Eugene McDaniels "Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse" 1971****

Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse is one of those cult albums that get labelled as "legendary" although few people have actually heard them. In contrast to some mainstream hits of its time and despite (or because of?) being unavailable for decades, the album's fame is constantly growing. Rappers from Eric B & Rakim to the Beastie Boys have raided it for samples and mentioning it has become a sure mark of hipness. Even so, it's not every day you find a copy at the racks of a record store. So when I recently found a reasonably priced Japanese import at an electronics chain store, I put it in my basket. I was aware of the album's reputation but what really convinced me was the cover: A naked-torsoed screaming black man superimposed on the picture of two sword wielding samurai? And that title? Is this for real or just something Quentin Tarantino came up with between "Kill Bill" and "Django"? It had to be the work of either a genius or a madman... After listening to it, my verdict is: Genius all the way...and a bit of a madman, as well. When he made this album McDaniels had already penned many hits, including the socially conscious "Compared to What" and Roberta Flack's Grammy winner "Feel Like Makin' Love". But he certainly wasn't aiming for the hit parade when he made Headless Heroes..., an amalgam of jazz, soul and psychedelia inspired by the Apocalypse as well as the evils of Nixon's America. "The Lord Is Back" seems like a hopeful way to open his album until Eugene adds "The Lord is mad/ His disposition's mean/ He's travelin' the road to mass destruction". No rejoicing yet, then... Funky piece, though, so at least it's an Armageddon you can dance to. "Jagger the Dagger" is a slow doped-sounding soul jazz song about you-know-who and "Lovin' Man" another funk dynamite. "Headless Heroes" combines the Apocalyptic theme with social commentary: "Jews and the Arabs/Semitic pawns in the master game/The player who controls the board/Sees them all as the same/Basically cannon fodder...Nobody knows who the enemy is/Cause he never goes in hiding/He's slitting our throats/Right in front of our eyes/While we pull the casket he's riding/Better get it together/And see what's happening/To you and you and you". The Beastie Boys sampled it in their Ill Communication album. "Susan Jane" is a short Dylanesque folk song about a negro-loving hippy chick and "Freedom Death Dance" radical jazz. In the satirical "Supermarket Blues" a black man is beaten senseless by a mob of white middle-class folk for trying to return a can of spoiled food to the supermarket (a comment on consumerism as well as racism?). It reminded me of Gil Scott-Heron, probably the closest comparison to Eugene McDaniel I can think of. Great drum breaks too, by Weather Report's Alphonse Mouzon! "The Parasite (For Buffy)" is an outspoken 10-minute condemnation of the white settler's treatment of the Native American population, fittingly ending the album with screams of agony in a cacophony of instrumental noise. Not an album for the faint hearted certainly, but one I can wholeheartedly recommend to any adventurous soul/jazz fan...

