1996-03-22 - Suiciety @ Oxide, Commercial Road, Prahran

For a long time I'd forgotten exactly when and where this gig was. All I had recorded was "Oxide" which isn't helpful as that is the name of a nightclub which moved quite a bit in Melbourne. I think I've settled on it being in Prahran at the time, on Commercial Road. The date I rediscovered by some newspaper clippings I'd squirrelled away in a book, only recently found.

I'd been a fan of Suiciety for a short while, having recently bought their TCP single, and Cell EP.

My sister took me along to this gig, my first at a licensed venue. She fed me beer and I promptly got drunk, having not consumed alcohol at all before.

I don't remember there being many people there. I stood right at the front and sang along, and was likely laughed at by the rest of the crowd.

I had a great time. I never saw Suiciety again.

Unfortunately Suiciety broke up shortly after releasing Cell, this which saddened me no end at the time. They're back now though, check them out on Bandcamp. I haven't managed to catch them live again yet... one day.

Poster borrowed from Suiciety on Facebook

Setlist from the night grabbed by my drunken self

1996-10-11 - Meat Loaf @ Entertainment Centre, Melbourne

A friend of mine broke up with their partner, who had bought them tickets to see Meat Loaf...

So I got to go for free.

I like Meat, but I wasn't a fan. My friend was a fan.

Very fan. So fan.

My main memory of the gig is said friend screaming through the whole thing.

Meat was on fire, this was back when he could still sing. I joked a few times that "hadn't he already played this song?" but it was pretty enjoyable.

The inflatable Satan was excellent.

1995-01-26 - The Truth @ Swanston Walk

The Truth played in the city for Australia Day. I remember the stage being in Swanston Walk but now thought Bourke Street Mall more likely, however I found an old The Age article on newspapers.com which referred to the Triple M Rock Rig being setup on "the walk" so perhaps my memory is correct.

I was never 100% sure if this was 1994 or 1995 but almost certain it's 1995.

Mik and I travelled in, positioned ourselves up front and watched with awe.

The band thought it amusing they were there for Australia Day as only one of the members was Australian. I remember Geoff Wells (guitar) broke a string at the end of Can't Help It but did well to cover it until the end of the song.

Setlist:
Tables Are Turning
Can't Help It
Too Late
Secrets
Choices
Peak It!
My Heavy Friend

We found this setlist (as drawn on the back of a water bottle label) on the day but this isn't exactly what was played. I wrote down the list as above.

1994 late - Caligula @ Virgin Megastore, Bourke Street, Melbourne

One day in I presume to be 1994, Mik and I travelled to the city to see Caligula play a short in-store gig at Virgin Megastore on Bourke Street.

Details of when this was have faded completely from my mind, but I remember they had the new single "So Fine" on sale for signing, and that single was released in November 1994, so I'm guessing around then.

I've tried to research the exact date of the gig but either it wasn't advertised in the newspapers or I've been unlucky in finding it. I'll keep searching. Oh how I ache for decent searchable archives of recent history...

The band set up way at the back of the store. We were there early enough to see them setup, where I learned to my disappointment much of the guitar work was sampled.

I think they played maybe four songs? Mik taped the gig on a little portable tape recorder but the quality was awful and I stupidly taped over it one day. I wish I still had that awful quality tape, if only to know exactly what they played. I'm an idiot.

I bought a copy of the So Fine single and got it signed. I still have it...

I didn't hear much from Caligula after this, and I later learned they broke up. Some members went on to form the excellent Primary, who's second album "Watching the World" is well work tracking down.

1994-11-26 - End of Year Party @ Festival Hall, Melbourne

My second gig was the very 1994 lineup of "End of Year Party" - The Truth, CBD, Tina Arena, Kulcha, The Sharp, Chocolate Starfish.

Looking at the ticket, the event appears to have been an all-ages charity event for Ronald McDonald House. The ticket also reminds me that we had seated tickets, but we ignored that and ran into the middle of general admission as soon as we got there.

