Midnight Oil - Midnight Oil (1978)

Whilst global success would finally come to Australia’s Midnight Oil in 1987 with their 6th album Diesel and Dust featuring their biggest hit Beds Are Burning, their origins were of a much more humble and parochial nature. The Sydney-based outfit, led by the charismatic and distinctive Pete Garrett, later to be government cabinet minister (yes really!), gigged relentlessly in and around the city gaining a hardcore following during the latter half of the 1970s. As a sign of their drive and ambition the band took the bold step of setting-up their own record company, Powderworks, and set about recording their eponymous debut album in the summer of 1978 for release later that same year. Whilst not receiving the widespread critical acclaim of some of their later works the album does provide a strong glimpse of what was to come and showcases a set of distinctive and fresh sounding tracks that had been honed on the Sydney club circuit during the months prior to its recording.

Powderworks opens proceedings with a cutting guitar chord patter over which Martin Rotsey solos for several bars before the track moves into its feature riff which is uptempo and chord-sequence based. The production is a little questionable throughout the album but certainly the rhythm guitar sound here is cutting an really adds an edge to the already angst-ridden nature of the track. The mid-section drops to a bass riff over which there is a brief solo and some drum breaks before in quite a hard rock/metal vain which is something that would largely disappear from the Oils’ later output as they honed their distinctive sound.

Head Over Heels is a more commercial-sounding track – once again opening with an instrumental intro and is more of a blue print of the sound that would define the band with sparser instrumentation and with the bass anchoring the track and the guitars adding twiddles and flourishes to embellish the melody

I can never quite put my finger on what it is but there’s a distinctively Australian feel to this track – and many other of the Oils – such as there was to earlier INXS albums and some of Skyhooks earlier output that sets the Australian music scene a bit apart and makes it somewhat unique from the US/UK scene at that time . . . which is a definite positive. This is also apparent in Dust through a sparsity in the instrumentation that flew in the face of the penchant of their US/UK counterparts to fill every gap with instrumentation whereas here things are stripped back and heavily atmospheric. The guitar break is particularly strong on Dust too and Pete Garrett does what he does best – paints a picture lyrically!

Used and Abused is a driving uptempo track featuring once again, strong lyrics that conjure-up a powerful mental image: “It’s 2 am in Town Hall Station, black walls and sleeping drunks are bad companions”.

Surfing With A Spoon is a mellower affair than the previous tracks at its intro which is very much in the ‘New Wave’ genre as is the whole track and built around a bass melody and heavily chorused guitar picking. Rather oddly there’s a semi-classical/Deep Purple-esque organ piece in the middle of the track before the band kick-in for an extended guitar solo . . . but it all works quite well as the various sections of the track are woven together quite skillfully.

Run By Night is more akin to the opening track in as much as it’s a mid-tempo straight ahead rock track driven by the twin guitars of Martin Rotsey and Jim Moginie. Sitting somewhere as a mix of early Cure, Magazine and XTC with a few other ingredients thrown-in for good measure, Midnight Oil in their rockier moments manage to create quite a unique sound which is heard nowhere to greater effect than on Run By Night.

Nothing Lost, Nothing Gained closes the album and open with an almost pro-leaning instrumental passage with extended guitar soloing – not shredding – over some very spacial chord sequences before Pete Garrett comes in to again largely a drum and bass track with the odd phased guitar chord. The opening line packs a punch – “In my world there are sorrows, I’d rather drown in happiness” – and there are some strong instrumental passages throughout the eight and half minute opus.

It’s difficult to know precisely what to say in summation of Midnight Oil as it’s clear that in 1978 they hadn’t quite found ‘their sound’ and were veering from style to style, pulling elements from hard rock, indie/new wave etc and attempting to mould them into something fresh. The achievement here is that they almost succeed and the album is a good listen and reasonably coherent although lyrically it’s a little vague in part but lyrical poignance was definitely something that would be honed to perfection on later albums by the band. Midnight Oil represents very much a ‘work in progress’, but an enjoyable one at that and I’d definitely recommend giving it a listen.

• Peter Garrett – Vocals
• Martin Rotsey – Guitar
• Jim Moginie – Guitar, Keyboards
• Andrew James – Bass
• Rob Hirst – Drums

ZZ Top - Fandango (1975)

Fandango, the fourth album by Texas blues-rockers ZZ Top, is as is their career – one of two halves. Side 1 showcases four tracks from their live shows whilst side 2 features new studio recordings . . . as to their career, part 1 featured driving southern-tinged blues rock whilst part 2 featured electronic sequencer-based drivel that whilst propelling them to global superstardom through the Eliminator album, completely lost all essence of what made them such a great band back in the 70s. However, that said Fandango really packs a punch and encapsulates the sound of the band who were really at the top of their game in 1975 (artistically albeit not commercially).

The album opens with Thunderbird, the opening number from their live set at that time and recorded, as with all of ’side 1′ of the album, at The Warehouse, New Orleans. Thunderbird is a fast-paced boogie shuffle lyrically extolling “get high everybody, get high” interspersed with blistering bouts of guitar from Billy Gibbons: if you aren’t motivated to at least tap your foot along to Thunderbird I’d be amazed! Interestingly, the track is a cover of an ucopyrighted track – the writers of which deciding they should have copyrighted it when ZZ Top made it a staple track of their set only to lose out in court to ZZ.

Another staple cover for bands is up next with the Elvis classic Jailhouse Rock which has been covered by a plethora of the great, good and not so good over the years. However, where most bands take the speed up a notch, ZZ Top play it cool and hold back the tempo tendency and add a southern twist to the track which works really well and once again, the urge to get up and dance tends to sweep over the listener.

Jailhouse Rock drifts into the four-track min-opus Backdoor Medley which spans the tracks Backdoor Love Affair, Mellow Down Easy (a Willie Dixon cover), Backdoor Love Affair No. 2 and Long Distance Boogie. Mellow Down Easy is largely a highly repetitious drum pattern with Hill and Gibbons repeating the title as a mantra for several minutes and is definitely the low-point of the live side of the album. Fortunately, as the medley progresses there are some great passages of driving guitar soloing from Billy Gibbons.

