1963TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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The Beatles
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Bob Dylan
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The Beatles
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1964TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Simon & Garfunkel
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The Rolling Stones
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Bob Dylan
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The Beatles
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Bob Dylan
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The Beatles
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1965TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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The Rolling Stones
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The Rolling Stones
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Bob Dylan
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The Beatles
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Bob Dylan
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The Beatles
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1966TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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The Yardbirds
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Simon & Garfunkel
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Buffalo Springfield
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John Mayall
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Simon & Garfunkel
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Cream
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The Rolling Stones
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The Beach Boys
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Bob Dylan
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In his own words, Blonde On Blonde is the 'thin wild mercury music' Dylan heard in his head in the mid-1960s. It is a proclaimed masterpiece by many music fans, and whilst it isn't my favourite album of his from the period, I can't deny the scope and depth. Dylan effortlessly switches between rock, folk, blues, ballads, and even Dixieland jazz on this eclectic double album - in fact the first double album ever released in popular music - and his third released in a year. Songs like the soppy 'Just Like A Woman' and the up-tempo 'I Want You' would be become radio standards of the 60s, but I don't think anything on this album reached the heights of his previous album opener 'Like A Rolling Stone'. 'Visions Of Johanna' does come close though, and 'Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again' is a great representation of his music from the period. All in all a great listen. |
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The Beatles
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1967TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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The Velvet Underground
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Pink Floyd
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Cream
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The Rolling Stones
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The Doors
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The Doors
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Bob Dylan
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The Beatles
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The Jimi Hendrix Experience
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The Jimi Hendrix Experience
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1967TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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The Beatles
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1968TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Jethro Tull
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The Doors
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Neil Young
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The Band
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Creedence Clearwater Revival
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Simon & Garfunkel
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Pink Floyd
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The Rolling Stones
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The Jimi Hendrix Experience
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The Beatles
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1969TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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The Rolling Stones
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Creedence Clearwater Revival
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Neil Young with Crazy Horse
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David Bowie
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King Crimson
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Crosby, Stills & Nash
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Blind Faith
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Led Zeppelin
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Led Zeppelin
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The Beatles
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1970TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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The Doors
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Deep Purple
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Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
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Paul McCartney
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George Harrison
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Led Zeppelin
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John Lennon
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The Beatles
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1970TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Bob Dylan
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Ringo Starr
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1970TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Bob Dylan
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1971TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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America
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Uriah Heep
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Pink Floyd
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The Doors
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Deep Purple
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Jethro Tull
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Jimi Hendrix
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Jimi Hendrix
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John Lennon
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Led Zeppelin
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1972TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Eagles
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The Rolling Stones
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Lou Reed
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David Bowie
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Deep Purple
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Neil Young
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Uriah Heep
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1972TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Jimi Hendrix
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1973TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Alice Cooper
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Paul McCartney & Wings
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Neil Young
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Mike Oldfield
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John Lennon
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Elton John
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Iggy And The Stooges
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Like him or not, no one can deny Iggy Pop is a legend of the music industry. This album is one of the reasons why. It was pretty much Iggy with a hired backing band at this point as the original Stooges had parted ways, and the man was out to make a statement. Raw Power is aggressive proto-punk with all the hallmarks of the style long before the Sex Pistols or even Ramones. The production is terrible (produced by David Bowie, who stated he was given a twenty-four track tape with everything recorded on only two of the tracks), the overblown mix red-lines its way through the 8 powerhouses, rarely giving the listener a moment to take a breath. 'Search And Destroy' opens, and is a letter of intent to the listener, warning them to stay low or be pummelled - and although the album immediately changes gears with the acoustic driven 'Gimme Danger', the aggressive mix still makes this a moment of nervous energy and explosive power. Side B opens with the title track, and it is every bit as brain shaking as side A. Everything about this album was ahead of its time, and it isn't hard to hear why so many list it as an influence - even if you will likely be deaf after only a couple of listens. One thing of note, if you do find the mix challenging - check out the remix made in 1997 (apparently from the actual multitrack masters). It does a good job of keeping the urgency of the music, whilst removing the treble heavy toxic noise of the original. |
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Pink Floyd
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Led Zeppelin
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1974TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Neil Young
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KISS
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Bob Dylan
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Supertramp
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Roger Glover And Guests
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As the bass player of Deep Purple Roger Glover had certainly earnt his dues in rock fan circles, being the mind (and hands) behind those driving basslines on songs like 'Highway Star' and 'Smoke On The Water'. He departed the band in 1973, and started working on his first solo work - that which would become 'The Butterfly Ball & Grasshopper's Feast'. Originally written for Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord, Glover eventually decided to make the album himself by using a range of well-known rock musicians to play the part of each creature attending the fictitious ball. Many Deep Purple connections can be heard such as his own replacement Glenn Hughes, David Coverdale who was the replacement for the also recently departed Ian Gillan, and Ronnie James Dio who was soon to be the vocalist for Rainbow when Richie Blackmore himself would leave Deep Purple in the near future. Among them is also a range of other great vocalists, many of which are now only a footnote in rock history, like John Lawton, Barry St. John and Glover's then wife Judi Kuhl. The results are a rich tapestry of musical styles including rock, jazz, waltz and folk (amongst others) that ebb and flow through the short songs. Slowly building out the story of the ball piece by piece. The album is tied together wonderfully by each side of the original vinyl closing with a masterpiece that include the vocals of Ronnie James Dio, the obvious star of the show - as always. This would be the first time he received mainstream exposure. |
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1974TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Bob Dylan & The Band
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1974TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Jimi Hendrix
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1975TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Jeff Beck
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KISS
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Jimi Hendrix
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Pink Floyd
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Alice Cooper
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AC/DC
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Led Zeppelin
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Bob Dylan
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1975TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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AC/DC
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1975TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Bob Dylan & The Band
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1976TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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David Bowie
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Thin Lizzy
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Rainbow
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Richie Blackmore, having been the axeman for Deep Purple for close to a decade, had already cemented himself as a rock legend when he formed Rainbow. His vocalist on the other hand, a fresh-faced American named Ronnie James Dio, hadn't yet broken the big time. Whilst 1975's debut album showed promise, this is the album where both vocalist and guitarist really locked together to bring out each other's best. With proto-metal in abundance here, songs like 'Tarot Woman' and 'Starstruck' really shine, and Blackmore's solos feel like he really is invested in this music. The vinyl side B opened with the orchestrated monster 'Stargazer', setting alight the minds of heavy music fans everywhere, and showcasing Dio's amazing soulfully powerful vocals like no other track. Rainbow slowly became mostly 'commercial' after this release, with Dio unfortunately only hanging around for one more album, but there was little chance of them ever besting this masterpiece anyway. |
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Alice Cooper
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KISS
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Blue Oyster Cult
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Led Zeppelin
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AC/DC
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Bob Dylan
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1976TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Led Zeppelin
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1977TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Television
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The Angels
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Fleetwood Mac
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David Bowie
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Motorhead
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AC/DC
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Meat Loaf
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Sex Pistols
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Pink Floyd
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1978TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Cold Chisel
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David Gilmour
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Rose Tattoo
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Public Image Ltd. (PiL)
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Going solo (or at least creating a new band identity for yourself) after being in a ground breaking genre-defining band is always going to be tough. People like Paul McCartney and Robert Plant realised this, and struggled to find a new norm amongst their established audience. Johnny Rotten knew that post Sex Pistols his fans wanted to see him become more Rotten than ever, which is why he did the opposite - he became himself. Re-emerging as John Lydon, he introduced the world to PiL, a post-punk art-rock anomaly, that many fans were left confused and alienated by. There are shades of his former band buried here, but more in attitude than style. There are acerbic buzzsaw guitars, but they create atmosphere rather that riffs, and the spoken word poetry of Religion was likely too much for most mohawked glue-sniffers in 1978. There are still some 'real' songs here, with tracks like Annalisa and Public Image pumping out rock greatness, but for the most part this is an album (and band) designed to make you think, rather than pogo. |
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Jeff Wayne
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Jethro Tull
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The Angels
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Bob Dylan
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AC/DC
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1979TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Motorhead
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Cold Chisel
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Midnight Oil
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Supertramp
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Led Zeppelin
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Bob Dylan
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The Angels
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Pink Floyd
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Motorhead
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AC/DC
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1980TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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John Lennon & Yoko Ono
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Jimi Hendrix
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Bob Dylan
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Cold Chisel
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Dead Kennedys
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The Angels
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Motorhead
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AC/DC
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1981TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Midnight Oil
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Bob Dylan
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Motley Crue
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The Angels
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AC/DC
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1982TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Misfits
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Rose Tattoo
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Cold Chisel
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Midnight Oil
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Motorhead
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Twisted Sister
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1982TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Led Zeppelin
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1983TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Pink Floyd
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Def Leppard
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Bob Dylan
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U2
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ZZ Top
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Album #8 for ZZ Top was the one that finally made them a household name. They had been around for close to 15 years at this point, but their southern soaked whiskey blues had never been much more than a slight blip on the radar of the mainstream charts. The band took some chances with the album, most noticeably with the synthesised guitar tones and the lack of the usual boogie blues. It paid off, producing four hit singles. Although some of the production choices are a little dated today, the crisp punchy mix means it still sounds great. 'Gimmie All Your Lovin'' opens with a bang, and although many great rock albums start with a recognisable and legendary guitar riff, very few can say the same about a drum beat. Moving through now-rock classics like 'Got Me Under Pressure' and 'Sharp Dressed Man', the album still demonstrates the ZZ style well, even if it is a little more. 'new wave' than previous albums. Most songs are also quite obviously faster in tempo than their older works, probably yet another move to get radio play. Although the second side still had some great tunes, the album definitely suffers from front-loading, with all its best (and most modern sounding) tracks up front. This is not say the second half isn't worth listening to, but the tracks certainly feel more like a throwback to the band's earlier sound. The Top continued down the synthesised trail for a couple more albums until they had done all they could with the sound, returning to their more traditional blues style in the early 1990s. |
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Motley Crue
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AC/DC
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Twisted Sister
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The Angels
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Motorhead
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Motorhead are a band that are often accused of making the same album over and over. Released in 1983, Another Perfect Day didn't deviate much from the formula, but it was different enough that many fans rejected it - and it wasn't just about the music. Brian 'Robbo' Robertson of Thin Lizzy had joined the ranks, and replacing 'Fast' Eddie Clarke was never going to be an easy gig. His guitar lines were often filled with flourishes Clarke would have instead bulldozed through, adding a level of delicacy to the music many took umbrage to, and Lemmy himself tired of the man very quickly himself. Robertson gradually began refusing to play older Motorhead classics, and add to this his odd fashion sense (such as ballet shoes and leg warmers - on stage) meant that his tenure was short. Regardless of all that the album has stood the test of time well, and has a number of bright moments. The opening track 'Back At The Funny Farm' along with the singles 'I Got Mine' and 'Shine' opened the door to allow the band to add more melody into future music, with or without Robertson on board. It stands up and keeps its own against any of the earlier 'classic' albums, but certainly does have its own unique personality. |
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1983TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Misfits
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1984TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Public Image Ltd. (PiL)
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Deep Purple
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David Gilmour
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U2
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Midnight Oil
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Cold Chisel
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INXS
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Twisted Sister
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The Angels
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1985TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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ZZ Top
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Twisted Sister
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Motley Crue
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Dire Straits
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Jimmy Barnes
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INXS
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AC/DC
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1985TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Green River
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1986TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Bon Jovi
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The Angels
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Motorhead
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1986TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Guns n' Roses
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Various Artists
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1987TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Twisted Sister
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Noiseworks
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U2
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Jimmy Barnes
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Motorhead
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INXS
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Pink Floyd
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Midnight Oil
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Def Leppard
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Guns n' Roses
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1987TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Soundgarden
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The Angels
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In everyday life we all primarily listen to studio versions of songs, but a band's ability and reputation to hold a crowd at a live show is really what makes or breaks them. Some band build a massive reputation on the live circuit, and many Aussie stalemates proved themselves in the pubs long before they were put on a record. The Angels were one of these bands, and even over a decade and a half into their career Live Line proved that they could still cut it against even the toughest audience. What makes a great live record is the combination of many things - the songs selected, the quality of the performance, the recording quality - but above all else, it has to give the listener the feeling of being there. If you close your eyes, do you feel like you are in the crowd, shoulder to shoulder with other fans bouncing in time to the beat. Live Line does this effortlessly, with performances culled from four different shows ranging from 1981 to 1987, stitched together to form a single cohesive 'concert'. Tracks from the most recent show from March 1987 bristle with electric energy, as the band tear through songs from their current album Howling with focused intent and enjoyment. As good as the performances are though, the stars of the album are undoubtably the tracks from the Narara Music Festival in January 1983. To this day, still one of the biggest Australian music festivals of all time (with a line-up featuring Choirboys, Divinyls, The Church, INXS, Moving Pictures, Australian Crawl, Men At Work, Rose Tattoo, Cold Chisel and many many more), frontman Doc Neeson announced to the band it would be his final performance and beneath a blood-red moon the band played a show like a bunch of men possessed. The songs from that performance carry that energy to the listener perfectly. Needless to say, the band did carry on after that show. From the massive sing-along choruses of 'After The Rain' and 'Comin' Down' to the subtle acoustic performances of 'Love Takes Care' and 'Be With You' even song is played with care and precision, and also the key ingredient in any Angels performance - personality. Neeson makes every show unique with his between song banter and barnstorming vocals on songs 'Like For The Shelter' and 'Face The Day'. And of course, no Angels live album can be complete without the usual audience participation on 'Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again?'. Some live albums are just a product of their time and are quickly forgotten by next studio album, whereas some stand up so well on their own that they become an absolutely critical part of a band's discography. Live Line sits firmly in the latter category. |
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1988TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Noiseworks
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AC/DC
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Robert Plant
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Mudhoney
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Green River
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Soundgarden
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Jane's Addiction
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1927
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Guns n' Roses
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The Traveling Wilburys
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1988TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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The Jimi Hendrix Experience
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U2
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Various Artists
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1988TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Bob Dylan
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1989TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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The Cure
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By 1989 The Cure had become a known name by music fans. They had a handful of well-known songs that had charted well over the past decade, but for the most part their albums were still very much for their fans alone. Like most bands that caught a whiff of that sweet smell of success, they chased the rainbow for a couple of long-players - and that is why Disintegration was such a shock upon release. With personnel changes (due to the usual rock n' roll tropes) band leader Robert Smith took a step (or three) backwards to more familiar territory, creating an goth-style album that would have sat easily in the band's earlier repertoire. Whether it was successful or not came down to how much of a fan you were. If you were into vintage Cure, it shone like a diamond. If you were looking for the more recent 'radio ready' version of the band, you would have spent a lot of time scratching your head. The album is draped in lush textures of majestic keyboards and reverb soaked guitar, giving it a distinct feel, somewhat akin to soundscapes rather than classic song structures - but it works beautifully, and the sound never gets stale. The lyrics on tracks like 'Pictures Of You' and 'Prayers For Rain' are wonderfully textured, and the bass driving on 'Fascination Street' and the title track is just sublime. This is an album that begs for repeat listens, but is also moody, and won't suit every time of the day. It perfectly set the band up to enter the next decade, when music like theirs would soon be dominating the charts. |
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Joe Satriani
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There is a lot of evidence that just because you are an exceptional guitar player doesn't necessarily mean you can write a song, and this evidence is usually found on the solo albums of great guitarists. Like any great artist is aware, knowing what to put where and how much of it to use is what makes or breaks the work. Sometimes great guitarists see their art as the lead-line or the shred, forgetting about the rest of the song, and those leads alone are not enough to carry repeats listens. Satriani has been guilty of this many times in his career, but on this album he found the perfect balance. From the moment the ethereal strums of the album's title track begin, the listener is transported to another place. That opening song nails the reason why the whole album works so well - the guitar line serves the song, rather than a song backing a guitarist. Track after track Satriani effortlessly (is there any other word to describe his playing?) weaves his leads and rhythms together like a patchwork quilt of ideas and styles and sounds. There is blistering pseudo metal on 'Can't Slow Down' and the track also gives us our first taste of something new to the guitarist's repertoire - vocals. Audiences were divided at the time, as it is safe to safe Joe's real voice can't quite sing like his guitar voice can, but it does create a welcome variation. 'Headless' and 'Strange' mix things up even further, whilst 'The Bells Of Lal (Part One)' works nicely as experiment in controlled feedback. 'The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing' and 'Day At The Beach (New Rays From An Ancient Sun)' show off his insane level of finger tapping mastery, whilst 'Back To Shalla-Bal' is an all-out sonic assault. Whilst the variation in styles is one of the album's strong points, it doesn't always work, with tracks like the banjo-heavy 'The Phone Call' a better addition to the cutting room floor than the album (with or without vocals). Older fans will feel right at home with 'One Big Rush' and 'The Forgotten (Part Two)', showing off the more traditional 'guitar album' style. At just over an hour, the album hangs around long enough not to outstay it's welcome, and many of the songs are just long enough they don't lose their freshness. Although the majority of fans will still vote Surfing With The Alien from two years prior his best album, Flying In A Blue Dream often has the honor of being called a close second, and one listen should explain why. |
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Mudhoney
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Motley Crue
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D.A.D. (Disneyland After Dark)
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In the late 1980's if you had long blond hair, an unbuttoned shirt, and played hard rock music - you were guaranteed to have a hit record. Often talent wasn't even particularly important, but a few bands - Disneyland After Dark being one of them - actually managed to release an album that was worthy of its successes. It wasn't the band's first album (and certainly wasn't their last), but it was the album where everything worked - and the inclusion of the baritone guitar lead lines through many of the songs gave it an extra edge that no one had ever heard before. They'd done similar on previous albums, but nailed it on this one. 'Sleeping My Day Away' was the perfect radio friendly first single to introduce the world to Denmark's best kept rock secret, and follow up singles like 'Girl Nation' and 'Jihad' really drove home their commercial, yet still edgy style - with infectious choruses that couldn't be ignored and the occasional barnstormer to get you bouncing around the room. Much like any bands of this style at the time, their quality didn't drop, but their audience did, and the band was mostly unheard of again, although they have continued to churn out albums of reasonable quality. |
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The Mark Of Cain
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Bob Dylan
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Soundgarden
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Nirvana
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This is the humble beginnings of a band no one ever expected would be any more than a blip on the radar, and indeed Nirvana's debut only sold a few thousand copies in its first couple of years of existence. Recorded over a 12 month period (although rock legend would have us believe it was in a single session) the time taken to record this motley collection certainly doesn't reflect in the cohesiveness of the songs. With mostly rough and simple compositions we see only a hint or two of the grunge-pop that would change the rock landscape two years later with Nevermind. The contrasts of The Beatles-like 'About A Girl' alongside the abrasive metal stylings of 'Negative Creep' or 'School' is perfectly sequenced, with the track running order mimicking the heavy/soft dynamics that characterised many of the band's songs. The lyrics are mostly simple and repetitive (and often odd or goofy), but they are very much in keeping with Cobain's quirky style - and some of these songs had been in his repertoire for a number of years. Jack Endino's production is flat, but like all of his work at Reciprocal, is has a razor sharp edge to it that better studios would probably never be able to come to naturally. The album ends of the melancholy strains of 'Sifting', leaving us feeling like Cobain is searching for something he just can't find - something no doubt reflected in his real life. |
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Faith No More
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1989TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Mother Love Bone
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Neil Young
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Roy Orbison
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Skid Row
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Aerosmith
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1989TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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A.S.a.P. (Adrian Smith and Project)
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1990TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Jimmy Barnes
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Bruce Dickinson
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The Traveling Wilburys
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The Black Crowes
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If you were asked to describe The Black Crowes debut album in one word, it wouldn't be hard - swagger. Full of the grooves and rhythms that made mid-period Rolling Stones albums so listenable, the album showcases the new band with punch, and was a raised middle finger to anyone who dared to say southern rock was dead. 'Jealous Again' is the epitome of a great rock song, and exudes the star power this band exhibited with ease. The band makes Otis Reading's 'Too Hard To Handle' their own, and the classic Nicky Hopkins style piano in 'Thick 'n Thin' are just perfect. At such a young age Chris Robinson's voice proves perfect for the music, drifting with a world-weary charm, and brother Rich has clearly studied the guitar greats of the era they both so perfectly emulate. Slower songs like 'Seeing Things' and 'She Talks With Angels' (eluding to the dangers of heroin) are great rock ballads, but don't quite cross that barrier into all-time classics, lacking the hook a good rock ballads needs. A good debut album is everything in rock, and The Black Crowes are perfect proof of this, bursting onto the scene with such impact that they are still around rocking today. |
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AC/DC
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Midnight Oil
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Following a mega-hit album like 'Diesel And Dust' was never going to be an easy task, but Midnight Oil did what they did best - made another album of their distinct Australian rock, with just enough evolution in style to push forward into the new decade, without forgetting the past one. The song 'Blue Sky Mine', written about the miners that once worked the asbestos mines of Western Australia, is a swirling harmonica filled carnival ride that sets the listener up for the album ahead. It shows that the band isn't planning on letting up on their political messages (with them even protesting at the Exxon building in New York around the time of the album's launch), but also showed there were still some fresh musical ideas in the tank. The album features a few slower (bit equally poignant tracks) than usual, and played alone songs like 'Bedlam Bridge' or 'Mountains Of Burma' are a tad too mellow - but they work within the context of the songs around them. Radio favourites 'Forgotten Years' and 'King Of The Mountain' remind us of the people and places that make our country great. The album ends on a sombre note with 'Antarctica', an ode to the planet we are slowly destroying. Whilst the subject matter may not be quite as topical today, the music will always be timeless. |
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Jane's Addiction
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The Angels
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Alice In Chains
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Mother Love Bone
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1990TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Robert Johnson
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Doug Anthony All-Stars (D.A.A.S.)
