The Great Album Diaries (Week 27)

Welcome back to what hopefully will be the resurrection of a journey we’ve been on for far too long.

This week I’ve been lucky enough to listen to some of the greatest music ever made, here’s how it went….

18th November 2019

Baaba Maal

Djam Leelii

Here we have an album that, had it not been for these Diaries I would never in a million years have even considered listening to, but having gave it a chance I can honestly say its one of the most enjoyable albums I’ve had the pleasure of hearing since we began our journey.

Baaba Maal is an artist I had actually heard of but admittedly knew absolutely nothing about so it was time to read up a little on our new Senegalese friend and this, his debut album from 1984.

Born in Podor on the Senegal River in 1953, Baaba was taught to play a number of instruments by both his mother and the legendary blind guitarist Mansour Seck who was a friend of Baaba and his family. He later studied music at the University of Dakar before eventually earning himself a scholarship to L’Ecole Des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

Once he was settled in Paris, Baaba invited Seck and two other musicians over to join him where they formed the band known as “Dande Lenol” or “The People’s Voice”, and this album is the result of those first couple of years together.

Singing in his native language of Pulaar, the most commonly spoken language of the Fula people that live either side of the Senegal River where Baaba grew up, what we get is a beautifully hypnotic album consisting of what appears to be a jamming session between two unbelivable acoustic guitarists with the added bonus of a few electric guitar licks akin to some of the fills on Paul Simon’s legendary Graceland album which I’m a massive fan of.

I didn’t have the foggiest idea what Baaba and Mansour were singing about but the music they were playing was so uplifting and positive that it didn’t matter one bit.

I honestly cannot speak highly enough of this album. It’s one of the best surprises to have come out of The Playlist since we started and I’d like to put on record that Baaba Maal is now officially my second favourite person to come out of Senegal after Sadio Manè.

A surprising new favourite.

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Listen To: Muudo Hormo

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Richard & Linda Thompson

Shoot Out The Lights

Regular readers of these Diaries, or the ones with good memories at least, will recall us listening to the English Folk outfit Fairport Convention and their 1969 album “Liege And Leaf” way back in Week 12, and if we’re totally honest it wasn’t the most enjoyable of listens, so when I found out that a founding member of that group is none other than our man here Richard Thompson, then it’s safe to say I wasn’t expecting much from this either.

Released in 1982, this is Richards sixth and final collaboration with his then wife Linda, and is thought by many to be his best work.

Its a shame then that it was recorded when the married couple’s relationship was on the verge of breaking point and in fact, by the time the album was released their marriage was all but over.

Just one look at the song titles on here and you would be forgiven for thinking that the songs were all written in the midst of their domestic unease when in fact they were mostly written a couple of years prior to this when they were getting along just fine.

Songs like “Don’t Renege On Our Love”, “Man In Need” and “Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed” give a sense of a warring couple pushing on til the bitter end and Linda’s vocals in particular have a slightly melancholic feel to them.

The couple share lead vocal duties on here, taking it in turns on each song but if I’m totally honest I much preferred the songs that Richard gave his voice to as opposed to when his ex-missus took the lead.

His voice reminded me of a cross between Mark Knopfler and David Byrne and it was certainly a lot more enjoyable than the Fairport Convention record we mentioned earlier.

The highlight for me was the album’s title track “Shoot Out The Lights”, a song I was hearing for the first time here but one which in 2005, Q Magazine name No.99 in “The 100 Greatest Ever Guitar Tracks”, with one critic calling it , “A meditation on love and loss in which passion, beauty and heady joy can still be found in defeat.”

One to go back to I reckon.

My Rating: ☆☆☆

Listen To: Shoot Out The Lights

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Buddy Holly & The Crickets

Buddy Holly Lives

A Greatest Hits album from one of THE Greats and you would be hard pushed to find anything greater.

The first encounter I had with Buddy Holly’s music – albeit a parody song- was watching the “Oil” episode of The Young Ones in which Ronnie Golden’s portrayal of Buddy hanging upside down in the house having survived his plane crash decides to compose a song based on his diet of various insects he’s had to eat whilst stuck there all those years.

Looking back it is in pretty poor taste but the style in which “Coo Coo Daddy Long Legs” was played kind of ensured I’ve been a Buddy Holly fan of sorts from a very early age.

Released in February 1978, a full nineteen years after Buddy’s tragic death, this collection of 20 of his Greatest Hits eventually climbed to the top of the UK album charts where it stayed for three weeks.

If ever the term “All Killer and No Filler” was made for an album then this is surely it and it appeared at No.92 in Rolling Stone Magazines “500 Greatest Albums Of All Time”.

It opens with Buddy’s 1957 debut single “That’ll Be The Day”, a song inspired by John Wayne and an often repeated line his character uses in his 1956 movie The Searchers. It was also the first song ever recorded by a little known skiffle group from Liverpool called The Quarrymen (I wonder what happened to them?)

Another gem here, and possibly Buddy’s signature tune is the fantastic “Peggy Sue”, named after Peggy Sue Gerron, the future wife of Crickets drummer Jerry Allison.

Originally called “Cindy Lou” after Buddy’s niece, the song title was changed as a favour to Jerry after he and his then girlfriend had temporarily split up. It ended up becoming one of the most famous songs in Rock and Roll History and in 1999 was included on a list of “100 Most Important American Musical Works Of The 20th Century”.

Sitting alongside this collection of bona fide toe-tappers are a handful of perfectly arranged orchestral songs, such as “It Really Doesnt Matter Anymore” and “Raining In My Heart”, which were released together as a posthumous single shortly after Buddy’s tragic death in February 1959 aged just 22.

The A-Side was specifically written for Buddy Holly by Paul Anka and he actually donated all of his composer royalties from “It Really Doesnt Matter Anymore” to Buddys widow Maria.

Which leads me to my favourite song on this whole album and one of the most romantic songs of all time – the achingly beautiful “True Love Ways”.

On the 20th June 1958, just five hours into their first ever date together, sitting at Table No.53 in PJ Clarkes Restaurant in New York, Buddy pulled out a rose and proposed there and then to Maria. They were married two months later and this song was a wedding gift to his new bride.

Tragically there were married for just six short months before Buddys life was cruelly cut short in a plane crash which also claimed the lives of singers Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper.

