Much activity to report recently over at Rock Of Ages with retro reviews covering many parts of the rock spectrum.

Top read review this last month has unsurprisingly been Magnum's very fine new album Princess Alice & The Broken Arrow.  Surely an early contender for Album Of The Year?

Additionally we've revisited the likes of...

Helloween - Better Than Raw
Deep Purple - Perfect Strangers
Great White - Once Bitten
Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time
Saxon - Destiny
Van Halen - Van Halen

whilst also checking out lesser known albums from...

Baileys Comet - Judgement Day
Tangier - Four Winds

and newcomers like...

The Trews with a sampler of their Den Of Thieves album.

I've also found time for an article introducing the talents of UK melodic rockers Sacred Heart as well as producing reviews for both "Get Ready To Rock" and the US rock website "Peacedogman", all of which are linked from the site.

Coming soon will be the bumper birthday edition of Confessions Of A Vinyl Collector as well as the family donations to celebrate my 36th birthday are put toward more grooved treasures.

Since the beginning of Rock Of Ages in February there are now nearly 40 reviews online and over 2000 visitors have read my sometimes controversial opinions.  Stop by, have a read and leave your own comments, views and opinions.

Keep rockin',

Bill
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Rock Of Ages
Rock and metal reviews from the 70s, 80s & beyond

Just a quick note to let anybody who stops by that my blog has moved and the remit expanded!!!

Over at Rock Of Ages I'll not only continue my Confessions Of A Vinyl Collector posts but will systematically review my record collection and any other music I get my hands on.

Thanks to anyone who's read my previous posts, especially the two of you who left comments!!  Hopefully you'll check out my new site.

Just a short entry to update my blog with the vinyl purchases which have arrived since the clocked ticked into 2007.....

Necromandus - Orexis Of Death is an album I've been after since reading a book last year by two of Black Sabbath's roadies.  These are the Carlisle band who Tony Iommi took under his wing only to get heavily stressed by Sabbath's troubles toward the end of the Ozzy era and abandon them.  The album (as far as I can tell from online stories and sleevenotes) then lay dormant for many years and the name Necromandus never really registered anywhere.  Some of the band met with Ozzy for some sessions as he sought to assemble his first solo band but once again the project never reached a released stage.

This copy of the album is a recent release of the tapes by an Italian reissue label called Black Widow records that I found on ebay.  The album is a gatefold sleeve release with decent sleeve notes and the music is pure early 70s progressive rock (not Prog ala Yes etc but proper progressive rock!) ala quieter Sabbath, Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash etc.  Definately a decent album and enjoyable listen but not really a lost gem.  Two interesting interludes on the album are Mogidissimo Pt.1 & Pt2 - paying tribute to mentor Tony Iommi  (anagram of "Iommi Is God").  Worth checking out for UK 70s rock fans.

I didn't even know that WASP's Still Not Black Enough had secured a vinyl release until I was messing around on Google and came across a Liverpool record store called Kalaidascope who claimed to have a mint copy.  Well I paid my money (just a tenner including postage) and two days later had No 1752 of 3000 in my possession.  This is effectively The Crimson Idol part two and although it doesn't continue the story of Jonathan the sleevenotes record that Blackie Lawless realised the he was the Crimson Idol and this therefore this album shares many common threads both musically and lyrically with its predecessor.  Black Forever, Goodbye America and Still Not Black Enough are classic sounding WASP rockers whilst I Can't is a haunting ballad and Somebody To Love a decent cover of the old Jefferson Airplane track.  Sadly this album was overlooked and Lawless returned to the older WASP sound for Helldorado but as The Crimson Idol is one of my all time favourite albums another album in that vein hits the spot quite nicely for me.

A bad week for me where my keyboard, printer and motherboard have all given up the ghost required me to visit Ammanford today and lift myself with a few quid on some vinyl.

Guns N Roses - Lies  is the album that both was and wasn't the follow up to Appetite For Destruction.  Side G (sic) is basically a reissue of the independant Live Like A Suicide EP and has the controversial Nice Boys and a good attack on Mama Kin whilst Side R has the hit Patience, a 'cleaner' version of You're Crazy as well as Used To Love Her and One In A Million.  Not a great album but a nice earner for GnR in the days when Kerrang basically became their fanzine.

A good article in this month's Classic Rock on post Zep careers of Page, lant and Jones lead to me picking up Robert Plant's 2nd solo album The Principle Of Moments.  In parts very 'Zeppish' of course it also has some hints at the sounds Plant would adopt with more regularity later in his solo career in the haunting evocative ballad Big Log.  I never really appreciated this album when I first had a cassette copy of it years ago so it will take a few plays to see if I 'get it' this time.

Finally I also picked up an original 2LP gatefold issue of The Beatles compilation album Rock 'N Roll Music.  I'd only ever seen this in the single LP reissue format on EMIs budget lable so to find a '76 issue in very good nick was pleasing. Was does stand out, apart from the obviously excellent music, was just how little EMI would've spent on this release!  A poor cartoon cover, complete lack of sleevenotes and blank inner sleeves show that EMI had a real problem in being able to do justice to reissues of Beatles material (see also Rarities, Ballads, Reel Music, Greatest Hits) prior to the 3 remaining members getting involved again for the Anthology sets.

