The debut album by this Delta-Nashville band that mixes southern rock in the Lynyrd Skynyrd-vein with american roots music and as discribed on their web site; "The Black Keys of a bygone era", mixing in music of more modern style, but it's all through deeply roots inspired that's for sure. I also hear some inspiration from blues-great Joe Bonamassa. Melodic and wild, simple and complicated, this is music to enjoy whenever. I surely do!

The band has toured heavily following their 2 EP:s that finally led to this album.

1)Liar (8,0) Funky, wild, slow southern rocker reminding of Black Crowes.

2)Chicago (8,0) Slow heavy blues number and song full of life and harmonica. Good stuff!

3)Death letter jubilee (7,5) Calm and wild.

4)Jezebel (6,0)

5)Boogie (7,5) Too chaotic wild rocker but a very cool main riff and buildup. I'm sure this is a great live-song.

6)Out to sea (6,0) Acoustic.

7)Sing to me (6,0)

8)Drink it slow (8,0) Slow funky shuffle-southern rocker with a noisy guitar solo.

9)From the dirt (8,0) Continues the song before and it grooves like hell!

10)The devil's creek (8,5) Wild country-oozin' southern rock'n'roll with driving bass. Great!

11)River (7,5) Short gospel-soul vocal- and drum-song.

12)Jericho (6,0) Too chaotic and noisy.

Score: 7,25

Ben Ringel-vocals and guitars

Dylan Fitch-guitars

David Supica-bass

Ben Azzi-drums

Greg Hommert-harmonica

From New Model Army's website:

It is with great sadness that we report that Robert Heaton died suddenly on Thursday November 4th 2004. A multi-talented instrumentalist and song-writer, Robert joined the band in 1982 and for the next fifteen years co-wrote many of the band's greatest songs, including being responsible for all the music to the anthem 'Green & Grey'. A consummate professional when it came to recording and performing, in public Robert was the powerhouse behind the rhythm driven sound of New Model Army. In the media and in private, he was always the perfect gentleman. Robert left NMA in 1998, having recovered from surgery to remove a brain tumour, and since then has worked tirelessly to promote live music and original talent in his home town of Bradford in Yorkshire. His latest project, Fresh Milk, is such a scheme - encouraging young bands, playing wholly original music, onto the live circuit by producing low cost, high quality live recordings for them. He had also been working composing film scores for independent films as well as working on his own new material under the guise of Gardeners of Eden. A post mortem has determined that Robert had been suffering with pancreatic cancer and it is almost certainly this that was the cause of this unexpected tragedy.. Robert's passing will be mourned by family, friends and fans around the world. He leaves a wife, Robin, and young son, Marlon.

British alternative rock band New Model Army formed in 1980 and this is their 2nd album. It contains very 80's style British dark suicide rock very typical for the times. No high class production, just a very simple spacy sound with much bass lines as main riffs instead of heavy guitars. An album to listen to the lyrics and think about everything thats unfair in the world but also an album to play at a party with fellows born in the 70's, like me. 2 or 3 songs are okey to listen to but an whole album gets to much since the songs are pretty much alike eachother.

The album reached nr. 22 on the British charts. Drummer Robert Heaton died of cancer in 2004, only 43 years of age.

1)Frightened (7,0)

2)Ambition (6,5)

3)Grandmother's footsteps (7,0)

4)Better than them (6,0)

5)My country (6,5)

6)No greater love (6,0)

7)No rest (7,0)

8)Young, gifted and skint (5,5)

9)Drag it down (6,5)

10)Shot 18 (3,0)

11)The attack (7,0)

Score: 6,18

Justin Sullivan-vocals and guitars (b.1956)

Stuart Morrow-bass

Robert Heaton-drums (1961-2004)

An alternative american band led by former 16 Horsepower lead singer David Eugene Edwards, who plays most of the instruments himself. The band that lies nearest to this music is certanly Tool. The sound is very mystic and dark but is also very inspried by folk music, I can hear some scandinavian folk inspiration here and there and the progressivity is always close to hand. Unfortunately it's an very uneven album, with some good songs and some that don't shine very much. It gets too mellow and dark. NOT an party album but music to enjoy in the darkness and LISTEN to. Some would say that it is very strange music, maybe it is.

