Due to a mate posting the 15 albums which he reckons changed his life, here are what I would pick - in rough chronological order of when I first heard them. Note these are influential, not necessarily my favourites, even by the bands mentioned:
1) Meatloaf - Bat Out Of Hell
2) Blondie - Parallel Lines
Both these date from primary school days - summer holidays stuck at my grannies, but with access to an uncle's record collection (he's about 10 years older than me), and these would be the first real guitar albums I ever heard. There wasn't much I really enjoyed apart form this - although I have to admit to still having a soft spot for Abba from this time - and I was at just the right age to be very non-musically influenced by the sight of Debbie Harry. It actually took me about 25 years to get around to buying a copy of Bat, never had a vinyl copy.
3) Marillion - Script For A Jester's Tear
Most of my early teens were spent listening to generic pop music, but in 1984 I found myself being parochial and picking up on "hot" local hopefuls Pallas - this could easily be the Sentinel listed here. I went through a bit of a new wave of prog phase; during the summer of 84 all I really listened to were the first two albums from Pallas and Mariilion. Marillion were probably the more influential as I have pretty much gone through regular phases of overindulging in Fish from then on. This eventually went both back to listening to the original prog acts and then to the later ones like Porcupine Tree and Opeth, although that came more from an act mentioned later on this list.
4) Rainbow - Rising
My best friend at school was also a Marillion fan, but his main man was Ronnie James Dio, and the first album of his I bought, and still my favourite, was Rising. I've loved this album for over 25 years, and many of my current favourite acts are directly basing most of their songs on "Stargazer".
5) Iron Maiden - Powerslave
The first Maiden album I bought, and the first real Heavy Metal as opposed to hard rock album I bought, basically the direction of most of my future listening habits are defined by this. Still my favourite Maiden album along with the first one.
6) Deep Purple - Made In Japan
I will always be a huge fan of rock music inspired by classical music as opposed to strictly blues, and this was the first Purple album I bought. I loved the interaction between Blackmore and Lord, if they're not involved as far as I'm concerned it's not Purple. I just love the extended jam versions, and I've been a bit of a sucker for picking up Mk 2/3 live stuff ever since. I could probably also list this as being a direct reason why I also listen to a reasonable amount of classical music - although that is mainly the "heavy" stuff like Wagner and Beethoven, not too many piano concertos in there!
7) UFO - Strangers In The Night
Simply a great rock band playing at their peak
8) Accept - Restless and Wild
My first dalliance with European power metal, and Accept's best album. Still a great live band to this day.
9) Metallica - Ride The Lightning
I hadn't really had much exposure to thrash, but I was heading to Donington in 85 for the first time and Metallica were on the bill, so copies of the first two albums were duly purchased. Instant fan, loved them live as well.
10) Alice Cooper - Welcome To My Nightmare
Not a really big fan of glammy stuff, but Alice is a huge personal favourite, one of those acts you just go and see who never disappoints. I went boths ways from this album, both forward onto the acts he directly influenced - the WASPs and Marilyn Mansons of this world - and also back to the likes of Scream Jay Hawkins and Little Richard who obviously influenced him.
11) Aerosmith - Toys In The Attic
OK, thinking about it, maybe I do like this stuff just a little bit! One of the earliest Aerosmith albums I got, and one of the best. I do quite like some of the 80's hairspray bands, and Kiss will always also be up there, but this lot are my guys. Another one where I went back the way as well and ended up being a fan of late 60s/early 70s Stones.
12) Starz - Violation
Back in the mid eighties I picked up the wonderful music for nations compilation album "Striktly For Konnisseurs", which introduced me to a whole host of obscure acts (at least in Britain). I loved a a lot of the bands this album introduced me to - Legs Diamond, Angel, Max Webster, etc. For me though, the cream of the crop was Starz, both musically excellent and lyrically brilliant. There's a reason this album keeps coming high in polls.
13) Ministry - Psalm 69
Not exactly a big fan of industrial, but this was basically the album where it mixed gloriously with metal. Moved on from this to NIN, KMFDM, Die Krupps and various weird and wonderful darkwave style acts. Variety in all things.
14) Dream Theater - Images and Words
Anybody who knows my musical tastes will know how long I've banged on about this lot - from getting sent an original Majesty demo right up to the present I've loved this lot, I think they are simply the best set of musicians in the world and travel far and wide to see them. This is actually a bit surprising as I wasn't much of a fan of the 80's guitar widdlers and associated musos. This was the album where it all came together to confirm their status in my favourite acts. I also got back into some more of the more recent prog acts because of this lot, like Opeth and Spock's Beard.
15) B.B. King - Live At The Regal
Proving that not everything I love has to have 800 notes a second or be able to strip paint from walls, this is quite possibly my favourite live album ever. The recording is amazing for something from the mid sixties, and the audience are an extra instrument on their own. B.B. King himself is close to being the most charismatic individual I've seen - just coming on stage and playing one note can completely electrify a concert.
