The Rock Review

Musical Talent

The music industry has always been filled with a mixture of talents and genres ranging from the detestable pre made pop bands, cheesy trance DJ’s and love song singers to the talented singer songwriters and bands. The main difference in my opinion between the rubbish and the great in music is down to something that cannot be taught or bought and that is raw musical talent. Too many people seem to have been able to bypass the musical talent part of things and have been let loose on the microphone!

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Mercury meltdown

This year’s Mercury Prize may only have just been handed over to the divine Polly Jean Harvey, but that hasn’t stopped the music press from dusting off their crystal balls and giving us their insider tips on who is going to scoop the award in 2012. I have no problem with the music press giving us their hot tips for the future (even if most of them are back in their pharmacy jobs by the end of the month) but predicting the winner of an album prize that has always prided itself on being a little bit different a whole year in advance is just crazy talk!

The Mercury has quickly become the equivalent of the Brits for people with brains. Which is why it saddens me to see such banal and drab suggestions being put forward by the likes of the NME when it comes to 2012’s front-runners. Kasabian. Coldplay. Radiohead. Even Noel Gallagher’s first solo effort is a “sure” nomination according to whichever 40-year-old writer still turns up to the NME office in his ’Wonderwall't-shirt.

Don’t get me wrong, if any of those established acts produce a great record between now and this time next year, then I’m sure they’ll be on the short-list and one of them might even take the prize. But when you look at the list of Mercury winners over the last five years or so, the odds are very much against acts who have already “made it” taking the award. OK, Polly Jean is a megastar in certain circles (i.e. me and my friends) but Elbow were hardly the darlings of the music press, until ’The Seldom Seen Kid'won the Mercury and started appearing in music collections across the country. Do me a favour, music journos, save the predictions until we’ve actually heard the albums you’re touting as a sure thing for the Mercury. Let’s face it, there’s a tiny possibility that Radiohead’s new material will be maudlin and depressing and Coldplay’s self-absorbed and arrogant, while Noel’s new album just might sound like Oasis'greatest hits…

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Helplessness Blues: Fleet Foxes Album review

Fleet Foxes released its second album, “Helplessness Blues” in May 2011. Fans of the Seattle folk band who loved their first album will not be disappointed by their follow-up.

While paying homage to its folk hero influences like Simon and Garfunkel, the band also puts its own stamp on the 12-tracks of “Helplessness Blues”. The band’s signatures – the organic feel, the poetic lyrics and delivery – are still intact, though there are more mature sounds, and more exploration musically.

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Foo Fighters: Wasting Light

The Foo Fighters are one of the few remaining rock bands that have stayed true to their music, and have generally “behaved” themselves. Their latest album Wasting Light displays their finest work yet, and ranges from softer songs to their iconic hard rock.

With eleven tracks full of voice, harmonies and soul the Foo Fighters have delivered another rock and roll album that needs no ridiculous PR stunts or large format printing. The cover itself features the bands five More

Arch Enemy – The Death Metal Band

Arch Enemy is a very popular Swedish death metal band established in the year 1996. The band was the brainchild of Michael Amott who was initially the guitarist of Carcass. He along with his brother Christopher Amott and the bassist cum singer John Liiva, who was also the band member of Carcass, formed the band initially. To complete the lineup metal drummer Daniel Erlandsson also joined the band. Their first debut album Black Earth showed the exterior signs of becoming More

Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Kinks

Good music is a bit like good homeware. It lasts forever, and although it might not be as shiny and new after a few years as when you first got it, you still find that when you really need it, nothing else will do the job. I’ve certainly been feeling like that about a bands whose music I’ve downloaded recently – namely The Kinks.
My relationship with The Kinks goes back to when I was a little kid. My More

Festivals

Summer only means one thing to me; festivals. OK well, two things really. Because summer also makes me think of chilled glasses of cider sitting while outside a Looe hotel, watching the sun slowly setting. Bet you can almost picture it, eh?

Most people think music festivals only come in two sizes big and absolutely massive. Glastonbury fits in the latter category, with its countless stages. The Scottish event T in the Park is another absolutely massive one. Did More

Using music in the theatre – Love, Love, Love by Mike Bartlett

A bit of a diversion, this post, but as I sit in my lofts north london I thought I’d share with readers here some thoughts on how rock and roll can be used to great effect on stage, as part of a critically acclaimed and popular new play now touring round the country. Mike Bartlett is one of the United Kingdom’s most successful younger playwrights, whose Earthquakes in London was a huge hit at the National Theatre in 2010. Currently More

Sheila’s broken down

Big things are afoot in the world of no deposit car insurance. The EU regulators (unpopular already) are expected to rule that gender-specific car insurance companies or policies are discriminatory. One company sticks in the mind for all the wrong reasons: at the cinema, three Australians (not renowned for their singing voices) wail about car insurance in a garish pink Cadillac.

Essentially the insurance company caters for women. Without men (statistically much more likely to make an insurance claim) More

Metal Deserves More Credit

Some genres of music seem to get more stick than others. Metal is one of the those that really seems to struggle to get the critical acclaim that it deserves. Rock music, of course, is always going to be cool. While it is has now been terribly commercialized by the music business, it has somehow managed to maintain a rebellious edge that has kept the kids coming back again and again ever since Chuck Berry pioneered the Rock that just More