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1991TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Lenny Kravitz
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Screaming Trees
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U2
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U2 had been slowing climbing to success for a number of years, and the recent studio & live combo album Rattle & Hum had positioned them at the top of the pack for the new decade. Their music now oozed with Americana charm, and it seemed obvious what would come next - and this is why the music world was left stunned when the first single 'The Fly' hit the airwaves. Reinvention is common in bands, but reinvention is about stripping back to the basic parts and rebuilding. This new U2 felt like none of those basic parts had ever existed. That first single, and the album that followed, was light years from anything the band had done before - and just about as far from anything else being played on the radio at the time. Be it by expert design or by total fluke, Achtung Baby positioned U2 at the forefront of the alternative movement that was about to flood the airwaves. The album sampled songs and sounds, it compressed and altered the instruments, it used odd song timings and arrangements, and Bono used his voice in ways he never had before. 'Zoo Station' bolts from its pen, its brazen overwrought guitar signalling like a warning of what is to come, and even mega hits like 'One' are produced to within an inch of their lives, deliberately removing any trace of the band that existed in the 1980s. 'Mysterious Ways' is so groovy you just need to move with it, and that is what makes the soul of the album - building a set of songs that regardless of how many overdubs are put on them, you can still hear the greatness of the tunes beneath it all. The Edge truly shines here, with tracks like 'Ultra Violet (Light My Way)' really showing his versatility. The album ends with some sombre moments, closing with 'Acrobat' and 'Love Is Blindness', ending a damn near perfect album. |
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Soundgarden
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Smashing Pumpkins
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Motorhead
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Nirvana
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Guns n' Roses
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Guns n' Roses
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Pearl Jam
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1991TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Bob Dylan
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1992TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Roger Waters
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Rage Against The Machine
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Mike Oldfield
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Izzy Stradlin And The Ju Ju Hounds
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Ministry
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R.E.M.
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Screaming Trees
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Faith No More
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Stone Temple Pilots
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Alice In Chains
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1992TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Alice In Chains
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Nirvana
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Various Artists
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Tool
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1993TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Lenny Kravitz
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Radiohead
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Everclear
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Crash Test Dummies
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U2
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Guns n' Roses
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Tool
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Smashing Pumpkins
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Nirvana
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Pearl Jam
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Pearl Jam's debut 'Ten' was a landmark album that still stands up today as one of the greatest debut albums of time. Following an album like would never be easy, and the obvious route to take is to make something similar for your sophomore. Pearl Jam, true to their style, did the opposite. Putting themselves in unfamiliar surroundings with half-finished songs and a deadline that was tight, they reproduced nature - making a diamond under great pressure. Whilst the debut was polished and focused and had a strong grounding in classic rock, 'Vs.' instead was intentionally jarring and felt more like the songs were organic. 'Go' leapt out the gate, shaking off the last of the band's comparisons to dinosaur rock of the 70's, instead looking to The Sonics and Fugazi for inspiration, and although songs like 'Daughter' and 'Dissident' have gone on to become radio standards, these songs were like nothing else at the time. On 'Animal' and 'Blood' Eddie Vedder pours out venom, with social commentary at the fore, yet the same voice of the 90's then penned the lyrics to a touching masterpiece like 'Elderly Woman'. Never a band to be satisfied, Pearl Jam morphed into something different again on their next album, freeze-drying 'Vs.' as a perfect snap-shot of the state of alternative rock in 1993, and 30 years on it still goes head to head against anything released by any band today. and easily wins. |
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1994TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Mark Lanegan
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The Offspring
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By the late-90s bands like Green Day and Blink-182 would help the new generation of pop-punk explode onto the charts and take the music to the masses, but in 1994 punk was still less than mainstream. With labels now looking for the next 'grunge', bands like Bad Religion and Pennywise were starting to cause a swell, and The Offspring were lucky enough that someone at Epitaph Records (founded by Bad Religion's guitarist) decided they were worth pushing. 'Smash' was an album made for the time, overflowing with angsty lyrics and crunchy guitars, but with just enough commercial appeal that every 15 year old got a copy on CD from their grandparents for their birthday that year. Songs like 'Nitro (Youth Energy)' and 'Genocide' exhibited old-school punk chops and credibility alongside the more modern sounding 'Come Out And Play (Keep 'm Separated)' and 'Gotta Get Away'. There was cross-over appeal also, with alternative and metal audiences hearing something in here that they could relate to. Although The Offspring have had a number of good albums over the years (ignoring the last couple), 'Smash' will likely always be seen as their greatest musical statement. |
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Green Day
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Johnny Cash
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Stone Temple Pilots
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Pink Floyd
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Live
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To say an album is a masterpiece is a big call, but every so often something is released that is so perfect, so definitive, and so ultimate - that it can wear the badge proudly. Throwing Copper is one of those albums. Although Live's debut album was hard to categorise (sounding like a clone of early R.E.M.), their second album knew what it wanted to be - not quite so mainstream to be regarded pop, but not quite so heavy to be purely alternative rock. Opener 'The Dam At Otter Creek' builds slowly to a cacophony, setting up the incredibly infectious 'Selling The Drama' to lead the way into the rest of the album. It all unfolds one great song after another, moving through 'I Alone', the mega-single 'Lightning Crashes' and even the punchy 'All Over You'. The songs are varied in style, yet wonderfully cohesive, and the album even finishes with a cowboy song, the beautiful 'Horse'. The lyrics seem to alternate between hard hitting social commentary and whimsy, but the whole album is performed with such conviction it all exudes the same power. Post this the band followed a more commercial direction, leaving this standing tall to carry on in a class of its own. |
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Bush
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In 1994 Bush took a lot of unnecessary criticism for apparently being a Nirvana clone. To be fair, in 1994 - every band was Nirvana clone. With Sixteen Stone they took the angst of grunge and wrapped it up in a big ball of English optimism, and made a dirty distorted sound that was very much their own. Whereas Kurt Cobain was all about telling us how shit his world was, Gavin Rossdale wrote more positive lyrics, and their big hooky choruses left you feeling good about things. Songs like 'Everything Zen' and 'Little Things' had a alt-rock crunch, but they were still radio friendly enough to get plenty of airplay, and how could 'Glycerine' not become a classic ballad of the 90s (even though no one has any idea what it is about)?. It isn't a perfect album by any means, and there a couple of low spots ('Bomb' is a mess), but for the most part this is one of the best debuts of the post-grunge 90s. It's a shame Bush never made an album this good again. |
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Soundgarden
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Pearl Jam
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1994TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Alice In Chains
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Jimi Hendrix
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Jimi Hendrix
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Silverchair
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Nirvana
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To say Kurt Cobain had become an icon of a generation post-suicide was a big call, but actually somewhat an understatement. His ghost loomed in hard rock everywhere, and certainly any band out of Seattle couldn't even sigh without fans clamouring to find hidden meaning in their laboured breath. It was inevitable that the flood gates of unreleased Nirvana material would pour forth to the masses quickly, but this first release (around 6 months after Cobain's death, timed of course to cash in on the Christmas market) was not what was expected - but it was certainly appreciated. Cobain's songwriting legacy to the general public was the loud/soft dynamic of so many Nirvana singles, so this album was a perfect way to help the world appreciate the subtleties of his songwriting. It also allowed him to explore some of his musical influences. MTV were looking for a set of hit singles, but what they got instead was a range of lesser known Nirvana songs stripped back (not quite unplugged, as Cobain insisted on amping his guitar still) played with a unique charm. Cobain was mostly zoned out for the performance, reportedly suffering from heroin withdrawal at the time, but every vocal moment still shines magically. Nirvana mega-fans already knew a couple of the covers played from various recent performances, but for those hearing songs like The Vaselines' 'Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam' (with Krist Novoselic on piano accordion) and the epic Lead Belly closer 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night?' (something Cobain had toyed with for years) these were revelations. Bowie's 'The Man Who Sold The World' was also a very welcome surprise, but the addition of The Meat Puppets playing some of their own songs was like nothing in Unplugged history. It was a move typical of Cobain, once again showing that he played by no one's rules but his own. |
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The Beatles
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It's hard to believe, but in the 1970s The Beatles were old tired news, and apart from a couple of blips on the radar in the form of average reissues and live albums, there wasn't much interest. By the 1980s however, with the advent of the compact disc, fans started asking when The Fab Four were going to be released on the format. This happened in 1987 (unfortunately to mixed results), and a slow revival began. EMI realised by the early 1990s that anything they didn't release on CD some bootlegger would, and the first thing to do was to stop the steady stream of BBC bootlegs by getting an official release out. For Beatles tragics (like myself), the double CD 'Live At The BBC' album was earth shattering. Not only did it give us over 60 unreleased tracks (in mostly top quality - mainly due to one woman who recorded close to every one of the hundreds of broadcasts on her home tape machine), but the majority of the songs were new songs never before released by the band. The reason for this was simple: with only a handful of their own songs released at the time (mainly 1962-1964), and sometimes doing two (or more) BBC shows a week, they had to revert back to covers of songs they played in their early days in Hamburg and the Cavern Club. Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, The Everly Brothers, and Elvis Presley (amongst many others) get a work out, and the small interludes of conversations between the boys and the hosts transport the listener all the way back the 60's. An amazing piece of musical history. |
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1995TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Red Hot Chili Peppers
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Oasis
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For 10 minutes in the 90's Oasis were without a doubt the biggest rock band in the world. '(What's The Story) Morning Glory?' is a perfect example of why. Often known for their offstage antics, the brothers Gallagher were not the most likeable characters at the time (and still aren't), but it would have been interesting to see how much bigger the band could have become if they had treated their fans (and each other) a bit better. Many of these songs have gone on to reach rock classic status, and deservingly so. 'Don't Look Back in Anger' and 'Champagne Supernova' are effortless in their balladry, whilst rockier songs like 'Roll With It' and 'Morning Glory' are loud and raucous, but still keep a radio friendly edge. The band were often compared with The Beatles, and although there is no direct connection - there is a hint of Lennon/McCartney buried deep, especially in the perfect way the songs are structured to hook. In fact there is nothing really new here at all - this is just straight up rock played with a mischievous swagger - but the songs are so damn good they can't be ignored. Try to find anyone anywhere that has not been in a late night sing-along of 'Wonderwall', even if they don't like the band. |
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Faith No More
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Everclear
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Foo Fighters
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Smashing Pumpkins
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Mad Season
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It could be said that a grunge supergroup formed by musicians that met in rehab is doomed to fail, but it did seem for a fleeting moment that Mad Season wouldn't be a casualty. Guitarist Mike McCready of Pearl Jam met bassist John Baker Saunders of The Walkabouts while seeking treatment, and once back on their feet they began to jam with drummer Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees. Rounding out the line-up on vocals was Layne Staley of Alice In Chains, himself recently clean. 'Wake up' opens the album in a mellow and sleepy way, not with the expected bombast of the sum of the band's parts. A vibraphone drives the songs until the magnificent climaxing guitar solo. Arguably, Staley is at his absolute best here, possibly finding a new appreciation for music as a post-rehab outlet. His voice is like the edge of a razor, slicing through the atmosphere. Although the album wonderfully showcases the vocals, it is also reminds the listener what an amazing guitarist Mike McCready is, as his warbling psychedelic guitar drives each song. He has no second guitar to compete with here as he does in his primary band, allowing him room to leave space and time his notes wonderfully. His guitar cuts the silence opening into 'X-Ray Mind', and the music now starts to sound like what one would expect from these musicians. The album ducks and weaves through multiple styles and tempos, with every song taking the listener on a different journey. This can often be a jarring listening experience, but for the most part the album manages to avoid alienating any ears. Moving between the classic rock balladry of 'River Of Deceit', an undeniable modern rock masterpiece, the album moves onto the soulful (but heavy) 'I'm Above' featuring the first song with the crooning guest vocals of Screaming Trees' Mark Lanegan. 'Artificial Red' showcases some classic blues, while 'I Don't Know Anything', easily the most 'grunge' of the tracks on display, grinds its way toward the album's final moments. Lanegan reappears and is showcased on the jazz infused 'Long Gone Day'. Although the moody and lengthy instrumental 'November Hotel' has some very loud moments, the album slows down toward the end, and closes with the quietly performed 'All Alone' wrapping things up nicely. It isn't an album that reveals it's magic easily, and it takes a number of listens to unravel it's many layers. Sadly, this was to be the band's only album, and forever will be, as both Staley and Saunders were both later taken from us by their addictions. |
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Alice In Chains
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The Mark Of Cain
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Silverchair
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1995TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Jimi Hendrix
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Alanis Morissette
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The Beatles
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1996TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Korn
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Marilyn Manson
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The Offspring
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Screaming Trees
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Johnny Cash
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Soundgarden
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Bush
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Powderfinger
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Pearl Jam
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Tool
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1996TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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The Beatles
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The Beatles
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1997TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Blink-182
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Live
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Green Day
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Foo Fighters
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Faith No More
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Radiohead
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Grinspoon
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Jebediah
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Bob Dylan
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Silverchair
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1997TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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AC/DC
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Led Zeppelin
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1998TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Midnight Oil
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Powderfinger
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The Offspring
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Marilyn Manson
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Korn
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Smashing Pumpkins
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John Butler
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Jimmy Page & Robert Plant
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An album by half of Led Zeppelin almost 20 years after their break up was an exciting prospect for rock fans. Although quite prolific in Zeppelin's heyday, Jimmy Page had become quite a lowkey figure by this point, with only a range of ephemeral projects that could be counted on one hand under his belt. Robert Plant on the other hand had been very productive with his solo career, but had tried very hard to break free from his 'golden god' past. Opening with the subdued 'Shining In The Light', the album immediately feels like it is trying to shake off the shackles of it's past, but it isn't long before the big choruses kick in - and the guitar phrasings of Page and the vocals of Plant lock together in that familiar way. 'When The World Was Young' feels like a modern sequel to 'Ten Years Gone', even when trying not to make comparisons with the past. None of this is bad in any way, as it showed that although the duo was looking to the future, they also knew there was no escaping their massive legacy. 'Please Read The Letter' (later re-recorded by Plant with Alison Krauss as a country crooner) adds some nice muscle, whilst 'Most High' features some subtle Indian motifs linking the album to the No Quarter sessions of four years prior. 'Heart In Your Hand' offers a western-styled reprieve from the rock. Plant's vocals are sometimes strained (most notably on 'Upon A Golden Horse'), and the extra instrumentation on tracks like 'Most High' start to touch a raw nerve after a few reptations, but these are really the only downsides of the album. Everything slows towards the end, but ends with the punchy 'Sons Of Freedom'. Admittedly, not every song is memorable - but those that do stand out are earworms that demand you listen again and again. It is a shame that the two men working together ended here, as the album feels like the start of what could have been a wonderful journey now that the ghosts of the past had been exorcised. |
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Jerry Cantrell
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Pearl Jam
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1998TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Bob Dylan
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1999TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Red Hot Chili Peppers
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Rage Against The Machine
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Nine Inch Nails
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Korn
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Foo Fighters
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Silverchair
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Bush
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Limp Bizkit
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Jebediah
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Grinspoon
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1999TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Guns n' Roses
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2000TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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The Offspring
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Johnny Cash
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Linkin Park
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Queens Of The Stone Age
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The Living End
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Green Day
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Radiohead
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Pearl Jam
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At The Drive-In
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A Perfect Circle
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2001TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Downer
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Incubus
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Drowning Pool
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Nickelback
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The Cult
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The Tea Party
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Tenacious D
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Radiohead
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Tool
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The Mark Of Cain
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2002TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Audioslave
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Echobrain
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Grinspoon
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Jebediah
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Johnny Cash
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Foo Fighters
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Pearl Jam
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Jerry Cantrell
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Porcupine Tree
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2003TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Korn
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Limp Bizkit
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Jet
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Jane's Addiction
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Blink-182
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Radiohead
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Muse
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The Butterfly Effect
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The Mars Volta
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2004TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Velvet Revolver
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As much as we all complained about this album, it put some MUSICIANS back on the radio, and that's worth a mention me thinks. Remove Weiland and pop someone like... say... Axl Rose on vocals, and the album would have been BRILLIANT. |
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Incubus
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Incubus has always made great and intelligent music for me, but was always a little too close to walking the radio song line. Now, with the album that finally leaves any chance of that behind (and the legions of radio rock fans that couldn't make this album out), I think this may be their best ever. All the clues left on 'Morningrise' to where a good Incubus album may be are realised here. |
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Mark Lanegan Band
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I have been a big fan of Mark Lanegan since the early 90s when he released his 'Whiskey For The Holy Ghost' acoustic album, then discovered the HUGE Screaming Trees back catalogue. Everything he has written since then has just gotten better and better. A brilliant blend of acoustic folk and rock. |
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Eagles Of Death Metal
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Josh Homme's band long before Kyuss or the QOTSA were even thought of finally got together and recorded their debut with him on drums (and leaving not long after...). This is a really groovy southern rock album, with an alternative feel. Unusual and unique. And has a stupid name. |
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The Dissociatives
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When I fluked upon this playing late one Saturday night on Rage, I got very excited! Could this be new Silverchair? But the style is wrong? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Then after a quick hunt on the net I was surprised to find Mr. Johns had teamed up with ol' buddy Paul Mac again. The 2000 E.P. 'I Can't Believe It's Not Rock!' left us all noting that it wasn't rock, and I expected more of the same. But this is Johns at his creative best. The album grew on me like an amoeba growing in a laboratory petri-dish, and I love it. |
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John Butler Trio
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The man is a master of the guitar and a genius song writer. Give him a jazz style percussive team to accompany his blues-riffed folk - and a masterpiece appears. The story goes that Sony America offered him a million bucks to publish the album in the U.S., but as they refused to press the cover on recycled paper, he signed with some small label for less than 100 grand... what a great hippy! |
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The Tea Party
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The Tea Party are one of the few bands that can be consistent and not go stale. This is a bit of a departure (with a more straight up rock feel and no eastern influences), but is still classic stuff. |
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Ministry
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Rock or Metal? I still class these guys as industrial alternative rock - but I'm very anal about such things. Just when you thought Jorg could never produce another thing of quality when loaded on so much blow and shoot, before your very ears comes what is possibly the best Ministry album ever! And every song starts with a W. Is that 'W' for 'Where's my veins?' |
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Green Day
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Green Day can't do any wrong really. Billie Joe is the master of the 3 chord pop-punk style, and. and there is nothing else to say. So get stuffed. |
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Nirvana
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Wow! This is huge, with 3 CDs of nearly all unreleased (or rare) Nirvana, more Kurt Cobain demos than Courtney Love can claim ownership of, and a fitting end to the band that started the greatest revolution in rock since Hendrix pumped out Purple Haze at the Monterey Pop Festival in '67. Brilliant. JUST BRILLIANT. |
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2004TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Cake
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Just because they are Cake. And they released an album. And it is funky. |
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Twisted Sister
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Re-recording their classic 1984 album 'Stay Hungry' with a 2004 production style, and opening the vaults to give us the left over tracks from the original sessions! |
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Pearl Jam
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Giving us a live acoustic Pearl Jam set for charity. This has songs the band has never performed live before. Great stuff! Eddie - Will you marry me? Still 'no', huh? One day. |
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Spiderbait
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With a pumping cover of 'Black Betty' (that topped the charts), and a follow-up single called 'Fucking Awesome' that radio couldn't play for obvious reasons, the 'bait is back! Perhaps they could show Powderfinger and Grinspoon how it is you play rock music, as they seem to have forgotten. |
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Midnight Oil
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The Oils finally releasing in conjunction with Triple J - The legendary 1985(?) Sydney Harbour / Goat Island concert on CD and DVD. Man - can Garrett dance or what? Yeah - he's dancing. |
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2004TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Regurgitator
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Thanks for entertaining us by thinking you could use a reality TV show to make a decent album, when it was obvious to all of us it was never gonna happen. |
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U2
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I smell something stale - Oh, it's seems it's time to throw the U2 away, as it's past it's use-by date. This is tired and boring. This is boring and tired. This is tired and dull. This is dull and boring. See how I wrote that over and over again, but changed it just a little - there you have the format used for this cattle dung. |
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Queens Of The Stone Age
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Why when so much media hype and controversy is surrounding your band would you delay your new album and release a crappo E.P. of bad covers of bad songs? GIVE US THE DAMN ALBUM AND STOP WASTING OUR TIME AND MONEY. |
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Jay-Z / Linkin Park
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OK - We had to suffer 'Reanimation' a couple of years back where rappers and DJs remixed the already agonisingly overplayed Linkin Park. Now we have to suffer another mini-album of the same tripe, only this time worse than the last? And the smart part is - of a 6 track album, they have capitalised with the single 'Numb' (again) by releasing it separately with 2 of the 6 songs on it also? And they say Lars loves the money. |