My friend Mik and I attended to see The Sharp, with the added bonus of the recently discovered The Truth. We had zero interest in the other acts.

We were one of the few fans of The Truth from memory. Most of the crowd were not interested. We'd recently discovered them and had bought their album and knew all the words. We must have been very annoying. I remember they didn't play particularly well compared to the previous time, but I may be misremembering how great they were the first time.

CBD were from all evidence a horrible boy band so we didn't expect much. They were exactly as expected, but I have a strong memory of their bass player playing a fantastic funk solo in the middle of the set, which earned a grudging round of applause from us.

During Tina Arena's set the guy in front of us kept yelling about Mickey Mouse or something (likely confusing Young Talent Time...) - during this rant Mik threw a bottle on stage, which resulted in us being swiftly evicted from the venue.

So blissfully we missed Kulcha while we wondered off and got a drink.

We sat out front and sang loudly along when The Sharp started. The bouncers eventually got sick of us and let us back in with a slap on the wrist.

The Sharp were fantastic. It was hard to see, and I was pathetic and scared of the mosh, but the crowd pogo'd like maniacs which the band loved. It was all over far too quick, my strongest memory being the moment at the start of Train of Thought where Piet comes out from behind the drumkit to use his sticks on the double-bass while Alan rides it... Great stuff.

Chocolate Starfish were pretty terrible. The singer kept sticking his microphone down his pants. It wasn't something we were interested in so we left early.

1994-10-15 - Where 2 Be? @ Festival Hall, Melbourne

The first gig I ever attended was a four band spectacular at Festival Hall. Attending with a couple of friends, we were there for Caligula and Hunters and Collectors. We'd never heard of The Truth and were barely concious of Baby Animals beyond some singles.

I remember going with my friend Mik, but my notes remind me another friend was there to. I'm guessing it was Emmanuel, but I'm not sure. I've completely forgotten... A lot of firsts that night. First time I remember coming to the city, first time out by myself late...

The Truth were absolutely amazing. The drum solo in Peak It blew our minds. Cow. Bell. I became a fan of the band that day, and arguably, of live music too. First gig in and I already thought seeing things live was better than the album.

Caligula were heaps of fun, but not many people in the crowd were fans. They're... odd. They used a lot of samples in an era that was frowned upon.

Baby Animals opened my mind. Suze DeMarchi rewrote my idea of what a front-person should be (at the time pretty much James Hetfield or go home). Her guitar playing was incredible and they sounded so ROCK, much harder than the album I later found on tape.

I thought I knew Hunters & Collectors but really I'd only heard a few singles and the "Cut" album. So I was a little lost through much of the gig to be honest. It was a long night too. I still had fun, and resolved to get more of their music.

No earplugs... My ears rang for a good two days after this gig, and I blame much of the tinnitus I have today on this gig.

Pre-Gig History

My great-grandfather was a bugler in WWI. He quickly signed up as a soldier once in Europe. Thus ended the entire musical history of my family.

OK, it's not that dramatic. My mum saw the Beatles when they were in Australia ("all I heard was screams") - my sister played clarinet in high-school. My parents liked music but a small subset (John Farnham, some musicals). I'm sure there was other musical interest in the family, but I'm not aware of it...

I learned recorder in Primary School like most Australian kids my age. I only got as far as every-good-boy-deserves-fruit regarding music reading. There was a Casio keyboard in the house and I used to love playing with it, making up songs. Some combinations of notes sounded right, some didn't. Putting the right ones together were a song. There was a lot of joy in that.

My school made much use of the "Sing!" range of music books and tapes from the ABC. I used to adore the time singing along with these, going as far as requesting one of them for a gift for using at home. I believe they're weren't easy to obtain but my parents indulged. I don't think it ever occurred to me that the songs were "covers", or what a "cover" even meant.