On the 29th April 2011, Maria unveiled a never-before-seen photograph of the couple, kissing on their wedding day and that very photo now sits proudly above Table No.53 in PJ Clarkes, New York. Or to give it it’s new name “The True Love Ways Table”

This album is a must own for any music fan especially anybody wanting to discover the music of one of Rock and Rolls most important figures.

Iconic.

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Listen To: True Love Ways

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Spiritualized

Let It Come Down

The fourth album this week and it’s from a band I only really started listening to after we spoke about their debut release “Laser Guided Melodies” way back in Week 9 of these Diaries.

I said back then I was looking forward to hearing more of their stuff and I certainly wasnt disappointed with it. In fact, I’d go as far to say that the last album Jason Pierce released as Spiritualized, “And Nothing Hurt” was my favourite record of 2018. It really is that good.

This then is from a few years earlier – 2001 to be exact – although it actually took Pierce a full four years to write, record, produce and release, as he is Spiritualized’s one constant sole member.

Also, not being blessed with the ability to read music – Jason devised all of the orchestral parts for the album by singing them into a portable tape recorder, adapting those parts to a piano, then helping the various musicians turn them into their specific parts to play on the record.

Unbelievably he had to utilise 115 different musicians in the recording process and the end product is an album full of soaring, uplifting gospel-like songs with choirs and orchestras incorporating the famous Wall of Sound technique made famous by the legendary Phil Spector and at times it seems like the ambition behind it all is almost overwhelming the fragile, heartfelt vocals of Jason himself. Almost.

There is also a couple of heavier uptempo songs to break it up along the way, album opener “On Fire”, “Do It All Over Again” (a personal favourite) and also “Twelve Steps”.

The highlight for me though is the 10 minute epic “Won’t Get To Heaven(The State I’m In)” which features all of the qualities I’ve mentioned above and is the song that probably sums up the whole of this album. Give it a listen you will not be disappointed.

Another favourite.

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Listen To: Won’t Get To Heaven(The State I’m In)

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Aphex Twin

Drukqs

Every now and then we stumble across an album that is a slog. Hard work. A chore. On first listen that is exactly how I felt about this 2001 Double Album from Richard James AKA electronica pioneer extraordinaire, Aphex Twin.

Born in Limerick, Ireland, but raised in Cornwall, Richard made his name in the 90’s as a part of that whole Ambient sub-genre of Dance that included the likes of The Orb and Future Sound Of London or if we want to get really pretentious about it all – I.D.M or Intelligent Dance Music.

I’m also aware that he was famous for making some well-known chillout albums back in the day and at the start of this century he was named by The Guardian as, “The most inventive and influential figure in contemporary dance music.”

With all that in mind I was hopeful then of “Drukqs” becoming another new favourite. What I didn’t know is that between his first few albums and this one, Richard James was also well know for a genre of Dance Music called “Drill N Bass” which really is as bad as it sounds. Trust me on this.

Experimenting with elements of Drum N Bass, Techno, Jungle and Breakbeat, what you get is a kind of parody genre of dance music that is intentionally impossible to dance to, and this is what makes up the majority of this effort from our friend Aphex.

The album itself is a result of a lost mp3 player whilst on a flight to Scotland that contained over 200 unreleased bits of material that Richard decided to release to avoid any online leaks of his unfinished works.

On first listen my immediate thought was, “You shouldn’t have bothered lad!”, but there are a couple of songs that definitely grew on me here and what I will say is that it could have been a really good Ambient record if it was just those tracks edited down onto one album.

Tracks like album opener “Jynwaythek” and “Hy A Scullyas Lyf Adhagrow” have an almost delicate music-box type of sound to them or even a sound akin to Japanese Gagku music, whilst “Nanou2” is a perfectly subdued album finale.

Meanwhile the sublime “Avril 14th” has been compared to the works of French composer and pianist Erick Satie and it’s a song that has been streamed over 100 million times on Spotify. That’s nearly 3 times more than any other track by Aphex Twin, and Fact Magazine once described it as, “A butterfly-fragile float of piano-calm.”

It was by far the standout track for me as the majority of the rest of the album, with it’s truly awful experimentation and what can only be described as gobbledegook song titles, were some of the most uncomfortable listens I’ve ever had to sit through and quite frankly they had my nerves gone!

Hit and miss. And then some.

My Rating: ☆☆

Listen To: Avril 14th

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Santana

Abraxas

The last album in this weeks entry and it’s one that I fondly remember finding in amongst my Dads old vinyl collection of Status Quo and Slade records way back when I was a kid, and let’s be honest, what young lad wouldn’t be curious as to what exotic, mystical sounds lay beneath that album cover?

Alan Partidge Voice “Ooh bit of nipple!”

Formed in San Francisco in 1966 by the supremely talented Mexican-American guitarist and songwriter Carlos Santana, this is the 1970 follow up to their eponymous debut which was released 12 months earlier.

It takes its name from a line in “Demian”, the 1919 book by German author Hermann Hesse that reads, “We stood before it and began to freeze inside from the exertion. We questioned the painting, berated it, made love to it, prayed to it: We called it mother, called it whore and slut, called it our beloved, called it Abraxas.”

Those words are even quoted on albums back cover.

Never mind the back though, how about that for a piece of artwork on the front? Painted in 1961 by the German-French artist Mati Klarwein after he moved to New York, it’s called “Annunciation” and was spotted in a magazine by Carlos who asked if it could be used as the cover art for his forthcoming album. It’s now widely recognised as one of the truly great album covers in music.

Looking at it now, it’s hard to imagine it being anything other than that because when you listen to what’s inside, the music and the artwork sit perfectly next to each other. The band at their absolute peak, each song an ideal companion to what follows or precedes it. “Abraxas” just slithers along with a combination of Latin-Rock, Blues, Jazz, Samba rhythms, deep basslines and trippy guitar solos.

There’s a handful of covers, namely Peter Greens Fleetwood Mac’s “Black Magic Woman” segued into Gabor Sazbo’s “Gypsy Queen”, followed by the funky Latin anthem that is “Oye Como Va” made famous by the legend that is Tito Puente in the early sixties (regular readers may remember us speaking about him way back in Week 15 of these pages) a version of which appears in the trick shot scene in the Al Pacino film Carlitos Way.