The studio side of the album opens with the straight 4/4 mid-tempo Nasty Dogs And Funky Kings which veers more towards hard rock than much of the material on Fandango but that is in no way a criticism as it’s an excellent track with an extended guitar break mid-way through and riff that wouldn’t be out of place on the album of many a classic 70s hard rock band and has just a whiff of Oh Well, the Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac classic to boot!

Blue Jeans Blues takes the mood right down to slow blues . . . and boy have they got the blues here: after the break-up of a relationship, all he’s got left is his old blue jeans! This is textbook slow blues with some great soloing from Gibbons with, as it should be , a simplistic backing track from Beard and Hill.

Balinese takes the mood back up to Sweet Home Alabama territory and it sounds like Frank Beard has dropped the actual snare from his snare drum and cranked-up the skin tension which is probably of no interest to anyone other than a drummer . . . but I am one so thought it worth a mention!

Mexican Blackbird once again drops the tempo to a drawling southern blues with slide guitar and a tale of a mixed-race woman of questionable morality but ultimately of good nature. Plenty of slide soloing, one of Gibbons’ fortes, abounds throughout and lyrically it is replete with double entendre and harmonica too for good measure.

Heard It On The X sets off at a furious pace and pays tribute to Mexican radio stations that could be picked-up across the border in Texas and to which the band used to listen.

For me, the real standout classic from Fandango – and the track which would be a live staple to this day, is Tush. A mid-tempo boogie shuffle with two great slide breaks from Gibbons and played with such bounce that it makes you want to get out of your chair (presuming you’re seated when listening that is, of course). The track has been heavily covered and always proves a live favourite by whoever performs it – I particularly remember the Redbeards From Texas cutting a particularly good live version in their shows in the mid-1980s – a great way to close the album.

As was said at the outset, ZZ Top went on to really lose their roots during the 1980s which coincided with their commercial peak but I would definitely argue that Fandango, and their other early-mid 70s releases, really capture the band at their best and that those of you put off by gimmicky beards, spinning guitars and the whole hutzpah of Legs and Gimme Some Lovin’ etc from Eliminator and Afterburner should put those prejudices to one side and give one of the finest proponents of powerful southern blues rock a listen. To make matters better, the 2006 re-issue features the original mix of the album as heard on the vinyl release along with three more live tracks (including Tush) which is another reason to now give the album a spin!

• Dusty Hill – Bass/Vocals
• Billy Gibbons – Guitar/Vocals
• Frank Beard – Drums

Skyhooks - Guilty Until Proven Insane (1978)

Australia has produced some storming bands over the years and whilst most of us non-Aussie’s are familiar with the big hitters such as AC/DC, INXS, and to an extent Midnight Oil and Rose Tattoo, there’s a rich history of no-less great rock bands that failed to make an impact outside their native country with Skyhooks among them. The Melbourne five-piece released a series of record-breaking albums during the 1970s, courted controversy and for a period were the biggest selling band in Australia. Guilty Until Proven Insane was their 4th studio album released in 1978 and their first to feature new guitarist Bob Spencer and would also prove to be frontman Graeme “Shirley” Strachan’s last album with the band.

Guilty Until Proven Insane opens with one of the finest rock tracks you’re likely to hear and possibly the only track on the album familiar to people who are not aware of the band: Women In Uniform. Familiar as a D’Anno-era Iron Maiden single, the track was written by, and was a huge hit for Skyhooks from this album and features a great vocal from Graeme “Shirley” Strachan with the rest of the band providing one of their heaviest backing tracks. Women In Uniform has all the ingredients of a great rock track as will be apparent from the video clip below and the funky intro which is returned to mid-way through makes for a more multi-dimensional track than other versions!

Life In The Modern World is a slow burner of a bluesy rock track with a good use of the twin guitars of Spencer and Starkie and some well-crafted observational lyrics. The latter half of the track also features a good guitar solo not in the shredding vain but more akin to mid-70s Thin Lizzy style which continues over a repeat of the opening verse at the close.

Trouble With The Computer opens with a frantic computer ‘conversation’ through which fades-in drums and then into the main riff which is again of strong blues-rock origin. As the title suggests, the track identifies troublesome issues in various scenarios with computers which, considering the year of release, was very contemporary thinking and somewhat prophetic as the same problems are still experienced today: “the computer’s lost its logic and has started to erase” – for a pre-Windows generation that’s some foresight!

Moving into a heavier style, Bbbbbbbbbbbbboogie, as the name suggests, is a hard-rocking boogie shuffle with a hint of Rose Tattoo who, I’m certain, would have been influenced by their countrymen. Graeme Strachan really spits out the lyrics here with some venom and there’s plenty of guitar breaks throughout making for a very solid track and demonstrating the musical skill of the band members to good effect.

Suddenly, the heavy blues-rock fades and Twisted Innocence opens which is a funky almost new-wave track and, as with the majority of the Skyhooks’ tracks, examines the troubles of urban 70s Australian society with in this instance through the eyes of the young and their largely inability to perceive the problems around them. Twisted innocence referring to the blinkered enthusiasm of youth blinding the young to social ills.

Hotel Hell moves back to more traditional hard rock territory for a mid-paced track telling the tale of trying to find a good night out but only coming across ‘Hotel Hell’: “if you think the beer is rotten, you should see the clientele”! The track also features a sax solo in the mid-section where the track drops to bass and cymbals over which Strachan further describes the scene at the bar and paints a picture that is so well described you can almost be there.

Slow bass and guitar harmonics open Point In The Distance with a spoken word intro accompanied by some high wailing backing vocals and then the track kicks-in with a funky guitar and heavily echoed vocals with Strachan singing more smoothly than on the rockier tracks. As with Twisted Innocence the sound is somewhere around early 10CC and early Thin Lizzy but, whilst not one of the stronger tracks on the album, certainly shows another side to Skyhooks and a side that they exploit to a high standard here. The undistorted guitar solo is also a highlight.

A calypso intro to Meglomania continues the shift in direction begun by Point In the Distance and the overall sound is rather ’sweet’ but if you tune-in to the lyrical content, it’s far from it! Quite cleverly, one of the hardest hitting tracks lyrically is backed by the mellowest, poppiest musical backing tracks – as with previous tracks, however, the guitar solo adds some balls with a new riff taking over in the mid-section to boot!

