Sebastian Payne

I mentioned in my last post about The Verve's new album and this is the first song you hear - it was written obviously to make think, wow! The sounds and noise are just phenomenal, that a band of their stature is still making music as experimental as this. Compare Richard Ashcroft's solo works to this and they seem like an empty bottle of milk, a shell of what the Verve can produce.

If you enjoy this, go and buy Forth.

Like a large percentage of the UK population, I own an IKEA CD rack. In fact, it's a DVD-come-book-come-music storage unit that sits in maple goodness in the corner. When it was purchased in 2007, less than half of the CD space was taken but for two weeks, it is now overflowing. With my earnings from summer working, buying a considerable amount each week has been great; it's a shame my local His Master's Voice doesn't offer a points or discount system for saps like me. I've chosen a few and done some quick thoughts on them, doing them all would make this post too long to read!

• Blur - Best Of (w/ bonus DVD) - Every household should own a copy of this. Creatively, the best band to rise from Britpop, their best of has all the hit singles like Song 2 that you would expect with some live tracks and a few rarities. Don't bother paying extra for the DVD - it is just music videos you can find on YouTube. Personal standouts are There's No Other Way, Tender and Parklife.
• Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Magic Tour Highlights - A digital download (not an actual CD, but worth a mention) with all proceeds going towards charity. Renditions of The Ghost of Tom Joad (with Tom Morello on guitar) and 4th July, Asbury Park (Sandy) are just fantastic. I never appreciated Tom's guitar work or how good the song is. Recommended for anyone who likes Springsteen.
• Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends - Not being the biggest Coldplay fan, I wasn't expecting much but Violet Hill changed my mind and remains one of my favoruite tracks, along with Lost! and Death And All His Friends. They've still got their anthems but have thrown in a dash of experimentation too, swapping music styles on each track, not to be seen seen on any of their previous albums. Fully recommended, but listen to the whole thing through a few times before judging.
• Crosby, Stills and Nash - Crosby, Stills and Nash - One of the albums that kick started the country-rock revolution of the 70s. Before Neil Young joined, there was more acoustic noodling and no electric guitar. The opener Suite: Judy Blue Eyes is the standout track, rich in California soundscapes and textures. For a slow and gentle afternoon.
• Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue - For me, a quintessential summer album that I had no idea existed before reading about it in Q. The opener River Song is classic Beach Boys faire and makes perfect music for driving with the roof down. The rest of the first disk has a variety of different music styles, all with slight traces of melancholy. The second bonus disk I am still to make an informed opinion on, even Dennis himself said the Bambu sessions were 100 times better than those of Pacific. For anyone who likes the Beach Boys, add this to your collection.
• Kraftwerk - The Man-Machine - "They call it machine music" is how Tomorrow's World described Kraftwerk's back when Autobahn was first released. The Man-Machine is their most accessible album, with shorter tracks and the hit single The Model. Best of all, the tunes are all catchy and innovative, especially when you consider the album is 30 years old. Also listen to The Robots and Neon Lights, recommended for anyone, whether you've heard of Kraftwerk or not.
• Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II - I have rediscovered this album, after hearing pieces over the years. Overdriven, manic blues is the best way to sum up the whole album. Whole Lotta Love is beyond words, there are few songs that touch it, in reguards to power, riffs and certain connotations. Bring It On Home shows the band are still true to their blues roots while The Lemon Song is a dream for any bass player - a case of jumping and holding onto the wagon while you can. Another one every household should own.
• The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely - Jack White's other band seem to be the modern savour of the blues. They keep on riffing with a driving force, experimenting and making it louder and better with their new album. The title track has changing rhythms and a rawness that many recent records lack with most choosing slick production instead. They have managed to appear at every British festival this summer and anyone with a passing interesting in music will know their stuff now.
• Rolling Stones - Shine A Light - With some tracks never played live, a stellar performance from Buddy Guy and my personal favourites of Far Away Eyes and You Got The Silver, this is a great record and possibly the second best Stones live album released. Surprising myself, I have not seen the film on the recommendation of others. The album will act as a reminder for many years to come the Stones show I saw in August 2007.
• Talking Heads - The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads - No one apart from me in this country seems to know who Talking Heads are. I just love this band to pieces and their first live offering showcases their original, art-punk-funk-rock tour and their later eleven person extravaganzas that went around the world. Early favourites like Psycho Killer, Take Me To The River and I Zimbra make appearances here as well as plenty of album tracks. If you have no idea who Talking Heads are, buy this album and you'll see what I mean.
• The Verve - Forth - Just purchased two days ago, this is the Verve of old, pre-Urbam Hymns. The album is epic, huge even. With the opener Sit and Wonder, it makes you do this precisely. The hit single Love Is Noise should be known to everyone by now and the band seemed to have a managed to create another masterpiece and jumping board for future projects. Sunday see if they've done well enough to make the top spot.
• The Zutons - You Can Do Anything - I was never fan of their first album but Tired of Hanging Around was a regular on my iTunes. The main changes to appear here are the fact it was recorded in the sunny lights of LA and their original guitarist has been given the boot. More slide guitar in the mix (always a good thing) and plenty of thumpy rhythms are found on You Can Do Anything. You Could Make The Four Walls Cry showcases classic 'banter' between lead singer Dave McCabe and saxophonist Abi Harding. The lead single Always Right Behind Me has a bit more oomph than their past lead-offs, compared to Valarie for example. At first, it seemed more of the same but it's growing on me, slowly...