Well that seems a decent enough bash at this, although it does miss out a lot of bands I love, but they just weren't as influential in what I now listen to as the bands listed above - although if I re-wrote this tomorrow a few would undoubtedly change.
The inane ponderings of an ex-pat Jock
Monday 23 August 2010
Monday 9 August 2010
And on we go
Saw a band for the first time in 23 years at the weekend, the American Lizzy Borden - last seen at the Reading festival in 1987 when their only chance of making an impact, playing the excellent "Me Against The World", was destroyed by vocals disappearing when trying to get a sing-along going. This is now my record for time between seeing a band multiple times.
Although the cheap Alice Cooper rip-off theatrics were still in place, what surprised me was the main man's blatant aping of Rob Halford's frontman style. Now why an American vocalist would want to imitate a Brummie trying (badly) to pretend to be an American baffles me. Made me realise that I hadn't actually seen Judas Priest why I first saw Lizzy Borden as well, which just makes it feel even longer and me even older. They did have the bright idea of getting the attention of the fat, balding middle aged Belgian audience by employing a buxom young lady in a stars and stripes bikini to jump up and down and do the splits. Obviously this didn't apply to me - I'm not Belgian.
This was at the Alcatraz festival, which as usual for the continent, was pretty well organised and ran smoothly. It was only small, 2500 - 3000 I reckon, but it was enthusiastically attended. Fortunately it was indoors, as it bucketed down most of the afternoon, but it did give me a chance to see some bands who were new to me, including a couple I have been interested in for a while. Chief among these were Moonspell, who I have slowly picked up a few back catalogue albums by. Imagine a far less poppy Him with a less charismatic but coherent frontman mixed with a slight hint of the Cure and you're in the right sort of area. Very impressive and a band I want to see again in a headlining environment. Also high on my curiosity list were Raven, who started off a bit dodgily (courtesy of poor sound), but ended up being quite impressive - although 45 minutes or so was probably enough for me. Surprised to quite enjoy what I heard by the Gunslingers, a pretty decent Hawkwind spin off.
Band of the day for me though, oddly enough, was Epica. First time I've seen them outside of the Netherlands, even if this was virtually a home gig in Flemish speaking territory, and it was very impressive indeed - Unleashed, Resign to Oblivion, Obsessive Devotion et al. Judging by the size of the queue for their autograph session, they were also drawing a bigger crowd than the alleged headliners (Kreator). As they seem to be garnering a reasonable American fan base due to constant touring they may just end up becoming reasonably big - and much do they deserve it.
Although the cheap Alice Cooper rip-off theatrics were still in place, what surprised me was the main man's blatant aping of Rob Halford's frontman style. Now why an American vocalist would want to imitate a Brummie trying (badly) to pretend to be an American baffles me. Made me realise that I hadn't actually seen Judas Priest why I first saw Lizzy Borden as well, which just makes it feel even longer and me even older. They did have the bright idea of getting the attention of the fat, balding middle aged Belgian audience by employing a buxom young lady in a stars and stripes bikini to jump up and down and do the splits. Obviously this didn't apply to me - I'm not Belgian.
This was at the Alcatraz festival, which as usual for the continent, was pretty well organised and ran smoothly. It was only small, 2500 - 3000 I reckon, but it was enthusiastically attended. Fortunately it was indoors, as it bucketed down most of the afternoon, but it did give me a chance to see some bands who were new to me, including a couple I have been interested in for a while. Chief among these were Moonspell, who I have slowly picked up a few back catalogue albums by. Imagine a far less poppy Him with a less charismatic but coherent frontman mixed with a slight hint of the Cure and you're in the right sort of area. Very impressive and a band I want to see again in a headlining environment. Also high on my curiosity list were Raven, who started off a bit dodgily (courtesy of poor sound), but ended up being quite impressive - although 45 minutes or so was probably enough for me. Surprised to quite enjoy what I heard by the Gunslingers, a pretty decent Hawkwind spin off.
Band of the day for me though, oddly enough, was Epica. First time I've seen them outside of the Netherlands, even if this was virtually a home gig in Flemish speaking territory, and it was very impressive indeed - Unleashed, Resign to Oblivion, Obsessive Devotion et al. Judging by the size of the queue for their autograph session, they were also drawing a bigger crowd than the alleged headliners (Kreator). As they seem to be garnering a reasonable American fan base due to constant touring they may just end up becoming reasonably big - and much do they deserve it.
Friday 6 August 2010
Hello, hello - welcome to the machine: Further musing
Hello, hello - welcome to the machine: Further musing: "Not at all sure how long or often I'm going to post on here, so might as well get on with it whilst I have the enthusiasm. I intend to gener..."
Hello, hello - welcome to the machine: An initial attempt
Hello, hello - welcome to the machine: An initial attempt: "Never really bothered with any of this before, but considering the sheer number of people trying it, why not? Bear with me for a stream of m..."