I'm now committed to updating my website so I've got a decent list of all my vinyls stored away on the web - I'm going to make it a bit easier to update and quicker to load by removing the pictures I think!

Also checking out some new bands showcased on the Classic Rock cover disc.  Damone, Kid Ego and Hydrogyn sound good but the best track on there is by The Trews - well worth checking out if your a Black Crowes fan.

In case your interested my websites here!   - there's a few live downloads for visitors as well as links, lists and er.. not much else really!

One year on from my return to record collecting and I can now boast nearly 400 albums of assorted Classic Rock.  I've also upgraded my turntable to a warm sounding Project turntable and relocated last years Xmas pressie turntable to the spare bedroom for when I can't listen in the living room.  I think I've only bought no more than 10 cds this year - The Answer's "Rise" and Sheershock Revival's "Electric Vibes" being the best of the new bands, and that's only because they wern't released on vinyl.  Common concensus seems to be that vinyl is making a rebirth (again) as cd sales decline against the download boom (legal or otherwise).  However at present this seems to only signal 7" singles but hopefully 2007 will see the LP make a bigger comeback as record companies try to find ways to get more money - surely they will see there is a market there for people to own a physical product and that they just have to make it attractive enough.

Anyway onto the final additions to my collection for this year and I'll start of course will the all important Christmas presents....

An shining example of value for money release is Jet's 2nd album Shine On.  The Aussie rockers build upon the success of their first album but this one doesn't come in 12" format (from Santa anyway!! although I think there is a 12" version), its a limited edition box set of 6 x 7" singles.  An interesting idea that will appeal to both the collector and the rock dj surely.  It seems Atlantic may have some idea on offering that something different I spoke of up the page.

My long-suffering wife also bought me the new Meat Loaf release Bat Out Of Hell III - The Monster Is Loose.  This time a lavish double LP gatefold pack which is so much more appealing that the CD issue.  I've waited a while to hear this but on first listen its pretty good.  I have the advantage of knowing a few of the songs from Steinman's earlier work and from actually seeing Meat Loaf play a few of these as long ago as 1988 on the Bat 10th Annivesary tour when he was selling out UK arena venue's without a recording deal!  As a nice companion to this she also sought out a mint Canadian copy of the original Bat Out Of Hell release which is still a stunning album and will always shadow anything else released under the Bat banner.

From my parents this year I received three significant re-releases that have appeared recently.

Firstly The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds features both the mono and stereo mixes on coloured vinyl in a gatefold sleeve.  Nice lavish packaging but somehow I felt a little let down by the music itself.  This is spoken of as a classic but when I listen to other classics (Sgt Pepper, Village Green etc) I can see why they are deemed as such but other than the admittedly excellent Wouldn't It Be Nice, God Only Knows and Sloop John B. this left me wondering a little.  Maybe on subsequent listens I'll see what others see in it?

The Who's seminal Who's Next was, is, and will always be a classic album.  Here though it just gets better with the addition of 2 further albums of material capturing the Record Plant Sessions and The Young Vic live performances.  As a result you do end up hearing each track two or three times across the length of the 3 albums but given there is just no weak stuff on hear its a treat to settle down and take in some excellent Townsend material without bloody CSI droaning on for a formulaic hour afterwards!!!

Third and final pressie was the 30th Anniversary pressing of the Pink Floyd masterpiece Dark Side Of The Moon.  Still a regular play for me after many years this is a truly remarkable reissue with nice thick vinyl, reproduction gatefold sleeve and even the posters and stickers reproduced for posterity.  This sort of care and attention will always find buyers long after mp3 downloaders are replacing their entire digital collection after another hard drive crash.

Now in the run up to the traditional Xmas dinner I've tried to find time to have a quick browse on ebay as I figure not many others will and there will be bargains to be had.  Last year I bagged an original Beatles album for less than a fiver, this year I found an auction offering two Led Zeppelin albums in 'stunning condition'.  I bid, won and waited.....  The day after boxing day I received the package with Houses Of The Holy and In Through The Out Door and well, the seller was spot on - they  truly look new!  HOTH is the French issue, but they probably wouldn't appreciate it anyway, and just sounds great.  ITTOD has never been my favourite Zep album but this copy still has the brown paperbag wrap hiding a 'C' copy of the 6 released sleeves.  Positive feedback was quickly left.

The final friday of the year saw me brave the wind and rain to visit Cardiff and lend my support to the campaign to keep Spiller's Records alive.  Spillers is the oldest record shop in the UK and is currently struggling as the landowners want to triple the shop rent - that's the way we look after our heritage unfortunately.  However they sell no vinyl so with some disappointment I made my way to the very excellent Kelly's 2nd hand record store in the indoor market and spent the last of my money on my final 2006 purchases.

