Whats a Year End Without A Year End List

I do love a list, but I don't think I can be bothered to do one this year ... only kidding
(although when you've finished it you'll probably wish I hadn't)

2021 has delivered plenty of new music, and has also marked a (slight) return to what we used to call "normality".
Edit: did I speak too soon ...

It may not be huge numbers, but I've managed 2 gigs (2 more to come in the coming weeks), a visit to Belfast, a Curry night with old friends and one or two (twenty or thirty?) meals out.
Still working at home (going into the office usually once a week), and I've finally bought a proper monitor rather than just squinting at a 13" laptop screen.  Plus working at home means I can get my hands (and ears) on new stuff as it is delivered (not much of a life advantage, but I like "little victories").

I thought I'd got my list sorted, but then Hamish Hawk and the (late) purchase of The Stranglers threw a Spaniard in the worms.

And to be sure of my ranking, I went back and listened to them all again - some adjustments up and down were made, but rest assured this ranking is based on important research and not just an arbitrary "that'll do".

And so ...

1. The Coral 'Coral Island'

A double album clocking in at around 45 minutes isn't really a double album. Unless it is 2 distinct parts that need to be purposefully split.
And that is the case with 'Coral Island' - a thematic story of an imagined seaside town - first at the height of Summer, and the second when it closes down (either for the winter, or for good).
Part 1 evokes summer - you can almost smell the chips, and then feel they grey and cold of a deserted and/or forgotten seaside town (I've been to Skegness in October) in Part 2.
It mixes jangly indie, 60s Garage, and throws in a mix of Inspiral Carpets, Richard Hawley, The Shadows and Joe Meek for good measure.  A football analogy: they may have spent 20+ years in the Championship with the odd excursion to the Premier League, but this is the album that cements their position ion the top league.  Possibly hyperbole, but I believe it to be their best album of their career.

Vacancy

2. Jim Bob 'Who Do We Hate Today?'

Lockdown wasn't too bad for some, and produced some very good albums.  This is not a Lockdown Concept album, but does touch on the subject and comments on the world it finds itself in.
From Glam Rock-ish stomps to brittle ruminations, with clever wordplay akin to Ian Dury, humour and cynicism in equal measure, there's much to like for the (slightly) unreconstructed indie fan from the early 90s (ie me).
The commentary says: OK - the world's not really "great", but it's not that "shit" either - this is the "real" somewhere inbetween (you decide?).

Summer Of No Touching

3. Hamish Hawk 'Heavy Elevator'

If Jim Bob's wordplay errs on the realistic and cynical, Hamish Hawk goes for wordplay of the more literary kind.  The sort of reference you need to hear a couple of times to get, or just need to go away and look-up ("for years I was Lennon's Imagine track three" a case in point).
And all this is set to a variety of musical backdrops and styles - some immediately recognisable, some a collection of bits and pieces, but always unique in delivery.
There is yearning, there's humour, there's rocking moments, and all through is a clear commitment to make each track unique and the best it can be.

The Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion 1973 

4. Alice Cooper 'Detroit Stories'

The run of albums from 'Killer', 'Schools Out' and 'Billion Dollar Babies' would grace anyones back-catalogue.  And it is to that sound Alice returns, rather than sanitised shlock-horror image with a (often) over-produced sound.
This album is a nod to the rocking Detroit sound of those 4 albums, plus the whole Detroit scene - featuring prime movers like Wayne Kramer (MC5) and Mark Farner (Grand Funk Railroad) - and also peers like Iggy Pop, The Stooges, and more who were part of it, or inspired by it.
Alice is back, and despite the concerns that re-living his past would not deliver, it most certainly does.

Detroit City 2021

5. Paul Weller 'Fat Pop'

A new year, a new Paul Weller album - and this one is perhaps the best of the immediate past.  
Rather than take flight in a now genre obsession (whilst still being unmistakably Weller) 'Fat Pop' appears to distill the relative tangents of the past and also hark back to the past catalogue to create a recognisable, yet still challenging and driving forwards, listening experience.
The sub-title states "Volume 1" - can we have Volume 2 soon please to sit alongside this little corker.

