Allan Holdsworth "Road Games" 1983***

They say that an artist's death is bad news for everyone except his record label, as it always gives his record sales a considerable boost. Now I'm not so sure this also applies to Allan Holdsworth, but in my case it did. In the music encyclopedia of my mind, under that name were just 3 words "70's session guitarist", so it was only after he died and I read his obituary in the latest issue of Mojo (he died on April 15th, 2017) that I understood how much I had underestimated him. He was a guitarists' guitarist, a veritable idol to such big names as Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani. He was also quite famous in the musos' world of jazz rock fusion, having revolutionised the electric guitar with his legato playing, producing torrents of notes that flow into each other without pause, a technique he had copied from jazz saxophonists he admired like John Coltrane. In the 70's he did play with prog bands like Soft Machine, Nucleus, U.K. and Tempest and do session work for prog rock musicians, which is how his name came to be vaguely familiar to me. This mini-album (only 24 minutes long) was the fruit of Van Halen's insistence that his label Warner Bros produce an album with Holdsworth, and was rather successful, even nominated for the 1984 Best Rock Instrumental Grammy Award. He himself wasn't fond of it because of artistic differences with the producer - supposedly he also never received any royalties for it. None of these facts was known to me, I just saw this CD at the 1 euro stall of a flea market and thought "Oh that's the guy I read about in Mojo magazine". It may also be the right place for me to start as it combines instrumentals with songs, and all-instrumental albums tend to lose my attention after some time. Listening to opener "Three Sheets to the Wind" one immediately understands why Metal guitarists are fascinated with this guy: he's very technical and fast, but his playing is also very imaginative and he doesn't always do what you expect him to. The other two instrumentals "Water on the Brain Pt. II" and "Tokyo Dream" are rather slower and sound to me similar to other jazz rock bands (e.g. Weather Report) with guitar instead of horns. His sidemen (Jeff Berlin on bass and Chad Wackerman on drums) are also very good and strictly jazz-oriented players. Rock fans will be more interested in the vocal tracks, of which "Road Games" (sung by long-time collaborator Paul Williams) is the more rock-oriented, although the guitar never limits itself to rock scales. The last two "Was There?" and "Material Real" feature the late great Jack Bruce on vocals and sound very much like 70's Colosseum and, inevitably, the softer moments of Cream (a good thing). I can't say I was blown away by this album (his playing is much too technical for my taste) but anyone interested in electric guitar should check this guy out. I hear there's also a good "best of" album out there.

**** for Three Sheets to the Wind, Road Games, Material Real

*** for Water on the Brain Pt. II, Tokyo Dream, Was There?

 

Bevis Frond "Miasma" 1986***

Bands formed in 1968 include Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Yes, Black Sabbath, King Crimson and Rush. Yet, for some obsessives (can't be more than a dozen, but they exist) 1968 will forever be the year that 15-year old Nick Saloman founded his first band, The Bevis Frond Museum. Imagine him, a chubby kid in his London bedroom, trying out different sounds with his guitar. Picture a news reel playing on the wall to indicate the passing of time: Woodstock, The Beatles break up, Watergate, The Vietnam War ends, Ziggy Stardast and glam rock, disco, punk, MTV, Thatcher and Reagan, the war in the Falklands, Mikhael Gorbachev elected as the last leader of the USSR...then the movie ends abruptly with a nasty motorcycle accident. Only this is not the end, this is the beginning. Saloman uses the compensation he gets for his accident to buy a 4-track studio and, while recuperating, records an album at his home where he plays all instruments himself. It is "Miasma", the first ever Bevis Frond album after all these years. An incredible 30 or so albums would follow in as many years, establishing Saloman as a cult figure of the English alternative/neo-psychedelic scene. His songwriting combines a reverence for Jimi Hendrix and Arthur Lee with the very English psych sounds of The Blossom Toes, Syd Barret and Tomorrow. On the other hand his excessive use of feedback and multi-tracked distorted guitars, especially in his early albums, poses him as the missing link between Sonic Youth, The Wipers, Dinosaur Jr and the shoegaze generation. This overload of distorted electric guitar is all you notice at first, but Saloman is also an expressive singer and fine classic rock songwriter with a knack for melody. This first album alternates guitar freakouts with concrete songs and curious snippets ranging from the noisy "Garden Gate " and "Wild Afterthought" to the Elisabethan folk of "The Earl of Walthanstowe". My own favourites are the songs where the melting psychedelic guitar is combined with groovy 60's keyboards as in "Ride the Train of Thought" and "She's in Love With Time". "Wild Mind" and "The Newgate Wind" could have been The Stooges and Neil Young respectively, if they weren't buried under a lo-fi mountain of guitar noise. On the other hand "Splendid Isolation" is a sunny slice of power pop that could have been a 90's Lemonheads indie hit and "Maybe" a driving garage rocker while "Confusion Days" used to end the original LP with another burst of fuzz and distortion.

