On Elbow’s tenths studio album, the band rides the groove on several songs including the swampy murk of first track, “Things I’ve Been Telling Myself For Years” where singer Guy Garvey sings of “kissing hands and shaking babies”. “Her To Earth” uses mumbled lyrics as a sound bed with a bit of an 80s vibe while second single “Balu” sees synths dominate with some horns thrown in for funky effect. “Lovers’ Leap” uses vocal effects with a steady bass groove.
The second half sees the band sound like an older, wiser indie rock band. Newest official member, drummer Alex Reeves provides the quick beats of “The Picture” where a hotel room provides the scene of a woman that is like “a slender elegant foot on the neck”. “Knife Fight” and “Good Blood Mexico City” provide two great rock tracks with Garvey singing “when the sun goes down/the night explodes in their eyes” on the latter. It’s on those songs plus the closing “From The River” that lifts Audio Vertigo up a couple notches for yet another solid Elbow record.
1994 was a pivotal year for music. Artists who released notable albums include Green Day, Weezer, Hole, Soundgarden, The Beastie Boys, NAS, Notorious B.I.G., Jeff Buckley, Sloan, Nirvana, NIN, blur, Portishead, Manic Street Preachers, Suede, etc. On August 29th, one of the decade’s biggest albums was released by a new Mancunian band named Oasis. Lead by loudmouth brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher, the band’s debut album Definitely Maybe would become the fastest selling debut in UK history and land at #1 on the UK chart.
Oasis in 1994 was a mixture of UK guitar based bands up until that point. The base was 60s British rock, with a punk attitude infused with 1990s British lad culture. First track, “Rock N Roll Star” laid down the band’s intent, the first of several songs that have lived on for 30 years through concert setlists. Noel has regularly said that the band’s first single, “Supersonic” is his favourite Oasis track. “Live Forever” has long been a feature at the end of concerts for both Gallagher brothers on solo tours while fan favourite “Slide Away” shows a loving heart beneath the bluster.
For its 20th anniversary in 2014, the band released a deluxe edition that features an additional 2 discs of b-sides, singles, live tracks, and rarities. The Noel Gallagher acoustic track “Sad Song” appears, a song that had only appeared on the vinyl version of the debut. The second disc contains one of the band’s fiercest early songs in “Fade Away” along with their live cover of The Beatles’ “I Am The Walrus”. The second disc closes with the single “Whatever” released in December 1994 and went to #3 in the UK singles charts. The b-side “Half the World Away” is the last track – it would later go on to be the theme song to British show The Royale’s as well as covered in a popular John Lewis Christmas advert.
The third disc contains an acoustic version of the band’s second single, “Shakermaker” that cheekily adds a verse from the Coca-Cola 70s advert jingle, a soundalike song that landed the band in legal trouble. The psychedelic swirl of “Columbia (Eden Studios Mix)” appears with a snarling live version of “Cigarettes and Alcohol” before closing with the strings only mix of “Whatever”. Thirty years on, Definitely Maybe remains one of the classic UK rock albums of all time. The deluxe edition is a must have reminder of how things were in 1994 as Britpop started to take flight.
At the end of his barnstorming sets at Knebworth in 2022, Liam Gallagher brought out John Squire to perform the Oasis classic, “Champagne Supernova”. From there the stage was set for the two to collaborate on an album of songs that Squire was writing. The Gallagher/Squire team have done a fine job of picking out the singles as those are the best on the album. “Raise Your Hands” has a stomping beat with much riffing and a catchy chorus. “Mars to Liverpool” has a very lad aware lyric of “Jesus Christ, about last night/I can only apologize” and the duo channel their vintage selves on the five-minute lead single, “Just Another Rainbow”. The most Stone Roses sounding track is the heartbeat of the album and the one truly great song.
Those three tracks are surrounded by similar sounding ones that are less memorable. “I’m So Bored” has a punk rock attitude without the snarl, “You’re Not The Only One” adds some barrelhouse piano to the sound, and the whole thing ends with “Mother Nature’s Song”. The latter being a downtempo one with mostly basic rhyming lyrics but still somehow manages to breakthrough to be a decent closer. Hardly life changing stuff from the older lads but a solid enough listen for those pushing 50 and beyond.
The first sounds heard on Black Sabbath’s 1970 debut album is rain and church bells. The opening title track is an ominous song, full of doom and dread about a figure dressed in black standing in front of the person, it’s a terror as Ozzy Osbourne screams, “OH NO…”. A new sound was born with that song, one that would influence thousands of other bands.
Short, clipped Ozzy vocals punctuate the chorus on the harmonica driven “The Wizard”. A heavy, bluesy groove envelopes the standalone track “Wicked World” where Ozzy sings, “people go to work just to earn their bread/While people just across the sea are couniting their dead”. On the North American release, several tracks are stuck together to form a suite of music. Geezer Butler’s bass solo on “Basically” leads into “N.I.B.”, a song about lucifer falling in love. The last suite of music closes out the album including a cover of “Warning”.
The Black Sabbath debut is a classic metal album. The riffs that Tommy Ionni spreads across the almost 40 minute album that was reportedly recorded in one 12 hour session. To add to the legend, a mysterious woman graces the cover, distorted and standing in front of a medieval castle. Turns out, the world was ready for the hard blues sound mixed in with what we now call doom metal, the album went top ten in the UK. Welcome to 70s rock!
In early February, Brittany Howards released her second solo album since Alabama Shakes went on hiatus in 2018. What Now is a soulful kaleidoscope of sound in every song. First single from the fall of 2023, the title track is a dirty funk number where Howard sings of a relationship, “I don’t wanna get used to all the tension”. A fuzzy guitar buzzes in the final few minutes of “Power to Undo” whereas “Prove It To You” is a propulsive electronic dance track.
The introspective tracks are the ones that standout. “Samson” has the heartbreaking lyrics of finding it hard to leave a partner – “I’m split in two/Should I stick with you?”. Howard sings in “Red Flags” of running full through the warning signs of a bad relationship. What Now is an album full of tension and noise, avant-garde jazz right through to quiet storm tracks. This almost gets all wrapped up in last track, “Every Color In Blue” that has an insistent drum beat pushing it along. Certainly, an album for fans eclectic RnB.
The Light Appears 