Guns n Roses

Memories of Guns N’ Roses

Posted on by edwardlayland

So, I went to see the excellent Oasis documentary Don’t Look Back in Anger the other day and really enjoyed it. It was surprisingly profound, with Liam demonstrating a deep understanding of not only what Oasis means to people but also what life is all about. It was interesting to see just how much of an impact the band has had on different generations and just how much their music has meant to people over the years. There’s a whole bunch of stories of people being “saved” and finding a sense of belonging. It is fair to say that Oasis provided the soundtrack for a generation and their reunion and tour was overwhelming for band and fans alike. However, Oasis are not exactly the only band in the world that have had this kind of impact on people, I mean, there are bands from the same era that have had equally momentous reunions. Anyway, all this got me thinking…which bands have had that kind of impact on me? Which bands have I been deeply obsessed by? Which bands kept me in my bedroom, repeatedly playing their music and poring over the lyrics, the art and everything else? Which bands kept me awake at night on the eve of a new release or concert tickets going on sale?

Fuckin Guns N’ Fuckin’ Roses.

Picture the scene. It’s 1988. No internet, no digital on demand TV, no Spotify, and no 24/7 bombardment of information or sensory overload at our fingertips. When it came to entertainment channels, we simply did not have access to or control over what we heard and when we heard it, which made certain things essential to the lives of music loving teenagers, especially if your interests were outside the pop mainstream. So, when the Saturday morning Chart Show on ITV was showing the Rock Chart, it was unmissable. One such Saturday would change my life forever. Fifteen year old me was hungry for all things rock and metal, so when a video clip with five dudes swaggering around a studio playing what would become one of the most iconic songs in rock history hit my screen that day, by the time Slash had finished the most incredible guitar solo I’d ever heard, I was hooked. Guns N’ Roses were my new favourite band.

Then came the buzz. Having played three sold out nights at the Marquee in 87, and already labelled as the greatest rock n roll band in the world, excitement had actually been brewing in the UK for some time, but was at fever pitch prior to their slot at Donington 88, which would end so tragically and lead to a revolution in festival safety. The rhetoric was such that they were set to “become to the next decade what Aerosmith were to the seventies and the Rolling Stones to the sixties“. They were already massive in the US by this time with over 3 million in album sales and their magnetism and raw power was starting to sweep through the UK. Sweet Child O Mine would hit the top thirty the first time around (later making the top ten in 89), as would Welcome to the Jungle. By the end of the year, Appetite for Destruction with its infamous rape scene cover had already spent 17 weeks on the UK album chart and was no longer enough to satisfy the growing legion of die-hard fans.

The thing was that although a ton of bands were trying to sound like them, GnR didn’t sound like anyone else. They were fresh; they were exciting; there was a punk edge to their rough and ready sound and despite being spawned by the LA scene, they had little in common with the hair metal bands of the time and we wanted more of it. The hunger for more Guns N’ Roses product meant the Live! Like a Suicide EP was trading for stupid money and a Japanese import featuring five other live tracks from their Marquee shows, and including AC/DC‘s Whole Lotta Rosie, was also costing an arm and a leg.

So Geffen Records cashed in and released GnR Lies as a stop-gap. It featured the four tracks from Live! Like a Suicide on the A-side and four acoustic numbers on the B-side – the now classic Patience, the tounge-in-cheek Used to Love Her, a sublime version of You’re Crazy from Appetite and the ill-judged, controversial One in a Million. It would hit the shelves in time for Christmas 1988. My mum was not a happy bunny in the early evening of that December 25th when she heard the first words of the album blaring from my bedroom record player – Hey fuckers! Fucking Guns n’ Fucking Roses!

Things would really go mental in 89 though; with their charismatic swagger and ever-present hint of danger, two albums out and plenty of singles to be released, Gn’R went stratospheric in the UK. The naggingly familiar Paradise City with its massive hook, would go top ten, peaking at number 6. The re-release of Sweet Child O Mine would hit the same position. Patience would come a month later and also go top ten, with Nightrain later going top twenty. Appetite spent 48 weeks of 1989 on the album chart with half of those weeks inside the top twenty, while Lies spent a more modest 36 weeks on the album chart. And I was mad for it all – buying the 12″ versions of the singles, waiting anxiously for the videos on Top of The Pops and the Chart Show, listening to Slash being interviewed on the Friday Rock Show, and seriously wondering if I could pull off a bandana. I couldn’t. I was sixteen years old and Guns N’ Roses were my religion.

Little did we know that there was already trouble in paradise city. There had been a divisive trip to Chicago, at Axl’s behest, to try and galvanize the band and write and rehearse songs for the next record. But Axl turned up weeks late and things got ugly. Although Izzy was desperately trying to get sober, drug use in the rest of the band was gradually getting out of control, as was Axl’s volatility and the frustration at his behaviour. According to Duff: “The harsh reality was that the old us-against-the-world mentality had waned this year for sure. Steven was fully strung out and babbling incoherently much of the time. Slash had one foot out of the band as a result of feeling betrayed. Izzy had all but checked out. The techs, I soon found out, were secretly looking for other gigs. And to top it all off, we had an expensive bill to pay for the rehearsal space and apartments, the plane trips back and forth, and all the destruction Axl had inflicted on the apartments.”

The heady mix of Axl’s megalomania and a potentially lethal cocktail of powders, pills, crack rocks and booze were tearing the band apart. In these pre-internet days, the news that was filtering across the Atlantic wasn’t exactly good, but as Guns was the most dangerous band in the world, we took it for the usual tales of rock n roll debauchery. For instance, when GnR supported the Rolling Stones and Axl dropped the following bombshell – “unless certain people in this band get their shit together, these will be the last Guns N’ Roses shows you’ll fucking ever see. ‘Cause I’m tired of too many people in this organization dancing with Mr. Goddamn Brownstone” – it was just another headline, a consequence of the band’s success and an affirmation of their reputation. However, for Duff, even though it was still only 1989 and Guns were basically the hottest ticket in the world, the incident rang serious alarm bells: “Once Axl took his concerns public, the times of being a gang—us against the world—were over. We played the rest of the show, but it was a halfhearted effort at best. Afterward, and really for the remainder of our career, we just went our separate ways. That night officially rang the bell for the end of an era in GN’R.”

In the meantime, they were shifting units like proverbial hotcakes, with Appetite for Destruction going on to sell over 24 million copies, becoming the fifth best selling album and the most successful debut album release of the 1980s, but there was no new product in 1990. Even so, their popularity was such that the promise of activity in 1991 meant that they still graced the cover of Raw Magazine‘s 1990 yearbook, which included a candid interview with Slash.