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Jebediah
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With this radio friendly tripe, it's no wonder nobody bought your crappy album. Go back to Fremantle. You are a disgrace. |
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A Perfect Circle
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When did 'A Perfect Circle' become 'A Ring Of Poo'? Let's get other's songs to save us time writing them, then make them really dull, so we sound moody and angsty - and we'll devote the whole thing to protest the war that ended 12 months ago... Maynard - Go back to Tool. We don't give 2 craps for your side project anymore. |
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2005TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Tommy Lee
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I hate to list it here - but it's in. Besides the fact the man sports the greatest horse-sized donga the rock world has ever seen; he also appears to be able to write (and sing) great pop-rock. The single 'Good Times' was thrashed on radio for weeks before I realised who it was and thought the song a little trashy - but like the rest of the album, it's VERY catchy. Expect no Motley Crue here, this is way more polished and radio friendly. |
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Alice Cooper
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'Hey everyone - Alice Cooper has recorded an album that is a return to form. It's 'Welcome To My Nightmare - Part 2'!' - That's what the rumour was. The verdict? This ain't anything like Nightmare, or would it ever sit on the shelf alongside it - but the old man has finally made up his mind where he wants to sit musically, which is good, because he made the right choice. This is just a good classic sounding hard rock album, done the way only Alice can do it. Good for him. Now, he just needs to get a reality TV show. |
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Corrosion Of Conformity
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Pepper Keenan is Lord Stoner. This is great stuff. Thick and sludgy - straight outta New Orleans. Is this possibly the best COC album? It could be, although I do prefer that slightly heavier style they played in the early 90s. Currently on tour with Disturbed heckling nu-metal audiences into submission all over America. |
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Iommi
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The riff master Tony Iommi is back, but this time not foolish enough to call his latest hard rock solo album 'Black Sabbath' - as he should have done from 1983 until 1997. Often Sabbath ring-in vocalist Glen Hughes is back, and the results is a nice slab of modern (although often nostalgic) hard rock. He may not be number 1 on my list, but he doesn't need to be - he is happy just being worshipped as a guitarist these days, not as a God. |
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Audioslave
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They are nearly there, I think? Are we too critical of Audioslave (and hypodermic friendly cousin Velvet Revolver)? Maybe - but the press does continue to tell us they are 'supergroups' - so it's their fault, not ours. Things just seem to gel nicer on this album than the debut - almost like the boys have found their groove. Possibly the next will be the stroke of genius we expected of the debut, or maybe this band more than any other have proven that the sum of the parts doesn't mean crap when some are in imperial, and one is in metric? |
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Foo Fighters
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This could have been higher in The 10. Dave Grohl - take off the pantyhose, put down the feather pillows, and send Jack Black home - we need to talk. What is with that second CD of half-cut Cat Stevens wannabe tunes? Disc 1 offers us what is possibly the best Fooey album yet, with strong riffs and rhythms - and then I get a Norah Jones duet? Dave - put away the acoustic. It was bad enough that you have given the world 'Walking After You'. Learn from that mistake, please - and plug back in. |
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Wolfmother
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I'm sure Flavor Flav and Terminator X were singing 'Don't Believe The Hype' when this one was released, but surprisingly I was very impressed. I don't go much for the 'look at my authentic afro and flares' look, but the music here is da bomb! There are shades of every major hard rock band of the late 60s/early 70s here, but the music remains original anyway. If anything is wrong, it's that the whiny vocals wear a little thin after an hour or so - but musically it's magic. |
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Green Carnation
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Are they metal or rock? Considering the bands beginnings (as a death metal band back in 1990), compared to the sound of the band today (a radio friendly prog powerhouse) - and let me know before next year's Top 10 please. This album is their lightest (and least metal) to date and is very close to the format of a standard rock band's album - either way, the song writing is every bit as catchy as ever. |
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The Mars Volta
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I was never a huge prog-rock fan until the last few years. I don't know if my tastes got broader, or if the music got better - but there is a whole lotta prog in The 10 this year. I didn't like this as much as 'De-Lousing The Comatorium', but I think that is mainly due to its predecessor starting with a bigger bang. This is a little less accessible, but a masterwork still. Who ever said heroin was bad? |
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Porcupine Tree
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Porcupine Tree's 2002 album In Absentia was an unexpected runaway success for the band, and fans worldwide eagerly awaited the next album to see where they would take the music next. Deadwing, released three years later, was certainly similar in style - but this was still a whole different animal. Porcupine Tree had again emerged transformed into something new, but not so unfamiliar as to be alienating. The title track opens the album with the big guitar crunch that made In Absentia a winner, and the big hooky feature riff quickly drags the listener in. The band has chosen to stay close to their prog roots, and the songs twists and turns unpredictably through multiple verses that have no chorus to break them up. It somehow works, and when the big stadium rock riff of 'Shallow' fills the speakers you are nothing short of hooked. This song doesn't leave anyone wanting, and not only features the biggest riffs of the album, but it also has a fist pumping chorus. If any song on the album is going to be called 'metal', this is it. The barrage lets up for the soft ballad 'Lazarus', which once under your skin proves itself to be a true highlight of the album, with its weaving piano pattern wonderfully integrated with the lyrics. The production on the album is pristine, with every instrument shining, and every note crisp and clear. Steven Wilson's vocals are perfectly levelled to compliment the harshness and/or subtleties of the music. King Crimson's Adrian Belew provides solos to a couple of songs, including the slinky 'Halo', another album highlight. Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt also makes an appearance, adding a solo and vocals to 'Arriving Somewhere But Not Here'. It isn't until track 6 ('Mellotron Scratch') that the album starts to stray into the more progressive side of the band, and this track could easily have fit on one of their earlier albums with ease. In fact, from here on most of the tracks are less accessible to a casual listener. If one compliant could be made about the album as a whole, it's that it is 'front loaded' with the punchier songs. It isn't that the tracks on the second half aren't up to the quality of the first, they are just far less memorable overall, meaning that the album doesn't really end on a high note. 'Open Car' is possible the best of the later tracks, with a few great riffs driving the song along. Everything ends on a quiet note with 'Glass Arm Shattering', and the ride is over. Deadwing adds another new dimension to the already wide range of Porcupine Tree, and again shows why the band is one of the best in the modern prog playing field. |
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2005TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Alanis Morissette
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Although I'm not a huge fan of her recent works, a young Alanis 10 years ago produced a brilliant major label debut with 'Jagged Little Pill'. Now older, uglier, and nowhere near as popular (due to her choice to no longer include songwriters on her albums, but instead write everything herself - who remembers vomiting to 'Thank You India.'?), Alanis has made the bold move of re-recording the entire album acoustically, even bringing original writer/producer Glen Ballard back on board to play all the instruments. There's nothing new here, but it's still quite refreshing to hear these songs reworked. |
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Limp Bizkit
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This would likely have made the Top 10 if it hadn't been for that crappy no E.P. rule. With Borland back on strings, and Mr. Durst suddenly realising the world was laughing at him, not with him, the band are sleek and angry. This is some of the best (and possibly only) riff-work Borland has ever done, and the first 2 tracks just blow the listener away. Apart from the 1 or 2 songs where Red Hat Fred thinks we actually like to hear his bad white-boy rap, rather than hoarse raspy vocals, this is quite unforgiving from start to finish. A shame it doesn't look like we will ever see 'The Unquestionable Truth (Part 2 - Chinese Democracy)'. |
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2005TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Billy Corgan
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Can this even be in rock? I'm not sure where it goes. I don't seem to have a 'poo' category, so rock will have to do. If it wasn't bad enough that Billy chose to rape the name of Smashing Pumpkins by producing the utterly forgettable girly-pop sounds of Machina I & II, he has now smeared his own solo career with an even worse version of the same electro-crud. Lay down and die Billy. Maybe the buzzards will find something worth chewing on, but I must say I don't anymore. |
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Nine Inch Nails
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I don't know what I was expecting here. With all the rave and anticipation, I actually found this quite tired and bland. I don't know if Trent has what it takes anymore. Megafans - email all death threats to my work email address, thanks. And now he is working on an album of trashy remixes of this album. Bored or something is he? I certainly am. |
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Korn
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The soul of this band is gone. I don't mean Head leaving, but that was certainly a big part of it, but I just feel that each album has a little less feeling than the one before. A bonus point I guess for not making another paint by numbers like the last two albums, but surely a band that gets a 20 million dollar advance from their label can produce better 'music' than this. Obviously not. |
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Bernard Fanning
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I will give Bernard Fanning the prize for best video of the year for 'Wish You Well'. Apart from that, this is just pure shit-smelling boredom. Hopefully he will learn a fourth and maybe even a fifth chord for his next solo album, if he happens to think we deserve more of his greatness that is. Hopefully instead he turns recluse, and just fucks off. |
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The Original Angels Band [The Angels]
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To be straight about it, this is a fucking disgrace. I mean, honestly, why would you take the name of an Australian institution, open up it's mouth, and crap straight down it's throat? In case you hadn't heard (as it really wasn't that bigger news - i.e. no one cared.) The Angels reformed WITHOUT Doc Neeson as their original line-up, with the original bass player on vocals. Why? They are retarded. Clearly. The music is uninspired, the vocals are just plain fucking terrible, and the soul of the band is just not there. You couldn't remove someone like Jimmy from Chisel, could you? This is no different. If I were rich, I'd have these people killed. Actually - tortured, then killed. |
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2006TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Johnny Cash
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Ah J.C. The last great American outlaw. I shed a tear when the ol' guy finally kicked it (a tear? I cried for 3 days straight, wrapped in a rug on the couch watching Ricky Lake and Oprah reruns), but I have been a fan since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, so that's justified. This is the last works of the first Man In Black (and the best one - although I am still pretty FUCKING AMAZING as far as I am concerned.), and Rick Rubin has treated it as he intended. It's possibly not as strong as American 1 or 3, but craps like a naughty seagull all over 2 and 4. The songs selection is mostly reflective, and you can hear in his voice that this is a farewell gift. R.I.P. M.I.B. |
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The Mars Volta
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As always, The Mars Volta have impressed me immensely. The songs weave and twist to make a complete album in much the same way that 2 naked bodies weave and twist in a game of nude Twister.. This is possibly not quite as accessible as 2005 Frances The Mute, but still a very worthy display of the duo's amazing writing talents - and at the end of the day, you don't listen to The Mars Volta to hear accessible music, you listen to it to be pretentious and arty turdburglar. Viva La Heroin. |
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Radio Birdman
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After not releasing any new material for nearly 2 decades, it was a surprise to me that this bunch of balding 50-somethings could produce an album this punchy. The tracks are in your face surf punk worthy of the Birdman logo. Being distributed by SubPop label, the production is sharp and the guitars are like buzzsaws. I'd be surprised if any fan of classic Radio Birdman that was around in their day wasn't impressed by this, and if they weren't, I'll turn of their dialysis machines. |
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The Living End
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First Radio Birdman and now The Living End? This must be the year of the comeback. Not that The Living End went anywhere. They just stopped making music worth listening to. This is a mix of the old energy of the band and the new polished (and probably rather expensive) production to make what is possibly their best album yet. The old rockability groove is back in most tracks, with their anthemic choruses. That's a pretty big achievement for a band that most left for dead a while back. P.S. Daniel Johns - This is the same review I would like to use for the new Silverchair album next year, so don't let me down, fuckface. |
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Audioslave
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I think they have finally done it. The have finally put together a cohesive album that is as good as the sum of its parts. Tracks like 'Original Fire' and the brilliant opener 'Revelations' groove with that Rage Against The Machine style, but are fuelled by Chris Cornell at his vocal best. Great to drive to. |
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The Butterfly Effect
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I was quite disappointed on my first couple of listens to this. I certainly isn't as heavy as previous offerings, and the band seems to have lost some of its Tool-isms in favour of finding their own identity, but after a few listens I discovered it all worked anyway. The harmonies and melodies have been increased, and the production is top notch. Don't be fooled though - there are still the epic vocal choruses, just fewer of them in favour of some lighter tracks. If you liked the early stuff you may be disappointed by this, but then again, much like me, you may be quite surprised after some time to properly digest it. Let's hope that based on their music maturing, their singer will stop dressing like a dipshit at concerts. |
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Tool
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Dark and brooding - This is obviously Tool. From the first notes of 'Vicarious', there is no mistaking them. This still isn't as powerful as 'Undertow' or (the ultimate masterpiece) 'Aenima' for me, but after repeated listens it does get under the skin like a piece of bamboo under your fingernail in a POW camp. It possibly would have been higher on the 10 had they left out the occasional unrelated 'ambient' track between songs, as these just seemed to break the momentum, and are usually utter shit anyway. P.S. - Maynard is still one of the greatest vocalists in modern rock, but he should say goodbye to that 'A Perfect Circle' tomfoolery and prove it to us more often with a real band like this one. |
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Bob Dylan
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For a guy that claims he never looks back, it surprises me that Bobby D would record an album of 30s and 40s inspired music. This is Dylan at his second wind peak. Following on from the huge success he has had with his previous 2 albums 'Time Out Of Mind' and 'Love And Theft', this is magic to the ears of us diehards - sang in his familiar recent croak, and played like a man in his teens, not his 60s. The Rolling Stone rated this album of the year, and described Dylan's voice as 'a cathartic death rattle'. I don't think I could better that comment, so I won't try. |
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David Gilmour
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David Gilmour is da man. There is no other guitarist on the planet that stirs the emotion that his playing does. In 20 years of listening to some of the fastest shredders that the world has ever seen, I have still never heard anyone play with so much soul. Released on his 60th birthday, this is his first solo album since 1984s 'About Face', so it's about bloody time. It's not like he has been busy with Pink Floyd or anything. Every note is precise, every breath is captured. Warning - Fans of 'Another Brick In The Wall' shouldn't go jumping in here - there's no rock on offer. The whole album is very slow and moody, exactly what you would expect from a man that has been featured on BBCs 'Grumpy Old Men' documentary series twice. |
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Pearl Jam
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Ah Eddie. Right when I cried out to you asking why you had forsaken me, you return with your best output in years. This album craps logs all over 'Riot Act' and 'Binaural', with more life to it than both those albums put together. For the first time in years this sounds like the cohesive PJ albums we all remember, with each track flowing nicely into one of similar style to make the overall package as aesthetically appealing as Angelina Jolie in low cut top. Eddies vocals are top notch, and Mike's solos sound like he is actually enjoying playing again, which is lucky, because I am enjoying listening again. |
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2006TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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John Zorn
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As I mentioned on TheBigBlackRamblings some months ago, this is a perfect collaboration of the two masters of noise-rock. Mike Patton's wails and screams are perfectly offset by John Zorn's metalic maniacal riffing. Not for the faint of heart (or for woman with a bun in the oven), this is pretty seriously fucked up music. Suits me perfectly really. |
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Melvins
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Yes. The Melvins are still alive. As old a KISS, (and if the world ever becomes a more fair place, hopefully one day more popular) this is the Melvins doing what they do, just doing it on a different CD to the one you last heard them doing it on. Sludgy and nasty. Buzz - Don't ever change. No that you would, of course, you stubborn old mongrel. |
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Jimi Hendrix
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A new Jimi CD always deserves the 10 of course, but I thought I might get cut down as a nasty-no-good-rule-breaker, as this is essentially just another release of old music. The difference here is that this is another in the 'official bootleg' series that is finally presenting this stuff to us in it's original recorded format - with no overdubs, re-recordings or tweaks (FUCK OFF and DIE thank you Alan Douglas). There is a magic here I don't think we will ever hear again. Ever. |
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2006TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Red Hot Chili Peppers
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Clever name. That's about the only nice thing I have to say about this. There was apparently 2 CDs of it. I slept through the first one, and awoken to find I had eaten my way through my own wrists to puncture major arteries and had popped 2 brain tumours through the pressure, so I'm not sure if I heard the second disk or not. The ambulance guys weren't sure either, although they did mention I shouldn't take such risks as subjecting myself to this poop in future, as life is too short to waste it. The sad thing is I won't get any choice, as we will guaranteed get 18 or 19 singles of the same sounding song released over the next 2 years. Take off your pantaloons, pop your sox back on your cox, and play something inspired on the next album thanks lads. |
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Live
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Wasn't that first single 'The River' from this album great? Seriously - no sarcasm intended, it was fantastic. How about the second single? (NOTE: sarcasm has now started). What second single you ask? THERE WASN'T ONE! WHY? They weren't allowed to release any. Legal reasons apparently. Nothing else on the album could be played without anyone listening getting sick and vomiting. If they were in a car at the time listening to the radio, someone would drive past and get sick too, and then another car would drive past them, and. you get the idea. Thousands, maybe millions of people vomiting, and all because one person had to suffer a single song from this album. I could leave it there, but instead I'll mention this one last thing - just so you understand I only speak the truth - there is a song on this album called 'Love Shines (A Song For My Daughters About God)'. Thank you your Honor. The defence rests. |
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Joe Satriani
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Joe Satriani has run out of creativity. That's the only way to explain this. This is like a guitar version of a Kenny G composition. I'll waste no further time on this. I already wasted an hour of my life listening to the damn thing, and that was enough. |
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Everclear
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What grade crack was Art smoking when he decided getting Everclear back together with a completely new 5-piece line up to release a set of crap radio friendly tripe was good idea? This is like taking all the worst Everclear songs from the last 3 sub-par albums and making a 'Best Of The Worst' compilation. The sooner the man understands his feelings and gets the operation to become a full woman, the better, me thinks. Maybe he can get a discount bulk booking at the hospital if he gets his mates Daniel Johns and Billy Corgan done at the same time. |
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2007TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Various Artists
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A double CD soundtrack to a Bob Dylan biography, that is made up of Dylan covers, including one by Eddie Vedder, and a lost Dylan track by the man himself from his '67 basement sessions at The Big Pink. If this statement gets you as sexed-up as it does me, I don't need to say anymore. If it doesn't, you deserve nothing further written about this album anyway. |
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Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
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We all have a soft spot for Robert Plant. Hey was the bare-chested dude that sung 'There's a lady whose sure, all that glitters is gold.' after all, so how could we not? His solo albums since the Zepp years have always been a bit of a gamble, as the quality has varied somewhat, but this one is a winner. Now, before you run out with your wallet in hand, I do have to mention 2 other factors that come into play - 1. It's a duet album with American bluegrass artist Alison Krauss, and 2. It is essentially a country 'tinged' album. you have been warned. |
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Bad Religion
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Bad Religion are the elder statesmen of the punk rock genre. They were around before some of their recent genre-buddies were born, and will probably be there long after they are gone. Why? They are better than them - It's that simple. Every time they release an album, it is like a handbook on how to play modern punk for all those young bucks that think they have worked it out for themselves. |
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Foo Fighters
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I am finding I am tiring a little of the Fooeys of late. I think Dave's songwriting is better on this album than the last couple, and a few of the tracks caught me. but I fear I am finding it a bit too predictable at times. Don't get me wrong - it is still a great rock album, with all the typical Grohl licks and vox, but that may be the problem for me really. 'Dear Diary. I fear this may be the last time I will write about the Foo Fighters.' |
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Grinderman
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Let me start with this statement - Nick Cave bores me, always has. I will drop my guard to say that I don't mind some of the very early Birthday Party and Boys Next Door stuff, but only due to that delightful post-punk smell that seemed to hang on all his product. Then he packed up his guitar, and started writing ballads, and apparently the world was a better place for it. Well, he found his strat again, and he has decided to strum it a bit - and created a wonderfully dirty and raw album of guitar rock that will cause you mother to cringe. Let's hope the new album with The Bad Seeds follows suit. |
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Chevelle
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I have always avoided Chevelle because I thought they were one of those bad nu-metal clones. Turns out they are not. The are a Tool clone instead - and with the lack of any quality Tool / Maynard product in recent years, this is my new drug of choice. |
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Colin Hay
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Ah, Colin Hay. What a legend. Don't say Who? He's the dude from Men At Work. Colin has been churning out quality solo (mostly acoustic) works for years now, mostly hard to come by being released on small labels - but I finally found one the year it was actually released, not 5 years later (as it normally happens). This is warm and rich, and his voice is more magic now than ever before. This guy should be in the rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame. |
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Eddie Vedder
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It seems Mr Vedder has taken the advice of his mum and started his own business. This is his first solo album away from the magnificent Pearl Jam, and it's quite a good little listen. It's a soundtrack to the Sean Penn directed 'Into The Wild'. Mostly acoustic (and only about 35 minutes long), it is a very easy listen, and nothing like his Pearl Jam writings. 'Hard Sun' is one of my songs of the year. Oh Eddie - Again I will ask, when will thee marry me? |
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Smashing Pumpkins
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Billy - I tip my hat. I thought you would be in this year's Dishonourable Mentions, but you have done the Pumpkins name proud. This pumps through some heavy stuff with a very typical Pumpkins sounds, and throws in the obligatory Corgan 'nice' songs to touch the heart strings (and send you to the skip button.). It's all very sing-along worthy and addictive. |
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Porcupine Tree
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Porcupine Tree at number 1? Surely not. Yeah - It's predictable I know, but just listen to them and you will see why. Gone is the radio-friendly stylising of 'The Sound Of Muzak' and 'Lazarus' - this is very much a return to the Tree's more progressive mid-period work. The theme of the album is the apathy of youth to the world around them due to technology, and lyrically it is all very dark throughout, with music to match. |
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2007TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Bob Dylan
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I would have included this because it is Dylan. Unfortunately, I can't include it as it is a compilation. Again, who wrote these damn rules? |
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Bryan Ferry
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An album of Dylan covers recorded by Bryan Ferry anyone? I did like this, although the only real thing lacking was that the songs were actually all Ferryesque - none of them had the Dylan flair. |
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Mountain
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Another album of Dylan covers? And this one with an Ozzy Osbourne duet? I think it gets mentioned! |
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Korn
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I don't usually care too much for Korn, but this is actually quite good. It has a couple of great moments like the duet with Amy Lee and the one with Robert Smith of The Cure. |
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Neil Young
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Attention Neil Young fans - prepare for a religious experience. This is AMAZING. It would be in the 10, except it is live, and it was recorded 35 years ago, so it's kinda disqualified. |
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Rush
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All these years later Rush are still churning out a consistent product. Good on them. |
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2007TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Crowded House
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Yawn. It must be trendy to destroy your own legacy at the moment? Read on for more examples, but possibly none as bad as this snorefest. |
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Linkin Park
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This actually starts strong with one of the fastest/heaviest tracks the band has ever recorded, and then dives into U2 influenced ballads. I never thought they were that good before, but I expected better than this. |
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Marilyn Manson
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Should be titled 'Buy Me, Bite Me'. Eating shit from a dirty nappy is more appealing than sitting though this one again. Manson turns emo. |
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Rose Tattoo
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This is not Rose Tattoo. It's a bunch of old men that got together with a young guitarist and tried to use the name of a great institution to carry a very mediocre album. |
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Silverchair
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What the fuck? Is that a young Freddie Mercury in a tank-top up front? Where is Daniel Johns? Bring him back. |
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The Stooges
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This is a legacy gone bad. If it wasn't bad enough that we had to suffer the woeful Buzzcocks reunion album recently (with its polished and overdubbed production sounding like a Blink-182 album), now we get the legendary The Stooges doing the exact same thing. Gone are the pre-punk grooves of the legendary early albums. The trademark guitar tone is now polished, and the lyrics could be better written by a high school student. This is possibly the biggest disappointment of the year for me. |
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Queens Of The Stone Age
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Hmmm. It would seem the Josh Homme creative well has finally run dry. Yawn. |
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2008TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Lenny Kravitz
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R.E.M.
