A careless whisper
In the midst of the long grass
Deepest secrets shared
Friday, April 10, 2026
Yank Crime by Drive Like Jehu
Musical genres are funny things. I started listening to this album, knowing nothing about it, and initially assumed that it was hardcore punk of some variety. I then checked the track listing and saw that the first song was not far short of six minutes and the next two were even longer. The next clue was the vocal style which was that distracting screaming where the lyrics are pretty much incomprehensible. Fine if you like that sort of thing, but not really my cup of tea.
Vocals aside, I enjoyed the digressions into random noise and math rock guitar noodling, particularly the last track on the bonus version where the voice was way down in the mix and much more enjoyable as a result.
A pretty solid 3 stars from me.
https://album.link/gb/i/321075318
Thursday, April 09, 2026
A Nod Is As Good As a Wink... To a Blind Horse by Faces
1971 was a great year for Rod Stewart. As well as his hit solo album featuring the song Maggie May, he released this album with Faces. The tracks are split between those written by Stewart and ones by bassist Ronnie Lane who also steps up to the microphone for vocal duties and does a great job.
The music is bluesy rock and roll played with what sounds like considerable enjoyment from everyone involved. Stay With Me is probably the standout track but great cover of Memphis, Tennessee by Chuck Berry is also worthy of note.
It’s no surprise that this band were one of John Peel’s favourites until The Undertones came along a few years later, and there are a lot of similarities in the feel of a band of young shavers in their 20s having a grand time.
https://album.link/gb/i/1031007095
Wednesday, April 08, 2026
Music by Madonna
The early 90s were a bit of creative low point for our Madge, at least as far as music was concerned. It wasn’t until Ray of Light in 1997 and this album in 2000 that she found her mojo again. I’ve probably listened to Ray of Light more (being a fan of producer William Orbit) but Music has a lot going for it and it certainly confounded expectations at the time.
The major issue that most people seem to have with this is the cover of American Pie by Don McClean. There seems to be something of a ‘don’t you dare touch a classic’ reaction from some music fans, but if you are going to do a cover at least try to find something different to say and I think Madonna definitely manages that.
Aside from that, there’s a good mix of stuff on this album with the title track and What It Feels Like For a Girl being the standouts for me. Overall this gets 4 stars from me but that’s only because Ray of Light is even better.
https://album.link/gb/i/316826011
Tuesday, April 07, 2026
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