Finally picked up a decent copy of Wings Over America, Paul McCartney's finest live release.  Triple album, gatefold glory and still with the poster in excellent condition.  Features every Wings song you need to own, a few you don't, a few Beatles tracks and a couple of songs not released anywhere else on LP.  Now if Macca can see fit to release the accompanying Rock Show DVD sometime this decade then that'd be great as well.

Finished my Van Halen collection with the decent 5150 album.  The first featuring Sammy Hagar on vocals marked a step change for VH as they moved to a more polished stadium rock sound.

Influenced by an "80s rock" trawl around YouTube the night before I bagged the Misspent Youth album by English rockers Shy.  Now I've waxed lyrical about these for years and even got a comment on my blog when I bought the Excess All Areas album earlier this year (thanks Val!).  This album, while not being quite as good as Excess is still a great album for me - I even had the pleasure of catching them live on their headlining tour to support this album at  the Milton Keynes Woughton Arts Centre... heady days!!  Unfortunately the recent reunion of Shy has seen them stay strictly lower division and lead singer Tony Mills has recently jumped ship to join TNT.  However I'll keep my Shy albums from the late 80s and carrying on wondering if they were huge in a parallel universe!

Magnum's mighty On A Storyteller's Night album finally rejoins my collection as well.  Back in my original, stupidly sold collection I had a clear vinyl edition of this and as this is only the black vinyl version I need to keep looking for a direct replacement however for four quid this is so much value for money its unbelievable.  Not a weak track makes this for me the highlight of Magnum's career.  The OASN, Wings Of Heaven, Vigilante and Goodnight LA are for me the highlights of their career with OASN being the peak.  I don't mind the early,proggier stuff and have enjoyed the more recent stuff but this is just the sound that epitimises UK melodic rock for me.

Kingdom Come's In Your Face marked the 2nd and final release of the line up that caused so much Zep fuelled debate when the debut album broke big in the states.  Another solid blues rock album that doesn't quite hit the heights of the first but was better received that anything since.  Note:  worth checking out the new Kingdom Come video on YouTube entitled Ain't Crying For The Moon - only  lead man Lenny Wolf remains from this album.

Finally I noticed someone seemed to have dumped their whole collection of the mighty fine Bay Area rockers Y&T on Kelly's doorstep!!  Helped myself to the In Rock We Trust album, the '85 Open Fire live release and the 1991 double album, live, farewell (at least until the reunion many years later) Yesterday And Today Live album.  A fine and underrated band who I will try to find more of in the new year.

So onto the new year, and resolutions....  aside from the usual lose weight, get fit(ter) etc I'll be trying to bring my website a little more up to date and use it as more of a hub for my online browsing as well as adding more live downloads for visitor and  maybe develop a second blog where I can post some more in depth reviews of stuff I'm listening to.  Check for any progress  here. However that's all still not until the new year and 'til then I've got about 8 hours to polish off the rest of the xmas chocs and a few cans of bitter. 

One resolution I will try to harder than any to keep tho is to double my vinyl collection by this time next year...............

Keep music vinyl.....

A great day in the valleys with the sun shining, the fog not making it this far up the mountains and work behind me for the year.  This kids still at school so some time with the wife and a trip to Swansea before a 'happy xmas' visit to Discovery - the source of much vinyl this year.

Before I get to todays vinyl purchases I must mention a rare CD purchase - Swansea's own Sheershock Revival had passed me by until I noticed their 50th place in Classic Rock Magazine's Top 50 of 2006.  Well Derricks Records in Swansea had the disc in and its a stunner.  Elements of Whitesnake, Cinderella, Zep, Sabbath - you name it!!  All mixed together into a superbly fresh classic rock album entitled Electric Vibes.  Highly recommended....

Also from Derricks I bought the 'new' Black Sabbath album (onto vinyl now!) called Club Sonderauflage.  An Earmark reissue of a rare 1970 German fan club release this together tracks from the first two Sabbath official albums onto lovely 180g virgin vinyl.   Tracklist of War Pigs, Evil Woman and Black Sabbath on side one and then Paranoid, Sleeping Village, Iron Man and Rat Salad on two mean about half an hour of excellent noise some time later this evening!

With the serious business out of the way I then completed my Xmas shopping and got the hell out of Swansea - apparently as every other bugger was on their way in!!

A sausage and chip lunch then followed by a good hour or so browsing the shelves and boxes at Discovery in Glanaman.  A nice selection of classic rock and heavy metal found that should (finally) see me through to Xmas Day and the hoped for pressies....

Motorhead's self-titled debut release from 1977 was quite a nice find.  Not the orignal Chiswick 600 issue limited release (not that I could afford that) but the black and white 2nd issue Chiswick release.  Opening with the seminal Motorhead and including Iron Horse and White Line Fever plus a cover of Train Kept A Rollin'.

A II Z - The Witch Of Berkeley (live) features Danger UXB closing side one, which must be the only A II Z track I've ever heard!  Rare Record Price Guide advises readers to also see AC/DC but from the sleevenotes I can't see why????

