Category Archives: Song Reviews

Capsule reviews of songs

Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, NWOBHM, Song Reviews

Fist – Throwing In The Towel (Song Review)

11 Comments

“Speed gone, reflex missing”

Neat Records’ 1981 release Lead Weight was one of the best NWOBHM compilations, featuring a whole bunch of songs you couldn’t hear anywhere else. My favourite of the bunch is Fist’s Throwing In The Towel. It tells the tale of an ageing boxer lured into the ring for a comeback bout… only to realise his thunder-crapping days are behind him. It’s got a wonderfully downtrodden chorus and there’s real tension in the verses as the staccato vocals punch and jab. It’s brilliant, inventive stuff that holds its own amongst the compilation’s heavy-hitters like Raven and Venom. Unfortunately, Throwing In The Towel was the last song this lineup of Fist released which is a shame… they could have been contenders.

Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Song Reviews

Running Wild – Final Gates (Song Review)

12 Comments

I can’t think of many metal instrumentals I would pick out as album highlights but here’s one: Final Gates, from Running Wild’s 1988 pirate metal classic Port Royal. Written by, and showcasing, Running Wild’s new bassist Jens Becker, Final Gates is a cut above: avoiding the usual pitfalls of skippable atmospheric scene-setting or virtuoso showboating. Instead, it’s a track that stands on its own: creative and restrained with wonderful guitar solos and Becker going all Geddy Lee on some infuriatingly catchy bass lines. It’s a wonderful, funky odd-man-out amidst a bounty of power metal swashbuckling.

Black Metal, Genre, Heavy Metal, NWOBHM, Song Reviews, Thrash Metal

Hell – Darkhangel (Song Review)

12 Comments

“Read the rites, cast the spell, call the chaos lords of Hell”

I loved Hell’s 2013 album Curse & Chapter but Darkhangel cast a particularly strong spell over me. It reminds me of two of my favourite British bands, combining Sabbat’s medieval thrash with Cradle Of Filth’s theatrical horror. And it shifts from goosebumps catchy (“from thy kingdom will come”) to esoteric tongue-twisting (“whose might unmarred the maker’s mind unmade”) with intense flair. Best of all, when vocalist David Bower performed Darkhangel live he did it dressed as a 12ft-tall horned Pan on stilts while twirling a firework-spouting trident like a catherine wheel. He knew that a song this good deserves mad props.

[And the live version]

Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Song Reviews

Whitesnake – All In The Name Of Love (Song Review)

8 Comments

“Some people tell me, the blues ain’t bad”

Any time I write about David Coverdale and Whitesnake I’m tempted to throw in a few knob gags. But I’m not going to because All In The Name Of Love is a heartfelt, serious Cov effort with The Gov feeling the post-Tawny blues and singing about it in soulful fashion. The woman troubles bring out the Free/Bad Company in his voice, which is where he’s at his best, especially when he lets loose on the wonderful bridge and closing choruses. Although it’s a bit smooth and MOR in production, I reckon this would have fit nicely on old beergut-era Whitesnake albums like Trouble and Lovehunter. It’s got a warm sound with a lovely bluesy guitar solo and a big throbbing organ underneath.

Black Metal, Genre, Song Reviews

Emperor – I Am The Black Wizards: EP Version (Song Review)

12 Comments

“Before a mighty Emperor thereupon came”

The narrator of I Am The Black Wizards has been a ruler for eternities and is so mighty that the souls and spirits of numerous obedient wizards now belong to him. Or something like that. Whatever is going on, it’s metal as fuck. And it’s black metal 101 too, an essential track from a mandatory band. Taken from their debut 1993 EP Emperor, this is absolutely caustic stuff with an unforgettable guitar melody snaking through the furnace of noise. I Am The Black Wizards was recorded again for Emperor’s debut album In The Nightside Eclipse and that version is even better than this. But this version came first so it has a special importance and its cavernous cacophony has an appeal of its own.

Black Metal, Genre, Heavy Metal, NWOBHM, Song Reviews, Thrash Metal

Midnight – Lust Filth And Sleaze (Song Review)

1 Comment

“I’m gonna bust when you’re down on your knees”

You’d think devil worship and debauchery went hand in hand but Satanic metallers rarely sing about shagging. Midnight are one of those rare bands that dare to put their log in the fiery place. Taken from their essential 2011 debut album Satanic Royalty, Midnight’s Lust, Filth And Sleaze is a prime NWOBHM-inspired rager with a savage speed metal attack and venomously delivered single-entendre lyrics. Total satisfaction guaranteed.

Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Song Reviews

Mott The Hoople – Thunderbuck Ram (Song Review)

8 Comments

“The unrelenting blow that’s cast from down below”

Mott The Hoople’s second album Mad Shadows starts with a wallop. Both penned and sung by future Bad Company guitarist Mick Ralphs, Thunderbuck Ram has an quiet, haunting intro but then proceeds to thud with a vengeance as Ralphs dishes out some brash and blocky riffing. Songwise it’s a bit slight with just two verses and Ralphs’ vocals are on the histrionic side but the way the band just bludgeons through the whole thing is fantastic. In their early days, Mott often struggled to sound as convincing in the studio as they did live but they don’t have any problems here as they enthusiastically bash Thunderbuck Ram to a barely-controlled climatic wig-out.

Doom Metal, Genre, Heavy Metal, Song Reviews

Paradise Lost – Sweetness (Song Review)

7 Comments

“Hatred coming on from greater heights”

Written and recorded specially for Paradise Lost’s 1994 EP Seals The Sense, Sweetness has become a much-loved gem in the band’s discography. Over time its status has been enhanced by its position as a B-Side underdog, to the extent that the band amused themselves by calling it “the greatest song ever written” in a recent interview. Northern piss-taking aside, it is an excellent track that hits the sweet spot between the heavy doom of Icon and the goth of Draconian Times. The combo of lead guitar and grinding riff in the chorus section is especially killer. Apart from Sweetness, the EP isn’t much to write home about, but the inclusion of “the greatest song ever written” makes it essential.

Death Metal, Doom Metal, Genre, Song Reviews

Autopsy – In The Grip Of Winter: EP Version (Song Review)

7 Comments

“Put your legs in the flames”

This is one winter wonderland you won’t be walking in. Autopsy’s In The Grip Of Winter is one of my absolute favourite death metal tracks. It’s a tale of arctic demise, perfectly expressed with (impending) doom metal swagger, panic-stricken death metal hammering and blizzardy guitar solos. It’s brilliant stuff and one of the tracks I always spin the minute I feel a chill in the air. There’s an even frostier version of this on the Mental Funeral album but this earlier version (from 1991’s Retribution For The Dead EP) emphasises the doom with its humongous, fat sound. But, no matter which version you hear, In The Grip Of Winter is a stone cold classic.

Classic Rock, Genre, Progressive Rock, Song Reviews

Porcupine Tree – A Smart Kid (Song Review)

21 Comments

“There was a war but I must’ve won”

The news that Porcupine Tree are back together and lining up a new album for 2022 has me heading back to their old albums. Today I’ve been listening to the first album of theirs that I heard, 1999’s Stupid Dream. As always, A Smart Kid stands out as one of the superior tracks: a spaced-out, Floydian prog tune with a wonderful, lush sound and an enchanting mix of acoustic instruments and electronic textures. It has charming lyrics too, relating the travails of the last guy on Earth as he muses on the low cost of living and lack of crowds before attempting to hitch a ride on a visiting spaceship. I was never totally sold on the parent album as there are a few too many piano Brit-poppish tunes for my liking but Porcupine Tree excel here. Clever lads.