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Me vs The Wildhearts

The Wildhearts are my favourite band!

I say this safe in the knowledge that whatever happens within the band, my love for the band will never die. The Wildhearts shall endure! May have asked me why my favourite band have not been the subject of a retrospective. The answer is that I have never stopped listening to the band. I probably listen to at least 1 Wildhearts song every few days.

It has been a few days since the announcement that the band are on ‘hiatus’. How long this will last, nobody knows, but I have been a fan of the band since the early 90’s and so I know that, in one shape or another, they will return, bigger and better than ever!

Whilst this ‘hiatus’ is incredibly disappointing, especially considering the strength of their last 2 albums, I cannot say that it is unexpected.  The Wildhearts are a band that have thrived on conflict and internal strife.  Fights with record labels, trashing the office of music magazines, numerous personnel changes – the band has had it all, but through it all, the band has ultimately survived.

The Wildhearts have been responsible for some of my favourite moments in music. My favourite ever concert experience is seeing the boys at Kelvingrove Bandstand in Glasgow. I met the band for the one and only time in Glasgow early in the afternoon. I tried not to say anything stupid and utterly failed. I was a gibbering wreck and I also refused to have my work-shirt signed, as it was my ‘good shirt’. Idiot!

I then drove home 20 odd miles, changed, and got the train back to Glasgow to meet a bunch of strangers in the Solid Rock Café – the best rock pub in Scotland – as my normal gig going buddy had retired due to hearing issues. I cannot adequately explain how great this day was. I met people from all over the UK, including a guy who came up from Birmingham. Now, I don’t have a ‘face’ picture on Facebook, my picture is me passed out in my tent at the Reading Festival. So, this bearded hero hung about in the pub trying to figure out who I was. We were joined by a girl from Aberdeen, an awesome dude from Falkirk (I think) and a dude from the Islands. I have left their names out as I haven’t asked if I can use them. 

After introductory boozing at the pub, we piled in a taxi to the venue and drank even more. It was a fantastic gig, I was down the very front, have brilliant pictures of the band, including one where CJ and Danny actually posed for me, which helped this to be the greatest gig-going experience of my life!

The Wildhearts are also responsible for my second favourite song of all time. ‘The Trooper’ by Iron Maiden is the greatest song ever written by anyone, but ‘Everlone’ runs it close. It is one of 2 songs that can still give me goosebumps (Pilo Erect) when I listen to it. The other song is ‘Stinkfist’ by Tool. Any time I hear ‘Everlone’ live, I shut my eyes and the air-guitar appears to close the bad-boy out. I will always have this.

I have seen the band live more than any other….by a huge margin. I have never been let down at any gig, although I know that others have. I even heard CJ’s guitar in Glasgow. I’ve seen them at Festivals, indoor venues, posh bandstands, even ‘online’ gigs. I’ve seen several line-ups, different drummers, Jef Streatfield, Random Jon Poole spitting in the air and catching it again in his mouth, Toshi and Scott Sorry. I have nearly caught Ginger’s guitar (well, I was in the crowd watching them at Donington if that counts) and I have had a drink of Ginger’s JD and Coke in Southsea. I don’t like JD.

I have seen the band sober, and also very drunk. I have spent more money on Wildhearts merch than I can add up. I wish I still had all my t-shirts. More than half my ‘band’ t-shirts are Wildhearts related. I am lucky enough to have the fan-club release of ‘Fishing for Luckies’, and I still bought the update version of ‘PHUQ’, even though I could have put the tracklisting together to create the album proper.

I spent £25 for the ‘Caffeine Bomb’ EP on eBay back in the day, to complete my collection after they split up following the release of ‘Endless Nameless’, an album that I immediately adored, only for them to reform and release more singles. I was the President of the ‘Rock Society’ at university and knew the person running the University Radio Station. The upshot was that I was lined up to interview the band, only for them to split up.

Gutted!

I know people that ‘don’t get’ The Wildhearts. They are unable to understand the adulation that fans give them. Whilst I am by no means the ‘massive’ fan some folk assume I am (I know some fans that are incredibly intense), I am still a huge fan. I will never, ever understand why they are not huge and I do believe that they do not get the respect they deserve. I cannot understand anybody who doesn’t ‘get’ the band. It just does not compute.