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Motley Crue
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AC/DC
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Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
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Guns n' Roses
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The Offspring
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The Mars Volta
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Jakob Dylan
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The Butterfly Effect
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2008TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Bob Dylan
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2008TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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The Breeders
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2009TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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The Mars Volta
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The Mars Volta don't usually disappoint me, in fact I see them as one of the last great 'rock' bands left. They are edgy, they push the boundaries, they reject radio play, and they take lots of heroin - the last of the real rock stars. This album though, well - it left me cold. This actually started life on my dis-honourables short list, before it finally found the energy to grab my giblets and give them a little shake. It is an altogether different album for them - similar, but much laid back - almost too laid back. The intention was a pace change, and they achieved what they wanted, but by making the songs slower and simpler it somehow made them less accessible. If you unzip your fly and guide its hand toward you, it's an album that will give you much pleasure, but if you wait for it to make its move on its own, you are going to be having a cold shower. |
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Them Crooked Vultures
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Josh Homme and Dave Grohl teaming up sounded unreal - but with John Paul Jones on bass? Oh boy! Unfortunately all I really heard was a stack of Queens Of The Stone Age songs with Foo Fighters choruses. I have to admit, I expected a lot more from this, but the more I listened, the more I liked it. It isn't groundbreaking, but it is quite nice to kick back to with a glass of lemonade with a little slice of lemon in it. That Lipton's Iced Tea is quite nice on a warm day too. Having said that I tend to go inside if it gets too warm. Looks like we are in for a hot summer this year. I hate hot summers. |
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Bruce Springsteen
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This is not what I expected from Springsteen at this point in his career. After his trip into folk on his Pete Seeger tribute he returned with 'Magic', an album that I though lacked any identity. It looked like a woman with lots of expensive jewellery going through a metal detector, and when it doesn't beep everyone laughing when they work out it is all plastic. Now with 'Working On A Dream' he seems to have found where Springsteen 2009 fits, and has woven an incredible fabric of new and old sounding material. There are stadium sing-alongs, and intimate tales of life for the little man. Possibly my favourite Springsteen album in a decade or so. |
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Bob Dylan
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Ah Dylan - Unless he sings Christmas carols (see below), he never fails to disappoint us fanbois. If he were to fart into a paper bag, I'd buy it, as long as it came with a certificate of fart authenticity., and lid so it didn't escape. At 70 years old, he still makes us music. I will admit one thing though, provided you promise not to tell mk - I don't think Dylan has much left in the tank these days. As much as I liked this album, I didn't love it - It had its moments, and those moments are great, like the blues opener Beyond Here Lies Nothin', but that song title alone is like the call of what to look forward to in the future. This is not as engaging as Modern Times was, and Modern Times wasn't as good as Love And Theft and Love And Theft wasn't as fantastic as Time Out Of Mind. You see the pattern. This album won't win any new fans, and for us that are fans already it is a welcome addition, but not a masterwork. |
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Grinspoon
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Getting Grinspoon back in the 10 is something I never thought I'd be capable of. They had followed that familiar Powderfinger template of starting out all alternative with the music as their guide, then turning to the almighty dollar for motivations, leaving the music behind. It seems that Phil Jameson must have gotten drunk and vomited on some hotel carpet somewhere, and in his haste to clean it up before getting billed used the a page from his contacts book to clean it up. That page just happened to be labelled Producers That Can Turn Rock Music Into Pop Shite. With that page lost, the grinners have given us an album that sounds like they produced it themselves - and fuck it is good. It is dirty, and apart from a moment or two where the demon wasn't completely exorcised, |
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Porcupine Tree
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This is possibly the most inaccessible of all Porcupine Tree albums, and given the band's history - I think that is quite the statement. I think the issue is that they have entered this 1 hour 'movement' hot on the tail of 3 or 4 quite commercial albums, so it is what the doctor ordered. Once I got to know the album, it did grow on me, but although the tracks are broken into digestible chunks, this really is a 'all-in-one-sitting' type album - It's designed to be listened to in one long session. When it is applied to the skin appropriately, you are given that summertime glow that a good PT album is renowned for providing. The music is sparse, and repetitious threads are heard through most songs. Be warned though, if this is your first time with the Porc (or the Tree, if you don't like words that sound dirty), you are better off starting elsewhere. |
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Bloodhorse
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Brilliant! This is how stoner rock is supposed to sound. Laid back, but still angry. Refined, but still dirty. Surely these guys are sitting around in a dutched up garage writing these tracks - therefore the tension and production have to have that same feel. Stoned. Too many albums in this genre today over produce their sound. These guys have got just the right amount of grit in their amps and in their teeth to make this rock. A BIG thumbs up for me. |
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Chevelle
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First prize for grower of the year. These guys are fantastic, and I have found every album gets better on repeat listens. Although technically not metal (but they do sit on that borderline.), they do rock pretty hard. I hate to use the comparison, and I am sure they are sick of hearing it, but they are filling the void Tool left when they decided to head away from heavy music into the space rock shit they play today. The riffs are catchier than 2007's 'Vena Sera', and vocally his range seems to have improved. |
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Pearl Jam
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Well. New Wave Pearl Jam. Where to start? This one is definitely a grower, and maybe it's only because I love the band so much that a dedicated A LOT of time to let it grow. This is the same Pearl Jam that wrote Even Flow and Rearviewmirror, but somehow it is not. There are no big rock stadium anthems on here such as Betterman to allow the crowd to sing and surf to, but what there is are a bunch of punchy 3 minute 'pop' songs, that are just as good to sing to - but maybe not with a pumping fist. I use the term 'pop' loosely, as it's not like they have sold out to the dark side - but these songs are simple in structure and execution like a Duran Duran classic, but are still rockin' in style. Lead single 'The Fixer' is so infectious it makes you want to cut yourself in an attempt to stop singing it. I did, and then continued to sing in the ambulance. So where's the reason it's hard work? The songs like 'The Fixer', the ones that makes you smile - are fantastic. The others, well, to be completely honest (and go against every grain in my body in admitting so) are just plain boring. PJ have always been capable of coughing up a fur ball on occasion - but about half of this album feels like it has potential, but none of it is realised - and worst of all, it feels like it has been designed that way. |
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Alice In Chains
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Replacing a fallen band member is always difficult in the eyes (and ears) of your fans, but it makes it even harder when that person is considered a legend of their craft. The first new album from the band in nearly 15 years was highly anticipated, and they made the right move of touring extensively with new vocalist William DuVall firmly in place before recording a note. This meant the fans had mostly accepted him when new music did arrive, and the first single 'A Looking In View', although not particularly radio friendly, was a great lead-off due to its vintage AIC style. Also being a guitarist (and songwriter) Duvall wasn't as front and centre as Layne had been previously, instead sharing vocal duties (and guitar lines) almost 50/50 with Jerry Cantrell. The result is an album with some amazing highs (and a couple of lows), and Cantrell ensured enough of the songs connected with the classic version of the band to allow fans to feel like this was still the hard and heavy band they knew ('Check My Brain', 'Take Her Out'). Other tracks ('When The Sun Rose Again' and 'All Secrets Known') branched out in new directions, allowing the band to continue to grow. The album could have been flat (as many 'come-back' albums are), but instead acted as a reintroduction to the world, showing that great things were still to come. |
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2009TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Nirvana
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It has been nearly 20 years, but we finally get to hear (and see if you bought the DVD) Nirvana's 1992 Reading Festival performance in its entirety. They rip through all the classics, and play a few unexpected highlights. Sloppy as hell, but brilliant in his execution anyway is the magical Cobain. Had this been seen in 92 t certainly wouldn't have had the same impact as when it is seen now. |
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Pearl Jam
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A big 5 thumbs up (that's 3 people's thumbs to get that many - or 5 people if they only have one hand each - or 1 person if they are horribly deformed at birth due to Thalidomide usage) to Pearl Jam for giving Ten a right royal rogering and reissuing it in this beautiful set. We get the original 'Ten' remastered, we get the album remixed in 2009 style. We get unreleased bonus tracks from the 'Ten' sessions, we FINALLY get a DVD of the greatest MTV Unplugged show ever recorded, we get the complete audio of the historic 1992 Drop In The Park concert, and we get a cassette (yes, cassette kiddies - you made have seen a player attached to a car battery in your daddies garage) reproduction of the original Mamasan demo tape that got Eddie the gig in the band. Merely seeing the press release from this caused me to claim I would never require sex again, and the first listen caused me to physically pass over to the spirit world 3 times. Luckily I still have that defibrillator handy that I picked up at the hospital surplus store to jump start the car, or I may not be typing this today. |
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2009TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Bon Jovi
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If Bon Jovi were also airline pilots (similar to that jolly Englishman Bruce Dickinson and that douche John Travolta) their plane would go down. Why? Because you should never fly the whole trip on auto-pilot. Considering this is one of the world's (apparent) most popular rock acts, this whole album, every song on it, all sounds like it has come out of a computer programmed to write songs based on the exacting Bon Jovi formula. You will predict every chorus, you know when the solo is coming, you'll even know when to prepare your voice for backing-vocal reply to Jon's main vocal line. It is so tried and tested and tried and tested again, I guarantee you will even feel like you know the songs on first listen, because you have heard it all before. |
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Chris Cornell
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Produced by Timbaland and duets with Justin Timberlake. Chris Cornell gets this year's 'Fuck Off And Die' award. I'll waste no more time on this. |
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U2
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Mummy? Why does Bono make the children cry? I have never actually heard that said, but I am sure I will one day, in a shopping centre, as this is piped through the speaker system as 'elevator music'. I know U2 are getting on in years, but I hadn't actually realised they are dead. No living musician could enjoy playing music this dull, just as no music fan could enjoy listening to it. Listening to this alongside War or The Joshua Tree is akin to hearing John and Yoko's Double Fantasy - You think it is a amazing, and then you get a Yoko song. I think it is a joke that Bono thinks he is an activist, but is still doing a better job of that than making rock music these days. AND TAKE THOSE STUPID GLASSES OFF! |
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Bob Dylan
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What a year! Bob Dylan - the greatest songwriter in history - making all three categories. Top 10, Honourable Mention, and now a Dis-Honourable. Seriously Bob, a Christmas album is the peak of trashy, even at the top of one's game - but these days, with your voice nothing more than the grating sound of a croaking toad hoping to mate tonight, this was a REALLY bad idea. Have yourself a merry little Christmas, because you ruined mine with your misguided Holiday spirit. |
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AC/DC
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Buying AC/DC products these days is akin to legalising rape as far as I am concerned. This is a 'rarities' set that is overpriced and actually contains nothing rare (or if it is - it isn't anything worth caring about). Exhibit A - The studio rarities. 18 tracks (if you are rich enough to buy the $250 'special edition' - otherwise you only get 12), 10 of which have always been available on Australian AC/DC albums, 6 that have been on various bonus discs and other compilations - and 2 actual b-side rarities. Exhibit B - Discs 2 & 3 - The Live Rarities. 29 tracks (again - only 15 unless you are rich), every one of them from single b-sides, mostly from the mid 90s onwards. WHERE'S THE RARE BON SCOTT? WHERE IS THE FIRST SINGLE WITH DAVE EVANS ON VOCALS? This all seems like such a wasted opportunity really. Very disappointing. I must say though, the working amplifier box is nice, but that shouldn't be the only way to get all the tracks. Between Bourbons, Bon Scott would be turning in his grave, I'm sure. Whole Lotta Rosie? Whole Lotta Ripoff. |
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2010TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Korn
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I have never been the biggest Korn fan anyway, but I did find this a lot more enjoyable than most of their recent albums. It also felt a bit more genuine - like they we not trying to be trendy or chase sales - They were just making an honest album. I'm not sure I would go so far as to say it is 'back to old school', which was of course their claim, but it was certainly a lot more 1998 than 2010. |
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Jakob Dylan
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Jakob's first solo album 'Seeing Things' will always stand alone as a one-off masterwork. A beautifully executed acoustic modern-folk album. This album immediately presents itself as something different, with a lot more instrumentation and an almost country tinge. It took longer to grow on me, and I will never like it as much as its predecessor, but it still has its merits - and a distinctly different vibe. |
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The Damned Things
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Having Scott and Rob from Anthrax in your band is obviously gonna bring some attention, but honestly - metal-heads are a very closed group when it comes to anything trendy. When the other half of your band have the pedigree (HA!) of Fall Out Boy, the concerts are more likely to be full of knee length denim cut offs, thin black ties, and square rimmed 'for show only' spectacles than leather and spikes. So, this was bitter pill to swallow. As a rock album, it is quite good. The vocals are a tad dull, and I only say that as they are that typical modern rock style that is just a bit tired (sickly nice with a long fringe combed to the side), but otherwise it has some surprisingly catchy tunes. As far as the Thrax connection, any guitarist could have played on this - there is no Scottisms to be heard. Anyhoo - I hoped I'd like it, expected I'd hate it, and ended up thinking it was not as good as I'd hoped but not as bad as I expected. Understand? |
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Bad Religion
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Any Bad Religion fan knows that to make a new Bad Religion album, you just take the previous one, rename all the tracks to something slightly political and witty in its wordplay - and then stick your iPod on shuffle. Whoo-hoo! Must be the new album. I say this with appreciation, not resentment, as that is precisely what bands like Bad Religion are for. Some artists you want to hear innovation from, some you just want to slip on like an old pair of comfy underpants - and this band will always be that comfy latter. The best part is though, that after close to 30 years in the business they still do a better job of making punk-rock fun, catchy, melodic, and just plain infectious than any of the current bands on the scene. And most importantly, they do it with a belt on - so their pants aren't around their fucking knees. Good luck to them. I hope they keep showing the 15 year olds how to wear a faux-hawk for some years to come. |
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Neil Young
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This is such an odd album. Masses of distorted electric guitar, without bass or drums, and some of the most passionate vocals of Neil's recent efforts. It's not the easiest album to find the entrance to on first listens, but like most of releases it pushes the boundaries of want has and can be done. It is almost and electric folk album. I'm not sure if there is such a thing, so I'm going to copyright the term right after typing this. Not one for a quick listen - this will take repeated listens to really open up. |
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Slash
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Slash's first solo album (Seriously? Aren't all the Snakepit albums solo albums?) is something of a mixed bag, that took quite a few listens to really unlock. With a string of different vocalists (and a mixture of styles) it leaves you feeling a bit like a 92 year old trying to work out how to use a mobile phone - confused, and a little bit like you are stupid. It is obviously good, but why don't I understand it?. It just takes a few tries - and once the songs start to grow on you, it all sinks in. The only downside is that using well known vocalists often sounds like an album full of their own solo tracks, and that happens often here (the Ozzy or Lemmy tracks for example). I hate to say it, but the single featuring Pop diva Fergie is amazingly catchy. Miles Kennedy of Alter Bridge gets 2 tracks - I dare say because his voice is so Axl Rose-like. |
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Alter Bridge
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It took me a long time (and a lot of prodding by various people) to finally take the time with Alter Bridge. I think I get it now musically, although the vocals I'm still only buying on sale, as I'm not quite ready to pay full price for them. If nothing else, I gotta give these guys some cred for being one of the very few bands around still flying the true rock flag. It's usually a good yard stick that they are loud and heavy, and won't see much pop-FM air time anytime soon. Yeah, I know there are a couple of 'hard rock ballads' here that have been spit polished using the funky-spunk of the Sony Board Of Directors, but all-in-all it's pretty solid. The riffs are a plenty (and Tremonti again proves himself to be one the current guitar greats), with plenty of hard rock chops to show The Darkness how it should be played. The dude was actually only born a couple of weeks before me, so when you really think about it I could actually be him (in guitar status that is), but maybe he was lucky enough not to start smoking hooch until AFTER he learnt to play guitar? |
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Robert Plant
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Robert Plant has become this amazing organic synthesis of earth and human and roots music. I can understand why he isn't really into a Zeppelin come-back if this is the sort of music he enjoys playing. It is blues and folk and a whole pile of retro production chic all mixed into one great album. I love the way he takes parts of his previous album and blends them with something new on each release. His albums have an amazing narrative thread that connects them all going right back to 1982. I don't expect we'll see too much more of the ol' blonde rock God now that he is reaching his twilight years - but as he winds to a close sometime soon he is ending it with class. |
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Stone Temple Pilots
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So first up let's state that this is the not the STP that created Core, but it is a similar band to No. 4 and Tiny Music. Slightly experimental, a rock band - but not a hard rock band, and with the nuances that we have come to expect from Weiland's roller-coaster vocal style. If you don't want your rock too heavy, this is quite possibly their best album. The song writing is better than a soft-shelled taco, and there are some great STP style sing-alongs. But what is with that boring shit cover? |
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Devo
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I know Devo have been seen as a bit of a joke in recent years, and a lot of that they brought on themselves with their silly outfit and videos, but in the 80s they really were WAY ahead of their time. A Devo album today actually proves that. This album (complete with amazing modern production) could sit with any of their others quite comfortably - but also with anything released by anyone else in the alternative rock genre today, proving that the world has finally caught up. |
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2010TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Jimi Hendrix
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I'll put these suckers side by side, although they are quite separate releases, and were even released months apart. Sony is now the distributor for all things Experience Hendrix LCC, which does mean we will be guaranteed a quality product - but I am already a little 'unconvinced' with the marketing. Valleys Of Neptune was marketed as the first 'new' Hendrix 'album' since First Rays Of The New Rising Sun in 1997. This isn't an album at all - it is a collection of left overs, similar to every other Hendrix release in the last 14 years since the family took ownership. |
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Jimi Hendrix
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I'll put these suckers side by side, although they are quite separate releases, and were even released months apart. Sony is now the distributor for all things Experience Hendrix LCC, which does mean we will be guaranteed a quality product - but I am already a little 'unconvinced' with the marketing. Valleys Of Neptune was marketed as the first 'new' Hendrix 'album' since First Rays Of The New Rising Sun in 1997. This isn't an album at all - it is a collection of left overs, similar to every other Hendrix release in the last 14 years since the family took ownership. |
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Bob Dylan
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Like most great albums of the sixties, Dylan's albums were mixed for glorious mono by him personally - whereas the stereo versions (that are all we hear today) were done by the studio tea lady on her day off. Whether you prefer mono over stereo is a personal choice (and I even couldn't give a definite answer, as different equipment reveals different shades of the personality of each), but the important thing about these 8 albums is that they are in places substantially different to the stereo mixes. The masterpiece that is Blonde On Blonde in particular has longer track lengths and completely different versions of some of the instruments (usually from alternate takes). |
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Bob Dylan
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These recordings (from 1961-1965) have circulated for years amongst collectors, so there wasn't many surprises here. The true gem was the sound quality, near perfect for every track. Keeping in mind that these are near 50 year old demo recordings made on a reel to reel tape deck in a publisher's office, and you begin to appreciate why that is so amazing. These are early sketches of some songs and hasty run-throughs of other well played material. Just another small piece in the puzzle of what drove the early Dylan to become the greatest songwriter of our time. |