A couple of Blue Oyster Cult releases next in the shape of the strangly titled Cultosaurus Erectus and the best selling, Reaper featuring,  Agents Of Fortune.  I enjoyed the live album I bought a few months back so I figured it about time I added some studio BOC to my collection.

Mountain - The Best Of Mountain featuring Leslie West & Felix Pappalardi features Nantucket Sleighride (of course!) as well as Mississippi Queen and Theme For An Imaginary Western in an excellent and unusual gatefold sleeve.  A band that's been getting a lot of airtime from Planet Rock recently so, again, one I've been wanting to check out.

Superb OTT rock next with WASP's Live In The Raw.  An enjoyable live album released in 1987 when WASP were first breaking (but before the creative peak of The Crimson Idol).  Played loud this is a great listen from start to finish with I Don't Need No Doctor, L.O.V.E. Machine and I Wanna Be Somebody standing out.

Magnum's excellent 1988 album Wings Of Heaven should save me ever having to play the picture disc again (although it does boast a bonus track).  Arguably their finest moment along with Storyteller's Night it has three hit singles in Days Of No Trust, Start Talking Love and It Must Have Been Love along with outstanding album cuts Wild Swan and Don't Wake The Lion - essential for AOR fans - Heavy Harmonies rates this at 9.14/10 with 87 votes!!!

Classic Ozzy Osbourne next with Bark At The Moon - the album that really got me into Ozzy back as an impressionable teenager.  I loved the video of The Ultimate Ozzy and played this and its sister album The Ultimate Sin to death.  The stronger of the two albums this album has the excellent title track along with Rock N Roll Rebel, You're No Different, Now You See It and the ballad So Tired.

With the current focus on Meat Loaf's third Bat album and also a DVD/CD reissue soon I thought it about time I listened to Pandora's Box : Original Sin - the source of many of the Bat III songs.  Jim Steinman's brainchild from 1989 this features Ellen Foley along with 3 other female lead vocalists across 4 sides of excess and pomp!  The original version of It's All Coming Back To Me is featured closing side two along with later Meat Loaf covers Original Sin, Good Girls Go To Heaven and The Future Ain't What It Used To Be.  Probably enough material for Bat Out Of Hell IV as well !!!

Finally then a bit of live Lizzy with Thin Lizzy's 'Life' live album.  Very much the successor to Live And Dangerous, again with a cover featuring live snapshots and four sides of Lizzy from the final years.  Personal favourites of Thunder And Lightning, the haunting Angel Of Death and Renegade appear alongside more classic Lizzy material and the inclusion of the featuring the 'reunion' of nearly all ex-Lizzy guitarists is a great move and a fitting epitaph to the great Phil Lynott.  As a nice bonus I also picked up the 12" EP Killers Live single featuring one side of the best known line up and one side of the late Snowy White/Scott Gorham incarnation of the band.

Sheershock Revival now on its third play!  If only there was a vinyl release as well..........

Till after Xmas - honestly!

Seasons greetings...................

Okay, so I lied about last weeks lot being the last blow out before Xmas!  A little job saturday morning enabled me to have a look at the shop in Ammanford and see if any new stuff was in - and luck would have it that it was!

Firstly though, I must mention the album I was waiting for last week, and what value for money it was!!  I had looked at the first Oasis compilation Stop The Clocks on CD but couldn't help thinking that it somehow didn't do a band with the achievements and back catalogue they have much justice.  Fortunately they are a band who have always supported vinyl and this time is no different - a lavish 3LP set in a cardboard slip case and with the cd booklet blown up to full 32 page 12 inch glory!  The quality of the packaging is matched off course by the content.  Now Oasis arn't everyones cup of tea but it cannot be denied the influence they had in the 90s when they kept stadium rock alive (albeit with their own Beatles/Slade influenced brand of rock).  Classic hits like Some Might Say, Don't Look Back In Anger and Supersonic are joined by b-sides in creating a collection that confirms that have left a mark on music that will last a long time.  Personal favourite The Importance Of Being Idle is there and I can't help wondering how the hell The Masterplan hasn't long been a favourite as well - what a track!  Why can't every vinyl release match this for value - highly recommended.....

Now for the purchases from Gwlyd Deg - just 21UKP spent for the following....

Motorhead - Rock N Roll...  the 1987 'head release which produced the hit Eat The Rich.  Unusual as well as it offers up a four piece line up with both Wurzel and Philip Campbell on guitar whilst Philthy Animal Taylor returns behind the drums.

Def Leppard - Pyromania... was the album that broke them huge in the USA and although for me it doesn't match Hysteria in terms of overall quality many of the tracks are miles better than there more recent releases (not difficult given the poor covers album they released earlier this year).  Foolin and Too Late For Love stand out whilst Stagefright and Rock Of Ages were both great live tracks as well.