Shades Of Blue

6. Stranglers 'Dark Matters'

A late entry (as I didn't get round to buying it when it first appeared).  Is it the thrill of the new, or actually up there?  The latter.
Dark Matters contains all the hallmarks of The Stranglers - musicality mixed with confrontation.  It may only be JJ left from the original line-up (Dave Greenfield sadly passed before his contributions were complete).  It may be 9 years since their last release (and 44 years since their debut) but The Stranglers (albeit in reduced form) are still delivering.

This Song

7. Manic Street Preachers 'Ultra Vivid Lament'

With 'Ultra Vivid Lament', the Manics continue their high quality consistent run of albums.  Gone are the incitments to revolution of the past, the espousing of socialism.  The 6th Form Poetry in the lyrics still remains, as does the interpretations in song of the lost/missed Richey Edwards (not perhaps as overtly as before but it's still (possibly) there.  Every Manics album of recent years has contained a call and response duet, and this one boasts two.  It also feels (as do many previous outings) as a continuing saga/history.  Rooted in the same ideals but not falling back on the same stories.
For a band that was supposed to have a short life, they are now reaching "elder statesman" status, and are one of those bands that everyone knows about.  Like the Ravens at the Tower Of London, they are just there - and continue to underline their relevance in the world.

The Secret He Has Missed 

8. Iron Maiden 'Senjutsu'

And here's another lot still producing valid work after nigh on 4 and a half decades in the biz.  Save for a couple of mis-steps when Bruce and Adrian left the ranks, ver Maiden's output has always been top notch.  And 'Senjutsu' is no different.  OK, they may indulge their proggy tendencies and extend songs out for 8 minutes plus, but there is nary a note or interlude wasted.  All the hallmarks remain, the quality is as high as ever, and this is no resting on the laurels - Maiden continue to push along and surely retain their position as Britain's (if not the world's) premier Heavy Rock band.

The Writing On The Wall

9. Matt Berry 'The Blue Elephant'

He's a clever bugger! Not content with performing the 9th best album of the year, he goes further by writing it all, playing everything (with some drumming assistance), producing it, and even painting the picture that adorns the cover.  With all those additional responsibilities, has the songwriting suffered?  Not a bit of it.  Echoes of psychedelia, wallops of Prog, some (forgivably?) bad lyrics, this is one elephant in the room that you'd be happy to mention and talk about.

Summer Sun

10. The Professionals 'SNAFU'

The Professionals original life was short and messy.  Their reformation was supposed to be a one-off.  There was enough support to warrant creating a whole album (2017s 'What In The World') and after 4 years of near constant touring (apart from 2020 for some reason?) and pleasing (admittedly middle-age) crowds up and down the country, this second album is spewed out.  Energetic and committed from the off, the pace rarely reduces - and what a fine noise it is.  It may not be challenging, breaking new musical ground, but it doesn't need to be when what is presented is more than satisfactory.

M'Ashes

11. Parquet Courts 'Sympathy For Life'

On which the Parquet Courts continue their sound evolution.  Imagine mixing The Strokes with Depeche Mode and adding sniff of New Order to the recipe.  The Parquet Courts have, and whatresults is properly great.  It may not be as immediate as it's predecessors ('Human Performance' and 'Wide Awake'), but stick with it and 'Sympathy For Life' reveals it be at least the equal.  Across the tracks there are some very good songs, and a couple of "not quite as good" songs, but no clunkers and no skippers, and the energy levels rarely dip.

Walking At A Downtown Pace

12. Wolf Alice 'Blue Weekend'

This was bought on the strength of one track.  However, regular playing (note: not to convince myself of the investment) revealed a very fine album indeed.  There's no fixed genre or style to the album, but it does feel a singular whole.
This album covers all bases from breathy minimalism to all out thrashy-trashy-indie rock, interspersed with and St Etienne-meets-Garbage moments, and bolted to lyrics that conjure evocative images (they may not be personal to you, but you can recognise the situation they conveying).  The way some of the slower, more introspective tracks butt up against the louder ones may feel jarring on first hearing, but there is a natural flow and groove soon discovered.