For now, this hiatus gives the band time to get themselves together. Whilst we wait for this to happen, we can look forward to solo releases, gigs and all the other good things that allow the individuals to make the whole. I have complete confidence that I will be able to buy another new Wildhearts album. Until then;

‘Through edging greys, we remember these days’.

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Christmas Break

This is just a note to say that there is a slight delay to the next retrospective.

Basically, I have had to listen to a ton of 2021 albums to get my top ten albums of the year for http://www.metalepidemic.com

The good news is I will return in the New Year and I can announce that the next retrospective will be on the rather awesome Therapy?

So I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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Restrospective #7 – Terrorvision

‘We are Terrorvision, and we are from Bradford’. These are the words spoken by Tony Wright, lead vocalist of Terrorvision on each of the many, many times I have seen this band. Originally formed in 1987 with a ridiculous name I will not mention, they became Terrorvision in 1991, releasing 6 studio albums over an 18 year period.

Terrorvision, from Bradford, are, perhaps, the most fun you will ever see live. With increasingly hazy memories, I believe that I have only seen 1 band more often than I’ve seen Terrorvision. I remember seeing them on the 2nd stage at the Monsters of Rock festival, Donington, in 1994. This was not long after seeing their video for ‘Oblivion’, and to be fair, they created a life-long fan, albeit one that drifted away in a similar manner to themselves.

I have stories that will remain untold, I own a signed drumstick and a personal live video recorded on my mobile phone and a small, unimpressive secret!

In short, I love Terrorvision!

Please welcome Retrospective #7, Terrorvision.

Album Retrospective – Terrorvision.

Terrorvision’s debut album, Formaldehyde, was released in May 1993.  Well, it was unless you are one of the lucky few to own the original ‘Total Vegas’ version that was released in late December 2002, but I don’t own that version so we shall move on.

I was late to Formaldehyde, having discovered the band on their sophomore album, but I quickly snaffled up this CD and immediately fell in love with the rough and ready charm of these Northern upstarts (Although I’m a proud Scotsman, I’d been living in the south of England for a few years – this allows me to use the term ‘Northern’ in a familiar sense).‘My House’ was apparently the first single to indicate the band’s class, but I must admit to it passing me by.  Fortunately, upon purchase of the album. I immediately identified with the track and have loved singing it along with the band on numerous occasions. Other tracks like, ‘American TV’ and, ‘Jason’ offer the merest glimpse of what the band were capable of. It was a very solid, if not spectacular, debut album that hinted at their potential. 7/10

This potential was immediately realised in their 2nd album, an album that is in my top 10 albums of all time, ‘How to Make Friends and Influence People’. Released in 1994, my first ever memories of Terrorvison are, once again, from the Monsters of Rock festival. I was utterly aware of Terrorvision, you couldn’t miss them. The single. ‘Obvilion’, was absolutely everywhere. Where bands such as The Almighty and Little Angels fought for airplay, Terrorvision released a, nothing-short-of-perfect, rock song that invaded the charts, with the video of the boy performing in the sea. Our Bradford-based Supermen had arrived.

It wasn’t just the one single though. Every single song on the album is a banger. ‘Alice, What’s the Matter is a sing-a-long live classic, utterly immense. Although not a single, ‘Discotheque Wreck’ should be the soundtrack to anyone who dances like myself. However, I can neither mash potato nor do the twist. Other fantastic tracks are ‘Pretend Best Friend’ and ‘Some People Say’. This is a perfect 90’s Britrock album, and I detest the name ‘Britrock’. 10/10

March 1996 saw the release of the band’s third album, ‘Regular Urban Survivors’, and my recollection at the time was how awesome it was. Four singles were released from the album, with ‘Perseverance’ doing particularly well in the charts. For weeks, all you heard was people singing, ‘whales and dolphins, whales and dolphins, yeah!’ I also got the chance to see them on tour around this time, still owning the gig t-shirt, with my best pal. Terrorvision were very high in my favourite bands list.  They were flying.