On being gifted a Commodore 64 I discovered the joy of chiptunes. The music of Commando and Great Giana Sisters and hundreds of other games I can't think of now seeped into my soul. I somehow ended up with some examples of the demo-scene. I loved the music so much I'd transfer it to tape to listen to on my Walkman.

Later, in high school, I discovered you could borrow CDs from video stores (before this was banned) and I'd borrow "100% Hits" and "Hit Machine" compilations, cherry-picking the best songs to put on tape.

Up until around year 9 my music taste was fairly boring. Pop based. Heavy on the top of the charts, especially lame techno like "2 Unlimited" or "Snap". Around this time my mum's friend's son (who was a few years older than me) opened up his CD collection to me. He suggested some albums I might like. He was mostly into rock and metal. Through him I first heard Metallica, Ministry, Soundgarden, Nirvana...

I remember a particular tape I made from the radio. I don't know what the show was but I'm fairly certain it was Triple M. I captured Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam", Nirvana's "Lithium", Guns'n'Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine" - some other songs I wish I could remember... Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" was on there... as well as some nonsense like The Movement's "Jump" and Kris Kross.

I discovered around year 10 or 11 that the local library allowed me to borrow CDs. That's where I first heard Metallica's "Master of Puppets", and everything clicked into place. Apparently I loved metal and rock. Apparently "metal" and "rock" were words that meant something. Genres.

I still loved crappy computer music though, and 90s techno is forever linked with my old gaming history. I will forever connect the game Flashback with Snap's "Rhythm Is A Dancer". Our family got a modem (14.4k!) and I discovered MOD files on BBS. Again I hardly realised the majority of these were covers. I remember being really surprised hearing Axel F was an actual song when I saw it in a movie, and even more shocked to discover it had a music video.

Year 11 saw me attempting to learn the guitar. I bought a second hand guitar/amp combo from the neighbour and started making demo tapes of riffs. I discovered how to render the notes in a MID or MOD file and I'd transpose those to guitar tab to learn riffs.

I discovered Triple J, and more importantly, Live At The Wireless. I'd tape them, and discover bands. I'd listen to the live tapes more than the albums. The albums started to sound weird compared to the live versions. Faith No More, Pearl Jam, Regurgitator, Smashing Pumpkins, various Australian bands...

I became obsessed. Joined the tape trading scene. My mission was usually to get a live version of every song. I'd trade for a tape just to hear the live version of one song.

Then in 1994 I went to my first gig...

Faith No More @ Bogart's, Long Beach 1989

Update (May 2017): After viewing various videos of NightMoves, Huntington Beach - I'm confident that this gig is the same venue. As such it's most likely the "Bogart's" video was in fact filmed on 11th March 1989 at Nightmoves, Huntington Beach.

---

Ever since I've known about Faith No More and have had access to the internet, I've known about the famous "Mike Patton's first gig with Faith No More" video - Bogart's, Long Beach - 12th March 1989. Back before the reunion, the only confirmed gig from 1989 before their European tour in July was this video.

I started my Faith No More Gig Database partly in response to actually researching when Patton's first gig was. After many years it seems it has been confirmed as being at I-Beam, San Francisco on 4th November 1988.

In the last decade I've also confirmed they played many gigs in early 1989 including a gig as early as 3rd February at River Theater, Guerneville. The list includes

• 3rd Feb 1989 - River Theater, Guerneville (with Victims Family, The Garden and Mind Over 4)
• 10th Feb 1989 - The Scream, Los Angeles
• 11th Feb 1989 - Bogart's, Long Beach (supporting Dead Milkmen)
• 24th Feb 1989 - I-Beam, San Francisco (with Pandoras)
• 11th Mar 1989 - Night Moves, Huntington Beach
• 12th Mar 1989 - Whiskey A Go Go, Los Angeles (with Color Bind, Charisma, The Felliacs, M-Pulse)
• 18th Mar 1989 - Cactus Club, San Jose (with The Gathering)
• 24th Mar 1989 - Fender's, Long Beach (with Motorcycle Boy)
• 31st Mar 1989 - Berkeley Square, Berkeley (with Nag Nag Nag)
• 7th Apr 1989 - I-Beam, San Francisco (with Primus)

Steffan Chirazi's "The Real Story" Faith No More biography talks about an I-Beam gig where Mike Patton badly cut his hand requiring surgery. I believe the 7th April 1989 gig above is the gig this occurred. The band took a break after this gig to allow for Patton's surgery, as well as for Jim Martin to have back surgery.

