Deep Purple "Stormbringer" (1974)

Stormbringer
release date: Nov. 1974
format: vinyl (TPS 3508) / cd (2008 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Martin Birch and Deep Purple
label: Purple Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: A) 1. "Stormbringer" - - B) 1. "Lady Double Dealer" (4 / 5) - 5. "Soldier of Fortune" (4 / 5)

9th studio album by Deep Purple released on Purple and produced by Martin Birch and Deep Purple. The album introduces new styles like funk, soul, and more polished pop / rock output than heard before from the band. It features a more subdued and / or marginalised Ritchie Blackmore, which gives more room for keyboards and new styles. It's the last studio album with Blackmore, who would continue a solo career with Rithie Blackmore's Rainbow - later just Rainbow - and released his first solo album in the spring of 1975.
Stormbringer is a bit of a strange album featuring various styles and genres, and it is hard to see an overall idea with the album. The album was commercial step down compared to Burn released 6 months earlier and critics were divided on the album. Needless say, the band members are extremely skilled musicians but the end result is somewhat blurred. The first track takes off like Burn with a strong blues rock and hard rock composition but is then followed by "Love Don't Mean a Thing" and "Holy Man", which are soul- and funk-based compositions far away from anything they'd done before. The first track on the B-side continues a tradition they have repeated several times by putting the perhaps strongest track of the album here, but then funk really takes over again. The album concludes with one of the band's most beloved tracks "Soldier of Fortune", which in some ways is close to Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" classic.
It's what you want it to be. All sorts.
[ allmusic.com 2 / 5, Records Collector 4 / 5 stars ]

Joy Division "Warsaw" (1981) (unofficial bootleg)

Warsaw (unofficial bootleg)
release date: 1981
format: vinyl (reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]
producer: none
label: RZM - nationality: England, UK

Unofficial album by Joy Division released by 'RZM Productions'.
Apparently, the album contains the un-issued recordings by producers John Anderson, Bob Auger, and Richard Searling for the RCA sessions at Arrow Studios, Manchester, May 3rd and 4th 1978. The sessions took place after the band signed its first contract but they were subsequently helped by rule of court to declare the contract illegal, and after this, they signed with Factory Records to have them issue the band's first official album.

The Undertones "The Undertones" (1979)

1979 reissue

The Undertones [debut]
release date: May 1979
format: digital
[album rate: 4,5 / 5]
producer: Roger Bechirian
label Sire Records - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Family Entertainment" (4 / 5) - 2. "Girls Don't Like It" (4 / 5) - 3. "Male Model" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "I Gotta Getta" (3,5 / 5) - 5. "Teenage Kicks" (5 / 5) - 6. "Wrong Way" (3,5 / 5) - 7. "Jump Boys" (4 / 5) - 8. "Here Comes the Summer" (4,5 / 5) - 9. "Get Over You" (4 / 5) - 10. "Billy's Third" (3,5 / 5) - 11. "Jimmy Jimmy" (4 / 5) - 12. "True Confessions" (2,5 / 5) - 13. "She's a Run Around" (3,5 / 5) - 14. "I Know a Girl" (3,5 / 5) - 15. "Listening In" (4 / 5) - 16. "Casbah Rock" (3 / 5)

Studio album debut by The Undertones from Northern Ireland. The album was re-released only five months later in a much stronger version including two of the band's most well-known tracks "Teenage Kicks", and "Get Over You". Most bands at the time were quartets, but The Undertones were five as lead vocalist Feargal Sharkey only sang. The rest of the band was made up by Damian O'Neill on lead guitar, keyboard and backing vocals, his older brother John O'Neill on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, Michael Bradley on bass and backing vocals, and Billy Doherty on drums. Stylistically, they were part of the punk rock movement in Britain and are quite unique by Sharkey's vocal and O'Neill's guitar sound. Both their songs and videos were often conducted with a considerable amount humour, and the sub-style was also labelled as pop punk were they often liked to construct their songs based on traditional rock & roll, glam rock (T.Rex), or garage rock riffs only much faster and with sheer energy. The album is enlisted in numerous lists counting the best of albums, and naturally also "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". The band was one of my favourites in the early 80's, although, I never got around to buy any of their vinyl albums at the time. In 1994 a 7 track bonus version was issued, in 2000 a remastered cd with 10 bonus tracks was released, and in 2009, an Expanded 30th Anniversary Edition with 18 bonus tracks (in addition to the original 14 track album) was released. If I should rate the Expanded 2009 release, I would hand it 5 / 5 stars. The bonus tracks are simply brilliant.
[ allmusic.com, Sputnikmusic 4,5 / 5 stars ]

org. cover

The Jam "Sound Affects" (1980)

