And so, the
last year disappears in the rear-view mirror, it was not the best of years
musically or personally for that matter, Bob was in attendance for more of it
than I would like to admit, which is probably why I retreated into older music
more than I had in the past.
I still had
my regular supplier for downloads it was simply getting harder to collect, we
did our best with visits from time to time, my intention to have more quality
control, as always there was diamonds in the rough, however there was less
quality than I had hoped for, enough of the gripes, here is what I liked.
None of these
are in any particular order it’s just how I have taken it from my notes.
There were
quite a few reissues this year and I will get to them at some point later in
this blog: -
1. Sloper – Pulverize. I do like to
follow local talent and the singer of this band couldn’t be any more local, the
rest of the band though are quite famous in Holland, Pete Shoulder who was in
Winterville and The Union is the vocalist, a solid album here’s hoping there’s
more to come from them.
2. KK’s Priest – Sermons of the Sinner.
Again, a good solid album, if not exactly astounding I enjoyed it for what it
was, a Judas priest kind of cover band, Maybe, if KK had done this earlier
instead of bleating to the press all of the time, I could have done without the
return of the sentinel, it might have done a bit better, can do better is what I
would say, the proof is in the second album,
3. Yes – The Quest. The jury is still
out on this one for me, it has its moments, but I’m not sold 100% I have played
it a few times, let’s see if I return to it many more? but again the proof is in the
pudding or rather how many times I go back to it! I love the original band I
even loved the album where Trevor Horn sang (Drama) but I feel it’s ever
decreasing circles with each line up since Mr Anderson was ejected!
4. Bernie Marsden – Chess. I like Bernie
he’s nice and social and he makes good albums, and that’s the problem, you won’t
get a bad album, but he has never done a great album, I enjoyed this but again
the proof is in the pudding or rather how many times I go back to it!
5. Pepperkid2 – Adventures in
Pepperland. I know I will get some odd looks over this one it’s the solo album
of FM’s keyboard player, ably assisted by Laurence Archers Grand Slam band
mates with a Steve Overland song added into the mix, I like it, it’s what I would
call mature, again I need to play it a few more times but it is a grower, not
what I was expecting!
6. Pete Goalby – Easy with the
heartaches. Famous for playing with Trapeze and Uriah Heep in the early 80’s I had
the pleasure of working with him in 86 , I got this to see if any of my songs made
it onto the list, they don’t , he disappeared from the face of the music
business for some reason (for legal reasons I can’t mention Mickie Most) he
still has a good voice and to be honest this should have been titled work in
progress, as they sound like demo’s to me, I like them but they will blend into
the background over the next couple of months.
7. Smith – Kotzen – Debut. I love this album,
I love the playing, I love the vocals, did I mention that I love the playing, I
love the songs, great album and in reality, probably my album of the year in
all honesty!
8. Iron Maiden – Senjitsu. This is a
little harder to quantify, is it a good album, yes it is, its just so dense, I must
have played this more than 20 times and I’m still getting to grips with it, too
many long songs for me, just when you are getting to grips with a song it
buggers off on another bloody turning, do I like it yes I do, but the fact that
there is only one 4 minute song, even that seems longer, sometimes I like the
punch that they used to do, I will continue to wrestle with it, they don’t do
bad albums but howay lads lets have a short one
next time please!
9. Robben Ford – Pure. I get a lot of
guitarists music and I do like Mr Ford but this isn’t in the same league as
Talk to your daughter, do I like it, I do or it wouldn’t be in this list, I do
keep going back to it, I’m not interested in learning the names, I’m not that
invested, it depends on my mood, it is what it is a good album.
10. Steve Lukather – I found the sun
again. I love Toto, I love most of his
solo stuff (his debut is simply stunning) but I wandered away from his catalogue,
this was a pleasant surprise, with a couple of odd covers, although they are
played well.
So that was
the new stuff but what else did I go back to, well I bought a new MP3 player
simple to use with tons of space for complete discography’s so let’s see what else
I have been listening to:-
1. Whitesnake Restless Heart. Even though
I now have the anniversary release playing on repeat I have had this on my MP3
player since day one with one exception there is a cover on here that sounds
like Coverdale has been shot in the crotch by a nail gun, I have no idea why he
put it on its horrific my third fave Whitesnake album after Trouble and Come
and get It, give it a go you might like it!
2. Thunder and all of the solo stuff. And
I do mean all of it, I will play at least one of these a day, are they my fave
band, hell no, but I do like them why the hell do you think I go to them on a
daily basis, there is the odd dodgy track but by and large a cracking band with
a go to catalogue.
3. Fish – Discography. When Bob’s on
the prowl this is my safe harbour or one of them, I actually prefer the solo
stuff!
4. Marillion – The First 4 Studio
albums. My other safe harbour, I can listen to the Hogarth era but I wouldn’t go
out of my way to, those first four are simply in another class and the band
never matched them, they had one or two good moments, it’s strange their best
effort without Fish and the only one I have listened to repeatedly is Seasons
end, Go Figure!
5. SO – Brass monkey. A twenty + year
old album and more of a Beatles, soul, pop record one I never get sick of
playing Steve Overland in his prime, it should have been huge!
6. FM – Discography. Again, songs of my
youth and I do love Mr O’s voice its not all sold gold but the bulk of it is,
it all depends upon my mood.
7. Thin Lizzy – Discography. I don’t
have the words to describe these albums, let’s just say they remind of better
times!
8. Bad Company – Desolation Angels. Again,
this is a rerelease, there is something about this album I love, simpler times I
suppose, much better than their previous effort “Burning Sky”.
9. UFO – Discography. Again, I have always loved these but to be
honest it’s the release of the 6 dates that made up the set for “strangers in
the night” a great box set, it simply transports me back to the 70’s.
10. Blackmores Night – Discography. Not
even a guilty pleasure I love Mr B, and I love these albums, I will bounce
through these and go back to Rainbow and Deep Purple, but these have been on my
playlist for the last year.
So, there
you go that’s basically what I have been playing for the last 12 months, music
has been and will always my safe harbour, the blogs have been doing well and
congratulations to Skep, not sure if that’s a nickname or your given first name
well done, who not only got the name game also spotted the line from a Black Sabbath
song (She’s Gone) in the last blog. The name game is not in play for this blog
and this wasn’t the blog I intended to post this week but it’s the one I could
finish, the next one will be here soon enough, I simply need to polish it, as I
really do try my best, I don’t just vomit this literally onto the page!
Now to get
on with life (and music) in 2022, life is……. shite, but you have to pick
yourself up and move on, as long as I can still do that I will be happy, so
look to the skies, for more incoming until the next blog all I can say is stay
safe and stay alive, until then ……………………Toodles!
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