Probably the most famous track on here is “Samba Pa Ti” which is now instantly recognizable from its appearance in numerous adverts for Marks & Spencers a few years ago.

“Incident At Nashabur” is another personal favourite but for me the standout track on this record will always be the majestical “Hope You’re Feeling Better”, written by the bands lead singer and keyboard player Gregg Rolie who later went on to form the band Journey.

If you’ve never heard this song before then please watch this live version from 1970 and witness a band at the very top of their game and the great man Carlos as cool as ever looking like a cross between Graeme Souness and Eric Clapton!

Some album this. A long forgotten old favourite.

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Listen To: Hope You’re Feeling Better

Listen Here

That’s all we have for this week. You can click on the link under each album to listen to them in their entirety. I hope you find something you love. Thanks for reading and hopefully we can carry this on next week.

The Great Album Diaries (Week 26)

Hello again and since the last time we spoke we’ve seen Jurgen’s Reds get off to a flyer and also lost a true musical legend. Whilst all this has been going on I’ve been listening to some of the best music ever made. Here’s how it went….

Week 26

12th August 2018

Bossanova

Pixies

Sunday afternoon, the first day of the footy season was upon us and this was the soundtrack for my walk up to Anfield to witness Jurgens Reds put 4 past the not-so-Happy Hammers to go top of the league.

Pixies are a band I’ve only ever heard good things about but personally never managed to listen to any of their stuff, so I was looking forward to seeing what this had in store for me and I had high hopes of it becoming a new favourite of mine.

Formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1986, Pixies got their name after guitarist Joey Santiago flicked through a dictionary and took a shine to the word and especially it’s definition – “mischievous little elves”.

They’re widely regarded as one of the most influential Alternative Rock bands of all time with the likes of Blur, Nirvana, Radiohead and Weezer all citing them as an influence.

Released in August 1990, this is the third album from the band and according to some critics it’s weaker than their previous two efforts. If that’s the case then I can’t wait until we have to give them a listen because this particular record was everything I was hoping for.

Singer/songwriter Black Francis (later to be known as the solo singer/songwriter Frank Black) and his band give us a collection of songs crammed full of fuzzy guitars with loads of reverb and it was easier to get into than I was expecting.

The band have always enjoyed more success in Europe and in the UK especially, as oppposed to the moderate sales they achieved in their homeland and apparantly the lead single off here, “Velouria” was a bit of a “Madchester” anthem back in the day, although admittedly I’d never heard it until now.

The next song on the album, “Allison” is a quirky little tune dedicated to the Jazz artist Mose Allison but sadly, despite my best efforts, I just couldn’t think of any lyrics to adopt it as a song for LFCs new Brazilian No.1. Watch this space!

My favourite song on this album though would have to be the superb “Dig For Fire”, and it’s a track that Black Francis said was his homage to David Byrne and Talking Heads. It’s easy to see where he’s coming from with that shout. Have a listen to it and you could well imagine this could have been written by the great man himself.

This album and that song in particular is one I’ve since listened to a good few times this week and it gets better with every listen.

BOSSanova even.

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Listen To: Dig For Fire

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The Cribs

Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever

There was a period during the latter part of the last decade when you couldn’t get away from The Cribs. Whether it was one or all of the band appearing regularly on the likes of Soccer AM or Never Mind The Buzzcocks, or hearing any one of their tunes appearing in shows such as The Inbetweeners, they were everywhere.

Formed in 2001 in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, The Cribs are twins Gary and Ryan Jarman, and their younger brother Ross. This is the likable trio’s 2007 third album, and their first major-label release after signing for Warner Bros a few months previous.

In their early days they were touted as a British equivalent to The Strokes and I can certainly hear similarities here to Julian Casablancas and his boys whilst at the same time capturing the zeitgeist of the Indie scene in this country in much the same way as The Libertines, Maximo Park or Franz Ferdinand also did around this time, and it was actually FF’s main protagonist Alex Kapranos who produced this very album.

Songs like “Our Bovine Public”, “Girls Like Mystery”, “I’m A Realist”, and the fantastic “Man’s Needs” have become synonymous with that era and are seen by many as “Lo-Fi Anthems”.

There’s even an appearance on here by Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo who recites one of his spoken-word poems over the three brothers playing the song “Be Safe”. One of many highlights on an album I hadn’t listened to in a very long time.

Personally, this is the first album I ever heard by The Cribs. I was introduced to it (and them) by my good friend Carl Kav when we worked together in a bed shop back in 2007.

We had free reign of the CD player in the shop and took turns over what we listened to. One of the only few positives we had from working in that Godforsaken town called Birkenhead.

Good times.

Great album, this. A modern classic.

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Listen To: Men’s Needs

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Tina Turner

Private Dancer

Whenever I hear a Tina Turner song it does nothing but remind me of being a kid in family parties and watching my ma and my aunties giving it loads to “Simply The Best” at the end of the night. I’ve never been a fan and in all honesty I wasn’t particularly looking forward to giving this a listen.

Yet only a few hours previous to writing these words, the world lost another female musical icon, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. It made me realise we should appreciate these legends whilst they’re still with us. Tina will be 79 years old this November so hopefully she can stick around for a few years yet.

This album was Tina’s fifth solo release after her escape from Ike Turner and their stormy – often violent- relationship, and it marked a turnaround in fortunes and what has since been labelled “The Greatest Comeback In Music History”.

After achieving only minor success as a solo artist prior to this albums release, by the end of 1984 she had managed to win a handful of Grammys, achieved her first US No.1, and had cemented her place as one of the biggest selling artists on the planet.

She is still to this day the artist that has sold more concert tickets than anyone, ever!

Reading up on this album I was surprised to learn that the title track on here was actually written by none other than Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits. He even recorded a version of it but wasn’t happy with the end result insisting that its theme of a prostitute disillusioned with her line of work wasn’t suitable for a male vocalist. Ever the perfectionist, he apparently hated Tina’s version aswell, calling Jeff Becks guitar solo, “The second worst solo in history….”.

I wonder what he thinks is the first one?

There’s also a couple of slightly iffy covers on here, namely the David Bowie track “1984” and a slowed-down ballad version of The Beatles classic “Help!” which I’ve disliked since I was a kid and still do to this day.