Whew, my longest post yet! Get listening and see what you think of some of the albums I've picked up in the past few weeks. You can avoid Rihanna if you want and surround yourself with musical bliss, as I do!

I was browsing through some old files and found this post that has been waiting for a few years to be posted! This is about Comfortably Numb - the epic track from Pink Floyd. Comprising of passages in slow half-spoken verses, soaring vocals and an epic guitar solo. That's maybe too light, probably the best guitar solo in the history of rock and roll. It is one of the highlights of their 1980 magnus opus, The Wall. Several versions have been released of the song and this is my take of these various versions available.

If you have no idea what I'm on about, go buy yourself a copy of The Wall and listen to it on Disk 2 and you'll see what I mean. Here lies a brief summary of the versions of song officially released by the band, in a chronological order...

1. The Wall - The original version is the classic and can not be beaten in many ways. The studio effects make the track 'come together' somehow and Gilmour's solo is brilliant with no extra effects, just raw talent. The solo is the shortest out of all the versions here but possibly the most effective. This one gets 9/10

2. Is There Anybody Out There? - See how Pink Floyd decided to take this track from the studio and present it live in 1980-1981. It suffers from some over-the-top 80s guitar effects but is a good insight into that period in the band's history. The vocals are very true to the studio edition and has some improvisation here and there. However, I'd say both the track and album are for hard core fans of the band only. The original live version gets 7/10.

3. Delicate Sound of Thunder - Huge drums, big synth and massive bass lines, herein lies the biggest change the band tried to make to the track. It's semi-effective,; a good insight into how the band was playing live in the late 80s. However, this is also for hard core fans only and I can't imagine the album is one of the band's best selling. It sounds dated and locked into that time frame but it's still enjoyable, giving it 6.5/10

4. PULSE - Coming in at over nine minutes, this is something out of the ordinary, and the definitive version of the song. Gilmour's solo goes on for over four minutes itself, pure musical bliss. For those who 'don't get Pink Floyd', I recommend sitting in a darkened room, with the DVD of PULSE playing this track - it will convert anyone instantly with the sheer power. The track takes on a more grungy feel, possibly the way the track was originally envisioned by Gilmour. The passion from the final tour of Floyd is just, immense. Sure, they are flanked by a group of touring musicians but this is the definition of good modern music - it has purpose, skill and passion. This one also gets 9/10.

5. Live 8 - The first time that the 'classic lineup' played together for over twenty years, this was broadcast all around the world, comprising of a few tracks from their collection. Personally, I felt Comfortably Numb comes off the worst out of all the tracks (Breathe sounded great) - hollow, empty and Roger's vocals did not sound anything like his recent live shows. The performance was enjoyed by all and showed the band still have their original dynamics. However, don't go out looking for a great rendition here - the DVD will contain some other excellent treats though - this also gets a rating of 7/10

6. Remember That Night - Finally, the most recent version released on David Gilmour's Live DVD. This is what the Live8 performance should have been - tight and true to the original. The twist? David Bowie takes lead vocals on Water's parts and simply, it's a different song. Much more powerful than the original ever was, Gilmour's band of musicians keep the music with the same feel. The DVD is also fantastic, show casing his recent solo work and some classics of Floyd, going all the way back to 1967. Any sort of fan should own this, hence a final rating of 9/10 is given.

For the buffs here, let me know your opinions on the versions and which you enjoy listening to. There was a news snippet in Q recently, stating a local butcher who liked to listen the PULSE version each morning before work, quite an aggressive song for 7:30am! For the non music buffs, see what the fuss is about and enjoy the PULSE version of Comfortably Numb, performed by Pink Floyd, in all its glory