Sound Affects
release date: Nov. 28, 1980
format: vinyl (2442 183) / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,48]
producer: Vic Coppersmith-Heaven, Chris Parry
label: Polydor Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) 1."Pretty Green" (4 / 5) - 2. "Monday" (4 / 5) - 3. "But I'm Different Now" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Set the House Ablaze" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Start!" (4 / 5) - 6. "That's Entertainment" (5 / 5) - - B) 1. "Dream Time" (4 / 5) - 2. "Man in the Corner Shop" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Music for the Last Couple" (4 / 5) - 4. "Boy About Town" (4 / 5) - 5. "Scrape Away" (4 / 5)

5th studio album by The Jam released on Polydor and produced by Vic Coppersmith-Heaven and Chris Parry shows a more mature band playing with new styles and various influences. The album contains many tracks with horn sections and more soul-inspired new wave and mod revival but it also contains post-punk influences. The power pop element seems somewhat gone, although, there's still lots of energy present.
Sound Affects is another great album by The Jam, which took me some time to really appreciate after it was released. The album made it to number #2 on the UK album charts and the single "Start!" was the band's second single release to top the singles chart list. Prior to the album release, The Jam released the single "Going Underground" (Mar. '80), a track that wasn't included on any of the studio albums, and it became the first number #1 single for The Jam. The album is the second of two studio albums by The Jam to be enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com 5 / 5, Classic Rock 4,5 / 5 ]

1980 Favourite releases: 1. Joy Division Closer - 2. Kliché Supertanker - 3. The Jam Sound Affects

Teitur "The Singer" (2008)

The Singer
release date: Feb. 19, 2008
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: Teitur Lassen
label: Arlo & Betty Recordings - nationality: Faroe Islands, Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "The Singer" (4 / 5) (live) - 3. "The Girl I Don't Know" (4 / 5) - 4. "We Still Drink the Same Water" - 5. "Catherine the Waitress" - 10. "Don't Let Me Fall in Love With You"

4th studio album by Teitur follows the 2007-album Káta Hornið of songs exclusively containing songs in Faroe Islandic presumably made as mere promotion for his tour in his native surroundings.
The Singer continues where he left us with the album Stay Under the Stars from 2006 by representing more internationally-minded compositions with lyrics in English albeit Teitur has now chosen a path with more focus on the introspective.
The album is a strong return to form, and it's a fine contender to his best ever album as it's also his most coherent album with several fine compositions.

Highly recommended.

Turboweekend "Trouble Is (Tiesto Remix)" (2010), single

Trouble Is (Tiesto Remix), single
release date: Apr. 28, 2010
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,13]

Tracklist: 1. "Trouble Is (Radio Edit)" (4 / 5) - 2. "Trouble Is (Club Edit)" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "Trouble Is (Instrumental)" (3 / 5) - 4. "Trouble Is (A Cappella)" (2 / 5)

Single by Turboweekend taken from the recent album Ghost of a Chance (2009).

Turboweekend "Trouble Is" (2009), single

Trouble Is, single
release date: Sep. 20, 2009
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,38]

Tracklist: 1. "Trouble Is" (4 / 5) - 2. "Trouble Is (Joker Remix)" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "Holiday" (3 / 5) - 4. "Holiday (Russell Lissac Remix)" (3 / 5)

Single release by Turboweekend from the recent album Ghost of a Chance (2009).

Teitur "Káta Hornið" (2007)

Káta Hornið
release date: Jun. 25, 2007
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,62]
producer: Jónas Bloch Danielsen (recording)
label: Playground Music - nationality: Faroe Islands, Denmark

3rd studio album by Teitur is a collection of songs entirely in his native Faroese language. The style is gentle folklore and singer / songwriter with Teitur only accompanied by guitar, brass, piano, and quiet jazz drums. The album has only been released in Scandinavia and initially only in the Faroe Islands and in Iceland prior to a live tour on the islands.
I think many of the tracks sound too much alike without obvious great songs. The normal strong narration disappears in an incomprehensible language, and it only proves that you must be a native to fully appreciate these songs.