**** for The Lord is Back, Lovin' Man, Supermarket Blues, The Parasite (For Buffy)

*** for Jagger the Dagger, Headless Heroes, Susan Jane, Freedom Death Dance

Black Sabbath "Seventh Star" 1986(orig) 2010(deluxe edition) ***

Black Sabbath's "Seventh Star" was never one of my top choices but I just had to get the Deluxe Edition, since it's a bit of a curiosity, sporting the two vocalists with the shortest career in Sabbath: Glenn Hughes and Ray Gillen (And don't remind me of the Ian Gillan period: I have that monstrosity, too). To be fair, neither "Seventh Star" nor "Born Again" are quite as bad as they're supposed to be. They're rejected by Sabbath fans because they simply aren't what Sabbath's supposed to sound like. Seen as standalone heavy metal CD's they have their (limited) merits. "Seventh Star" was actually never supposed to be released under the "Black Sabbath" moniker. It was supposed to be Tony Iommi's solo debut. The "Born Again" tour fiasco had left everybody with a bitter taste in their mouth. Ian Gillan left to join the reformed Deep Purple and Sabbath cornerstone and main lyricist Geezer Butler also quit the sinking ship. Iommi had some tunes ready that he thought didn't fit Sabbath and set about recording them for a solo album. He recruited old associate Geoff Nichols and a couple of Lita Ford's band members and started seeking an appropriate singer. The initial idea of using several different guest singers fell through but he hit it off very well with former Purple Glenn Hughes. Hughes was at the time a cocaine addict and had just been sacked from the Gary Moore Band for that reason. Iommi decided to give him a second chance and Glenn sang his heart out on this album, committing one great performance after another. Iommi is, of course, a legendary guitarist and his riffing and soloing in this album is beyond reproach. Unfortunately the material isn't first class. Not bad either, but mostly run-of-the-mill 80's Heavy Metal. The record company refused to release it as a solo album and it eventually circulated as "Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi" and a photo of the mustachio'd guitarist on the cover. It starts off well with "In For The Kill", a hard rocking number with fast metallic riffs where Hughes proves his vocal ability beyond doubt. Ballad "No Stranger To Love" is a curious choice for a single since it's as un-Sabbath-etic as possible. It actually sounds like a Whitesnake ballad and features a soulful performance by Hughes (Remember how he and Coverdale were Deep Purple's vocal Dynamic Duo?). "Turn To Stone" is another good metal number, ditto with "Danger Zone". "Sphinx" is just the introduction to the "Seventh Star", an epic song that cries "Ronnie James Dio". Glenn does his best but he's out of character. The bluesey "Heart Like A Wheel" and "In Memory" suit him much better. "Angry Heart" is another hard rocker but to tell you the truth, like other songs in this album, it reminds me more of late period Rainbow than Black Sabbath. The Deluxe Edition adds the single mix of "No Stranger To Love" and a whole live performance from 1986. Meanwhile Hughes had managed to waste a second chance to be in one of the world's top rock bands. The album had proved commercially successful but his behavior and performance was so appalling that halfway through the tour he was replaced with complete unknown Ray Gillen. It's him we hear in the bonus disc and, although the recording quality is rather bad, he proves to be a worthy successor, handling material from the Hughes, Dio and Ozzy eras with ease. An amazing feat, considering he had virtually no time to prepare himself. Notwithstanding, pretty soon he was also history, to be replaced with Tony Martin, then Dio for the second time, only for the circle to close with Ozzy back at the mic. This album should satisfy friends of 1980's metal and just about nobody else. To the curious Sabbath fan I'd suggest to get The Deluxe Edition to get an idea of the scarcely heard Ray Gillen line-up: Not bad at all, I assure you...

*** for  In For The Kill, No Stranger To Love, Turn To Stone, Seventh Star, Danger Zone, No Stranger To Love (Alt. version)

** for Sphinx (The Guardian), Heart Like A Wheel, Angry Heart, In Memory

Live Album: (for performance, not sound) *** for Danger Zone. War Pigs, Die Young, Neon Knights, Paranoid

** for Mob Rules, Seventh Star, Black Sabbath, N.I.B

Built To Spill "Live" 2000***

Built To Spill must be one of those indie bands that have never even remotely thought of pop stardom. Judging at least from this album, they seem to be content with groping for the edges, trying to find out what sound possibilities the electric guitar can offer them, fascinated by distortion and feedback noises. In this respect, they sound a lot like Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr. and Neil Young in his more adventurous excursions with Crazy Horse. Fortunately, just like with 80's shoegazers My Bloody Valentine and Jesus & Mary Chain, a melody often lurks just beneath that noisy surface. Lots of references to other groups, I know, but Built to Spill are one of those bands that wear their influences on their sleeve as evidenced by their tribute to Young, an epic 20-minute reworking of his "Cortez the Killer" in which singer-guitarist Doug Martsch manages to emulate the original's vocals and reckless guitar playing. This cover is also probably the highlight of the album, which truth be told, does not bode well for the band. Of their own songs, "Cars" is the better one. It opens the second cd with some rare acoustic guitar and is the more pop-oriented of the bunch (sorta like The Cure meet early Radiohead). Other highlights include "The Plan" and two more covers: Love as Laughter's "Singing Sores Make Perfect Swords" and The Halo Benders' "Virginia Reel Around the Fountain". My own version of the album is a special reissue for Record Store Day 2013 (great institution, by the way, worth your support) and features 2 fine bonus tracks: "Forget Remember When" and "Now & Then".