Def Leppard - High N Dry... marked the first collaboration with Mutt Lange.  A step change from the raw debut album with polish particularly with Bringin' On The Heartbreak hinting at what would follow.  In fact side one is a great play with Let It Go, Another Hit and Run, High n Dry, Heartbreak and Switch 625 proving what a great rock band Leppard were.  Interestingly (for me anyway!) is that this is the West German release with an unusual red and black version of the Vertigo Spaceship label.  I don't remember the UK release having this.

Ted Nugent - Cat Scratch Fever... is probably the one "Nuge" album that a rock collection simply must contain, if only for the outstanding title track.  Wang Dang Sweet Poontang is also a well know title from this album.  Having only owned this on CD before I was surprised to find out it was a gatefold sleeve as well featuring a nice live picture of Nugent and band.

Thin Lizzy - Nightlife... was a 1974 release that found Lizzy moving toward the type of material that would make them famous.  Featuring the classic Lizzy line up of Lynott/Gorham/Robertson/Downey the obvious highlight is the ballad Still In Love With You which in fact featured Gary Moore!

Meatloaf - Bad Attitude... is not one of Meat's best known albums featuring only two Steinman written tracks.  Modern Girl was the hit from the album although for me the best track is a Steinman track, Surf's Up.

MSG - Save Yourself... was the second of three releases by the McAuley Schenker version of MSG.  Robin McAuley is my favourite MSG vocalist and I find his era albums the most polished stuff Schenker has done post UFO.  I remember Anytime getting a bit of airplay at the time of release and the title track was also a strong opener.  A decent album but not a classic - for all the good stuff Schenker did with McAuley the less polished debut MSG album from the early 80s remains his best work.

Final purchase from Deg was the highly regarded debut album by Bonham entitled The Disregard Of Timekeeping.  Obviously named after and of course featuring Jason Bonham, son of Led Zeps John.  The album unsurprisingly has a strong Zep influence running throughout - nowhere clearer than the outstanding Wait For You.  Opinion is divided on this album on Heavy Harmonies but its worth a listen now and again without being a regular spin.

My final two purchases this weekend were from Kelly's in Cardiff and should arrive in the week.  Cinderella's Heartbreak Station completes my collection of vinyl LP releases from this fine and often underrated New Jersey band.  The other is by Predator and is entitled Easy Prey - this features what is described as one of the worst and cheapest sleeve designs ever (this by the leader of the band!) and comes about from my reading about Predator on the excellent blog site Heavy Metal Addiction - an excellent blog which can be found here!

Right,  no more claims that this'll be the last haul before Xmas this time but you never know.  Till my next confession.....

A fairly quiet few weeks for adding vinyl to my collection as works taken over a bit but my first two additions were found on ebay and are another two reissues from the superb Earmark label.  Deluxe glossy covers, heavy vinyl and all round excellent packaging make it worth spending a little extra.

Motorhead's Ace Of Spades is the first album, featuring the classic metal track as the lead off song but the album also contains well known 'head numbers (We Are) The Road Crew, Jailbait and The Chase Is Better Than The Catch.  Of course I'm on a bit of a Motorhead listening spree following there superb new album's release and this is a famous landmark in Lemmy's history and a must have in any hard rock collection.

Similarly, and from around the same time, is Motorhead's Bomber release.  Again, in deluxe gatefold sleeve with sleeve notes I don't remember being on the original release.  Another one of Motorhead's better known album and its a feast of heavy rock n roll that 'head do best.  I really can't recommend these Earmark releases highly enough!  Such impressive packaging that cds cannot hope to match unless its a box set style release.

The final ebay purchase for this entry then is the debut album by Hardline entitled Double Eclipse.  Featuring Neal Schon and Dean Castronovo having some downtime from Journey this 1992 release features highly in most all-time melodic rock countdowns.  Originally recommended to me by a very good friend who saw them out perform a then highflying Extreme this album has a current average rating of 9.25 out of 10 (207 votes) on www.heavyharmonies.com and with tracks like Life's A Bitch, Hot Cherie and Takin' Me Down its not hard to see why.  If you have this album but havn't listened to it for a while give it a spin - a mel-rock masterpiece!

The remaining batch of purchases cost me just 30 pounds from one of my favourite local sources in Carmarthen.  A knowledgeable seller who is extremely enthusiastic about vinyl - well worth an hour browsing and chatting!

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band's 1982 release The Distance is an album I've not heard before however I bought this based on the Seger stuff I've bought already this year.  Classic american rock ala Lynyrd Skynyrd in places is what I'm expecting akin to their earlier releases. Rated 4 out of 5 on allmusic.com so I look forward to this album.

Joe Walsh '78 solo effort But Seriously Folks features his tongue in cheek single Life's Been Good along with 7 other tracks.  I actually found that track on single from another local shop after hearing it on Planet Rock radio and have been looking for this album for a while.  Nice gatefold sleeve into the bargain.