Safe From Heartbreak (If I Never Fall In Love)

13. Public Service Broadcasting 'Bright Music'

PSBs first album was called 'Inform-Educate-Entertain' and that is exactly what it did, mixing old news reel with newly created backing music.  Subsequent albums repeated the trick with the Space Race and Welsh Coal Mining.
Now, maybe the subject matter here (Berlin) is a bit alien to this listener, but this doesn't feel as essential as previous outputtings.  This is no criticism of the content - like with past music, you really feel that every note has been laboured over to endure it is perfectly placed.  On the plus side, I did learn that Berlin was home to the first electric street lamp (so it's not all bad) and that in the shape of "Blue Heaven" may well have produced Song Of The Year

Blue Heaven

14. John Grant 'Boy From Michigan'

I will freely admit to being blown away by John Grant albums on first hearing, and then few follow-up enthusiastic listenings happen.  Why?  Sadly, because the albums aren't 'Queen Of Denmark' or 'Pale Green Ghosts' (and I don't think I've actually listened to 2108s 'Love Is Magic' since 2018).
However, I'm making the (hopeful) statement that 'Boy From Michigan' is a keeper.  It's not QoD or PGG (get that from my mind!) but what it is is a sumptuous personal nattative of Grant's life, the prejudices he's faced, and the world as he sees it, addresses with wit, eloquence, under-statement, melody and musicianship. 

Country Fair

15. Dead Men Walking 'Freedom - It Aint On The Rise'

Dead Men Walking, as a collective, have been doing the rounds since 2001.  Their schtick is stripped back acoustice versions of Punk and New Wave songs, and their membership has included Kirk Brandon, Glen Matlock, Captain Sensible, and Mike Peters (among many others).
The current line-up is: Kirk Brandon (Theatre Of Hate / Spear Of Destiny), Dave Ruffy and Segs Jennings (Ruts DC), and Jake Burns (Stiff Little Fingers).
This album is a mix of half a dozen originals (mostly from Brandon and Jennings) mixed with the "classics" from each band stripped back to 4 blokes sitting on a stage telling stories and singing songs acoustically.
What I take away from this is: great songwriters continue to write great songs, a great song has the same (if not more) power when stripped back to the bones, and (on a personal note) I never realised how good Spear Of Destiny were.

(there should be a link here, but the album (or any of the tracks are not on YouTube))

There are two more which would probably be on the list, but I haven't actually bought them yet.  Spotify only listening don't count - my rules are that I need to own the product.  That way it becomes more than a casual listening experience.  They are flipping good though.

• Robert Plant & Alison Krauss 'Raise The Roof'
• James McMurtry 'The Horses and the Hounds"

These oversights will be rectified soon (honest!)

Song Of The Year?

Well, that could very well be any one of the 15 links above.
But I feel I should highlight one of those stand-alone orphans with no albumular home

Sharon Van Etten & Angel Olsen - Like I Used To

The Stranglers - Dark Matters

I had tickets for the Final UK Tour in November 2020.  Obviously that didn't happen - it was rescheduled to April 2021, and is now scheduled for February 2022.

I'd bought those tickets back in early 2020 so was not aware what was coming.  Also - and perhaps of more importance - Dave Greenfield passed away in May 2020.
This leaves Jean Jacques Burnel as the last Strangler standing (Hugh Cornwell left in 1990, and Jet Black who eased into semi-retirement in 2015, fully retired in 2018 as he approached his 80th birthday)

Dave Greenfield's keyboards do appear on 8 of the 11 tracks on 'Dark Matters', an everyone of those 11 deliver what you want/expect from a Stranglers album.  Solid backbeat, rumbling bass, aggressive guitar, and sometimes confrontational vocal (but certainly not on acoustic "The Lines" which underlines the breadth of The Stranglers musicality).

Opener "Water" has all that you want to open the album, and "This Song" just keeps it going - and comes complete with a video featuring uber-fan Stuart Pearce
Track 3 is JJ's tribute to his keyboarding mate "And If You Should See Dave".  The lyric talks of loss and missed opportunity to say farewell properly and includes the poignant line:

"It would be nice to say Hello, This is where your solo would go ..."

Recorded against a backdrop of isolation, separation, and personal loss, this album stands as a testament to The Stranglers quality control, songcraft and musicianship.  If this is the last of the breed then it is a fitting send off to the band, and the restraint of closer "Breathe" signs off in some style, fading from a cacophony to a single electronic pulse.

All good things must come to an end, sadly some endings are a whimper - this one aint.
Roll on February 2022
(unless it gets postponed again ..)

