Revenge of Riff Raff

Preview: Brainbombs, Tokyo 2026

2026-10-04T03:51:38.671+01:00

BRAINBOMBS have been doing this since 1985, which is longer than most of the people who will pack Earthdom have been alive. The Swedes take the looping, paranoid rock of THE BIRTHDAY PARTY, early SWANS, SUICIDE, and THE STOOGES, strip out anything resembling a tune you could hum on the train home, and leave you with something that sounds like a broken machine grinding through the same ugly riff until it becomes strangely appealing—possibly because it harmonises with your inner feeling of the World being completely fucked up.

The lyrics are nihilistic, repetitive and often about things you wouldn't want to discuss at the next PTA meeting. They released an album last year and somehow still exist as a functioning band rather than a dirty rumour. First Japan dates in forty years. That alone should be enough to get you excited. Support from MERZBOW, ZENOCIDE (cool name!) and RAMPS fill out the bill.

31st October, EARTHDOM, Shin-Okubo.

¥2,900 (Ticket info).

PiL News: This Is Not The Last Tour Continues

2026-10-01T03:32:33.887+01:00

Public Image Ltd have spent the last few months doing what they have always done best: turning up, playing loud, and refusing to play the heritage-act game. While half the industry is flogging "final" tours, John Lydon and co. slapped a deliberately contrary banner on the current run — This Is Not The Last Tour — and headed back to North America for the first proper stretch in eight years.

The trek kicked off in early September in California (Pioneertown, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco) and has been grinding east ever since. By late September they had hit Riot Fest in Chicago, Milwaukee’s Turner Hall, Detroit, a sold-out Toronto date, Webster Hall in New York (Lydon cheekily noting it was "good to be back at The Ritz"), and Pittsburgh’s Roxian Theatre — their first visit there in more than a decade. As of 1 October they were due at Washington’s 9:30 Club, with Philadelphia, Boston, Richmond, Raleigh, Atlanta and Nashville still to come before this leg wraps. A second North American run is already booked for early 2027, plus dates in Australia and New Zealand.

The current lineup is a working unit rather than a revolving door: Lydon out front, long-serving guitarist Lu Edmonds, bassist Scott Firth, and drummer Mark Roberts. Lydon has called them “a gaggle of mates.” Reviews from Boise, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh have been consistent: the band sounds tight, the setlist jumps decades without apology, and Lydon, now 70, has not mellowed into a cabaret turn. Expect “Home,” “This Is Not A Love Song,” “Poptones,” “Death Disco,” “Public Image,” and a stretched-out “Rise” that often swallows part of “Religion.” Newer material from 2023’s End of World gets an airing too. Purists who only want Metal Box night after night are out of luck. “We don’t perform to satisfy purists or posers,” Lydon has said.

The tour almost didn’t happen. After the deaths of his wife Nora Forster and longtime manager John "Rambo" Stevens in 2023, Lydon considered packing it in. Fan demand and the existing band chemistry pulled him back. "I couldn’t just stay on my sofa," he admitted. That same period produced the live album Alive, recorded on the 2025 European dates and issued in 2026 — notably kept off the usual streaming treadmill. Studio work on a new album has already begun, with a 2027 release targeted.

None of this is a victory lap. PiL still treat the stage as a laboratory rather than a museum. The rooms have not always been packed — a mid-sized crowd in Boise was noted — but the ones who show up get a band that still sounds like it has something to prove. Lydon still gets nervous before he walks on. That, more than any slogan, is why this is not the last tour.

Photos: Ozzy Osbourne at Loud Park, Japan, 2010

2026-10-01T02:48:21.220+01:00

In 2010, Ozzy was still very much alive and able to perform at the highest level (he was 61 at the time). Here he is in all his Satanic glory, filling an indoor arena in Japan with his demonic presence, supported by Gus G. (Kostas Karamitroudis) on lead guitar, Rob “Blasko” Nicholson on bass, Tommy Clufetos on drums, and Adam Wakeman on keyboards and rhythm guitar. Read the live review here.

