Four on the Floor – Queen, Cats in Space, Beth Hart, Amanda Marshall.

Queen – One.     9/10.

Why review an album that’s 50 years old, well simply as it has been picked apart and lovingly restored, the instruments are so subtly different the tones on the drums, guitars, vocals, just about everything is so improved, it’s part of a vast box set, and yes its expensive, in the old days I would have panicked as to how I was going to pay for it, now I have Apple music, I simply click the button and I have it.

So why not a perfect score simply as they have restored a track that was supposed to be on the album “Mad the Swine” it was released at the time of Innuendo as a b side and that’s what it feels like I’m afraid a little too similar to other songs on the album, is it any good, I like it but it does pop up unexpectedly in the running order. So, what do you get in this box set well its quite comprehensive.

Disc 1 – The album and extra track, its like a warm hug, I can’t wait until they do the second album, you can hear every little thing that was recorded.

Disc 2 - The De Lane Lea demo’s, the originals I’ve heard them before just not in this depth of clarity (dodgy tapes back in the day).

Disc 3 – Trident Backing tracks 13 tracks in various stages of construction and banter, if you are a fan, you will love this.

Disc 4 - Various backing tracks and instrumental versions, my least favourite disc, but still good from a historical point of view.

Disc 5 – Live at the BBC – this I have had for a number of years, as it was released in 1989 (I think) this has 11 tracks as opposed to the original 8.

Disc 6 – this where I thought there might be some rare stuff, sadly not, its mainly taken from live at the Rainbow video but the last 4 tracks haven’t been released before including Hangman one of the oldest Queen songs which I had on a few bootlegs usually of crap quality, it was nice to finally hear a good quality version of it, although its safe to see why it was never recorded for an album, then a couple of tracks from their first gig at Imperial College London.

Is it worth it, most definitely and if I had the disposable cash to hand, I would buy it in a heartbeat however because of the quality it is very expensive (but worth it).

Cats in Space – Time Machine.     7/10

This is a great album , to be honest I haven’t had it as long as the others and it’s a slightly complicated piece of work, its like City Boy (The Band)  mixed with Styx, it’s all  a bit too clever and sometimes it comes across as musical theatre, that’s not a bad thing its just hard to put your finger on it, the writing, singing and playing is all superb ( I would like to hear the guitars being a bit louder in the mix) the more I play it the more I like it, I have had it since since Monday (the 28^th) and I have played it 6 times, every time it’s played something else jumps out in the mix, they have played close to us twice recently, unfortunately life gets in the way, but they are top of the list to go and see, if you like classic well written well played and ultimately well sang songs this is the band for you, maybe start with a couple of the earlier albums that aren’t as dense (musically speaking) one of the best British bands out there at the moment.

Beth Hart – You still got me.     7/10.

This lady never does a bad album , however the first two tracks are the weakest of this bunch, both with special guests (Slash & Eric Gale) they both add nothing to the tracks in my humble opinion, its when she’s let off the leash by herself and her band that’s when it gets slinky, lots of different styles and just damn good music, I know her singing in vibrato puts some people off, but she uses her voice to devasting effect on this album, I avoided her last album as it was a tribute to Led Zeppelin, I’m simply not a fan of the band, I might go back and try it, is this her best album no, but its not a bad album, start with her “War in my Mind” album and work all the way through her back catalogue you won’t be disappointed.

Amanda Marshall – Heavy Lifting.     7/10.

Again a lady who should have been massive but a shit manager and record label and the lady wanting to do things her own way, well its taken a while for her to come back, 22 years after her last album she is finally back, I discovered this quite by accident and I was over the moon to discover it, the one issue I have with it is its obviously a break up album as the songs clearly indicate that, that doesn’t make it a bad album (because its not) it does come across as slightly bitter, I suppose she’s entitled to, it’s a great starting point and its closer to her debut album style wise (which is totally awesome) not her more polished “modern” albums, if you find them they are all worth it, and again the more I play this the more I get into the groove, and it is a great groove album, I would love to see her live one more time as a headline act not as a support.

So, that’s the albums on rotation this week, not a bad album among them, just maybe as good as some of their previous albums its all good, play and kick back and watch the world keep spinning, until the next time…………………………. Toodles!

600.

Well, we got here, blog number 600, how did that happen? I know before anybody is a smart arse, its because I’m boring and I need to get a life, so here it comes when life was peachy and I had no worries or debts etc, it’s all about the music, see if I care, I do but don’t tell anybody else that, they might find out I actually had a life!

Newcastle city hall is without a doubt my favourite music venue, and I have been in a few, there’s just something about it I have been there with family and friends, I have been there by myself, it is my favourite since day one, I have seen bands I love, I like and bands I have hated but I still love the venue.

