Tag Archives: Obituary

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

KISS – Hooligan (Song Review)

6 Comments

“I mean, you know how cool I am”

It might seem odd to use a song he’s not particularly known for, and didn’t write or sing, to salute original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. But Hooligan is a great example of Frehley as a team player and how his impeccable, instinctive and characterful guitar playing elevated any song he played on. The 1977 Peter Criss vehicle probably isn’t a song that rides high in anyone’s ranking of KISS’s greatest work but I’ve always had a big soft spot for it. Criss’ hollering is infectious, I love the old-timey rock ‘n’ roll vibe and I’m a sucker for Paul Stanley’s use of capos for rhythm guitar parts. But, best of all, Space Ace wrings out a memorable and effortlessly cool guitar solo that crackles with electricity. And his soaring guitar part over the song’s climatic chords is one of KISS’ most joyous and euphoric moments. Ace, who has sadly left the planet aged 74, inspired legions of people to pick up guitars (including me) but there will never be anyone quite like this beloved, otherworldly legend ever again.

Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Song Reviews

Heavy Load – Heathens From The North (Song Review)

3 Comments

“Sweeping away in their ships of dragon”

Taken from 1981’s Metal Conquest EP (one of 2024″s most essential and overdue metal reissues), Heavy Load’s Heathens From The North is an epic Swedish metal wonder. It’s got brawny, snaking riffs, awesome rough-hewn vocals from Ragne Wahlquist and a glorious choral intro which doubles in magnificence when it returns in the midst of a sweeping guitar solo. It’s the kind of muscular, steady-as-she-goes Viking metal that really floats my longboat.

*

HMO salutes Ragne Wahlquist who has sadly passed away aged 69.

Black Metal, Classic Rock, Death Metal, Genre, Heavy Metal, HMO Diary, NWOBHM, Progressive Rock

HMO Diary: 27th October 2024

9 Comments

I finally got my hands on the new Blood Incantation album Absolute Elsewhere yesterday. I had ordered the deluxe box set and the supplier I used kept putting the shipping date back so had to cancel and get one on eBay before they all vanished.

First few listens and it’s a pretty stupendous mix of Morbid Angel style death and spacey, melodic prog. And the production is wonderfully warm and natural. It’s also got the Luminescent Bridge EP, a documentary, the soundtrack to the documentary and a cool book too. Could be an album of the year contender although it would be up against another recent purchase: Doedsmaghird’s Omniverse Consciousness. An offshoot of avant black metallers Dødheimsgard, this is like a grimmer companion piece to that band’s excellent 2023 album Black Medium Current. But also quite similar too, so if you loved that album then you need this.

Ermaghird!

While I’m on the topic of album of the year contenders I have to mention Deep Purple’s =1 which continues the band’s remarkably creative and fresh late stage. It’s a bit overlong but emotionally it’s been the standout of the year and kicked off a huge Deep Purple binge and a reappraisal of some of their later albums that I’d not given enough time to. Now What?! in particular has become a new favourite, up there with the band’s very best work.

-1 for the artwork though

And I can’t sign off without saluting ex-Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Di’Anno who has passed away aged 66. I never followed his career post-Maiden to be honest, but his work on those indispensable first two albums is more than enough to put him in the HMO Hall Of Fame.

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

HMO Digest – 1st May 2024

13 Comments

Demon Driver

The big news at HMO Mission Control recently is that, at the tender age of 48, I got my first car! At the moment I’m too busy trying to figure out what gear I’m in to want the added distraction of music but I can’t wait to get some Yngwie on.

Bon (and on and on) Jovi

Last weekend I binge-watched Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story. It was a bit like their career: really good fun in the early stages but then increasingly dull as it wore on. It doesn’t help that, with the possible exception of Richie Sambora, nobody in the band seems particularly compelling. Top marks for being so thorough and candid though.

HMO Charts

Darkthrone move up 666 places on the strength of their excellent new album It Beckons Us All…

Coffin Storm are a new entry with their debut album Arcana Rising. Quality doom-laden cult metal.

Mötley Crüe go down, down (and hopefully will just go away) following their wretched new song Dogs Of War.

