New Wave music reviews

Ah, the heady days of misogyny. Or was it really misanthropy? Rattus is already archetypal Stranglers within the first minute, punk-ish but obviously a band who knew how to play and keep a tune going amid the attitude. There are three undeniable classics here - the sweaty "Hanging Around", the sneering pseudo-reggae "Peaches", and the stomping "Grip" - but plenty more besides. "Sometimes" propels itself along Dave Greenfield's organ (as it were), "London Lady" audibly drips with contempt, and "Goodbye Toulouse" manages to be a thumping, melancholy ballad. "Down in the Sewer" is a wondrous marriage of punk and prog rock, with a bit of Hank Marvin thrown in. The lyrics throughout the album are probably offensive at times but then if you're the sort of person who listens to the Stranglers you can probably handle it. It's all a bit tame by today's standards anyway. "Ugly" is, however, rubbish.

This album is fantastic. It is one of the great early punk classics. However, there is another version of the CD that has some bonus tracks on it, so get that one!

A must have if you are a rock n roll fan. I still listen to it now. Every cut is great!The thumping bass, the cheesy yet menacing organ, the blistering guitars, the snarling ...-off vocals. They don't make em like this anymore.

This is a MUST OWN for any fan of early 80's pop-punk. Imagine a mixture of Ramones and Go-Go's and you'll get the idea. This album was produced by musical genius Richard Gottehrer, the man behind such successful artists as the Angels ("my boyfriend's back" - 1963), Blondie (self titled - 1976) , the Go-Go's (produced the first two LP's) and many, many more! Late Night with David Letterman fans may be interested to know that the LP features drummer Anton Fig and Paul Schaffer on Piano and Organ!

You've probably heard the classic track "tell that girl to shut up" the ultimate 80's pop-punk masterpiece! The song was later re-recorded by Transvision Vamp (without any visible credit given to holly?), so if you are only familiar with that "imitation" you owe it to yourself to investigate the original. The rest of the album is not without flaws but has lots of very high points.

Holly and the Italians was basically the name of a group conceived by "holly beth vincent". Her follow up to this release actually uses her full name as the title of the album. After the 2nd release (a total chart failure) Holly vanished for a LONG time but showed up again with the group "the oblivious" and later with a group called "Vowel Movement" with Concrete Blonde singer Johnette Napolitano.

If you like this CD you should seek out the follow up release "Holly Beth Vincent" which is a very unique effort worth owning but suffers from the production of Mike Thorne (a guy who ruined the sound of a lot of New Wave groups when he took over production). The DOUBLE CD named "demos federico" is certainly worth owning. The tracks "it's only me" and "fanzine" are both far superior on "demos federico" than the versions included here on "the right to be italian". Several of the tracks on "demos federico" are also demo tracks from her group "the oblivious".

Check out everything from Holly and you're sure to be surprised and entertained! She may have never lived up to the full potential glimpsed on this first release.... but there's a smattering of great tunes on every album!

I have both Holly & the Italians LPs (in storage) and had forgotten how awesome this album was/is. I was blown away from the opening of "I wanna go Home" - "Some people achieve greatness. Others have it thrust on them. And then there are those who are...born Italian." This is a great album from the early 80's with all the wonderful vitality and power of the early Ramones. This is everything that was good and wonderful about the new wave movement. Forget the hair bands and the bad synthesizers and give Holly a chance.

I understand there have been covers of some of these songs (which probably got more airplay than the original) but the originals are a great blast from the past. If there was a theme song for the "80's Show" you could easily use "Rock against Romance" or "Tell that Girl to Shut Up" or "I wanna Go Home".

This album is one of my all time favorites -- "Wanna go home" and "Tell that girl to shut up" are classics!!!

Many bands have covered their work and that's how I found out about them. Transvision Vamp does a cool cover of "Tell that girl to shut up" and the band 'Manda and the Marbles' have ressurected "Wanna go home". In fact, Manda and the Marbles are pretty much a modern day 'Holly and the Italians' and their album More Seduction is worth checking out as well.