I'm half way through reading a biography of Philip Lynott at present so its perhaps no surprise that I finally got a copy of the seminal live album by Thin Lizzy - Live And Dangerous.  I've had this on CD for years but honestly the double album in a lovely gatefold sleeve design with both of the inner sleeves also featuring photo clips from the Lizzy live show really shows the CD up in terms of packaging.  4 superb sides of vinyl as well from the classic era Lizzy line up of Lynott/Gorham/Robertson/Downey. 

Moving off the classic rock road for a short time, the next record I bought was The Monkees' Headquarters.  Now this was the release where they decided they would try to be a band rather than just the manufactured item they had been up to that point.  An interesting album which moves away from the highly commercial route they were obviously on with everything written and indeed performed (except vocals) for them up to that point.  Not many 'famous' Monkee songs on here but the closer is the great single Alternate Title.

Octoberon by Barclay James Harvest was the next album to catch my eye.  A band I've heard very little of previously but the biog on allmusic talks of a band with Beatles like harmonies, better songs than the Moody Blues and being lablemates to Pink Floyd (although by this album had moved to Polydor it appears) so I thought I'd take a chance.  Not rated as their best album but the record store has plenty more BJH if I like it!!  Great coverart tho and a glance at the lyric sleeve shows a classic line in the song "Suicide" - "Don't jump, please for God's sake let me move my car."

Gary Moore's After The War is by some distance my favourite solo album by Moore.  A companion piece in many ways to his previous release Over The Hills And Far Away this has the excellent title track opening things up with Side one closer Led Clones featuring Ozzy on lead vocals as they hit out at the the Led Zep soundalikes in the late 80s by doing a Led Zep soundalike track themselves!  Side two has the Van Halen-esq This Thing Called Love and the superb celtic rock closer Blood Of Emeralds.  Well worth listening too.

Talking of Van Halen, the 1995 release Balance must have been their final vinyl release unless the Cherone led VHIII album got a vinyl release.  This then marks the final studio release featuring Sammy Hagar on vocals.  Not an album I've heard much before with the exception of the rock radio friendly Can't Stop Loving You.  The front cover is horrible by the way!

Melissa Etheridge's self-titled debut album is an unusual album for me.  I don't usually go far female vocals for some reason (probably being force fed rubbish like Vixen on Headbanger's Ball back in the late 80s!).  However this is an album of stipped back, acoustic lead stuff cut live in the studio in 1987 embellished with a few overdubs later on.  Similar Features, Chrome Plated Heart, Bring Me Some Water and the great Like The Way I Do leave me asking a) how do this album not become a huge hit? b) why have I never really checked out anything else by her?

Finally a rummage through the 50p box found the soundtrack compilation of Beatles tracks All This And World War Two.  Status Quo doing Getting Better is my reason for purchase as the rest looks mainly  like a load of 70s pop stars having a go (Elton John, Leo Sayer, etc) however Keith Moon's version of When I'm Sixty Four may prove interesting!  I vaguely remember seeing the film many, many years ago.

Wings' Wild Life is an overlooked McCartney album as he struggled to put together another vehicle for his talents after the Beatles split.  The title track is a great raw, bluesy number as I recall with not much else standing out.  Denny Laine ought to be ashamed if he still has the tarten trousers he's sporting (for a bet surely?) on the front cover.

And somebody has obviously dumped their F.M. collection in Carmarthenshire at some point because my last find was the album Indiscreet.  Now I quite enjoyed the Tough It Out album I got here last time and this ones gets a heavyharmonies rating of 9.44 out of 10 from 425 votes so it got to be worth a spin!

This lot should see me though to Christmas now although there is one LP on order that I'm particularly looking forward to.  Hopefully that will arrive in the week and enable me to add at least one other confession before the holiday.

Keep music vinyl !!!!

Now this blog covers the last 3 weeks or so and whilst there's not many albums added to my vinyl collection its been memorable for a slightly different reason.
Let me explain....

Now we drove into Swansea a few saturdays back, not specifically to buy an album, but to pick up a few family things that were required.  Of course I couldn't miss the chance to pop to Derricks Records but nothing doing there, so nipped in HMV on the off chance of something decent in the vinyl racks.  Picked up the excellent Razorlight "America" single (Vertigo spiral label!!!) and the new Meat Loaf single pic disc but my eyes spotted a copy of the new Motorhead album Kiss Of Death in the dance section (!).  Now after a few weeks of listening am I glad I spotted this - its one of the best releases of the year....  Sucker is a superb 'head opener and to be honest everything just rocks your head off but the real highlight is the near ballad God Was Never On Your Side.  Classic Lemmy lyrics and a solo by Poison's CC Deville.   All enhanced by the retro feel of buying an album brand new with a big album sized carrier bag and all! ***Highly Recommended***

A friday off two weeks back gave a rare chance to check out Discovery Book Store in Glanamman.  My current Motorhead mood was further fed with the classic Overkill - the excellent No Class, Damage Case and Metropolis all on the same side (2) -  and half a dozen Iron Maiden 12" singles added to the collection.