I was then absolutely staggered when I listened to the album as part of this retrospective. From being one of their best albums, in my mind, it became an ‘Ok’ album and the singles that were released from the album were actually the best songs, with the others not hitting the expected high levels at all. I can’t put my finger on the reasons for the downturn of ‘Regular Urban Survivors’, I even question if my view of the album in the 90’s was through rose tinted glasses.  7/10

What isn’t a surprise is that I still adore the 4th album, ‘Shaving Peaches’. Released in October 1998, I bought this immediately, even though I was a poor student at the time. The album features two of my favourite Terrorvision songs, namely ‘III Wishes’ and ‘Josephine’. Full of trademark humour these tracks start the album off with a BANG! Jump forward 21 years, at the Kelvingrove Bandstand, Glasgow, I was stood at the very front of the crowd at this amphitheatre style venue.  Singing away with unfettered abandon, taking too many photos, Tony Wright stepped down to the front of the stage and grabbed my camera, then proceed to film himself and the band singing the aforementioned, ‘Josephine’.  As a man in my mid 40’s, I was absolutely beside myself and it is one of my most treasured gig memories.  The actual day itself is my favourite gig going experience of all time…. more of that in a future retrospective perhaps….

Those who know Terrorvision, will know that something is missing from my memories of ‘Shaving Peaches’. This is on purpose, as I get really pissed off when I speak with people who say they have never heard of the band, only for them to know the song, ‘Tequila’. The ‘Mint Royale’ remix of the song sent the band into the stratosphere for a while. By far their biggest selling single, it is also one of my least favourite Terrorvision songs. For the record, ‘Tequila’ does not make me happy! It just gets me really drunk! However, there was one massive bonus that came about off the back of this song. Terrorvision were named as the band who were going to play at the Summer Ball at my University!

In 1999, I was in my final year at University. It was a strange time, happy to finish my degree, but having to move away from my friends in Leicester was upsetting. The Summer Ball was the big goodbye for us all, and the fact that one of my favourite bands of all time were the ‘house band’ was absolutely immense.  I cannot put my excitement in words.

The whole event was a drunken blur.  I met the band wandering about the site before the gig and got the chance to speak to them, essentially berating my friend Ian for having the temerity to ask one of the band, who he was! Angrily, I introduced Shutty to Ian, like he was an old pal, then introduced the rest of the guys. This was pre-mobile phone days, but I got a really cool picture with me, complete with my Tuxedo, and the band – alas this is missing, presumed forever.

The gig itself was brilliant, if not a little bit strange. For a start, we were all in formal dress, Tuxedo’s, Kilts and Ball Gowns were the norm. Also, it wasn’t a group of fans at a gig. It was a bunch of drunken students with a ‘house’ band. I was potentially the biggest fan there.  It was also rather easy to get to the front of the crowd, which I did!  I also worked with the Stewards at University, and so I knew them all. This allowed me to plonk my bottle of Red wine (I said we were drunken students) stage side of the barrier and then proceed to go mental during their set. It was brilliant.

After the gig, Shutty came down from the stage and threw a drum stick to me, only for some wee git to reach across my chest and grab it before I could!  I was raging, but not as raging as Shutty who glared at the drum stick grabber before proceeding to place the 2nd drumstick in may sweaty hands. I still have this drum stick and the fantastic memories of this once in a lifetime gig!

Should have had them both!

Rubbish secret time – I can admit to the band that I was in their tour bus, by myself, at this gig. I wish I could say that I did more than just sit in a seat, but I didn’t. I was too respectful and sometimes wish I had taken a poo in their toilet! 10/10

2001 saw the release of the 5th album, ‘Good to Go’ and, if truth be told, I was utterly underwhelmed by the lead single, ‘D’ya wanna go faster’. This actually set the tone for my enjoyment of the album, that is, I never really bought into the sound the band were trying to create. Yes, there are a few decent moments, but to me, ‘Good to Go’ sounds like a band who were, and I have no regrets in using this phrase, good to go.  Indeed, it was later that year that Terrorvision played their first ever ‘final concert’. Luckily, our Northern Supermen have never stuck to that statement. 6/10

Then…. in 2011, and seemingly from out of nowhere, an announcement came that there was to be a new album!  “Ya beauty”, I thought, “Have they still got the juice?” ‘Super Delux’ was released later that year, and I was slightly apprehensive about listening to it. Those who have read previous retrospectives will know that my musical taste moved into the more extreme side of metal, and Terrorvision may be many things, none of which could be called ‘extreme’. 