Further musing
Not at all sure how long or often I'm going to post on here, so might as well get on with it whilst I have the enthusiasm. I intend to generalise a lot on here, I don't particularly want to get into the fine details of my life, even I don't find that very interesting.
Returning to thoughts on moving countries, I can only observe that small differences are more obvious than large ones in some cases. The first thing really noticed about Dutch differences compared to the UK (apart form the almost total lack of CCTV) was postal. For years I was used to getting the standard junk mail offering wonderful pre-approved credit cards, or bank loans, or debt consolidation, or variations thereof. For months after I moved here, all I got were letters inviting me to open bank savings accounts - which explains a lot why the UK has such huge levels of personal debt, and over here it just doesn't seem to be a feature. Like rather a lot of Brits, my personal debt levels were on the severely unhealthy side when I moved; I was one of those who subscribed to the "it's all right as long as you have cashflow" mentality. I'm happy to report that I have managed to reverse that greatly, old bank loans are paid off and are not being replaced, credit card debt has been reduced greatly (indeed it's not that easy to get a credit card here, even though it is a virtual essential these days). I was never exactly in danger of bankruptcy, my equity on my mortgage was never threatening to visit negative territory even during the worst of the shrinkage of UK house prices, but lack of worry about debt is always welcome. Money may not ensure your happyness, but at least it can make you comfortable in your misery
Returning to thoughts on moving countries, I can only observe that small differences are more obvious than large ones in some cases. The first thing really noticed about Dutch differences compared to the UK (apart form the almost total lack of CCTV) was postal. For years I was used to getting the standard junk mail offering wonderful pre-approved credit cards, or bank loans, or debt consolidation, or variations thereof. For months after I moved here, all I got were letters inviting me to open bank savings accounts - which explains a lot why the UK has such huge levels of personal debt, and over here it just doesn't seem to be a feature. Like rather a lot of Brits, my personal debt levels were on the severely unhealthy side when I moved; I was one of those who subscribed to the "it's all right as long as you have cashflow" mentality. I'm happy to report that I have managed to reverse that greatly, old bank loans are paid off and are not being replaced, credit card debt has been reduced greatly (indeed it's not that easy to get a credit card here, even though it is a virtual essential these days). I was never exactly in danger of bankruptcy, my equity on my mortgage was never threatening to visit negative territory even during the worst of the shrinkage of UK house prices, but lack of worry about debt is always welcome. Money may not ensure your happyness, but at least it can make you comfortable in your misery
Thursday 5 August 2010
An initial attempt
Never really bothered with any of this before, but considering the sheer number of people trying it, why not? Bear with me for a stream of minutiae for a while at any rate. My current reason for musing has come from relatively recently being pulled into the world of facebook - by my 77 year old aunt of all people - and the sheer number of people I have managed to re-acquaint myself with in the past few days, some of whom I haven't actually seen since the eighties. How much has the internet changed our viewpoints on everything? I remember having penpals twenty odd years ago - remember how they used to be advertised in music magazines? - but this is much weirder and obviously instant. Not only can we all now communicate with those we have some tenuous link with in our social lives, but we can now re-find old friends easily and communicate instantly. So much is obvious. The bit I can't quite decide upon is which I consider more important, those I have had physical contact with, even if not for decades, or those I communicate regularly with but have never properly met?
I moved to my current location (Holland) about 3 years ago, and have only been back to the old country about once a year since. I haven't really made one friend outside of my work colleagues since arriving here, only a few minor acquaintances down the pub, etc. This is hugely due to the fact I have almost as much contact with old friends now as I did before moving, in fact with getting visitors over here I have seen some people more than I have in years. How healthy is it to only have friends at a remove? Long distance romantic entanglements have always been a strain to maintain, how much more difficult is to keep a friendship going, or is it easier due to less need for physical contact? I have regular discourse with people I haven't seen for years and consider to be good friends, and I would have difficulty recognising them if I walked past them in the street.
For certain sections of the populace, are all the lingering traces of community spirit going to disappear? We worry about social cohesion, how do you cope with immigrants from any part of the world who have no need to integrate with the country they inhabit?
I moved to my current location (Holland) about 3 years ago, and have only been back to the old country about once a year since. I haven't really made one friend outside of my work colleagues since arriving here, only a few minor acquaintances down the pub, etc. This is hugely due to the fact I have almost as much contact with old friends now as I did before moving, in fact with getting visitors over here I have seen some people more than I have in years. How healthy is it to only have friends at a remove? Long distance romantic entanglements have always been a strain to maintain, how much more difficult is to keep a friendship going, or is it easier due to less need for physical contact? I have regular discourse with people I haven't seen for years and consider to be good friends, and I would have difficulty recognising them if I walked past them in the street.
For certain sections of the populace, are all the lingering traces of community spirit going to disappear? We worry about social cohesion, how do you cope with immigrants from any part of the world who have no need to integrate with the country they inhabit?
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