The guitarist addresses their treatment by the media, the fascination people have for the band, the (drug) problems they’d been through, and the uncerimonious firing of Steven Adler. For a group of very heavy drug users and drinkers to fire someone for excessive use meant that Adler must have been really screwing up, and according to Slash: “there came a time when I had to grow up sufficiently to realise that he was a lost cause. It was hard to accept this, but for the sake of the band I had to. Guns n’ Roses had to go forward and with Steven in his condition then we couldn’t do this. So we have now got in Matt Sorum and we are recording again.” Despite the clear implications of chaos within the band over the last couple of years, it seemed that things were settling down and the promise of not one, but two double albums had me chomping at the bit. As such, 1991 would edge into dreams come true territory.

After two hours of frantic redialling – yes actually dialling, not pressing redial – we had tickets for the headline show at Wembley Stadium at the end of August. With Skid Row at their peak and a then unknown Nine Inch Nails in tow (Axl showing great insight into the coming changes in the world of rock – he later tried to get Nirvana to tour with GnR) the Wembley show was the culmination of my teenage Guns N’ Roses obsession.

Prior to the Wembley show, in the absence of the yet to be mixed Use Your Illusion albums and to avoid doubling down on the never ending stream of scandal and controversy, Raw magazine opted to do a feature on the cover versions that frequently popped up in the band’s catalogue. Sure, there was also an interview with Sebastian Bach of Skid Row and a piece on Nine Inch Nails (But, are they Metal?), but with Axl and the band basically avoiding any media, and possibly with the timing of the issue (it ran on a two-weekly cycle) there was little else to talk about. However, it is noteworthy that despite the issue featuring a review of one of the most awesome Monsters of Rock line-ups in history – The Black Crowes, Queensrÿche, Mötley Crüe, Metallica, and AC/DC – it was Guns N’ Roses that graced the cover. Given that this was their first gig in England since their own ill-fated appearance at Donington back in 88, it is no wonder that the HR/HM scene in the UK was boiling over with excitement.

After Nine Inch Nails’ energetic opening set, an on-form Skid Row, with a very excited Sebastian Bach, won over the crowd and disappointed Brent Council by playing Get the Fuck Out. It was all bluster though. We were their to see Gn’R and they did not disappoint. With You Could Be Mine, backed with Civil War, having been released some months earlier, they were already familiar and much loved, so the peppering of new material amongst the songs from Appetite, Lies and assorted covers went down well. To be honest, my memory of the show is a little hazy – it was 35 years ago – but the YouTube videos show that all the swagger was there along with that hint of volatility bubbling just under the surface.

The short tour around Europe that culminated in the trip to Wembley had been difficult to say the least. In the wake of sparking a riot at the Riverport Amphitheatre in early July, the band had skiddaddled to Europe and Axl had been increasingly flexible with his timekeeping, while the other band members, except Izzy, had been increasingly liberal with their intake of toxins. At times, things were at breaking point and the Wembley gig would prove to be Izzy Stradlin’s last as a full time member of the band. Nevertheless, according to Duff:

“Izzy didn’t walk away and force the cancellation of the Wembley show. he stayed and played one last gig to draw the curtains on this leg of the tour—the last show before the release of the albums we were ostensibly touring.

Axl arrived on time.

We played spectacularly well, as fierce and inspired and together as ever before. If not for the additional people and gear onstage, it could have been mistaken for one of our club shows.“

After a short break and the hiring of new guitarist Gilby Clarke, the Guns train kept on rolling for endless months of touring. Less than a year after the triumphant Wembley show, they were back for three more UK dates including another jam at the capital’s biggest stadium. My memory of the day is less positive as I remember there being a slightly nasty vibe as things got a bit heated near the front during Faith No More‘s cracking set, the usual, friendly mosh pit vibe absent in the heat.

Even so, despite certain band members not even remembering being in some of the cities on the tour, Guns were a pretty well-oiled machine by this time and Axl’s volatile brand of frontman fury was delivering the spectacle we all wanted. According to the Guardian: “Where the band used to be chaotic and unfocused, now they’ve learned to harness their strengths around Rose’s anarchic energy. Without him, they’d be an old-fashioned hard rock group, obsessed with Zeppelin, Hendrix and the Stones. But Rose is an alchemising presence, a suspect device, able to invest the dullest clichés with menace. Axl just doesn’t look right singing piano ballads like November Rain, but when the Gunners rock, Rose rattles your fillings.” Throw in a guest appearance from Brian May in the encores for Tie Your Mother Down and We Will Rock You and a good time was had by all. However, these were exciting times for the alternative rock scene and there was a lot more going on in the world besides Guns N’ Roses.

Precisely one week before the Guns gig at Wembley I had been to see The Cult at Finsbury Park for their one-day, UK version of their Gathering of the Tribes festival, which featured a diverse mix of alternative rock bands from Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and Mega City Four to L7 and Pearl Jam. A couple of months later I would see Nirvana, Mudhoney, L7 and the Beastie Boys at Reading. Then, in October, I went to see Suicidal Tendencies at the T&C in Kentish Town to be totally blown away by the support act, Rage Against the Machine, during their first ever UK performance. Things were changing on the music scene and in my life. Basically, I’d seen that there was more to life than the Hard Rock Heavy Metal scene and was slowly diversifying my tastes; Indie and Grunge bands were broadening my horizons and I was going to clubs like the Venue in New Cross to see bands like Swervedriver and Zodiac Mindwarp and get an early look at Pulp before they hit the big time. Jarvis threw Old Spice over the audience.

So, when Gn’R decided to come back to the UK for two nights at the Milton Keynes Bowl less than a year after the second Wembley gig, to be honest, I just wasn’t that excited by the idea. My mates were all going but I wasn’t really up for it, then The Cult were added to the bill and it was suddenly irresistible – Blind Melon, Soul Asylum, The Cult and Guns N’ Roses – a cracking day out was now on the cards. I’m so glad that I went; the planets aligned to make it an absolutely magnificent day and it ended up being one of the best gigs I have ever been to.

First up, MKB is a natural amphitheater that lends itself to big shows. Then there was my first experience of a VIP section, whereby the front area was separated from the main crowd, but instead of paying a premium, the wristbands were seemingly distributed at security’s discretion. The girl who was with us politely asked the dude at the entrance to the area to be let in, then asked if her 4 brothers could come in too! That was it…we were in!

And Guns did not disappoint. Despite the band being deep into a never-ending tour and their fraught dynamic getting ever more tense, they delivered in spades. The show was something of a stripped down affair, just the band, no backing singers, percussionists etc; it featured a half-hour acoustic set complete with sofas on stage; Ronnie Wood came out to play an encore of the Rolling Stones’ Honky Tonk Women along with Michael Monroe of Hanoi Rocks, who also sang on Knockin on Heaven’s Door; but best of all Izzy Stradlin was back, filling in for the injured Gilby Clarke. It would be Izzy’s final show but his mere presence took the band to another level. As Duff says: “In our case, Izzy was probably the most significant force—without his initial vision and his songwriting cues, there would have been no Guns N’ Roses.”