My fears were unfounded.  Whilst not ground-breaking, ‘Super Delux’ is like a big welcoming hug from an old friend. It is pure Terrorvision, meaning it makes you feel good when you listen to it and it is enjoyable. 7/10

Terrorvision are a band that have given me so much joy over the years. The fact we can still go and see them live every now and again is something that fans like myself appreciate more than the band will know. They are genuinely one of the best live bands I have ever had the joy of watching, with a set list spread across a mere 6 albums that other bands will never be able to match.

AAAARGH!!!

Album Ranking

  1. How to Make Friends and Influence People
  2. Shaving Peaches
  3. Regular Urban Survivors
  4. Super Delux
  5. Formaldehyde
  6. Good to Go
  • Find out more – Seek out their Live albums/DVD’s
  • Off the beaten track – Check out Laika Dog to see Tony Wright’s versatility.
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Retrospective #6

System of a Down are an Armenian-American band that rose from the ashes of the band Soil in 1994. Over a 7-year period, they released 5 full length albums and are often discussed as being a nu-metal band, although I prefer to think of them as alternative metal.

In the mid ’90’s, I bought a copy of Kerrang! and included with the, then very good, magazine was a 2-track cassette by a band called System of a Down. Featuring the songs, ‘War’ and ‘Suite Pee’, I played it so much at University that my friend Mark would rip the piss out the former, shouting ‘We will fight the Heathens’ at the top of his voice. Mark used to also take his amp to the front door of our flat, turn it up to 11 and play a single power cord and then put everything back in his room. He was, and is, a cool dude, but I digress. Because of this cassette, I like to think of myself as an early adopter of SoaD and I quickly became a big fan, eager to lap up their new, original take on metal.

Jumping to the head of the queue due to a brief conversation with Gareth Endean (author of ‘Half a Ton of Heavy Metal’ – a great book, buy it on Amazon), Retrospective #6 is the excellent System of a Down.

Album Retrospective – System of a Down.

In 1998, soon after hearing the promo cassette of ‘War’ and ‘Suite Pee’, I eagerly snapped up the eponymous debut album by SoaD and was immediately blown away by the originality and sheer heaviness of the music. Serj Tankian’s vocals were immediate, especially in ‘Spiders’, one of the songs released as a single, with the other being ‘Sugar’. I tried to get everybody to listen to this album.  I couldn’t get enough of it, be it fighting the heathens, or storming poor June. Tankian may have written a vast majority of the lyrics, Daron Malakian gets a writing credit on ‘CUBErt’, but the band utterly shred on each track. Shavo Odadjian, the coolest looking of the band, and John Dalmayan have supreme control of the songs on bass and drums respectfully. As a result, there are no weak moments on this.  Listening to the album for the first time in a decade or so, I was immediately struck with how relevant it still sounded, despite the fact it was released last Century. It should be deemed a classic and is essential listening. 9/10

SoaD were then left with the supreme difficulty in trying to impress me with their 2nd album, Toxicity, released in 2001. Fresh out of university, with a job and some actual money to start building on my CD collection, I was absolutely beside myself when, on September 3rd, I was able to drive down to Our Price (gone but not forgotten record store) and pick up a shiny new copy. This excitement was peaked by my seeing for the first time at the 2001 Reading Festival a few days previous, I saw them for the final time in 2003 as well.

I was excited, but nervous.  How could it match up to what I deemed to be a classic?  Then ‘Prison Song’ starts and the relief sets in.  Toxicity is brilliant. With Malakian having far a bigger influence in the song writing, shared with Tankian, it seems to be a more balanced album, but for me it lacks the excitement and spontaneity of their debut. Somewhat controversial, it was released just before 9/11 and features lyrics including the words, ‘Self Righteous Suicide’ in ‘Chop Suey’, it didn’t hinder the sales. Indeed, ‘Chop Suey’ is one of the best songs on a very strong album. This is SoaD’s 2nd essential album. 8/10

The 3rd SoaD album was released late in 2002 and was called, ‘Steal This Album’. I remember at the time there was a small furore surrounding the name of the album.  Were they encouraging the thieving from music stores, illegal downloading or merely copying it from your friend?  In reality, it was none of these things. It was until recently that I found out that ‘Toxicity II’ was an actual thing, where tracks had been leaked onto the internet without the knowledge or consent of the band. SoaD then decided to record/rerecord, alter/change and probably ignore some of these tracks that then became the 3rd album proper.