The only way is up for Bulletboys, as they grant fans the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to invest in classic tracks such as Smooth Up In Ya. Buy, buy, buy!

HMO Salutes

HMO salutes Mike Pinder of The Moody Blues fame who has recently died aged 82 and ex-Scorpions drummer James Kottak who died, aged 61, back in January. I’ve always been a big fan of The Allman Brothers Band so the passing of guitarist/singer Dickey Betts, at the age of 80, was very sad news. But the worst news of all was the death of Magnum founder, the wonderful Tony Clarkin, whose death at the age of 77 basically signals the end of music as we know it.

Recent Purchases

Judas Priest’s Invincible Shield and Saxon’s Hell, Fire And Damnation haven’t particularly blew me away but are both enjoyable late-career outings. Bruce Dickinson’s more creative and revelatory The Mandrake Project fares better. I also picked up a lovely vinyl reissue of Reverend Bizarre’s II: Crush The Insects and a wonderfully compiled NWOBHM set All Systems Go: The Neat Singles Vol One.

You Won’t Get Out Of Here Alive: Waysted Volume One (1983-1986) compiles three albums and two EPS from Waysted’s initial run and UFO’s Lights Out is now more essential than ever, with the addition of a brilliant live show. I haven’t quite got to grips with the (two!) new Ihsahn CDs and Midnight’s Hellish Expectations yet but initial impressions are positive. And the previously mentioned Darkthrone and Coffin Storm albums are two of the year’s best so far.

Upcoming Releases

Anno Domini 1989-1995, the new Tony ‘The Cat’ Martin era Black Sabbath box set is the one I’m looking forward to the most but it looks like it’s been pushed back a bit so that should free up some cash to buy the new John Entwistle The Ox box set and the reissue of Heavy Load’s Metal Conquest instead.

That’s all for this digest. Until next time… mind the roads!

Black Metal, Death Metal, Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, HMO Digests, NWOBHM

HO HO HMO Digest – 25th December 2023

4 Comments

It’s a time for giving, a time for getting, a time for forgiving and time for another HMO Digest.

Blog Shenanigans

Since the last digest, I’ve been having fun with the new “Album Of The Day” posts. It’s giving me the opportunity to post photos from my collection and talk about albums again but without having to “review” the albums. I used to do posts like these on Facebook and I don’t see why they should have all the fun. Especially when they tried to ban me for posting a picture of boobs (the cover of Akercocke’s The Goat Of Mendes album). I photoshopped a goat over the nipples but that wasn’t enough apparently!

Looking forward to 2024…I’ve been thinking that a lot of my gaps in posting are because I often listen to a lot of one band, for example Black Sabbath, and I’ll post about them and then feel like I can’t post about them again for ages. So from now on, I’m just going to post about whatever I like, whenever I like. So if that means 12 posts in a row about Virgin Steele then you’ll just have to put up with it.

Best Album Of 2023

I called it pretty early in my July post about their song Tankespinnerens Smerte. Dødheimsgard’s Black Medium Current was my top album of 2023. Excellent, eclectic and moving black metal.

The runner up was Primordial with How It Ends which finds the Irish band, ten albums in, at their soaring, defiant best.

New Stuff

Usually at the end of year I end up having a blow out on some ridiculous deluxe box set but that hasn’t happened this year, despite the best efforts of Camel and Mott The Hoople to tempt me. I did have a rare wander round the music shops in both Edinburgh and Glasgow and picked up some goodies though!

Incantation – Onward To Golgotha (Relapse Records 1992)

The last couple of months have been unusually good on the live album front too, with excellent new live releases from Cradle Of Filth with Trouble And Their Double Lives, Mayhem with Daemonic Rites and Tom G. Warrior’s Triumph Of Death with Resurrection Of The Flesh, a live set of classic Hellhammer tunes. UGH!

I also bought the absolutely stunning new revised and expanded edition of Dayal Patterson’s book Black Metal: Evolution Of The Cult. The original version was already (easily) the best book on the subject and essential reading for anyone interested in the genre. But the new edition has an improved layout, additional material and bands added that weren’t included in the original due to length restrictions. I’m going to love getting tore into this over the Xmas holidays.