Gus G rips it up:

Ozzy unleashing the dark chrarisma:

The audience lapping it up:

Ozzy supplying the refreshments:

Blasko on bass and tats:

Ozzy just after checking the set-list:

Gus G spins out another solo:

Driving hard for the finish:

Doing "Paranoid"—it must be chucking out time:

Photos: © Colin Liddell

News: Timelesz's Shuto Inomata Arrested for Beating Up "Girlfriend"

2026-10-01T00:52:57.630+01:00

Will Timelesz singer do time?

Tokyo’s idol assembly line prefers its scandals to stay backstage, preferably with a tearful press conference and a six-month "health hiatus" but Shuto Inomata, 25, has instead delivered something far less photogenic: an alleged punch-up inside a parked car at a convenience-store lot.

According to city police, the newest cog in the the eight-man Timelesz machine was arrested after an incident in which a 26-year-old woman suffered a bloody nose and facial bruising after being struck in the face more than once. The altercation occurred in Tatsumi 3-chome, Koto Ward, around 10:30 pm on Friday.

Described variously as an "acquaintance" or "girlfriend," the woman was apparently struck in the face more than once by Shuto before running into the FamilyMart konbini, where a customer dialled 110 on her behalf.

Scene of the crime

Following his arrest, Inomata offered the classic defence: just a silly argument, a hand that "might have" connected by accident, etc, etc. Investigators, less gullibly, are treating it as repeated blows.

Rumour has already gone to work with a wide range of speculations and whispers none of them proven.

Was she in the "family way" outside Family Mart? Or was Shuto under strict boyband orders to break up with the chick in order to preserve his "still single" appeal to the parasocial hordes of Timelesz fans pointlessly dreaming of one day marrying their idol as the country's birth rates continue to plummet?

Tatsumi, the site of what we can safely call "the assault," is not a nightlife hotspot, but instead a piece of drab, reclaimed land on Tokyo's waterfront with logistics warehouses intermingled with dingy apartment buildings.

The band's management Starto Entertainment is in hyper damage limitation mode, and has already suspended Shuto and issued the obligatory apology to the victim, while waiting to see what the prosecutors decide.

Whether Inomata actually does "time" for his crime or escapes timeless, will depend on injury assessments, the victim's statement, and how loudly the public decides to stay angry.

In the meantime the rumours will do what they always do in this city: fill the gaps the official statements leave wide open.

From Tokyo Metropolis

Preview: Yīn Yīn, Japan 2026

2026-09-21T07:22:48.980+01:00

YĪN YĪN's oeuvre is probably exactly the kind of thing almost any 4 European guys hanging out playing funk and psychedelia around the tourist trails of south-east Asia would end up developing.

After a while, being bombarded by Thai bar music and Malaysian railway station jingles, seeps into the blood!

But the lads from Maastricht have got a new kink in their musical formula. Since 2024, a couple of albums (Mount Matsu & Yatta!) have shown a turn towards the Rising Sun, with J-pop, koto and the instrumental guitar rock of TAKESHI TERAUCHI thrown into the already crowded mix. But expect a smooth flow, with bouncy Oriental rhythms and guitar lines that veer from surf guitar to funk and muzak, with a hint of Quentin Tarantino thrown in. 16th October Spotify O-EAST.

Interview: Lou Barlow, Sebadoh

2026-09-04T21:12:17.115+01:00

With long-serving US indie-rock outfit SEBADOH, what you see—and hear—is what you get.

"I always write from a very direct place," offers frontman Lou Barlow from his home in Los Angeles, "which is good, but bad in some ways, because classic song-writing is about putting yourself in characters. With Sebadoh I write in a way that literally documents what’s going on in my life."

Early Sebadoh songs famously took up Barlow’s expulsion by leader J. Mascis from Massachusetts band DINOSAUR JR. On their new album, Defend Yourself, the confessional atmosphere is even more personal and painful.

"In the last year I left my wife," Barlow says simply. "We’d been married for 17 years and together for 25 years. I left her during the recording of the record. So that informed a few of the songs."