In truth, this was not an immediate hit for me. I found, and still do find, the opening track, ‘Chic ‘N’ Stu’ intensely irritating. I can’t elucidate further, as I don’t know why it bugs me, I just hate the chorus. Yes, there are some grade A SoaD material, ‘A.D.D. (American Dream Denial)’ is superb. However, for every ‘Mr Jack’ – Excellent, there is an ‘I-E-A-I-A-I-O’ – not so excellent. It is an album that sounds like the band didn’t want to release. It is also an album that is also quite critical to the evolution of the band, a juxtaposition if ever there was one. 7/10

‘Mesmerize’ was the 4th album and it was released in May 2005 and it was noticeable that the dynamic in the band was different. No longer was Tankian the sole lead vocalist. Malakian was now sharing vocal duties, having moved on from the previous harmonising. With the best will in the world, Daron Malakian is not in the same league as Tankian as a vocalist.  I mean this as no slight, Serj Tankian is an outstanding singer that few other vocalists could match on a SoaD album.

The ultimate effect of this is that ‘Mesmerize’ is often disjointed, with the twin vocals struggling to intertwine. Songs like the thrashtastic, ‘Cigaro’ are almost ruined by Malakian advising that his ‘cock is much bigger than yours’. In saying this, the trademark lyrical themes are still in play, and the band stay true to their beliefs.  The fact is the album is just a little bit off.  7/10

A mere 6 months later, ‘Hypnotize’was the 5th and final album (so far) to be released by SoaD. Ostensibly recorded within the timeframe as its predecessor, it is essentially, if not part of a double album, a true companion piece for ‘Mesmerize’. Again, we have the dual vocal attack throughout a lot of the album, but it is when they main protagonists harmonise that the album hits its heights especially in 2nd track ‘Dreaming’ which has some wonderful moments.

Within the 2 releases, there is a truly outstanding album (think Use Your Illusion), but unfortunately these albums do contain filler, which is disappointing. We can speculate, perhaps, that the guys released these 2 albums because of the ‘Toxicity’/’Steal This Album’ debacle with unreleased and unfinished tracks being dumped online.  8/10

I must admit that, at the time, I really disliked the final 2 albums. I felt like the band had blown a huge opportunity to dominate an area of metal that had been vacated by RATM, a band delivering songs with political and social disparity messages. I was truly disappointed. It was this fact that led me to comment on Facebook posts by Gareth Endean in the Half Ton of Heavy Metal Facebook page. I essentially said these albums were pish, to which Gareth promptly and subtlety advised me I may be wrong. 

I had not listened to a System of a Down album for many many years, probably 15 years in the case of the last 3. I was presently surprised. I have missed SoaD and the later albums are far better than I have given them credit for. I have been very pleasantly surprised and this has been a very enjoyable retrospective for me.

Album Ranking

  1. System of a Down
  2. Toxicity
  3. Hypnotize
  4. Mesmerize
  5. Steal This Album
  6. Find out more – Check out Serj Tankian’s 2007 solo album, Elect the Dead
  7. Off the beaten track – check out the bands  2001/2003 Reading Festival sets on You Tube.
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Type O Negative formed in Brooklyn, New York in 1989. Pioneers of the Gothic Metal genre, they released 7 albums up until Peter Steele’s untimely death in 2010.

Although I was aware of Type O Negative having seen the video for ‘Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All) on countless occasions, it was not until I saw them live at the Donington Monsters of Rock Festival in 1996 that the band forced themselves into my steadily growing CD collection.

My, rather sketchy, memories of that day included a genuine Man Mountain on stage with a chain as a guitar strap. Peter Steel was a huge man who utterly dominated the 2nd stage at the festival. With a mere 30 minutes on stage, Type O Negative boasted of playing a grand total of 3 songs. Their set was enough to win me over.

