Goodbye
So, with a tear in my eye, a skip in
my step and my belongings draped over my shoulder in a red polka dot
handkerchief, it’s time to walk off into the sunset and say a belated goodbye
to Mol’s Sound Words (cue: the music to The Littlest Hobo).
I have to say it’s been a pleasure
writing for you over the last 8 or so years and I’ve enjoyed every bit of it! I
must give particular mention to the blogs lambasting X Factor, the Brit Awards and
other jaaag laboratory-created pop stars as they are (as you well know) pretty
pointless anomalies in the world of music which, sadly, captivate the
imagination of the music buying public. Sad really as I feel the music
buying/listening public have so much more to give and offer to feed peoples
hunger and imagination for good, honest music. But, the light peering through
the sunset is that some corners of the industry and slowly coming round to
realising the fact that the afore mentioned shit is no longer appreciated and
becoming slowly ‘old hat’. Fingers crossed eh?
So, as a final gesture of goodbye, I
thought I’d share with you my favourite ten albums and the reasons I love them
so much. And, as an added bonus, I’ll also share with you my 50 favourite
songs. I hope you enjoy (and possess) them all. If not, as I am saying goodbye,
go out and buy them!
Albums
1.
Exile
on Main Street – The Rolling Stones (1972).
Yup! It really is the coolest photo of Mick & Keef!!!
Most of you will probably know this is no
surprise as to my choice as number one! Exile was written in the south of
France when The Stones were forced to leave the country due to problems with
the tax man.
Exile
is quite simply the most wonderful album to ever grace my ears! The emotion
this album brings is nothing short of great! Exile is a great mix of bitter
sweet ballads dedicated to the women in their lives such as ‘Shine a light’,
‘Sweet Black Angel’ and the tear-jerking ‘Let it Loose’, but also shows The
Stones’ darker side when it came to the usual debauchery that entailed them
with songs such as ‘Rocks Off’, ‘Ventilator Blues’, ‘Rip this Joint’, and ‘Turd
on the Run’. But the album also contains a fun side with songs like ‘Tumbling
Dice’, ‘Casino Boogie’ and Keith’s only-a-mother-could-love-voice-sounding
‘Happy’!
There
really is no doubt that Exile finds The Stones at the top of their game! I
always remember one review that read “Exile on Main Street is like dark honey
dripping off The Stones’ hands’ – perfectly summed up if you ask me!
Personal
favourite: Ventilator Blues. Stolen by Sir Mick and Keith from Mick Taylor (the
best guitarist The Stones’ ever had by the way), ‘ventilator Blues’ has the
most hypnotic riff and has Jagger singing an effortless screech towards the end
“what ye gonna do about it?”
For
me Exile will always be the best as, to be blunt, my ears have never heard
anything as good from a band that I will always love! The band’s situation at
the tome and stories of how the album was made make even more captivating
listening than the album itself!
Until a day
comes when I hear better, Mol’s Sound Words may well return!
2.
Back
in Black – AC/DC (1980)
Bon
Scott (one of my all time heroes) tragically died. Fans mourned and the rest of
the band considered wrapping up and calling it a day! In stepped an old friend
of the band – Brian Johnson and the rest is history!
The
intro to Back in Black was a perfect tribute to Scott’s death as ‘Hells Bells’
began with the sound of funeral bells followed by Angus Young’s creepy guitar
intro! Magnificent stuff.
Back
in Black spawned two of DC’s best songs ‘You shook me all night long’ and the
title track ‘Back in Black’. The production from Mutt Lang on the whole album
was quite possibly the best you will ever hear on any heavy rock album. The
drums alone are nearly as superbly produced as they are on Led Zep 4! And that’s
saying something!
