By: David Majury, Chris Bull, Joosep Nilk,
Marc Gaffney & Phil Weller
Decades Apart
The idea of Decades Apart is pretty simple. I’ll choose 5
different albums from 5 different decades and I’ll share a little information
about them and hopefully you’ll check them out if you haven’t already. Today
is 1971,
1981,
1991,
2001
and 2011. Whilst some these albums may not all be
considered classics, they’re certainly amazing records. So be sure to check it out.
Hawkwind
-
'In Search of Space' (1971)
Growing
up in the '80s I heard the name Hawkwind often enough but never took the time to
listen to them. As far as I knew they weren't a metal band, more some kind of
hippie jam band with keyboards, which was a major turn-off when I was obsessing
over Celtic Frost, Prong and
Voivod. They seemed so twee, almost laughable in the face
of the epic speed and heaviness of 'To
Mega Therion' or 'Dimension Hatross.
Of course, once Soundgarden and Mudhoney
came along it suddenly seemed alright to look backwards for inspiration, and
when Monster Magnet released “Spine of God” and started mentioning Hawkwind in every interview I thought it might be time for
a reassessment. I bought a double cassette compilation and dived in.
Trying
to consume so much Hawkwind at once is
sheer madness and the compilation leapt around in terms of chronology so I
thought I'd work out where to start and go from there. A tuned-in workmate was
so excited to be asked for Hawkwind
recommendations that he gave me a vinyl copy of 'In Search of Space' along with some valuable advice for ideal
listening conditions. To this day I still get the same feeling of foreboding
when the opening strains of 'You
Shouldn't Do That' seep out of the speakers. To have the confidence to open
with a 15 minute epic speaks volumes of just how mind expanding Hawkwind truly are/were, and to this day no-one has really
done anything that comes close. Ultra creepy, doom laden, tribal, kosmich and
totally confusing at the same time. What's more, there's nothing of the peace
and love of American west coast psych here at all. Hawkwind
were raw, tough and incessant. I had to check the record label to see how long
that song was, it felt like it was as likely to be three minutes as thirty.
Totally transcendental. They didn't let up either with 'Master of the Universe ' rivalling Sabbath
for pure power, and 'Adjust Me'
setting an early template for noise rock twenty years before anyone was even
thinking about it.
Like
Sabbath, really nothing sounded the same at the time, or
since, and I can't begin to imagine how alien this record must have sounded in
'71. Hawkwind's legacy has been tainted by
inconsistent line-ups and releases, along with a slew of tenth rate copyists
posturing as psych-rock, but there's no doubt in my mind that if the band had
finished after 'Hall of the Mountain
Grill' they'd be revered in the same light as Sabbath, Zeppelin and all the other Titans of the era. This record
still stands up like few others. This is your Captain speaking. Your Captain is
dead
Van
Halen
– “Fair Warning” (1981)
In
1981 an album that in my opinion is the epitome of the Van Halen
sound was released, “Fair Warning”.
Sheer gravitas. For my money, each track holds its weight in groove,
riffs, musicianship and straight up ass kicking swagger from David Lee Roth.
What in my humble opinion always gets lost in a lot of their albums and I feel especially on this body of work is how amazing the percussion is. “Dirty Movies” is a lesson in full on boogie till the fucking cows come home, sleep in the barn and prance back out to the pasture to graze.
“So This is
Love”,
forget about it. How many T Tops had this song blitzing from their 8 track
stereos, meanwhile, engines growled like a Rottweiler in heat. The key is the
smoothness of the Ted Templeman production, the sonic sexiness of the virtuoso
himself, Eddie Van Halen. The tonality
and growl of his axe is more potent than any espresso ever brewed.
I
remember my buddyJim Delosh playing this for me and Vaugh Fachette's dad
blaring “Sinner's Swing”, before
going fishing. So if you are feeling sentimental,
and have a 3 quarter t shirt In your drawer please put it on, get one foot out
the door and become “Unchained”.
Soundgarden - “Badmotorfinger” (1991)
Having
recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, Soundgarden
helped unshackle the band of their grunge tag with ‘Badmotorfinger’. While draped in that archetypal grittiness which
helped characterise the movement and genre bursting from their hometown of
Seattle at the time, this album was representative of a band outgrowing their
early sound, building on their blues laden, doomy template with an intrinsic
experimentalism which they learnt to perfect on ‘Superunknown’.