There’s too many too name especially in a small blog like this, I haven’t been there that much over the last 5 years, a few times but life keeps getting in the way (damn it) Covid didn’t help but my knees are the biggest issue, I can’t stand for long periods as I have no cartilage (see previous blogs) in my knees so if I can grab a seat I will.

I have seen bands abroad and by and large most venues fall into the same category, PAP! There is one or two in the states I like, both relatively small the House of Blues in Disney Springs Florida (Downtown Disney back in the day) but my Favourite was/is Vamped in Las Vegas, were we given a fantastic booth and the vibe was fantastic, it didn’t hurt we were on the guestlist that night, but it is a great venue.

In Europe I went to the North Sea Jazz Festival a couple of times and although most of the gigs were in arenas (with a few small club gigs) these were all pretty slick operations with a good vibe, I never got a bad vibe which occasionally mars gigs in England, usually because people get hammered and then behave despicably, it spoils the gigs, I haven’t got an issue mixing it with arseholes, but I’m a lot older and as I’ve said my knees aren’t what they used to be!

Theres a few good venues in the UK (Nottingham Rock City, the Marquee before it was demolished in London, and I quite like the Underworld in Camden, but its usually the venue that sets the vibe for the band and if the band are happy its usually a pretty good gig. I wont name and shame the venues I don’t like as there are quite a few, but by and large I’m not a huge fan of gigs in Glasgow or Manchester, it might be the city’s and not the venues, but there are always tons of crap at those locations. As for London there’s some good ones and great ones but there are bad ones as well, I’m not a huge fan of the Royal Albert hall and for the life of me I do not have a clue why, it just has a weird vibe, mind you I have been there when the Proms have been on and had a great time, its probably just me, again the Hammersmith Odeon, some good gigs (Stevie Wonder) some poor (way too many to mention), and I will put my hand on my heart and say I have never enjoyed a metal act there!

Seeing artists in small clubs before they were big is a good laugh, or even artists on the way down after being a headliner in  arenas and are now playing “clubs” can be just funny, I mean I nearly saw Bruce Springsteen on The River  in the City Hall but I dint know who he was LOL, I never thought I would get to see the likes of seeing Kiss in the City Hall and they played it like is was a massive arena, I saw Diamond Head at the city hall on the Borrowed Time tour then jump 20+ years and seeing them in Trillian’s just across the road from the city hall, both gigs great and the band were excellent before, during and after the gig Fish at the Riverside (both old and new) and various Haddington conventions, the venue helps but it’s the audience enjoying themselves that matters the most, god I sound like a bloody hippy.

I probably don’t have many gigs left in me unless I get my knees sorted (doubtful) at the moment I am on 4997, 3 more to hit the magic 5000, I used to write them down (yes I have always been sad) and give them a 5 star rating, list the support acts the same mini reviews write the set lists down, those books went the way of mystery over thirty years ago, I mean in 1984 I attended 310 gigs, no wonder my brain is fried, I could never remember them all, never mind the support acts, I might try before the brain revolts! I always get asked who was the best the gig and to be honest it changes depending on the day and the mood, one of the worst gigs I ever attended (for free) was Soft Cell (there was free drink) who were simply horrendous and very drunk at least they admitted it on stage bless them (remember that for the moment because I do circle back to them) the worst gigs I have attended from headlining superstars were……….Roger Taylor at Newcastle Riverside, he really didn’t want to be there and boy was he bitter I left after 4 songs, and Queensryche on the Empire tour, I left after 5 songs.

Theres been more good ones than bad ones but the best support act I saw (apart from FM with Gary Moore) was Marc Almond supporting Cher at the Newcastle arena, (there’s a bootleg from the show where you can actually here me say “oh for fucks sake”) but he was great, I didn’t know most of the songs but he was sober in tune and funny between the songs, I tip my hat to him as it was indeed a bloody good gig. The only artist I never got to see was Steve Walsh who sang solo and with Kansas (either would have done) I mean come on Arthur Askey was my first ever gig with Lulu supporting what a fab first gig the rest have all had to match them, lol I kid you not!

So, there you have it, will I do another 600 blogs? I would love to but I think it’s unlikely, I could pump them out daily but I prefer quality to quantity (god help when I retire and I have but time on my hands) so thank you for sticking around for the ride here’s to the however many more I have left in me, keep spreading the word stay safe and stay alive, until the next time…..Toodles!

And yes i do still miss the Newcastle Mayfair!

Man Down

It should really have been called whack a mole, because I took some time for myself and well to be honest, I haven’t had a great deal of luck with that, however I’m not down, I am surprisingly “up” for some reason, not all of the time but I reckon about 90% so that’s good for me!