Frank Zappa / The Mothers of Invention "Absolutely Free" (1967)

Absolutely Free
release date: May 26, 1967
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5]

Track highlights: 1. "Plastic People" - 5. "Call Any Vegetable" - 7. "Soft-Sell Conclusion" - 10. "America Drinks" - 14. "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" (live in Copenhagen) - 15. "America Drinks & Goes Home"
[ full album ]

2nd Mothers of Invention album and very much in line with the previous album, although the music here is more in the jazz-rock genre instead of musique concrete. Best track is "Brown Shoes Don't Make It".

Deep Purple "Burn" (1974)

Burn
release date: Feb. 15, 1974
format: vinyl (TPS 3505) / cd (2008 remaster)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Deep Purple
label: Purple Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: A) 1. "Burn" - 3. "Lay Down, Stay Down" - 4. "Sail Away"

8th studio album by Deep Purple released on Purple and produced by the band is the first album after Ian Gillan and Roger Glover left the band, and the first to feature David Coverdale on vocals and Glenn Hughes on bass.
Burn is Deep Purple as most have come to associate the band name with: heavy rock based and heavy metal based on blues rock stemming from Hendrix. Although, the band is here in its third constitution they continue its style and also secure another sales hit despite not reaching number #1 in many countries, the album was a top-10 charting album in both the UK and the US and critics were rather positive.
The album is part of my childhood as this was one of 8 albums I received from my older brother who had all their albums. I knew them all, listened to them all, but I was never a big fan of theirs, although, the some of their albums are quite good. This one never was to my liking, and I'm really closer to handing it 2,5 instead of 3 despite some critics rate it very high. Allmusic.com hands it 4,5 however, Rolling Stone labels it "unfavourable", which means 'not good'. I guess, both fans and critics were split when the band went on as two of its most prominent members had left. The style is blues rock and hard rock as people had come to know Deep Purple but I only find that it's a mediocre attempt to continue a formula without adding anything new. As this point, I think they are stuck and are only capable of reproducing a familiar sound build on their own classic material.
The title track is the strongest here, and it showcases Coverdale's abilities as a fairly strong blues rock singer.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone: "unfavorable" ]

Turboweekend "Ghost of a Chance" (2009)

Ghost of a Chance
release date: Mar. 23, 2009
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]
producer: Turboweekend
label: Mermaid Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Trouble Is" (4 / 5) - 2. "Something or Nothing" - 3. "Sweet Jezebel" (4 / 5) - 6. "Up With the Smoke - Down With the Ash" - 7. "After Hours" - 8. "Erase Myself" - 11. "Almost There"

2nd studio album by Turboweekend. The album is more dance-founded than the promising debut. The songs are stronger and the album is one of this year's best Danish releases.
The album was re-issued in 2010 as a double disc and double vinyl album with primarily live versions and several remixes.

[ Gaffa.dk, Soundvenue 4 / 6 stars ]

Adam Ant "Vive le Rock" (1985) (single)

Vive le Rock, 7'' single
release date: Jul. 1985
format: vinyl (A 6367)
[single rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,50]
producer: Tony Visconti
label: CBS Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) "Vive le Rock" (3 / 5 ) - - B) "Greta X" 

Single release by Adam Ant released prior to his solo album also titled Vive le Rock released in Sep. '85.

Tom Robinson Band "Power in the Darkness"

Power in the Darkness [debut]
release date: May 1978
format: vinyl (062-06687) / cd (2004 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: Chris Thomas; Vic Maile (A1)
label: EMI Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights A) 1. "2-4-6-8 Motorway" (live) - 2. "Up Against the Wall" - 3. "Grey Cortina" - - B) 1. "The Winter Of '79" - 4. "You Gotta Survive"