I've been unable to confirm any Faith No More Bogart's gigs other than the Dead Milkmen support in February.

I've looked at many other videos claiming to have been filmed at Bogart's and none of them appear to have similar decor as that seen in the video, particularly the distinctive vinyl record albums on the walls.

I've also contacted the club band bookers for Bogart's at the time (David Swinson and Stephen Zepeda) and neither think the video looks like Bogart's.

So it seems there is nothing true about the description "Mike Patton's first gig - Bogart's 12th March 1989". It's not Patton's first gig (that's I-Beam), it's not 12th March (they were playing Whiskey A Go Go that day) and it's not Bogart's.

So where is it?

Based on the video contents (the way Patton sings, the fact they don't play the end of Epic) makes be sure it is definitely early 1989. I've ruled out a number of venues listed above as not looking like the venue in the video but not all of them.

A YouTube commenter suggests the gig was actually from the 11th March. That would make the venue Huntington Beach's Night Moves. There are only a few videos I can find of gigs at that venue and they don't show the sides of stage. Night Moves renamed and remodelled in late 1989/early 1990 due to noise complaints, eventually becoming Club 5902.

Did you frequent gigs in Long Beach in 1989? Do you recognise the venue?

[2001] Vince DiCola, "Artistic Transformations"

In the early 2000s I was only just discovering the joy that is Vince DiCola, from the music in the original Transformers Movie.

I was overjoyed to discover he had a web presence, and that he was embracing his Transformers music, including releasing a CD of the full score, a CD of related demos, and an album of solo piano interpretations of music from the score, "Artistic Transformations". I jumped at the chance to buy the discs, with "Artistic Transformations" becoming one of my favourite albums ever.

I'm horribly biased, as I love the original 80s melodies, but I strongly feel even those unfamiliar with the original songs would enjoy this album. The melodies, and percussive playing, are so infectious.

But why listen to me, when you can purchase Artistic Transformations on Bandcamp, as well as the demo collection The Protoform Sessions. The exact score CD that was released at the time isn't available, however the amazing Intrada Records has recently released a very similar album (that of course I purchased), remastered.

My only complaint about the album is that perhaps it gets a little old toward the end, blowing all the amazing music at the beginning, but I happily leave it on repeat for hours regardless.

8/10

[2015] Faith No More, "Sol Invictus"

Faith No More's first post-reunion album...

Bias notes:

• I am a huge Faith No More fan and have been since 1995.
• Sometime a few years ago I lost my "everything Patton touches is gold" bias and found I wasn't enjoying his output as much, for various reasons. So I'm capable of disliking what he does.
• I've been terrified of this album, fearing it would be awful, or at best, a bit good. I was absolutely expecting the worst.
• If I were to rate the albums in favourite-to-least-favourite order:
• King For A Day / Introduce Yourself
• Angel Dust
• Album Of The Year
• The Real Thing
• We Care A Lot

The pre-KFAD albums came into my consciousness slowly, hearing songs at parties or on the radio, until finally with KFAD I decided I loved the band. 

Thus, it is only really with Album Of The Year that I can say I had the experience of desiring, waiting for, and finally listening with excitement, a new Faith No More album.

My memory of the first listen to Album Of The Year is less positive than Sol Invictus. I thought "Collision" a bit rough, trying to be heavy when it wasn't. The last three songs were just bizarre. I hated "She Loves Me Not". But I loved a lot of it... and with recent listens I've decided I really like the album. For a while I rated it below The Real Thing but now I rate it above.