And If You Should See Dave

The Last Men On The Moon

Helloween

German Heavy Metal may not be the broadest of categories.
Dominating that list would be The Scorpions, Michael Schenker, Accept, Rammstein and Kreator.
Yes, there are probably many others, but as I don't own anything by them (or have never knowingly heard them), it's a bit difficult for me to comment

Anyway, one more band to add to the list: Helloween.

Formed in 1984, signed to Noise International and released their debut by mid 1985.
'Walls Of Jericho' included the track "Heavy Metal Is The Law" which gives a clue to the content - thumping drums, crunching guitar, volume cranked up - in short, a slab of thrash metal with, if I'm honest, few redeeming features.  It sits well alongside mid-80s thrash outings from Europe, but is not one I'd play again in my later years.

A change of vocalist in 1986 also heralded a change in the bands sound - the Metal they were now producing was closer to the Iron Maiden end of the market.  And in this vein, the and intended to release a double concept type album titled The Keeper Of The Seven Keys.
Lofty thoughts for a relatively low selling band on a relatively small, independent German record label (albeit with a licensing deal with Megaforce International in the US)

As a result, these lofty thoughts were reined in and the record label won out with "we'll release a single album, and if that's successful you can do part 2".

And with that promise ringing in their ears, they honed own the already written songs and sent forth an 8 track album.  The rough thrash edges were smoothed, new vocalist Michael Kiske provided a Dickinson-esque platform, Kai Hansen handles most the guitar work (in the absence of second guitarist and songwriter Michael Weikath), the drums thump, the bass plods, and what is produced is very enjoyable 37 minutes
Bookended by 2 similar pieces ("Initiation" and "Follow The Sign", it comes flying out of the traps with"I'm Alive".  That pace may not be maintained - there are some almost "Metal By Numbers" tracks present, but "Future World" and  the 13 minute multi-movement track (the near eponymously titled "Halloween") keep offer more than enough redemption and return-ability.

And with the critical and public acclaim, the band went on tour for nigh on 2 years.  And in the middle of their world-schlepping, Noise International held good to their word and released 'Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 2'.

'...Part 2' isn't a bad album, it just doesn't feel as vital or worked at as '... Part 1'.  The fact it was written and recorded during tour down-time, and the increasing tensions in the band, just may explain the shortfall.  The album is dominated by the returning Michael Weikath, which is bound to affect the consistency and flow between the two parts.
By late 1988, MTV was heavily playing "I Want Out" - a single lifted from '.. Part 2' which was effectively Kai Hansen's resignation letter.

1989 started with a new guitarist in tow, and a change of record label - signing with major label EMI, quickly followed by a Breach Of Contract lawsuit from Noise International.  This basically stopped the band touring for the best part of 3 years.
Which should mean that without the distraction and efforts of touring, they could settle into the studio and produce a masterwork.
Sadly not - the resultant album 'Pink Bubbles Go Ape' (1991) shares more DNA with US Hair Metal than early Thrash days or Seven Keys Maiden-isms.  The fan-base was not convinced, and the album barely broke even.
One more album followed before EMI cut it's losses.  And add to that the departure of the vocalist and drummer, they stumbled on with their appeal growing ever more select (but continuing to sell well in Germany, Scandinavia and Japan).  Past members have returned, and they've even managed to update the 7 Keys tale with the album 'Keeper Of The Seven Keys: The Legacy'
(note: I've listened to it twice on Spotify - it's OK, but I'm not sure I'll be investing)

They may not be in the Premier League, but perhaps near regulars in the Championship Play Offs).  In a relatively small pool, they deserve a place in the pantheon of Germanic Heavy Rock merchants

I'm Alive

Halloween

I Want Out

Hamish Hawk - Heavy Elevator

Edit:  After first publishing this, I discover that both my research and assumptions are flawed.
This is not Hamish Hawk's debut release, it is in fact his third - preceded by 'Aznavour' (2014) an 'Zero To One' (2018).
I have therefore modified the text to rectify my error (and left in the original text to remind me I am a fool, and should research properly in future)

Releasing your debut a new album can be a daunting task.  Without mass media hype, major record company support, or a persuasive sponsor and advocate, a relatively low key release on a minor, self-funded label is always going to be a risk.