Where Barlow played the foil to Mascis in Dinosaur Jr., with Sebadoh, it’s all Barlow and co-leader Eric Gaffney. The pair formed the band in 1986, later filling out the line-up with drummer Jason Loewenstein.

Barlow and Gaffney’s songs have a less choked atmosphere than Mascis’s, but they remain quintessentially indie rock in flavour. Barely tuneful vocals are mumbled under grinding guitars—the ability to emote, rather than play a solo or pen a clever song, is the goal.

After releasing a few of lo-fi indie rock’s more influential albums (Weed Forestin’, Bakesale) in the late ’80s and ’90s, Sebadoh (a nonsense word coined by Barlow) went quiescent for a while. Barlow mended fences with Mascis for the 2005 Dinosaur Jr. reunion, and Gaffney had his solo project.

But Barlow and Gaffney went out on tour together again in 2007, even visiting Japan a few years later for a gig at O-West in Shibuya. The groundwork was set for their first recording in 14 years.

"We just finally found some time to do a new album," Barlow explains. "We’ve had some really great tours, but it wasn’t realistic for the touring band to record for various reasons. Then Bob [current drummer Bob D’Amico] joined Sebadoh in 2010, and that went really well. So we made some definite plans. Jason and Bob flew out to LA and we got together in my practice space and recorded.”

The three tracked Defend Yourself without a producer, and the results are loose and lo-fi—yet surprisingly energetic for a bunch of middle-aged guys.

"The last record we did in a studio, and there was a lot of pressure and money involved," Barlow relates. "What we learned was, if we were going to make another record and have a good time doing it, we wouldn’t get involved in any of that."

At this stage in life, Barlow is unconcerned about staking out any new musical ground.

"So much of what is considered modern music is actually regurgitated," he believes. "I don’t think rock has progressed in any real way for a very long time—I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I’m just saying the most natural thing is to just write some songs and play them, and not make a conscious effort to evolve in any way or make anything timely."

The name for the album came after the realization that three songs had the word "defend" in them.

"A lot of our song-writing has been about understanding other people, but at some point you have to consider your own emotional wellbeing," Barlow affirms. "Rather than always understand someone else, I had to go, ‘Well this is how I feel.’ There’s a double meaning: literally ‘defend yourself,’ but also to send the message to someone else that I’m not taking care of you any longer. It’s harsh, but it’s my life and I only have one of them."

Showing archetypal indie rock lack of self-esteem, Barlow is sanguine that few people will actually relate the lyrics to events in his own life.

"I’ve always felt my life doesn’t really matter that much and that no one is listening when I expose something," he says. "I feel really anonymous when I do it. Even in my personal life, when I write for people, rarely do they see themselves in the songs. I take the view that the more honest I am in writing about myself, people will take that and apply it in their own lives."

This goes for Barlow’s own experience of music.

"When I hear a classic, great, incredibly personal song, I am not thinking literally about the musician who wrote it—I’m applying it to myself," he says. "And I write my own songs with the naïve hope that other people are doing the same thing."

Hostess Weekender @ Yebisu Garden Hall, Nov 30-Dec 1 (Sebadoh play Nov 30). See listings for details.

Dan Grunebaum
Metropolis
22nd November, 2013

Preview: Carcass, Japan 2026

2026-08-30T21:10:09.125+01:00

Liverpool’s long-reigning kings of gore and "surgical" precision are back in Tokyo yet again, proving that even after decades of putrefaction, there is still plenty of meat on them bones. Bill Steer and Jeff Walker’s crew (complete with the usual rotating guitar and drum support) bring their trademark mix of early grindcore brutality and more melodic doomy material to a pair of shows. The main show is at Toyosu PIT (3000 capacity) on the 17th with another gig at the hastily added SPACE ODD in Daikanyama, the next night (350-450 capacity) because the numpties at Creativeman miscalculated the appeal of Liverpool's other great contribution to World civilisation.

17th September Toyosu Pit. 18th September Space Odd.

Price: ¥9500 (Ticket info).

