and to fans (who should own all bar two tracks here) and converts it’s a worthy addition to anyone’s collection.Verdict – Morrissey released ‘I have forgiven Jesus’ as his Christmas single isn’t that just the greatest verdict on Morrissey, bigger than God? No he thinks he is God and they’re plenty of his fans who’d whole heartily agree too.File Under Legends!

The Eels – Meet the Eels (Essential Eels Vol.1 1996-2006)

Geffen / Universal

24 Tracks – 1 hour 19 minutes 48 seconds

Intro – It’s a big hands up and sorry for the Eels round shadders way as we only really knew The Eels for two things, ‘Novocaine for the soul’ and the fact that E looked like one big nerd! What we were excited to find out that The Eels are one hell of a prolific bunch and that E with a big beard and bigger glasses looks less like a nerd and more like a mad bomber!The Music – You don’t get much more ‘alternative left field’ at the other side of the Atlantic than the Eels and that’s not just the music but lyrically. To be fair you don’t get much better than The Eels on this showing neither, when it’s says essential it damn well means it. On the lyrical front you don’t get too many singing about naked youths in bodybags, but that’s exactly what you get on ‘Susan’s House’ but strangely it never seems out of place! Then on ‘I like birds’ the main lyrics are indeed how they erm like birds! On a more ‘normal’ note there’s plenty of blinding tunes, even within the first five tracks there’s three absolute corkers, your guess at which ones we mean but you get the general idea and bare in mind there’s over twenty tracks on here. The Eels are also a bit of a contradiction; one of their most beautiful songs is actually called ‘It’s a motherfucker’ and incorporates plenty of colourful languauge. Highlights and Lowlights – On the flipside to the Morrissey best of The Eels album has some fantastic sleeve notes. It has a decent biog, honest notes on each and every track and is worth a look for the awesome pic of E in the Pentagon, class! The picture on the inside of the sleeve however does confirm the shadders viewpoint of he is a geek! Musically you could mention a shed load of highpoints so we go for a few ‘essential listens’! ‘Flyswatter’ has a strange haunting vibe, ‘Your lucky day in hell’ is one hell of a tune and ‘Mr E’s beautiful Blues’ has a steaming beckesque groove to it whereas ‘Souljacker part 1’ has a real kick to it (and sounds as dirty as Nick Cave at his bad seeds best). Despite the brilliance of ‘Saturday Morning’ and the laid back cool of ‘Love of the loveless’ still in our eyes the best moment has to be ‘Novacaine for the soul’ it just sums up what stunning records The Eels can produce. If we had our arms forced round our back we’d probably say the lowpoint is ‘I like birds’ just a bit too far on the wrong side of weird! Verdict – Like we mentioned earlier they have not undersold this album but saying it’s essential, anyone who claims to have a passing interest or more in the ‘indie music’ genre should have this album as part of their collection. It’s still edgy enough but still contains some proper tunes, can’t wait for volume 2! File Under Fucking A or should that be fucking E, man!

Rivers Cuomo – The Home recordings of River Cuomo

Geffen

18 Tracks – 45 minutes 51 seconds

Intro – Rivers Cuomo is the front piece of Weezer, American geek rock combo and this is an album of his home recordings or as we like to refer to them… demo’s. A great opportunity to show Weezer’s fanbase how their favourite tracks came to life. The Music – It starts off all very low key ‘Ooh’ just seems to amble around without any real intent. It’s followed by the lowest of lo-fi ‘The world we love so much’ which is frankly dreadful, the out of kilter vocals are heavily overpowered by twee jangerly guitars, just plain awful. Then what on earth is going on in ‘Lemonade’ did Rivers himself okay this track to be included? Chimps could have recorded something better! The one everyone knows ‘Buddy Holly’ is a pale imitation of it’s produced cousin but at least you can hear a tune in there. ‘Longtime sunshine’ ain’t so bad; a simple low key song that seems best suited to this type of affair. It’s unfortunately followed by ‘Blast off!’ which is just dire, bad vocal effects which again mask off Cuomo’s off key singing.  It’s what you’d expect musically from Weezer’s frontman and there ain’t no surprise dance or rockabiliy spin offs! Highlights and Lowlights – Plenty of lowlights, ‘The world we love so much’ and it’s out of tune vocals is pretty damn low for a start. The big hit ‘buddy holly’ shows the problem with the album, it’s probably the best song here but it just sounds poor in comparison to the finished version. It’s weird but there are too many times when the question has to be asked can River Cuomo actually sing, too often the vocals are just painful, why would you allow such recordings to be released? Of the high points ‘Superfriend’ is more like it, but that may be as it sounds more like a ‘finished’ song.  Unfortunately there ain’t are real highs just a series of disappointing lows. Verdict – Why? Is the sentiment left after listening to this, I’m sure die-hards will find it of some interest and I sure that Rivers himself enjoyed listening back to the songs but why bother releasing them on an album? We’re damn sure each and every finished track sounds better than the versions found on this home recordings album so just buy the finished, polished end product.  File Under over indulgence and lack of judgement from Geffen.