This CD version, however, is augmented by a smattering of tracks from the double album "Bevis Through the Looking Glass" a collection of previously unreleased home recordings predating "Miasma". These are of marginal interest e.g. "1970 Home Improvements" is 14 minutes of guitar noodling strewn together from different sessions while "Mudman" and "Now You Know" are similar but of inferior quality to his later stuff. At least "In Another Year" provides us with a welcome acoustic intermission and "Rat in a Waistcoat" with some nice Hendrix-style hard psych. All in all "Miasma" was an impressive, if belated, debut but Bevis (Or Saloman, the two are interchangable) had more in store for us. Retaining his edge, he toned down the noise and improved his songwriting, releasing album after album of high quality music to rival his psychedelic 60's idols. We'll be presenting some of them here...

**** for She's In Love With Time, Splendid Isolation, Maybe, Ride The Train Of Thought, In Another Year

*** for Wild Mind, The Earl Of Walthamstowe, The Newgate Wind, Confusion Days,Rat In A Waistcoat, Mudman, Now You Know  

** for Garden Gate, Wild After Thought, Release Yourself, 1970 Home Improvements

Soundgarden "Superunknown" 1994*****

Chris Cornell's death at 52 (by his own hand, as it turned out) was one of the year's most shocking yet, proving that 2016 -an annus horribilis of rock music- had some strong afterquakes in store for us. The erstwhile leader of Soungarden and Audioslave was a worthy successor to the Classic Rock era greats like Robert Plant and Roger Daltrey. It's no coincidence that when James Bond producers went looking for a suitably "strong masculine voice" for the first film to feature Daniel Craig as James Bond, it was Cornell they approached. His was indeed one of the greatest voices of his generation: powerful and expressive, alternately soothing and menacing, it will be sorely missed.

When grunge appeared as the 80's came to their close, it took the music business by surprise. It was taken as granted that the music industry and MTV (at their apogee in those pre-MP3/youtube days) would naturally tell the kids what to like. And tell the artists how to dress, sing and move. Who could have guessed that a bunch of scruffy looking hippy-punk types from godforsaken Seattle would be the next big thing? Pretty soon of course the establishment fell all over them. The first bands to get signed to a major label were Chris Cornell's Soundgarden and Andrew Woods' Mother Love Bone (also featuring future Pearl Jam-ers Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament). The two young singers were roommates and best friends, but Woods would never live to see his music embraced by the mainstream as he died of overdose before the release of his album, at the age of 24 - a fact that Cornell admitted always haunted him. The camaraderie between Seattle bands was exceptional in rock music, which makes the fate of their frontmen even more tragic: from Woods to Kurt Cobain, and from (Alice in Chains') Layne Staley to (STP's) Scott Weiland to Cornell, a bunch of friends who also happened to be the best voices of their generation have fallen silent. Only Eddie Vedder and Mark Lannegan are left standing now. Back to 1994, the "revolution" had won and the world was completely grunge-ified: fashion designers had their models prance the catwalks dressed in flannel shirts and torn jeans, magazines advised kids on how to be grunge, and music agents scoured the streets of Seattle for the last unsigned band. Far from slowing the grunge movement's momentum, Kurt Cobain's suicide gave it an ultimate romantic hero. That year saw Nirvana sell millions with the posthumous Unplugged In New York. So did Pearl Jam with Vitalogy, Alice In Chains with Jar Of Flies, Stone Temple Pilots with Plush and Hole with Live Through This. And that's just Seattle bands. From California, Green Day and Offspring had their great commercial breakthroughs with Dookie and Smash. Despite such competition, Soundgarden's Superunknown stood out, winning Best Hard Rock and Best Metal Grammies and getting nominations for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Album which they only lost to such sacred cows as Bruce Springsteen and the Rolling Stones. Compared to their powerful but rough earlier efforts, the compositions and recording here show real workmanship. Brute force is offset by melody and the Black Sabbath obsessions are complimented by 60's influences like The Beatles and Doors, while psychedelic effects and other production tricks add extra depth to their previously monolithic sound. "Black Hole Sun" is the ultimate example: Easily one of the decade's highlights, this psychedelic ballad betrays the influence of Sgt.Pepper-era Beatles and features an improbable Sinatra-like croon by Cornell. The other stone-cold classic here is "Spoonman", a direct heir to metal progenitors Sabbath and Zeppelin with heavy riffs, muscular vocals and...spoons courtesy of the man who inspired this song, Seattle street performer Artis the Spoonman. And these two huge tunes aren't all. Amazingly for a double LP, this is the proverbial all killer, no filler album every band wants to make but few achieve. Groovy hard rocker "Let Me Drown", for example, could be the centerpiece of any other album, but here just opens the proceedings to be immediately superseded by the two superb tracks following it: "My Wave" combines trademark heavy guitar with almost Wire-like staccato riffs. And "Fell On Black Days" is a dark folk song with a melodic and expressive vocal. Both were released as singles, as well as "The Day I Tried To Live" which reminds me of Nirvana with its typical Quiet/Loud/Quiet dynamic. Almost as good are the fast, almost punk rock-paced "Superunknown" and "Kickstand", Eastern sounding "Half", Beatles psych of "Head Down" and "She Likes Surprises", and the Doors-y "Like Suicide". With hindsight the latter sounds more poignant than ever. But, as Cornell said about his friend "When Andy died, I couldn't listen to his songs for about two years after that, and it was for that reason — his lyrics often seem as though they can tell that story. But then again, my lyrics often could tell the same one". So just disconnect the drama from the work of art and accept it for what it is: probably the last great Classic Rock album of the 20th Century.