Video: "The Reaper" by Misha Calvin and Tony Martin

2026-07-23T00:26:08.166+01:00

Written sometime in the 1990s, "The Reaper" by Misha Calvin & Tony Martin (ex-Black Sabbath) is a denouncement of war and its cruel waste of human life. Partly inspired by the events in Calvin's native Yugoslavia at the time, it now fits "like a glove" the tragic and insane nature of Putin's War in the Ukraine—as this new video edit by Colin Liddell demonstrates.

Interview: Ian Gillan

2026-06-12T23:00:43.399+01:00

TEXT-TO-AUDIO VERSION HERE

EX-DEEP PURPLE VOCALIST, IAN GILLAN, HAS HAD HIS FAIR SHARE OF TRIALS N' TRIBULATIONS. HOWEVER, THE TALENTED SINGER IS, IF NOTHING ELSE, A RESILIENT STRONG-MINDED CHARACTER. NOW HE'S BACK IN THE FRAME ONCE AGAIN, WITH AN IMPRESSIVE NEW BAND AND A CONVINCING NEW ALBUM. LYN GUY MET UP WITH HIM, OVER A BOTTLE OF CHILLED WINE TO DISCOVER HOW HE'S PUT THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF HIS CAREER FIRMLY BACK IN PLACE.

Who can forget that voice belting out "Smoke On The Water" at Knebworth in 1985, or even at Ipswich Corn Exchange in the middle of 1990? Not me, that's for sure.

And now Ian Gillan is back, with a new band, a new album and a comprehensive tour of UK clubs. Sitting chatting to him over a bottle of barely palatable French cider, it is clear that he feels this current project has given him a new lease of life.

Despite more than a modicum of success in Europe and South America with last year's Naked Thunder opus and tour, Ian is keen to emphasise that this was an experimental period which didn't quite bear fruit. As he says himself, one solo album was enough. Now, with Toolbox, he is looking forward to enjoying life as an integral part of a band again.

Ian, when did you actually start working on Toolbox then?

"Pretty much the day after we finished the last tour. The only guy from the past who's involved in this project is Steve Morris, the guitar player. He's a very prolific writer, an amazing talent, and he's the only guy I've met who comes up to the standards of Roger Glover. So he sent me some tapes of backing tracks, then he came up to the house to work on them with me and it progressed from there really. We ended up with about thirty songs and I was trying to bring in other writers as well. Leslie West (of MOUNTAIN fame) came over and stayed at the house whilst we cranked up loads of ideas, though we only ended up with one of Leslie's songs which was 'Hang Me Out To Dry.'

"There are no keyboards on this album at all, just guitar, bass and drums recorded by the same players as we're taking on the road. We've really developed into a kind of family unit now and there's a great empathy between us. We got quite excited about the idea of no keyboards, though I was terrified the first day we played together because with just three guys behind me I felt I was going to have to fill a lot of holes. But you forget what an important thing space is, you can let it groove for a while, you don't have to fill everything."

Why did you choose Chris Tsangarides as producer?

"He was on a list. We were looking for a producer and I wanted somebody who was totally committed to rock music. I looked at his CV and it had a very long list of major names on it, plus I listened to some of his work and it was fabulous. When he came out to the house we got on like a house on fire. He's quite unique as a producer and he's become a really good friend. He has a very perceptive and clear-minded idea of what you should end up with, and he's not happy to just accept something that's good, it's got to actually make a mark. So if it's a guitar line or something that's a significant fill on a record, he wants it to have character and distinction. I like that because he goes for the bits that I look for in a record

"Chris is a guitar man so he was of great benefit to Steve, who's really focused his style on this album. If you compared his playing on this album to the last one, you'd think it was a different person. Chris also recommended Leonard Haze (ex-Y&T and now GILLAN drummer) to us, who eventually suggested a bass player from his home town of San Francisco and he (one Brett Bloomfield) has turned out to be just sensational."

Toolbox is a much tougher and rockier album than Naked Thunder was. Have you fully progressed in the way you wanted to?