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John Lennon
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It was the year of the 'old guy' boxed sets really, but that is fine by me - as most of the music released in this box in particular far eclipses anything released today but any rock musician or band. John Lennon's solo years were a rocky road, and not everything he released was by any means a masterwork - but listening to these remasters (done by the same team that remastered The Beatles last year) brings a new life and perspective to even some of his quirkiest work. I did think there was the opportunity to include a complete set of a/b sides of singles (and the 3 early soundscape albums), but unfortunately the estate only saw us as worthy of a handful of non-album tracks. |
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2010TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Deftones
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I got nothing to say. I once took a shit, and when I looked at it I found more of interest than listening to this. I know they can only play 3 chords, but they could at least try to play them in a different order for each song - and at a different tempo. |
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Smashing Pumpkins
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I have no issues with artists being led by their muse wherever it wants to take them, but if you are gonna to veer this far off track change your name, or at the very least stop saying this is the best thing the band has ever done. These tracks are soppy (and actually quite boring), and apart from the vocals of Corgan lend very little to where the pumpkins began. |
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Smashing Pumpkins
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I have no issues with artists being led by their muse wherever it wants to take them, but if you are gonna to veer this far off track change your name, or at the very least stop saying this is the best thing the band has ever done. These tracks are soppy (and actually quite boring), and apart from the vocals of Corgan lend very little to where the pumpkins began. |
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Linkin Park
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I have no issues with altering your style. Every musician has to grow after all. But seriously, what the fuck is going on here? This is like some sort of beats driven movie soundtrack for Taylor Swift fans. And what's with all the 20 second songs? That sort of shit is reserved for grindcore and punk thanks. To use a phase both those styles are fans of, FUCK OFF. |
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2011TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Steven Wilson
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It's a moody (and mellow) album that isn't that far removed from the Porcupine Tree style - but on first listen it doesn't reveal much worth noting. Repeat listens open it wide to reveal the layers that have been painstakingly lain one over the other. Vocals and musicianship are prefect (as always), but the lyrics this time (possibly due to it being solo) are a lot more introspective than previous albums. I wouldn't recommend this one to new fans, as it is a very eclectic album, but for those that know Wilson - they will likely find something here they like. |
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The Living End
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I'll start by saying this isn't there best work. It's not that it is bad, it's just a bit recycled. They offer nothing new here that we haven't heard numerous times before - but they do it so well that it doesn't matter too much. The usual sing-a-long choruses are here - and the lyrics are anthems for the downtrodden, just like you'd expect. |
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Colin Hay
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On first few listens I found this album not up to his usual standard, but the more I listened them more the songs grew on me. It is possibly one of his better recent albums, full of the rich textures that make his music so good, but it is a just that one step closer to being 'old man adult contemporary' - which does scare me. |
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Glen Campbell
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Old Glenn has gotten himself a bit of dementia in his twilight years it would seem, and so this is his final outing to the studio. It is a fairly mellow album that has touches of his classic country style along with modern sounding flourishes. It isn't anything amazingly ground breaking, but is just plain nice to listen to on a rainy afternoon. A raft of stars turned up to help out (Chris Isaak, Billy Corgan and The Dandy Warhols among them), so it is a wonderful send off to one of countries most important front-men. Jeysus - I'm getting old. |
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Jebediah
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After such a long break I wasn't sure how these guys would sound, and it isn't all bad news. The sound is modern, and certainly a lot slicker (and less heavy) than before - but there are still some Jebs trademark moments. I couldn't say I love it from start to end, but it has more good than bad. |
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Jane's Addiction
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This is lighter than previous work, but is quite dark and moody. It is probably the most mature album they have made, which is good. It also doesn't feel 'safe' like the previous album did. It's full of experimentation, which is what made them great in their early years. |
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Bush
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This is very different Bush to the one that greased themselves up with Glycerine back in the mid-90s. This album is slick and modern, and most of the band has been upgraded to younger players also. On first listen I thought I was listening to one of the throw-away pop tunes Rossdale had written for his 9foot wife Gwen Stefani, but on repeat listens the songs revealed their magic. The songs are certainly more sophisticated, and the 90s 'grunge' guitar sound is gone - but these tracks are no less catchy once they are under your skin. |
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Eddie Vedder
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The title is misleading, as this isn't an album of ukulele songs at all. Just kidding - yes it is. 17 tracks of Eddie strumming his uke to new and old songs. It's tranquil. Does it push the boundaries of popular music? Yes. Will it have lasting appeal? Probably not. It is really a novelty at best, but a nice one. |
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Foo Fighters
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The last handful of FF album have had that feel of 'let's rock - but not too hard because we still want to get played on the radio.', so much so that the Fooeys for me were close to getting categorised with Nickelback. But then out of the radio-play haze comes this nugget of gold. It's pretty raw, and rather angry in places - and feels like they are having fun, not just counting dollars. It's the best songs for a long time also, firmly planting their feet back in the 'alt rock' genre. Including Bob Mould is almost a nod to their newfound alternative credibility. If they can keep this quality up on the next album they may just be pretty close to a Top 10 number 1 for me. |
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Screaming Trees
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The fact that these recordings had to sit on a shelf somewhere for over a decade before final being released is disgraceful. Considering this was a band that was falling apart, these are brilliantly cohesive tracks that show that the boys still had something to give. There has been talk of the 'touch-ups' done to release this making it far better than it originally was. Considering the original mixes leaked years ago and we have all heard them (and they were fantastic anyway), I'd contest this claim. Nothing beyond some repair work has been done. The best Seattle band that never happened, let's hope that one day Lanegan graces the stage one last time with the Conner brothers, just so the story doesn't end as a bitter break-up. |
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2011TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Foo Fighters
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Much like Metallica, when the Foo Fighters cover a song, they OWN it. Put all the covers together (with a couple of unreleased and unfortunately under-par live tracks included), and this is nailed home with a very large nail gun. This was a Record Day release, and as such has a few recycled tracks from previous releases, but hey - anyone that could do a version of Gary Numan's 'Down In the Park' that well deserves to drag it back up for a second listen. Cream's 'I Feel Free' suddenly doesn't sound 1966 anymore, and Prince And The Revolution's 'Darling Nikki' is cool all over again. Only downside I think, is a VERY average live version of Gerry Rafferty's 'Baker Street', rather than the excellent studio version from 1997. |
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The Head Cat
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Lemmy doing covers of songs form the 50s? How could you know like it? 'American Beat' in particular (one of the original songs) is sensational. This really does give you an insight into what drove so many classic Motorhead songs. |
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Chris Cornell
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This has some amazing live acoustic interpretations of both his well-known and lesser-known tunes. Even the controversial Scream album gets a run, and with acoustic breathing room we get to hear how a few of these songs could have sounded. Album closer 'The Keeper' is worth the price of the album alone. |
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The Jimi Hendrix Experience
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A welcome upgrade from the reverb heavy 1987 single CD release, this both a lesson in what can be - and what should have been. Whilst it is fantastic that we finally have the brilliant Fillmore shows documented in a boxed set, we also have to wonder why they are so heavily edited - and why the 4th disc has been filled with an interview, that isn't even from these shows? That surely is the sort of thing you include as a bonus disc? That aside though, this is quite an amazing collection of songs, played with an intensity and drive that wasn't seen very often by this point in Jimi's career. The only other period that compares is the early days of the JHE, such as the Monterey Pop Festival 1967 show. The other thing worth noting is the recording quality, much like the performances, it is flawless. |
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Limp Bizkit
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On the first couple of listens I actually thought this was dreadful, but after a while I went back to it and found it is actually not bad at all. I think listening to it in isolation in 2011 made it sound quite out of place, but a re-listen to the back catalogue reveals it is pretty similar to previous works. It is probably just 20 years too late for anyone to care. |
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2011TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Alice Cooper
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10 stars out of 10 to Alice Cooper. He wins the prize for best desecration of a legacy I have ever heard. This is horrible. All the things that made the original a classic are missing. Where is the plot? Where is the mystery? Where is that underlying dark feeling that makes the original creepy as hell? It has pop production, and is so slick and radio friendly it is cringe-worthy. It has pitch corrected vocals, and disco beats. If I were a monkey, and he visited my zoo, and looked in my cage... Well, you know what I'd do. It would involve my hand, my poop, and my great aim. |
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2012TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Grinspoon
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Each Grinner's album is a tad lighter (and more radio-friendly) than the one before, but they still write great songs regardless, and this album has just enough crunch vs sing-along to make it well worth spending some time on. The recently announced they will pull the plug after this tour, so if this is their final album, it's probably not a bad note to end on. |
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Neil Young with Crazy Horse
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Neil Young's first real effort for the year - Americana was a somewhat throwaway affair of traditional folk songs. This album was recorded at the same sessions, so I didn't really hold out much hope for it. Turns out this a wonderfully vintage sounding piece of wax that would fit nicely into the early NY repertoire. It certainly isn't going to win any new fans, but if you have ever enjoyed that laid back garage jam style Neil and The Horse are known for previously, you'll love this one too. |
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Walking Papers
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I wasn't sure what to make of this on my first listen, I expected a rowdier album with the pedigree of the Seattle musicians involved. After a few listens though it got under my skin, and although it is mellow (I guess it is similar to Mad Season's 'Above'), it is still a great listen once you get to know the songs. |
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KISS
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This has a good vintage KISS vibe that the previous album lacked. It feels 70's, but with a bright modern production. The band sounds on fire, and like they are having - as opposed to sounding like are too prove anything (like they did on 2009's Sonic Boom). |
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ZZ Top
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Back in the late 70s, before they could afford fancy hot-rods and spunky models to sit in them ZZ Top played rough and dirty Chicago blues with a Texas flair. All these years later they have returned to that style - but dare I say even rougher and dirty that ever before. There is nothing here that hasn't been played by every boogie outfit in the U.S. since 1969, but these guys play it better than any - even at an age where beards that long are actually justified. Let's hope this isn't the finale for a great band. |
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Smashing Pumpkins
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Each new Smashing Pumpkins album comes with it the promise of great flavours by Billy Corgan, and is usually delivered with a big bucket-o-nothin' when it actually arrives. Having said that, this is one of the better 'new Pumpkins' albums. It has some heavy punch alongside some lighter tracks, and is a pretty solid listen in most places. A song like 'One And All' could easily stand alongside any track on Melon Collie, and Drum + Fife sounds more like Machina era. I can't help but think it would be an even better album without the digital drum machine & keyboard sounds in some places. |
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Bob Dylan
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Brilliant - The best Dylan album in 10 years. There is nothing more to say (and you wouldn't care if I did). I think I might anyway. The opening track is like a Dixie-land shuffle, reminding us of the vintage of Dylan, but it still has a modern chic. Pay In Blood and Scarlet Town show a little of the Dylan venom in the lyric, and the 14 minute title track details the titanic sinking in exquisite detail. In true Dylan style though, the sinking is told with some truth, some myth, some legend, and even some scenes from the movie! |
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Storm Corrosion
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What a strange album. It is dark and brooding, but at the same time quite sunny sounding. When Akerfeldt and Wilson started collaborating (with Mike Portnoy on drums) I expected an album similar to late period Porcupine Tree. Then they announced that the material no longer required a drummer, and I wondered where it was all heading. The answer is - to a soundtrack to a movie that will never be made. This is like nothing either of them have done before, and it is actually a hard listen the first few times. |
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The Mark Of Cain
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After so many years of waiting (and wondering if we would ever actually hear it), the wait is over - AND IT IS WORTH IT. In terms of style this fits nicely between Battlesick and The Unclaimed Prize, with a very 80's sound, which suits me just fine. Ill At Ease is possibly their best work, but Battlesick will always remain my favourite for starkness. Much like This Is This lead single Barkhammer is the track that stands out from the rest, not in terms of it being better - but it is certainly like nothing they have done previously. There is never a dull moment throughout, and no slower tracks like This Is This - it is trademark TMOC from start to finish - and after such a long wait, we wouldn't have expected anything else. |
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Soundgarden
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Forget your Badmotorshlongers and your Superunknownrashes, this is THE Soundgarden album. It has pieces of every part of their puzzle, right back to their beginnings. It isn't a particularly easy album to access - there are no Black Hole Suns or Rusty Cages here. In fact many of the tracks don't even follow verse / chorus / verse. But it is rich and deep, like a Kardashian's bung-hole, but so much more rewarding. Repeat listens reveal something new at every corner. Soundgarden are back bitches! |
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2012TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Bob Dylan
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I won't go into the boring legalities here, but essential anything recorded must be releases within 50 years of recording or under European copyright law tit is deemed public domain. Due to so many Bob Dylan sessions tapes trading amongst collections the race is on for Sony to 'officially' release this stuff ASAP, or lose it. This first edition gives us outtakes from 1962 and a handful of home recordings and live tracks. It's a great listen for a Dylan fan, but it is unfortunate it had to be released under such cruddy circumstances. Let's see what we get next year! |
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Smashing Pumpkins
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2012 is a big year for SP fans. Following on from last year's excellent Gish / Siamese Dream reissues, this year we see more reissues - and a new album! The original Pisces Iscariot was such an eclectic collection of songs, that the reissue was certainly expected to have some surprises. With early gems like My Dahlia and the brilliant cover of Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl included, this has everything it needs. Also as a bonus is a cassette reissue of the 1989 demo that started it all. The Mellon Collie reissue is also far from disappointing, with 3 bonus CDs and the usual DVD of extras. The only complaint from me is that the box didn't match the other reissues! Why Billy, why? The reissue series is shaping up to be a collectors dream. 10/10 |
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Smashing Pumpkins
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2012 is a big year for SP fans. Following on from last year's excellent Gish / Siamese Dream reissues, this year we see more reissues - and a new album! The original Pisces Iscariot was such an eclectic collection of songs, that the reissue was certainly expected to have some surprises. With early gems like My Dahlia and the brilliant cover of Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl included, this has everything it needs. Also as a bonus is a cassette reissue of the 1989 demo that started it all. The Mellon Collie reissue is also far from disappointing, with 3 bonus CDs and the usual DVD of extras. The only complaint from me is that the box didn't match the other reissues! Why Billy, why? The reissue series is shaping up to be a collectors dream. 10/10 |
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2012TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Cold Chisel
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This is disgraceful. A band with a legacy like theirs, as one of the greatest rock bands in Australian history, should be embarrassed to release this. It sounds like a bunch of tired old men - which may in reality b what they are, but if that is the case, leave it alone and tour your hits. |
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The Offspring
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Quite seriously, I would be ashamed of myself if I released this. A band with a legacy as long (and as great) as these guys should know better. From the opener (which sounds like it is the radio-friendly single. but it isn't even close), it is obvious this is an album that is made to sell product. Previous album Rise & Fall, Rage & Grace was brilliant (possibly their best), but unrelenting punk doesn't sell albums to the masses. And so we are left with this. and just when you think you can vomit no more for the sickly sweet taste - you get to the single 'Cruising California (Bumpin In My Trunk)' and that's where you press the stop button. Hopefully they will too if this is the best they can deliver us. |
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Something For Kate
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Not only does it sound like it was recorded in a lounge room with a laptop (it probably was), there is nothing memorable about this. In fact the bonus disc I got with the deluxe edition had better tracks - the acoustic versions of the songs. |
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2013TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Paul McCartney
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Although I live for The Beatles, I have never been a very big McCartney solo fan. His Beatles tracks were always the more sweet and syrupy the songs, and that worked well as a contrast with Lennon - but on their own it is a bit too much nice for me. This album seems pretty straight up without too much polish, which helps the songs be what they are without too much artificial tampering. Definitely the most consistent set of songs he has written in years. |
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Mudhoney
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Mudhoney are a band that don't stray from the path. They know their style and they play it better than anyone else. With that in mind, we know what this was going to be. It's punk/garage rock, and it's rough an raw as always. They will never be the greatest band on the planet, but they will always scratch an itch that others can't. |
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Alter Bridge
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I actually get bored with Alter Bridge whenever I listen, as I find Miles' voice thin and whiney after a couple of songs. For some reason this one didn't affect me as much, so I got to enjoy it for what it is. Tremonti is brilliant as always, and musically this is certainly heavier than anything you will hear on the radio. Songs like 'Bleed It Dry' and 'Cry Me A River' are monsters. Regardless of the album quality though, it is still a stupid band name. |
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Clutch
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No one rolls out the groove better than Clutch. They have been playing dirty stoner rock for so long now I can't remember a time without them, and they are easily the best in the genre. Fallon's vocals are unique and soulful, and the guitar tone is like 4 boys hamming out some hemp fuelled garage music. |
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Billy Joe Armstrong & Norah Jones
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Billy Joe has never been known for having an amazing voice, but listening to these covers it is now clear how creepily similar his voice is to the great Phil Everly's. Add the smooth country-tinged tones of Norah Jones and hauntingly beautiful album is born. Green Day fans, don't expect any American Idiot here. This is folk/country to the core. |
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Bad Religion
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So BR have churned out the same 3-chord punk album for the 10th time in a row, but who cares? It is fantastic! I'm not sure what draws me to these guys, although I suspect it is the vocals. Whatever the reason, I always love anything they do on first listen, even though pop-punk isn't my usual cup of tea. |
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Various Artists
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For the soundtrack to a movie that was made about a vintage recording desk, this does a great job of proving the point. It has an amazing vintage feel to it, wrapped in beautiful analogue production. Some songs sound like modern artists playing old songs, and some sound like old artists playing new songs. |
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Jimi Hendrix
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Yeah, they are dragging anything they can from those often opened tape vaults now, but somehow they are still finding quality material - Sure, not TOP quality, but still better than most artist can manage today. Great to see the original (untampered with) versions of quite a few tracks we have been begging for, such as Somewhere, Crash Landing and Hey Gypsy Boy. It is amazing what the man achieved in such a short amount of time (3 years), and the massive number of songs he penned. |
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David Bowie
