Marillion - Kayleigh

Having grown up in Aylesbury, Marillion are something I've been exposed to for quite some time. Their track Market Square Heroes is about the town's local market (where I've brought many records), which is in total decline these days. Kayleigh takes place during their concept album Misplaced Childhood, which is pretty good, it has moments of well written music and moments of psuedo-Phil Collins pop (which kinda let it down, though are still better than anything that baldy mustered up). We have to remember, Prog was in a very weird place in the eighties, punk had supposedly signalled it's death knell (despite the punk musicians being massive proggers anyways), but in reality, it was still going strong. It still had a massive following, but fifty minute xylophone solos representing dragons in fuedal era Japan are hardely MTV material. Luckily, a bunch of prog bands with pop sensibilities come into play, Marillion at the forefront, and achieved major success, keeping prog in the limelight until grunge and alt rock would finally remove it's mainstream recognition (again irony being that those who killed off prog were massive fans of it themselves)

Kayleigh starts off with some jangly guitars and plinky plonky eighties keyboard, Fish comes in asking if we remember, and apologises for breaking Keyleigh's heart. It's a sappy love song, yes, about trying the fix a breakup. It doesn't really build up for the chorus, just get plinky plonkier until we get a kinda allright guitar break before returning to plinky plonky land. And repeats. This track is one of those psuedo-Collins songs, and was a massive hit, still playing regularly on radio. It's not good, but it's not terrible, it's just kinda... there. Trapped in a void of the eternal eighties.

A reverbed drum beat draws us in over a light synthy chord sequence, we are now listening to Lady Nina, the B side. We are more in prog territory here, I mean, it's still very eighties pop, but is more musical. We have a fairly good guitar solo for quite a while. Kinda playing down the usual guitarist cliches though. The chorus is bouncy and suits Fish's voice, and as the song begins to wind down to a close, we get a synth solo over the top. This is more prog for sure. Then it fades out, when you'd expect it to carry on to another verse/chorus. Oh well.

All in all, Kayleigh is without a doubt, a true sign of it's times. It is inoffensive, played safe and overly polished. It's not a bad single to get, just it's not very good either. Lady Nina is a stronger track, but again there isn't really anything there that warrents a proper listen. Marillion were an albums band, and in the suites of music, they would litter these little commercial tracks. And that's all they really are, commercial tracks.

Various - Transformers The Movie OST

In 'The Real Frank Zappa Book', Frank makes the observation that the world will not end by war or global disaster, but by Nostalgia. Death by nostalgia, culturally, really is a serious issue. It's only 2012, yet people are already nostalgic for 90's entertainment, 12 years! This kinda of nostalgic sentiment provides a major problem, as it inspires people to copy what has gone on before and to avoid making anything new or exciting. Sometimes an initial nostalgic sentiment really pays off (such as 2005's relaunch of Doctor Who, which updates the classic series and modernises/simplifies it for a new audience) while others result in Status Quo continuing to drag their zombie corpse asses around on yet another bland tour of contentless music, because their fans are too stubborn to admit that new music can be good, and too stubborn to admit that Quo have never been good.
ANYWAYS... This is about a movie soundtrack, A Transformers movie soundtrack. No, not the movie with Linkin Park and over-abundant racism, the original 1986 animated movie. Like many shy/geeky children, I loved Transformers and still find it at times interesting (particularly the 1980's british comics), but however I cannot allow myself to talk about that here! This is about music! The Transformers brand is half held-up by nostalgia and half held-up by new fans, the nostalgia crew however seem rather single minded with an almost religious zeal. The singer Stan Bush's career is pretty solidly secure solely because of the aging Transformers fandom, and his role in the music for this movie.