1)Breaking bull (-)

2)Winter shaker (8,0)

3)Swedish purse (6,5)

4)Twig (3,5)

5)Whistling girl (8,0)

6)Elktooth (5,5)

7)Bible and bird (5,0)

8)Dirty blue (7,0)

9)Slota prow-full armour (6,5)

10)Truly golden (8,0)

11)Deerskin doll (7,0)

12)Little raven (1,5)

Score: 6,05

David Eugene Edwards-vocals, guitars and bass
Ordy Garrison-drums

Daniel McMahon-piano

Elin Palmer-strings

Since I've wrote about their album Robot Hive/Exodus from 2005 I also came over this album and the same guys as then minus organist Mick Schauer continues their attack at heavy riffing rock and hard rock including funky rhythms and more in their very strange but charming way of playing heavy music. This album has a more straight rock'n'roll-approach than Robot Hive/Exodus. It reached nr. 15 on the Billboard chart. Love this album!

1)Earth rocker (8,0)

2)Crucial velocity (8,5)

3)Mr.Freedom (8,0)

4)D.C. sound attack (7,5)

5)Unto the breach (8,0)

6)Gone cold (8,0)

7)The face (7,5)

8)Book, saddle and go (7,5)

9)Cyborg Bette (8,0)

10)Oh, Isabella (8,5)

11)The wolf man kindly requests... (9,0)

Score: 8,05

Neil Fallon-vocals, guitars and percussion (b.1971)

Tim Sult-guitars

Dan Maines-bass (b.1971)

Jean Paul Gaster-drums (b.1971)

I remember this album from my uncle's record collection in the late 70's when I started exploring he's records. The Black Sabbath albums were frightening and strange and I did not really get the music by then but as time has flown by I really really like the sheer quality of the early Sabbath albums. This, their 2nd is no exception and it's super heavy, melodic, variated with great attacking vocals and tempo changes and guitar solos to kill for. They were of course inspired by the progressive movement of the time that was huge in heavier music and I not many bands were NOT inspired by that and it can clearly be heard even on this album and they make the best possible of it.

The album was recorded only 4 months after their debut album was released and it reached nr. 1 in the british charts and the single Paranoid nr. 4. The album has sold 10 million copies worldwide! It was released in USA the year after and reached nr. 12 there and is ranked as nr. 131 on the Rolling Stone-magazine 500-list of the best albums of all time.

What is sure as hell is that this album inspired all heavy music to follow and created a way for heavy music to reach the top lists and people all over the world.

1)War pigs (9,0) 8-minute oozin' slow heavy metal with brilliant progressive and melodic parts.

2)Paranoid (8,0) Simple riff and short hit song.

3)Planet caravan (7,0) Strange sounds from hell...

4)Iron man (8,5) See song 1.

5)Electric funeral (8,5) Super slow and devilish...

6)Hand of doom (9,5) My favourite song on the album, see song 1. but better!

7)Rat salad (8,0) 2-minute progressive and great chaos.

8)Fairier wear boots (8,5)

Score: 8,38

Ozzy Osburne(John Michael Osburne)-vocals (b.1948)

Tony Iommi(Anthony Frank Iommi)-guitars and flute (b.1948)

Geezer Butler(Terence Michael Joseph Butler)-bass (b.1949)

Bill Ward(William Thomas Ward)-drums (b.1948)

+

Tom Allom-piano on 3.

3 years after their last album Axl Rose and his companions returned with a blast with 2 double albums and this is the "first" one, but the 2 albums were released at the same time in september 1991. It marks a change in the band's music since other members than Rose sang on some songs, they included longer songs and they got inspiration from other kinds of music than hard rock which can clearly be heard throughout the album, and I think it adds to the sheer quality to many of the songs. With 76 minutes of music it may seem like too much but this album never gets dull or boring. A great party album still in 2013!

Matt Sorum from The Cult replaced Steven Adler on the album because of Adler's drug problems.

The album has sold 5,5 million copies!!

1)Right next door to hell (8,0) Kick ass kick start!

2)Dust'n'bones (7,5)

3)Live and let die (7,0) Paul McCartney-cover.

4)Don't cry (9,0) Wonderful ballad and one of GNR's most classical songs that still rock!

5)Perfect crime (8,0) High octane rock'n'roll.

6)You ain't the first (6,0) Acoustic Stradlin-song.

7)Bad obsession (8,5) Good and variated heavy hardrocker including harmonica.

8)Back off bitch (8,0) Rock'n'roll!

9)Double talkin' jive (6,0) Strange rocker with acoustic ending.

10)November rain (8,5) A 9-minute rock classic by Rose. A powerful ballad!

11)The garden (7,5) Featuring Alice Cooper.

12)Garden of Eden (7,0) Full tilt rock'n'roll chaos!

13)Don't damn me (9,0) An absolutely grat hardrock song! This albunm never gets boring, that's for sure!