HMO Salutes

Steve Riley – (died aged 67) drummer in many bands but is most known round these parts for his stint in W.A.S.P.

Charlie Dominici – (died aged 72) the former singer in Dream Theater, having appreared on their under-rated debut album When Dream And Day Unite from 1988.

Torben Ulrich  – (died aged 95) I normally only do these about people that are in my CD collection but Torben (father of Metallica’s Lars Ulrich) won the hearts of all in the metal scene when he uttered the immortal words: “delete that”.

What I Was Listening To While I Wrote This Post

Malokarpatan’s Vertumnus Caesar is another highlight from 2023. Excellent blackened, proggy heavy metal from Slovakia that takes you back to the era of formative black metal influences like Master’s Hammer, Tormentor (Hun) and Mercyful Fate.

Upcoming Stuff

2024 is already shaping up nicely, with the likes of Saxon, Ihsahn, The Obsessed, Ace Frehley, Bruce Dickinson and Judas Priest all having new albums scheduled for release. And there are so many great bands like the BulletBoys working on new albums (BulletBoys!) that I can’t even be bothered listing them. Although I will say that one of them is the BulletBoys.

And that’s about it. Hope you had an amazing 2023 and have an even better 2024. Thanks for reading and remember… FOLLOW THE MASTER.

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

HMO Digest – 10th September 2023

9 Comments

It’s been aeons since the last HMO Digest! It’s time for another catch up on all things HMO.

Blog Recap

I don’t normally post in any sort of theme/series but I’m really enjoying doing my ongoing series of posts about instrumental songs. I’ll definitely be doing more stuff like this in the future. But, as far as instrumentals go, I’ve got plenty more to get through and you can expect some folk, prog and death metal over the next couple of weeks.

HMO Salutes

“Curse… the Gods! Too many people… have died.” Most recently, Bernie Marsden (died aged 72), most famous for his time in Whitesnake and co-writing all-time classic rock tunes like Here I Go Again and Fool For Your Loving.

The period since the last HMO Digest has also seen the passing of: Pete Brown (died aged 82) the poet, musician and co-writer of many extremely classic Cream cuts; Frehley’s Comet bassist John Regan (died aged 71); Mark Adams (died aged 64) – bassist and co-founder of doom pioneers Saint Vitus; Tank’s Algy Ward (died aged 63); and Metal Church drummer Kirk Arrington (died aged 61).


Up And Autumn

A weird September heatwave has just kicked in which is annoying as I was starting to get into a lovely Autumn vibe, listening to one of my go-to albums for this time of the year: Anathema’s Alternative 4. One of the best albums of the whole 90s British gloomy northerner scene, Alternative 4 is right at the sweet spot between the band’s metal beginnings and the emotional rock they’d become known for. And it’s being reissued on vinyl soon so if you don’t already own this classic… now’s the time.

New Stuff

Since it’s been a while since the previous digest, I’m just going to focus on some recent new albums I’ve bought (as opposed to reissues, box sets etc…). The biggest one is the new Virgin Steele album The Passion Of Dionysus. It still has all the idiosyncratic flaws of their other latter-day releases but I just find this band totally fascinating and this is their strongest release since The Black Light Bacchanalia (which, despite my muted review, has become one of my most listened to albums of the past few years). Yow!

There’s also the new Marduk album Memento Mori which is only just out. On first listen it sounds utterly caustic and hellish. These are compliments. There’s also been a “new” Akercocke live album Decades Of Devil Worship (actually an unreleased live recording from 2007) which is a complete blast, the band sound at the top of their game. And I’ve also posted my favourite songs from the new Albert Bouchard and DHG albums.


Upcoming Releases

September is looking pretty exciting in terms of new releases: to kick off there’s the eagerly-awaited return of Primordial with their new album How It Ends; Blood Incantation follow up their 2022 ambient release Timewave Zero with a new half brutal/half ambient EP Luminescent Bridge; Mayhem release a new live album Daemonic Rites; and space rockers Hawkwind celebrate the anniversary of their classic live album Space Ritual in super deluxe style with an 11-disc box set. Do not panic.