Arguably the most well known of all the songs on here is “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” and it was this single that done the business for Tina at that years Grammy Awards, winning “Record Of The Year”, “Song Of The Year” and “Best Female Pop Vocal”.

It’s a song that has become synonymous with her down the years but believe it or not we may never have had the pleasure of it, if a certain Cliff Richard had taken the song when offered it a few years earlier by British songwriting duo Terry Britten and Graham Lyle.

Doesnt bare thinking about does it?

Donna Summer was also keen on it at one point but never ended up doing anything with it, but 80’s Eurovision skirt-rippers Bucks Fizz DID actually record a version of it. I had to have a listen on Spotify didnt I? Yes, it really is as bad as you can imagine.

My favourite song on here though would have to be Tina’s truly rasping cover of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together”, recorded with – and produced by – Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh of Heaven 17.

In my opinion you would be hard-pushed to find a better opening minute by any female singer ever. Have a listen to it on headphones and if it doesn’t make the hairs on your neck stand up you are dead inside!

Hit and miss this album I’m afraid. Sorry Mum.

My Rating: ☆☆☆

Listen To: Let’s Stay Together

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Bo Diddley

Go Bo Diddley

“Bo….you don’t know Diddley!”

Anyone else remember that Nike advert years ago with Ian Rush in? Just me then? Sound.

Released in July 1959, this is the second album from a fella who is quite simply one of the most important and influential musicians of all time.

From Elvis, to The Beatles and The Stones, all the way to The Clash and Elvis Costello, they’ve all named this man here as a major influence on their sound, and I think it says it all that his nickname is “The Originator”.

Born in McCoomb, Mississippi in 1929, Ellis Otha Bates as he was christened, didn’t actually begin playing the guitar until the age of 18 when he was inspired by the great John Lee Hooker.

The origins of his stage name are somewhat unclear, with some saying he chose it after the “Diddley Bow”, a homemade single-stringed instrument played mainly on the farms of the Deep South, whilst other stories say it was actually the name he was known by whilst he was a young Golden Gloves boxer.

On first listen I was surprised that I didn’t know a single song on this record. Considering it contains some of the most famous Blues/Rock and Roll songs ever recorded I thought I may have knew at least one. Although the intro on “The Clock Strikes Twelve” is arguably the greatest and most copied Blues riff of all time!

I have to say though, I found this album one of the most enjoyable and coolest sounding records I’ve listened to in ages. The obvious connection is The Rolling Stones and one song in particular “You Don’t Love Me” with Billy Boy Arnold on harmonica reminded me of their version of “Not Fade Away”, but to be honest, any of the songs on here could be held up alongside any of the The Stones early recordings, you can tell just how much of an influence Bo was on Jagger and Co.

Diddley went on to record a total of 24 studio albums and collaborated with numerous artists in a career spanning over 50 years before suffering from heart failure in 2008, aged 79. He even played a pawnbroker in the Eddie Murphy film, “Trading Places”.

I did not know that!

Cracking album this. I hope a few more of his are on The Playlist soon.

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Listen To: You Don’t Love Me

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John Lennon

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

Spookily, on the day that John’s killer Mark Chapman was denied parole from prison for the tenth time, this was the album that The Playlist randomly selected for us to listen to!

You may remember us listening to John’s “Imagine” album way back in Week 20 of these Diaries, and here we have the 1970 predecessor to that particular record, and John’s first proper solo album after the demise of The Beatles.

Recorded at both Abbey Road and also John’s Tittenhurst home in Ascot, it was simultaneously released alongside Yoko’s solo album of the same name, recorded at the same time, using the same studios and musicians . Even the covers are near enough identical, with the only difference being the couple swapping places in the photo on their respective albums.

Unfortunately thats where the similarites end I’m afraid. I curiously had a little listen to Yoko’s effort previous to writing these words – purely for research purposes you understand- and whilst I love dear old Mrs. L, it has to be said that she is absolutely round the fucking twist and I can’t believe how anyone would willingly want to listen to it. Whether it’s “Art” or “Avant-Garde” or whatever it may be, just take my word for it and steer clear!

Anyway, I digress, it’s John’s album we’re here to talk about and as I stated in Week 20, this my favourite of all his solo work. I feel it catches him at his most vulnerable yet honest period of his life.

It was during this period that both he and Yoko were partaking in a form of trauma-based psychotherapy known as Primal Therapy under the guidance of American psychotherapist Arthur Janov based on his “Primal Sream” book, whereby the patient was supposed to rid himself or herself of any suppressed childhood traumas by screaming to ease the pain.

Speaking about this period of John’s life, Janov later said, “The level of his pain was enormous … He was almost completely nonfunctional. He couldn’t leave the house, he could hardly leave his room. … This was someone the whole world adored, and it didn’t change a thing. At the centre of all that fame and wealth and adulation was just a lonely little kid“.

John uses some of these techniques on this album, none more so than on the closing bars of the first song, the painfully honest, “Mother”, in which he sings about the loss of both of his parents.

John’s dad Alf abandoned him as a toddler and his mother Julia left him to be raised by his Aunt Mimi at her home on Menlove Avenue. Julia was later hit by a car and killed by an off duty police officer as she was crossing the road just around the corner from Mimi’s house. Even more tragic is that it was just around the time she and John – who was now 17 – were becoming close again. It’s John’s repeated screaming of the line “Mama don’t go, Daddy come home” at the end of this track that still sends a shiver down the spine after all these years.

Compare this to the final track on here, “My Mummys Dead” which is John singing in a flat, monotone voice in an almost emotionless state that makes it probably the most uncomfortable song to listen to on the whole album.

One of the bitterest tracks on here, and another favourite of mine is “Working Class Hero”, a political song about the difference in social classes and someone being born into the working classes having to conform to the ideologies of the middle classes in order to progress in life.

Lennon takes a dig at anyone who dares to become a part of the system before finally admitting to the listener that the song is in fact a mea culper and a criticism of himself, with the line, “If you want to be a hero then just follow me”, admitting to us his guilt.

From the bleakness of that song to the beautiful simplicity that is “Love”. With Phil Spector on piano, and Johns delicate vocals its the song that my wife Emma walked down the aisle to on our wedding day nearly five years ago so for obvious reasons holds a special place in both our hearts.