The Milton Keynes show ended up being a fitting farewell for me. I can vividly remember being arms outstretched and spinning round and round in a joyous state of abandon! It was a lovely last hurrah before I moved on. They released the Spaghetti Incident later that year, but it held little appeal. The cover of the Rolling Stones’ Sympathy for the Devil the following year was also far from a return to form. Despite the MKB shows reminding us how great they could be, it was short lived and the writing was clearly on the wall for the band with Izzy only back for a handful of dates and the never-ending tour grinding on and on.

Axl would then blindside the other members into signing over the rights to the Guns N’ Roses name, although he denies that it ever happened. But if there is any element of truth to it, Axl was shrewdly looking towards the future as what was left of the original band clearly had a limited lifespan—they were already doing everything separately on tour anyway. “Perhaps the simplest explanation for what was going on with Guns N’ Roses was that the band had stopped needing one another. […] we no longer needed one another to write ourselves out of poverty through our songs. Guns didn’t start out about money, but once we all had houses and cars, we just needed one another less. […] On the last European leg of the tour, we sometimes weren’t all together in the same city except for the performance itself. On a few occasions we weren’t even in the same country.“

And so it would prove. Slash left in October 1996, Matt Sorum would follow in April 1997 and Duff would be the final nail in the coffin in August of the same year. By this time, I was no longer abreast of the comings and goings, scandals and controversies. Essentially, I had grown up. I was listening to Nine Inch Nails, The Beastie Boys, Portishead and anything and everything else that was around back then – the nineties were vibrant times! If you look through my ample CD collection, the overwhelming majority of it is from the nineties and it goes way beyond Britpop and Grunge.

Guns N’ Roses had been the band of my teenage years. They were like a first love—an all consuming obsession that you can’t get enough of until some cracks start to show, the passion fades, and you eventually move on. Still, you always hold a soft spot and every now and then a bit of memory lane is a welcome reminder, especially as you get older. The timing of discovering Guns N’ Roses was essentially what made it so special for me. We make powerful memories and have strong connections to the music from our teens; we may move on, but the songs from that time will always have the power to move us like they did the first time.

“A global study of nearly 2,000 people across 84 countries found something remarkably consistent: the music that people remember as most personally meaningful was often released when they were around 17 years old. Psychologists call this the reminiscence bump. And it isn’t simply nostalgia playing tricks on you. Adolescence is a period when the brain is developing rapidly, social identity is taking shape, and emotional experiences can become deeply encoded in memory. Music happens to be there for all of it. That’s why a three-minute song can sometimes transport you decades into the past in just a few seconds.”

I would go on to see them again at Rock in Rio in 2001 as Axl Rose plus backing band, but it was not the greatest show I have ever seen. To be honest, I actually went that day to see Oasis, but having some memory lane thrown in was worth the ticket price. Subsequent television appearances and the eventual release of Chinese Democracy did little to reignite my teenage love for the band. It was like running into that first love years later and wondering what you had been thinking.

So, when the reunion with Duff and Slash was on the cards, I was not enthusiastic: “Looking back at what this band once was and what made them great just turns the whole circus surrounding this comeback all the more disappointing. Think I’ll stick with the memories.” But I did of course change my mind. I went to see them on the Not in This Lifetime tour in 2016 and again in 2022. I have to say that I may have been fully embracing the nostalgia of it all, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself on both occasions. In my review of the 2016 show I reflected: “Is it all just shameless nostalgia? Sure, of course, but when you are this good and the material still cuts it, then why the hell not?”

Moreover, in 2018, in a preview of the Download Festival for Already Heard I went on to say: “Since Slash and Duff McKagan returned to the Guns N’ Roses fold, Axl Rose has been somewhat rejuvenated; recovering a level of enthusiasm (and singing ability apparently) that had been largely missing for the previous twenty years since the original line-up imploded. Axl has been transformed from appearing to not really give a fuck into someone visibly enjoying his work again. Sure, a few of the higher notes are now out of reach and he doesn’t scamper about the stage with quite the same verve as the angry twenty something he once was, but GnR proved good value on their Not in This Lifetime nostalgia fest, regularly putting in performances pushing close to the three hour mark. And lets face it, when you have a bulging back catalogue of classics like theirs, they could play all damn night.”

The Guns N’ Roses train is still rolling. They are still doing three-hour-a-night shows and, given the chance, I would go and see them again. I love listening to their songs again – the power of that teenage obsession is still a thing! However, I am under no illusions; I know they can never be what they once were. Effectively, they were never going to be the same after Steven Adler was fired and they lost his groove; or after Izzy called time on his presence in the band and they lost that swagger; or after the videos, the production and the image became as important as the music itself. In those early years, they were something else though; they were truly exciting and everything teenage me loved about heavy music. Appetite for Destruction remains one of the greatest rock records in history. Although I have had other favourite bands, I have been to other incredible shows, and there is plenty of other music that moves me, few bands or songs would have the impact of that Saturday morning back in 1988.

Original artwork based on Robert Williams’ painting depicting a robotic rapist about to be punished by a metal avenger.
Original back cover.
Original Inner Sleeve.
Side G – for Guns – drugs and hard life in the big city.
Side R – for Roses – Love, sex and relationships.

Author’s notes: This started out as a piece on the nostalgia aspect of the music industry I pitched to Sêan Reid, my editor at Already Heard, back in 2018. I couldn’t quite get my ideas together at the time, but that memory from ’88 kept nagging at me so I decided to pick it up again recently. It was meant to be a little walk down memory lane, but once I realised how much stuff I had and how important it had been to me, it took on epic proportions. The following is a list of references that I used in the article in addition to the photos of issues of Raw Magazine and Kerrang Magazine featured in the various galleries. All the galleries contain original photos of items that I actually own, be it the magazines, the CDs, the concert tickets or flyers.

https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/15737/guns-and-roses

https://bestsellingalbums.org/album/17763#google_vignette

30 Years Ago: Chaos Reigns as Guns N’ Roses Open for the Stones

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jun/15/guns-n-roses-review-wembley-1992-archive

https://knowlegic.com/articles/why-the-music-from-your-teenage-years-never-really-leaves-you

Duff Mckagan It’s So Easy and Other Lies

https://alreadyheard.com/festival-preview-download-festival-2018

https://hardpressed.com.br/2016/11/19/guns-n-roses-live-in-rio-review/

Metallica Memorabilia

Posted on by edwardlayland

As described in my piece on Memorabilia (see here) collecting records was an experience in itself. However, it went much deeper than the joy of buying and owning a product, it was actually like a kind of feedback loop. You bought a collector’s edition of a single, 12″, boxed set or whatever because you were a fan, and buying it made you even more of a fan. Nothing can come close to my collection of records by The Cult (that’ll be an epic gallery), but my Metallica collection is also pretty damn cool!