But if you have a song titled "The Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion 1973" in your cannon, then I'm going to want to hear the whole album.
Credit where it's due, it was Chris Hawkins enthusing on Radio 6, and the playing of the above track that piqued my interest, and now the album has arrived on my doormat ... I am not disappoint.

I sometimes feel when writing this drivel, that I do the artist in question a dis-service when I compare them to others.  But I need a hook ... imagine Scott Walker grafted to Morrissey, with a bit of Neil Hannon thrown in.  Oh, and passing nods to Echo & The Bunnymen, New Order, and Joy Division.  Even a whiff of Pink Floyd for good measure.

11 tracks ranging from all out Indie rockers ("Bakerloo, Unbecoming") to introspection ("New Rhododendrons") to Post-Punk ("Caterpillar") and many points between.

If I'm honest, the album doesn't follow the mix-tape rule of "open with a banger" - "Vivian Comma" is a slight and brittle track.  I'd like a bit of oomph, which creeps in on Track 2 (the wonderfully titled "This, Whatever It Is, Needs Improvement"), and the fully oomphed with Track 3 ("The Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion 1973") with it's jangling guitar, strong vocal, wordy and literate verses bolted to an incessant chorus.

Each track has it's own identity, rarely (if ever) do you stumble on a slight nick from somewhere, or a re-use of a past trick,but the voice and the lyrics remain strong.  Hamish Hawk may well come from the school of "can I just lever all these words into a line when it shouldn't actually fit" - and he does, and successfully too.

Not only is the album diverse and consistent, it's all delivered with a sure confidence and a little intensity - I dunno, this feels like it might just be one of those unimpeachable debut albums that will be the making of Mr Hawk's legacy.
And I'm looking to the future with bated breath.

I thought I'd got my Top Albums Of The Year List almost sorted, but now there is another worthy contender vying for inclusion

The Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion 1973

Bakerloo, Unbecoming

New Rhodedendrons

The Professionals - SNAFU

 SNAFU is an abbreviation.  It stands for:

• Situation Normal - The Professionals return with another slab of solid, energetic, balls out Rock n Roll
• All F****d Up - their last new music appeared at the start of March 2020, that description pretty much describes the backdrop to the creation of this album

It may have taken 36 years for their second album (2017s 'What In The World') to arrive, but since then there have been 3 x 4 track EPs, almost constant touring (when they were able to) and now this new album.

And it delivers what you expect - straight ahead, no frills, rock which works on record and (if past experience is anything to go by) live on stage in theatres and clubs.

Showiness, histrionics, whimsy, clever-dicky lyrical turns, musical diversions - not a bit of it.  Paul Cook's tom toms herald the opening track "Easily Lead" and the tone and groove is set.
Tom Spencer (vocals, guitar), Toshi JC Ogawa (bass), and a host of invited guests (including Chris McCormack, Billy Duffy and Phil Collen) to add their own ingredients to the mix, and 'SNAFU' ensures those colder nights are not so biting - warm, honest, welcoming, and thouroughly entertaining.

Admittedly, the 11 tracks here rarely veer from the template, but why should they, and why do they need to?

"Spike Me Baby" (based on Paul Cook eating a bar of chocolate that was laced with herbal product by his daughter) a straight 4/4 rock with a memorable chorus, that would not sound out of place in the edgier parts of Radio 2, or tha lighter moments of 6Music

Steve Jones is not on this album, other than in spirit as the inspiration for "M'Ashes" - the tale of Paul Cook taking Jonesy's mothers ashes to LA, and the meeting and parting of 2 old friends.
The melody may be a slight lift from Simon & Garfunkel's "Cecilia", but this may very well be one of the best songs The Professionals have done - it's both a hark back to Steve Jones chug-a-lug riffing, shout along chorus, an added bit of poignancy and truth, and the current band standing front and centre.