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After far too many years of silence Bowie has returned with what is possibly one of his greatest albums. This is a bit of classic Bowie, mixed with some avant-garde, with some modern new-age Bowie throw in too. It is a mixed bag of everything he has ever done, and throw in together to make this dam near a masterpiece. After so many years of seclusion, the rumour is that this is his retirement album. If that is true, it is a brilliant way to finish some a varied career. |
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Motorhead
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Motorhead have always been consistent, but consistent doesn't necessarily mean good. Somehow this time round, they have taken all of the things that once made them great, but eventually made them stale - and turned them all into something fresh and new again. This is a MONSTER of an album, smashing the last decade of their work and pissing on its grave. Every track blisters your ears, but has enough melody to make it sing-along worthy. Considering Lemmy's lingering health issues (and his age) each MH album should be treated as their last by fans - but this one feels like the band maybe have felt that themselves. Long live Motorhead. |
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2013TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Bob Dylan
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Dylan circa 1970 holds very little interest to many people, mainly due to his dreadfully received 'Self Portrait' album (full of dodgy covers of artists like Gordon Lightfoot), and his turn toward Nashville and a country croon - the very things the hip and happening folkies of New York stood against. In hindsight it is obvious it was a period of finding where he would go next, and a time to shake of the 'voice of the young generation' tag that had hung from his neck like an albatross. Stripped back (without overdubbed arrangements) these tracks are quite amazing, and many of the unreleased tracks are better than those on the albums. As always, Dylan has produced an album of outtakes from his most criticised period - and they are better than most bands could ever hope to record. |
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Smashing Pumpkins
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This one was always going to be a bit odd (a boxed set of previously released singles in expanded formats, now put into a deluxe boxed set that has expanded them yet further.), but Billy has done a pretty good jab as always. The live tracks are a really good representation of the period, and the bonuses are in line with the sort of tracks you would find on a b-side, so they work brilliantly. The 35 minute version of silver$%$^ is a great showcase of the band's abilities at the time. |
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2013TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Alice In Chains
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This is like listening to Jerry Cantrell humming a Lady GaGa song while sleepwalking. It is just boring. There are none of those great light/shade dynamics that make AIC stand out. |
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Pearl Jam
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If I'd had wanted to hear Air Supply, I would have bought a Kings Of Leon album. |
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2014TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Royal Blood
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It's dirty and it's garage, but it isn't done trendy - it sounds genuine, and that is something that is missing from most modern rock. These guys sound like they are channelling the rock gods of old, and doing it however it happens, regardless of the results. What we hear is some good genuine rock and roll. |
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Chevelle
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There is a fire in the bellies of these boys that wasn't on the last few albums. It feels new and fresh and like they have got their s#@$ together big time on this album. The production is dirty, and the songs are great blend of progressive and catchy that keeps it accessible throughout. |
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Smashing Pumpkins
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I do one day hope to place a Pumpkins album back in that number one slot that the band so easily filled in their early days. I don't think Billy's best work is behind him now (as most artists his age) - on the contrary actually, as he seems to be writing some of is richest and brightest music of his career. But that in itself is possibly the issue. This was band that made a career using (to use their own term) melancholy to make great music. Billy is now happy for some reason, and the music reflects that - but like most fans, I think I actually preferred him sad. This is far from a bad album, and contains a tapestry of all sorts of ideas and elements that make up the SP sound. The songs are short and tight (on purpose, because kids these days can't listen to anything longer than 3 minutes apparently), but overall I am again left feeling that these songs given the right production could have been bigger and better than they are here. Certainly most of them sound great live. |
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Shihad
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I'm not really sure whether it is the songs I like or the gritty down-tuned guitar tones used throughout. It is certainly the first time I have paid any attention to these guys in about 15 year. There doesn't seem to be much interest in radio songs here - just straight up in-your-face heavy rock. Nice work. |
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Robert Plant
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At the age he is at you'd expect that Robert Plant would by now have given up on self-expression and reinvention. Does he still have anything left to say? Obviously - and he continues to find new way in which to say it. As with all his albums, this one is another step beyond the one before - constantly changing and evolving into something different on every track. With banjo here, a flute there, and a dub beat over there it is a rich and complex album that reveals more on ever listen. This is what Jethro Tull would have sounded like if they were formed in 2010. |
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The Pretty Reckless
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Although I would never say that the 'scenery' is not EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD in the rehearsal room of The Pretty Reckless, I will say that is not the reason I like the band. The music is brilliantly produced in-your-face modern rock (with a tinge of metal), and the moment you hear Taylor Momson open her mouth you know she is not just another Hollywood starlet wannabe that decided to pretend to be a pop star. Her voice is angry and convincing, and probably one of the best new female voices I have heard in recent years. |
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Rival Sons
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Not as good as the previous couple of albums, and I don't think that is based on the songs - I think it is more around the 'pretend 'vintage' production they have used. It sucks the punch out of the big songs. That aside though, this is another great album once again channelling the ghost of Led Zeppelin. |
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Foo Fighters
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This didn't blow me away on first listen, but after watching the documentary series and understanding the songs better it certainly did. This is possibly the best Fooeys album since The Colour & The Shape. It may even be better. The songs are inspired (literally - watch the series!), the sound is perfect, and the tracks get just the right punch from the guest musicians that they go right to the next level. |
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Pink Floyd
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This is the most perfect end to such an amazing career. After 20 years of silence we get this mostly instrumental album. I have seen complaints about how this doesn't move the band forward or push any boundaries, and to be honest - I'm happy it doesn't. It feels to me to sound like a tribute to a band that is now long gone (and it is in some ways, being dedicated to Richard Wright who died a few years ago). It has a nod to every great moment of other albums, and wraps up with a song about the strength the band one had. To end with something this simple (yet complex in many ways) is a fitting end to a band that always did it their own way. |
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Casualties Of Cool
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Devin Townsend has never been one to take it slow or keep it simple. His prolific writings swing from brutal metal to ethereal mood music, and sometimes all on a single album. He inspires and challenges, as every great artist should. As eclectic as his works can be Casualties Of Cool is one that still stands out beyond the others. Teaming up with fellow Canadian musician Che Aimee Dorval, Devin created an album that relied more on mood and chic than the actual songs themselves. That is not to say the songs aren't any good, because there are some here that of exceptional quality - but the album relies on an odd haunting (out of time?) feeling and country melodies to take the listener on a truly unique journey. He leaves the majority of the vocals to Che, but still uses his voice when necessary to move the listener to the next place in his landscape. Che's voice is perfect for the arrangements, and their duets on songs like 'Mountaintop' are so infectious you never want them to stop. In fact the, whole album ends leaving you feeling like aren't finished yet, and you just want more - but much like Devin's earlier one-off project Ocean Machine, this one is probably best left to one single album of lightning captured in a bottle. |
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2014TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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AC/DC
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It's paint-by-numbers AC/DC, no denying that - but even at their least creative these boys still feel like slipping on a comfy pair of old loafers and sitting by the fireplace. I do like the direction they have headed in their later years - this laid back bluesy style reminiscent of ZZ Top in places. It feels like the music has matured with them, and leaves them looking like the elder statesmen of rock that they are. My only reservation is that there aren't many anthems here - most songs sound like filler or b-sides from other albums. The songs that do shine, are clearly brighter than others. |
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Bob Dylan & The Band
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And so finally it is here. The holy grail of Dylan collectors. The single most important recording sessions in popular history - and it only took almost 50 years to be officially released. If you don't know the story of the basement tapes, ask me one day when you have about 3 hours spare (or just google it). They are presented here in their entirety (including tracks never bootlegged), and in better sound than ever before. Although recorded direct to two-track, the stereo separation has been wonderfully manipulated to sound far more natural than ever before. A must have for any rock fan, especially those into the country-rock of the late 60s / early 70s. |
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Linkin Park
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Kudos to these guys for not standing still. For the first 2 albums they seemed like a band that were going to create nothing new - but stick with the exact same formula until they were no longer relevant anymore, at which point they would fade away into nu-metal history. That is what every other band in the genre did after all. Instead they have now moved into some sort of journey of discovery. Do I like it? Not really - but I do like that they are trying to be the best they can. |
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Johnny Cash
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If the rumours are to be believed this 'lost' Cash album from the 80s is the album that could have put his career back on track - but instead he recorded a different (rather average) album after these sessions, and his sales slump continued. I'm not sure if this is a great album, or if the new production is what makes it shine - but either way, it's a great listen. |
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2014TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
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These now 'legendary' recordings have been in Neil Young's possession in a vault somewhere (co-incidentally the exact same vault as Bob Dylan's basement tapes.) for 40 years. I was very excited to hear some of these 3+ hour performances that are now as much rock folk-lore as the size of Gene Simmons' wang. Unfortunately, these records are actually pretty damn boring. Put them back Neil. After you have finished hugging that tree of course. |
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U2
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I remember the days fondly when I would be a first day buyer of U2 albums. Achtung Baby... Zooropa. even Pop. I was given this one for free thanks to a money-making (money-raking?) deal with Apple, and after a listen or two I begged them to take it back. 'The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)' is a pretty big opener, but then after that every track is the same boring old-man slow tempo. They have two options here - end it now and don't destroy your glory days any further - or return with something BIG. PLEASE. |
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Jimi Hendrix
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Let me start first up - these aren't bad albums. In fact, this is the best of the songs he was working on at the time of his death, and the best 2 albums to be released in the early 70s. So why are the Dishonourable? The Experience Hendrix Company (his family) have made massive steps toward removing the long and messy history of posthumous released from 1971 onwards and replacing them with new 'authorised' versions. All tracks on these albums have been released since 1997 on proper albums and yet here we now see the original 2 albums that the family fought to remove from circulation back in production!!! Why? Sony are now distributing Hendrix product, and hazarding a guess - they wanted something on the shelves for Christmas. Thanks for tidying up the legacy, then muddying it up again. |
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Jimi Hendrix
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Let me start first up - these aren't bad albums. In fact, this is the best of the songs he was working on at the time of his death, and the best 2 albums to be released in the early 70s. So why are the Dishonourable? The Experience Hendrix Company (his family) have made massive steps toward removing the long and messy history of posthumous released from 1971 onwards and replacing them with new 'authorised' versions. All tracks on these albums have been released since 1997 on proper albums and yet here we now see the original 2 albums that the family fought to remove from circulation back in production!!! Why? Sony are now distributing Hendrix product, and hazarding a guess - they wanted something on the shelves for Christmas. Thanks for tidying up the legacy, then muddying it up again. |
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Godsmack
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Oh good - Godsmack have decided we need another U.S. yob-rock band. If I was to s#@$ in my hands and clap, I'd have more fun than listening to this. |
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2015TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Motorhead
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Faith No More
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Chris Cornell
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2016TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Dee Snider
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David Bowie
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2016TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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The Beatles
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Mother Love Bone
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Temple Of The Dog
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Bob Dylan
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Pink Floyd
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2017TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Roger Waters
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Robert Plant
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Greta Van Fleet
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2017TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Stone Temple Pilots
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The Beatles
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The Beatles
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Various Artists
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Bob Dylan
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2017TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Pearl Jam
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U2
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Bob Dylan
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2018TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Paul McCartney
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Mudhoney
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Greta Van Fleet
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Billy F. Gibbons
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The Living End
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A Perfect Circle
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Alice In Chains
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Alice In Chains are one of those bands that are able to make an album that is immediately obvious as them, and yet every album is distinctly different from the ones prior. From the opening notes of 'The One You Know' this is obviously them, but this one is nastier and darker than the last (The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here). Jerry Cantrell again shows his amazing ability to weave heavy riffs into a fabric that also allows brighter moments to seamlessly stand alongside. 'Rainer Fog' and 'So Far Under' sound like vintage AIC, whereas 'Red Giant' and 'Drone' grind along in ways only the post-Layne version of the band can. The Cantrell / DuVall vocal harmonies are used heavily again, but not as extensively and obviously as previously, giving the songs some more breathing room. 'Maybe' sounds like it is straight off a Cantrell solo album, whereas 'Never Fade' is DuVall's chance to vocally shine. Overall, this is possibly the best 'reunion' album Alice In Chains have released to date. As a side note, this was the last album recorded at Studio X, previously Bad Animals, in Seattle before its doors closed. Not only had AIC recorded there previously themselves (their self-titled album in 1995), but other legendary albums from the alternative rock genre were also recorded there by Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., TAD, Hole and even Jerry Cantrell solo during the 90s. |
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2018TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Guns n' Roses
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Chris Cornell
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John Lennon
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The Beatles
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Bob Dylan
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David Bowie
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2018TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Jimi Hendrix
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Tenacious D
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2019TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Tool
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Tool's 'Aenima' is still one of my favourite rock albums of all time, and each subsequent album released since has had moments that I have enjoyed, but ultimately I have been disappointed overall. They lacked the fire the first couple of albums did, instead replacing it with mood. 'Fear Inoculum' was the album that finally broke through for me. 13 years in the coming, this album is everything a grown up version of Tool is known for, but the moodiness and soundscapes are far beyond anything the band has done before. It is a slow burner, with all but one track between 10 and 15 minutes long, but every song slowly unfurls like the petals of a new flower, and the band finally does what it says on the packaging - it transcends and eclipses all previous albums with very little effort. It twists and turns, and you are brought along for the journey more as a witness than a listener. Will it ever be my favourite of theirs? Probably not. Do I think it is their best album? Possibly so. |
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2019TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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The Beatles
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Soundgarden
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Jimi Hendrix
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Bob Dylan
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Bob Dylan
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The idea behind Bob Dylan's 1975-76 Rolling Thunder Review Shows was simple. Get a bunch of early 1960's folkies together on the road in a throwback to the old troubadour shows of the 1920's. It was a great idea, and the eventual outcome was just under 60 shows with the likes of Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Jack Elliot, and Roger McGuinn. Even beat poet Allen Ginsberg was along for the ride. The music was (deliberately) wild and free and the artists reinterpreted their songs from soft folk to rollicking rock 'n' roll. Those looking to hear Dylan in his 1960s guise would have been surprised by the white faced minstrel they saw on stage, stomping around and barking lyrics like a hoarse shaman. 14 CDs in length, the box contains all known recordings of the 1975 leg, nestled snugly between two of Dylan's masterworks, Blood On The Tracks and Desire. We start with 3 discs of loose rehearsals showing the fun (and sometimes directionless) nature of the tour, and then get 5 complete concerts of the Dylan segment of the show from various stops. As fans of most bands would know, a number of shows from one tour is just needless repetition - but that is never the case with Dylan, who morphs and changes his performance every show. The sound quality and mixing is superb, and the only thing that would improve the experience would be visuals to go with the music, to really show the passion every musician puts in. The package wraps up with a single dis of random oddities from various stops on the tour, and whilst it isn't as essential as the other discs, it is a nice bookend to an amazing boxed set. |
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2020TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Mr. Bungle
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Bob Dylan
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Paul McCartney
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AC/DC
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Pearl Jam
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2020TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Neil Young
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The Jimi Hendrix Experience
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Pearl Jam
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2020TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Smashing Pumpkins
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2021TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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The Pretty Reckless
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Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
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The Stranglers
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Shihad
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Jerry Cantrell
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2021TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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The Beatles
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Nirvana
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Charlie Benante
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Bob Dylan
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2021TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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The Offspring
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2022TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Noiseworks
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3rd Secret
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The term 'supergroup' is often overused in music, but often when a bunch of big name musicians get together it is hard to describe them as anything less. Throwing Soundgarden's Kim Thayil, Soundgarden / Pearl Jam's Matt Cameron, Nirvana's Kurt Novaselic together with a few other lesser knowns promised an interesting experiment, and the first album doesn't fail to intrigue. Most of the music is actually pretty mellow, and the twin harmonised female voices are not what is expected, but the songs are consistently catchy. The album opens acoustically with 'Rhythm Of The Ride', setting the scene for the sprinkling of acoustic tunes throughout, with 'Winter Solstice' being a stand out. Moments of Soundgarden shine through on the louder tracks, with Thayil's distinct guitar tone and playing style evident, especially on tracks like 'I Choose Me'. The pop sensibilities on many of the songs leave the listener with a feeling of 'do I know this song?', and overall this is really pleasant and easy listen. You won't hear any Nirvana or Soundgarden heaviness here, but there are flashes of the grunge noise that made all these guys famous. |