Thanks for reading! If you like seeing photos from my collection remember to check out the HMO Facebook page as there’s more of that stuff there. And if there’s any kind of topics you’d like to see me cover on these digest posts then let me know.

Black Metal, Classic Rock, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, HMO Digests, NWOBHM, Thrash Metal

HMO Digest – 2nd February 2023

9 Comments

With pesky January out of the way, it seems like a good time to have a wee catch-up on all things HMO.

Recent Posts

2023 got off to a galloping good start with Tyrant and their righteous NWOBHM single Hold Back The Lightning. On the softer rock side, I’ve been talking about Marillion and Journey. Marillion’s Holidays In Eden got me wondering about albums with shite title tracks… can you think of any? And the comment scuttlebutt seems to be that Wheel In The Sky is the best Journey song. It’s official!

On the more extreme end of things I’ve selected songs from Napalm Death and Testament and I’ve talked about a couple of my favourite tracks from 2022 as well: Artificial Brain’s Celestial Cyst and Avatarium’s Death, Where Is Your Sting.

HMO Salutes

Jeff Beck – the legendary and innovative guitarist, who has died aged 78.

Dan McCafferty – the leather-lunged Nazareth vocalist, who has died aged 76. And so soon after the death of Manny Charlton too!

Bob Nalbandian has died aged just 58. He was a crucial figure in the US metal scene but has a special place in my heart due to his old podcast ‘The Shockwaves Skullsessions’. As I was writing this, it was announced that a special tribute run of ‘The Shockwave Skullsessions’ is in the works along with uploads of the original episodes! Great news because I had them all on a hard drive but can’t seem to find them anymore. Follow their FB Page for info/updates. His podcast was a big inspiration to me in the early days of starting this blog so a big thank you to Bob for being such an absolute legend.

New Stuff

Following the usual Christmas spendathon, it’s quietened down a bit in January. The big purchase has been the excellent new Thin Lizzy Live And Dangerous box set. And I’ve also picked up the reissue of UFO’s overlooked No Heavy Petting album, a cool Deicide reissue and the purchase of Smear Campaign and Inside The Torn Apart completes my collection of Napalm Death studio releases! I bet you’re well jell.

What I Was Listening To While I Wrote This Post

Svart Records have done superb work with Slice Of Doom, the recent box set of Reverend Bizarre’s early demos and recordings. I was listening to the first disc and it’s brilliant: the Finnish doom upstarts at the top of their game. How can you not love a band that started their career with a cover of the Dr. Who theme tune and have a song called Fucking Wizard?

Coming Up

I’ve got posts about top tunes from the likes of Opeth, Iron Maiden and Whitesnake on the way. As far as new releases: I’m looking forward to IX, the new album from Paradise Lost side-project Host; Circle Of Snakes is one of the few Danzig albums I don’t have so I’m pleased to see that getting reissued; and I already have two versions of Darkthrone’s Goatlord but… OK, let’s make it three!

And that’s about enough for now. I think the plan will be to do this at the start of every month from now on so… see you in March!

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

HMO Digest – 10th July 2022

21 Comments

I closed out the previous digest with a question: were KISS genuinely boring when they played Donington in 1996 or was I just too sunburned to enjoy them properly? Well, I’ve listened to the Off The Soundboard recording of the show now. It’s a bit sluggish and takes a few songs to get going but, in the comfort of my own darkened living room, it’s way more fun than I remember! I’m getting the classic KISS vibes. Verdict: too sunburned.

Recent Posts

Hell – Darkhangel (Song Review)

One of the best songs of the ’10s but sadly Hell haven’t released anything since. Last I saw of them was supporting Saxon at what can only be described as a very farty Glasgow gig. At least I got some fresh air at Donington.

Running Wild – Final Gates (Song Review)

Don’t walk the plank, spank it! It’s all about the bass on this insanely catchy instrumental.

Fist – Throwing In The Towel (Song Review)

Apollo Creed’s least favourite NWOBHM song.