**** for Cortez the Killer, Car
*** for The Plan, Stop the Show, Virginia Reel Around the Fountain, Singing Sores Make Perfect Swords, Forget Remember When, Now & Then, Broken Chairs

** for Randy Described Eternity, I Would Hurt a Fly

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis "The Third" 2015****

I spent last weekend in Brussels (which I'm going to be doing a lot from now on) and had the chance to catch Kitty, Daisy & Lewis live at the Ancienne Belgique. Great night and a powerful performance. I left the club with a smile and a copy of their brand new CD (it hit the shops less than a month ago) which I'll be presenting here. But first a few words about the concert: What is usually referred to as a "sibling trio" takes on tour the form of a fully fledged R&B revue. I swear sometimes they had more people on stage than the Blues Brothers! Besides the three siblings, constantly alternating between lead vocals, guitars, piano and drums (not to mention banjo and harmonica), there was another guitarist, a bassist, a Jamaican trombonist and the world's most useless string quartet (only really heard on a couple of numbers). Lewis looked like he just stepped out of "Boardwalk Empire" (or some other stylish 20's show) and the girls provided the necessary eye candy dressed in a gold skinsuit (Kitty) and a leather Batwoman/Suzy Quatro outfit (Daisy). Now, I was familiar with the trio's utterly enjoyable debut but hadn't listened to anything recent of theirs. I was pleasantly surprised to see them expand their aural palette beyond blues/rockabilly: "Turkish Delight" and "Ain't Always Better Your Way" are closer to Ska and "Feeling of Wonder" contains a funky nod to Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" and sports a contribution by The Clash's Mick Jones (who also made an excellent job producing the record). Daisy's "No Action" is another funky number somewhere between Chic and Amy Winehouse - surefire hit material! Opener "Whenever You See Me" has a Nancy Sinatra-meets-Holly Golightly vibe and first single "Baby Bye Bye" by Lewis is calypso jazz with some light and breezy piano. "Good Looking Woman" is a straight Chicago blues with horns and "It Ain't your business" jumpin' rockabilly (My, that Kitty sure blows a mean harp!). "Never Get Back" is a cinematic ballad with prominent strings and "Bitchin' In The Kitchen" sassy soul. The album closes with "Whiskey" (a country song given the R&B treatment) and "Developer's Disease", a Woody Guthrie-ish folk song lamenting the extinction of London's urban character by the intervention of greedy land developers. After listening to this album and witnessing Kitty, Daisy and Lewis's performance, I could almost declare that "A star is born"! Almost, because there's actually three of them... 

**** for Whenever You See Me, Baby Bye Bye, Feeling of Wonder, No Action, Bitchin' in the Kitchen

*** for Good Looking Woman, Turkish Delight, It Ain't Your Business, Ain't Always Better Your Way, Whiskey, Developer's Disease