Peter Steele with Chain guitar strap

Joining Bassist/Lead Vocalist Peter Steel in the band were, Ken Hickey on guitars/backing vocals, Josh Silver on Keyboads and backing vocals and original drummer Sal Abruscato. Type O Negative benefited from having a relatively stable line-up throughout their history, with only a change in drummer, with Johnny Kelly beating the skins following Abruscato’s departure.

Retrospective #5 features the incomparable Type O Negative.

Album Retrospective – Type O Negative.

In 1991, rising from the ashes of Carnivore, Type O Negative formed and quickly released their debut album via Roadrunner Records. Slow Deep and Hard was the, not-so-subtle, title of the album and merely hinted at the sound the band would cultivate and make their own.

This album was, and still is, a strange listen for me, as I had heard some of their later albums before this. I wasn’t expecting the lack of a gothic sound. This album takes a number of metal elements and crushes them together to create a sound that, to be perfectly blunt, would not have encouraged me to purchase future albums. However, luckily, Type O Negative were a band who continually evolved with each album.  6/10

This evolution, however, wasn’t immediately apparent, as the follow up album was a ‘live’ album featuring renamed tracks from their debut as well as a few other additional releases. When I say Live, I mean it wasn’t. 1992’s The Origin of the Feces was a studio album with additional crowd noise added and is billed as being ‘Not Live at Brighton Beach’. As it is a studio album, it makes it onto the retrospective.

Again, I bought this album prior to hearing the debut which has led me to have a sense of love for the album that Slow Deep and Hard wasn’t able to capture. Songs such as ‘I Know You’re Fucking Someone Else’, although featuring on the debut with a different name, seem to fit The Origin of the Feces in a more natural manner. The genius of this album was the inclusion of, what was to become a Type O Negative trait, of cover versions. An outstanding cover of Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man’ was accompanied by an alternative version of ‘Hey Joe’, entitled ‘Hey Peter’. Both covers are well worth your time. 7/10

By the summer of 1993, Type O Negative had finally managed to hit their stride, and it was their first truly gothic album, an album that defined a genre. Bloody Kisses is, without a shadow of doubt, a magnificent album. Featuring truly epic songs, including the aforementioned ‘Black No 1’ as well as ‘Set me on Fire’ and, perhaps my personal favourite, ‘Christian Woman’, it is not a short album. But it utterly envelopes you in its dark humour and I still, to this day, sing ‘Christian Woman’ in my head on a consistent basis, although Jesus Christ doesn’t really look like me at all.

Bloody Kisses was the first Type O Negative album I bought, and I utterly adore it. It contains my two favourite Type O songs and it has a special place in my heart. There is a reason why it became a platinum album and for many years I considered it to be a perfect album up until I saw them live for the first time at Donington Monsters of Rock in 1996. Needless to say, perfection was to be redefined. 9/10

3 days after blowing my mind at Donington 96, Type O Negative released October Rust, their first without original drummer Sal Abruscato . I bought this almost immediately. I had always considered their 3rd album to be perfection and this was the album to prove me wrong. I remember playing this constantly. Not long after, I went to University and this album was a constant on my very heavy metal Sony CD player. Again, the album demonstrates a dark humour in amongst the gothic metal overtones.

October Rust is one of the most consistent albums I have ever heard. There is absolutely zero weak songs, it is perfectly produced and it is, to my ears, pretty much flawless. I remember having one of my many drunken conversations with my best pal, Kenny, about this album, where I talked about how the best songs on Bloody Kisses were better than the tracks on October Rust, but the actual album was not as good as October Rust. Peter Steele and the boys had reached a high that, unfortunately, they would find impossible to hit again. 10/10

One of the biggest surprises in doing theses retrospectives is rediscovering albums that I had previously disregarded. 1999 saw the release of the bands darkest album to date, World Coming Down. Featuring tracks such as. ‘Everyone I love is Dead’, and, ‘Everything Dies’ you begin to get the state of mind the Peter Steele was in. At this time in my life, I had recently graduated from University and was wondering where life was going to take me.  So, when this album came out, I never really gave it the chance the band deserved. Yes, I still played the album, but I never really listened to it, never listened to the more ‘upbeat’ tracks, ‘All Hallows Eve’ or ‘Pyretta Blaze’.