Every film in the eighties had a feel good hair anthem, and Transformers The Movie is no exception. The soundtrack kicks it off with Stan Bush' famous (or in-famous) The Touch. All the cheese in France could not come close to even making this song's opening keyboard riff, it's terrible. Bush does his best 80's rock, yelling our dreary lines with an amazing faux-passion which makes it seem like he kinda pretends to care (though now, since this song is all he's known for, he prettymuch has to care, but being an eighties singer, you can never tell). This song is prettymuch the best example of a guilty pleasure ever. It's terrible, but makes you smile. We hear a crash, a menacing guitar line and now N.R.G join in the soundtrack with their heavy metal track Instruments Of Destruction. It must have been had being a metal band in the eighties, you kinda have the Judas Priest influence but then the ever increasing pop influence. This song sounds like it's on that crossroads, trying to souond menacing but not really getting it. Generic solos not really doing much over an 80's echoed snare beat, and the predictable falsetto vocals to end on, but the guy ain't no Rob halford, though he gives it his best shot.We next get the first of three (well if we include the next track, four) Vince DiCola tracks, Death Of Optimus Prime(gee, I wonder what scene this music is played over), it's fantastic. A soft piano piece over ghostly synths, a subtle bounce on the bass notes propells the music at a slow pace, the synthy swells move us, then the percussive section signals the final moment of the great Autobot. An arped section comes on with an optimistic softness, and a horn section, there is hope for them after all? The sad melody of a synth guitar sound kicks in, and an ominous sound emerges. To counteract that track, we are jumped right into Dare. Another Stan Bush track, literally made of a thousand cows worth of cheese, but this is kept fully in place by what is a realy decent synth sound provided by Vince DiCola. It's upbeat, go gett'em kinda music, perhaps suitable for joggers? the track breaks out into an amazing synth break, built on layers of synths bass and drums that just works so well, and sounds so cool that it makes the track itself. It must be said that Vince DiCola is fantastic throughout the film, and a convention exclusive score is avaliable at high price on the second hand market. With more of that guy's music, it's well worth a purchase!

Spectre General come in with the Twisted Sister style Nothin's Gonna Stand In Our Way, it's eighties heavy metal, it's fun fluff, nothing really noticable though, it's really really average. The guitar solo does a good job at keeping the main melody going and playing around with the heavy metal guitar cliches, but that's all. Next up however is the crowning glory of the metal part of thsi soundtrack, Lion's rendition of The Transformers (Theme). We have a steady beat comming up, then Doug Aldrich's(yes, The Doug Aldrich, modern day Whitesnake guitar hero) guitar bulds up into the the first verse, actually heavier guitars than other 'metal' tracks on the soundtrack. The chorus really jumps out with ther hair metal vocals and heavy metal guitars, it's a guilty pleasure for sure, but when Aldrich jumps in with the solo, it's really really good, it's better than this soundtrack deserves. The verses are prettymuch standard power/battle metal, and kinda suit a franchise/movie based on war. The guitar solo and licks though are just really good. Next we have another amazing DiCola track, Escape. A soft spacey playful quiet section takes us into space, broken up with a beat, a gentle melancholic melody and then we get into the track, it's eighties action track music, with the joy of Vince DiCola's synth sound and playful sense of melody. A reprise of the melody found in the Death of Optimus Prime is featured, it's a recurring motiff throughout the film. This track manages to be both playful and yet dramatic/menacing at the same time while still sounding totally synthy. Little flourishes like the 60's organ sound playing around the 80's synth and guitar sound create a different texture than you'd expect. And the rythm changes throughout reflecting the action on the screen, rather than staying on one constant stream of music. The main motiff returns and is played with before fading.

Spectre General make a return here with their consumption track Hunger, which is not at all about drug abuse/crime. It's really REALLY disturbing to hear this in the context of a children's movie, but I guess it's still not mysogynistic/racist to the point of having a harmful effect on society like the modern transformers movies, and let's face it, the few children who actually watched this film in the cinema are too geeky to have gotten into drugs, but still, it just doesn't feel right. Also it's a very average track, aided by being in one of the best scenes of the film. DiCola's final track on the album is next, Autobot/Decepticon Battle (catchy title!). It plays with the standard rythm found throughout, the main motiff, and a funky synth-bassline, the changes in music keep our ears on their toes, and when it gets into the main action element of the music, the recurring motiff is giving extra eighties guitar menace! Various other elements from the score return, unifying it in a way many composers neglect to do these days. DiCola does keep suprising us with different and exciting synth sounds throughout and interesting ways of interpreting the familiar elements, sometimes adding a more militaristic edge, sometimes drawing from P Funk influences, and constantly chopping it throughout, keeping it fresh and non-repetative despite the use of familiar elements, rythms and melodies. We end with Weird Al's classic Dare To Be Stupid, which is just pure enjoyable randomness. He keeps just listing and playing with the old sayings about being stupid, telling us to make a mountain out of a molehill, and ordering us to bite the hand that feeds us. Like the rest of the songs here, it's fluff, but has a bouncing 80's beat to just raise the corners of your mouth.