Actually, splat the rat would have been a good title as well, we occasionally get vermin in our loft I have checked the whole place (me in my condition, a 9-month pregnant woman could do a better check simply for mobility reasons) I do put poison out and to date I have been doing well and sometimes we can go months without any furry trespassers, but its been annoying of late and to top it all off we think something has chewed through a cable as we had no lights for a week, we are back in the land of the 21^st century but the bedrooms have to be lit by bedside lamps! I had had enough and bought a trap, bang got the little blighter first time, now we just have to work out what to do about the lights?

Health wise it appears that I’m probably as good as I’m going to get, I  have a number of issues and by and large I get on with it, I have a flesh eating disease that rears its head when I’m run down, I know how to deal with its part of the curse of my diabetes I have it under control, the flesh eating disease not the diabetes, I’m a grown up and the NHS is not the place it was, not the staff but I don’t think any government has funded it correctly in the last 40 years, that and the whole sale stealing by contractors and “specialists” not NHS staff, well apart from the managers who get paid a fortune but simply sit at a desk, but I digress, I’m a man of a certain age and I’m well aware that my issue will get the bare minimum treatment, it took 8 years to diagnose my diabetes, a nurse simply looking at my bloods was able to guess what the problem was by then its too late to actually do anything about it, the main issue is they keep trying to patch a leaky boat (that would be me the actual leaky boat) its not worth while trying to fix a fat crippled nearly 60 year old, you might think I’m being cynical, well I’m not I can see the professional staff trying to help me but their hands are tied, it sums it up when I’m told “well at least you know what your cause of death will be” thanks for that that really makes me happy!

Its all the little things that add up, and well keep kicking me in the old bollocks! The flesh eating one being the first thing, my knees, I have been told I need two new ones, am I any further forward, hell no, just more obstacles thrown in my way, my BMI is too high you can see that I am indeed losing weight, but nope it has to be lower, I don’t think I made any friends when I enquired “where does it state this”? erm yeah no answer came the loud reply. They are making it up as they go along, watch this space for the further adventures of trying to get a knee replacement!

Consequently because of the pain and suffering I am trying really hard not to hide in food, my biggest issue, but I am doing way better than  I thought, but how long is that particular piece of string, and if Bob comes charging in I’m fucked, as I said at the beginning I’m not too bad but its starting to build and I don’t want to be the old man in a strait jacket when I finally pop, I have a lot of friends who work in the NHS, they do a brilliant job under extraordinary circumstances, but they have there hands tied doing paperwork rather than nursing, Drs seem to do more privately paid work than NHS stuff, I know one way to bring it down don’t let them do private work for the first 5 years that they work in the NHS, employ more nurses rather than doing bank work I know a person who paid off a substantial mortgage simply because they pay more doing bank work, I’m not knocking it we would all do it if we could, but the practices put into help the industry (because that’s what it is) is killing it, I predict there will not be an NHS in ten years all of the political parties are guilty of its murder!

There are a few other things but you expect it when you get to my age but I’m not being helped, “help yourself” they say guess what I have been doing that for nearly twenty years now I need some actual help, I have actually started to take painkillers  at the end of the day simply because ……..I’m soft, actually because my pyshio has told me to, My mental health is actually better than expected, but this is a very leaky boat, if I don’t get a pump to clear the bilges well lets see shall we, my chest has a slight pulse after any exertion, yes I still try to be a helpful member of society, but I am slowing down and I can’t figure out why, I’m breathless quickly, another reason why I can’t exercise like I want too, I know I’m going to get some stick for this blog I’m not whining, simply stating facts, my wife was a nurse who was injured on the job, thrown on the scrap heap and just left in the dust, she suffers in silence, with a lot worse than me.

I can fall asleep at the drop of a hat, I recently took an NHS questionnaire it said I have the heart of a 90 year old, hells bells I have I have[CI1]  never smoked, rarely drink and I have being trying to get to grips  with my weight on and off for the last 20 years, basically my health is a shit show, but as the songs “always look on the bright side of life” trust me you should listen to me when I don’t LOL!

As for the rest of things it is what it is life isn’t a bowl of cherries but you do have to get on, it would appear that I went off on a rant that’s not what I wanted but after running silent for six weeks I need to vent the bile as the next blog is number 600 so we need sweetness and lollipops for that one (something musical me thinks) I want to thank all the nice people who reached out, but I’m fine, well as good as I can be considering I’m a leaky boat! Things will get better I have to think that, if I don’t well let’s not go there, so spread the word like, whatever you do this is a new phase and I promise to keep the bile to a minimum, stay safe, stay alive, and I will be back again really soon! So, until then it’s simply………...TOODLES!

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 [CI1]