Finally a trip to Carmarthen today and my first visit to the indoor market and lo and behold, a record store!!!  50p each bargains in the shape of Pat Travers' Makin' Magic featuring an extremely young looking Nicko McBrain on drums, Gary Moore's Run For Cover and the best album by UK Bon Jovi wannabe's FM with their Desmond Child enhanced album Tough It Out.
Also purchased Bruce Dickinson's first solo album Tattooed Millionaire of which Son Of A Gun and Born In 58 are my favourite tracks, and the famous debut album Bad Company by Bad Company with the classic tracks Can't Get Enough, Bad Company and Seagull.

The highlight of this trip though was an album that I've been after for ages and which falls outside the usual classic rock buys.  I finally saw and purchased The Monkees' Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. - mono version on RCA Victor and black label so I'm fairly certain its an original issue.  All of these market buys for a total of 15 pounds - I'll be shopping in Carmarthen again soon!!

Also of note this week but not vinyl related was The Who's performance on the BBC Electric Proms - really excellent stuff which brings the new rock-opera into clear sharp focus.  The emotion and feeling on both Roger and Pete's faces in Tea And Theatre was moving and the whole 30 minutes shown on the digital feed was excellent.

Finally spotted a nice sig on someone's avatar on one of the bootleg forums I frequent which I thought was good - "an analogue rocker in a digital world".

Till the next time..... keep it vinyl!

Been a week now since I actually bought any vinyl but I've got made a couple of bulk buys in the weeks previous so got about 20 albums to record here and comment on.

Been full of cold these last couple of days as the weather changes and South Wales rainy season gets going in earnest so today has been ideal to listen to a few albums and now, get my blog up to date.  The website unfortunately is way out of date now but will probably get updated at Xmas.

A trip to Tredegar firstly then last saturday and a nice buy off ebay for just over a tenner - another of the old school rock fans selling off his vinyl and converting to ipod.  His loss !!!

Little Angels - Don't Prey For Me... the album I was actually looking for (along with Tesla) that lead me to the lot.  A great album harking back to my college years, weekend off to gigs and pre-mortgage frivolity!  The title track still sounds great and although its aged a little the whole album still has merit.  Stronger songs came from LA on subsequent albums but this is still worth a regular spin.  I got the first issue as well rather than the later re-release with Radical Your Lover on it - which of course I must get sometime as thats a great song as well.

Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force - Odyssey....  never really got into Joe Lynn Turner as Rainbow's lead singer (nowhere near as good as Dio era imho) but on this he shines.  Surely the most accessible YJM album and his Blackmore influence shines thru but somehow it works!

Night Ranger - 7 Wishes....  not heard this yet but love Damn Yankees albums so figured I'd check out Jack Blades 'other' band.

Saxon - Power And The Glory....  Biff Byford in full spandex glory on this 1983 release.  Features The Eagle Has Landed and although the other songs arn't generally the Saxon traks that spring to mind in conversation (not that I can recall a recent conversation about the merits of Saxon!!!) its a solid british rock album - just what you want when you put Saxon on.

White Lion - Big Game... their best album to my mind, probably because I saw them live on this tour and that brings the music out more doesn't it.  Cover of Radar Love, a couple of dodgy ballads (Little Fighter??) and the superb Dirty Woman.

White Lion - Fight To Survive... not heard this one before and have no recollection of any of the tracks but this is some 4 years older than Big Game so it'll be interesting to hear the difference.

Tesla - The Great Radio Controversy...  one of the best rock albums ever.  A superb play from start to finish - how the hell didn't this band emulate the likes of Def Leppard and go steller I don't know.  Not a bad track on this album - Hang Tough, Lazy Days, Crazy Nights, Did It For The Money, Yesterdaze Gone, Makin' Magic, The Way It Is, Love Song - this should've been their Hysteria.  Listen to this regularly!!!

Faster Pussycat - Faster Pussycat... only heard another FP album (Wake Me When Its Over) and then not much so this'll be new ground.  Expecting LA sleaze rock of course and not thinking this'll get played that much!

Van Halen - Diver Down....  seemingly ignored because of excessive cover version but hell, I've always liked this album.  I can do without Dancing In The Streets but Hang Em High is great, Happy Trails is cool and Big Bad Bill is er... amusing!

Bad English - Bad English.... bought this for one reason and one reason only - the track Forget Me Not - pure classic!!  Also remember the ballad When I See You Smile from way back.

Tigertailz - Yound And Crazy.... jeez do they look stupid on the cover!!!  Wales' answer to Poison - Boots make-up counter must have made a fortune out of this band!  Great trashy album though - Livin' Without You was almost a hit!

Dirty White Boy - Bad Reputation.... another that I missed completely on release but a collaboration between David Glen Eisley and Earl Slick and it always seems to get positive comments so must be worth a spin.

Car Boot sale last Sunday in Carmarthen for this next lot.  Paid a bit more but they've been well looked after and play lovely after a clean.

Slade - Alive!....  (again!) - my other copy is a bit crackly so been on the look out for another copy.  This is a German release without the gatefold sleeve but the vinyl is in lovely condition so will be the played copy here!!  One of the best live albums ever.