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Def Leppard
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Midnight Oil
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Porcupine Tree
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Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators
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Limp Bizkit
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Eddie Vedder
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Considering he has fronted one of the biggest rock bands in the world for over 30 years Eddie Vedder's track record with solo recordings hasn't been particularly good. With his only real solo releases being a movie soundtrack (littered with musical interludes rather than songs) and an album of songs played exclusively on ukulele, a proper solo album of real songs was long overdue. When Earthling finally appeared, produced by in-demand pop producer Andrew Watt, fans were a little concerned what direction Vedder would take things in. Turns out they didn't need to be worried, as the album is chock full of the sort of songs he has written for Pearl Jam over the last couple of decades - with a few surprises also thrown in. The album opens with the uplifting 'Invincible', an ode to the power of humanity, and swells into a great sing-along fist pumper. 'Power Of Right' grinds out the speakers with a little bit of grit between its teeth, allowing fans to smile as Vedder returns to his more alternative rock roots. Things get even louder still later in the album with 'Good And Evil', sounding like a punk song of Vedder's youth. 'Long Way', the album's first single, sounds like a great lost Tom Petty song - but that seems like the point. It's a tribute rather than a rip off, although it is one of the lower spots on the album. Alternatively, yet another single 'Brother The Cloud' is one of the highlights, building from a quiet start and then punching out the speakers at just the right moment. Vedder's vocals shine here, and he knows how to carry a chorus to the masses with just enough bait to hook them in. There are quieter moments like the tender 'The Haves', but these do tend to outstay their welcome a little as they come across a little too soppy to sit nicely side by side with the other material. 'Try' is a chaotic zydeco shuffle, that features Stevie Wonder playing harmonica like a deranged mad man. Elton John sings in everyone's favourite drunk uncle voice on 'Picture' and even Ringo Starr drops by to tap the skins on 'Mrs. Mills' proving Vedder has now truly transcended to being in the upper halls of the rock elite. The album closes with the moody, but short, 'On My Way' and leaves the listener satisfied with what they have heard. By all means, it isn't a perfect album - for one thing the production is flat and lifeless, and some songs are just a tad too. commercial - but all in all it is still a great listen, and a great 'first' solo album. |
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2022TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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The Beatles
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The Beatles
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Guns n' Roses
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1987's 'Appetite For Destruction' set the rock world on fire, and reminded as us that rock 'n' roll could still be dangerous, long after The Rolling Stones had been measured up for wheel chairs. It was a fierce, in your face musical assault - but if one (very small) complaint can be made, it would be the lack of variation. It must be one of the most famous rock albums in history - and yet doesn't contain the diversity of any ballads or acoustic moments. We now know that was by design, and a few months later they showed us another side with the 'GNR Lies' E.P., but it still in no way prepared us for the epic size of the 'Use Your Illusion' albums 3 years later. These albums didn't reinvent rock, but they certainly reinvented Guns n' Roses, allowing them the room to produce 2 albums worth (4 album in the old school vinyl days) of every variety of rock ever performed - and with a massive budget to allow them to stretch their wings in new and different ways. The hard hitting songs were still here, some of them written pre Appetite even, but alongside them were sprawly ballads bigger than anyone had ever attempted before. The 30th anniversary remaster is crisp and clear, but to honest - did the original need any tweaking? A new mix has been made of November Rain (introducing a real orchestra rather than synth), but that didn't mean anything to me - as it is the only song I never really cared for. There are two entire live concerts included, and they are a great listen. Axl is firing on all cylinders, and Duff and Slash play pretty loose (as they were probably quite drunk.). The shows still aren't the band in the absolute late 80s prime before the bloat of fame and insane mind of Axl had started to corrode them from within, but they still show the greatness of the band just before they came unstack and headed into autopilot. Is it a shame this was the last original material the classic line-up ever released, or was there no better way to drop the mic and walk away? |
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Pink Floyd
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2022TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Smashing Pumpkins
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2023TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Mudhoney
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Dogma
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Corey Taylor
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3rd Secret
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Bob Dylan
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The Rolling Stones
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Foo Fighters
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It probably goes without saying, but this is an album about loss. The death of Taylor Hawkins in March 2022 would have left a large hole in the band, but this isn't the first time Dave Grohl has had to work through grief with music - He had to do the exact same thing almost 30 years prior. He is an older (and arguably wiser) man now, and the songs target his thoughts, but often not through an open outpouring of emotion. Many lyrics are veiled references disguised as odes to lost loves or losing direction. An album highlight, 'Hearing Voices', is more direct in its messaging whereas something like the brilliant opener 'Rescued' is more alluding to the pain of needing to be supported through chaos. Musically the album suffers from a bit of a slump in the middle, but overall this is the best album the band has produced since its early days, and playing it alongside the classic 'The Colour And The Shape' reveals a lot of stylistic similarities between them. The album closes on a sombre note with 'Rest', really nailing home the dark themes overall, and musically using passages from the album opener. Powerful stuff. |
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2023TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Bob Dylan
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1997's 'Time Out Of Mind' is often labelled as the great Dylan comeback album. With a number of years passed since his last (mediocre) albums of originals many fans had low expectations, but were pleasantly surprised when he unveiled the late career masterpiece. This Bootleg Series instalment focuses solely on the album (for its 25th anniversary), and has a few great surprises. A complete new remix of the original album removes the swampy and atmospheric production of Daniel Lanois that has divided critics and fans alike for over two decades, and in its place we get a fresh clean sounding version of the album revealing many highlights I'd otherwise missed in the murky mix. There are also three discs of demos and outtakes (although one whole disc is made up of tracks from previous Bootleg Series entries). My only complaint is the quality of the disc of live tracks from the era - Sounds good in principle, but the recordings are reasonably poor unfortunately. |
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U2
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Pearl Jam
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The Beatles
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The Beatles
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Bob Dylan
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Bob Dylan's music is often described as 'an acquired taste', but the 1978 Budokan shows are notorious for even tipping many fans of the bard over the edge. Booked for two shows in Japan (28 February / 1 March 1978), Dylan was politely instructed by the Japanese promoter to ensure he played a greatest hits package, with no obscurities. Ever the contrarian, Dylan agreed - but the show that was played was different from anything he had done before (or ever again for that matter). The two performances are often compared to the Vegas years of Elvis, full of dense big-band instrumentation of popular songs, complete with backing singers and new arrangements in different tempos and keys. After a lengthy instrumental entrance overture (that feels like it is designed for a big stage entrance) both shows are opened by obscure blues standards ('Repossession Blues' and 'Love Her With feeling' respectively), before launching into a big band version of 'Mr. Tambourine Man', complete with flute aplenty. 'Shelter From The Storm' gets a reggae make-over, and 'Maggie's Farm' is complete with a horn section, and sounds almost like a different song. Some tracks actually sound great with the new arrangements, and old classics like 'To Ramona' have new life breathed into them at these shows. More recent songs like 'Is Your Love In Vain?' are closest to the original arrangements, and are performed well. That ever present flute battles with the electric guitar and violin on 'All Along The Watchtower', and actually takes the song to places it has never been before. Toward the end of the shows we even get a Vegas-style band introduction moment, just reminding the audience of what they are seeing here. The shows were initially released in truncated form as a double album back in 1978 in Japan only (before being globally released the following year due to popular demand). This new album, with a modern mix, is both shows in entirety. The setlists are largely the same, with only a song or two different between them, so digesting both 2+ hour concerts in one sitting is unnecessary. Either way, the new version is still as divisive as the original. You either love these shows or you hate them, and no amount of remixing or repackaging is going to change any minds. |
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Nirvana
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2023TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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The Jimi Hendrix Experience
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There is always a point with archival releases from an artist long gone that it moves from being a moving experience to the release of a commercial product driven by profit. Although many of the recent releases by the Experience Hendrix company have contained some questionable content, this album leaves the listener wondering why from the moment the music begins. The problem here is not the performance, but the sound quality. It is from a radio broadcast, and the instruments were not captured correctly, leaving everything distorted and dull - including Jimi's vocals. That is not to say it is a bad concert - on the contrary, it is a great energetic show - and there are actually precious few complete performances from 1967 available. It should also be noted this is recording even unknown to underground collectors, so it is unearthed treasure. Opening with a shambolic performance of The Beatles 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' the band then moves into a great version of Howlin' Wolf's 'Killing Floor'. 'The Wind Cries Mary' is next, but mic dropouts leave some unfortunate vocal holes. Other highlights include Robert Petway's 'Catfish Blues' played loud, and a feedback driven version of The Troggs 'Wild Thing' closing the show. A couple of decades ago the Hendrix estate created the Dagger Records label for 'official bootlegs' and had this been on that label, it would have been a perfect addiction. Unfortunately they are now in business with Sony, who demand a new general public release every year. Who knows what may come next? |
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Roger Waters
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2024TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10 |
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Regurgitator
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Melvins
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Melvins have never been a band that have cared what-so-ever about their listener. They make the music they want to make, and that can often lead to a jarring listening experience, with them on more than one occasion making albums that could be labelled unlistenable. With time and age they have slowly been writing songs that although distinctively them, have a more 'user friendly' edge. 'Pain Equals Funny' launches the album (album number 27?), and a hooky groove drags you in straight away. A few minutes in the song leaves the hook behind and the listener is on more familiar ground if they are a Melvins regular. A heavy sludge-dirge signals in what you will get for the rest of the track, all 19 minutes of it. Oddly thought it is very compelling, even though the vocals cease about 10 minutes in. It feels like the band has been making this music for so long now that the rest of world has finally caught up with their vision, and so they are the apex predators of the style. Once the near 20 minutes of the droning terror of track one is over, 'Working The Ditch' dirges its way into being, and the smell of burning spliff wafts from the speakers. Again though, the song is listenable and compelling - but it is unclear why. 'She's Got Weird Arms' could be called 'They Got Weird Songs' as an eclectic Devo-esque chant leaves the listener checking what they believe is the meaning of their existence, until they are punched in the face by the cacophony of 'Allergic To Food'. 'Smiler' continues the sludge to close the album, but picks up the pace, and closes what is possibly the most listenable album Melvins have produced in a long time (or even ever). Sure, it is still quirky and odd, and like every other Melvins album it will challenge you with every moment that passes to continue on or leave - but for some reason you'll find yourself making it to the end, and when you get there you just may press play to start it all over again. |
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David Gilmour
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Grinspoon
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In a year that has seen releases from many of the originators of the Australian alternative rock scene of the 1990s it is a welcome relief to see something from one of the bands on the heavier end of the spectrum, Grinspoon. They spent a few years in the 'are they still a thing?' void, but has surfaced alive and well - and certainly kicking. With around 30 years under their belt it would be acceptable if they wanted to experiment a little, but it turns out this album is mostly the opposite. The first track (post a short intro) '(ILYSM)' pounds out classic sounding Grinspoon, and even has a chorus with Jameson declaring 'I guess we're drunk as fuck', rewinding back two+ decades to the wild hey-day of Oz alternative music in the late 90s. The vintage sound doesn't end here, as 'Unknown Pretenders' blares out a riff reminiscent of anything ugly on the album Easy (1999). This is band that is throwing the baby out with the bath water, and ignoring the years they spent trying to get a charting album. New fans be damned - the old ones are the ones that made them after all. 'Nasty' continues the streak, and bounces with a groove that will get the whole pub on their feet. 'Pantomime' slows things down for a small mellow instrumental interlude, allowing the listener a chance to catch their breath before the guitar barrage starts again on 'Never Say Never'. Phil Jameson's voice is smooth throughout, and he saves the punch for the big choruses, which there are plenty of. 'Live Fast Die Young' is opposite of what could be expected based in its name, but it is the first time the album slows down a little - but it isn't a ballad in any sense. That comes a couple of songs later with the soft '4, 5 & 7'. It is nothing significant, but does break up the album nicely. The short interludes continue throughout the album with 'Trains' and 'A Minute' appearing awkwardly, but actually blending nicely. Some of the heavier tracks appear on the second half of the album, with 'The Only One' loud and proud, but possibly the most commercial song on the album. 'Can I Make You Feel?' on the other hand is two and half minutes of post-punk fury, with Pat Davern's guitar tone sounding like it is blaring from a Lismore garage on a suburban street. 'Underground (Hell On Wheels)' is pop song finish, and a nice ending - although it is one of the weakest songs on the album. Like many 'come back' albums, this has a bit of something from every period of the band, but it is certainly more akin to the earlier albums than the later ones - something that will hopefully continue if the band makes any further music. |
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Jerry Cantrell
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Anything from Jerry Cantrell is a blessing for fans, but the line between his solo work and main band Alice In Chains is slowly becoming more blurred with each solo release. We know he isn't a one trick pony, and he has in the past proven he can write some incredibly powerful and stirring ballads, but his modus operandi in recent album is generally fixed on songs that are heavy and dirge-like in structure. He broke free of that slightly on his previous album Brighten (2001), but here he returns to what he knows best. 'Vilified' opens the album with a typical Cantrell riff, and it is only moments before his distinct voice chimes in. The chorus is loaded with the usually multilayered vocals, and the listener realises this album isn't going to stray far from his usual style. It is worth noting that this isn't a bad thing, as his songs are always full of harmony and driving melody regardless of the instruments and musicians involved, and this album is full of that richness fans want to hear. Track 2, the sludgy 'Off The Rails' has a main riff reminiscent of Iron Maiden's 'Wasted Years', and drives along nicely, pulling the listener into the album's big ballad 'Afterglow'. As with every Cantrell penned ballad it showcases the big chorus, and it is a welcome addition to the album to open up its scope. If anything negative can be said, it's that the album needed another big ballad or two, as many of the songs stick to a similar tempo and guitar tone, and until the songs get a chance to sink in after a few listens many of the tracks blend into one. In some ways Jerry has done the stronger songs a disservice by making them all blend so easily into each other, and better tracks like 'Held Your Tongue' take a number of listens before they break free of the others. 'Let It Lie' feels like a Tool-style track is trying break free, but Jerry keeps it constrained to what he knows. Although he uses many of his usual production techniques (such as the vocal multitracking mentioned previously), the album does feel a little less 'produced' and loose that recent Alice In Chains albums. Regardless, many of the songs (such as slow closer 'It Comes') could easy have a shared vocal with William DuVall and immediately be at home on any Alice In Chains album. All in all, one thing Jerry can be counted on to produce is the sort of music that could be called 'comfort food', an album full of songs that sound so familiar it is like you already know them, even when hearing them for the first time. Whether that is a good thing or bad is up to the individual listener to decide. |
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Slash
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Although prolific, Slash hasn't really proven himself particularly versatile over the last few years. Sure, he has released some good albums, but they are generally carried by a couple of great songs amongst many that are paint-by-numbers. Arguably, his first true solo album, 'Slash' from 2010, is still his best solo work. That is what makes this album such a breath of fresh air, as it follows a similar template of featuring different guests on every track, but the twist here is that the songs are all old blues standards. Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top is (of course) perfect for some blues, and transports 'Hoochie Coochie Man' to a dive bar in the deep south, allowing Slash to show off his slide chops. Dorothy Martin channels her inner Joplin on 'Keys To The Highway', and although an odd choice, country star Chris Stapleton does an amazing job on the early Fleetwood Mac classic 'Oh Well' - a standout track. The album isn't perfect by any means, and some of the collaboration choices are odd. Punk icon Iggy Pop's world-weary warble on Lightning Hopkins' 'Awful Dream' is at best tolerable, and we he 'sings' the harmonica line it is cringe-inducing. Also somewhat disappointing is AC/DC's Brian Johnson tackling Howlin' Wolf's 'Killing Floor'. It was a song he could have tackled easily in his prime 30 years ago, but feels now like his voice just doesn't quite carry it. The addition of some electrifying harmonica from Aerosmith's Steven Tyler does lift the song nicely. 'Papa Was A Rolling Stone' is the clear centrepiece of the album, and pop elite Demi Lovato does a supreme job of carrying the track, until Slash really opens up midway through, reminding us why he is one of the greatest guitar heroes of the last few decades. |
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Jebediah
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The last couple of Jebediah albums have been a bit of a bumpy ride, with the music awkwardly alternating between the alternate rock bombast the band started with and other more commercial tracks clearly designed to get airplay. This approach made for a difficult listen, as the listener generally wanted to hear more of one style than the other - leaving them impressed half the time and disappointed for the other half. 13 years after the very uneven Kosciusko (2011) the band is back with Oiks, and although this is still an album of varying styles, the band finally feels comfortable in its own skin. The album opens softly (but powerfully) with 'Bad For You', but it doesn't take long before the noise kicks in on 'Gum Up The Bearings' - a perfect blend of the pop-punk charm Jebediah do so well. Kevin Mitchell's voice is less abrasive than on earlier albums, and a lot of the nasal 'whine' is gone. 'Motivation' is an earworm that will be in your head all day long, and is very old-school Jebediah in style, and 'Rubberman' explores an odd dream-like landscape. There is a range of styles here, but they blend well, and the album never feels disjointed. 'Start Again' has an urgency that is hard to describe, and propels itself forward before the album comes to a close with the sombre but restless 'Aqua - Lung'. This isn't the Jebediah of old, in fact it is far from it, but it feels like the band are having fun - and that is infectious for the listener. It is an album that invites you along for the ride, rather than you merely being an observer - and that is what a great album should do. |
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Pearl Jam
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Pearl Jam have never played by anyone's rules but their own. Sure, they love their fans and have always been known for taking care of them - but the music has always been their own. For that reason each new albums builds excitement to fever pitch, as the expectation of what the album will sound like is excruciating. The stomping irresistible groove of the title track is a grower that was a great choice for first single, even if it isn't completely reflective of the album as a whole - as like most Pearl Jam albums there are many styles on offer here. From the get-go the band shows this will be a rock album similar in style to 2020's Gigaton, with 'Scared Of Fear' launching the album. 'Wreckage' and 'Won't Tell' straddle the fence dangerously close to the radio rock, but the pumping tones of tracks like 'React, Respond' and 'Running' harken back to the glory days of the band (and their more 'alternative' beginnings). 'Upper Hand', with its soulful soloing reminiscent of 'Nothing As It Seems' in parts, starts out as almost dull with its drawn-out intro, but builds to one of the most exciting endings of the album. 'Waiting For Stevie' - written whilst literally waiting for Stevie Wonder to show up - is one of the album's many highlights, allowing Mike McCready to remind us all why he is one of the greatest guitarists in modern rock as he solos unrelentingly through about a third of the song. 'Setting Sun' starts as the usual recent Pearl Jam album closers do, but eventually builds to a magnificent finish. The band feels more like a band than on any of their albums in recent memory, and vocalist Eddie Vedder not only seems comfortable with the material, but actually happy with it. Most fans have accepted that the Pearl Jam of 'Ten' and 'Vs.' and 'Vitalogy' is long gone, and so it should be 30+ years later, but does that mean they no longer have a part to play? Not at all, as an album like this proves that although they are now different, they are still dependable and relatable - and that is all a fan really wants from their favourite bands. |
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Smashing Pumpkins