Studio album debut by London-founded band Tom Robinson Band (aka TRB) consisting of lead vocalist, bassist and primary songwriter Tom Robinson, lead guitarist Danny Kustow, organ and piano player Mark Ambler and with drummer (Brian) "Dolphin" Taylor, who would later join the Northern Irish punk rock band Stiff Little Fingers.
The 1977 (debut) single hit "2-4-6-8 Motorway" is included on the Scandinavian issue of the original album, but also for the US market the song had been added alongside the four tracks from the live ep Rising Free... (Feb. '78).
Musically, the band has been associated with the punk rock scene, and there are some songs and elements that put them alongside many of the genre, but more obviously they play what has become known as pub rock - much alike Ian Dury and the Blockheads. Just listen to the enormous difference between "Up Against the Wall" and "Too Good to Be True" - the first being a wry energetic protest song and the latter sounding like something from a traditional pop / rock scene before proto punk had seen the light of day. Other compositions show influences from other influences of contemporary rock. "Long Hot Summer" and "You Gotta Survive" with there bold use of harmony guitar chords share notes you'll find on songs by Thin Lizzy or other bands associated with the heavy rock side of blues rock, which really shows how TRB stood with one foot in traditional rock and another taking a step forward, but the band would never declare it a punk rock band. TRB is known for its strong political stand, and its also associated with the foundation of the "Rock Against Racism"-movement, which is printed on the back cover as the first official declaration, and Tom Robinson himself also spoke very frankly about being gay. The Rising Free... live ep - also included on the 2004 enhanced cd issue with a total of 19 tracks - and it contains the song "Glad to Be Gay", which was another of the band's stables.
I always found TRB a highly positive band, who simply represents too many styles and genres to be highly original, although, they are truly working musicians, who were a much appreciated live band of the late 1970s.

Deep Purple "Mark I & II" (1973)

Mark I & II (compilation)
release date: Dec. 1973
format: vinyl 2 lp / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: Derek Lawrence; Deep Purple
label: EMI Electrola - nationality: England, UK

1st compilation album by Deep Purple originally released on Purple Records. The original vinyl album is a double lp and the first record (side A and B) is titled 'Mark I', and it features tracks written in the early formation of the band known as Mark I, which had Rod Evans on lead vocals, Ritchie Blackmore on guitars, Jon Lord on keyboards, Nick Simper on bass, and Ian Paice playing drums and percussion. The second record (side C and D) is labelled 'Mark II', featuring tracks written with the most popular and critically acclaimed period of the band consisting of Ian Gillan on vocals, Ritchie Blackmore on guitars, Jon Lord on keyboards, Roger Glover on bass, and with Ian Paice playing drums and percussion. The release probably comes as a consequence after Ian Gillan and Roger Glover left the band in the summer of 73, which meant that the Mark II era had come to an end.

Joy Division "Still" (1981) (live)

Still (live)
release date: Oct. 1981
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]

Tracklist: A) 1. "Exercise One" - 2. "Ice Age" - 3. "The Sound of Music" - 4. "Glass" - 5. "The Only Mistake" - - B) 1. "Walked in Line" - 2. "The Kill" - 3. "Something Must Break" - 4. "Dead Souls" - 5. "Sister Ray" - - C) 1. "Ceremony" - 2. "Shadowplay" - 3. "Means to an End" - 4. "Passover" - 5. "New Dawn Fades" - - D) 1. "Transmission" - 2. "Disorder" - 3. "Isolation" - 4. "Decades" - 5. "Digital"
[ full album ]

Only official live album by Joy Division. It both figures as an original album release (although it's a live album released after the disbandment or name-change to New Order) and a compilation album since it's a compilation of several live performances dating from Oct. 1978 to May 1980, which basically covers their entire career as Joy Division. In that respect it is a 'must-have' for any Joy Division fan. The sound quality, however, is poor. The album has been re-issued, remastered and re-compiled with bonus tracks but the original release came as a double LP consisting of 21 tracks of both released as well as previously unreleased material including songs from their unreleased LP from '78 and it also features a remarkable cover version of "Sister Ray" by the Velvet Underground. Despite the poor sound recording (it is released by their record label, Factory Records) it really is of music historical interest to hear the band perform live. Naturally, as these recordings are from the punk rock era, the energy is extremely intense and of that specific punk feel but it also demonstrates how the band performed with much more energy even playing slower tracks from Closer. All tracks on the vinyl A and B-sides are from studio live sessions at mostly Cargo and Strawberry Studios except for "Sister Ray", which is a live recording from a concert at The Moonlight Club, London, Apr. 2, 1980. All tracks of C and D-sides are live recordings from the one and same concert at High Hall, Birmingham University, which took place on May 2, 1980.

