Jah Wobble & The Invaders Of The Heart - The Usual Suspects
“For latecomers, The Usual Suspects is a one-stop shop: 25 career highlights across two CDs (including various bonbons from the PiL catalogue), re-recorded with the latest line-up of the remarkable IOTH. There’s jazz-level musicianship throughout, and yet, crowd pleaser that he is, Wobble never ceases to entertain. As a live date, they’re staggeringly good and The Usual Suspects effectively duplicates the dancehall experience for armchair skankers.”
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Amplifier - Trippin’ With Dr Faustus
“Amplifier have always reached for greatness – Freakzone is an exhilarating wig-out, and there’s no arguing with the gigantic riffs that propel Kosmos (Grooves Of Triumph) and The Commotion (Big Time Party Maker).”
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Peter Perrett - How The West Was Won
“Like a punk Kevin Rowland, Peter Perrett is one we almost lost. Since The Only Ones split in 1982, singer Perrett has descended into bouts of heroin and crack-induced reclusiveness that would last decades at a time; his debut solo album emerges as Perrett hits 65, twenty-one years after his last album with The Ones. And while its takes on classic swing, psych country and postpunk pop are understandably fragile and lacking wallop – an inevitable consequence of age and getting your kids in your backing band – How The West Was Won is shot through with a wonderfully wry reinvigoration.”
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Stone Sour - Hydrograd
“Having been (wrongly) lumped in with metal throughout their 15-year career, thanks to the day job of one Corey Taylor, this is an ambitious offering at the dirtier, swaggering end of old-school rock’n’roll. Drawing inspiration from the skyscraper-size songs and hooks of the 80s and 90s, Hydrograd is littered with rollicking choruses and infectious whoooahs.”
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Various - Silhouettes & Statues: A Gothic Revolution 1978-1986
“Although monolithic trailblazers Siouxsie And The Banshees are conspicuous by their absence, this set crucially acknowledges the fabled Batcave as the movement’s irreverent birthplace, including Specimen, Alien Sex Fiend and Flesh For Lulu, who demonstrate how subtle black humour and glam excess were essential in keeping goth from descending into pompous pantomime, and how it also presented a great excuse to have fun dressing up.”
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Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales, To Mega Therion, Into The Pandemonium, Vanity/Nemesis Reissues
“Although Venom are routinely cited as the godfathers of extreme metal, Celtic Frost’s contribution was every bit as significant. The four studio albums collected here (1988’s calamitous Cold Lake is very much not included here) amount to one of the most influential and revolutionary creative runs in metal history.”
Read the full review | Buy Morbid Tales | Buy To Mega Therion | Buy Into The Pandemonium | Buy Vanity/Nemesis
Michael Monroe - The Best
“While he will forever be known as Hanoi Rocks’ frontman, Michael Monroe has successfully created a solo career that for the past two decades has been pock-marked by some memorable moments. This aptly named compilation brings those neatly into focus. Of course, attention will be drawn to the big songs, such as Dead, Jail Or Rock ‘N’ Roll, Not Fakin’ It, Self Destruction Blues (a Hanoi cover) and 78. And these clearly represent Monroe doing what he does best, which is delivering prime, trashy hard rock. There are also four songs from his undervalued and short-lived 90s band Demolition 23.”
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The best new rock albums you can buy this week