When Metallica became a significant element of my musical life in the late 1980s, around the release of …And Justice for All, owning their products became a badge of honour among the metal tribe I was a part of. Essentially, it was cool to listen to heavier and heavier music; it was cool to like Metallica; it was cool to own all the albums; it was cool to have limited edition releases. Like the band’s own ethos, more was more – the more Metallica you were, the cooler you were. As a fifteen year old, heavily into metal, wanting more than anything to be cool, I bought into it and consumed as many of my favourite band’s products as I could, be it the Cult, Metallica, Guns n Roses, or whoever I’d got into. Also, I had grown up in a single-parent family with little in the way of luxury, but birthday money, Christmas money and what I could spare from my paper round and then my Saturday job went on an endless merry-go-round of first and second-hand vinyl and cassettes. The fact that I paid for these things myself gave them even more value.

Obviously, the culmination of all this investing in my favourite bands came as I grew up a little and had the chance to see them live. Monsters of Rock at Donington in 1991 just after the release of the Black Album was quite simply prime Metallica, and I have included some shots in the gallery of reviews and pictures from the magazines of the day that I still have. The fact that I made a scrap book probably tells you that I was maybe not quite the cool metal kid I had aspired to be, but I no longer worry about these things. Milton Keynes Bowl in 1993 with Megadeth guesting, with The Almighty, who supported everyone back then (I saw them a bunch of times) and Diamond Head, should have been the peak moment in my love for the band. However, too much drinking and chaos took the shine off that day. Still got my ticket though (see below).

I’ll admit that I am no longer in possession of everything I have ever owned by Metallica – a few odds and bits got sold at a record fair recently and other items got lost in the mists of time (VHS Tapes of A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica) – but I still have some significant, meaningful items that will no doubt end up being inherited! Featured in the gallery below are: the US edition 7″ of One; the crate edition of Live Shit: Binge and Purge; the six and a half year anniversary 12″ collection – The Good, The Bad & The Live (what was Metallica’s thing with half years?!); the cassette single of Eye of the Beholder; the cassette of The $5:98 EP Garage Days Re-Revisited; Limited Edition 12″ singles of Nothing Else Matters and Enter Sandman; and the Master of Puppets aniversary book, Back to The Front.

These are all just things, I know, but together they tell a story and represent the impact music can have on how we choose to live our lives. These memories represent moments of joy, disappointment, discovery and regret, and looking back now, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Good times!

The Dogs D’Amour – A Graveyard of Empty Bottles Vol. 1

Posted on by edwardlayland

With tales of love and loss, maverick heroes and loveable rogues, The Dogs D’Amour‘s mini album A Graveyard of Empty Bottles was one of the most delightful surprise releases I’ve ever encountered. Sandwiched between the Dynamite Jet Saloon and Errol Flynn albums, it came just over a month after the superb How Come It Never Rains had flirted with breaking the top forty. It would prove to be the premature peak of the band’s success and showcases their songwriting at it’s finest.

MTV Unplugged was still some eight months away and, although Guns N Roses Lies had set a precedent, acoustic albums/versions were not yet in vogue when the Dogs unexpectedly dropped Graveyard with an initial run of fifteen thousand limited edition, numbered 10-inch mini albums. It would go on to get a 12″, CD, and cassette release, propelling it to the dizzy heights of number 16 on the UK albums chart, but none would have the charm of the 10″. It’s a beautiful little package dominated by Tyla‘s artwork that so perfectly encapsulates the band’s aesthetic. The best thing about it though, was the songs themselves.

A Graveyard of Empty Bottles kicks off in upbeat fashion with the laid back, blues tinged, foot-tapping vibe of the jaunty I Think It’s Love Again, before the stark contrast of the bleak minor chords of So Once Was I, which doubles down on Tyla’s romantic view of modern day cowboys and wasteland heroes. There is more contrast as we segue into the blues shuffle of Comfort of the Devil, which finds the frontman at his most poetically sublime: “The devil runs his fingers down the spine of fate / Grins at me with a smile that spells out hate / Spins his chamber of his gun / There’s only one soul loaded for fun / Much more fun.”

But it is on Saviour, which closes out side one, or the Blue Blooded Bar Side, where the planets really align. It is two glorious minutes of the Dogs D’Amour at their very best as a heartbroken acoustic backdrop underpins a bittersweet tale of dereliction tinged with hope. In my humble opinion, this is where Tyla just about peaked as an artist, both poetically – “Let me lay your soul to rest / Let my lips drip red wine on your breast / Let me stain your pain with disinterest / Just let me be there for the rest” – and vocally as his voice soars on the killer hook, making this delicate pull on the heart strings nothing short of irresistable.

The flip side, or the 5th of Whiskey Side, opens with the original version of the title track of the then forthcoming album, Errol Flynn. Despite being a catchy, upbeat, mid-tempo romp it adds little to the record as a whole, serving more as a contrast to the heartbroken melancholy of what is to come. And come it does in the measured, atmospheric tale of disgrace that is the drunken downfall of the preacher stumbling from his castle of sin in The Bullet Proof Poet, before the understated When the Dream Has Gone brilliantly continues the story of the heartbroken lovers in How Come It Never Rains with surprising delicacy.

Once again, they save the best ’til last though. Angel initially sounds like a continuation of the previous track given the similar vocal melody, but it soon takes on a life of its own. Weighing in at a positively hefty 3 minutes 19 seconds it tells a serious of near misses for the self destructive, deftly covering loss, depression and grief in one fell swoop. The verses are as ponderous and full of heartache as the other ballads, yet the chorus soars with an absolutely sublime hook before they throw off all previous restraint in an electrified finale of blistering guitars – perfection!

A Graveyard of Empty Bottles may be short at around 19 minutes in total, but it is a delightful little collection that inadvertently showcases a much-loved band at their very best. It captures everything that was great about Tyla J Pallas and his Dogs D’Amour, from their romantic, booze-fueled melancholy to their raunchy, blues-soaked balladeering. This is unpretentious, good old fashioned acoustic rock n roll and deserves twenty minutes of your time.

Nöthin’ But a Good Time

Posted on by edwardlayland

Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock’s Nothin’ But a Good Time tracks the decadent rise and fall of the much derided 80s hard rock / hair metal scene. It weaves a narrative from Van Halen and early incarnations of Quiet Riot, through the dizzying success of Mötley Crüe and Poison and the birth of Guns N’ Roses, to the scene’s implosion with all the look-alike sound alikes power ballading their way onto Dial MTV. 

After a revealing introduction from Slipknot’s Corey Taylor (!) professing his love for the 80s glam scene, music journalists Beaujour and Bienstock create an oral history through old and new interviews and quotes from a broad selection of players from L.A. and beyond. It’s the words of those involved that paint a vivid picture of the scene and its shenanigans, whether it’s A&R wizards like Tom Zutaut, producers like Tom Werner, the bands themselves, the publicists, stylists or even the odd groupie spilling the tea.  

It was clearly a wild time marked by rampant misogyny and unbridled excess, and the book takes us behind the scenes into the rivalries and ridiculousness to reveal the last hurrah of a tribal music scene before grunge changed the mood, the internet permanently altered life as we know it, and phones replaced lighters. Love it or hate it, there is no denying that it was hard rock’s most vibrant period, and, despite the scene eventually disappearing up it’s own backside and having its coffin nailed shut by the Seattle bands, it produced a lot of surprisingly enjoyable, good, old-fashioned rock n roll, as well as a bunch of stuff that’s probably best forgotten.