Closing the album is the ‘classic’ Skyhooks anthem Why Don’tcha All Get Fucked? Originally released on their debut album, in censored form, here it is in all its glory. It features a series of lyrical ‘vignettes’ about various disaffected characters where Strachan paints the picture of their reasoning for their eventual nihilistic attitude and cry of Why Don’tcha All Get Fucked?: “there’s one thing that you got to do and i suggest you do it today, stand up in your office, school or street and this is what you’ve got to say . . . Why Don’tcha All Get Fucked?”. Pre-dating Rage Against the Machine’s “Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me” battle-cry by some 10 years, it’s a sentiment I’m sure we can all relate to from time to time today as much as back in the 70s!

All-in-all this is an awesome album from a great band who should have gone on to globally great things . . . but sadly it was not to be. To compound matters, the album is really hard to come-by on CD but is definitely worth purchasing should you find a copy.

• Graeme “Shirley” Strachan – Vocals
• Bob Spencer – Guitar
• Bob “Bongo” Starkie – Guitar
• Greg Macainsh – Bass
• Imants “Freddy” Strauks – Drums

Rollins Band - Come In And Burn (1997)

Come In And Burn is straight edge, ex Black flag vocalist, raconteur, philosopher, spoken-word poet and general all-round legend Henry Rollins’ last album with the ‘classic’ lineup of Rollins Band and features a tight set of powerful rock tracks with insightful lyrics and typical Rollins emotional power and angst. Always under-rated and an outsider to mainstream music, Rollins has always provided powerful lyrical content delivered with an intensity few can match and Come In And Burn is no exception.

The crunching chords of Shame open the album leading to a pounding mid-tempo track which makes good use of light and shade with the verses understated whilst the ‘chorus’ is sheer power. As with the majority of Rollins’ material, it is a dark track lyrically and the mid-section in particular is atmospheric with guitarist Chris Haskett turning-in a strong solo that conveys the overall mood of the track to good effect.

Starve has an interesting syncopated bass/drums/guitar timing which is taught and over which Rollins semi-talks the lyrics before the track explodes into the chorus. It’s here that you realise that Rollins Band where much more than a backing band for Rollins himself but were a fine bunch of musicians that created a unique blend of rock/punk/funk that was both extremely powerful but subtle and melodic in equal measure.

In All I Want Rollins demands ‘Don’t ignore me’ – and with the ferocity of the delivery it’s fair to say that it would be possible to ignore him! The plea of the track is again more than ably backed by the band who provide considerable musical interest that weaves in and out of the emotion of Rollins’ lyrical delivery to great effect. In fact, as I’m sure Rollins would admit, he isn’t the most skillful vocalists in the world but more than makes up for it with emotional and passion with the musical interests really resting with a band that is attuned to his mindset for each track and happily on the album throughout, he has just that band.

The End of Something is a standout track from the album and one of the best examples of the light/shade dynamic that works so well for Rollins Band. The line “If i saw your body burning in the street . .. I’d put you out . . . with gasoline” just about sums up Rollins’ mindset at the time of writing this track which references the trauma of a relationship breakup but verbalised like no other could – this is no ‘Love Hurts’! There’s real malice and pain here and once more, the band reflect this in their instrumentation: the mellow verses layout the scene for each of Rollins’ reflections before the power and aggression of the statement of fact and emotional detachment that ‘it’s just the end of something’ kicks-in with accompanying power of the band.

On My Way To The Cage is an up-tempo bass-driven track with a bit of a nod to his punky Black Flag days. The riff is really punchy and you can almost feel the track beating you in the face with each syncopation: see if you agree as the video below shows Rollins Band performing an very intense version of this track in a TV studio!

Thursday Afternoon slows things down in terms of tempo but certainly not of intensity. This more takes the form of spoken-word over the band’s backing which, as ever, is good and reminds me of Rage Against the Machine to an extent – which is only a plus as far as I’m concerned, particularly on the verses.

During a City takes an almost swing approach from drummer Sim Cain with bassist Melvin Gibbs providing the majority of instrumentation/melody on the verses and Chris Haskett providing added power for the chorus. The track runs into Neon which opens with a very understated bass and drum track before kicking-in to a slow, plodding riff. There’s also an explosive guitar solo from Haskett but not of a pointless shredding variety – Haskett has the ability to convey the emotion of the subject matter in his guitar playing and does so here excellently.

Spilling Over the Side moves up a gear for a funky, but heavy, track again veering towards RATM territory. which is followed by Inhale/Exhale which again is a rather doom-laden riff with the verses largely Rollins talking over them with his usual intensity of subject-matter.

Saying Goodbye Again refers to a friend of Rollins who was gunned-down and killed and his general anger at the futility of gang violence and gun culture and the emotions such an incident leaves behind: “You’re gone, I’m left to move on”. This incident, as you wold expect, really moved Rollins and a discussion of the vents surrounding it, and his insight, was a feature of his spoken-word performances for a number of years.

Rejection closes the album, although there are various later releases around with additional tracks, and you really feel that you’ve been through a few rounds with Mike Tyson as the track draws to a close!

Come In and Burn has incredible fire and intensity, rage and power in equal measure and is compelling listening for both the musical skill of the band and Rollins lyrics and delivery. If you’re not previously acquainted with Henry Rollins, this album would prove a good introduction in my opinion and everyone should at least have one Henry Rollins release in their collection: he’s quite a character and whether with a band or delivering his solo lecture, when he speaks – you listen and it’s always a worthwhile experience!

• Henry Rollins – Vocals
• Chris Haskett – Guitar
• Melvin Gibbs – Bass
• Sim Cain – Drums

The Runaways - Queens of Noise (1977)

Released in the year following their debut The Runaways album, Queens of Noise displays something of a development in the sound of the band – albeit a fractured one – with, on the one hand Lita Ford’s more heavy rock style coming through which is counterbalanced by Joan Jett’s Quattro-esque rock and roll styling. Add to this vocalist Cherie Currie’s emerging penchant for more melodic (some may say cheesy) balladic efforts and Queens of Noise proves to be quite an interesting album! The album also marked the last studio release form the band featuring Cherie Currie and bassist Jackie Fox . . . which was a pity as they were both strong in their respective fields with Joan Jett soon to assume full lead vocal duties and Vicky Blu replacing Fox.