"Well, there's more screaming on this album than I've done in thirty years! Purely on a technical level, I'm happy to play the vocal performance on this album against anything I've ever done in my life. So the answer to your question is yes. I'm very pleased with this album, it's very natural to me and it's focussed. People can take it or leave it, it's not the sort of album that tries to please everyone, and I don't think you can confuse it with anyone else's music. It has an identity and it's GILLAN. What I'd like to see is carry on with this band and develop that identity."

To delve deeper into some of the individual songs, what is "Dancing Nylon Shirt Parts I and II" about?

"Well, some songs are about real things, real events, real experiences, real attitudes, and some songs are things that come out of your memory or are images. 'Dancing Nylon Shirt' is one of those. There are a few things attached to the song dealing with the frustrations of life, but the actual ‘dancing nylon shirt’ bit came from the chant in the second part. It's a poem that I wrote, oh, eight years ago that I'd pinned up on the wall in my studio. There was an advert on ITV in the early days for a shirt you didn't need to iron. The image used was a washing line of shirts where the shirt tails were like legs and they were actually dancing! I've remembered that image since I was a kid."

Are there any other tracks that have specific meanings or stories behind them?

"Yes, though you're not going to be able to print this. The title 'Toolbox' has been around for a long time. Suffice it to say the song was inspired by an incident at Kingsway Recording Studios involving some girl, a box full of tools and my girlfriend interrupting my band, er, playing games with the tools and this woman...

Use your imagination dear readers, because the story is unprintable.

"'Pictures Of Hell' is a combination of two things. Last year I did some work on the Live Aid for Armenia, and whilst we were doing some shows in the Soviet Union I went to the earthquake region for a day. I got back just in time to go and change before going on stage, and I walked into the dressing room and started to speak about the things I'd seen and I just collapsed in tears. It was so heart-breaking."

"I was thinking about this when the Gulf War was on and I was fascinated by the almost pioneer cowboy and Indian type of way that this was going on, with the images of cruise missiles cruising slow and low in the sunset, Tornadoes and computer cowboys out there riding Operation Desert Storm. There's an awful lot of imagery and fairly obvious connotations in the lyrics, but 'Pictures Of Hell' is a desperate reflection of the things that made me cry. It just goes to show I think that all the elements you see you actually draw into your music."

Now that you're fully in control of your own career, what's the most exciting aspect for you?

"That's very easy. The most exciting aspect at the moment is the prospect of a year on the road. Suffice it to say that if there's one thing above writing, recording, above the glamour and the money that I find more entrancing, it's the travelling and playing live. I know it's short term, but as long as you're living and you've got two legs and a voice you can always do that. I've got a fundamental rule and that is that you take your music to the people.

"Now, given the choice of doing thirty shows in the UK in the clubs or two nights at Wembley Arena and two nights at the NEC, there's absolutely no hesitation in which one of those I would choose to take. And that would be the small places."

So it doesn't really bother you then not having that feeling of going out and playing to X-thousands of people?

"I think people get the wrong idea. I love playing to 70 or 80,000 people. But even if you're playing the Marquee it's all the same to me. It's an intimate experience and I can't describe it any other way. I cannot stand those big screens though, that amplify the image of the person onstage, because it seems to me almost that you're doing things by proxy. There's no intimacy in that. I like the audience being right there, where there's no escape."

When you tour will you be concentrating on Toolbox rather than doing songs from your back catalogue?

"Yes. For one thing the old songs aren't compatible. If you try playing stuff that's got serious keyboard parts in it with a three piece it just doesn't hang at all well. Even stuff from the last album doesn't make it as these songs have been specially written for this band and it's a new style. We did a couple of festivals in Denmark a month or so ago and we did put a couple of obscure PURPLE songs into the set. But I really am very confident about what we're doing now so I want to lay the emphasis on that.

"Therefore the PURPLE stuff that we do has to be compatible with what we're doing rather than fitting in the show around previous glories. Also, I don't want to ignore the past because I'm very proud of having been in DEEP PURPLE and I don't want people to think I'm blowing PURPLE out and being arrogant about it."