After the anger, grief and bitterness of a lot of this record, the penultimate song on here finds Lennon in a reflective philosophical mood with “God”.

He lists all kinds of various entities and celebrities that he tells us he no longer believes in, from Jesus to Elvis, Buddha to Beatles, before accepting that “The Dream” that he and so many of his peers lived for in the Sixties was indeed “Over” and it was time to move on to pastures new.

Nine months later he wrote “Imagine”.

Yep, this is definitely my favourite of all John’s solo albums. In my opinion it’s his finest hour.

A must own.

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Listen To: Mother

Listen Here

Van Morrison

Moondance

Not been a bad week this has it!

It seems like a lifetime ago that we had the pleasure of listening to Van’s iconic “Astral Weeks” album way back in only the second week of these Diaries, and we’re blessed to be able to give the 1970 follow up to that masterpiece the once over, here.

Frustrated by the lack of commercial success of “Astral Weeks”, Van and his wife relocated to Woodstock, New York as he strived to create a more accessible, radio-friendly sound for his next release.

After quitting drugs during this period because they stopped his productivity, Van used his music and his songs to talk about natural wonders and also the cosmic wonder of the universe as his way of getting high.

None more so than the first song on here, “And It Stoned Me”, which he based on an actual childhood event in his life when, as a 12 year old kid in Ireland he took a drink from a stream and it’s total purity stopped him in his tracks, giving him a moment of utter quietude.

In the song, Van compares this moment to the first time he listened to one of his heroes, the legendary American Jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton and it’s since become a favourite amongst his many legions of fans – myself included.

The most well known song on here will undoubtedly be the Jazz-infused title-track and Van singing about an Autumnal romance. On writing it he later stated that he wanted to write a “Sophisticated song that Frank Sinatra would be able to sing.”, yet strangely, it wasn’t actually released as a single until 1977, a full seven and a half years after its appearance here. It’s this song more than any other that Van has played live at all of his gigs.

Another favourite is “Caravan”, which is all about the joys of lazing around with someone you love whilst listening to the radio and spontaneously finding a song you both really dig. Although if you want to see the ultimate version of this tune then go on to YouTube and treat yourself to him performing it live with The Band on the Scorsese directed concert film “The Last Waltz”, if only for Van’s maroon jumpsuit and his attempt at a high-kick. He’s never looked or sounded better.

Go ‘ed Van!

For me though the best song on here, and quite possibly my favourite Van song of all time is “Into The Mystic”, which wouldn’t have sounded out of place if it had appeared on “Astral Weeks”. It’s actual meaning has been left open to interpretation due to Vans use of homophones in his lyrics. When asked about it he explained, “Originally I wrote it as ‘Into the Misty’. But later I thought that it had something of an ethereal feeling to it so I called it ‘Into the Mystic’. That song is kind of funny because when it came time to send the lyrics into Warner Bros, I couldn’t figure out what to send them. Because really the song has two sets of lyrics. For example, there’s ‘I was born before the wind’ and ‘I was borne before the wind’, and also ‘Also younger than the son, Ere the bonny boat was one’ and ‘All so younger than the son, Ere the bonny boat was won’ … I guess the song is just about being part of the universe.”

The songs final refrain of “Too late to stop now…” has become synonymous with Vans live shows, and it later became the title of his 1974 Live album. I’m sure we’ll be talking about that one in the not too distant future.

As for this album?

“Turn it up….Cos you know….It’s got soul”

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Listen To: Into The Mystic

Listen Here

Run DMC

Raising Hell

The last album of this week’s entry and it’s from one of the most iconic and influential acts of the 1980’s.

Run DMC were formed in Queens, New York in 1981 by Joseph Simmons (DJ Run), Darryll McDaniels (DMC) and Jason Mizell (Jam Master Jay) and this is their breakthrough third album released in 1986.

Following on from their appearance at Live Aid in 1985 – in which they were the only Hip-Hop act to appear on the whole bill – they teamed up with legendary Def Jam producer Rick Rubin who incorporated more Rock influenced samples into their sound, namely the intro to The Knacks “My Sharona” on the single ” It’s Tricky” that they used without the band’s permission and were later sued by them as a result.

Blazing a trail for the rest of Hip-Hop to follow was the success they had with the single “My Adidas” which led to the first ever endorsement deal between a music act and a sportswear company, being paid a whopping 1.6 million dollars by the brand with the three stripes.

Speaking about it to MTV years later, DMC said, “It was a song that was about our sneakers, but it was bigger than just talking about how many pairs of sneakers we had. It came from the place of people would look at the b-boys, the b-girls and go, ‘Oh, those are the people that cause all the problems in here.’ And, ‘Those young people are nothing but troublemakers and those young people don’t know nothing.’ So they was judging the book by its cover, without seeing what was inside of it.”

On influencing a whole new culture of sportswear being worn casually by kids on the street, Run said, “There were guys that wore Kangol hats and sneakers with no shoestrings. It was a very street thing to wear, extremely rough. They couldn’t wear shoelaces in jail and we took it as a fashion statement. The reason they couldn’t have shoelaces in jail was because they might hang themselves. That’s why DMC says ‘My Adidas only bring good news and they are not used as felon shoes.”

Undoubtedly the most famous song on this album can only be the fantastic Rock/Rap crossover featuring a duet with Aerosmith and a now legendary cover of their song “Walk This Way” including one of the most iconic videos of all time for the MTV Generation.

The idea for the collaboration stemmed from Rick Rubin playing a copy of the Aerosmith album “Toys In The Attic” in the studio and Run DMC freestyling over it. At the time they didn’t even know who Aerosmith were and it was down to Rubin – a massive Rock fan – to explain who it was.

The rest is history and not only did the end result catapult Run DMC into mainstream stardom it also revitalised the career of Aerosmith whose members had been battling drug and alcohol addictions.

A true era-defining album this. Another must own.

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Listen To: Walk This Way

Listen Here

Thats it for another week. Thanks for reading. To listen to any of the albums listed just click on the link under each entry. I hope you find something new that you love.

The Great Album Diaries (Week 25)

Hello again and as a result of the positive feedback Ive been getting to the latest entries, I’ve decided to set up a page on Instagram where all previous posts can be re-read if you so choose. Just search for The Great Album Diaries and you should be able to find me. In the meantime here’s what The Playlist randomly selected for us this week….