On my first listen of Sol Invictus I was genuinely shocked from the first track: struck by how much it didn't sound like Faith No More. There are a few songs on the album, ("Matador" especially) that could be argued sound a little like a mix of King For A Day and Album Of The Year (or perhaps "KFAD with Roddy involved and Jon on guitar"), but mostly to my ears it sounds brand new. And I love that. In hindsight it's a trick I think they've pulled off on every album since Introduce Yourself... sounding completely different, but still sounding like themselves.

After multiple listens these are clearly Faith No More songs. They've added, changed, their sound.

To my ears Sol Invictus sounds very much like the album was written from the strong base of piano, bass and drums, with vocals and guitars add after. Songs are structured around piano or bass/drum riffs, and rarely around guitar riffs.

I've read that the band feels the album is inspired by, or harking back to, their earliest work... I don't really hear it musically, except perhaps that many of the songs don't adhere to the typical "verse/chorus/verse" structure, and could perhaps have come out of studio jams, like the extended riff jams that started the band. That's most obvious in "Separation Anxiety" and "From The Dead".

Musically, ignoring the vocals, I can't fault the album. Being hyper critical I might complain about a few strange drum hits that I can't decide are deliberate or not, or perhaps about the mix, which sounds like an excellent demo rather than a super polished studio album, but I won't, because I love all of that. I love the punchy in-the-rehearsal mix. Other than the shock of style, I don't think anyone expected these professional musicians to be anything other than stellar.

Clearly what sticks out though is Patton. Not just because he's the elephant in the room, the god to so many. His vocal mix sounds a little... indulgent? Very strong in the mix, right up front, rarely in the background, with lots of harmonising and effects. It's vintage Patton. And I say vintage because he's been doing it in all of his post-Faith No More projects since 1999. The album really gains from some of this post-FNM range, but a lot of that early range is missing too.

One obvious change from previous albums is that Patton is often singing in a very low range, or growled and shouted. Perhaps his vocal range has dropped with age and he's working around that? It would explain his recent output and style choices. The lower range, almost growled vocals gives some songs a clear Nick Cave or Leonard Cohen vibe, coupled with the band's choice of acoustics, piano and slide guitars.

I'm irritated that "Sunny Side Up" is one of the most catchy songs, getting constantly stuck in my head, as it is the song I'm most conflicted by. I think some of the lyrics are just weird and don't flow well ("more than one way to fry an egg") but others I love ("rainbows will bend for me, curvy. Honey bees will sting for me, stingy, stingy!")

I hate the way he sings the "fry an egg" line. For me, the vocal style there is really rough, and sounds discordant. He repeats similar vocal theatrics-that-don't-work in "From The Dead", floating around notes like a diva, and in parts of other songs. Why? I think a producer might have pulled him up on that. Maybe not.

Perhaps it'll grow on me.

Generally though, the album is amazing. I'd struggle to pick a favourite, but "Black Friday", "Matador" and "Cone of Shame" are all up there. "Sol Invictus" is an excellent album opener, especially with "Superhero" after it. When I first heard "Superhero" and "Motherfucker" live I thought they were too long, unfinished... but with the album production and the ending guitar solos I think they're fantastic in context. Their performance has improved live too, perhaps easier to pull off with a studio version to refer to. I genuinely love "Motherfucker" now.

I don't know if the album will appeal to new fans. I cannot tell if the music is "pop" or "accessible". I like it, but my music tastes are very eclectic. Reviews have mostly been very positive, with a few negative, mostly from those hoping for Angel Dust 2, which was clearly not going to happen. Album Of The Year 2 maybe... but Sol Invictus isn't really that either.

Ranking the albums again:

• King For A Day / Introduce Yourself
• Angel Dust
• Sol Invictus / Album Of The Year
• The Real Thing
• We Care A Lot

Being consistent with my previous reviews, that'd give Sol Invictus a 7/10.