** for Never Get Back

Robyn Hitchcock and The Egyptians "Element Of Light" 1986****

Robyn Hitchcock had, in the 70s, led Cambridge's post punk/psychedelic Soft Boys. He subsequently made a lot of interesting and uncommercial records either solo or -as in this case- with his band The Egyptians. This specific album should by rights have been successful. His pop instincts are as sharpened as ever and psychedelic weirdness kept at bay. John Lennon and Syd Barrett seem to be his main sources of inspiration, other influences being Bob Dylan, Velvet Underground, Byrds and The Doors. Opener "If You Were A Priest" is psych-punk with jangly guitars and vocal harmonies, as catchy as anything created by the same period R.E.M. "Winchester" is a dreamy psychedelic ballad while on "Somewhere Apart" Hitchcock sounds like John Lennon and on "Ted, Woody And Junior" like Bowie. "The President" is aimed at the U.S and Ronald Reagan and has biting lyrics: "The President is talking to us through a microphone/Like he's trying to pack his mother off/To an old people's home...He's the president of Europe and he's talking to the dead/They're the only ones who'll listen or believe a word he said". "Raymond Chandler Evening" is a very English melancholic song with nods to Dylan and Barrett. "Airscape" is the centerpiece of the album, an indie pop masterpiece that sounds at once anchored in the 60's and of its time. "Never Stop Bleeding" is also acid folk and "Lady Waters & The Hooded One" a dark song drawing inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe and Pink Floyd. Overall an extremely well crafted album, this particular version of which is embellished by a number of interesting bonus tracks including psych ballads "Black Crow Knows" and "The Leopard", garage-punk "The Crawling" and "Tell Me About Your Drugs", rockabilly "Upside-Down Church Blues" and demos of "Bass" and "Lady Waters".

**** for If You Were A Priest, Winchester, Ted Woody And Junior, The President, Airscape, Lady Waters & The Hooded One (both versions), Tell Me About Your Drugs

*** for Somewhere Apart, Raymond Chandler Evening, Bass, Never Stop Bleeding, The Black Crow Knows, The Crawling, The Leopard, Upside-Down Church Blues, Neck

** for Sprinkling Dots, Into It, Bass (demo)

Ten Years After "A Space in Time" 1971****

Aaah, Ten Years After...A very special band for me. Not because we share a love for the blues, nor because they embody the myth of the sixties with their incendiary Woodstock appearance and rebel songs like "I'd like to change the world". Neither for the fact that Alvin Lee is the most underrated guitar hero ever. That's all true, of course, but my reason is much more personal: Ten Years After is the first rock concert I ever witnessed, back in 1988. It was a magical moment, actually standing a few meters from a great rock band - one that had played Woodstock no less - and witnessing their music being made, Lee's fingers moving up and down the fretboard and the sound of his electric guitar filling the air through those big speakers... The place where the concert took place was an unexpected one - the annual Fall festival of KNE - Odigitis (Greek Communist Youth and its official magazine)! I know the Americans among you cringe at the thought, probably recalling images from North Korean parades, goose-stepping soldiers and students in kitschy folk uniforms waving red flags. Well, it wasn't quite like that - except of course from the red flags, there was an abundance of those... Actually, the Greek Communist Party of that time was very popular in the artistic circles and the KNE festival was their chance to invite many big name sympathizers from the music and theater world and allow people to see some high quality shows for a very low price. You would be right, nevertheless, to assume that the Communist Party officially despised Rock. Folk was good. Jazz and Blues was OK, it was the expression of the oppressed minorities in the imperialist U.S.A. Rock, on the other hand, was a sign of Western decadence - it led to drug use, free sex and delinquency. At least such was the official party line until then. But by 1988 things had started to change. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had promised more openness and was carrying out a "charm offensive" towards the West. Remote-controlled by Moscow as they were, the Greek communist leaders decided to go with the times and allow KNE to open the doors of its festival to rock. Serendipitously, Ten Years After had just reformed and were on tour. Somebody in KNE must have heard their "tax the rich, feed the poor" slogan and found it a worthy sentiment. (If so, he failed to ask his instructor: It is a reformist slogan and reformists are a true communist's worse enemy, after anarchists and trotskyists of course). So, half hour before the concert was programmed to begin, a throng of leather-and-denim clad rockers started to flood the grounds of the festival like a bunch of hooligans crashing someone's birthday party. They looked rather uneasily at the unfamiliar surroundings: Lenin posters, huge red banners, book fairs, podiums with folk singers and political agitators. And they did receive some dirty looks from some commie festival goers. But, miraculously, it was perhaps the first time in Greece that a rock concert did not end in chaos, riots and tear gas (a venerable tradition started by the very first Athens rock festival, a 1967 Rolling Stones concert violently broken up by the police). Ten Years After spread their positive vibrations around, everyone had a great time and went home smiling and with their head full of music - me, first and foremost...