Personal
favourite: Back in Black. Take the best rock song you can imagine? Times it by
ten and you are not even fucking close to matching this song! Johnson’s vocals
scream in after what is an almighty intro with the power of a banshee being
strangled! The guitar solo is typical Angus, but the section that follow is
magnificent showmanship from the un-sung rhythm section of Cliff Williams and
Phil Rudd
As
for Johnson’s voice – not many people are convinced as Scott made singing the
way he did sound easy and effortless, but you could say Johnson nailed it as he
immediately earned the respect of the fiercely loyal DC’s fans by replacing Bon
Scott with aplomb. Trying too hard on his debut? – You fucking bet!!!
The
album finishes with ‘Rock n roll aint noise pollution’. The song begins with
the sound of Johnson pulling on a spliff and berating a great statement from a
band obviously celebrating the fact that they are still together after tragedy.
The rest of the ‘middle men’ can pretty much go fuck themselves if they don’t
like what their hearing! You may think its corny, but, as they say, they
couldn’t give a fuck what you think – they are who they are and it’s as simple
as that! “rock and roll it WILL survive”
By the way,
DC used to get loads of shit for their videos, but ‘You shook me all night
long’ has to be the funniest video I have ever seen! Go and Youtube it! If you
don’t smile or laugh, you don’t have blood running through your veins!
3.
Led
Zeppelin IV – Led Zeppelin (1971)
I remember
reading an old review by some hack in the 90’s who described Led Zep 4 with the
most perfect summing up. He used one word – “mighty!” Utterly spot on!
The
Druids Album (as it was officially named by the band) came on the back of three
remarkably successful albums and notorious touring from the hardest working
band on the planet! Stories of excess were stuff of legend.
Black
Dog opens the album. This is one of Zep’s catchiest songs in my opinion. You
could say it borders on Pop, but that’s where it ends! ‘Rock n Roll’ follows
with typical Zep style boogie woogie with Jimmy Page throwing over dub after
over dub guitar tracks into the song that, personally, go a bit over board!
But, what comes next is utterly outstanding! The Battle of Evermore and the
classic ‘Stairway to Heaven’ (see previous blogs) give you a break from the
heavy side of Zep and show the bands more mellow and intimate side with some of
Robert Plant’s finest vocal performances. Sandy Denny’s collaboration with
Plant on ‘Evermore’ complement each other perfectly with a haunting duet!
Led
Zep 4 finishes with ‘When the Levee Breaks’. The intro, like ‘Rock n Roll’ is John
Bonham’s might and power that grabs your attention immediately! Rumour has it
that the drums on the whole album were recorded on one microphone! Not too sure
if it’s true, but, if it is, it proves that Jimmy Page and Peter Grant had more
to their talents instead of being a musician and the ‘hired muscle’
Finally, if
you own this album (and I’m hoping most of you do) – go and put this track on
FULL BLAST with your headphones on and listen to the snare drum! Truly, truly
wonderful! John Bonham – RIP!
4.
Let
it Bleed – The Rolling Stones (1969)
The
sixties were dead! Brian Jones was dead! And Altamont was the final nail in the
coffin of the 60’s (and nearly for The Stones) and civil unrest was spreading
across the world. Then, to make matters worse – The Stones released Let it
Bleed. This is without doubt their darkest hour and the music on Let it Bleed
reflected this!
Mysterious
tracks like ‘Monkey Man’ ‘Midnight Rambler’ and ‘Let it Bleed’ show, once
again, the more debauched controversial side to The Stones’ life, but true
classics like ‘Gimme Shelter’ and ‘You can’t always get what you want’ show the
band, although in turmoil and transition, that they can still produce sheer
brilliance no matter what the circumstances are!
It’s
also hard to believe that the album itself was recorded in bits in various
locations with hardly each member present during recording sessions! How they
ever came up with such a masterpiece while adopting such recording techniques
is way beyond me, but it seemed to work brilliantly!
In
my opinion the production of the album sounded pretty primitive and a bit
cack-handed, but could you ever imagine ‘Let it Bleed’ with a perfect, polished
sound? No, neither can I!
A
personal favourite on the album is the remarkably creepy ‘Midnight Rambler’.