Other Faith No More reviews:

• Album Of The Year (7/10)
• Angel Dust (8/10)
• Another Body Murdered (7/10)

[2004] Fear Factory, "Archetype"

Everyone knows Demanufacture. That's honestly all I can think about when I think of Fear Factory. And it's a great demonstration of their music, as most of their songs sound like that. I don't think that's unfair.

My favourite track on this album is the title track. I love how it builds to the surprise "open your eyes" part toward the end.

The rest of the album is the same though, but of lower quality. Clicky-drums, fast monotonous guitars, shouted and clean vocals. The first track is down-right embarrassing in places. St. Anger embarrassing. The "pour this gas on me" rap/line makes me cringe every single time.

The album ends with a cover of Nirvana's School. It's a nice reminder of how metal early Nirvana were. Hugely influential. The cover is ok, but with none of the dirt of the original. I much prefer Machine Head's Negative Creep cover. Paw also do a far better cover of School (although slightly too straight). I first heard them do it on a Triple J Live At The Wireless back in 1995.

Archetype (the song) makes up the majority of this score.

4/10

[2005] Apocalyptica, "Apocalyptica"

I love Apocalyptica, even though they've moved in a pop direction I generally hate. I love their music, it's just a pity the vocalists they tend to choose are so cheesy.

This self-titled album is mostly instrumental, but the drums do tend to distract from the greatness. Looking into it, the drummer is also listed as "programmer" so I suspect the fast songs are using electronic drums, which probably explains why I think they sound so bad.

The third track Distraction is a good example of the awful drums, as is Fatal Error. The slower songs with either a lot more tom drums, or no drums at all, are much much better (Quutamo, Misconstruction, Farewell, Ruska).

Dave Lombardo plays drums on "Betrayal/Forgiveness" and he shows how drums should be done. I've previously complained about the looseness of Dave's drumming, but next to the fake and boring sounding perfectness of the other tracks on this album, they're a huge improvement.

The vocal tracks (Life Burns! and Bittersweet) are OK. Bittersweet is definitely my favourite, with Ville Valo (of HIM) and Lauri Ylönen (of The Rasmus) doing a great VAST impression. Life Burns! is a little too pop for my liking.

I avoided this album after it came out as I was really disappointed at the drumming. I think I've found more to like this time around, but they have far far better albums.

5/10

[1996] Marilyn Manson, "Antichrist Superstar"

My wife's album, although MM has intrigued me since this album was popular. I ignored him at the Big Day Out in 1999, so my chance to see him was lost. I've got a chance to see him at Soundwave this year (if I can friggin' get there, no train? WTF?), maybe I will, although I'm likely to be watching Godsmack.

I was genuinely surprised by this album. It's very long, at 17 tracks (a lot more actually, but most are empty "hidden track filler" tracks before the final "hidden" untitled song), but stays interesting. MM's singing is dreadful, but he hides it well in these tracks. The style suits the music. I'm a big fan of The Beautiful People of course, but I also really like The Reflecting God. The rest of the album is nicely shouty with a good mix of electronic/heavy music styles and production.

It's hardly genius, but I enjoy it. I think I'll give it a few more goes in the future.

On a side note, the way he pronounces Tourniquet bugged me so I looked it up, and it's apparently normal. I'm the weird one.

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6/10

[2006] Between The Buried And Me, "The Anatomy Of"

I can't remember how I came to first hear this album. It was likely while searching for cover-versions of either Metallica or Faith No More. I know I downloaded it first, then later bought it on CD in 2008.

What impressed me the most about this covers album is not only the artists they've chosen to cover, which reads almost like a list of everything I liked in the 90s, but the songs by those bands they've attempted.