"Punk Rock And A Hard Place" may be a bit of a cliched title, but a fine song indeed (and one where they invent a new word "jearlurful" - I think I know what they're meaning by it, but I might try and lever into conversation to see if anyone notices")

The lyrics of "Never Say Never" suggest a swipe at a Mr J Rotten - it's possible, but I think it's more coincidence of timing, and may well have been written before the recent disagreements (although saying that, I don't think Cookie has ever had a disagreement.  I don't think I've read one bad word about him)

Negatives are few (but I'm a grumpy sod so I'm going to highlight a couple):
"The Elegant Art (Of Falling Apart)" is a stonking track both musically and lyrically, but on record it sounds restrained, almost over-produced.
And I mentioned up there "why change the template" - I stand by those words, but would welcome one or two slight diversions.  I'm not complaining about chant-along choruses, or Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Middle Eight-Chorus song construct, but a splash of extra colour by changing the order a little perhaps.
But then again, I only know 4 chords and can't carry a tune in a bucket, so what do I know about songcraft?

"Gold And Truthful" includes the line "They don't make 'em like that anymore", but The Professionals were made that way, stay that way, and play that way.  And long may they continue.
Many bands second life exceeds their first, so all props to them

To paraphrase opening track of their last album: You can't keep a good band down

M'Ashes

Jimmy Barnes - Working Class Man

 Late 1985 / Early 1986 (not sure of the exact date) I won a competition on local radio station Radio 210 (about to be re-branded as 2-TEN since it was now on FM, and about to ditch it's 210 metres Medium Wave signal).

Whilst I can't remember the date, I can remember the question: "Who came alive at Reading in 1980?"

The answer is/was Slade, and for knowing the name of their 1980 Live EP netted me the princely prize of 6 singles.
4 of the singles have been lost to the mists of my memory (although one was Stan Campbell I think?), and they are probably somewhere on the shelf.

But the ones I do remember are a re-release of Blondie's "Denis" (in a blue sleeve, as opposed to the more common red one) and Jimmy Barnes "Working Class Man".
Nope, I had no idea who Jimmy Barnes was - and if I'm being cynical (Qui Moi?) I think it was the DJ just clearing his desk of that weeks promo detritus that had landed.
(which is probably the reason for those old local radio competitions).

Jimmy Barnes ...

He is an Australian singer who had some (Australian) success in the past with Cold Chisel - pretty much unheard of in the UK, but in the top 3 or 4 hard rock/bar rock bands doing the rounds in Australia alongside AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, Radio Birdman, The Saints, and early INXS.

Cold Chisel had split in 1983 and Jimmy released a solo debut in 1984 (in Australia only).
Somehow, this got to the ears of David Geffen, and he was duly signed up, plonked in a studio.Geffen must have had high hopes for Barnes as he was assisted in the recording by a high class line-up including Waddy Watchel (Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon et al), Johnathan Cain and Neal Schon from Journey, Mick Fleetwood banging pots on a couple of tracks, and backing vocals provided by Kim Carnes.

If you want to make in-roads to the American market surround yourself with those that have already done it.

Now ... not knowing the singer, and going only by the single cover - all clad in denim - my expectation was  a sort of sub-Springsteen/Bob Seger Blue Collar Rock with an AOR sheen.
Well - and bearing in mind the above cast list - that is sort of what I got. I'm not sure the first impressions of the cover did him many favours.  But ... the voice - it was rough, tough, with a shouty blues-y edge.

The single sold by the shed-load in his homeland, and the album continued the usual sales business.  But in the US?  Nitto.
Even the placement of the title track in the film Gung Ho didn't have any effect (the fact the film pretty much tanked at the Box Office probably didn't help either).

The album (which again can't have sold in the numbers intended as I picked it up for a quid) bore the same cover photo. Originally titled 'For The Working Class Man', and later re-titled/re-issued as 'Jimmy Barnes'.
(I listened again recently, and it may not make me say "this is an undiscovered classic", I can't really find fault with it)

And despite the Gung Ho (see what I did there) all-out attack on the US market, there's something defiantly honest, balls-out, and defiant about the it,  Whilst the songs may not be earth shattering, or pushing for inclusion in a journos All Time Top (whatever) lists, there is nothing wrong with them at all.  Throughout, the music is clean, the band well played, and the singing top notch (if all that is a little hampered by an "of it's time" feeling with all the mid-80s production tricks stopping the needles going into the red).

Despite Geffen's (un-rewarded) investment, Jimmy Barnes did make an impression on the US chart (and in the UK) when he provided vocals on the Lost Boys Soundtrack, backed up by Aussie mates INXS ("Good Times" being the most successful and best known, and "Laying Down The Law").