Holly and the Italians should have reached a bigger level of fame -- you will not be dissapointed with this album!

It's too bad that pioneering metal bands such as The Scorpions and Judas Priest started off creating serious and, yes, even artistic music only to degenerate eventually into cartoon caricatures of themselves. "Sad Wings of Destiny" is quintessential Heavy Metal, capturing Judas Priest at their finest before cliche set in. "Victim of Changes" thumps and grinds not only sonically but emotionally as well. "The Ripper" sums up in just a few minutes 100 years of gothic paranoia and mystery. "Dreamer/Deciever" begins as a poetic lilt and soars from there into colorful orbit. It really is too bad that JP could not sustain the heights reached with this album.

This is an album you should go out and buy. Plain and simple. Do not burn this one, buy it. Don't download the album from Apple to put into your Ipod... go buy the CD, it is crucial that you do it this way. Heres the lowdown...
In 1974 JUDAS PRIEST released their first album Rocka Rolla on an indie label, and it was sooo bad that the label made them wait two years before allowing them to record a follow up.
In 1976 they returned with this SAD WINGS OF DESTINY... an album that is soooo good that it instantly put them on a major label and grounded them for legendary status' to come.
SAD WINGS is an album that is a must own, for a lot of reasons, but mainly it is the way that this album is put together. It is hard to get it just right, and the way most of the tracks fit together with one another is absolutely crucial.. I'll get back to this, first off here are the tracks...
VICTIM OF CHANGES is two tracks in one, Whiskey Woman was a pre-Halford Priest song that is mixed up with a pre-Priest Rob Halford song to make one of the most epic of tracks.. VICTIM...
THE RIPPER.. simply amazing, one of the most important metal songs of all time.
DREAMER DECEIVER/DECEIVER.. two seperate tracks that should only be listened to as one (think of it in the way you would FLOYDS Brain Damage/Eclipse... one song)
The first songs here originally made up side two of the album, this was changed sometime in the early eighties, due to the fact that these are probably the more "powerful" songs... don't worry about this...
PRELUDE/TYRANT... so think of this as the beggining. Again two tracks that should be one, these should not be seperated in any way shape or form. This stuff is rockin', with a very cool, somewhat mysterious chorus... bad ass!
GENOCIDE.. a straight up old school rocker, very cool...
Those songs are all masterpieces, and this album IS an absolute masterpiece... EPITAPH comes in at the end, and is probably the most bashed of Priest songs. Can't dissagree, the song is a total suck fest... BUT without it, SAD WINGS just wouldn't be the same (I guess you just have to KNOW the album to understand) right back into ISLAND OF DOMINATION, which itself is a little awkward at points, but finishes on a nice, heavy, Priest style, that will definatley satisfy any metal fix.
Any Priest fan who is not familiar with SAD WINGS, really does not know what JUDAS PRIEST really is all about, and I gotsta say, that burning this album, or downloading it is a waste of time... You want this. You want to play it really loud, and in it's entirety, the way it was meant to be heard (ok, so side 1 and side two have been reversed, this way is fine too, just don't {F} with the mix any more.) SAD WINGS is one of MY all time albums... PRIEST single handedly closed out prog-metal with a bang, and at the same time planted the seeds for thrash metal... so yeah PRIEST is a pretty big deal in metal music... don't ever forget about SAD WINGS.
P.S> there are a few different releases of this, check it out, other than some different artwork on the covers thy're all the same, figure out which one best suits your wallet more than anything... Enjoy this one.