Ultimately, the only real tracks worth listening to are the theme by Lion, and the Vince DiCola tracks, however the convention exclusive soundtrack has much much more of his work on it, and I really want to get me a copy of it. He's a much underrated soundtrack composer of the eighties, and is one of the few working in hollywood where his music can be listened to on it's own without visual reference, so I'd recommend getting his score for this film. Just perhaps not the other tracks!

Madness - Grey Day

I think every british person must know who Madness are, their songs like 'Our House' and 'I Like Driving In My Car' are lodged into the nation's collective conciousness along with Tea, Doctor Who and class division. Often known as a comedic pop group, Madness' more serious tracks have become ignored in favour of their popular ones. You won't hear 'Embarassment' on the radio, but you'll hear 'Our House' about five times a day! These rude boys are easily amongst my favourite bands, they managed to use popular music as a way to comment on social issues, consistently wrote excellent music, and always stayed ahead of the times. Grey Day is one of the best songs I have ever heard, so put your best listening ears on, and enjoy.

Grey Day covers the subject of depression, not in the more popular 'emo' way of whining and fake crying, but in a very honest way, which as a surferer myself, feels really true and sincere. It's an acurate representation of the thoughts and ideas going through my head on a daily basis. A thunderous drum fill pounds our ears as the song starts, and a melancholic riff takes hold. The rythm is muted ska, the overlayed riffs haunting, the voice feels lonely and isolated. Vulnerable. The chorus is a perfect display of the feelings on it's own:

In the morning I awake,  My arms my legs my body aches,
The sky outside is wet and grey
So begins another weary day.
So begins another weary day.

We're treated to a bridge, Madness' own blend of funfare-y music hall style, but now more melancholic. We return to the song, and after the final chorus, the main haunting riff takes over. It's depressing, a bittersweet melody, and fades to silent. It's a strong song, and contains a suprising amount of musical complexity, something Madness do not recieve as much credit for as they deserve.

The B side is called Memories, it's arpeggiated riff takes us into more standard ska fare. Fitting with the theme of depression set by the A side, Memories is a song about regret, mistakes and search for progression. The end of a relationship to be more precise. It's slow ska, melancholic ska, powerful and deeply emotional ska. It's great.

if Two-Tone ska is the combination of ska with punk attitude and music hall asthetics, then Madness really do stand at the top of the field. They have an amazing confidence when handeling controversial subjects, and a wealth of experience between them all.  As close to a perfect single as we can ever get. Buy it now!

Whitney Houston - I will always love you

Whitney Houston was perhaps the most famous female singer on the planet, who influenced several generations of popular music and whose impressive vocal range will live on. She managed to combine gospel and soul into an operatic wagnerian bombastic voice, virtually creating a genre unto itself, she scaled unsurpassable heights. We love our heroes tragic, we have to raise them up, in order for them to fall, but Houston dealt with a deal (in many cases, quite literally), dealing with constant legal issues, drug problems and more. But when all is said and done, does this superfluous, the music is what matters, and is it any good? Houston's voice inspired virtually every female pop singer around today, and ended up creating the 'plastic white-girl soul' voice which everybody uses today. But we can't hold her account for that, just like we can't blame Lightnin Rod for 50 Cent, or The Dead Kennedys for Greenday.

For the A Side, we have Houston's immortal cover of Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You. After an Acapella introduction, the lushly produced backing music fades in under Houston's eternally warbling voice. The notes are being hit, and the force of the voice pushes it past the bland territory into the field of meaning. There's heart in here, but it's kinda hidden under the warbling. We get traces of 80's saxaphone and electric piano plinky plonks, and Houston's amazingly over-extended vowels, tretching out so that words like 'I' and 'You' last around six seconds each. Her voice is kinda like soft honey, it's very silky smooth. I haven't seen The Bodyguard, and have no intention to, so how this plays out in a filmic sense is something I will never know, but I do know that she really punches out those words. In the end, the track kinda bubbles away to silence after the real big chorus.

Church Organs and plonky eighties pianos introduces us to the lounge gospel stylings of the B side, Jesus Loves Me, which is one of the least remarkable songs I've heard. there is nothing really to talk about it, it's a gospel track, but lacking the oomph and passion found in many black gospel choirs. The sterile production does nothing to help either.

Now, this really isn't my kind of music, I must admit, but music is made to be listened to, and listen to it I did. I can't say I like it, but I can appreciate I Will Always Love You, and understand why it's a classic, but the B side is just wallpaper music, total filler.