The opener, Queens of Noise, is one of the band’s greatest tracks and, whilst not penned by the band themselves, fits their style well – although it caused Jett and Currie friction over who was to sing the lead as Joan Jett was increasingly taking over the lead vocal role in the band which is evident on the album as a whole where vocals are largely shared between the two in equal measure. The track is quite a ‘heavy’ number for the band and features a strong chorus, good harmonies and another increasingly evident element in The Runaways, a Lita Ford guitar solo – something that was very much largely lacking on their debut release.

Take It Or Leave It is again a heavy number, opening with thunderous drumming from Sandy West and powerful guitar and Joan Jett on vocals. Again also there is a maturity about the track with strong vocal harmonies and powerful solo from Ford and the track is definitely sign of Jett’s song writing beginning to blossom.

More as a vehicle for Cherie, Midnight Music (with some really clichéd Kim Fowley lyrics) is ok as a track – quite melodic and middle of the road and Cherrie Currie gives a good performance . . . but, this isn’t The Runaways proper, it lacks their spirit and rough around the edges approach that defined their sound.

Born to be Bad follows and almost sounds like Showaddywaddy or Mud during its intro section which is only partly saved by an unusually mellow vocal from Jett! There is also a phenomenal amount of reverb on West’s snare which largely knocks -out the subtlety of the piece which is a shame. It’s a very slow number and features a rather ill-advised ‘rap’ from Jett midway through and is more reflective of manager Kim Fowley’s influence on the band than being reflective of their true preferred style.

Neon Angels On The Road To Ruin is my personal favourite form the album and is a crunching heavy rock track driven by a great slow riff from Lita Ford at the intro that suddenly leads into an up-tempo shuffle of a track with Currie’s vocals outstanding. Jackie Fox has stated that “Neon Angels was our concession to Lita’s heavy metal ones” but it was a worthy concession in my opinion and Ford’s solo is great too. See the video clip below of this track being performed live in Japan which, apart from Currie’s vocals cracking on the second verse, is strong.

I Love Playin’ With Fire opens with a powerful ‘metal’ riff once more and is an up-tempo number with Jett once again on lead vocals. Although penned by Jett, the track has a very hard rock edge to it and affords Lit Ford the opportunity to solo through the mid-section.

California Paradise was co-written by Kim Fowley, Jett and Sandy West and sung by Cherrie Currie and is one of the more well-known Runaways tracks. It’s a stomping rock track with Currie’s lower-register vocals working well and harmonising with Jett on the chorus/hook. Lead guitar/solo duties are split here between Jett and Ford with Jett providing the first part before Ford adds a speedier approach for the latter.

Hollywood is a Jett/Fowley/Fox composition and is one fo the weaker on the album and features a Joan Jett lead vocal.

Up next, originally a track written by Jackie Fox and Lita Ford about Joey Ramone, Heartbeat suffered at the hands of manager Kim Fowley (as did the band!) who re-wrote it with Joan Jett into the form heard here with input from Currie rewriting the track to be about Bowie unbeknown to Fox – and freezing Fox out of the twin lead vocal role she had originally envisaged for her and Jett . . . always appeared to be a bit of a drama within the band!

The closing track on the album is Johnny Guitar penned by Ford and Fowley which sounds like it was recorded in a cellar – in fact the reverb throughout the album is appalling to be honest – and is a rather doom-laden attempt at a slow blues number. Fox has later questioned the wisdom of this approach – “Why anyone thought that five teenage girls could play the blues is beyond me” – and I guess that it was a chance for Ford to noodle a lot on guitar but it doesn’t really work. Ford’s soloing is hardly of the emotionally-fraught variety associated with the blues and the whole thing really falls flat on its face.

Despite its shortcomings, Queens of Noise is an 8 out of 10 album for me and shows a real development from their first album – unfortunately a development curtailed by the departure of Currie and Fox following its release whereupon the band continued but in a slightly different direction. Sadly, the Runaways never really enjoyed any commercial success and their short career was a tale of misery and exploitation from start to finish but this album is definitely worth a listen . . . in fact, quite a few listens and with a film biopic due out shortly, it might be best to get to grips with the band prior to any Hollywood hype that will ensue following its release!

• Cherie Currie – Vocals
• Joan Jett – Guitar/Vocals
• Lita Ford – Guitar
• Jackie Fox – Bass
• Sandy West – Drums

Ark - The Dreams Of Mr Jones (1988)

Working, as I once did in a previous incarnation, at one of the UK’s top rock venues back in the 80s with live bands on 3 – 4 nights a week occasionally a band really made you stand up and take notice . . . and I mean occasionally . . . and there are also bands for whom the term ‘underrated’ doesn’t even come close: Ark more than ably satisfied the criteria for both categories. Hailing from the West Midlands, Ark walked the dangerous line between prog-rock and commercial rock with ease, producing a succession of musically adroit and lyrically meaningful tracks at a time when the music world was by and large turning ‘cock rock’.

In 1987 the band entered the Edward’s Rock Complex Battle of the Bands competition – on which i was a judge on some of the rounds – and won, securing time at Birmingham’s Rich Bitch recording studios for the following year which was utilised to record their debut album The Dreams of Mr Jones.

The album opens with Gaia, a powerful up-tempo track that personified Ark’s sound with twin guitars played with a twist. On the one hand was Pete Wheatley’s distorted rock guitar and on the other Steve Harris’ guitar synth playing which added power to some of the tracks with a traditional guitar sound and more than ably filled-in for keyboard melodies and solos as required. The mid-section of Gaia is particularly interesting as it features vocalist Anthony Short on flute for a half-time instrumental break.

Next-up is the slow ballad Through The Night which is tender without being cheesy and features Steve Harris playing ‘piano’ throughout on the synth guitar. The track speeds-up for the latter quarter featuring a solo from Pete Wheatley and whilst one of Ark’s longer tracks on the album at just over five and half minutes, holds the interest throughout with strong vocals and melody coupled with the instrumentation.