What has happened since I listened to this album for the retrospective, is that I now understand the content. It has hit a home run with me and I regret not listening to this more than I did in the last 20 years. Instead of being a weaker album than the previous 2, it is actually every bit as strong an album as Bloody Kisses.  9/10

Almost 4 years then passed before the band released album No.6, Life is Killing Me. Unfortunately, my retrospective listen to this album did not change my thoughts about it. When I bought this in 2003, I immediately to a dislike to it. For every good track like ‘I don’t Wanne be Me’, there was a ‘I Like Goils’. To say I was disappointed is a massive understatement. Following on from my, now incorrect, opinion of the previous album, I felt that I had moved on from the band. If you have read my previous retrospectives, you will see that my music tastes were changing around this time and so, it was with very fond memories, that my heart said a fond goodbye to Type O Negative. 6/10

So, it is with a slight hint of disgust about myself that I must admit that I did not have a clue that Type O Negative released a 7th album until I started this retrospective. I had always assumed that they only had 6, this is how much I switched off to the band.

In 2007, their last album, this time with a new record label, SPV Steamhammer. Having listened to this for the first time after revisiting their previous 6 albums, I was eager to see if they could recapture lost glories, make me feel like man in his 20’s again. Alas, it was not to be.  A new record label did not mean a new start and Dead Again, is an album that make you feel the guys were going through the motions.  I was pretty disappointed, especially as there will never be a chance of a redeeming album. 5/10

On April 14th 2010, Peter Steele died. I remember being absolutely devastated at reading this news. Although latter day Type 0 Negative albums hadn’t hit home with me, their music was a massive part of my younger life.

Type O Negative were at the forefront of an entire genre, perhaps releasing the definitive Goth Metal album in Bloody Kisses. It is perhaps fitting that the remaining members of the band did not continue as Type O Negative as it leaves Peter Steele’s legacy intact.

Album Ranking

  1. October Rust
  2. Bloody Kisses
  3. World Coming Down
  4. Origin of the Feces
  5. Life is Killing Me
  6. Slow Deep and Hard
  7. Dead Again
  • Find out more – Check out  their 2007 set Live at Wacken on You Tube.
  • Off the beaten track – Check out the 10 Unforgettable Peter Steele Moments on You Tube, including his Jerry Springer appearance.
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A Friday Night Wasted

So, tonight is Friday and I found myself at a loose end. So, whilst partaking in a few Brewdog Punk IPA’s, I found myself getting even more confused about building this webpage. There were numerous issues.

Firstly, my Spotify link has failed. I have an evergrowing playlist that contains songs that were stuck in my head. If a song enters my internal radio unbidden, it gets added to the playlist. It is eclectic and I can’t get it embedded properly.

My twitter feed also failed in a similar manner. I am useless. But hey, it’s all fun learning, so I will get it right. The site at the moment is a ‘less is more’ style.

Anyway, the main reason for my post is that the next retrospective is almost upon us. I can reveal I am 2 albums away from finishing the works of New Jersey’s finest

Monster Magnet

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A Novice Blogger

So I am now a few months into whatever ‘this’ is and it has become abundantly clear to me that I don’t really have a clue what I am doing, especially with regards to setting up the page the way I think it should look. That’s why it looks a little bit of a mess at the moment. It will, however, improve.

I believe I have a decent basic idea for the blog. I can be very anal with my listening habits and for many years, I have listened to albums by one band/artist in order of the year they were released. So, why not see if anything I listen to sparks a bit of interest in somebody else, even if it is to say that they don’t like it.

That said, I am aware that I need change things slightly. My Devin Townsend Retrospective is too long. At 25 albums, this should have been split into 2 parts to make it more readable. But this is a learning curve for me. Although I have written hundreds of album reviews, I am very much a novice blogger. I have never started a blog from scratch nor have I set up a web page. It is new but it is fun.

I have plans for the blog as well. I want to incorporate others to help, maybe have my friends compile an album retrospective from their point of view. Also, I have an idea that has been in my head since 2016 where I have already sounded out my friend of 40+ years to help. More on this to come, but it will provide more content and be a little more pithy than a full retrospective.

Thanks for reading my thoughts – comments are welcome, as is any advice that can help improve on my Novice Blogger status.

I am The DevilsHorns!