Allegedly about an American serial killer, this song always sends a shiver up
my neck when I listen to it. Charlie Watts upping the tempo with Keith half way
through is completely mind blowing and shows The Stones’ amazing ability to
throw in the odd jam when least expected. Jagger’s harmonica comes up and is
followed by a brilliant little bit of mischievous laughter (listen carefully to
the track and see if you notice it) and some of Jagger’s most controversial
lyrics about rape and murder show his more sinister side. The songs ends with
the line “I’ll stick my knife right down your throat baby and it hurts!!” –
Jagger at his true, dark best! Stunning!
Finally,
‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ aside, if anyone can find a better Stones’ song other than
‘Gimme Shelter’ – you come see me and we’ll talk about it!
5.
The
Soft Parade – The Doors (1968)
A lot of
people bang on about The Doors’ ‘LA Woman’ and ‘Morrison Hotel’ being their
finest hour! Superb albums, but in my opinion ‘The Soft Parade’ is by far their
best work! When you listen to the album you get the feeling The Doors really
enjoyed themselves during the making of ‘The Soft Parade’! Morrison sings with the most relaxed ease and,
dare I say it, enjoyment that he makes singing sound effortless! ‘Tell all the
People’ is the opening track! This is one of them songs that, as mentioned,
shows of Morrison’s crooning ability the max! In my opinion, this is one of The
Doors’ finest songs! Brilliant! Robbie Kreiger’s guitar work blends nicely into
the back ground while the brass section (evident in the whole album) takes
centre stage!
The most
famous song (sorry) on the album is ‘Touch Me’. This is without doubt one of
the best pop songs of the sixties and, as The Doors prove, shows Robbie Kreiger’s
and Ray Manzeric’s ability to create great singles as well as supporting them
with great album tracks! Again – the brass section create a great vibe that
compliment The Doors’ music perfectly!
As
for the album in general, it shows a variety of styles with songs like ‘Wild
Child’, ‘Easy Ride’ and ‘Wishful Sinful’. The Doors obviously wrote the album
without any sort of direction that resulted in a mish-mash of songs that have
no genre or identity!
Personal
favourite: Wishful Sinful. As I keep banging on about – the string and brass
section male this song! Throw into the mix Morrison’s effortless crooning and
you have an album filler of the finest proportion! The clarinet towards the end
as well gives another stroke of brilliance!
As
for the lyrics, Morrison was without doubt at his utter (drunken) best! “YOU CAN NOT PETITION THE LORD WTH PRAYER!!”
being the highlight of the album on the intro to the title track! Other classic
is non-sense lyrics on this track include: “the monk bought lunch”, “peppermint
mini-skirts, chocolate candy”, “catacombs, nursery homes, winter women throwing
stones (carrying babies to the river”) and, Robbie Kreiger’s drug fuelled rant
of “this is the best part of the trip” followed by Morrison saying “wadda he
say” – superb!
Finally,
towards the funky jam at the end – if anyone can find a better closing line to
end an album other than: “when all else
fails we can whip the horse’s eyes, and make them sleep ... and cry!” –
come and see me! (again)
6.
The
Southern Harmony and Musical Companion – The Black Crowes (1990)
Produced
by the wonderfully named George Drakoulias, ‘Southern Harmony’ is the band’s second
album which continues the rock and soul theme seen in their first album ‘Shake
Your Money Maker’.
The
Crowes have a very special place in my heart! They were way before their time,
but ahead of the rest! Live – they are a wonderful band to watch! If you get a
chance, go and see them! The line up may have changed over the years, but they
are still great even though they are pushing into their ‘Autumn Years’
Southern
Harmony is a bitter sweet mixture of blues, gospel, rock and soul! Rich &
Chris Robinson are the lynchpins of the band, but for me guitarist Marc Ford
and drummer Steve Gorman make the album! Their performances are repeated on ‘Amorica’,
but it’s Southern Harmony where they truly excel! Ford left The Crowes after
the following album, but has released many superb solo albums that I would
recommend
The
album also shows a more tender side with ‘Bad luck blue eyes goodbye’, ‘Thorn
in my pride’ and a cover of the Bob Marley song ‘time will tell’. The constant
use of gospel style backing singers Barbara & Joy throughout the album
works perfectly
Personal
favourite: Sting Me. This is the opening track from the album inspired by the
LA Riots. The opening line “when the bells ring out for the crime of the
century (courtesy of your mother) – this is your typical Chris Robinson opening
line controversy (he has a habit of it). What it means, apart from a reference
to the LA Riots, that’s anyone’s guess!
