Tag Archives: Glam Rock

Black Metal, Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, HMO Digests, NWOBHM, Progressive Rock

HMO Digest – 13th March 2023

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I ended up moving house at the end of February. It’s been an exciting time in terms of getting a nice new place and loads of extra space, but it’s been a complete pain in the arse in terms of having to actually move. But it’s done now. Only one CD bit the dust during the move, the inlay torn in half by a tumbling shelf: the 2CD Ear Music reissue of Pride & Glory’s self-titled album. Luckily it was still available and easily replaced.

Yee Haw

My music collection is now unpacked, organised and looking sexier than ever so it’s time to get back to the old blogging shenanigans. Fresh horses!

Recent Posts

I only managed two posts in February before real life got in the way. Opeth’s twisty, turny The Twilight Is My Robe, which may well leave you wondering “where am I now?” and Love/Hate’s She’s An Angel, which features an extremely rare instance of strings being taken off a bass guitar! Surely not.

New Stuff

I mentioned three upcoming releases in February’s digest and those have all been bought. The excellent IX from Paradise Lost side-project Host, a reissue of Danzig’s Circle Of Snakes and a reissue (that I totally don’t need but bought anyway) of Darkthrone’s Goatlord. I also got a few box sets: Porcupine Tree’s deluxe reissue of their underrated Deadwing album; a set of Scottish NWOBHMers Holocaust; and the BBC Broadcasts set from Genesis. Oh yeah, and that copy of Pride & Glory… to replace the one damaged in the move.

What I Was Listening To While I Wrote This Post

T-Rex’s The Slider from 1972. For my money the best T-Rex album. It’s got some of his darkest, weightiest rockers (Buick Mackane is class), his best singles (Telegram Sam) and choice deep cuts like Spaceball Ricochet and Baby Strange. It’s a magical album of rock ‘n’ roll at its simple, inspired best.

Upcoming

March has some tantalising new stuff coming out: Hanoi Rocks are bringing out a re(al)mix of their Oriental Beat album to celebrate its 40th anniversary; Saxon are bringing out another covers album (still haven’t listened to the last one); Behemoth continue their plush reissues of their early albums with a deluxe edition of Grom and there is even more Danzig! The imminent reissue of the out-of-print 777: I Luciferi will give me the opportunity to finally own all the Danzig studio albums.

Other than that, normal blog service will be resumed shortly. Watch this space. And hopefully I won’t have to move house again for a very long time.

Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Song Posts

Mott The Hoople – Thunderbuck Ram

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“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.

Classic Rock, Genre

Cheap Trick – Bang Zoom Crazy… Hello (Review)

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Cheap Trick – Bang Zoom Crazy… Hello (2016 Japanese Edition w/ 2 Bonus Tracks)

The acrimonious split with original drummer Bun E. Carlos in 2010 was a disappointingly sour turn of events in the 27-year saga of Cheap Trick. But on 2016’s Bang Zoom Crazy… Hello, their first release without him, his absence isn’t felt too keenly. The album rocks and pops with a warm, vintage sound and Robin Zander’s wonderful voice seems impervious to the passage of time. But the chemistry is undeniably altered. Their old biting quirkiness is missing and this is fairly slick stuff, like a souped-up version of the poppier Lap Of Luxury/Busted era, with by-the-numbers lyrics and happy strumming in place of decent riffs. That said, it’s a fun album with a perky spirit and, although the ideas gradually dry up as the album progresses, there are a few songs that fans will enjoy: driving opener Heart On The Line, the sparkling No Direction Home, glammy stomper Blood Red Lips and jangly ballad Sing My Blues Away. But the album’s saving grace, and the song that keeps me coming back for more, is the ghostly When I Wake Up Tomorrow. Overall, it’s not destined to go down in history as a classic, but its definitely one of their more enjoyable modern releases. And the band do sound like they’re having a good time. They don’t seem to miss Bun E., and this is solid enough that you probably won’t either. But he must have been the guy coming up with the album titles because Bang Zoom Crazy… Hello?

Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Song Posts

Be-Bop Deluxe – Sister Seagull

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“My soul has vanished, with the bird that flies so free”

They’re not a metal band by any stretch of the imagination, but Sister Seagull is definitely one of Be-Bop Deluxe’s more metal-friendly tunes. It’s one of those watery psychedelic ballads that hard rock and metal bands used to do in the 70s and early 80s. Judas Priest, Scorpions, UFO, Angel Witch, Iron Maiden… they’ve all done them! But this is one of the best. Sister Seagull has a simple D5-E5 riff that is very metal and because metal fans are suckers for a guitar god, check out Bill Nelson’s fluid and cascading pentatonic soloing. Loads of bands might have recorded songs like this, but few did it with the sheer class and expressive emotion of Sister Seagull.