Week 25

30th July 2018

Bob Marley & The Wailers

Exodus

Every once in a while the Playlist will throw up an album that, once listened to, will make me wonder how I’ve gone through my whole life without hearing it before. Iggy Pop’s “The Idiot” way back in Week 3 being a case in point.

Well this album from Bob Marley is not only the best one of his I’ve ever listened to, it’s a good argument to say it’s now officially in my Top 10 favourite records of all time. It’s as simple as that.

When we listened to his “Catch A Fire” album way back in Week 20 of these Diaries, I stated then that it was only his “Legend” Greatest Hits that I actually owned. Several tracks from that particular record are here in their original order on this, Bob’s ninth studio album, released in June 1977.

Lets go back six months prior to then, to December 1976, and two nights before he was due to play at the “Smile Jamaica” Concert – a free event held in an attempt to ease tensions between two political group – an unknown gunman forced his way into Bob’s Kingston home, shooting him, his wife Rita and manager Don Taylor.

Bob sustained only minor injuries to his chest and arm, but his wife and manager were both seriously injured – thankfully making full recoveries.

Despite this, he still managed to perform at the concert two days later and when asked about the incident stated, “The people who are trying to make this world worse aren’t taking a day off. How can I?”

As a result of this failed attempt on his life Bob was forced into exile and moved to London, which is where he wrote and recorded this absolute masterpiece.

It’s an album of two halves, with the first half revolving around themes of change, religion and politics, whereas the second half concentrates on spirituality, love and sex.

It’s title track binds together the Biblical story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, with the hope of Rastafarians being led to freedom, and also with his own self-imposed exile to the UK.

Other highlights here are “Jamming”, “Waiting In Vain” and “One Love”, which – unbeknown to me – is an interpretation of the 1965 song “People Get Ready” written by Curtis Mayfield and released by The Impressions.

For me though my favourite on here can only be “Three Little Birds”, a song full of optimism but also one who’s origins are still disputed.

One theory is that Bob was inspired to write it by watching the canaries that used to come and sit on his windowsill at his home in Hope Road, Kingston. Another claim is from one of Bobs backing singers, Marcia Griffiths – one of the “I Threes” as they were known, who sang alongside Judy Mowatt and Bobs wife Rita. She claims that he would always refer to them as his ” Three Little Birds”.

Whatever the reason behind the song it will forever remind me of Jurgen Klopps first season in charge of LFC as the travelling Kop adopted it as our anthem on the way to the Europa League Final in Basel.

As for this album, well in 1999, Time Magazine named it “The Best Album Of The 20th Century”, whilst two years later VH1 placed it at No.26 in “The Greatest Albums Of All Time”.

Personally I’d have it somewhere between the two.

A must own.

Listen Here.

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Listen To: Three Little Birds

Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers

L.A.M.F.

The Lost ’77 Mixes

Regular readers of these Diaries will recall us talking about The New York Dolls eponymous debut album way back in Week 21, and this is the band that guitarist Johnny Thunders and drummer Jerry Nolan formed when The Dolls imploded in 1975.

They recruited a former member of Television – Richard Hell – on bass, alongside guitarist Walter Lore, before a clash of personalities between Hell and Johnny resulted in the band recruiting another bass player in Billy Rath, all before the release of this, their debut album from October 1977.

Legendary figure of the UK Punk Scene -and former manager of the New York Dolls – Malcolm McLaren, invited Johnny and his band over to these shores to join The Anarchy Tour alongside The Buzzcocks, The Damned, The Clash and of course The Sex Pistols, whom McLaren was now managing.

Unfortunately for The Heartbreakers they arrived here on the very same day that The Pistols infamously swore on Bill Grundy’s Today show on prime time national television which more or less forced the cancellation of the tour.

Stranded in the UK with no money, the band decided against flying back to the States and instead set out to build up a following on the live circuit, which they certainly achieved. They also succeeded in developing lifelong drug habits – namely heroin – and if the rumours are to be believed were paying cab drivers to run them from Birmingham to London to get their weekly supply of gear all at the expense of their record company!

This record gets its title from gang-related graffiti Johnny used to see all the time in New York and it stands for “Like A Mother Fucker”. On its release it was universally panned by fans and critics alike, not for the songs but for the extremely poor production and sound quality.

The general consensus amongst everyone was “Imagine how good it could have sounded”, and it was a blow which sadly led to the break up of the band.

It wasn’t until this remastered version, pieced together from over 300-plus available mixes, was released in 1994 that it got the recognition it so richly deserved.

Sadly though both Johnny and Jerry were no longer around to receive any such plaudits. Johnny died in April 1991 and his death his still shrouded in mysterious circumstances. Initial reports of a drug overdose were later proven to be inaccurate as the levels of drugs in his body were not thought to be life-threatening.

Other rumours were that he was drugged and murdered in a drug deal gone wrong, whilst yet another possible theory is that he was suffering from the latter stages of leukaemia.

Just a few months after Jonnny’s death he was joined in the great mosh pit in the sky by his long time pal and band mate Jerry Nolan who suffered a massive stroke that he never recovered from, finally having his life-support switched off in January 1992.

A sad demise yes but listen to them in their absolute prime here, especially the absurdly excellent cover of the Motown classic “Do You Love Me”.

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Listen To: Do You Love Me

Listen Here.

Harry Nilsson

Nilsson Schmilsson

Previous to listening to this album the only Nilsson songs I knew were the fantastic “Everybody’s Talking” from the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy (and The Jolly Boys Outing episode of Only Fools And Horses!) and of course his cover of Badfinger’s “Without You”, a decent tune sadly made unbearable due to Mariah Carey’s truly depressing remake in the 90’s.

God I hate that song. I mean I really, really hate that song. So you can imagine my reaction when I discovered Nilssons – albeit far superior – version appears here in all its glory on this, his seventh album, from 1971.

A founding member of the legendary “Hollywood Vampires” Drinking Club alongside Alice Cooper, Keith Moon, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Micky Dolenz, this fella is remembered for his close friendship with Lennon during John’s infamous “Lost Weekend” period almost as much as his music, which if I was to compare it to anyone I’d say reminded me of Billy Joel or even Elton John in parts.