Kaleidoscope follows which is again a very strong composition and it’s about here you begin to realise that there is something of a revelation about The Dreams of Mr Jones in that there’s no filler at all, each track is equally as strong as the others and follow a principle I always admire in that they contain several distinct segments that hold the interest and demonstrate the band’s compositional abilities to good effect.

Echoing the band’s concerns about terrorism, and the IRA at that time, Powder for the Gun is a powerful piece of prose set to a mid-tempo, bass-driven track:

“Like the glint of a weapon with no hint of surprise
He’s naked in the bright interrogator’s light, there’s no disguise
With a foot in the graveyard and a hand on his heart
An actor for the cause in romantic civil wars, he plays the part ”

With lyrics such as this, Powder for the Gun is a bold statement and conveys its message with skill and prowess!

Mabeline – no not a Chuck Berry cover – tells the tale of a lady of, shall we say, low moral fibre, and provides a lighter respite between the power of Powder from the Gun before Nowhere’s Ark kicks-in.

Nowhere’s Ark closes the album and is a belter of a track with an up-tempo triplet feel throughout and a strong instrumental mid-section with a semi-mediaeval feel too it – particularly in the vocal harmonies and flute section over the pounding tom toms. However, don’t think this is done in a pretentious manner as it still sounds very contemporary in its approach and lyrically explores the emotions as a nuclear holocaust beckons which, as with many of the lyrics, shows a distinct maturity and distance between Ark and a fair proportion of prog bands. Musically the track builds into a powerful set of guitar solos thus maintaining a powerful rock feel to the track overall and the syncopations at the end of the track are again of an English folk flavour but really end the album on a high note.

My only criticism of this album which is now nigh-on impossible to purchase on CD, is that at 6 tracks and lasting only 29 minutes it’s way too short. Ark certainly had plenty of strong material at that time so I can only assume that constraints on studio time dictated the album’s length which, if correct, is a great pity. With the Gabriel-esque vocal styling of frontman Anthony Short and a musical style mixing the likes of Marillion with a touch of folk and hearty dose of powerful rock – along with a great live presence – I always thought they’d found a winning formula but alas I was wrong and Ark never really hit anywhere near the heights their talents deserved but if you can get hold of a copy of The Dreams of Mr Jones I’m fairly confident you’ll come to the same conclusion.

• Anthony Short – Vocals/Flute
• John Jowitt – Bass
• Dave Robbins – Drums
• Pete Wheatley – Guitar
• Steve Harris – Guitar Synthesizer

Femme Fatale - Femme Fatale (1988)

Femme Fatale enjoyed a short-lived moment in the spotlight with this self-titled album from 1988 being both their debut and swansong. Moving from their native New Mexico to LA the band secured a deal with a subsidiary of MCA which should have given them a solid foundation to launch their career . . . and indeed it did, albeit fleetingly. Femme Fatale were fronted by Lorraine Lewis around whom the whole attention on the group was focussed at the time who came across as something of an in-season Lita Ford, throwing herself around the stage whilst scantily clad with a somewhat faceless ‘backing band’ plodding away with mediocre 80’s commercial metal material in the background: not a recipe for a prolonged career!

Waiting for the Big One (double entendre methinks) opens the album and received huge airplay on MTV’s rock programs at the time as it was also the debut single and featured Ms Lewis in suitably scant attire. It’s a catchy mid-tempo rock track with Lewis treading the Lee Aaron approach to female rock vocals with it all getting a bit shouty on the higher notes. Nothing too outstanding here unfortunately but it fitted well with the scene at the time but wasn’t of standout proportions musically.

Another single from the album is up next which also received mass airplay (see the video below) and opens with chintzy 80s keyboards but develops into a much improved commercial hard rock track than its predecessor with a strong melodic vocal and hook line and is a bit less one dimensional than Waiting for the Big One.

My Baby’s Gun has has all the ingredients of a cheesy 80s track: “my baby rocks me all day, my baby’s gun is what I need”. The lyrics are appalling and of a high school level of banality and innuendo accompanied by a thumping, over-produced drum track and uninspired guitar work including the trading solos of D’Angelo and Rawd and Lewis seems to struggle to get anything approaching a reasonable melody out of the piece. Hopefully things can only get better . . .

Back In Your Arms Again is up next and is more in a power pop/rock style than the previous tracks which is an improvement, and I never thought I’d be in a position to say that! It does definitely have more of a ’song’ feeling to it which is no bad thing and Lorraine Lewis manages to crow her way through it with a degree of melody lacking elsewhere but Terri Nunn she ain’t!

Moving swiftly on, Rebel has an acoustic guitar and is a very melodic track . . . no really! Rebel isn’t bad, Lewis sings reasonably well as she’s not fighting to project herself over crashing chords and thumping production which removes the ability for the other tracks to even approach melodic subtlety. The track even avoids the common pitfall of predictability of having a ‘heavy’ chorus and whilst a distorted guitar does encroach towards the latter half of the track it is understated.

Fortune and Fame takes the mood back to up-tempo commercial metal territory and is instantly forgettable and is followed by another single from the album; Touch and Go. Lyrically, we’re back in the banality of ‘hey baby’, ‘do it to me all night long’ etc and cheesy chorus hook. Surely there’s going to be an outstanding track somewhere?

Next-up is IF which is a slow, plodding rock track which is followed by Heat the Fire and Cradle’s Rockin’ which closes the album. As you will be aware, a cardinal sin in my opinion is to have the word ‘Rock’ or any permutation thereof in a track’s title . . . or lyrics really so Cradles Rockin’ is off to a bad start from the outset. My cynicism is borne out by the fact that it’s woeful in every respect.

As you may have gathered from the above, I have a dim view of Femme Fatale as they’re just one cliché after another and should have spent far less time focusing on Lorraine Lewis’ a** and more time penning some decent tunes in order to claw their way out of the pit of 80s mediocrity in which they wallowed. As an aside I did spend the day with Lorraine Lewis back in the day and she was really unassuming and pleasant company but that doesn’t go anyway to forgiving the total waste of vinyl that was Femme Fatale: I rest my case!

