Some readers will cringe and some will cheer, but there is no mid-point in possible reaction; such is the polar nature of the reactions to Simply Red, and it has been since the band formed out of the ashes of a punk band in 1985 (no joke – singer Mick Hucknall used to front The Frantic Elevators before founding Simply Red) and that disparity is likely to be more accentuated with the release of Songs Of Love. Now, twenty-five years...

I can think of no other band which laid out their musical development from album to album so clearly as Talking Heads. Each Talking Heads album built on what came before, while adding some new element into the mix. Sure, you can watch the Beatles grow from Help to Abbey Road, but that is a much smoother progression, rather than a set of discrete steps. Even David Bowie, that great musical chameleon, is better known for drastic leaps and random...

How does one qualify a record as beautiful? With other art forms, it's easy; a painting can be attractive or not, a theatrical production can capture human truths and faithfully represent them, a dance can be fluid in its' execution and affecting in its' performance – all of those things can be beautiful – but how does recorded music attain that state? The single most effective way for a record to accomplish it is to affect its' audience and tap...

As any heartbroken man can tell you, there's a progression to the ache in a relationship's end after the initial crushing event that is required for the healing process to start. First comes the anger – the man lashes out both at his surroundings and himself as he torments himself with everything that was. It can be ugly and aggressive, but it's necessary; the poison needs to be expelled, and it's only after that expulsion has occurred that, feeling empty...

There was just no doubt that something was bound to change for Fat Possum Records eventually. Over the last decade or so, many of the original Mississippi bluesmen that the label initially sought to promote (including Asie Payton, Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside) have passed on this world; leaving their roster desperately short of talent. Recently, Fat Possum has sought to remedy their situation by signing some reasonably fringe-identified indie rock backs (including Andrew Bird, The Fiery Furnaces and Entrance),...

Awright, No muss, no fuss, no talkin' (well, not much), what I got 'ere requires no introduction. Do you reprobates actually read these introductions anyway? Probably not – they're just the whipped filling on toppa yer SWAG right? And what a batch have I got for you this time; this 'ere is some primo ill-gotten gains. In 'ere, I swiped some brand new Underworld (fair's fair – if yer gonna call yerself 'Underworld,' just be prepared to get ripped off),...

Everyone needs to own a Swingin’ Utters album. I know you don’t, but I also happen to know that you should. I know what you're thinking; you’re thinking, “With a name like that, what are they supposed to sound like – some joke band?” Oh no, my friend. The Swingin’ Utters are much more than that. You name it, and the Utters have done it. Look into their catalog and you can find basically every kind of song ever written:...

There comes a point in one's life when you do what you want to do, and not just what you feel you have to do. I think it's safe to say that Rob Halford has reached that point. After almost forty years as the front man for one of the most influential bands in Heavy Metal history, there is obviously nothing left for the "Metal God" to prove. Not only has he recorded some of the most recognizable anthems in...

For decades, it was uncommon for a professional musician to take his or her career seriously. Many considered what they were doing to be a leisure industry – the guiding mindset being that they were able to work at a leisurely rate and whatever they were doing could be done when the urge struck them. Since first appearing alongside his bandmates in Judas Priest in 1973 however, the notion that things can be done when they're done has just not...

Whether it's deserved or not, some records just get a bum rap. Sometimes it makes sense – there have been occasions when the makers of the “bad record” in question were in an unfortunate place personally that reflected in the band's music or had been inspired by something that seemed like a good idea in theory but ended up being ill-advised in practice – and sometimes no one is ever quite sure why or how a record flopped but, either...