If one album could truly be called "a masterpiece", it is undoubtebly "Sad Wings of Destiny". Listening to this album, there is little doubt that Judas Priest were never again able to accomplish such wonders. There are some songs that literally drive the listener to tears, they are so beautiful ("Victim of Changes", "Dreamer Deciever", and the cover of Joan Baez' "Diamonds and Rust"). It is a great shame that Priest strayed from this sound and become the leather-metal band they did after 1980. Had Priest stuck with this sound, I have no doubt they would be taken far more seriously than they are, as Priest are more remembered for such junk as "You've Got Another Thing Coming" and "Breaking The Law", not to mention being put on trial in the late 1980's for alledgedly driving two teens to suicide. I also reccomend Priest's "Sin After Sin" and "Stained Class". "Stained Class" ended the era of an "intelligent" Judas Priest, but "Sad Wings of Destiny" began it. Maybe one day Rob Halford will listen to this record again and write some more music like this. He would definetly be doing the world a great service.

The Jam took British punk music and made it into something more, and each album finds them exploring a different facit of their sound. "Sound Affects" is between the era of hard mod rock and soul seen on the final album. It begins with the punkish "Pretty Green" and immediatly slows into the almost dreary "Monday". The optimistic "But I'm Different Now" is of lesser quality, but short. "Set the House Ablaze" is another hard song with an interesting minor key lead line. "Start" takes the Beatles "Taxman" bassline and adds in Paul Weller's mod sensablities to make it a new song. "That's Entertainment" is a dark and moody acoustic song exploring the ups and downs of life. "Dream Time" and "Music for the Last Couple" are interesting and unique, but are somehow rather forgetable as well. "Man in the Corner Shop" is another Beatles take-off, borrowing from "Here Comes the Sun" a guitar line that Paul makes his own. "Boy About Town" is quintesential mod-pop with a cheery trumpet solo. The album closer is an abrupt change in mood, showing Weller at his nastiest and most blunt" ("Your twisted cynicism makes me feel sick... The trouble is your thoughts a catching disease"). Overall, this album mirrors the Beatles "Revolver" in its vague psychedelic vibe, rock sensiblities and solid songwriting indicative of a great band and talented songwriter.

It's difficult to define what the Jam really mean to me as there's always that risk of pidgeonholing them and thus reducing them, but in the rare case of the Jam the music speaks for itself. I'm sure likeminded people who really love the Jam will know what I mean and admit that the band's music is more than just a collection of great songs, but instead a soundtrack to life, particularly for those like me who lived in Britain at the time the songs were written and recorded. Weller's songs speak of how we all feel but could never quite put into words and the Jam were always about speaking to young people one-on-one from a mutual standpoint and never as the "idolised pop group singing to the starry-eyed fans that hang on their every word". The Jam's first two albums were essentially punk records while their following albums showed a broad range of influences including the Small Faces, the Who, the Kinks, the Beatles, Tamla Motown and, in the last year or so of their career, soul and funk. Paul Weller's songwriting abilities already reached incredible heights on the album "All Mod Cons" and progressed even further on "Setting Sons", but for me, the next album, "Sounds Affects" is the one that continues to stand out and is, in my view, the album that displays the peak of Weller's songwriting. Some critics have cited "Sound Affects" as the Jam's "Revolver" and it's not difficult to see why. In fact, the Beatles' "Revolver" was played relentlessly by the group on the tour they embarked on prior to entering the studio to record "Sound Affects" and it's influence is clearly audible here, from the backwards guitars on "Dream Time" and "That's Entertainment" to the bass riff from "Taxman" on "Start!". There isn't a bad song on the album. From the infectious opening bass line of "Pretty Green" to the closing fade of "Scrape Away", this album perfectly captures the angst, boredom and frustration felt in the dawn of Thatcher's Britain at the dawn of a new decade. The line "Pissing down with rain and boring Wednesdays" from "That's Entertainment" sums it all up, and it is also clearly felt in the track "Set The House Ablaze", but there are still glimmers of optimism shown in the Ray Davies-esque "Monday" and "Man In The Corner Shop". A truly great album is one that evokes the times when it was recorded but that also still carries momentum, and sometimes even relevance, when listening to it today. "Sound Affects" is one such album.