Having seen you last year and DEEP PURPLE earlier this year, it was quite obvious that your voice is better suited to DEEP PURPLE than Joe Lynn Turner's. Have you any comments on that?

"Yes. I think we should let sleeping dogs lie. I also think calling a compilation album Purple Rainbows is a cheap shot, but a classic way of setting up the reformation of RAINBOW by laying the thought in people's minds on the back of DEEP PURPLE. However, I'd be very happy if RAINBOW reformed because I think the guitar player in PURPLE has destroyed PURPLE. I am very sad about PURPLE but I've nothing to say about Joe Lynn Turner. He's just a very talented musician and singer who's stuck in an impossible situation.

"I would have loved to have recorded Toolbox with DEEP PURPLE, but that was not to be, so now I just want to get on with what I'm doing for myself.”

Lyn Guy

Riff Raff
November 1991

Interview: Gaz Mayall, The Trojans

2026-05-20T15:51:17.730+01:00

SKA-ING THEIR WAY INTO HISTORY

Singer, bandleader, DJ, impresario and fashionable bloke about town Gaz Mayall says he's at the "hub of a musical and cultural wheel"—and he means it.

When I catch him by phone on a sunny late summer day at a London park, several entertainment business friends pass by, and for good measure are put on the phone to say "hallo." Gaz and his friends are still basking in the after-glow of the Notting Hill Carnival, London's annual freewheeling celebration of Afro-Caribbean culture.

Mayall, the 55-year-old son of blues legend John Mayall, has run a stage at the festival for years.

"For the last two years Mick Jones has come up and sung 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go,'" he drops casually. "I'm the only guy who still has live bands. To get funding we go to the arts council, because it costs a fortune to put it on. We build a huge stage, a DJ tower and take over a whole block."

Needless to say, Mayall's own ska outfit THE TROJANS play his Gaz's Rockin' Blues stage, an outdoor version of the Gaz's Rockin' Blues night he stages every Thursday night in London. At 33 years and counting, the event is London's longest running one-nighter.

While Gaz's musical education came at the hands of his father, his musical career emerged from a different angle.

"I had a clothes stall in the '70s in Kensington Market," he explains, "and at that time my shop was quite big. I would bring a load of records, we'd be listening to ska, old rock, R&B... We had a meeting of kids' tribes—punks, teddies, skinheads—and one day in '79 all of a sudden all you could hear was ska up and down the country. Everybody started buying second hand suits and looking really sharp and listening to ska, and I was right in the center of it in my shop. All the bands—MADNESS, THE SPECIALS—would come to hang out."

Mayall launched his club night in 1980, and then followed it up with his own band in 1986.

"Ska was about being an international music form—not just American music, but about our homegrown mish-mash, which we called ska," he says of his motive for creating The Trojans.

"When I started my own band I wanted to push the border a bit further," he continues. "So I introduced Celtic music to the mix, with bagpipes, whistles and fiddles, and showed how you can have archaic Celtic music—even Japanese or Russian music—and mix that into Afro-Caribbean beats. I try to incorporate all this music that I love with a passion, because at the end of the day all music is a fusion of something that came before it. It's all about bringing together people from different tribes, and I've always wanted to be right at the hub of that musical wheel."

With Gaz's various endeavors keeping him busy (and hard to reach), and the band's lineup shifting due to events both happy (children) and sad (suicide), The Trojans are an occasional affair.

It's been five years since they last toured Japan and 15 since their last album.

Among the 18 musicians on Smash It! (available digitally and on vinyl as an import from Japan's Ska in World Records), are everyone from 20-year-old featured singer Zoe Devlin to vintage Jamaican trumpeter Eddie "Tan Tan" Thornton to Japanese sax player Megumi. Mayall jokes that the band is something of a Buena Vista Social Club of UK ska.

"I went back to the basics with this one," he says of the disc. "There's rocksteady, calypso, mento, and instruments like the bagpipes that you'd only hear with the Trojans. We take it back to the basic Trojans story, which is about a load of people coming together who represent the multiracial backbone of London. We started at a pivotal turning point in London society where that really began, around '79-'80."