14)Bad apples (8,0)

15)Dead horse (7,5)

16)Coma (6,5) 10-minute strange riff and talked vocal-song to end the album.

Score: 7,63

Axl Rose(William Bruce Bailey)-vocals, piano and keyboards (b.1962)

Slash(Saul Hudson)-guitars and bass on 1. (b.1965)

Izzy Stradlin(Jeffrey Dean Isbell)-guitars and percusson on 7. (b.1962)

Duff McKagan-bass and guitars on 6. and 9. (b.1964)

Matt Sorum-drums (b.1960)

Dizzy Reed(Darren Arthur Reed)-piano and keyboards (b.1963)

+

Alice Cooper-vocals on 11.

Michael Monroe(from Hanoi Rocks)-harmonica and saxophone on 7.

plus many more

Debut album from my all time favourite band. I discovered this band through a friend in the early 90's and has not turned back since then! This album is full of strong songs that nods to their everyday life in Jacksonville, Florida and I can really FEEL how they lived, rocked, drank, went fishing and chased women in their younger wild days. What I don't feel is all the drugs they took, but then again, maybe I am an boring man? Anyway, the music speaks for itself, it rocks and it's mellow and it's small bar room-style cowboy country-stomp! Enjoy!

Lynyrd Skynyrd was formed in Jacksonville in 1964 as The Noble Five by Ronnie Van Zand, Gary Rossington and Allen Collins. In 1965 the named changed to My Backyard when new members Larry Junstrom and Bob Burns joined and in 1968 they played the opening slot for the psychadelic band Strawberry Alarm Clock after winning a local Battle Of The Bands contest. In 1970 the band's name changed to Lynyrd Skynyrd, or at firstly Leonard Skinnerd, after a teacher at their school. The band toured hard and Larry Junstrom (later in 38 Special) left and was briefly replaced by Greg T. Walker and another friend of the original band members, Ricky Medlocke joined on second drums and vocals. In 1971 Walker and Medlocke left to form the harder rocking southern rock band Blackfoot.

In 1972 when the band were making recordings at the Muscle Shoal Studios roadie Billy Powell joined the band on piano and keyboards. Actually Walker and Medlocke did record with Lynyrd Skynyrd during the time but tracks including them were not released until 1978. Al Kooper discovered the band and signed the to he's label Sounds Of The South and started recording their debut album.

The song Free Bird reached nr. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the band toured with The Who which increased their popularity rapidly.

The cover photo of the album was taken in the main street in Jonesboro, Georgia, featuring all the members of the band. Bassist Leon Wilkeson had left the band during making of the album and only play on 2 of the songs. Ed King from Strawberry Alarm Clock played on the rest and Wilkeson returned in time for the cover photo and tour and King switched over to guitar to make the band a 3-guitarrist band. In 2003 Rolling Stone Magazine ranked the album nr. 401 of the 500 greatest albums of all time and it has sold about 2 million copies worldwide. Harmonica player Steve Katz was a member of Blood, Sweat And Tears, and also Al Kooper came from that band.

1)I ain't the one (8,0) Heavy energic rocker with a great guitar solo.

2)Tuesday's gone (8,5) 7 minutes of sweet balladry with a great sensivity and touching lyrics.

3)Gimme three steps (8,0) Another good rocker.

4)Simple man (9,0) Fantastic melodic ballad that also rocks and has a superstrong chorus. Great stuff!

5)Things goin' on (8,5) Great song that sounds like it's played in a western bar in the 30's.

6)Mississippi kid (7,5) Acoustic stomp.

7)Poison whiskey (8,5) Heavy slow rocker. Goodigoody!

8)Free bird (9,0) Another sweet ballad that in steps builds up to a frantic rocker and guitar-duelling-mania of the wildest art there was in the beginning of the 70's and that set the standard for many southern rock bands to follow.

Score: 8,38

Ronnie Van Zandt-vocals (1948-1977)

Gary Rossington-guitars (b.1951)

Allen Collins-guitars (1952-1990)

Ed King-bass on 1,3, 4, 5, 7 and 8, guitars on 6 (b.1949)

Leon Wilkeson-bass (1952-2001)

Bob Burns-drums (b.1950)

Billy Powell-piano and keyboards (1952-2009)

+

Al Kooper (Roosevelt Gook)-mellotron, mandolin, bass drum and organ (b.1944)

Robert Nix-drums on 2

Bobbye Hall-percussion on 3 and 5

Steve Katz-harmonica on 6 (b.1945)