The book reveals all kinds of insights, from Slash’s audition for Poison to Sebastian Bach’s performance alongside Zakk Wylde at a wedding that led to him getting the Skid Row gig, via Jon Bon Jovi’s parents of course! There are all kinds of interesting backstories, but the one big shocker is that some of these bands worked really hard to achieve what they did, living in abject poverty and dedicating absolutely every waking hour to making it big. 

The book can come across as a little he-said-she-said gossipy at times, but that’s hardly surprising given the overriding High School Musical vibe of the scene. Still, for those who grew up with an HR/HM soundtrack, this book provides a delightful romp down memory lane in a no-holds-barred exposé of the misadventures of the time. It has also been distilled down into a three part docuseries on Paramount+ that is equally good fun, featuring said interviews from a number of the key players. 

Now that there is some distance from the time, it is clear that despite eventually becoming a parody of itself, a lot of great songs came out of the melee. So, check out the Spotify playlist that I’ve curated to more or less chronologically reflect the book’s narrative. 

What’s Hot In My House – November 2016

Posted on by edwardlayland

It’s been a busy old month, what with listening to pretty much everything Metallica have ever recorded for a piece I wrote for Already Heard. Then there was the surprisingly awesome, but shamelessly nostalgic, Guns n Roses show, which meant catching up on some old favourites, plus the usual selection of stuff to review and fill the hours of endless bus journeys. Also, with the usual round of end of year lists coming up, I’ve been dedicating a bit of time to checking out some stuff I’d been meaning to listen to. As such, it’s been a metal heavy month, even so, between the big ass riffs and raging solos I have managed to squeeze in some sublime listening. Here’s the smooth grooves that have been dripping honey into my brain of late.

Although It’s been out a while, only now have I got round to checking out ‘Love & Hate’ the absolutely incredible second album from Michael Kiwanuka. Damn, this is a fine record. Beautiful, heartbreaking, emotional and uplifting in equal measure. It makes for a superb take on human nature, echoing with vibes from the sixties and seventies, yet succeeding in sounding contemporary and topical, this is a sublime record that will be very close to the top of my end of year lists.

The cool groove of Warpaint‘s Heads Up has also been on pretty heavy rotation of late. There’s something wonderfully understated about the subtle mix of textures on these laid back deep cuts that keeps me coming back for more. There is a lot of experimentation with beats to compliment the hypnotic qualities of the vocals and instrumentation, all of which kinda defies classification and gives it a refreshing air of individuality. It’s well worth giving this a few plays and immersing yourself in its subtleties.

Another cracking recent release that I had the pleasure of reviewing, is the totally old school thrash of Testament and ‘Brotherhood of the Snake’. Honestly, this is as good as, if not better than, anything they released back in their heyday. It’s by far their most frantically thrashy record and includes some serious hooks that make it instantly catchy. Chuck Billy delivers an absolutely killer vocal performance throughout on track upon track of raging metal. Killer record.

Guns n Roses – Live in Rio Review

Posted on by edwardlayland

wp_20161116_005-3So, a few months back I wrote a piece on the much lauded Guns n Roses “reunion”, saying what an awful idea it was. My argument was basically that it was a cynical money making venture and that Axl could not and would not cut it, as he has been largely shit for the last 20 years. I also suggested that the shows would be nowhere near as good as they were back in the day and that it was one more nostalgic nail in the coffin of modern rock.

However.

Then I saw the videos of the performances from the U.S and it was pretty damn obvious that Axl was actually cutting it. Maybe not like a hot knife through butter, but there were high notes and enthusiasm, and not just in GnR, but in AC/DC too. And with a broken foot.

Then, as the tour showed little sign of imploding and actually decided to roll on down to South America, what else could I do, but see for myself. wp_20161116_005-2

So the question is, did I eat my words?

Kinda.

After a functional set from the uninspired choice of opening act, Brazilian rockers Plebe Rude, and a surprisingly short interval, in which we got to see the really quite beautiful logo variations on the backdrop, the Looney Tunes theme blared out and it was showtime.

‘It’s So Easy’ kicked things off and we all went mental. Seriously. Once upon a time Guns n Roses was known as the most dangerous band in the world and for the first 15 minutes or so it was easy to see why. The crowd was like a raging sea as it bounced as one to the punk energy of the opener and the swagger of ‘Mr. Brownstone’, even ‘Chinese Democracy’ got people jumping before the teased intro to ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ eventually sent everyone ballistic. For a few moments Axl, Slash, Duff and Co rocked as hard as they ever did; sure they are a little slower and a little rounder, but they still know how to deliver a good old fashioned hard rock banger.

‘Double Talkin’ Jive’ immediately calmed things down a little and calm they stayed, for the underrated ‘Better’ and an absolutely epic performance of ‘Estranged’. Despite proving spectacular and one of the highlights of the night, this was the first of many rather indulgent mega ballads – we got them all, bar ‘Patience’.

‘Live and Let Die’ was predictably frantic, prior to the cool bass groove of the sorely underrated ‘Rocket Queen’; the already lengthy track gaining an extended midsection and sexy skeletons on the backdrop. There was another surprise in ‘Out Ta Get Me’ before the heroin chic of the tireless Duff McKagan pounded out the bass riff to ‘You Could Be Mine’ to get the crowd bouncing again. Although Axl was mostly excellent, reaching most of the high notes, it was here and more notably on ‘Coma’ that he struggled – the fast sections tripping him up a little. A mid set breather was due – cue Duff and his version of the Misfits‘ ‘Attitude’.

img-20161119-wa0002-2‘This I Love’ preceded the epics ‘Civil War’ and ‘Coma’ before the obligatory Slash solo of Speak Softly Love (Love Theme From The Godfather). It was all great stuff and the top hatted one still shreds, but the dude has been playing the same damn thing since I was a kid – talk about playing it safe. Was it then necessary to do an instrumental duet with Richard Fortus on ‘Wish You Were Here’? Sure, it was awesome, the crowd sung it, people cried and Slash and Richard nailed it, but two solo slots?
Sandwiched in between were the unbeatable ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ and the surprisingly fun ‘Yesterdays’, which proved much more enjoyable in the live arena than on record. In a neat twist they then segued ‘Wish You Were Here’ into the piano outro from ‘Layla’ to get Axl on the piano.