The connection between Gaz and Japan isn't limited to Megumi and the vinyl release of Smash It! The Trojans have long considered Japan a second home.

"The first time I'd ever been to Japan, I'd just had three wisdom teeth removed and my first live-in girlfriend had left me," Gaz recalls. "The phone rang, and it was Koichi Hanafusa of Japanese promoter Smash, and he said, 'Do you want to come to Japan?'"

Thus was launched a bond between Mayall and Smash that has deepened over time. Regulars at Smash's Fuji Rock Festival may have noticed a tall, gangly man at the entrance to the Palace of Wonder stage—Gaz's brother Jason.

"Jason was the tour manager for the Trojans in the '80s and I introduced him to Masahiro Hidaka," Gaz says of the head of Smash. "They got on and Jason ended up establishing Smash's London office. I haven't done them all but Jason has done everyone."

Club Quattro, Oct 18. See concert listings (popular) for details.

Dan Grunebaum
Metropolis

26th September, 2013

Preview: No Edits, Japan, 2026

2026-03-28T08:55:00.005+00:00

The key to getting a good gig in Tokyo is to not to go for the jaded big names that have been dragging their brands around for several decades, getting you to fork out 20-30,000 yen for a seat 500 rows from the front just so you can boast about it on your social media (yeh, fuck off SPARKS and KRAFTWERK). It is instead to spend a few thousand yen to see great bands with shit publicists who may never escape the underground, like Seattlite "math rockers" NO EDITS. You can tell they have a shit publicist because a couple of years back, just as their chunky, melodic sound was gaining traction, they...erm..."reinvented" themselves and ditched their uberkool name as "The Fixtures." Their melodic, careening, off-kilter, "angular" riffing may not be to everyone's tastes, but, in my view, this is that gem on the Tokyo gig circuit, namely a relatively underappreciated band that it's not too expensive to appreciate. Support from BARICAN, MIRROR, and JESUS WOUND. Part of a four-date Japan tour.
2nd & 5th May. Spread, Shimokitazawa & 9Spices, Shinjuku. Price: ¥4000 (Ticket info).

Colin Liddell
Revenge of Riff Raff
28th March, 2026

Album Review: Ministry, "Psalm 69"

2026-03-18T18:26:17.275+00:00

A real barrel of laughs this one. How to describe it? Tyrannical repetitive rhythms, a hornets’ nest of grungy, buzzing guitars, distorted vocals, a collage of sounds and samples – albeit skilfully and imaginatively deployed.

But Al Jourgenson and his Ministry’s world vision is a harsh and a bleak one. On one level this could be a soundtrack for urban chaos and paranoia. And, in the wider sense, it’s predictably anti-establishment, whether it be the tired old targets of the Bush administration or TV evangelism.

Fair enough, there’s no preaching on Jourgenson’s part, but there’s little comfort here. If that’s the way they feel about the way of the world they should be out there planting bombs in Tesco’s or kidnapping their record company bosses, rather than indulging in this rather harmless form of sonic terrorism.

Esoteric and uncompromising in its way, but – and a big one at that! – Jourgenson’s crazed, twisted approach is as negative as the things it despises.

Grade D

Mark & Colin Liddell
July 1992
Riff Raff

Live Review: Winger, The Astoria, 5th July, 1991

2026-03-16T15:03:00.005+00:00

The place is buzzing by the time we get there. The throng have arrived to check out these transatlantic pond hoppers. As soon as the lights go out, Paul and Reb come running onto the stage, guitars blazing, and go straight into "Madeleine." Kip's entrance is greeted by a big roar and, of course, a big scream from the girlies. They hammer through a rockin' version of "Loosen Up." By now, the dance floor has been transformed into a mass of heaving bodies, rippling like a storm-battered sea. they love it and Winger are definitely out to blow the cobwebs from the eyes of their critics. "You Are The Saint, I Am the Sinner" and "Headed for a Heartbreak" lead us into the first of Reb Beach's solo stints. Solos are okay, but when you've seen one...