The Jam's Sound Afects, although hardly punk, is a great album. It is more like pop rock. Paul Weller was a great song writer and this album shows that. The highlights of the album are Monday, Start!, That's Entertainment and Man In The Corner Shop.

Lene is back! And stronger than ever! Lene has released a new cd on the stereosociety web page run by Mike Thorne, the 80's producer. It's a startling come back....Lene is in top form just as if she never left! It honestly took me a few listens to like this cd...but it has grown on me, and in my honest opinion, it is Lene's best, right next to FLEX. Lene proves she is Queen of the fun gothic dance songs.

The cd is packed with sounds...voices echoing the the background...calls and shrieks, la la la's and sonic blasts of synth. Les Chappel's deep baritone echoes in places, and adds a dark atmosphere to the music. Lene's voice has never sounded better. It's full and rich as she sings, calls, speaks and shrieks through this 10 song set. I wish it had been a longer cd!

The cd begins with "Craze" a snewy, plucky song, with Lene's rich alto singing against the music...not with it...and she uses her voice as a squealing escalating trill up and down as a hook. A new, funky lene has been born! Possibly one of the best songs she has ever done!!!!

Lene touches darkwave with the passionate "Remember"....and once again her voice is rich and full...and lonely...

She then hits a fast pace with "Gothica"....a driving, guitar powered song....with her and les shouting "Goth-ic-ca!!!" as the hook. It's a fun, spooky song...with echoing voices and odd sounds popping in and out of the mix....this song should be the single. Les is also in top vocal form providing a deep croaking buried into the mix. It sounds like he is chanting "ooga shocka ah ooga shocka ah"

The song "The Insect Eater" is a brilliant masterpiece about Renfield, the crazed slave of Dracula. It's cartoony, and fun...and when Dracula speaks to Renfield, the production is top-notch, with Lene and Les's altered voices speaking...it's brilliant! Lene sings "earwigs in my fridge at midnight put me in a dancing mood" then Les screams "Earwigs!!!"

The cartoony, gothic fun contiues on "The Wicked Witch". You'll find yourself singing along to the chorus. It's a cross between the Wicked Witch of the West and horror movie witchcraft with blaring synth and guitar...and more voices and calling in the background. A memorable line "I'll do more than make you cry!"

This is a deep cd. the production is some of the best you will ever hear. It's thick, and sonic...and the vocals come at you from all directions, as screams, yodels, whispers, croaking, singing, chanting...and it all blends together into one startling masterpiece.

Gad, remember when pop music was fun and not stupid brainless fun or trendy fun but entertaining and often ironic fun! Maybe I'm biased but late-Seventies and Eighties pop, punk, and New Wave often reached peaks of combined fun, musicality, and intelligence that we haven't seen since. I've played stuff like Eno and Wire and Lene Lovich to young 'uns who had musical asperations and in one case I got tears. "How can we ever hope to do anything this cool?" Wire alone is a humbling experience for moderns who never hear brilliant experimentation combined with tight structure, inspired lyrics, and memorable melody i.e. great non-commercial songwriting. Grunge ruined everything, especially our standards of excellence. Well at least we have Pram and Magnetic Fields.

I once saw Lene lovich live and in the raw and you know what? She was even better sounding and cooler acting in person. Let's see that happen with any artist today. The concert was an absolute joy. I could rave but sample the samples. This is a tight album full of great material.

If you like Lene, check out Rita Mitsouka (a band name, not the lead vocalist's name. That's Catherine Ringer). More pop than Lene but just as unique and great.

You cannot go wrong with this CD. The musicality of Lene Lovich and the originality of her tunes are very hard match when compared with other music releases of the time or even presently.

Lene Lovich has perfect pitch and her voice inflections and intonations are complex and reveal a high level of skill and soul. The reinforcing music is tight and solid. A strong beat and a very clean mix on the engineers board are also apparent.

There are only a few weak numbers on the entire CD.

Good Rock, great band, great lyrics, these guys are just having fun and you can hear it. If you like good, driving British Rock, you must own this!