Geek USA by the Smashing Pumpkins, Territory by Sepultura, Malpractice by Faith No More, Us And Them by Pink Floyd, The Day I Tried To Live by Soundgarden, Blackened by Metallica, Cemetery Gates by Pantera, Three Of A Perfect Pair by King Crimson, Bicycle Race by Queen. As obvious as many of these bands may be, the choice of songs is not. It's very brave to tackle Cemetary Gates or Bicycle Race by Queen, when there are so many far easier songs to play or sing.

The vocalist from Between The Buried And Me as a very strong voice, capable of the high and low notes required on many of these tracks. The players are all technically brilliant. They "metal up" a lot of the songs a tad unnecessarily, although what is the point of a perfectly straight cover?

I don't think though, that any of the covers add anything to the originals. They're fun to listen to, but I'd rather hear the originals. That's true of most cover albums, and the curse of the cover band. You have to either change the song completely, making it your own, or play it so well, that the cover seems pointless.

I discovered a few bands in the listening of this (King Crimson being the main one), so it was a worthy trip, but I'd probably never listen to this again.

4/10

[2011] Steak Number Eight, "All Is Chaos"

I received this for free on the front of Metal Hammer magazine.

This album is incredible sludgy post-metal ruined only by terrible lyrics. They have an excellent understanding of a great build up, killer riffs, rising choruses. I'm always smiling listening to it. I really do adore the music. It must be so fun to play.

It really is a pity about the lyrics.


7/10

[1996] Mazzy Star, "Among My Swan"

My wife's CD. She also has 1993's "So Tonight That I Might See" which includes my favourite Fade Into You.

I listened to this album twice through, and both times I missed most of it. It's awfully... low key. It's as if the band set up in one corner of an enormous echoy studio, looked down at their instruments, instructed each other to slow everything down by half, then set up the microphone in the other corner and hit record.

I don't know if I'd enjoy it better if someone covered the songs with some less-jammy guitar and actually enunciated. Probably not.

3/10

[1994] Pearl Jam, "Animal"

Bought at the time for numerous reasons. I was a big fan of singles, live recordings, and Pearl Jam (in that order).

Animal isn't exactly the best song on "Vs" (I much prefer Go and Rearviewmirror) and I'm a bit surprised it was a single, but I suppose it's short, with a fun chorus.

The live tracks (Jeremy, Daughter, Animal) are all sourced from 3 April 1994 at Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia, a much bootlegged show, owing to it having been broadcast on the radio. The next single, Dissident, would come in multiple parts and include across all of the singles nearly the whole show. So in a way, I screwed up... I should have got Dissident. But I wasn't a big enough fan really to care.

Listening now I'm reminded at how good (solid) Pearl Jam are/were live. Flawless performances, but with life that makes them fun to listen to. Their habit of plugging a cover into the end of Daughter included Another Brick In The Wall this time around. It's hard to believe that a recent "cover" of Let It Go from Frozen at the end of Daughter was deemed newsworthy enough to be covered by the TV media in Australia. I hope everyone is embarrassed by that.

Fun little listen, but the single itself it's worth getting.

4/10

[1977] Pink Floyd, "Animals"

Again, during a big music sale, I decided to bite the bullet and purchase some Pink Floyd. I bought Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here and Animals, as I figured I should list to what all the fuss is about these pre-The-Wall albums.

I'd heard Animals exactly once (or a few times actually, in a row) at a party (or laze-about) at a friend's place. Said friends were talking about Pink Floyd like maybe they'd made the world, and were jamming along to the album on the stereo on an acoustic. I remember listening to it, but I don't remember how it sounded, or if I liked it. I didn't even really connect it with its famous cover until just now.

In the few listens I've given it since, I find it interesting... I like the stark acoustic/keyboard music more than the almost ambient twiddle on Wish You Were Here. I'm not bored by it, despite the songs being far too long. I like hearing instrumentation and sound effects that I know from later music, like the War Of The Worlds, or Transformers, or The Tea Party.