Shrines – Ghost Notes (EP Review)

I never got a press release for this so I’m not sure what the pitch is. A wee music theory joke for you there.

HMO Salutes

Original Nazareth guitarist Manny Charlton has died aged 80. Brilliant musician, songwriter and producer on some of my favourite albums. Listen here for a great interview with the man himself, where he discusses his classic Nazareth albums and his involvement with Guns N’ Roses. Warning: Fife accent.

Artist Ken Kelly, the creator of some of my favourite album covers, has passed away aged 76. A framed poster of Love Gun graced my living room wall for many years. And where would Manowar be without his muscular and boobular artwork?

My long-running campaign to “BRING BACK ALEC” has come to a sad end with the death of ex-Bon Jovi bassist Alec John Such, aged 70. The campaign did at least achieve some closure when he reunited with the band at their 2018 Hall Of Fame induction.

New Stuff

My most exciting purchases from the last month were the new Kreator album Hate Über Alles which is really good (definitely better than advance reviews led me to believe) and Porcupine Tree’s Closure/Continuation (album of the year so far). On the reissue front, I got the Thin Lizzy package that pairs up the expanded Sydney show with the doc Songs For While I’m Away, which is essential viewing for Lynott fans. And I finally got the anniversary box set of Mayhem’s De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas which I’ve been looking forward to since pre-ordering it back in November 2021. It was worth the wait.

What I Was Listening To While I Wrote This Post

Enuff Z’Nuff’s 1985. It’s a strange one… a 1994 release that was technically their fourth album but is actually their 1985 demo recordings. I don’t really know the full story here. It’s sounds way too good to be a demo and sounds incredible for 1985 even. Re-recorded or touched up old material? Whatever it is, it’s brill and infectious glam rock.

Coming Up

I’m looking forward to the reissue of UFO’s High Stakes & Dangerous Men paired with Lights Out In Tokyo. Supposedly not the best era for the band but I’ve not heard either album before so I’ll judge for myself. Also Whiplash’s The Roadrunner Years set is an exciting prospect, I’ve wanted that stuff for ages but it’s always been too pricey.

On the review side I’ve got quite a mix coming up soon on the blog: thrash, power metal, black metal and classic prog. Stay tuned and expect no mercy!

Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Song Reviews

ZZ Top – I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide (Song Review)

10 Comments

“Nobody give me trouble, cause they know I got it made”

HMO salutes Dusty Hill who has passed away aged 72. The first album I spun today to celebrate his life was my favourite ZZ Top album Degüello. And I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide is one of my very favourite ZZ Top tunes. It’s the kind of cruising, carefree rock they did so well. Stonesy chords, gutsy guitar and the coolest lyrics: “a bluesman in the back and a beautician at the wheel”. And best of all, Dusty powering the song to a close with a bottom end of monstrously filthy proportions. He was the baddest and waaay more than merely nationwide. A phenomenal bassist, singer and songwriter with a classic career of over 50 years and the owner of one of music’s most famous beards, Dusty was absolutely global.

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

UFO – Too Much Of Nothing (Song Review)

19 Comments

“One of life’s delinquents”

HMO salutes Pete Way who has sadly just passed away aged 69. He’d played in a few different acts and as a solo artist but round these parts he’ll always be the iconic, polka-dotted delinquent in UFO. I’d usually use a post like this to highlight some sort of instrumental prowess but he wasn’t really that kind of player. His main thing was being larger than life. Cool as fuck outfits. Cool as fuck posing. But that’s not to put down his musical abilities. His playing gave UFO’s songs a good kick up the arse and he was a talented writer too. Check out Too Much Of Nothing. It’s a rare example of a UFO tune that was solely written by Way. Taken from their 1975 album Force It, it’s a dirty down-trodden rocker with a carefree lift in its chorus. And there’s a good bit of the Way persona in the lyrics: overdoses, habits, just rolling along. It’s not one of the band’s standout moments but it’s a great deep cut and it holds its own on an album that is stacked to the gills with classics. So there was more to Way than just throwing shapes. But still… there’s a reason I own a Firebird bass. Because Pete Way was cool as fuck.