John McLaughlin & Carlos Santana - Love Devotion Surrender

Love Devotion Surrender, one of the more controversial fusion albums released, features the guitar prowess of both Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin at the top of their spiritual form. 'Why is it controversial?' I hear you ask, well it is inspired by the teachings of Guru Sri Chinmoy (one of those gurus who became very influencial during the post-psychedelic age, where musicians wanted to continue their spiritual journeys which they had begun during acid trips) and pushed Santana further and further away from his rock beginings. I did intend to ignore the spiritualist aspect of this album, and focus solely on the music, however with the gatefold featuring a passage from Sri Chinmoy, and photographs of the guitarists looking remarkably cult-like, I think it's the elephant in the room, and really should be mentioned. The passage represents a very naive view, asking of us to devote ourselves to spiritualist teachings. It also reflects gender stereotypes within the fist paragraph. Did I say reflects? I mean reinforces. The idea of fully surrendering ourselves to one specific goal/teaching/belief is something I find really disturbing, it's like deliberately limiting human potential. I'm a spiritualist of sorts, and I think it comes down to bettering ourselves, doing what we can to help other people, doing what we can to achieve the best we can. Meditate, but don't surrender your life to it. Ok, to avoid getting into a rant and starting to bitch about religion, I think it's time to get down and boogie (well... meditate) with some 'machine gun' guitaring from two guitar giants.

Side A serves as a tribute to John Coltrane and starts with A Love Supreme, a cover of the track Aknowledgement. It bursts into our ears with a flurry of guitar shredding, leading into a soft groove, where John and Carlos improvise over the top in a Free Jazz manner. There's a sense of real emotion behind what they're playing, something modern shredders lack. Larry Young's organ plods at the back keeping a nice sense of musicality which gels the guitars to the rythm. Chants of 'A Love Supreme' come in as it gets quieter, and Larry Young's organ meanders around in a deliciously playful fashion. Doug Ranch's bass really propelled this track forward. Track 2 is an accoustic cover of Coltrane's Naima, a dreamlike beautiful melody which drifts around your head, you close your eyes, inhale from your joss stick, and man, it's good. 
A quiet organ drone takes hold, leading us into an amazing drum roll and then guitar and chanting. A Love Divine begins. It's some beautiful guitar soloing going on here over this constant jazz beat, the guitaring itself has a distinctly more jazz feel to it. Yeah it's much more fusion than the previous tracks, allowing both McLaughlin and Santana have a decent amount of room to really let themselves go and stretch out their wings. At times McLaughlin's guitar is so fast it melts your ears. Again though, this never feels like showing off, there really is an emotional context to his playing which bounces off the wall towards you. "A Live Devine is yours and mine"

The B side introduces us to the epic Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord, based on an old Bible hymm. It starts with an organ vamp, overwhich McLaughlin plays some of his most amazing and weightless licks, you close your eyes and feel your body raising from the ground. Then a steady moving rythm kicks in, John again just flying higher and higher. He's often been called the 'John Coltrane of the guitar' in that he combines blistering speed with such pure spirituality, and this is proof of that. The backing groove is as undeniable as the lead, it's a simple groove, but when it locks fully into place, it just gets your head moving, getting you in the position for John's sublime guitar masterwork. I have to say, with the constant rythm going on, this is a perfect track to pick up a guitar and jam to, it's just great. The guitar masterclass only gets better and better and then winds down to a close. We have one track to go, Meditation. A softer piece, a walking piano draws us inside, a gentle melody, Santana's guitar providing suport. This kinda track is traditional for closign off 70's albums or music.

As you may have guessed, I am far more into John McLaughlin than Santana, the dude just does it for me. McLaughlin's been one of the biggest influences on my guitar playing and I just love how he does what he does. Musically, this album is really enjoyable, and John's guitar slinging is at the top of it's form, and just listening to it makes me want to pick up mine and just shred. The tones are all honey sweet, and there is a distinct sense of spirituality flowing through the music, though it never becomes overpowering. Sri Chinmoy despite all his controversies has done a lot to promote peace, and without him, we wouldn't have had this album.