Alan

Ten Pole Tudor, probably the most underrated group of all time. The sheer quality of Ed Tudor Poles' voice mixed with some banging beats, guitar reps and other sounds makes Ten Pole Tudor stand out. After hearing the album i could not think of a better album that anyone has done. With the incredibly catchy 'Swords Of A Thousand Men' and the great track 'Wonderbar'. Who knows why they didn't make it big all over the world. I want to make it my goal to bring Ten Pole Tudor back, so they can entertain us with more legendary music of theirs. Bravo!

Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't provide song samples for the this double-CD set so, unless you're familiar with Tenpole Tudor, you're buying blind. Their sound can best be described as Fred Schneider of The B-52s ("What You Doing In Bombay") meets Adam & The Ants ("Let The Four Winds Blow") with a dash of Big Audio Dynamite ("Conga Tribe" & "Tenpole 45") and George Thoroughgood & the Destroyers ("It's Easy To See") thrown in for good measure. Which is one reason TT never hit it big - from the anthemic rock of "Swords Of A Thousand Men" and "It's Easy To See" to the incredibly infectious "What You Doing In Bombay" (which would be right at home on any B-52s album) to the country-tinged "Love And Food" to the total inanity of "Wunderbar," this band is all over the musical map. Although TT is usually regarded as a punk band, there's none of the disaffected rage of the Sex Pistols or The Clash. As the upbeat TT didn't take their band's image at all seriously, this is a group that would have found its true calling as England's punk-rock version of The Monkees (complete with TV show). Their musicianship is another matter entirely - it's virtually flawless. If your music collection contains any Adam and the Ants, Wreckless Eric, Bow Wow Wow, Plastic Bertrand, or Big Audio Dynamite, then this double-CD set (containing almost their entire catalogue) deserves a place of honor in your CD carousel.

This is the only Spandau Ballet album that everyone has (or should have) in their collection, and it's easy to understand why. In the band's brief journey from innovation to irrelevance it was the moment they set aside the baroque, art-disco theatricality of their earlier New Romantic work and offered up something original, innocent and pure - a white-soul antidote to the tedious excesses of punk and 70s rock. It's essentially a suite of eight modern love songs, carefully crafted by producers Steve Jolley and Tony Swain from the simplest of arrangements - funk guitar, a super-tight rhythm section, occasional keyboards, and some beautiful percussion and sax neatly deployed, often to spine-tingling effect. But the real star is vocalist Tony Hadley, who at last dropped the artsy, melodramatic edge from his performance and demonstrated that he has one of the finest pop voices ever recorded. Even Gary Kemp's whispery falsetto backups don't sound too ridiculous here. The album contains two classic tracks - "Gold" and "True", which were actually the band's career highlights (matched only by the well-deserved late hit "Through the Barricades"). Spandau's career went south shortly after this early peak as they sought to commit to record the more vibrant energy of their live shows. The results were mixed. "Parade" (1984) was moderately successful, but super-smooth Jolley and Swain were perhaps the wrong men for the job. On "Through the Barricades" (1986), Gary Langan captured a harsher guitar-driven sound, but apart from the brilliant acoustic title track it just wasn't credible. "Heart Like a Sky" (1989) saw the band revert to a smoother sound wrapped in a lush late-80s mix, but the magic had fled and so had the fans. Kemp's writing was arguably still strong, and Hadley's voice was better than ever, but the moment had passed. Pop had moved on, and the band members were sadly left to squabble over the spoils of a brief but memorable career. Some listeners at the time called "True" a MOR sellout, but its slick surfaces remain tough to resist even today. It's Spandau's most consistent and best all-around album.

Aside from the trademark "True" and "Gold", this 8-song album has all very strong songs. No filler whatsoever here. While artists today try to fill an album with 15 songs and half of them are garbage, Spandau Ballet doesn't do this with True. You get eight brilliant songs, and nothing else.