Easy listening, lots of piano and plenty of heartfelt, sincere lyrics. There’s even little bit of calypso on here with another song I recognised, “Coconut” and Tarantino fans will recognise that song from the final credits on Reservoir Dogs.

He’s got a cracking voice too, and it’s at its best on my favourite song on here, the gritty, more rock influenced “Jump Into The Fire” which, I discovered actually features no less than three times over the course of ten minutes in the Martin Scorsese classic, Goodfellas.

Remember the scene near the end when Ray Liotta’s Henry Hill is paranoid up to his eyeballs, getting followed by the helicopter? This is the song playing in the background.

Remember the scene when he finally gets nicked on his driveway and the police have the guns pointed at him? The drum solo you can hear is the drum solo from this song.

Well I never….

The rest of this album was for me a bit hit and miss. I like to hope it’s a grower beacause I’d like to give this a few more listens so hopefully I can revisit it again in the future.

As for Harry Nilsson, well unbelievably he never actually toured and hardly ever played live throughout his recording career and shortly after his good mate John was shot and killed in 1980, Harry was deeply affected by it. He was a member of The Coalition Against Gun Violence and campaigned tirelessly on its behalf.

Sadly he passed away due to heart failure in 1994 aged just 52 just as he was about to start work on one final album.

I reckon I could learn to love this one. Leave it with me.

My Rating: ☆☆☆

Listen To: Jump Into The Fire

Listen Here.

The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys Today!

Noel Gallagher once said, “The only time The Beach Boys ever got close to The Beatles was in HMV…..under ‘B’….”

Now whilst that might seem like a harsh criticism, I’m afraid I’d have to agree with the Tory Manc on this one. I’ve tried countless times to get into The Beach Boys and barring a couple of notable exceptions they just don’t do it for me.

I remember reading somewhere that on hearing The Beatles “Rubber Soul” for the first time, Brian Wilson was inspired like never before and as a result came back with “Pet Sounds”, which in turn forced Lennon & McCartney to up their game, returning with “Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band”

Go ‘ed.

I actually went out and bought “Pet Sounds” on the strength of reading that very article but if I’m totally honest its just never grabbed me like every single Beatles album has always done.

I’m sure we’ll get to talk a bit more in depth about “Pet Sounds” in the not too distant future, but until then let’s focus on this particular record. It was released in 1965, a full twelve months prior to “Pet Sounds”, and it’s The Beach Boys eighth studio album.

In the December of 1964, Brian Wilson suffered a nervous breakdown whilst on a flight due to the stresses of life on the road. He decided there and then to resign from touring and to concentrate solely on writing and producing music. Unbelievable really when you consider he was still only 22 years old at the time.

Anyway it was not long after that incident on the plane that Brian started smoking marijuana for “medicinal purposes” and he has since claimed it had a profound effect on his song writing. Or as he put it, “Pot made the music grow in my head.”

This was the first album that seen him shy away from writing songs about surfing, cars or teenage love and instead the songs were a lot more introspective and contemplative. This is evident in the song “Please Let Me Wonder”, which is allegedly the first track ever composed by Brian whilst under the influence.

It’s an album of two halves, the second half being more ballad orientated but I preferred the first half and it’s upbeat, catchy numbers. Annoyingly catchy they are too. I had “Do You Wanna Dance?”, “Good To My Baby” and “Help Me, Rhonda” stuck in my head all day after giving this a couple of listens.

You can tell Brian Wilson idolised Phil Spector and his Wall Of Sound because the production on a lot of these tunes are of a similar vein. It’s been said that when he was recovering from his breakdown, Brian heard The Righteous Brother’s “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin” and called up Spector plus songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil to congratulate them on writing and producing, “…the greatest record ever made.”

It was that song which gave Brian the impetus to carry on writing and this album is the result of that moment of inspiration.

Honestly? I enjoyed it but I can’t see myself going back to it. Worth a listen though.

PS whilst I’m on the subject – Google “Noel Gallagher Hates The Beach Boys.” Trust me, hours of fun!

My Rating: ☆☆☆

Listen To: Please Let Me Wonder

Listen Here.

The Doors

Strange Days

Believe it or not that album cover is not a photo from outside Smokie Mo’s on a Sunday afternoon but a staged shoot on a New York street from photographer Joel Brodsky using hired street performers, including a pair of dwarves (the other one is on the back cover) and even an actual New York cabbie playing the trumpet. As John Lennon once sang, Strange Days indeed!

Also if you look closely you’ll see a poster of the band on the wall with the album title attached to it.

Released in September 1967 just nine months after their self-titled debut, this is The Doors second album and following on from its predecessor way back in Week Six – the second of theirs to feature in these Diaries.

In between the release of their first album and the recording of this one, the band managed to get an advance copy of The Beatles “Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band”, and were said to have – and I quote “….absolutely flipped out at what they heard.” They immediately set about trying similar ways of experimentation and recording techniques in preparation for this record.

It’s often been said that, because the first two Doors albums were released so close together then the songs on here must have been ones rejected by the band to appear on their debut. Now I can’t answer whether that’s true or not but I will say this – it contains several of The Doors most well known and loved songs and if truth be told I think I’ve always preferred this album to their debut. Only slightly mind. They’re both magnificent in their own way.

One track on here you will definitely recognise is the Robby Krieger penned “Love Me Two Times”, which is about a soldier or a sailor paying his missus one last conjugal visit before being shipped off to war. That opening riff gets me every time, and it even features a harpsichord solo from Ray Manzarek who said he used that particular instrument to confuse the listeners expectations!

Another highlight is the epic, 11 minute finale that is “When The Music’s Over”, a song split into five parts, that finds Jim asking us “What have they done to the Earth?”, making it one of the first examples of environmental issues being used in rock ‘n’ roll.

For me though the standout track on here is one that, as a kid growing up, I just assumed was an Echo And The Bunnymen song. Their excellent cover appeared in the 1987 film “The Lost Boys”, and it was only when I started listening to The Doors a few years later that I discovered that “People Are Strange” was actually one of theirs.

And what a song it is too.

Apparently written by Jim after he went for a walk along Laurel Canyon up in the Hollywood Hills, trying to shake off his constant feelings of depression. It’s a song about being an outsider and feeling alienated, with Jim thought to be addressing members of the Hippie Culture, users of LSD or both, whilst expressing his own feelings of vulnerability.