Can - I Want More

What happens when you take an experimental and highly influential German band and combine them with the burgeoning disco scene which is taking hold during the mid-seventies?
You get 'I Want More'. A surreal, unearthly mechanical track which kinda slivers into your ears, beats out one heck of a groove and just stys there. This is like Kraftwerk meets Funkadelic. To be honest, that prettymuch sums it up. By this time, Krautrock and Funk had been heavily dipping into each others pools for quite some time, the minimalist beat of sly stone and laterday funkadelic, the wah wah'd staccato rythms, the cosmic themes, the longing of creating a music for 'their' people, the evolution from rock towards electro, etc, etc. The similarities between the two can go on forever.

I Want More starts off with a funky guitar riff leading into a funky beat and whispery other worldly vocals of an extreme vagueness. But this is post-Suzuki Can, the vocals serve as nothing more than an interesting texture which layers over the music. This then segues into an amazing musical break, sheer Krautrock at it's best and most enjoyable. An upbeat melody over a robotic funk beat. The ghostly whispers of 'I want more and more and more' return and then so does a reprise of this delicious delicious melody, and we fade to silence. This is a superb track, and sounds so surreal and unique compared to the norm. But believe it or not, I Want More is the more normal of the two tracks on this round disk of black plastic.

More, the B-side generates one heck of a groove, the chant of 'More and more and more and more' repeats throughout, creating a whispery and almost sacred, exptremely desperate sounding texture, a vocal version of a steam train rolling along the rails. It gives the music a major sense of urgency and keeps the groove rolling. A funky guitar solo is overlayed, it's funky without breaking into the Hendrix-isms. Which is always good. The track kinda fades out, but it really does what it needs to. Give you a solid groove that's both experimental and danceable (muchlike David Bowie's can inspired Berlin Trilogy, which I will no doubt speak about in great lengths at a later point on this blog!), and has solid musical hooks.

Can's I Want More is an amazing single, proof that Krautrock had 'commercial appeal' and that our German friends are far funkier than we British often give them credit for. A true missing link between funk's playful offspring (disco), and avant-garde rock. It has my full endorsement. Get hold of a copy now!

Bananarama (with Fun Boy three) -Really Sayin' Somethin'

Ahh, Bananarama... remember the eighties? When some pop music was not manufactured, sweets were a penny, and we could cycle to town and pick them both up from woolworths. Well, not me, because I am too young for all that. I guess like most people my age, my perception of Bananarama is somewhat tainted by their later tracks such as Venus, hard to believe that these girls were pretty post-punk. In the early days of their career, they did some interesting work with Fun Boy Three (a fantastic group formed from the ashes of ska legends The Specials), and this little single is produced by that band. Remember how kinda hazy and dream-like Ghost Town sounds? Imagine that production on a girl group single. Yes.

Really Sayin' Somethin' was originally an old Motown R'n'B track, here perverted into a post-punk pop tune, the doo-wop elements sound almost like parody. The Fun Boy Three's rythm pounds an almost animalistic beat down, a strong groove going on, and then Bananarama jump in with the vocals, all together, high pitched and high precision. It's pop, but not as we know it. I guess, would stoner-pop be a suitable term? Because that's the only real way of describing it. Previous collaberations between the two have also had this surreal quality to the sound. Ultimately, it's a catchy song and expertly produced.

For the B side, we have the instrumental Give us Back Our Cheap Fares, Which can only really be described as the german group Can remaking Ghost Town. It's a krautrock-y repetative beat, laid over a two-tone groove, with hazy dreamlike music over the top and a delicious amount of vocal ahhh-ings giving a somewhat surreal vibe to it. The pipe riff is so haunting, check it out. It is a fun number, and really gets the groove locked down, and provides a nice ambience.

Before I knew of their work with Fun Boy Three, I was dismissive of Bananarama, but I really enjoy this little 7" and am glad I decided to give them a chance. Pick it up if you can, it's a fun collaboration between two-tone legends and pop legends.

Cliff Richard & The Young Ones - Living Doll

Novelty albums are always great to have, and luckily, Comic Relief was pretty good at churning out some highly entertaining stuff (check out their Doctor Who story "The Curse Of Fatal Death", which is excellent all the way through), and this is no exception. Building on the popularity of The Young Ones, we are treated to those four lovable lads vastly improving a terribly boring Cliff Richard song. And yes, fans of the series, this is THE Cliff Richard whom Rik fantasises over, and provides the means to their eventual demise by obscuring a Cliff face (by a poster of... Cliff's face!) I must admit, I've never understood the appeal of Cliff Richard, and the man is in his late hundreds by now, so perhaps it's time to put him down. Luckily The Young Ones' absurdist humour is easy to condense into smelly bottom humour, it often went their itself, so this single was able to reach a broad audience, and make a fair amout of money for Oxfam and the Save the Children Fund. I feel guilty about buying this kinda thing through the second-hand market, but the amount of records I have brought via Oxfam stores does kinda aleviate this a bit. Charity shops are the best place to buy Vinyl. It saddens me that Comic Relief is no more, now replaced by SPORTS RELIEF, which runs on the notion that while most people may enjoy people making fools of themselves for entertainment, EVERYBODY enjoys watching ego-centric celebrities moan about how much their joints ache after running a marathon. Bring back Comic Relief, it's all I will say on the matter.