Only one song could follow, and follow it did. On the one hand November Rain epitomizes everything that is pretentious and overblown about GnR and can so easily turn into an awful lumbering spectacle of over indulgence. Thankfully though, the front man seems to be in a good place right now, despite him and Slash virtually ignoring each other all night, and he crooned his way though with technique and urgency, delivering one of the best vocals of the night. For some reason most of the crowd seemed to have balloons to go with cell phones and it all made for a quite beautiful spectacle, even more so as the massive full moon emerged above the stadium right on cue – I guess these kind of shared moments are the whole point of such nostalgic outings. Fair play Axl.img-20161117-wa0007-2

Two hours in and the vocalist was visibly enjoying himself as he rolled back the years to dart around the stage to conduct the crowd in a sing off on ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’. By now it was utterly shameless enjoyment of timeless classics, and we were certainly getting our money’s worth.
We rocked again for set closer ‘Nightrain’, but it was back to the ballads in the encore of ‘Don’t Cry’ with more extended guitar work. The Who‘s ‘The Seeker’ offered an irresistibly big riff, but we were really only waiting for ‘Paradise City’ to rock to an explosive close. And it did not disappoint – mosh pits opened up, swathes of bodies bounced as one and it was genuinely wild abandon in the crush – it almost felt like 1990 again.

The crowd actually demanded another encore, but the band returned merely to take a bow, all hugs and smiles.
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So, all in all, I guess you have to take your hat off to Guns n Roses – they are still a mighty proposition and deliver a fine performance. They are seasoned pros and know how to work a stage and get a crowd going, despite the minimal interaction between band members and between band and crowd.
Are they still dangerous? Not really, but they do rock and they are a pretty tight unit; they put on a show but it’s not over produced and works well with less people on stage – no horns, no backing singers, a cool backdrop of images and minimal pyrotechnics keeps it lean.

Is Axl the vocalist he was 25 years ago? He’s a damn sight closer to it now than he has been in the last 15 years. His range is impressive and he works the mic, but the impression is that age has taken it’s toll a little and slowed up the delivery, there may be an element of tiredness too.

Are they just in it for the money? Surely that is a factor, but then again they do seem to be enjoying themselves, so I’ll reserve judgement. Also, they may be raking in the cash, but at two and a half hours long their set is pretty damn good value.

Is it all just shameless nostalgia? Sure, of course, but when you are this good and the material still cuts it, then why the hell not? Quite how long the night train can roll on without new product though is open to question, as is whether or not the relationships will endure. In the meantime though, they are well worth the trip down memory lane.

Love/Hate – Blackout In The Red Room

Posted on by edwardlayland

lovehateBack in the late eighties hard rock was fast disappearing up its own rectum; the proliferation of hair metal bands had reached epidemic proportions and each and every one of them was following the same formula of massive choruses, massive heels and at least one massive power ballad. Quality hard rock was hard to come by, except, of course, in the form of Guns n Roses, who totally dominated the HR/HM scene, and to a lesser extent Skid Row, who were somewhat unfairly lumped in with the sunset strip wannabes, when in fact they were substantially heavier and had a lot more going on in the songwriting department, especially on ‘Slave To The Grind’. Anyway, in the midst of all this a band that had been struggling to be heard and get a record deal finally got signed and delivered a quality slice of hard rocking, Jack soaked tunes with barely an eye liner in sight.

In simple terms ‘Blackout In The Red Room’ rocks, and hard. The refreshing thing about the album was that it wasn’t just copying GnR, it wasn’t just following the formula of all the hair bands and although there are a few clichés, it wasn’t all high hats, cow bells and radio friendly harmonies. Instead, what you get is a bunch of dirty sounding riffs, abrasive vocals and some coolly arranged tracks largely about getting wasted. Oh yeah, and no power ballad.

The title track sets the pace with a mid tempo swagger and some serious groove; it may be a true headbanger, but in rock clubs it was a surefire floor filler. ‘Rock Queen’ is a stylish second track featuring a stack of hooks and the wonderfully bizarre line of “Let me touch your cookies/Let me eat your cookies”!

The album continues in a flurry of hard riffs and well worked tunes, with highlights like ‘Fuel to Run’ and ‘Tumbleweed, which are good hard rockers and the frantic old school finale ‘Hell, Ca., Pop.4’. Although ‘She’s an Angel’ borrows heavily from the book of hard rock clichés for its more serious tone, it is as quality a slice of metal lite as you’re likely to hear.

Ok, so one track or another doesn’t exactly set the world on fire, i.e ‘Slutsy Tipsy’ and ‘Slave Girl’, but in general the standard is high. For example, the ode to weed that is ‘Mary Jane’ is a nicely arranged number with some cool twists to the tempo and more great guitar work. The standout track though, is the song which got heavy rotation on MTV, ‘Why Do You Think They Call It Dope, a killer tune with a great hook and some funky assed bass.

On the whole ‘Blackout…’ stands up as a damn good record that was a cut above a lot of what was coming out of sunset strip at the time. They may not have been PC or had the general appeal of a GnR or a Skid Row, but there was some serious talent in the band and some hard rocking bangers on this record. If dirty riffs, blazing solos and raspy vocals are your thing, it’s well worth revisiting.

8/10

Metallica – Hardwired Review

Posted on by edwardlayland

There are very few bands left in the world for which the release of a new record would be an event, and lets face it, outside of the reformed Guns n Roses dropping ‘Appetite…Part 2’, the biggest possible such event is new music from Metallica. The San Francisco metallers once thrashed out 4 albums in five years, so having waited 8 years since ‘Death Magnetic’, a new album is long overdue, but finally, come November, the 12 track double album will hit the racks. In the meantime, we have the video for album opener ‘Hardwired’, which they dropped yesterday, August 18th, three months ahead of the album. The question is though, is it any damn good?

The short answer is yes, of course! It’s fucking Metallica, even their worst music is streets ahead of the majority, the bigger issue though, is whether it will stand up alongside ‘Master of Puppets’ and the uber popular Black album, which is precisely what it sound as if they are aiming for. The production has that clean crisp resonance of Death Magnetic, not surprising given Greg Fidelman is once again fiddling with the knobs, but there is more than an echo of ‘Battery’ to Lars’ furious drumming and Kirk’s blistering soloing. There’s also a definite air of the early 90s about the black and white claustrophobic video for the track.

The song actually begins with machine gun riffing/beats and a staccato riff á la ‘Enter Sandman’, before the real thrash gallop begins. It features all those little stops, time changes and familiar elements of the signature Metallica sound, although James wasn’t exactly up all night on the hook – “We’re so fucked!/ Shit outta luck”. He does make amends in the ‘Whiplash’ style third verse however – “Once upon a planet burning/ Once upon a flame/ Once upon a spirit turning all in vain/ Do you feel that hopeless feeling?/ Do you comprehend?/ Do you feel it terminating in the end?”. It all sounds somewhat familiar, but hey, I guess that’s kinda cool, we want Metallica to sound like Metallica!

After repeated listens, I’ve gotta admit that it pretty much hits the spot – one foot in the past, one in the present – ok, so it may lack the rawness of ‘Ride The Lightning’ or ‘Master of Puppets’, but this is brand Metallica launching new product, so there’s no way it will ever be that amazing again. However, considering that it’s now thirty something years down the line and the band are in their fifties, it’s good to know that like the rest of the big four, they can still shred. See for yourself right here:

The official word from Metallica: https://metallica.com/blog/news/429181/hardwired-to-self-destruct-available-november-18-2

Iron Maiden – Somewhere in Eternity

Posted on by edwardlayland

I recently wrote a massive kind of introduction to Iron Maiden piece for http://www.alreadyheard.com, but due to editorial constraints I had to cut it down and change the format and stuff. However, having put rather a lot of time and energy into its researching and writing, I’ve decided to make the most of it to reproduce a brief history right here.

