ALBUM: Year Long Disaster - Year Long Disaster (2007)

Due to blogging errors etcetera, this is a little later than I would have liked. Nevertheless...here it is. I've had an album overload lately, but this is probably the best one I've bought. Year Long Disaster are a fairly new band, one I saw live when they were supporting Velvet Revolver (see previous post), and they consist of Daniel Davies (guitar/vox), Rich Mullins (bass), and Brad Hargreaves (drums). I had liked them before, and seeing them live just intensified my interest in them. I was compelled to buy their debut.

So what's to like about this album? Well, for a start they're fantastic musicians and an excellent band to see live. Davies' gritty, raw voice does a hell of a lot of good to set them apart from other bands. Another thing is that every song on this album a) is different, b) has awesome riffs, and c) leaves you wanting more. The two opening tracks are very original rockin' songs which give way to a few slightly slower songs. While my favourite track is Sapphire, the very last song (apart from the hidden track), Swan On Black Lake, is just magical, honestly. A slow four-minute build-up suddenly drops for some stunning guitar pieces...

One other thing I must say about the album is the cover. Sure, covers don't matter much in these internet-downloading days, but I love this cover. The artwork and the band logo (under the CD) are great intricate designs.

If you buy one rock album today, this week, this month, this year even, get this. For me, it doesn't really sound like any other band. There's shades of 60s and 70s heavy rock there, but unlike many other bands today, they're pretty goddamn original!

ALBUM: Dire Straits - Love Over Gold (1983)

I've decided to do an album of the moment thing, cliched but there you go. Since I was probably two years old I've had Dire Straits music following me around...blame the parents. In 2005 I saw Mark Knopfler live, and he was just the best, including his solo material. But I still love Straits most and when I first heard Telegraph Road a few months ago I realised I didn't really know them. So the other day I found Love Over Gold in a small local record store (one day I'll own a record store just like it...High Fidelity style hopefully) for a bargain. I tried to buy Communiquetoo, but the CD was conspicuously absent. Sure, I may have heard 4 of the 5 songs on this album before, but unlike the majority these days, I still enjoy buying and owning CDs. The internet may have gave rebirth to the live gig thing, with people discovering artists so quickly, but CDs are still something to have. If I had it my way, vinyl would be bigger too. But then I wouldn't be able to rip it to my MP3 player, would I?

Love Over Gold is one hell of an album, not to mention great album cover. Telegraph Road and Private Investigations are serious songs with exquisite guitar pieces. Telegraph... is just one, epic 15 minute song really. You need to listen to understand. Industrial Disease gives way to the title song, and currently the last song, It Never Rains, is my current favourite. Knopfler's guitar at the end is almost haunting...a brilliant end to an underrated album.

GIG: Velvet Revolver/Year Long Disaster

Here was a gig I had been longing for. For a long time in high school I had maintained the opinion that I didn't really like much Guns N' Roses stuff, and that Velvet Revolver rocked the pants off them - an opinion I later went back on bigstyle, of course! All the same, I've been a long time fan of VR since I saw them on TV when they were playing at Live 8. I mean come on, they are 3/5ths Guns N'Roses for heaven's sake. Contraband was brilliant, and Libertad was the soundtrack to my summer in 2007. Of course I was going to go and see them, no question. I found out that a newish band called Year Long Disaster were supporting them, so I listened to some of their stuff before the gig too - mainly through MySpace - which was pretty good.

Well, the evening came and I was once more super energetic for this. This was Slash, Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum, Scott Weiland, and Dave Kushner. And possibly a support band I would really enjoy. Well, I was waiting in the cold queue outside when I happened to see two familiar faces from college, so we hung out while waiting for the music to start. This was a great start to the night, I thought. Then Year Long Disaster came on. Now support bands usually aren't always up to scratch, right? Well this trio of rockers were electric, they really left their mark. The guitarist was all over the stage, the drummer was solid, and personally I was really impressed with the bass playing. I'll just mention in passing that guitarist/vocalist Daniel Davies is the son of The Kinks' Dave Davies, and this has gathered them some attention, but that is not the reason they should be getting attention. They play solid rocking seventies stuff, and I was wondering who had chosen the trio for the support. Class choice - these guys should be big, and I made a mental note to buy their album.

We must have waited around nearly an hour after they went off for VR to appear, admiring the massive Marshall amplifiers and speakers. They were huuuge. Numerous tunes played, and we waited. And waited. Suddenly, NWA's rap song Straight Outta Compton blasted out from the speakers. For a nanosecond I thought I was at the wrong gig. But no...flashing lights betrayed a silhouetted presence...of the unmistakeable Duff. Soon Slash, Scott, Matt and Dave joined him, and they kicked off with Let It Roll. Boom. The place was alive. The setup of the mega-amps at front of the stage enabled a lot of awesome-guitar-stances by Slash and Duff, while Weiland played the textbook frontman, moving all over the place like...a skinny chicken? Whatever, it was rock at its best. Some of the new stuff such as She Mine, She Builds Quick Machines, Mary Mary, and American Man were played at full blast, the crowd swaying with the band. The stuff that made the crowd happy of course were songs from respective previous bands. It's So Easy was just the best...Axl or no, Scott pulled it off with his megaphone-actions. Amongst others were Mr Brownstone ("I get up around seven....get outta bed around nine...") and a few Stone Temple Pilots tunes - Sex Type Thing, Vaseline, and Interstate Love Song. I know many say bands shouldn't rely on their previous discography as backup, but I disagree, and so did everyone else that night. One of the best moments was when the stools were brought out for Patience, one of the only slow (GN'R) songs in the setlist, but one of the best. Between this they went back to the original VR stuff, making me go mental by playing Sucker Train Blues. Love that one. Set Me Free, Big Machine, and Dirty Little Thing and all the greats from Contraband were played. Slash, safe to say, was an absolute genius, a real rock god. At one point the other band members left the stage, and Slash played a ten-minute solo of epic proportions. The guy knows how to play frawkin' guitar, and you knew you were watching one of the best guitarists the world has to offer. He was typical Slash as well - top hat, cigarette in mouth, double-necked guitar etc. It made for one of the best nights ever. However, they saved the best til' last, with Slither - one of their heaviest songs - ending the night on a high. I lost my position as a sole entity and became a part of the moshing, swaying crowd. Helluva night!