I can't say enough good things about this album. Spandau Ballet's "True" is a fine collection of up-tempo and easy listening pop tunes that will please your ears. Though the album has something of a dated feel with its synthesizer-driven 80's sound, it's still a great album and it's one you will never tire of listening to. And unlike many albums of its time, "True" is well-produced without being overblown.

There's not a bad cut on this album and many are real standouts. The title track was the hit single from this album and rightly so. With its light and easy vocal and instrumental arrangements, "True" is a nice relaxing song that continues to be a playlist favorite for many adult contemporary stations. This is one of those songs that never wears out its welcome. Likewise, "Pleasure" and "Code of Love" are nice tunes that will put you at ease.

Up-tempo numbers like "Lifeline", "Heaven Is A Secret", "Communication" and "Foundation" are equally enjoyable as they have an envigorating, get-up-and-dance quality to them. "Gold" is a strong, somewhat thought-provoking tune that received some airplay and it should've been a Top-10 hit.

"True" is one of the better albums from the 1980's and it's one you will want to add to your collection. Listen to it and see if Spandau Ballet's "True" doesn't give you a lot of "Pleasure."

Many people think Calm Before the Storm is where Venom screwed up. Actually where Venom tripped up is two years before with the 1985 release of Possessed, the bands fourth album.

Everybody knows Venoms legendary first two albums Welcome To Hell and Black Metal. Though Primative sounding with limited production, there were excellent early thrash/black metal records. The band would make a step forward with the release of At War With Satan. That album featured better production and the band even toyed with progressive song writing. It was a little different than their previous two albums but none-the-less, it was the step in the right direction.

Then came Possessed....

After showing a promising future with At War With Satan, the band missed their mark with their next release. Possessed emerged as de-evolution of the band and was a marginal step down from AWWS. The production was again ruduced to poor methods with Cronos's vocals taking the blunt of it. The songs themselves seemed to suffer and they just lacked punch. Part of the blame could be the internal struggles the band was going through at the time. Guitarst Jeff "Mantas" Dunn has even described his disappointment with the album in interviews. He was so upset with the album at the time that actually departed from Venom to pursue a solo career.

Possessed also wasn't well recieved by fans and the bands Venom inspired were passing them on by. Slayer, Metallica, and Megadeth were all releasing excellent ablums at the time such as Hell Awaits, Ride the Lightning, and Killing Is My Business, all of which are miles ahead of Possessed.

I think this was a pivital time for Venom. If they were able to release a killer album, they might have became as big as the above mentioned bands. With the lackluster release of Possessed, its no wonder they faded into oblivion in the late 80's...

Even with all the negatives surrounding the album, its still will be among interest to metal fans as it really was the last album of the classic era of Venom and the last album to feature the original line-up until the 1996 reunion album Cast in Stone

Make no mistake, this is a great album, but the crusade to get "Possessed" crammed alongside the first trilogy of Venom albums in terms of recognition is futile and really not necessary--it's the lack of memorable musical factors, not the lack of quality, that keeps it the underdog of Venom albums. "Welcome to Hell" will always remain the seminal foundation for extreme metal, and perhaps even challenges "Stained Class" in terms of being the most influencial heavy metal release of all time. "Black Metal" is still unparalleled when it comes to simplistic quality in metal, and of course the epic title track of "At War With Satan" was innovative at the time. But "Possessed" was released in '85, when the floodgates of extreme metal had already been opened by Venom themselves.

It's actually a logical successor to the first 3 albums, and in my opinion, actually blows away "At War With Satan," which in my opinion was mostly saved by the length gimmick of the title track...I consider the other songs on that album except "Rip Ride" (and to a lesser extent "Stand Up (And Be Counted)" to be mediocre filler. The reason why "Possessed" works for me is that Venom does dip back into the tried and true formulas for the previous albums, and very blatantly so. The strong chorus of "Satanachist" wouldn't seem too out of place on BM, right? "Too Loud (For the Crowd)" is the same sort of metal anthem Venom sought with "Stand Up (And Be Counted)" on AWwS, but it betters that tenfold, with plenty of hubris in the lyrics to boot. "Voyeur" is a fun and fast tune in the best "WtH" tradition, and even manages to out-pervert "Teacher's Pet." While none of the other tracks are particular favorites of mine, they remain at a very comfortable quality level; well below even the worst moments of BM, but above the worst moments of "WtH" and some of the accompanying early singles.