Iron Maiden was born on Christmas day 1975, but spent three years messing around with different members, before Steve Harris, Dave Murray and their then colleagues got it together to record a demo on New Year’s Eve 1978. Such was the popularity of the demo, that in under a year it had been pressed and released under the name of ‘The Soundhouse Tapes’, all 5000 copies selling out in a few short weeks based on word of mouth; had secured them a manager in the rotund form of Rod Smallwood; oh yeah, and landed them a major label record deal with E.M.I..

By April of 1980, riding high on the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, the Londoners were already delivering the goods – their eponymous debut crashing the UK album charts at number 4. Featuring Paul Di’Anno‘s rough edged vocals, it boasts a raw energy honed to perfection by five long years on the East London pub circuit. From the sinister rock riffing that opens the murderous ‘Prowler’ there is something quite daring about it; this is the sound of a band exploring its creativity, pushing themselves and the Heavy Metal genre forward, reworking classic ideas whilst incorporating new. The most startling example of their innovation is the monumental ‘Phantom of the Opera’, an epic master class in songwriting that helps make ‘Iron Maiden’ one of the finest debuts in Heavy Metal. In one fell swoop, Iron Maiden established themselves as the act to follow, not only in sound, but also in marketing, the stunning first glimpse of Eddie The Head the first step to establishing their merchandise empire.

However, Harris and Murray were still having difficulties with personnel, which led to Adrian Smith joining the band prior to the recording and release of 1981’s ‘Killers’. Although it was another quality album, there was little to set it apart from their debut, it largely consisting of left over material, plus there were more personnel problems on the horizon. Besides the excessive drug use of vocalist Paul Di’Anno, which never really fit the band’s profile, the raspiness that had initially attracted Harris to his voice would prove to be the singer’s downfall; his hard rock tropes were just too limited for the direction the songwriting would take.

Samson‘s Bruce Dickinson was seen as the perfect replacement and slipped seamlessly into the band for the recording of ‘The Number of the Beast’, the album that changed everything, providing their first UK number one. ‘Beast’ is jam packed with killer material, the songs are quite simply in a different class, whether it’s the riff fest that is ’22 Acacia Avenue’, the hook filled chorus of ‘Run to the Hills’ or the subtle complexities to the epic tale of ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’, which is arguably the band’s finest moment in itself, the songs are quite simply in a different class. It is a genuine classic that created a template by which future Metal albums would be judged. With Nicko McBrain replacing drummer Clive Burr after the supporting tour, what would become the classic line up was in place and the Maiden machine would march on to conquer the world.

The first half of the 1980s was the band’s most prolific period and would see them produce a quite staggering album a year for five years until 1984, followed by the definitive heavy metal live album in 1985’s ‘Live After Death’. Simply put, it is one of the finest live albums ever recorded and documents the seemingly endless World Slavery Tour following 1984’s ‘Powerslave’ and the 1983 album that first broke them stateside, ‘Piece of Mind’. The tour went on so long that Dickinson actually threatened to quit if they didn’t have a few months off.

The break was short lived however, as they were soon back in the studio for ‘Somewhere In Time’, on which they controversially added some synthesised elements to their signature sound; something they further explored on 1988’s conceptual affair ‘Seventh Son of a Seventh Son’. Even so, both albums were warmly received by critics and fans alike; the latter providing the band with their second UK number one. The supporting tour culminated in their first headline performance at Donington for the Monsters of Rock festival, which was marred by the death of two fans in the crush during Guns n Roses’ UK debut set.

Chinks were starting to appear in Iron Maiden‘s armour though, Dickinson was feeling creatively limited by the band’s sound and released his first solo album, the vibrant ‘Tattooed Millionaire’ in 1990, alongside guitarist Janick Gers. Gers would then find himself employed by Maiden after the departure of long time member Adrian Smith, who was distinctly unhappy (and rightly so!) with the stripped down direction the band was taking on ‘No Prayer for the Dying’, which proved to be a stinker of a record. After having produced seven classic studio albums, at some stage the creative juices had to run dry and ‘Prayer’ is the sound of band pushing the self destruct button. It looks and sounds like Maiden, but it’s like they decided to give the tribute band a shot. How ironic that the second single from the album, the stunningly awful ‘Bring Your Daughter…’, gave them their first number one single – must’ve been a quiet week on the charts.

1992’s ‘Fear of the Dark’ managed to recover some lost pride, but was the final nail in the coffin for Dickinson, who’d simply had enough, the tension of the subsequent tour signalling the end of an era. He was eventually replaced by Blaze Bayley from Wolfsbane, who had supported Maiden on their 1990 tour. Blaze’s deeper voice added a darker edge to their sound on the competent ‘X Factor’, but his limitations were starting to show by 1998’s disappointing ‘Virtual XI’ and were undisguisable in the live arena, many of Bruce’s songs proving too challenging for Bayley’s natural register. January 1999 brought the likeable front man’s five year stint to a close, and, at the suggestion of manager Rod Smallwood, Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith were both approached to rejoin the band.

From the opening chords of ‘The Wicker Man’ on 2000’s ‘Brave New World’ it is clearly the sound of a band reinvigorated, now boasting a three guitar line-up of Smith, Murray and Gers and a return to more complex compositions. Maiden were back on form and would embark on a run of quality releases through the noughties; besides the superb ‘Rock in Rio’ live album, which neatly captures the enthusiasm of Brazilian fans, both ‘Dance of Death’ and ‘A Matter of Life and Death’, from 2003 and 2007 respectively, were well received and would result in ever more ambitious touring. Not only were their songs getting longer and more complex, rarely dipping below the five minute mark, but the tours were also going to ever greater lengths, visiting more exotic locations and flying in their own plane, Ed Force One, with lead singer Dickinson at the controls. The ‘Flight 666’ movie of their 2008 ‘Somewhere Back in Time Tour’ makes for compelling viewing, giving rare insight into the logistics of a world tour and the dynamic of the band, as they play in places like India, Colombia and Costa Rica as well as the well trodden stages of previous world tours.

For a band that had weathered the turbulence of internal difficulties, coupled with the ever changing musical climate, the fact that after Dickinson and Smith returned they consolidated their creative reputation, besides cementing the popularity of their live performances, is testament to their talent and enduring appeal. For 15th studio album, ‘The Final Frontier’, which was widely expected to be their last, to then go to number one in 28 different countries was a remarkable achievement, as was the Grammy win for single ‘El Dorado’ and the fact that the supporting tour gathered audiences reportedly totalling 2 million people.

