Author: Steve Earles

 Now that’s an excellent name for a band, and this is an excellent compilation. It seems there were so many interesting progressive rock bands in the late 60 and early 70s, and Day Of Phoenix are no exception.  There is a pleasing element of the psychedelic to Day Of Phoenix’s prog rock, not surprising when you…

The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal has acquired a legendary status amongst music lovers. Not only was it a highly influential movement (without the NWOBHM, we would not have had bands of the status of Metallica for instance) but it has an innocence and purity which would be hard to countenance in these more cynical self-obsessed…

Back in the happy pre-pandemic days when one could go to a gig, seeing Glenn Hughes at the Olympia in Dublin was one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen. Glenn has a fantastic way with his audience and is a magnificent singer. Quite simply, this superb six disc set captures Glenn’s magic perfectly, and is the…

No Future was a seminal punk record label, and this well compiled collection gathers together every single A and B side released by them, the majority of which made the Independent Music Charts. As well as being an important and entertaining collection of music, you would never be able to afford to collect all this music in its…

 One of the things that’s fascinating about the early 70s is just how many innovative bands were formed. Such a band were Irish progressive rockers Fruupp, who formed in Belfast in 1971. This would have been in the midst of The Troubles, and people who aren’t Irish aren’t aware of how difficult it was to be…

Hailing from New York, the splendidly-named Sir Lord Baltimore are one of those legendary proto-metal bands; a band that are much more listened to and significant decades after the fact. Do they live up to their own legend, I would say so. Their 1970 debut album Kingdom Come, is extremely heavy, and will appeal to people who like Blue…

Self-Control was one of the defining hits of the 80s, and is a fine pop song in any era. But, the album that featured it is worthy in its own right, and well worth assessing on it’s own merits. The real attraction here, beyond the original album, is an extra additional CD of rare tracks, re-mixes…

Pere Ubu are justifiably famed for their live albums (eight prior to this I believe). This album features early songs from the period 1975-1982 and comes across with a pleasing mixture of intensity and delicacy.   Dave Thomas, it has to be said, is a true original. No clichéd stage banter here. There is a bonus disc of…

I was watching an episode of Cities of the Underworld yesterday evening, set in (or to be more accurate-under) San Francisco. It made me think of how the environment they developed in must have had a profound effect on The Residents. But, The Residents are actually refugees from the South, and this too must have had an…