The bonus tracks follow the usual pattern of the Venom remasters in that most of them were available on CD either on the Japanese imports or on the singles compilation albums, so they're not quite as desirable as perhaps some of the Assault series or some non-US/UK live tracks would have been as bonuses. Still, the "Nightmare" single really helps the album, as it's probably Venom's best song overall when considering the lyrics, music, and performance. And I think this may be the first time "F.O.A.D." has been on CD, unless I'm forgetting some comp. CD or import I've never seen. The remix of the title track is an obvious bonus track choice, but I'd have preffered to see the live versions of "Witching Hour" and the "Teacher's Pet/Poison" medley from the Hell At Hammersmith EP joined back with the rest of the '85 Hammersmith set on the "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" CD or one one of the first two albums. There's nothing wrong with these tracks, but as raw and primitive as they are, they sort of feel weird coupled with '85 studio stuff.

So to the supporters of this album, you're in good company. And to the detractors? To the detractors, I only have one question: there's no "Manitou" or Tony Dolan to be found here...How bad can it be?!?!?!?

This album POSSESED me! It seems to be the black sheep of Venom's catalog for some reason. I could certainly see why in some ways though, it came out right after Venom's most famous three albums WELCOME TO HELL-BLACK METAL and AT WAR WITH SATAN (the un-holy trinity known to some) and by this time(1985) Venom was becoming written off in favor of groups like Slayer,Metallica and others.However i thought this album could easily hold it's own against their previous efforts.POSSESED has a really dark, haunting feel to it (sound wise) that i really liked, the song SATANARCIST points that out perfectly with its spooky intro.Another thing is that they really turned up the punk/hardcore influence here, so it is a bit faster then their earlier works. This gets 4.5 STARS for me,even though it can get a little sloppy and the prodution is basment quality, this is their most solid and accesable album Cronos and the gang ever put out. Sure, WELCOME TO HELL and BLACK METAL are the records Venom will be remembered by and rightly so but this is still my favorite from them.

Gary Numan has always been a rather enigmatic addition to the music community. His strange sci-fi-goth musical mix has pleased and offended the sensibilities of many throughout the years. With the release of "Pure" it seemed that the man was working on a level that he hadn't been for years and that it was possibly one of the few "comebacks" of the era that was going to stick. While the sales weren't much to crow about, the attention paid to Numan's new work by a select elite in the media more than justified his return and following live dates. It's undeniable...Gary Numan still manages to be relevant in his own quirky way.

"Scarred" captures (with fine production) Gary in front of a home-nation crowd performing well over an hour of his strongest material. Classic tracks like "Cars" and "Down in the Park" weave a rather dire mood next to lesser known classics such as "Pure" and "Me, I Disconnect From You". Gary's still got it...and while the record may be a bit of a chore at it's chosen length...no fan will go away dissapointed.

Let's hope that this isn't the typical one-off comeback record as Gary still seems to have some life in that strange techno-goth world of his. I fully support the purchase and this record and I think that all of those who also enjoy his work would as well.

Kudos...

I had the good fortune of seeing Gary Numan twice on his "Pure" world tour in 2000-01. I only recently found out that there was a live album from that tour, and immediately ordered it, sound unheard. I was not disappointed! Gary Numan's critically acclaimed 'comeback' album Pure cast him in a somewhat new daylight, with lots more guitars and even darker sounds than we were ever used from him.