• Lorraine Lewis – Vocals
• Bill D’Angelo – Guitar
• Mazzi Rawd – Guitar
• Rick Rael – Bass
• Bobby Murray – Drums

Cloven Hoof - Cloven Hoof (1984)

Coming through the scene that was the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Wolverhampton’s Cloven Hoof had largely missed the boat by the time of their 1984 self-titled debut album. While most other bands were back-combing their hair and pouring themselves into spandex, Cloven Hoof were serving-up a menu of powerful old school heavy metal with a lyrical content based in the sword and sorcery of previous bands with a more sinister overtone that early pioneers of black metal, such as Venom, would soon seize upon and take to the next level and beyond: it’s not too much of a leap of imagination to move from Cloven Hoof’s band member stage names of the four elements to Mantas, Cronos and Abaddon adopted by Venom either!

The album opens with the title track which is a basic mid-tempo metal track with somewhat shouted vocals and simplistic riff although later on there is some nice guitar work. Lyrically the track is very much in the ‘heretic’, ‘evil’ end of the genre which is ok but a little one-dimensional, albeit amusing to look back on!

Nightstalker is more of the same with a pounding riff and drum track that buzzes along well and you start to wonder if replacing Biff Byford in Saxon with Cronos from Venom (with a few vocal lessons) would produce Cloven Hoof . . . well, at least I do! Now, I don’t want to appear to knock Cloven Hoof as I’d much rather listen to them than the average pop pap we hear everyday elsewhere and I appreciate that they were a product of their time and were to a point influential, albeit of a direction in metal that I didn’t particularly enjoy, but the whole thing seems a little contrived. However, back to Nightstalker – there is an interesting shift in time signature and riff mid-way through that is totally unexpected and gives an inkling that the band are capable of more than the endless chugging guitar work heard thus far.

March of the Damned opens with a slow bass line and very distant drum thumping accompanied by a twin harmony guitar melody . . . yes melody! Actually, this 2 minute instrumental is quite good – whilst not showing any great flashes of musical dexterity the overall composition and execution is good.

The Gates of Gehenna is up next and is almost Maiden-esque, well very Maiden-esque – that is the Di’Anno era of Maiden I’m referring to here though not the more polished Dickinson variety. This is a more up-tempo track with some wailing vocals and things are looking up, the track features a triplet beat and multiple segments which keep it interesting and again there’s some good twin harmony guitar melodies dropped-in here and there. Mid-way through the track things really get motoring and if you ignore the ‘Lucifer’ references and lyrical content which is banal, this is quite good stuff. The guitar solo is good too with a bit of a shred going on and demonstrating Steve Rounds’ talents to good effect . . . or should that be Fire’s? In all seriousness, if The Gates of Gehenna had been the opening track I’d have been quite excited awaiting the rest of the album, as it is it feels like an oasis in a desert of run of the mill doom-laden metal.

Crack the Whip opens with a pounding chord-based riff and things are shifting AC/DC style, apart from the vocals which are snarled and screamed true metal style and rather let the whole thing down. Interestingly, ‘Water’ left the band after the release of this album which can be seen as a boon to Cloven Hoof to be honest. This could have been a really strong track had it not been for the vocals.

Laying Down the Law starts with a promising riff and some 16th notes on the hi-hat but again the track falls down on the vocals . . . give the Hoof Paul Di’Anno or Rob Halford and you’d have a decent track here. This track even has a hook on the chorus and a great guitar solo and a driving tempo and is one of the more ‘commercial’ of the tracks on this album but still retaining all the power of the band which is a plus.

Return of the Passover is a 9 minute epic opening with some frantic guitar picking on a heavily echoed guitar followed by a heavily echoed bassline over which Fire hits some big metal chords: this could go either way. Fortunately, the drums kick-in and we’re off on a mid-tempo riff again of a triplet format that carries things along well. There’s a tad too much ‘vengeance’, ‘damnation’ and ’soul stealing’ lyrically for my tastes but once again Steve Rounds shines through with some strong guitar work. A half-time mid section provides the backdrop for Rounds to solo before the track descends into doom territory with a chugging rhythm guitar interspersed with a dual harmony guitar melody before returning to the main riff of the track. The track ends with an extended guitar solo and some syncopations of drums, bass and guitar before a crashing chord finale and the album is done!

What to say in summation of Cloven Hoof? This is not a bad album per se and has some very strong moments, largely when vocalist David Potter shuts up! Steve Rounds really shines through on every track and for a band somewhat stranded in the wasteland between the NWOBHM and Hair Metal eras, as were many others, Cloven Hoof stuck to their guns and provided a set of powerful heavy metal tracks with no frills that does have its merits. They are cited as influential now and again and certainly I feel paved the way for the more ‘Satanic’ musings of the black metal bands that were to follow shortly after this album and are worth a listen for that and pure, no-nonsense guitar riffing.

• David ‘Water’ Potter – Vocals
• Steve ‘Fire’ Rounds – Guitar
• Lee ‘Air’ Payne – Bass
• Kevin ‘Earth’ Poutney – Drums

Extreme - Pornograffitti (1990)

Emerging as the death knell was rang for the mainstream metal movement that had dominated the 1980s, Extreme largely got their act together as grunge swept away the more flamboyant of the metal genre in favour of a very low-fi approach to music: tough time to be launching a career! Pornograffitti was the second album from the band, the first being their self-titled debut a year earlier in 1989, and really showcased the band’s talent and set them up perfectly for their album III Sides to Every Story released in 1992. What Pornograffitti delivered was 13 polished hard rock tracks with good commercial potential, strong musicianship – in particular from guitarist Nuno Bettencourt – and an original edge that would see Extreme explode into the mainstream, albeit somewhat for the wrong reasons.