Essential.

David McAlmont "McAlmont" (1994)

McAlmont [debut]
release date: 1994
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,05]
producer: Ed Buller, David McAlmont, Paul Sampson, Saul Freeman
label: Hut Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Either" (5 / 5) - 2. "Not Wiser" (4 / 5) - 3. "Unworthy (Edit)" (5 / 5) ('Thieves' single) - 4. "Misunderstood" (4 / 5) - 6. "Conversation" - 8. "Worn Away" - 9. "It's Always This Way" (4 / 5)

Solo album debut released by David McAlmont, former singer of Thieves (a collaboration band consisting of multi-instrumentalist Saul Freeman and vocalist David McAlmont). The album was recorded and intended to be issued as the studio debut album by Thieves in 1993, but the band split before the release - and eventually, the record company managed to release it as a solo album, despite the fact that Saul Freeman took part in the creation, writing process and production of the music. All tracks except "Conversation" (written by Joni Mitchell) are co-written by McAlmont and Freeman.
It was issued without much notice by critics and music lovers, which seems quite strange. And like music critic Dave Thompson at AllMusic concludes "[...] the weak reception it was granted upon release seems unjust nevertheless" - which in itself is a strange comment as he then goes on to hand the album 3 / 5 stars after pointing out its obvious qualities.
Regardless the making and release process of the album, it's almost entirely McAlmont's voice that really shapes the album - and what a fabulous and powerful instrument his voice is. This is pure contemporary pop soul and it's truly just great and very wonderful.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

see also: [ "Misty Blue" on Later with Jools Holland, 1995 ]

Belly "Star" (1993)

Star [debut]
release date: Jan. 25, 1993
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5]

Track highlights: 5. "Gepetto" (4 / 5) (live) - 7. "Slow Dog" (live on Later)

Studio debut album by Boston-based band Belly (not associated with British band Bellyache). The band was made up of Tanya Donelly (lead vocals, guitar; she was also a member of Throwing Muses from 1983-91' and The Breeders from 1988-92), Fred Abong (bass, member of Throwing Muses from 1989-90), in '93, just prior to this album's release, replaced by Gail Greenwood, and the brothers Tom Gorman (guitar) and Chris Gorman (drums, both ex-Verbal Assault). "Heeey Geppetto, Oh Oh Oh!" from "Gepetto", which was one of my favourite tracks that year. That was THE song by Belly, as the rest didn't really reach the same level. The style is a mild form of alt. rock, indie pop with similarities with other American bands like Pixies, Breeders, Throwing Muses but also British Bellyache and Lush, although the style is more gentle and melody-minded.

The Clash "Combat Rock" (1982)

Combat Rock
release date: May 14, 1982
format: vinyl (CBS 85570) / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,12]
producer: Glyn Johns, The Clash
label CBS Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 4. "Know Your Rights" - 2. "Car Jamming" (4 / 5) - 3. "Should I Stay or Should I Go" (4 / 5) - 4. "Rock the Casbah" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Red Angel Dragnet" - 6. "Straight to Hell" (4,5 / 5) - 8. "Atom Tan" - 9. "Sean Flynn" - 10. "Ghetto Defendant" (feat. Allen Ginsberg) - 11. "Inoculated City" (4 / 5)

5th and final 'real' The Clash studio album, as two of the original members left the band after this. This was the first of their albums that I bought immediately upon its release. I found it good but not great. In hindsight, I believe it's better than then, but at the time everyone just wanted something like London Calling again, and not all that reggae or rock & roll inspired stuff that they had been engaged with. Yes, punk rock had been declared dead shortly after I came to know of its existence, which was around 1980. I loved the catchy and energetic punk and garage rock of the late 1970s and at the same time found that the funky synth rock of "Rock the Casbah" was the best song, although it's far from what you'd normally associate with The Clash. The song became the band's biggest commercial success. Today, I still think it's a great song but frankly, find that "Straight to Hell" is the best song of the album. The album has a strong rebellious attitude and many of the lyrics underline the band's unique status with something meaningful on their mind, like self-appointed spokesmen of the poor, the homeless, and everyone else who'd be struggling to get by in a world occupied by the capitalist plague. It's also a band you'd always find 'politicising' almost everything, which in this case, I only mean in the most positive way. The album is not their strongest and neither their worst, but as is the case with The Clash: when they're bad, they're still better than most.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Q Magazine 3 / 5, Rolling Stone, Blender 4 / 5 stars ]