I don't enjoy the singing, although I suppose it's supposed to sound pained and angry. It's nicely hidden in Sheep where a dodgy held note turns into keyboards, but mostly it's monotone whine irritates me, and it's nothing on performances on The Wall, or even Dark Side Of The Moon.

I love the keyboard work, the vocoder, the angrily played jagged riffs on the electric guitar, the way the tracks build and fall, so much like War Of The Worlds. In a way, I think seeing Animals played in full live would be more fun than The Wall... at least maybe in a dingy pub in a basement somewhere.

My mind rallies against this album, but I'm not irritated enough to stop listening every time I play it, so it can't be that bad.

[By the way, I listened to the 2011 remaster. I am completely unqualified to compare it with the original, but it sounded pretty nice to me.]

5/10

[1973] Art Garfunkel, "Angel Clare"

About half-way through last year, I got weirdly obsessed with Simon & Garfunkel during one of the seemingly permanent 20% off sales at JB HiFi. I noticed one of those 5-album packs of Art Garfunkel's output so grabbed it. This is his debut solo album.

Paul Simon was the main songwriter in S&G. For his solo debut, Art has tackled various cover songs with all of the production and money having been in a hugely popular band can allow. He's working with long time S&G producer Roy Halee and uses a long list of session musos.

The songs are... mostly flat. Art's voice is as angelic as ever, but none of the spunk of S&G is present. None of the randomly funky bass or excellent guitar riffage. Nothing is horrible, but rarely do I find any of it interesting. It's all the kind of music I'd expect over the credits of a 70s TV show or movie.

The first track Travelling Boy descends into a pretty cool guitar solo, but the unfortunate love of the 70s, the casio keyboard, ruins the outro, as it does on the final song, Another Lullaby. I Shall Sing, with its latin beat, could almost be an outtake from Paul Simon's Graceland, while I'm surprised to hear Simon singing backing on Down In The Willow Garden, one of the least interesting tracks in a pile of uninteresting.

I like the excessive over-dub sounding backing instrumentation on Mary Was An Only Child, it's almost avant-garde at times, but not quite Cecilia.

And obviously most missing are the effortless harmonies that made S&G so great. It's unfair to compare I suppose, but it's all I can do. The album, and indeed Garfunkel's entire solo career, serves fans who adore his voice, the Bridge Over Troubled Water fans, who want to hear his take on all-the-things, but for me, it's an emotionless experience.

3/10

[1979] Aviary, "Aviary"

When I saw the review for this album in Classic Rock magazine I believe it described them as the best band no one has heard of. It compared them to Queen and The Darkness. I didn't need much more than that. I bought this at the same time as Ruts DC, "Animal Now" and I believe it's re-release is by the same people (Rock Candy).

The band have unwittingly doomed themselves to obscurity by having a common-word name, a self titled album, and only one album at that. In the world of Google it is near impossible to find any information on the band, or album, at all. Thankfully YouTube comes to the rescue again...




The album starts with "Soaring", and really, you could leave it there. It's every 70's prog excess overproduction mashed into one catchy song, all falsetto vocals, piano and soaring guitar solos *music pun intended I assume*.

They really are like Queen, The Darkness, Supertramp, YES and a thousand other bands of the era (or inspired by). The production is incredible. Why on this band, a band that apparently went nowhere? Maybe they were huge and we just don't know?

The fact they are unknown is part of the fun, and probably colours my opinion a bit. You feel excited to discover this great unknown band, and sad they're gone.

In a way they're almost too perfectly cliche. Like Spinal Tap. Maybe it's an elaborate joke?

The album is probably hobbled a little by how good "Soaring" is. The other songs are good, but they're nothing on the first track. The rest of the album sneaks a bit into Scissor Sisters and MIKA territory, and no, that isn't great, but by themselves they're fine.

I admit to avoiding this album after the first few listens. It was just a bit too cheesy. I enjoyed this re-listen though, while doing the dishes. I think you could safely get "Soaring" and avoid the rest, but it's an interesting album worth listening through at least once.

6/10