The A-Side starts with The Young Ones cast introducing the not at all homosexual Cliff Richard who comes in over the bland rythm singing the bland chorus. After one go round, we're treated to the cast adding their manic chaos making the track interesting with random mutterings, sound effects, shouting of the title 'LIVING DOLL' and just singing along. The instrumental break sends up Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells by mentioning the name of an instrument before breaking it. Then the guys take their go at singing the song fully, each singing a line. The noise of their voices creates a nice random texture, only improved with Rik Mayal's attempts at just TEENAGE NOISE.

Side number B comes in starting with a rocking number until the sound of glass breaking introduces us to a Young Ones sketch. Sound effects come from Vivian (Ade Edmonson) hitting people around the head. Double Entendres commence and the characters fully play themselves to the top. This is a pretty usual Young Ones sketch, comedy slapstick violence (though audio) and bickering over nothing, but lacking the visuals of the TV show, is kinda lacking. It's entertaining though not Laugh Out Loud funny, though Vivian eating trousers/underpants does make me smirk. The singalong section at the end is just cute. Plus every song should end with the line 'Now it's time to end this song, because it's so fucking bad'.

Essentially it's harmless fun, and a charity record, so we can't expect Captain Beefheart quality here. For 99p or less, it's a steal and will provide you with enjoyment. Novelty records are good, and neat little treasures to get hold of. Especially if you are just hanging with friends/significant other/pets/childhood teddy bear and want to lighten the mood and have a wee bit of a laugh. It's good, and y'all should give it a gander.

BONUS: Here's the music video for your consumption. ENJOY!

Girlschool - Hit & Run

The Lemmy endorsed band, Girlschool are an all female rock band. Their music is kinda a mix of Motorhead's hard rock, and gurgled down with a glass of JD and heavy metal. They were pretty well known in the 80's and supported many bands, including the previously mentioned Motorhead who would also collaborate with them. What strikes me about Girlschool is that in the male-dominated craze of NWOBHM, they struck out as a successful and quite good band... And that also they all look like my mum.

Ok, so the A side for this little gem is Hit & Run, a fiesty little track in the Heavy Metal Vein. It's remarkably Killing Machine era Priest in it's rythm, the singer, (who, due to having a number of lead singers, I assume to be) Kelly Johnson comes across with a strong pop-y voice over metal's trademark muted powerchords, we get a little bit arena rock with the chorus, a repeating of the simple phrase 'Hit & Run!' and also a neat little solo as average of it's time. While listening to this track, I couldn't help think of Bad News,  the 80's alternative comedy Heavy Metal Band with their songs 'Bad News' and 'Warriors of Ghengis Khan', and this is in no bad way. It's a simple fun rocker with nothing in it other than fist pumping. Quite nice for a change.

The B side, Tonight, continues in the Motorhead-meets-Judas Priest style, but is a much stronger track. It's heavier, faster, chunkier and shows that Girlschool could really keep up in the laughably heterosexual-male world of heavy metal. It really reminds me of British Steel/Point of Entry era Priest. Johnson's(again an assumption) vocals really pierce through the music, and there is a notable groove to this track. Again it's very of it's time, early 80's NWOBHM but really it's a headbanging great. The solo is decent and the fact that it's at times out of tune only adds to the hard rocking not caring about little details attitude.

This is the first time I've sat down and properly listened to Girlschool, and it suprised me. As a teen, I was a geeky white lonely male heavy metal fan, in my dumb teenage fantasies, I saw metal as totally masculine, and not for girls. I think that allowed me to accept my place, and is generally true of many metal fans. However Girlschool really kick that view out of the water with some proper solid 'ard rockin' tunes. If you're into Heavy Metal and/or Hard Rock, give them a try. If you don't like hard rock though, this isn't really going to convert you. Motorhead on the other hand, will.