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And just like that it is 1993 again, and Smashing Pumpkins have released an album that is big and brash and in your face, and bursting with that big rock energy that made the world fall in love with them. Since their return from hiatus in 2007 Billy Corgan has lead the band through many different styles (including 80s inspired electro-pop and multi-volume space operas), with only some albums containing brief flickers of their early 90s distortion and attitude - but it was always just a tease leaving us wanting more. After a number of albums that left most long term fans cold, they have finally hit the mark with Aghori Mhori Mei, and produced something that easily stands alongside past glories. Opener 'Edin' smashes through the silence, and Billy's voice is commanding and adds weight to the music with tight production. 'Pentagrams' carries on the rock, with a crispness to the guitars that cuts like a knife. Leadoff single 'Sighommi' is a great representation of the album's sound, although it isn't the best song on offer here. There are gentler moments of course, like the graceful 'Penetcost', the orchestral backing driving the song forward. But these are few, and bookended with tracks like the pummelling 'War Dreams Of Itself' and 'Sicarus' is the sleeper song of the album, revealing its many layers slowly over multiple listens. 'Who Goes There' sounds like it could have been on any Pumpkins album from the 90's and '999' is dark and brooding animal, that sounds ready to strike at any moment. The album ends with the sombre 'Murnau', but a softer moment is needed to bring the crescendo to a close. More recent fans of the band that prefer their pop leanings may be scratching their heads on first listen to Aghori Mhori Mei, but old time fans will be left with a smile on their faces. Clocking in at 45ish minutes it isn't too long or too short, and it begs to be put on repeat for multipole play throughs. One can only guess what the band may do next? |
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The Black Crowes
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In the 1990s The Black Crowes were a force to be reckoned with, as each groundbreaking new album brought a fresh set of southern inspired rockabilly. Sure, they were merely reinventing countless bands that had come before them, ranging from The Rolling Stones to Lynyrd Skynyrd, but they did it with ability and swagger that placed them at the top of the pile. Over time their light faded, and when they announced their break-up in early 2015 it barely registered a blip on the rock radar. After such a stellar beginning, they deserved a bigger send off - but years of average albums and in-band chaos meant they parted ways simply, and that was that. Fast forward to 2019 and the brothers Robinson announced they were returning, albeit with a totally new backing band. Would this new band be anywhere near as effective as the original? From the moment the slide guitar breaks the silence on opener 'Bedside Manners' it is obvious this isn't a band having one last laid-back romp as the ease into retirement. This is the energy of The Crowes in their prime, and it doesn't let up. 'Rats And Clowns' sounds like early AC/DC, and lead single 'Waiting And Wanting' grooves in a way that can't be denied. Vintage Crowes never even sounded this good. It isn't all rock and groove though, with quieter moments like 'Cross Your Fingers' reminding us of the southern roots of the band, and the melancholy of 'Wilted Rose' is sublime. 'Bleed It Dry' brings in some blues, and late album highlight 'Flesh Wound' has a chorus that demands to be sung. Ending on a sombre note, 'Kindred Friend' closes the show perfectly. There will always be fans that argue that the old stuff is better than the new stuff, and that is usually true, but The Black Crowes have proven here that there can be an exception to the rule. |
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2024TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions |
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Peter Garrett
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Deep Purple
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The Offspring
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Over their long career The Offspring have slowly left behind the punk roots and moved more into a mainstream radio-consumable style of 'pop punk'. Much like other bands of the time such as Green Day, they are slowly now making their way back to where they began. Supercharged is by no means a return to prime Offspring like Smash (1994) or Ixnay On The Hombre (1997), but no one will deny it is a large step back toward that style. 'Looking Out For #1' opens with a fair taste of mainstream chorus and polished guitars, but track two 'Light It Up' takes the listener back to band's roots with a guitar tone and tempo reminiscent of the earlier works. This could rightfully be assumed it is a one off, but track 3, 'The Fall Guy' follows suit, and a very vintage sounding album starts to take shape. This trend carries on for most of the album. There are still moments of the modern band (for better or for worse depending on what style you prefer), like the poppy single 'Make It Alright', an insipid song with a hint of distorted guitar to ensure the band can still feel edgy in today's world of disposable pop. Up against later tracks like the speedy 'Truth In Fiction', which could easily sit on any of the band's first 3 or 4 four albums, the contrast feels like a bunch of old and new tracks by the band are being played on random. The production is oddly uneven and flat in places for a Bob Rock produced album, feeling like it was recorded at different times and different locations - which it apparently was. Running at only 32 minutes, it feels more like an E.P. than an album, because regardless of whether you are an old fan or a new one, you will likely only find some of the songs appealing to you, but it does feel more like an old-school album more often than not. Thankfully the band seems to having avoided any 'joke' songs, a staple of nearly all of their album since the mid-90s. All in all, it is actually the most enjoyable and energised album The Offspring has released since Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace (2008), but it is still a long way from being a classic. |
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Jimi Hendrix
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The chance of getting a new Jimi Hendrix album and having it full of anything actually magical is very unlikely these days, as the vaults have been raided for so many years that very little of substance is left to listen to. The last three 'studio' albums have been a poor attempt to package alternate (inferior) takes and lefts over from the sessions of other artists into 'lost' studio albums, and although they sometimes have a moment or two of magnificence - they feel like they are the sort of cash grab albums the family took over Hendrix's legacy back in 1996 to stop. Even the recent live releases leave a lot to be desired. This collection, which is finally being marketed for what it is - a collection of work-in-progress outtakes and mixes from the months leading up to Hendrix's death - is actually a welcome surprise. The box set is focused as much on the actual studio as the songs being worked on, celebrating more than just Hendrix's music vison. An alternate mix of 'Ezy Ryder' launches the album, but there is little here that makes the listener jump to attention, as this track has been heard so many times before. From there though a mellow version of 'Valleys Of Neptune' makes it clear that just when you think you have heard it all, there is still more to hear. Would vocals have worked on such a mellow rendition? No one will ever know. One take of 'Astro Man' has a big fat bass sound, the raw sound of 'Beginnings' is great to listen to - every note played live in the studio without overdub. An early slow take of 'Tune X' (later to become 'In From The Storm') is a great look behind the curtain, and the guitar-only demo 'Heaven Has No Sorrow' reveals a song that was potentially another masterpiece waiting to be discovered. There are off-the-cuff moments like the spirited stab at 'Further On Up The Road' (which falls in a heap after only a minute and a half), and the run through of a number of songs in rehearsal (labelled here as 'The Long Medley') is great to listen to, as everyone is loose and sound like they are enjoying the songs. Many of the mixes here are 'work in progress' mixes made by Hendrix himself (with Eddie Kramer by his side), which although revealing, also show where a lot of work was still to be done to complete the album. The great thing about hearing tracks like 'Freedom' presented here is that you get to hear the inner workings of the songs that were later covered in a blanket of overdubs and production when released officially. Surprisingly, some songs are a necessary addition to the Hendrix library, while others feel like they have not much new to offer. If the market hadn't been flooded with 50+ years of these sort of outtakes, this feels like a collection that may have made a bigger impact - but for all but the diehard fan, so much of what is presented here can be heard elsewhere else with only the slightest differences. Putting that aside though, and just looking at this in terms of what it is and the music on offer on it, it is an amazing journey through the 'never to be album' Hendrix was building in his final days. |
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2024TheBigBlack's Rock Dishonourable Mentions |
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Blue Oyster Cult
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Last Data Update:
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 1979-03-24 Motorhead - Overkill.jpg)
 1979-08-03 AC-DC - Highway To Hell [A.U. Edition].jpg)
 1980-10-17 John Lennon and Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy.jpg)
 1980-03-xx Jimi Hendrix - Nine To The Universe [Compilation].jpg)
 1980-06-20 Bob Dylan - Saved.jpg)
 1980-06-02 Cold Chisel - East.jpg)
 1980-09-01 Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables.jpg)
 1980-06-16 The Angels - Dark Room.jpg)
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 1981-08-12 Bob Dylan - Shot Of Love.jpg)
 1981-11-10 Motley Crue - Too Fast For Love.jpg)
 1981-11-30 The Angels - Night Attack.jpg)
 1981-11-23 AC-DC - For Those About To Rock.jpg)
 1982-03-xx Misfits - Walk Among Us.jpg)
 1982-10-xx Rose Tattoo - Scarred For Life.jpg)
 1982-03-01 Cold Chisel - Circus Animals.jpg)
 1982-11-xx Midnight Oil - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.jpg)
 1982-04-17 Motorhead - Iron Fist.jpg)
 1982-09-18 Twisted Sister - Under The Blade.jpg)
 1982-11-19 Led Zeppelin - Coda.jpg)
 1983-03-21 Pink Floyd - The Final Cut.jpg)
 1983-01-20 Def Leppard - Pyromania.jpg)
 1983-11-01 Bob Dylan - Infidels.jpg)
 1983-02-28 U2 - War.jpg)
 1983-03-23 ZZ Top - Eliminator.jpg)
 1983-09-26 Motley Crue - Shout At The Devil.jpg)
 1983-08-15 AC-DC - Flick Of The Switch.jpg)
 1983-07-27 Twisted Sister - You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll.jpg)
 1983-05-02 The Angels - Watch The Red.jpg)
 1983-06-04 Motorhead - Another Perfect Day.jpg)
 1983-12-01 Misfits - Earth A.D., Wolfs Blood.jpg)
 1984-07-07 Public Image Ltd (PiL) - This Is What You Want.jpg)
 1984-09-16 Deep Purple - Perfect Strangers.jpg)
 1984-03-27 David Gilmour - About Face.jpg)
 1984-10-01 U2 - The Unforgettable Fire.jpg)
 1984-10-xx Midnight Oil - Red Sails In The Sunset.jpg)
 1984-04-01 Cold Chisel - Twentieth Century.jpg)
 1984-05-10 INXS - The Swing.jpg)
 1984-05-10 Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry.jpg)
 1984-11-28 The Angels - Two Minute Warning.jpg)
 1985-10-28 ZZ Top - Afterburner.jpg)
 1985-11-08 Twisted Sister - Come Out And Play.jpg)
 1985-06-21 Motley Crue - Theatre Of Pain.jpg)
 1985-05-13 Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms.jpg)
 1985-05-22 Jimmy Barnes - For The Working Class Man.jpg)
 1985-10-14 INXS - Listen Like Thieves.jpg)
 1985-06-28 AC-DC - Fly On The Wall.jpg)
 1985-06-xx Green River - Come On Down [E.P.].jpg)
 1986-08-18 Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet.jpg)
 1986-10-29 The Angels - Howling.jpg)
 1986-08-09 Motorhead - Orgasmatron.jpg)
 1986-12-16 Guns n' Roses - Live Like A Suicide [E.P.].jpg)
 1986-03-21 Various Artists - Deep Six.jpg)
 1987-06-30 Twisted Sister - Love Is For Suckers.jpg)
 1987-06-19 Noiseworks - Noiseworks.jpg)
 1987-03-09 U2 - The Joshua Tree.jpg)
 1987-11-xx Jimmy Barnes - Freight Train Heart.jpg)
 1987-09-05 Motorhead - Rock 'n' Roll.jpg)
 1987-10-19 INXS - Kick.jpg)
 1987-09-07 Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse Of Reason.jpg)
 1987-08-02 Midnight Oil - Diesel And Dust.jpg)
 1987-08-03 Def Leppard - Hysteria.jpg)
 1987-07-21 Guns n' Roses - Appetite For Destruction.jpg)
 1987-10-01 Soundgarden - Screaming Life [E.P.].jpg)
 1987-12-xx The Angels - Live Line.jpg)
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 1988-01-18 AC-DC - Blow Up Your Video.jpg)
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 1988-10-20 Mudhoney - Superfuzz Bigmuff [E.P.].jpg)
 1988-06-xx Green River - Rehab Doll.jpg)
 1988-10-31 Soundgarden - Ultramega OK.jpg)
 1988-08-23 Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking.jpg)
 1988-11-14 1927 - ish.jpg)
 1988-11-29 Guns n' Roses - G N' R Lies [E.P.].jpg)
 1988-10-08 The Traveling Wilburys - Traveling Wilburys, Volume 1.jpg)
 1988-11-xx The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Radio One [Compilation].jpg)
 1988-10-10 U2 - Rattle And Hum.jpg)
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 1989-03-03 D.A.D. - No Fuel Left For The Pilgrims.jpg)
 1989-08-07 The Mark Of Cain - Battlesick.jpg)
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 1989-09-05 Soundgarden - Louder Than Love.jpg)
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 1989-07-03 Faith No More - The Real Thing.jpg)
 1989-03-20 Mother Love Bone - Shine [E.P.].jpg)
 1989-10-02 Neil Young - Freedom.jpg)
 1989-02-07 Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl.jpg)
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 1993-03-09 Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way.jpg)
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 2006-04-10 Live - Songs From Black Mountain.jpg)
 2006-09-12 Everclear - Welcome To The Drama Club.jpg)
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 2007-09-25 Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace.jpg)
 2007-03-05 Grinderman - Grinderman.jpg)
 2007-04-03 Chevelle - Vena Sera.jpg)
 2007-04-24 Colin Hay - Are You Lookin' At Me.jpg)
 2007-09-18 Eddie Vedder - Into The Wild (Music From The Motion Picture).jpg)
 2007-07-10 Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist.jpg)
 2007-04-16 Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet.jpg)
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 2007-05-01 Rush - Snakes and Arrows.jpg)
 2007-06-29 Crowded House - Time On Earth.jpg)
 2007-05-15 Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight.jpg)
 2007-06-05 Marilyn Manson - Eat Me, Drink Me.jpg)
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 2007-03-31 Silverchair - Young Modern.jpg)
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 2009-11-16 Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures.jpg)
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 2009-09-25 Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue.jpg)
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 2009-11-10 Bon Jovi - The Circle.jpg)
 2009-03-10 Chris Cornell - Scream.jpg)
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 2009-10-13 Bob Dylan - Christmas In The Heart.jpg)
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 2010-03-09 Jimi Hendrix - Valleys Of Neptune [Compilation].jpg)
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 2010-10-19 Bob Dylan - The Best Of The Original Mono Recordings [Compilation].jpg)
 2010-10-19 Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vol. 9 [Compilation].jpg)
 2010-10-04 John Lennon - Signature Box [Boxed Set].jpg)
 2010-05-04 Deftones - Diamond Eyes.jpg)
 2010-05-25 Smashing Pumpkins - Teargarden By Kaleidyscope Vol. I, Songs For A Sailor [E.P.].jpg)
 2010-11-23 Smashing Pumpkins - Teargarden By Kaleidyscope Vol. II, The Solstice Bare [E.P.].jpg)
 2010-09-14 Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns.jpg)
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 2011-07-22 The Living End - The Ending Is Just The Beginning Repeating.jpg)
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 2011-08-30 Glen Campbell - Ghost On The Canvas.jpg)
 2011-04-15 Jebediah - Kosciuszko.jpg)
 2011-10-18 Jane's Addiction - The Great Escape Artist.jpg)
 2011-09-13 Bush - The Sea Of Memories.jpg)
 2011-05-31 Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs.jpg)
 2011-04-12 Foo Fighters - Wasting Light.jpg)
 2011-08-02 Screaming Trees - Last Words.jpg)
 2011-05-01 Foo Fighters - Medium Rare [Compilation].jpg)
 2011-06-15 The Head Cat - Walk The Walk, Talk The Talk.jpg)
 2011-11-21 Chris Cornell - Songbook.jpg)
 2011-09-13 The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Winterland [Boxed Set].jpg)
 2011-06-28 Limp Bizkit - Gold Cobra.jpg)
 2011-09-13 Alice Cooper - Welcome 2 My Nightmare.jpg)
 2012-09-28 Grinspoon - Black Rabbits.jpg)
 2012-10-30 Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Psychedelic Pill.jpg)
 2012-10-02 Walking Papers - Walking Papers.jpg)
 2012-10-09 KISS - Monster.jpg)
 2012-09-11 ZZ Top - La Futura.jpg)
 2012-06-19 Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania.jpg)
 2012-09-07 Bob Dylan - Tempest.jpg)
 2012-05-07 Storm Corrosion - Storm Corrosion.jpg)
 2012-11-01 The Mark Of Cain - Songs Of The Third And Fifth.jpg)
 2012-11-13 Soundgarden - King Animal.jpg)
 2012-12-27 Bob Dylan - The 50th Anniversary Collection, 1962 [Compilation].jpg)
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 2012-04-06 Cold Chisel - No Plans.jpg)
 2012-06-26 The Offspring - Days Go By.jpg)
 2012-09-28 Something For Kate - Leave Your Soul To Science.jpg)
 2013-10-11 Paul McCartney - New.jpg)
 2013-04-02 Mudhoney - Vanishing Point.jpg)
 2013-09-25 Alter Bridge - Fortress.jpg)
 2013-03-11 Clutch - Earth Rocker.jpg)
 2013-11-25 Billie Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones - Foreverly.jpg)
 2013-01-22 Bad Religion - True North.jpg)
 2013-03-12 Soundtrack - Sound City, Real To Reel.jpg)
 2013-02-27 Jimi Hendrix - People, Hell And Angels [Compilation].jpg)
 2013-03-08 David Bowie - The Next Day.jpg)
 2013-10-22 Motorhead - Aftershock.jpg)
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![The Aeroplane Flies High [Deluxe Reissue]](../../images-covers/(COVER IMAGE) 2013-07-24 Smashing Pumpkins - The Aeroplane Flies High [Boxed Set, Deluxe Reissue].jpg)
 2013-05-28 Alice In Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here.jpg)
 2013-10-14 Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt.jpg)
 2014-08-25 Royal Blood - Royal Blood.jpg)
 2014-04-01 Chevelle - La Gargola.jpg)
 2014-12-05 Smashing Pumpkins - Monuments To An Elegy.jpg)
 2014-08-08 Shihad - FVEY.jpg)
 2014-09-08 Robert Plant - Lullaby And, The Ceaseless Roar.jpg)
 2014-03-14 The Pretty Reckless - Going To Hell.jpg)
 2014-06-06 Rival Sons - Great Western Valkyrie.jpg)
 2014-11-10 Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways.jpg)
 2014-11-07 Pink Floyd - The Endless River.jpg)
 2014-05-14 Casualties Of Cool - Casualties Of Cool.jpg)
 2014-11-28 AC-DC - Rock Or Bust.jpg)
 2014-11-04 Bob Dylan and The Band - The Bootleg Series Vol. 11, The Basement Tapes (Complete).jpg)
 2014-06-14 Linkin Park - The Hunting Party.jpg)
 2014-03-25 Johnny Cash - Out Among The Stars.jpg)
 2014-07-08 Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - CSNY 1974.jpg)
 2014-09-09 U2 - Songs Of Innocence.jpg)
![Rainbow Bridge (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Reissue (2014)]](../../images-covers/(COVER IMAGE) 2014-09-16 Jimi Hendrix - Rainbow Bridge (Soundtrack) [2014 Reissue].jpg)
![The Cry Of Love [Reissue (2014)]](../../images-covers/(COVER IMAGE) 2014-09-16 Jimi Hendrix - The Cry Of Love [Compilation, 2014 Reissue].jpg)
 2014-04-05 Godsmack - 1000hp.jpg)
 2015-08-28 Motorhead - Bad Magic.jpg)
 2015-05-19 Faith No More - Sol Invictus.jpg)
 2015-09-18 Chris Cornell - Higher Truth.jpg)
 2016-10-21 Dee Snider - We Are The Ones.jpg)
 2016-01-08 David Bowie - Blackstar.jpg)
![Live At The Hollywood Bowl [Reissue]](../../images-covers/(COVER IMAGE) 2016-09-09 The Beatles - Live At The Hollywood Bowl [Reissue].jpg)
 2016-11-04 Mother Love Bone - On Earth As It Is [Boxed Set].jpg)
![Temple Of The Dog [25th Anniversary Reissue]](../../images-covers/(COVER IMAGE) 2016-09-30 Temple Of The Dog - Temple Of The Dog [25th Anniversary].jpg)
 2016-11-11 Bob Dylan - The 1966 Live Recordings [Boxed Set].jpg)
 2016-11-11 Pink Floyd - The Early Years (1965-1972) [Boxed Set].jpg)
 2017-06-02 Roger Waters - Is This Life We Really Want.jpg)
 2017-10-13 Robert Plant - Carry Fire.jpg)
 2017-11-10 Greta Van Fleet - From The Fires [E.P.].jpg)
![Core [25th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition]](../../images-covers/(COVER IMAGE) 2017-09-29 Stone Temple Pilots - Core [Super Deluxe].jpg)
![Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition]](../../images-covers/(COVER IMAGE) 2017-05-26 The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [50th Anniversary Super].jpg)
 2017-12-15 The Beatles - The Fan Club Christmas Records [Boxed Set].jpg)
![Singles (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition]](../../images-covers/(COVER IMAGE) 2017-05-19 Soundtrack - Singles [Deluxe Edition].jpg)
![The Bootleg Series Vol. 13, Trouble No More (1979-1981) [Deluxe Edition]](../../images-covers/(COVER IMAGE) 2017-11-03 Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vol. 13 [Compilation, Deluxe Edition].jpg)
 2017-09-29 Pearl Jam - Let's Play Two (Soundtrack).jpg)
 2017-12-01 U2 - Songs Of Experience.jpg)
 2017-03-31 Bob Dylan - Triplicate.jpg)
 2018-09-07 Paul McCartney - Egypt Station.jpg)
 2018-09-28 Mudhoney - Digital Garbage.jpg)
 2018-10-19 Greta Van Fleet - Anthem Of The Peaceful Army.jpg)
 2018-09-21 Billy F Gibbons - The Big Bad Blues.jpg)
 2018-09-28 The Living End - Wunderbar.jpg)
 2018-04-20 A Perfect Circle - Eat The Elephant.jpg)
 2018-08-24 Alice In Chains - Rainier Fog.jpg)
![Appetite For Destruction [Super Deluxe Edition]](../../images-covers/(COVER IMAGE) 2018-06-29 Guns n' Roses - Appetite For Destruction [Super Deluxe Edition].jpg)
![Chris Cornell [Deluxe Edition]](../../images-covers/(COVER IMAGE) 2018-11-16 Chris Cornell - Chris Cornell [Compilation, Deluxe Edition].jpg)
![Imagine [The Ultimate Collection]](../../images-covers/(COVER IMAGE) 2018-10-30 John Lennon - Imagine [The Ultimate Collection].jpg)
![The Beatles [50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition]](../../images-covers/(COVER IMAGE) 2018-11-02 The Beatles - The Beatles [50th Anniversary Super].jpg)
 2018-11-02 Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 [Compilation].jpg)
 2018-10-12 David Bowie - Loving The Alien (1983-1988) [Boxed Set].jpg)
 2018-03-09 Jimi Hendrix - Both Sides Of The Sky [Compilation].jpg)
 2018-11-02 Tenacious D - Post-Apocalypto.jpg)
 2019-08-30 Tool - Fear Inoculum.jpg)
![Abbey Road [50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition]](../../images-covers/(COVER IMAGE) 2019-09-26 The Beatles - Abbey Road [50th Anniversary Super].jpg)
 2019-07-26 Soundgarden - Live From The Artists Den.jpg)
 2019-11-22 Jimi Hendrix - Songs For Groovy Children [Boxed Set].jpg)
 2019-11-01 Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vol. 15 [Compilation].jpg)
 2019-06-07 Bob Dylan - The Rolling Thunder Revue [Boxed Set].jpg)
 2020-10-30 Mr. Bungle - The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny Demo.jpg)
 2020-06-19 Bob Dylan - Rough And Rowdy Ways.jpg)
 2020-12-18 Paul McCartney - McCartney III.jpg)
 2020-11-13 AC-DC - PWR-UP.jpg)
 2020-03-27 Pearl Jam - Gigaton.jpg)
 2020-11-20 Neil Young - Archives Vol. II [Boxed Set].jpg)
 2020-11-20 The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Live In Maui.jpg)
 2020-10-22 Pearl Jam - MTV Unplugged [E.P.].jpg)
 2020-11-27 Smashing Pumpkins - Cyr.jpg)
 2021-02-12 The Pretty Reckless - Death By Rock And Roll.jpg)
 2021-11-19 Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raise The Roof.jpg)
 2021-09-10 The Stranglers - Dark Matters.jpg)
 2021-10-21 Shihad - Old Gods.jpg)
 2021-10-29 Jerry Cantrell - Brighten.jpg)
![Let It Be [50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition]](../../images-covers/(COVER IMAGE) 2021-10-15 The Beatles - Let It Be [50th Anniversary Super].jpg)
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 2021-05-14 Charlie Benante - Silver Linings.jpg)
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 2021-04-16 The Offspring - Let The Bad Times Roll.jpg)
 2022-11-11 Noiseworks - Evolution.jpg)
 2022-04-11 3rd Secret - 3rd Secret.jpg)
 2022-05-27 Def Leppard - Diamond Star Halos.jpg)
 2022-02-18 Midnight Oil - Resist.jpg)
 2022-06-24 Porcupine Tree - Closure-Continuation.jpg)
 2022-02-11 Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators - 4.jpg)
 2021-10-31 Limp Bizkit - Still Sucks.jpg)
 2022-02-11 Eddie Vedder - Earthling.jpg)
 2022-01-28 The Beatles - Get Back (The Rooftop Performance).jpg)
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![Use Your Illusions [Super Deluxe Edition]](../../images-covers/(COVER IMAGE) 2022-11-11 Guns n' Roses - Use Your Illusions [Super Deluxe Edition].jpg)
 2022-09-22 Pink Floyd - Animals (2018 Remix).jpg)
 2022-11-15 Smashing Pumpkins - ATUM (Act I).jpg)
 2023-04-07 Mudhoney - Plastic Eternity.jpg)
 2023-11-17 Dogma - Dogma.jpg)
 2023-09-15 Corey Taylor - CMF2.jpg)
 2023-06-22 3rd Secret - The 2nd.jpg)
 2023-06-02 Bob Dylan - Shadow Kingdom.jpg)
 2023-10-20 The Rolling Stones - Hackney Diamonds.jpg)
 2023-06-02 Foo Fighters - But Here We Are.jpg)
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 2023-03-17 U2 - Songs Of Surrender.jpg)
 2023-04-22 Pearl Jam - Give Way.jpg)
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 2023-11-17 Bob Dylan - The Complete Budokan 1978.jpg)
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 2023-11-10 The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Hollywood Bowl (August 18, 1967).jpg)
 2023-10-06 Roger Waters - The Dark Side Of The Moon Redux.jpg)
 2024-04-26 Regurgitator - Invader.jpg)
 2024-04-19 Melvins - Tarantula Heart.jpg)
 2024-09-06 David Gilmour - Luck And Strange.jpg)
 2024-08-09 Grinspoon - Whatever, Whatever.jpg)
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 2024-05-17 Slash - Orgy Of The Damned.jpg)
 2024-04-12 Jebediah - Oiks.jpg)
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