Thunder and rain fades in at the start of the album before a piano intro to Decadence Dance breaks through for a moment before a more ominous tone slowly builds in a dramatic fashion and then Bettencourt begins to hit some chords and we’re off. A powerful rocker in the style of Sammy Hagar, Ted Nugent . . . and even Kiss on a good day . . . opens the album proper with Cherone turning in a fine performance and Bettencourt showcasing his style with some good flourishes. The chorus harks back a year or two to the height of the ‘hair metal’ bands in both its catchy approach and the vocal harmony styling but the track motors along well and gives a strong kick-start to the album. The half-time mid-section leading to the guitar solo works well too and when you get the feeling that there’s’ going to be one almighty shred, Bettencourt plays it cool and melodically which makes a refreshing change for guitarists of the period.

Li’l Jack Horny, whilst an unbearably corny title, opens with some guitar harmonics before descending into a sleazy guitar riff for a mid-tempo shuffle complete with the odd blast from a brass section. Again, it’s apparent that Extreme are intent on providing substance with their tracks musically and vocally strong with clearly defined sections to them and strong riffs which set them apart from many of their peers and was more akin to Van Halen – whom Cherone would later join – than the whole hair metal scene. Bettencourt finally lets rip on L’il Jack with a shred too – just for good measure!

When I’m President opens with a Beastie Boys style rapped into before a syncopated riff breaks through and Cherone re-emerges with a semi-rapped verse, but slowly and in a rock style over which a strong harmony vocal is sung. Lyrically, Cherone’s social conscience is to the fore here too which makes a welcome change from the run of the mill metal lyrics prevalent in the day, something that didn’t sit well with the ‘cock rock’ posturing of Van Halen some years later!

Next-up is my personal favourite from Pornograffitti, Get The Funk Out. As a track it has it all, good vocals and great hook, funky bassline, brass section, strong riff and great solo from Bettencourt . . . who could ask for more: if this track doesn’t make you want to dance, nothing will! Get the Funk Out was reasonably well received as a single release too and received heavy airplay from MTV at the time, and still crops up from time to time on ‘classic rock’ programs. I can’t help thinking that if this track had been released 5 years earlier Extreme would have been huge.

That said, More Than Words is next which, as we all know . . . well most of us . . . was massive hit in both the UK and US and is a lilting, tender ballad featuring Cherone and Bettencourt with the latter playing acoustic guitar. It’s a really good track and a million miles from the insincere syrup dished out by Mr Big et al but unfortunately didn’t serve the band as well as it might. Unfortunately, as with Take My Breath Away by Berlin a few years earlier, More Than Words attracted a huge new audience eager to hear more from this ‘balladeering duo’ only to find that they were in fact, a powerful hard-rock band a nothing like More Than Words. Thus their biggest hit became a nail in the coffin and millstone around the neck of the band from which their career would gradually descend.

Money (In God We Trust) is another politicised lyric with a pounding rock backbone which is a theme carried into the more lyrically light-hearted It’s A Monster which opens with feedback accompanying a drum break intro and again the band really push the track along. The chorus is again catchy and the brass section makes an appearance. Extreme certainly mastered combining commerciality without compromising on the power of their music which was a trick missed by many of their peers. Bettencourt’s wailing guitar solo and dynamic runs are a real highlight here too.

The title track is a mid-tempo riff-fest with Bettencourt again providing a heavy but funky riff around which the track is woven – no three chord wonders here, each riff is complex but accessible and provide the perfect foil for Gary Cherone’s powerful and melodic vocal lines. Unsurprisingly, the theme here is the abundance/prevalence of sex in its many forms in society in general and appears as somewhat of a distancing from, and expression of distaste for, the obsession with sex as a marketing tool in music and the wider media.

When I First Kissed You slows the mood with a piano-backed ballad opening almost harking back to the mellow jazz of the Rat Pack, with a good, slow walking bassline from Pat Badger and some smooth crooning from Gary Cherone on this lounge lizard track. This shows a whole other side to Extreme as it’s a soft jazz number – even referring to Sinatra – and a million miles away from the rest of the album but it works very well, giving the listener a breather and allowing Cherone to demonstrate he’s not only a rock singer! On the downside, the keyboard strings should have been cut in favour of a string section but you can’t have everything can you?

Suzie (Wants Her All Day What) thumps away in much the same manner as the rest of the album and certainly gives you a kick after mellowing to the preceding track.

He-Man Woman Hater opens with a hundred mile an hour shred from Bettencourt to a overworking click track and is impeccably played throughout. At the time Bettencourt was being courted int he same circles as Vai etc as a new ‘guitar hero’ but, sadly, with the demise of the band doesn’t seem to get much of a reference in the present day. Once the lengthy guitar solo intro abates, the track proper comes in and is again a mid-tempo rocker and I have to confess that by now things are maybe getting a little samey but not at all disagreeable.

Song For Love is a tender love song with a strong but cheesy chorus – this is moving dangerously into 80s formula ballad territory which, in my opinion, is very dangerous territory and one that should be plundered with caution: few bands have been there and emerged with any musical credibility! Song For Love was released as a single and reached number 12 in the UK further reinforcing the public’s perception that Extreme were balladeers . . . not a good thing for their longevity as it was definitely not the case but I’m sure the record company thought they’d make hay whilst the sun shone.

The final track on the album, Hole Hearted, reached number 4 when released as a single in the US so guess what kind of track it was? Yes, it was an acoustic track but fortunately an upbeat one and not of the syrup variety. In fact, Hole Hearted is one of the standout tracks on the album with Bettencourt providing some good guitar work and Cherone singing really well and the whole track staying just the right side of formula ballad to remain credible. There’s almost a bluegrass feel to the track with some slide guitar thrown-in and the vocal melody is excellent. The track ends with thunder and rain and the album’s over as it began.

Pornograffitti is a good album, not great, but very good – there’s just a tendency to slip a little towards cheesy from time to time that prevents it from being a great album. As far as Extreme go, it’s their strongest album and whilst the follow-up had some good moments too, the fun element that they had here had somewhat dissipated by that release which was a pity. If you like your rock loud, funky and catchy with lashings of strong guitar work and solos then Pornograffitti is an album you must hear.