Indeed,
while it was that succeeding album that helped skyrocket the band, breaking
them to the masses with massive singles in ‘Spoonman’, ‘Fell on Black
Days’ and ‘Black Hole Sun’, its
older brother has grown into something of an underrated, cult classic. The
melancholy chaos of ‘Rusty Cage’ -
lovingly covered by Johnny Cash some years
later - and the 7/4 thump of ‘Outshined’
(a pre-cursor to ‘Spoonman’, which
is also in 7/4) make a moody and impenetrably iconic introduction to a record
which, while its style and feel may receive seismic shifts throughout, never
lets up. Its diversity is its greatest gift, riffs leaping out at you from the
dark when you least expect it, psychedelia then whisking you away from the
punches.
They
showed with this album a sharp and intelligent level of song writing, from the
genius lyrics of Chris Cornell (“I’m
looking California/but feeling Minnesota” and “share a cigarette with
negativity”) to Kim Thayil’s nasty, unconventional approach to guitar
playing, it may not be an album hugely revered, but that is in no way a
representation of its quality. There is a progressive mindset driving the
record, their playfulness with less common time signatures and often obscure,
unnerving note choices defining it as something of an ugly beast. But why
should rock music be pretty?
‘Slaves And Bulldozers’, ‘New Damage’ and ‘Holy Water’ are packed to the rafters with titanic doom riffs which
snarl and growl like an animalistic Tony Iommi. The short and savage punk of
Ben Shepard’s ‘Face Pollution’ and
the bastardised, brass-tinged classic rock of Matt Cameron’s ‘Drawing Flies’, keep you guessing, keep
you on your toes.
Never
short of surprises, it is an amalgamation of so much, all condensed and blended
into one unholy racket. Like any true classic, it is a record that no other
band could write.
Converge – “Jane Doe” (2001)
Released
in 2001, Converge's breakthrough 4th album, 'Jane Doe' remains a landmark in
extreme music and sounds as fresh and relevant today as it did 15 years ago.
Played with such ferocious precision, thanks in part to the impetus of new
members Ben Koller and Nate Newton, 'Jane
Doe' is a bitter, angry, scathing statement of intent from the band.
From the opening arpeggio that dips into the inhuman blasts of 'Concubine', the album barely lets you catch a breath as Jacob Bannon screams at you, telling you the story of a ruined relationship. It's so powerful and full of emotion that you can almost hear the blood pouring from the man's broken heart seep into his vocal chords.
From the opening arpeggio that dips into the inhuman blasts of 'Concubine', the album barely lets you catch a breath as Jacob Bannon screams at you, telling you the story of a ruined relationship. It's so powerful and full of emotion that you can almost hear the blood pouring from the man's broken heart seep into his vocal chords.
Various
twists and turns permeate the albums intensity; 'Distance And Meaning', 'Hell
To Pay', 'Homewrecker', 'The Broken Vow' and 'Heaven In Her Arms' provide some of
the most memorable moments, while 'Phoenix
In Flight' is near perfect in its composition and placement on the album,
allowing you to digest what's just been thrown your way before 'Phoenix In Flames' and 'Thaw' that follow, absolutely
annihilate your eardrums. As if that wasn't enough, the album's title track is
an 11 minute emotional rollercoaster, making you worry for the welfare of the
song's protagonist.
Elder – "Dead Roots Stirring"(2011)
As opposed to the debut that was more of a brawny smack
to the gut (or the wall, whichever you prefer), Elder’s excellent sophomore
was one for the thinking-man’ stoner books. As psychedelia-ladden as it was
riff-driven in its approach, this Boston trio set themselves up to be true
trailblazers in the genre. Showing respect for the long-form, each track in
duration 8 minutes at the very least with two nearing the twelve-minute mark, they
brought a world fully their own and spent time exploring it with quieter
moments but not lacking any punch either. The sheer rawness acting contrast to
the intricate layering, all the while showcasing their penchant for experimenting
with songwriting formulas.
The album is equal parts a plunge into murky depths –
like the epically ravaging conclusion that closes the opener – as it is opting
for the less travelled overgrown route, with floating guitars going off on
shimmering tangents like aptly-titled third track ’III’. With rusty riffs bringing
its plodding hooks, bluesy and bog-ridden coincide with the album art, sill, alongside
the opening notes of ’Gemini’, or
the thick earthy toned pulse that opens the title-track, it’s De Salvo’s vocals
breaking at just the right moment. Concurrently melodic and raspy in their
intonation, they come through as if a guide lighting the way, though showing
restraint enough to let the instruments tell the majority of the story.
"Dead Roots Stirring" gave strong hints
of what was to come on yesteryear’s acclaimed Lore, again proving that there isn’t a band that does it quite like
Elder.
