Not Such a Handsome Beast

I used to think that heavy metal bands had some of the greatest album covers ever. The artwork on some of the albums by Rainbow, Dio, Metallica, Megadeth and their like is second to none.

Then I was "re-introduced" to this from the NWOBHM era while looking for songs for a Spotify playlist. The music's not bad, but this cover, once seen it you can't unsee it. It's considered one of the worst album covers of all time.

Don't Let Daddy Kiss Me

When you think of Motorhead and their hard-rocking, hard-living frontman Lemmy you immediately think of songs like Ace of Spades, Born to Raise Hell, Iron Fist, Overkill and the like, songs that make you want to bang your head and raise your fist in triumph. You rarely think about Lemmy and Motorhead having a social conscience and singing about sensitive subjects. That is until you hear them play “Don’t Let Daddy Kiss Me.”

When Prince Stole The Show

If you’ve ever browsed through Youtube looking for classic rock clips there’s a chance you may have seen a certain performance from the 2004 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony. You know the one I’m talking about, the year that Prince was inducted, and the year that blew everyone else off the stage.

It was the year that they paid tribute to George Harrison. Having inducted him into the hall for his post-Beatles work, a who’s who of Harrison’s friends took to the stage to pay tribute to the great man with a rendition of While My Guitar Gently Weeps. His Wilbury band-mates Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty were there to lead things, George’s son Dhani was next to them, and behind them on keyboards was Steve Winwood. Alongside them were musicians who had worked with both Lynne and Petty, such as guitarist Marc Mann, who was scheduled to handle the mid-song guitar solo.

Remembering Peter Green

It was around 1987-88 that my brother Michael was really getting into Fleetwood Mac. Their Tango in the Night album had been doing incredibly well, and Michael had been searching out the band’s vast back catalogue. It wasn’t just the Buckingham/Nicks era he was interested in, he’d been searching out the old Peter Green era stuff as well.

One afternoon he began playing a video of a late-night documentary about the band he’d recorded. It was the first time I’d really paid any attention to the band, although I’d had a brief dalliance when Albatross became a part of my record collection when I was a very young child and when big sister Sue got a copy of the Tusk single in 1979.

Taylor Swift is Better Than You....and the Baby Jesus

I was browsing through Twitter the other day, as you do, when I came across this little gem, posted on Christmas Day. Here’s the screenshot:

Songs That Are 50 Years Old In 2020

Here's something that may make some of you feel old, a selection of songs that reach the ripe old age of 50 in 2020, songs that were either originally released or hit the UK charts in 1970.

Only 28 at the moment. More will be added later. Enjoy!

Julian's Alternative Eurovision

Want an alternative to the Eurovision Song Contest? Here's a few songs from around Europe, together with a token Aussie act. No Brits though. We are leaving the EU after all!

I'll Wait For You There, Like A Stone.....

When I’m at work I’m often cut off from the outside world as far as the news is concerned. I rarely hear or read what’s going on in the world from the time I leave the house at around half seven in the morning until I get home around six-fifteen in the evening. So when a certain song played over my earphones on the bus ride home I had no idea of the relevance it had.

You see, over the past few months I’ve started to listen to a lot of Audioslave, the hybrid super group made up of members of Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden. I’ve paid attention to them briefly over the years, but when I caught sight of the video for their 2003 release Like a Stone during a late night channel surfing session I was kind of blown away, especially by Chris Cornell’s excellent vocals, so much so that their three albums began to feature heavily on my phone’s music player.

Rest in peace Mr. Bowie

Back in the 1970’s when I was a young lad my Dad used to work as a bin man. It was an entirely different job back then. No simply putting wheelie bins on a lift to tip into the back of a truck back then.

One of his routes saw him collecting the rubbish from one of the local cafes here in Cromer. Every few weeks a man would go round and change the records in their jukebox, and rather than throw them away the owner used to give some of them to Dad, so when I first took an interest in music our family had a ready-made record collection.

Most of the songs I used to play a lot came from the glam rock era, so among the likes of Slade, Sweet, T-Rex, Suzi Quatro and David Essex were a few from a guy called David Bowie.

Rest in peace Lemmy

I still have vivid memories of that day in the summer of 1981. My brother Jon called me into his bedroom so he could play some his records for me. He was really starting to become a metal head, thanks to his countless trips to the West Runton Pavillion.. Up until then I'd been a solid pop music fan. Adam and the Ants were my faveourite band at the time. I couldn't be doing with that heavy metal stuff.

Dear Deep Purple.....

Dear Deep Purple,

2013 marks the 45th anniversary of your inception, so why not give Purple fans all around the world something worth celebrating?

Why not put on a 45th anniversary concert, possibly in the Albert Hall? You could get every surviving former and current member together under the same roof.

Queen and Paul Rodgers - Return of the Champions - Album Review

To say that I am a mark for Queen would be an understatement. Bohemian Rhapsody is the first song I can remember hearing, and in Freddie Mercury they had the greatest showman a band could ever  have.

Linkin Park Live in Texas - Album Review

It was with a great deal of nagging from a friend that I purchased this album. I've always enjoyed Linkin Park's music, but have never really been a huge fan. I have a feeling my friend only wanted me to buy this so she could get a free copy!

A Tribute to Queen: The Essential Collection - CD Review

So I’m walking through my local Woolworths shop, hoping to buy the latest Japanese horror film The Host, a cross between Jaws and Jurassic Park, or so the television advert told me. When I found out that they were out of stock, I thought sod it, and brought The Prestige, a tale of two feuding magicians, instead.

Best of Rainbow - Album Review

Given the nature of this website, it may seem very odd to you that I have submitted a best of/greatest hits compilation for the Classic Albums thread. However, given that this is a band formed by the god Ritchie Blackmore, then this is a different case entirely.

Queen - A Kind of Magic - Album Review

It was little more than a soundtrack album to one of the best films of the 1980's. Add a song from another film, and some videos that were considered to be revolutionary at the time, and you had Queen's "A Kind Of Magic" album.

Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory? - Album Review

It was 1996. The Brit Pop phenomenon was at it's highest. Bands like Blur, Suede, Republica, and their like were storming up the chart, selling millions of albums. And at the top of the pile were two brothers from Manchester, Noel and Liam Gallagher, and their band, Oasis.

The Mac Are Back!

With the release of their new album, "Say You Will", I thought I would take the opportunity to sit back and reflect on just why I've become such a big fan of Fleetwood Mac over the past few years.

Deep Purple - Bananas - Album Review

On Monday, August 25th, a Bank Holiday here in Britain, veteran rockers Deep Purple released their latest album, Bananas. A landmark of sorts, as Purple are now one of the few musical acts to have released new studio albums in the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's.

Choose 80's Dance - Album Review

As you begin to read this article, you're probably starting to wonder "what the hell is this? What is Julian Radbourne, self-confessed heavy rock fan, doing buying a dance music CD?"