Motorhead - No Sleep Til Hammersmith.... another classic live album with the superb 'plane lighting rig sleeve.  Features Metropolis which is a 'head fave for me as well as other well know MH 'ditties' Ace Of Spades, No Class, Overkill, Road Crew and Bomber. 

Gun - Taking On The World... another band from that late 80s period when the UK suddenly had loads of decent rock bands releasing strong albums and doing pretty big tours.  I saw them on this tour at Coventry Poly (front row!).  Better Days was a big hit and Shame On You also made the charts.

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here....  a great Floyd album of which this is the Spanish release.  Shine On You Crazy Diamond is the epic that book ends the album with Welcome To The Machine, Have A Cigar and Wish You Were Here the other (all great) tracks.  Every one of these get deserved plays on PlanetRock radio.

Faces - A Nod's As Good As A Wink To A Blind Horse...  what a band!!  If Rod Stewart had stuck at this instead of bloody Sailing they could've been thought of in the same bracket as The Who and Zep.  This is the album with Stay With Me, Miss Judy's Farm and Debris on it - it still has the giant poster as well!!!

Def Leppard - On Through The Night....  the first Leppard album and full blown NWOBHM riffery!!  Great album and significantly different to what they became.  Wasted, Rocks Off and Rock Brigade are classic early 80s guitar tracks, Overture was Leps attempt at their own Stairway and Hello America a decent (if a bit cheesy) single.  Played this loud earlier today and it still sounds great!!

Next update will be next month now cos I'm spent out!!!

And so to the latest entry recording the latest vinyl LPs being added to my collection.  Nine albums to detail here starting with three Iron Maiden or related items from ebay which is obviously a result of a) extensive listening to their excellent new release and b) recently completing reading the Mick Wall Maiden bio Run To The Hills.

Iron Maiden's self-titled debut album and the follow-up Killers are the two Paul Di'Anno fronted releases from the early eighties.  Featuring many now classic tracks the first album suffers from a poor production but is a fascinating listen.  Raw metal power with Prowler, Phantom Of The Opera, Running Free and Transylvania evoking the spirit of NWOBHM!

Iron Maiden - Killers follows suit but with less material that would now be considered "classic" but a more powerful Martin Birch production.  The titled track and especially Purgatory are highlights for me and The Ides Of March is a great opening instrumental leading into Wrathchild. I was delighted to secure both of these early Maiden releases in their initial release format - previously I had only owned them on the Fame Reissue label.

Samson - Head On is from the same era (1980) and features Bruce Dickinson (aka Bruce Bruce) fronting Samson on what I've read is his only full album with Samson (he didn't perform on all Survivors tracks).  Very Deep Purple influenced in sound many of these tracks feature Bruce in Ian Gillan tribute form!  Having said that you can see why Maiden felt he was the ideal replacement for Di'Anno.  Vice Versa is my favourite track off what is a very enjoyable album.

Final ebay buy for this entry is a Sampler album The Beatles Rarities from the late seventies album collection.  Later reissued as a separate release this version is the promo for the box set bonus with a nice banner saying "Sampler album not for sale" on the sleeve as part of the artwork but missing the spurious sleevenotes the latter version had.  The seller claimed to be an ex-EMI employee and to be fair, the item is just as described and is in mint condition - indeed the vinyl looks unplayed.   Personally, I always enjoyed this album for its sheer variety.  Basically its B-sides from throughout the Beatles career with the two German language releases added.

A brief visit to Ammanford Saturday and 5 other purchases to record.  Quite a varied selection as well deviating from the usual classic rock a little.

Jon Anderson - Olias Of Sunhillow.....  stunning artwork in mint condition gatefold sleeve format this is the album recently mentioned in Classic Rock Magazine as one of the most self-indulgent Prog Rock releases!   Apparently Anderson even sings part in an alien language he invented for the purposes of the record!  Havn't got around to listen to this yet but I remember an old mate from years back who loved the album.

Black Oak Arkansas - 10yr Overnight Success.....  never heard anything at all by them but again a reference in Classic Rock along with the two pound price tag lead me to the purchase.  Interestingly Whitesnake's Tommy Aldridge is on drums, other than that its all new to me!

The Monkees - self-titled compilation album which features 11 of their best known tracks.  Staple part of summer holiday morning TV when I was a kid and perhaps because of that always a favourite 60s band of mine.  I intend to get the proper releases at some point but this will get me through until then.

Bad Company - Run With The Pack....  classic era release with superb Paul Rodgers vocals.  Live For The Music, the title track and the marvellous Silver, Blue & Gold stand out in what is arguably their best release after the debut album. 

Finally then The Travelling Wilbury's Volume One - a record that passed me by when it came out but appears to have gained cult status.  I steered clear when the shop had it at 25 pounds but it was reduced to 7 after some bugger nicked the sheet of stickers so I thought I take it at that price! 

A bigger update to come soon following a multiple win on ebay but these'll get me through till I collect them!

Thanks for reading - till the next time.....