Jim is said to have come back from his walk in the hills like he had been reborn, his eyes wide with excitement and began scribbling away the lyrics to this very song. According to Ray Manzarek he then turned to him and said excitedly, “It just came to me in a flash as I was sitting on the ridge overlooking the whole city. It feels good to be writing again.”

I know the feeling, Jim.

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Listen To: People Are Strange

Listen Here.

EPMD

Strictly Business

Who doesn’t love a bit of 1980’s sample-driven Hip-Hop on a Friday morning? The sun was shining, the new footy season is almost within reach and I had this belter putting a spring in my step on my commute to work.

Its from two lads who until today I hadn’t even heard of, but rest assured after listening to this for the first time I’m gonna be hearing a lot more from them in the future.

Hailing from Long Island, New York, EPMD are MC’s Erick Sermon & Parrish Smith and their moniker is an acronym for “Erick and Parrish Making Dollars”. This is their debut album, released in June 1988, bang in the middle of what later became known as Rap Music’s “Golden Age” spanning the mid-eighties to the early nineties.

Its title track opens with a sample of Eric Claptons cover of “I Shot The Sheriff” and the funk doesnt let up for the whole of the album. If you listen carefully you can hear Kool & The Gangs “Jungle Boogie” sampled on more than one track, Steve Miller’s “Fly Like An Eagle” on “You’re A Customer” and even the helicopter intro from Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In The Wall Part 1” appears at the start of “Its My Thing”, but instead of Floyd’s headmaster shouting “STAND STILL LADDDIE!!” it goes straight into a sample of The Whole Darn Family’s “Seven Minutes Of Funk”.

There’s even a track on here that pays homage to the hilarious 1979 film “The Jerk”, called “The Steve Martin” and his characters total lack of any musical rhythm. What a film that is by the way, haven’t seen that in years!

I couldn’t get enough of this album and if I had to compare it to anyone it would be De La Soul and their equally as good debut “3 Feet High And Rising” which was released just 8 months later from this one.

EPMD are still together to this day – despite having broke up twice in the past – and have released a total of eight albums, all containing the word “Business” in the title.

This however is widely regarded as their finest hour and has since become recognised as a seminal Hip-Hop album and one of “The Classics” of the whole genre.

It’s certainly a new favourite of mine. Another must own.

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Listen To: Strictly Business

Listen Here.

Guns N Roses

Appetite For Destruction

What a way to end the week!

This one ticks every single box where the truly GREAT albums are concerened:

An iconic band of their time, hitting the ground running on their debut, jam-packed with memorable singles, with an album cover whose poster will have adorned millions of bedroom walls across the globe on its release in July 1987.

Yes it’s time for the biggest rock n roll band of the late eighties and early nineties to make their long awaited Diaries debut – the phenomenal Guns N Roses.

An album which to my shame I had not listened to in a criminally long time, I couldn’t wait to get stuck into this on Saturday morning.

Formed in Los Angeles in 1985 when guitarist Izzy Stradlin and vocalist Axl Rose left their band Hollywood Rose and teamed up with L.A Guns members, guitarist Tracii Guns, bassist Ole Beich and Rob Gardner on drums.

They got their name by combining their previous bands titles but only after rejecting some shockers like “Head of Amazon” or even worse, simply “AIDS”. Imagine that!

After some internal disputes and personnel changes, the classic line up of Axl, Izzy, and new recruits Duff McKagen, Steven Adler and Slash was complete.

We start off with one of the great opening tracks in rock history in “Welcome To The Jungle”, and it was inspired by an incident Axl and a friend had when they stepped off a bus in New York City and a homeless man collared the pair them, looked them in the eyes and uttered the now immortal line, “You know where you are? You’re in the jungle, baby! You’re gonna die!”

According to Slash the music for the whole song just took three hours to write and compose.

Another classic here is “Nightrain” which is a tribute to the cheap yet potent “Night Train Express” that the band would consume bottles of whilst recording the album. Think of a Californian type of Buckfast or Mad Dog 20/20 and you won’t be far wrong. It’s since been labelled one of the ten best drinking songs of all time.

Next we have another favourite in “Mr. Brownstone”, said to be all about a day in the life of Izzy and Slash. A pair of heroin addicts feeling sorry for themselves whilst they were living together, Slash said the two of them scribbled the lyrics down on the back of a grocery bag and gave them to Axl who loved it.

One of GNR’s most loved tunes “Paradise City” was composed in the back of a rental van after the band had played a gig in San Francisco but unfortunately for Slash the rest of his band mates vetoed his lyrical contribution of “Take me down to the Paradise City where the girls are fat and they’ve got big titties….” and instead sticking with the original chorus we’re all now familiar with!

My favourite on Appetite For Destruction is probably not the best one on here (see any of the above) but for me *self-indulgence alert* it takes me back to 2001 and the Old Market Square in Dortmund, Germany. The Reds had just won the FA Cup in Cardiff three days earlier and here we were on the verge of a famous treble in the UEFA Cup Final. My first ever European Final following LFC.

We got to the fanzone a few hours before the likes of Cast and Pete Wylie turned up to get everyone singing and the rain was lashing down when some kid unbeknown to anyone asked if he could get up to do a song.

He picked up the electric guitar on the stage, walked up to the mic and proceeded to give the best version of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” I’ve ever heard still to this day. I nearly choked on the non-alcoholic German lager we had just nicked from the supermarket (we didn’t know it was non-alcoholic til about 4 cans in but that’s another story!)

The clouds broke, the mood lifted, the ale began to flow and later that night Houlliers Reds were Treble Winners. It never fails to warm the heart and bring a smile to my face.

The song itself came about purely by accident when Izzy overhead Slash going through what he called a “string skipping exercise” on his guitar. That became the legendary intro to the song and in 2004 Total Guitar Magazine named it “The Greatest Riff Of All Time”.

Taking inspiration from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Axl set about trying to come up with some lyrics about his then girlfriend Erin Everly.

It went on to become one of the band’s most loved tunes and has become synonymous with that whole era.

A bona-fide Great album this. Another must own.

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Listen To: Sweet Child O’ Mine

Listen Here.

Thats it for another week. Thanks for reading and if you want to listen to any of the albums mentioned just click on the link below each one. I hope you find something new that you love.