"Scarred" (2 CDs, 21 tracks, 97 min.) brings the complete London Brixton Academy show from October 2000. The set starts off with a sizzling "Pure". While it is followed by the familiar "Me I Disconnect From You", the majority of the songs after that focus on the Pure album, with gems like "Rip", "I Can't Breathe", "Prayer for the Unborn" and "Listen To My Voice", but also a great "Angel Wars" (from the Exile album). "Down in the Park" is recast and sounds greater than ever, as is "Replicas" (check out that stomping intro!). The obligatory "Cars" is here of course, but it truly is not one of the better songs on here. Numan has moved on from "Cars" and he is (and we are) the better for it. The 'new' Gary Numan brings us an overall sound that's somewhere in between of NIN's industrial rock and Depeche Mode era-"Songs of Faith and Devotion" (another synth band that discovered guitars, but Numan brings yet more guitars), and it just works great. It's telling that the CD cover shows Numan with a guitar, as if to convery that this is not the same ol', same ol'.

I also have the 1979 "Living Ornaments" live album of Gary Numan, and both that album and "Scarred" show Gary Numan at his very best. If you can accept the fact that 21 years after "Living Ornaments" Numan is not just about "Cars", you are in for a treat. Strongly recommended!

You gotta bless companies like Eagle Records, ones that know what to offer customers willing to part with twenty bucks these days. Here we get lots of songs, extra videos and an attractive sleeve: reasons to make traditional purchases like this without feeling "ripped off."

This dazzling, majestic live album is Gary Numan at his best, playing old stuff, as well as new, and reminding the music world how to best coalesce guitars and drums with electronics.

Strong song-writing, well-produced live sounds and masterful showmanship make this one a must!

Containing a few big late-70s hits like "My Sharona" and "Gold" plus some decent 70s shlock, it's one of the best volumes in the Have A Nice Day series.

Back in 1990, Rhino records commenced the collaboration of the "Have A Nice Day" compilation series. Ultimately this resulted in a 25 volume set of CD's. All of the discs contain a mixture of top charting hits and obscure classics from the seventies. Many of the discs have come together quite well with a collection of great tracks, whilst some of the other discs are as horrid as my old set of pink flares.

One of the best volumes is number 22. This one contains that guitar stumpin' classic "driver seat" from Sniff and the Tears. What about abit of dance with Hot Chocolates "everyone's a winner" and Nick Gilders "hot child in the City". Feeling romantic? There's Nicolette Larson's "lotta love", John Paul Young's "love is in the air" and Robert John's "Sad eyes". Other tracks include Chris Norman and Suzi Quatro's Duet "stumblin' in" and John Stewart's "gold". I was about age ten when many of these tracks where at the top of the charts. Nothing beats that good old seventies nostalgia. Again a disc that get's a good thrashing at my place.

One of the outstanding members of the Have A Nice Day collection, this disc captures the feel of a turning point in musical styles. Briefly...

"Hot Child In The City": Seductive, androgynous vocals here from Nick Gilder. Listeners appear to have missed the "cautionary" point of this song...everyone wanted to meet the young girl dressed in black.

"Love Is In the Air": A memorable tune from the late 70's, from Aussie singer John Paul Young. It had a brief renaissance when it was included in the Aussie film "Strictly Ballroom" in the early 90's.

"My Sharona": The Knack gave us a preview of the changing attitudes towards the "disco" late 70's with their "garage band" rock tune. Appeared in the slacker/nostalgia flick "Reality Bites".

"Gold": Great vocals by John Stewart, with backup and "ooo-ooo's" by none other than Stevie Nicks!

"Driver's Seat" and "Hold On" are complex, existentialist "mood" pieces with innovative instrumental and vocal arrangements. Contrast these with Rex Smith's bubble gum "Take My Breath Away".

Robert John's "Sad Eyes" is blessed with muscular instrumentalization and one of the finest falsettos you are likely to hear in the modern age.

Besides that, this CD will prove a "fistful of memories" (hopefully good ones) for anyone who grew up during this era. Don't miss out!