Other
tracks on the album such as ‘Hotel Illness’, ‘My Morning Song’ and the
marvellous single ‘Remedy’ show The Crowes at their raw, stripped-down best and
proves that they always have been and always will be one of the best guitar
bands the world has ever witnessed!! Long live The Crowes!
7.
The
La’s – (1990)
Being
a Scouser, it’s a natural part of your upbringing to listen to and love The
La’s. Originating from my home town of Huyton, you also feel you have a certain
allegiance towards them as well! In short – everyone loved The La’s as they
were one of us!
Local
legend has it that founder and lynchpin Lee Mavers wrangled so much with the
label (Go Discs) that they released the album without his say so! Maybe they
lost patience with his ‘difficult’ manner and stories of ‘60’s dust’ not being
present in the amps (!!!), but the truth is – no one could have imagined the
album sounding any better than it did!
Rush
job? Who cares, this is a modern day classic written by a bunch of Scals who
had a liking for hard drugs and taking the piss out of anyone who dare
interview them! Again – Youtube the interview on Saturday Superstore - you’ll
laugh your head off!
Personal
favourite: Failure. I was gonna choose ‘Timeless Melody’ because of its simple,
tuneful lyrics and outstanding guitar harmonics, but Failure is a brilliant
song about the ‘Black Sheep’ of the family having the shame of being presented
to his parents after a series of mistermeeners disgracing his family name. It reminds
me of an old mate who, at Christmas, got nicked for having weed on him the same
night his younger brother got nicked for robbing. The next day they both had
their crimbo dinner together in the living room while the rest of the family
spent Christmas day around the table! “And
you go downstairs and you sit in your place” – I’ll tell you more about the
story one day if you bump into me.
The
album is a selection of 2 – 3 minute 3 chord wonders containing brilliant
vocal-lead guitar solos, flat, dry sounding drums and of course, Mavers'
enigmatic, brilliant, croaky voice! Songs like ‘Son of a Gun’, ‘Feelin’’, and
of course, the classic ‘There She Goes’ make the like it was knocked up in the back of
someone’s shed!
One
of The La’s strong points however is their ability to blend their harmonies!
John Power and Lee Mavers complement each other perfectly. Have a listen to
‘There She Goes’, ‘Son of a Gun’, ‘Doledrum’ and ‘Way Out’ – the harmonies are
utterly perfect! Why Mavers wasn’t happy with the final outcome is way beyond
me! Maybe he was just booooorrrrn to be an awkward sod!
The
final song however, is an utter classic! ‘Looking Glass’ is stuff of legends! A
great great song from the darkest depths of Mavers’ mind about drugs,
loneliness and paranoia! Sadly, the song’s finale, you could say, is a little
bit corny to be honest as it creates a collage of the previous songs blending
into a robust ending that kind of spoils what is one of the best La’s songs
ever made.
But,
the end of ‘Looking Glass’ doesn’t take the shine off a remarkable album
written and produced by four scallies from a working class (you could say
tough) part of Liverpool on a budget of relatively nothing on a small label
that is nothing short of genius! That, in my opinion, makes the La’s the best
album ever made a by a band from Liverpool!!
8.
Is
This It – The Strokes (2001)
If I
could sum The Strokes in one word it would be “cool”. 2001 was a really great
year for music. The Vines, The Walkmen and Kings of Leon all jumped onto the
Indie scene with great appeal. However, The Strokes were without doubt the best
of the bunch! Scruffy, un-washed (maybe) with the ability to re-introduce the
guitar to a music scene that had been missing this vital instrument for many
years. Albert Hammond Jnr and Nick Valensi possessed superb guitar prowess as
well as every celebrity female of the time hanging off their cocks!