• Gary Cherone – Vocals
• Nuno Bettencourt – Guitar
• Pat Badger – Bass
• Paul Geary – Drums

Berlin - Count Three And Pray (1986)

Californian electro-pop/new wave band Berlin hit the scene in the early 1980s their carefully blended mix of synth-driven songs, such as The Metro, coupled with their image, personified by singer Teri Nunn which garnered them a growing fan base. As their career progressed a more rock side to their sound emerged and by Count Three and Pray, their fourth studio album in 1986, they had developed into a strong commercial-rock band capable of writing songs of both power and melody, all impeccably sung by the very underrated Teri Nunn. Unfortunately, just as More Than Words became a millstone around the neck of Extreme by being their worldwide smash hit but not belying the true sound of the band, so Take My Breath Away from the film Top Gun did for Berlin, but more of that later.

The album opens with a powerful mid-tempo bass and drum line overlaid with Hammond followed by a flash of guitar before Terri Nunn begins the verse of Will I Ever Understand You. A strong album opener held together by a bassline and powerful vocal performance from Nunn who demonstrates her powerful and versatile range to good effect. Mid-track there’s a short drum-break and slow build to . . . not, not a guitar shred, but a return to the main theme thus maintaining the melody and intensity of the overall track.

The mood then drops for the pan-pipe style intro to You Don’t Know through which the drums fade-in along with a brief synth melody before Nunn once again holds centre stage with a brooding verse before lifting the mood slightly with the chorus. Written by bass/synth player (and Nunn’s partner) John Crawford the song serves well to illustrate the strong songwriting credentials of the band – there’s even a harp on this track in places! You Don’t Know was a single from the album reaching number 39 in the UK chart but in my opinion deserved to perform much better.

Like Flames starts with a whistling melody over a really typical 80s synth pattern but soon turns into a more mainstream rock track making good use of light and shade with the first part of each verse being dropped softly and picking up with intensity towards the chorus and as with You Don’t Know, was a minor chart troubler on both sides of the Atlantic. The track was written by drummer Rob Brill and makes good use of Nunn’s range and whilst the rather dated backing track – think John Parr’s St Elmo’s Fire and the ilk – there’s enough guitar, even a solo, and interest from Nunn to carry the track along without it descending too much into cheesy 80s territory.

Heartstrings is up next and is a poppy track again around a bassline with guitars chopping away in accompaniment. The track stands up well alongside any 80s rock tracks of similar artists – Pat Benatar etc – and it does make you wonder why Berlin didn’t really hit the heights and aren’t remembered with the same degree of affection and frequency as some lesser groups of the era. The harmony guitar break works well on Heartstrings too as does the solo proper which stretches over several bars.

Up next is the root of the problem with Berlin, Take My Breath Away. Now, whilst the Georgio Moroder-penned track is good for what it is, and whilst Terri Nunn does a great job on vocals, in part Take My Breath Away broke the band. Being number 1 in the chart virtually globally, in part for its connection to Tom Cruise’s Top Gun film for which it was an integral part, was a double-edged sword for Berlin. On the one hand it gave them worldwide exposure and success but on the other hand it wasn’t reminiscent of Berlin – it was in effect a Terri Nunn solo piece – and thus those masses switched on to the band by the single would buy the band’s albums and be disappointed if they were expecting more of the same. Furthermore, Nunn and Crawford’s relationship was stretched to breaking point as Nunn was seen as ‘Berlin’ and the band an irrelevance.

Trash is up next and is a really ballsy guitar-driven rocker, good contrast to the previous track, in a more updated Runaways style. There’s even a squealing guitar solo here and a bit of shredding which gives a real metal edge to the track with Nunn’s vocals reigned back melodically in-keeping with the greater emphasis on instrumentation. The track does show what a versatile composer John Crawford was as he could seamlessly write hard rock, pop and ballads all with a distinctive catchy edge and was fortunate enough to belong to a band who could execute them impeccably.

When Love Goes to War opens with melancholy piano which drifts into a slow bassline once more over which a heavily chorused guitar plays and Nunn opines the breakup of love and the trail of destruction a broken relationship leaves behind: somewhat prophetic at the time! This is a classic track of its time and would equally have sat well with Vixen, for example, with whom I’m sure it would have been a huge hit as it has a strong hook, powerful vocals, melody, emotion and power. Listen to it back to back with Vixen’s Edge of Broken Heart and you’ll see that Berlin had great commercial potential too in their own style and right but sadly it was not to be.

Hideaway is one of the weaker tracks on the album – it’s got a strong performance once more from Nunn but doesn’t really standout amongst the other tracks being of mediocre ballad affair. Sex Me, Talk Me begins with a very ‘macho’ chant repeated to a backing of strings! Then in comes the 80s synth bass of which I’ve never been a fan and again it’s a bit of a filler track and not written by the band. Interestingly, Hideaway was also co-written by the writer of Sex Me, Talk Me so I’d go as far as to say that I’ve identified the weak link with these two tracks.

Pink and Velvet, co-written by Nunn and guitarist Ric Olson closes the album and is a mellow, slow-tempo track carried along by Nunn’s soulful vocals. Pink and Velvet was also released as a single from the album but failed to make any inroads into the charts and was, in my opinion, an unlikely single choice. However, it is a strong track featuring two very melodic extended, Dave Gilmour-esque, guitar solos and reminds me of Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb in the guitar department . . . well, at least heading in that direction.

Count Three and Pray should have been a huge album for Berlin as it contains a set of very strong tracks that equal, if not better, those of many of their peers in the power-rock/commercial rock field at that time but unfortunately their biggest hit rather overshadowed the band’s true sensibilities and attracted a new audience drawn by the sound of Take My Breath Away who were only going to be disappointed by how the band actually sounded. The nature of the single also rather made them somewhat of a novelty act in rock circles and further drove away an audience that would have been far more appreciative of the true Berlin sound should they have had the opportunity to hear it. All-in-all this is a very strong album and one I’d definitely recommend and Terri Nunn was, and is, a phenomenally talented vocalist who, along with the songwriting and playing skills of the rest of Berlin, should have been destined for greatness but, alas, that destiny was not to be realised.

• Terri Nunn – Vocals
• John Crawford – Bass/Synthesizer
• Ric Olsen – Guitar
• David Diamond – Guitars/Syntheiszers
• Matt Reid – Synthesizers/Keyboards
• Rob Brill – Drums