***** for My Wave, Fell On Black Days, Superunknown, Black Hole Sun, Spoonman

**** for Let Me Drown, Head Down, The Day I Tried To Live, Kickstand, Half, Like Suicide, She Likes Surprises

*** for Mailman, Limo Wreck, Fresh Tendrils, 4th Of July

Unison "Unison" 1976(?)****

This time there's no long intro, just because there isn't much to tell about this unknown band. All we know is that they came from the greater New York area and that, according to the CD notes, this album was originally released in 1976 - which is probably false, as guitarist Guy Van Iderstine commented in a blog that the album actually came from 1984. It sure doesn't sound like it, though. No 80's production techniques were used - thankfully I might add. It has a completely organic classic rock sound reminiscent of the early to mid-70's, especially notable for its scorching guitar solos. At times it reminds me of The Allman Brothers but most songs are quite short (only one exceeds the 5-minute limit). Opener "Borderline" is a driving rocker while "Flesh And Blood" showcases the band's heavier side. "Blow Me Away" and "Running Out" are blues rock with nice harmonica. "Cookin' For You" employs lots of phase guitar effects and a vocal that sounds like a cross between Frank Zappa and Ray Manzarek - and you know there's a good reason Manzarek wasn't the lead singer of The Doors. "Second Chance" is another psychedelic song whose slow and hazy style also reminds me of The Doors - but this time in a good way. "Again" is a beautiful ballad with nice vocals and electric/acoustic guitar interplay. Closer "So Many Miles" is the longest track (at 7'33'') a slow psychedelic ballad getting faster and heavier as it approaches its end. The songs are all written in the second person, addressed to a woman who hurt the writter's feelings, and trace the disentegration and aftermath of their relationship. Not the most exciting or original subject matter I've seen, yet the album is a small gem. It was an amateur, self-released, effort but in the end it gained a (well deserved) fame among collectors of obscure early hard rock and the few original copies now fetch 100's of $. Thank God then for digital piracy: my bootleg CD version seems to be a good transfer from a very clear vinyl copy, and is well worth getting if you can't get your hands on the original or the new and very limited (of unknown legality) vinyl reissue.

**** for Borderline, Again, Second Chance, So Many Miles

*** for Blow Me Away, Flesh And Blood, Cookin’ For You, Running Out

The Hangee V "The Hangee V" 2005***

These stylishly ghoulish guys and gal come from Cagliari, Italy. It's in Sardinia, an island rather cut off from the rest of the country. You know what they say about Italy looking like a boot? well, this boot looks like it's kicking Sicily in the nuts - kind of symbolic of the opinion many Northern Italians have of their Southern compatriots. Sardinia just sits at a safe distance watching the scene, content to be forgotten. I myself couldn't tell you much about it - except maybe that a disproportionate part of pizzeria owners here in the Netherlands seem to come from there. Can't be the richest place in Italy if everybody's emigrating to the North. But from the photos I've seen it looks like an idyllic place where one can relax and enjoy the sea view with some wine and nice sea food - or, indeed, pizza. The last sound you'd want to hear when you're relaxing like that is The Hangee V. They derive their inspiration from the noisiest 60's garage punk groups like the ones featured on the classic Back From The Grave series. Their vocals are raw and primitive and punctuated by loud screams, while their playing mostly emphasizes punky aggression over skill. But when they do try to play well, as in the two surf instrumentals "Space Rats" and "Batman", they show they have the chops. "Black Cat" and "Praise Yourself" are crude punkabilly, while "Mirror Lies", "It's Not Time" and "Stolen Minds" remind me of 80's garage revivalists like The Stomach Mouths and Gravedigger V. My personal favourites here are the groovy Farfisa-led "Cherry Lee" and Sonics-like "Go Away" - actually a cover of The Plague - those 60's "superstars" who only managed to release one single. Hangee V seem to love losers. The punkish R&B stomper "Show You Love" that closes the album was originally written by the equally "prolific" Tikis, while the 3rd cover here belongs to The 4 Of Us who actually managed to record 4 sides (i.e. 2 whole singles!). Compared to their forefathers, The Hangee V have done incredibly well, still going strong after 12+ years and 3 albums. Persistence is certainly one of their virtues, even though originality isn't: they don't have anything to distinguish them from 100s of other bands in the same genre - no, wait! I'll take that back. They have a chick for a drummer! C'mon guys, there's only one girl in the band and you're burying her behind the drums at the back of the stage? That ain't right!

**** for Go Away

*** for Cherry Lee, Mirror Lies, Space Rats, Black Cat, Batman, Show You Love

** for It's Not Time, Stolen Mind, Praise Yourself