Because Everybody Else Has One

Got life if you want it... This review is also up at Channel 24 , where the blurb should read "timed" not "times", by the way. What it's about A documentary about the concert that took place on 12 December 2012 to raise funds for those affected by Hurricane Sandy. What we thought I genuinely have no idea how or why this film is gracing our cinemas right now, as it certainly isn't timely and I can't see it making much of a splash against the Easter holiday movies that are currently on release. I'm kind of happy to see it though. Its mixture of Hurricane Sandy footage, backstage glimpses into the 12-12-12 concert and the concert itself aren't exactly revelatory and they add up to a relatively sub-par music documentary that doesn't have the backstage drama of a Gimme Shelter, the satisfying concert feel of a Last Waltz or even the spiky, often funny social conscience of CSNY's Deja Vu. Still, though it's hardly essential ...

Another old review. This time it's of one of the very first albums I bought after deciding to expand my tastes beyond The Beatles and their solo albums. My opinion hasn't changed much over the years. It's still an exceptional piece of work - even if it's not quite The Who's greatest album. From Epinions.com (Originally published 27 October 2003) Who’s Next is a very important album for me. It’s the album that after listening to the Beatles exclusively for eight years, proved that there was in fact other almost-as-great music out there and caused me to start buying everything from the Rolling Stones and further Who albums to even newer stuff like Radiohead and the Flaming Lips. Still, however great the album may be –and it is- I can’t help but find it to be somewhat overrated. Now don’t misunderstand me, I’m not talking about Led Zeppelin IV-level overratedness (is that a word?) here, Who’s Next is a definite five-star album, it’s just that it has a major f...

Now here's one that's very typical of my old epinions reviews. The writing is often kinda cringe-inducing but there's loads of enthusiasm to make up for it. It's interesting that thought it's been something like 10 years since I first heard Live At Leeds my opinion hasn't changed about it very much at all. Also, while my musical tastes have expanded in those 10 years, "hard rock" is not a genre that I've been all that attracted to. Maybe it's just that once I heard some live Who, all of their imitators feel like exactly that. From epinions.com  (Originally written 20 March 2004)    The Who are a terrific studio band. From the pop of Sell Out to the hard rocking of Who’s Next to rock operas Quad and Tommy, the band have released some of the most well-written, expertly performed music in the short but turbulent history of rock and roll. The simple fact of the matter though is that the Who are not going to be remembered for their studio wor...

OK, after a bit of an absence (for any of you who might have noticed) and a grand total of two posts, I'm back with some brand new ramblings. I do have some random thoughts and reviews to post over the coming days but first I want to start what will hopefully be only the beginning of a series of posts dedicated to some of my all time favourite comics/ novels/ TV shows/ films and, in this case, albums. It has to be said that I have no idea whatsoever what my single favourite album is of all time but I can usually narrow it down to three possibilities. Two of these hopefuls are always an album apiece by my two favourite musical artists, The Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The catch is, however, that the specific album has had a habit of changing over the years. For the Beatles, I've gone from Revolver to Abbey Road and, as it stands right now, Rubber Soul while The Stones' golden years yielded three albums that vie for my affections in the form of Let It Bleed, Sticky Finge...