Deep Purple "Who Do We Think We Are" (1973)

Who Do We Think We Are!
release date: Jan. 13, 1973
format: vinyl (TPSA 7508) / cd (2002 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]
producer: Deep Purple
label: Purple Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) 1. "Woman From Tokyo" (4 / 5) - 2. "Mary Long" (4 / 5) - 3. "Super Trouper" (3 / 5) - 4. "Smooth Dancer" (3,5 / 5) - - B) 1. "Rat Bat Blue" (4 / 5) - 2. "Place in Line" (3 / 5) - 3. "Our Lady" (3,5 / 5)

7th studio album by Deep Purple released on Purple and produced by the band had its official release in the US in January and in the UK and Europe one month later. With this the band has moved somewhat away from the harder heavy metal sound they have showcased on Deep Purple in Rock (1970) and Machine Head (1972), and are more blues rock founded. Deep Purple always had a huge crowd of fans in the US, as they saw as their primary market, and they have throughout their career paid tribute to the blues and especially the Hendrix version of blues rock.
The album sold well, although peaking at number #4 in the UK and number #15 in the US, but it still made it to top the albums chart lists in several countries in the throughout Europe.
Although, fans of the band and many critics do not agree, I find that this is one their better albums. It's the last with the 'Mark II' constitution of the band as both Ian Gillan and Roger Glover left the band in the summer of '73 due to tensions and heavy disputes within the band.
Imho, this is the last fine studio album by Deep Purple.
[ allmusic.com album 2 / 5 stars ]

The Cure "Three Imaginary Boys" (1979)

Fiction Deluxe
FIX 1

Three Imaginary Boys [debut]
release date: May 8, 1979
format: vinyl (FIX 1) / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Chris Parry
label: Fiction Records - nationality: England, UK


Track highlights: 1. "10:15 Saturday Night" (4 / 5) - 3. "Grinding Halt" (4 / 5) - 7. "Foxy Lady" - 9. "So What?" - 10. "Fire in Cairo"

Studio album debut by The Cure released on Fiction Records. At this point the band was a trio consisting of Robert Smith on lead vocals, guitar (and harmonica on "Subway Song"), Michael Dempsey on bass, background vocals (as well as lead vocals on "Foxy Lady"), and Laurence (aka 'Lol') Tolhurst on drums. The album was not my first purchase with the band, as I started out listening to and buying their third album Faith (1981), after which I immediately bought the second album Seventeen Seconds before acquiring this, all in the spring of '81. The style is rather difficult to pin down but post-punk is definite a fitting label. Like most bands jumping from the punk rock era into new territory the music was rather experimental, which is another label that fits this first effort. Some tracks are very fine and simple compositions with traces to proto-punk artists and with a touch of new wave to it, whereas other tracks like "Another Day", "Subway Song", and the title track all are more art rock styled with bonds to contemporary American no wave.
The album was never a true favourite, as I found it unfinished, but it still had a fascinating touch with some great tracks on it, and The Cure surely didn't sound like anyone else at the time.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

[ collectors' item - from ~ €40,- ]

Skids "Days in Europa" (1979)

Days in Europa
release date: Oct. 1979
format: vinyl / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Bill Nelson
label: Virgin Records - nationality: Scotland, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Animation" (4 / 5) (live) - 2. "Charade" (5 / 5) (TOTP '79) - 3. "Dulce et decorum est (pro patria mori)" - 4. "Pros & Cons" - 5. "Home of the Saved" (2 / 5) - 6. "Working for the Yankee Dollar" (4 / 5) - 7. "The Olympian" (3 / 5) - 8. "Thanatos" - 9. "A Day in Europa" - 10. "Peaceful Times" (2 / 5)
[ At the Old Grey Whistle Test '79 ]