The
Strokes also had one of the most charismatic singers of the 00’s (I refuse to
say “Noughties ..er, hang on!) in the marvellously named Julian Casablancas.
Casablancas – scruffy looking, torn jeans, greasy hair, don’t-give-a-shit
attitude and the ability to be originally shocking when he felt like, was
almost Jim Morrison like in his vocal style and, believe it or not, the writer
of all the songs on the album! - Some achievement for a singer in any day and
age.
Songs
like ‘Last Nite’, ‘Someday’, ‘The Modern Age’ and ‘New York City cops’ brought
a whole new fresh sound to a very tired, post-grunge American music scene that
had been in the doldrums for many years!
Personal
favourite: Hard to Explain. This is the only song on the album that sounds
completely different regarding the production to any of the other songs. The
songs starts off with the most obvious sounding drum machine, but morphs into a
brilliant guitar song! An excellent mix I think!
Sadly for
The Strokes, they failed to create anymore of the success following ‘Is This
It’ and disappeared into obscurity with a few lame follow up albums and some
pretty naff tours! But, what they did possess and had in bucket loads was the
ability to create a new type of hype (if you like). Be it live shows with just
a female audience, or live videos to accompany singles (something rarely done
in this day and age) – the Strokes knew how to entertain!
9.
Appetite
for Destruction – Guns n Roses (1987)
I
know what you’re thinking – was Mol inspired by his dodgy shirt collection by
the greasy rockers from the under belly of LA? Well, truth be told, when I was
in school I fucking loved Guns N Roses. Everyone else was into Talking Heads
and Grandmaster Flash so I got a bit of stick for being a fan of G ‘N’ R, but,
like the band, I couldn’t give a shit. The reason why? Well, they were very
different from all the other shit glam rock hair-obsessed dross like Poison,
Europe and the god awful Bon Fucking Jovi that were plastered all over MTV them
days. And, more important, they could play!
Guitarists
Slash, a modern day folk hero, and my personal favourite Izzy Stradlin, played
a style of guitar not seen since Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin ruled the world in
the seventies!
Sadly
for Guns n Roses they had one of the biggest bell ends in music fronting their
band – Axl Rose. I never really liked his voice in all honesty, but he had a
large degree of edgy, paranoid danger to him! Check Youtube for footage of
their early gigs and you’ll see my point!
Personal
favourite: Rocket Queen. Obvious reason – listen to guitar solo and the sound
of the young lady enjoying a sexual moment (or, as Guns n Roses would out it –
getting fucked!!)
Sweet
Child o’ Mine – the most bitter sweet ‘balled’ to grace the nineties that threw
Guns n Roses into the limelight was the album’s highlight and without doubt the
best song on the album.
The
band went onto record a few more albums, but like The Strokes, didn’t build on
the success of their brilliant debut and disappeared into a haze of drugs,
violence, drink and guns! Sad really as they were without doubt the most
talented rockers of the eighties that truly excelled in playing what they did
to a level Rock Music will never see again as their follow up albums, let’s be
honest here – fucking stunk!
But,
the world of Rock Music is without doubt a better place because of this album.
Sadly, for the world of notoriety and controversy, Guns n Roses pushed the boat
just that bit too far and many bands that followed seem like pussy cats
compared to these bad motherfuckers (as the band would say)
10. Vanishing Point Soundtrack – 1971
My
final choice was a toss-up between ‘Funeral’ by Arcade Fire of ‘Paper’ by Rich
Robinson, but my love of certain film sound tracks had to give way I’m afraid!
The
only album sound track to make my top ten so as I’m not Barry Norman, I won’t
give you a review of the film, but I will give you a run-down (no pun by the
way) of the songs that MAKE the film!