Now, to the album at hand... It came out in 1971 and was Ten Years After's sixth and best-selling album. For those familiar with the band's style, it's a bit of a departure: Less bluesy and less reliant on lengthy solos showcasing Lee's extraordinary dexterity at the electric guitar, it contains many acoustic numbers, psychedelic sound effects and studio tricks. Opener "One of These Days" is a heavy blues song a la Cream with stellar guitar and harp work by Lee."Here They Come" is a ballad featuring spacey studio effects as befits a song foreseeing the coming of extra-terrestrials (they had some strong acid, back then). "I'd Love to Change the World" is, rightly, their greatest hit and one of the defining singles of he sixties (although released in the 70's). Beautiful acoustic guitar and soft choruses are juxtaposed with harder passages featuring fiery electric guitar, a combination reminiscent of  Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven". The lyrics covey the confusion of a young man acknowledging the wrongs of the world around him and unsure of how to change it (no such confusion for the young festival goers listening to the concert, though: Join the Party, follow the leaders, demolish capitalism and bring about communism - what's there to think about?). "Over the Hill" is a whimsical piece of 60's psychedelia with a Sgt.Pepper-style string section."Baby Won't You Let Me Rock 'n' Roll You" is one of those TYA specialties, wild rock and roll with lightning speed guitar solos. "Once There was a Time" is a country rocker that curiously reminds me of Jack White. "Let the Sky Fall" seems to reprise the riff from "Goodmorning Little Schoolgirl" within the frame of a Floydian psych ballad. The album continues with "Hard Monkeys", an anti-drug electric blues that reminds me of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the inspirational Zeppelin-ish "I've Been There Too", concluding with "Uncle Jam", a jazzy instrumental with boogie woogie piano and Django-like guitar. Overall a great classic rock album featuring a perfect rock ballad. Dedicated to you all: "Everywhere is freaks and hairies/Dykes and fairies/Tell me where is sanity?/Tax the rich/Feed the poor/Till there aren't rich no more/I'd love to change the world/But I don't know what to do/So I'll leave it up to you/Population keeps on breeding/Nation bleeding/Still more feeding economy/Life is funny, skies are sunny/Bees make honey/Who needs money? Monopoly/World pollution/There's no solution/Institution,electrocution/Just black and white/Rich or poor/Them and us/Stop the war/I'd love to change the world/But I don't know what to do/So I'll leave it up to you"

***** for I'd Love to Change the World, Baby Won't You Let Me Rock 'n' Roll You

**** for One of These Days, Let the Sky Fall, I've Been There Too

*** for Here They Come, Over The Hill, Once There Was a Time, Hard Monkeys

** for Uncle Jam

Left Alone "Lonely Starts and Broken Hearts"2005***

Left Alone is a punk band from Wilmington, California. They record on Tim Armstrong's Hellcat label and are as good as possible within the narrow punk genre. This album (their debut) sports catchy choruses, fierce but precise playing and ska injections for variety. The problem is that their labelmates Rancid have been doing the same thing for so long, it's easy to dismiss Left Alone as derivative. Sure, you have the Madness-meet-Green Day ska of "Another Feeling", Motorhead/Offspring hybrid of "My Whole Life" and rockabilly-ish "Heart Of Mine", but that's nothing new for the genre. Neither are the excursions towards ska ("By My Side","Dead Red Roses") and oi! ("Heart Riot","My Way") or Stiff Little Fingers-referencing "Would You Stay Now". So, this is my suggestion: buy it if you like Rancid or classic British punk & ska, go see them if they play your town (I'm sure these tunes sound best played live) but if you're not a serious punk fan, I can think of a couple dozen punk albums that are way more essential to your collection...

**** for Another Feeling, Would You Stay Now

*** for Lonely Starts & Broken Hearts, Broke My Heart, Monday Morning, By My Side, My '62, Heart Riot, Dead Red Roses, Heart Of Mine, Wasted Time

** for My Whole Life, My Way