Jimmy Barnes may never have made it out of the Southern Hemisphere, but he's still selling albums and regularly topping the charts in Australia and New Zealand

Working Class Man

Iron Maiden - Senjutsu / Manic Street Preachers - Ultra Vivid Lament / Public Service Broadcasting - Bright Music

 My plan with this here blog thing is to write about old and newly released albums with equal relish.

The intention was to focus on at least one album a month and write something informed (and sometimes excitable) about a current 5" silvery disc filling the quieter moments in my house.

In the main, I think I started well but tailed off in the Summer - and then September comes along and provides 3 new albums all deserving a write-up.
And as they all arrives within a couple of weeks of each other, I've crammed the listening in, formed opinions and thoughts about them, but not had enough time with them to create an aimless stream of conscious post about each of them.

So let's just bung em all in one post, and offer a mini-review of each

Iron Maiden - 'Senjutsu'

You can't be in the game for 40+ years without knowing what your audience want, what your artistic muse craves, and how to deliver both with quality.
Iron Maiden have managed a high quality output (bar a couple of mis-steps) through their life.  And with 'Senjutsu' they've kept the hit rate going.
Similar to recent albums, they're proggy tendancies are indulged - only 2 of the 10 tracks are below 5 minutes.  But as with Maiden of the near past even the epic moments are filled with melody, invention and commitment.
All the hallmarks are there - duelling guitars, traded solos, bass harmonics, solid drums with Nicko's ride cymbal playing a part, topped of with clear, almost operatic, vocal delivery.
"The Writing On The Wall" is the obvious pick - mixing proggy-Maiden with galloping-Maiden - but "Days of Future Past", "The Time Machine", "Darkest Hour" and "Death of the Celts" are fine additions to the cannon.
It may be 80+ minutes across 2 discs, but worthy of the time investment.

Manic Street Preachers - 'Ultra Vivid Lament'

Another year, another Manics album - and (like Iron Maiden above) their quality quotient remains high.
Yes, they have a tendency to be a bit insular, rail against politics (sometimes me thinks slightly naively) and use the word "revolution" quite a lot.
But the sometimes 6th Form Poetry, and the ever present reading of a lyric as a "missing Richey" moment, can more than be forgiven when bolted to tunes like these.
One can't help but notice (or say again) that since the loss of Richey Edwards, the Manics output has adopted a tunesmithery and emotion that was perhaps lost in the early days posturing.
The album is not without some slightly flawed moments - "Don't Let The Night Divide Us" is a bit filler-esque, and the duet with Mark Lanegan "Blank Diary Entry" just doesn't seem to fit - they have succesfully pulled in co-vocalists before (Ian McCulloch on the near epic "Some Kind Of Nothingness" being a good example) but this one just doesn't work as perhaps all parties hoped for.
Although, lay that off against tracks like "Still Snowing in Sapporo", "Orwellian" and "Afterending" then those flaws are more than forgiveable.
And speaking of duets, the co-vocal with Julia Cumming on "The Secret He Has Missed" upholds the trend of there being at least one sure-fire classic Manics single on each album

Public Service Broadcasting - Bright Magic 

Public Service Broadcasting's modus operandi is to find a concept/story (Public Information Films, the Space Race, Welsh Mining Industry), find archive documentary, and weave an atmosphere around it all.
With this album though, they don't have the "hook" of a story I (and others) know of, and can then go "on the journey" with them,.
What they have done is eschewed the archive and created a full concept celebrating Berlin.
Being simple about it, it's Public Service Broadcasting's trademark trance-like, indie/dance grooves, bolted to Krautrock, with moments of Berlin-era Bowie ("The Visitors" would not be too far out of place on 'Low').
"Im Licht" and "Lichtspiel II: Schwarz Weiss Grau" are two particular highlights, and nestled away in the middle of the album is (a firm contender for The Song Of The Year/Earworm Of The Year) "Blue Heaven" which evokes both Marelene Dietrich and Goldfrapp in equal measure.
This is their 4th full album, and one suspects there must be a duffer somewhere - well 'Bright Magic'; is most definitely not that album.

Iron Maiden - "The Writing On The Wall"

Manic Street Preachers - "The Secret He Has Missed"

Public Service Broadcasting - "Blue Heaven"