2nd studio album by Skids released only eight months following the splendid debut. After drummer Thomas Kellichan left the band just prior to recording the album, Skids were now reduced to a trio. The album contains really great songs (tracks #1, #2, and #6) that all follow the original formula from Scared to Dance but some of the songs seem like mere fillers making this a less interesting album. "Working for the Yankee Dollar" was a small hit for the band but then the album also contains "Peaceful Times", a strange track with guitars, drums and bass played backwards [!], which is not as bad as one might expect it to be, but it's basically something entirely different and more of a musical experiment.
Generally, the album wasn't well-received as Richard Jobson was confronted with his historical interest in World War I and II, for his glorification of the Roman Empire (a thing he would bring forth on later albums) and subjects related to 'Nazi-Germany' - e.g. the choice of a front cover that appears to glorify the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Jobson and the band was subsequently accused for nazi-sympathy - which Jobson has always denied. The label reacted by reissuing the album with a new cover in 1980 (still showcasing the original cover in small format), and with the inclusion of the new single (hit) "Masquerade" in exchange for track #4 and with a slightly changed running order. However, newer reissues from 2001 have once again been issued with the original 'Olympic' cover.
Days in Europa has a better production sound than the debut, and the arrangements are generally at a slower pace. It's by no means a poor album - it just turns out as somewhat incoherent.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, Smash Hits 4 / 5 stars ]

1980 cover

Boney M "Love for Sale" (1977)

Love for Sale
release date: May 2, 1977
format: vinyl
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,78]
producer: Frank Farian
label: Hansa International - nationality: (West) Germany

2nd studio album by German disco band Boney M consisting of the four members Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett from Jamaica, Maizie Williams from Montserrat (in the Caribbean) and Bobby Farrell from Aruba (also in the Caribbean). German producer and singer / songwriter Frank Farian (aka Franz Reuther) used the moniker Boney M for a single release in '74, which only featured himself, but he then decided to a have a dance group to front the 'band' for TV transmissions - he hired an initial group of dancers, which went through various incarnations for the following years until Feb. '76 when the four steady (dance and performance) members basically became Boney M.

Elton John Band Featuring John Lennon "28th November 1974..." (1981) (single) (live)

28th November 1974..., 7'' single (live)
release date: 1981
format: vinyl (DJS 10965)
[single rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,25]
producer: Gus Dudgeon
label: DJM Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) "I Saw Her Standing There" - - B) 1. "Whatever Gets You Through the Night" - 2. "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds"

Single release by: Elton John Band Featuring John Lennon and The Muscle Shoals Horns... recorded live at Madison Square Garden, New York on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, 1974. The tracks are outtakes from an 8-track album with the same title exclusively released in some European countries (not the UK) in 1976.

Van Morrison "His Band and the Street Choir" (1970)

His Band and the Street Choir
release date: Oct. 1970
format: digital (2015 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: Van Morrison
label: Rhino Records / Warner Bros. - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Domino" (4 / 5) - 2. "Crazy Face" - 3. "Give Me a Kiss" - 4. "I've Been Working" - 5. "Call Me Up in Dreamland" - 7. "Blue Money" - 11. "If I Ever Needed Someone" - 12. "Street Choir"

4th studio album by Van Morrison released only 8 months after Moondance and originally issued by Warner Bros. - here in a 2015 'Expanded & Remastered' edition containing 5 bonus tracks all of which are alternate recordings of tracks already on the album. The style is a bit surprisingly changed to be more traditional r&b-oriented with stress on blues without the same strong folk rock and soul that shaped the predecessor, and it's almost completely without a celtic tone. Surprisingly, 'cause Moondance was seen as his so far strongest album, so why try something else?
Apparently, Morrison initially wanted to make an 'a cappella' album of songs consisting of a mix of new songs and leftovers from the recording sessions for Moondance and Astral Weeks but the backing choir recordings left him dissatisfied, which led him he to a change of mind and had the songs rearranged as more traditional r&b-styled.
The single "Domino", Van's tribute to Fats Domino, has become his best fairing single ever reaching number #9 on the US singles chart list and by that surpassing his signature hit song "Brown Eyed Girl". The album reached number #15 in the US, and has been one of his highest charting albums in the US.
My biggest 'complaint' about the album is that it lacks cohesion. some tracks point to his two most recent and great predecessors - others falls far from that, and the result is a very mixed album, not combining styles, not incorporating but more like a compilation album that reveals his many assets. That said, the album still contains some truly fine songs, although, it never reaches the same artistic level as his two most recent albums, but it does point forward to the style of music that he would later be associated with for the rest of his long lasting solo career, and in that respect it's by no means an album off track.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Uncut 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]