It would’ve been no surprise if Iron Maiden had decided to call it a day, but with another greatest hits album, ‘From Fear to Eternity’, and more live releases they found excuses to keep on touring. Their headline performance at Download in 2013 would be their fifth at Donington, 25 years after 1988’s infamous occasion.

The breaks between the albums may have got longer but 2016 finds Iron Maiden touring the world once again, and with another Donington headline appearance lined up. Last year’s ‘Book of Souls’ proved that despite Dickinson’s brush with cancer, Maiden marches inexorably on, the longest album of their career providing yet another UK number one. Although all the albums since the return of Smith and Dickinson have been well received and stand up in terms of quality, it is ‘Book of Souls’ that holds up when compared to the cannon of albums from the eighties. Tracks like ‘If Eternity Should Fail’ and ‘Tears of a Clown’ show that they still have a trick or two up their collective sleeves, and that’s before we get to the 18 minute piano driven epic ‘Empire of the Clouds’!

Whether or not ‘Book of Souls’ is their swan song remains to be seen, but for the moment at least, it’s business as usual as their enduring brand continues to thunder across the globe. Who would’ve thought that in the 40 plus years since that Christmas Day in Steve Harris’ living room his brainchild would go on to sell over 90 million albums and monstrous quantities of merchandise, becoming one or the most recognised brands and bands in the world, with multiple number ones, multiple awards and a legacy that makes them one of the most important forces in the history of rock music.

http://ironmaiden.com/

5 Slices of Killer Filler

Posted on by edwardlayland

Once upon a time the album format ruled the music business, particularly in the seventies and then again with the CD boom of the late eighties early nineties. However, with the changing landscape of the digital age, singles or individual downloads, legal or otherwise, were the preferred method of consumption for the internet generation. In a somewhat surprising twist it appears that vinyl is making a comeback, and also with the save to device features of streaming platforms being at their most efficient when downloading the whole album, the good old long player format is once again at the fore with all its pros and cons.

The case in favour is basically one of context, artists don’t decide running orders lightly – ever make a playlist? – this shit is important and the combination of songs can make or break a track. For instance, Blur‘s ‘Song 2’ only works as track 2, preferably right after ‘Beetlebum’. I mean can you imagine listening to GnR’s Appetite for Destruction and ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ not being followed by ‘It’s So Easy’? Also, the fact that each track is normally intended as part of the ebb and flow of the album’s mood makes each and every song important – at least in the eyes of the artist.

Which brings us to the downside – filler. Unfortunately, not every track on every album can be a classic and sometimes artists stamp their feet and hang on to tracks they have a real personal thing for, but just don’t always strike a chord with the listener. So stuff gets included that maybe would be better left on the studio floor and we start reaching for the skip button, something more complicated for vinyl junkies, but easy as pie for streamers and CD & Mp3 listeners. How many twelve track albums have you heard that would be all killer if they were cut to nine or ten? Then there’s the one hit wonders who build albums around that one awesome track and just don’t have the songs to merit a full LP. You ever buy an album for that one song?

Whatever the case may be, every now and again the lack of patience that has us reaching for fast forward, or the “I love that one killer track” mentality, or even the greatest hits approach, means that certain less well known tracks don’t necessarily get their dues. Sometimes the filler can be killer, check out these low fliers….

Oasis’ debut album, ‘Definitely Maybe is a certified classic and has a lot of very strong songs. ‘Live Forever’, ‘Supersonic’, Cigarettes and Alcohol’ and ‘Slide Away’ all have an enduring popularity, but one song that is often overlooked and was never given enough runs on stage was the mighty ‘Columbia’. Ok, it’s not exactly pushing any boundaries lyrically speaking but it’s got hooks and is just so damn loud. The guitar sound is gigantic and it builds and builds, layer upon layer, lick upon lick as the hypnotic rhythm rolls along in mesmerising fashion; it is surely one of their most unique songs – mad for it.

1991’s ‘Screamadelica’ is a classic album of indie acid house that came about after Andrew Weatherall had deftly deconstructed Primal Scream‘s ‘I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have’ into the dance floor hand waver and top twenty hit ‘Loaded’. The album is overflowing with dance beats, chill out music and house piano lines that neatly capture the pervading drug culture on (and off) the UK’s dance floors. The album is famous for the aforementioned ‘Loaded’, the uplifting gospel of ‘Movin’ On Up’, the ultra chill of ‘Higher Than The Sun’ (and its dub symphony on side four), floor filler ‘Don’t Fight It Feel It’ and the monumental ‘Come Together’. But hang on a minute, what’s that tucked away half way through side three of the vinyl? A ballad? Yep, and it’s one of the Scream’s most underrated songs. ‘Damaged’ owes a lot stylistically to ‘I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have’, the song which prompted the whole thing, and is a piano based acoustic strum of summer love featuring sublime guitar work from Robert ‘Throb’ Young, who also did the vocals on ‘Slip Inside this House’, literally impersonating Bobby Gillespie, who was too wasted to sing. ‘Damaged’ stands up as a quite beautiful song, very much in the vein of their regular indie rock style, and is deserving of way more recognition than it gets.

Buried on side seven of the ridiculously overblown ‘Use Your Illusions’, ‘Locomotive’ is one of the most criminally overlooked Guns n Roses songs. The song ebbs and flows through Axl’s story telling and is jam packed with time changes as they drop in all kinds of twists and turns; musically speaking it’s a superbly arranged track, with the piano break in the finale accompanied by understated soloing to provide a classy finish.

‘Hatful of Hollow’ (‘Louder Than Bombs’ in the U.S.A, albeit with a slightly different track listing) is a compilation album of tracks The Smiths recorded for sessions at the BBC, besides a couple of singles. While not exactly a greatest hits album it does feature slightly altered versions of a number of their most famous tracks like ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now’, ‘Hand in Glove’ and ‘This Charming Man’, but wait, what’s that little gem nestling at mid-album? It’s a song that was only ever recorded for a Peel session in September of 1983 – This Night Has Opened My Eyes’. I’m no Smiths aficionado, but this track has everything that made them great; laid back guitar melody, disturbing lyrics and a subtly twisted pop aesthetic, only it finds Morrissey delivering a beautifully understated vocal while Johnny Marr‘s guitar lines meander along atmospherically; sublime.

Elbow‘s universally acclaimed, million selling, Mercury Music Prize winning album ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’ is one of the most important records of the last ten years and is filled with many a beautiful moment. With Guy Garvey‘s thoughtful lyrics and the band’s intricately woven musical tapestry it’s a record that is nothing short of superb. The stand out tracks like the massive Grounds for Divorce, ‘The Bones of You’ and ‘One Day Like This’ in all its glory tend to steal all the thunder, yet it’s the rich textures and the subtle details that make this such a fine album and one of the less obvious tracks that repeated listens reveal to be quite stunning is ‘Weather To Fly’. Featuring one of Garvey´s most measured yet brilliant vocals, a delicate piano melody and gorgeous lilting orchestration that takes on a whole new dimension on the Abbey Road version with the BBC Concert Orchestra, it is a song of restrained beauty that is sorely underrated.