Songs
by Jimmy Bowen (not the Bullseye presenter in case you were wondering), Jimmy
Walker, Big Mama Thornton, Mountain and many other make this soundtrack a truly
peaceful, soulful and religious album of rare tracks by even rare artists!
Personal
favourite: ‘Nobody knows’ by Kim and Dave and ‘Where do we go from here’ by
Jimmy Walker. The Kim and Dave track is a superb mix of pop and gospel about a
woman who believes she may be losing her faith in god. Magnificent song with
truly haunting vocals and brilliant lyrics! If you ever get a chance to watch
the film, this song is very significant towards the fate of the heroes of the
film – Kowalski (played by Barry Newman) and Super Soul (played by Cleavon
Little). This song also contains the killer line” whose gonna testify for me
when I die?” – Brilliant!
Then
again, you could say the hero of the film is actually the car! If you’ve never
seen the film, watch it as the closing scene is very emotional – a truly great
scene of pure 70’s cult film making!
The Jimmy
Walker song is an un-heard classic! ‘Where do we go from here’ is, bizarrely
enough, a song about Christopher Columbus and his sailing escapades. The brass
section and guitar work on the song is nothing new to be honest, but in the
context of the film, if you watch the driving scenes, fits perfect! If you’ve never heard Jimmy Walker before,
have a listen to his back catalogue as he has the most remarkable soul voice! Right
up there with Otis Redding in my opinion!
Songs (no particular order)
1.
Stairway
to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
2.
The
Rat – The Walkmen
3.
These
are the ghosts – The Bees
4.
Where
do we go from here – Jimmy Walker
5.
Metarie
– Brendan Benson
6.
Werewolves
of London – Warren Zevon
7.
Remedy
– The Black Crowes
8.
A
quick one while he’s away – The Who
9.
The
Seeker – The Who
10. Jumpin’ Jack Flash – The Rolling
Stones
11. Window Pane – The Real People
12. Work, work, work, pub, club, sleep –
The Rakes
13. Can’t you hear me knocking? – The
Rolling Stones
14. Gimme Shelter – The Rolling Stones
15. Hot fun in the summertime – Sly and
the Family Stone
16. Highway to hell – AC/DC
17. Nobody knows – Kim and Dave
18. Rocks off – The Rolling Stones
19. 54-46 was my number – Toots and the
Maytals
20. Still aging – The Soundtrack of our
Lives
21. Marquee moon – Television
22. Let stay together – Al Green
23. Rebellion (Lies) – Arcade Fire
24. Stereo – Pavement
25. The modern age – The Strokes
26. You set the scene – Love
27. Loaded – Primal Scream
28. Yesterday I saw you – Rich Robinson
29. Peaches en regalia – Frank Zappa
30. Ladies and gentlemen we are floating
in space – Spiritualized
31. Consolers of the lonely – The
Raconteurs
32. Tell all the people – the Doors
33. Cut your hair – Pavement
34. Hey lord, don’t ask me questions –
Graham Parker and the Rumour
35. Song of a baker – The Small Faces
36. That’s all you need – The Faces
37. I am the unknown – The Aliens
38. Freakin’ out – Graham Coxan
39. Growing on me – The Darkness
40. Badge – Cream
41. Timeless melody – The La’s
42. Two tribes – Frankie goes to Hollywood
43. Paranoid android – Radiohead
44. Black night crash – Ride
45. White rabbit – Jefferson Airplane
46. Ohio – Crosby, Stills, Nash &
Young
47. Dickie Davies eyes – Half man half
Biscuit
48. If I were a Carpenter – Bobby Darin
49. Animal farm – The Kinks
50. Moonlight mile – The Rolling Stones
So, good people, there you have it. I
hope you’ve enjoyed reading Mol’s Sound Words over the years. I can say it’s
been an absolute pleasure and a privilege. My reason for going – I’ll leave
that to your imaginations and maybe the stuff of legend!
Obey your ears, your heart and your
life will follow
Peace
Mol