As it turned out, this particular mucho twango session didn't last too long, so I refrained from visiting the bog.

"Baptised by Fire" started to warp the floorboards, then it happened - the drum solo. Er, where are the toilets in this place?

Skins soundly thrashed, Kip arrives back for a bit of 'Singa Longa Winga'. You know the routine, side against side. Ahh, I wasn't doing anything anyway. The limitations of the smaller stage only imposes on them when they start to climb around the PA to tease the crowd. A lighting rig in the head can really fuck you up.

Paul Taylor bings and bongs around on his banjo for a bit before the Hendrix classic "Purple Haze" is offered to us. I personally don't like this version, but it was met with the same fervour that has been apparent all night. With Kippo Wippo donning an acoustic guitar, the pace slows once again (a bit like me on a bad night, and a good night, come to think of it) and it's time to get those lighters out and set fire to the person standing next to you.

"Without the Night" plucks at the old heartstrings and segues into "Miles Away," a song with a hook, big enough to catch a whale. Reb once again takes to the solo spot after "Poison Angel" took us on an upward curve. Toilet...bar.

We reached the penultimate part of the evening after everyone has nutted themselves stupid to crackers such as "Easy Come, Easy Go."

We don't have to wait too long before the encores of "Hungry" and "Seventeen." Once it was all over, Clarky and I retired to the bar and between us sank enough alcohol to kill a rhino.

Peter Grant

Pic: Dave Clark

Riff Raff

August 1991

Interview: Kelly Nickells, LA Guns

2026-03-16T14:09:00.010+00:00

GUNNING FOR GLORY

Time to get the cloves of garlic and start sharpening those wooden stakes because LA GUNS have returned, baring their teeth. Are these boys lost? Mark Crampton gets the lowdown from their bassist, Kelly Nichols.

What's the initial vibe behind the recording of your new album, Hollywood Vampires?

"I think that this album sounds like a cry for help, man. The first record we did was made up of all songs we did in clubs. The second was made up of songs we wrote on the road. And this album, we didn't have anything ready for. So we went into a studio for five months to write the songs. It was really trying our patience and shit. We had a good time doing it, though, but it just seemed that it took longer than we wanted to."

As the album title suggests, are LA Guns rock n' roll's equivalent of The Lost Boys?

"Well, that was it, you know...we slept all day and hung out at night. We don't have jobs or anything, so it's not like we have to get up and go to work or anything. Actually, that's always been the name of our fan club since the very beginning. We wanted to kind of tie everything in together, you know, with Hollywood Vampires. We're into, like, focusing into an image where you know what the band is. There's definitely nobody else out there that could have that title, man, even if anybody would want it! We wanted to kind of lock everything in with the third album and, like, bring it all out."

I understand that the band have landed the support slot with AC/DC in the States. How do you feel about that?

"They're fucking pros, man. They know what they're doing. It's fun to watch 'em too, man, it's amazing to see everybody just go nuts. We toured with 'em on the firs trecord and we got along really well with them and it's really good for us to be touring with them again. We're doing, like, two months with them and then we're going to tour with CONTRABAND, which will be really fucking boring. I'm not too crazy about that but that's only for, like, a couple of months, and then we're going to try and come to Europe."

Any chance of a UK visit?

"Yeah, maybe September. We haven't been, and it's like, why haven't we gone? Last year, we were supposed to end the tour in Europe, and, like, Amsterdam was going to be the last date. We're definitely going to be touring this year, man. It's not like we never wanted to go. It's like something's always happened. We were supposed to start this tour off in Europe until we got the AC/DC show."

The new album seems to pursue some unexpected musical themes. Do you feel it's important to have a bit of light and shade in there to complement the overall mood?

"It's nice to be able to put on a record which takes you through different moods. You've got to have some light and shade. Maybe we try too hard to get out of the metal category, but we like to do things in different tempos and different moods. We want to stay with that and keep it that way and not get stuck into any kind of groove, you know. We've got to be happy with what we do. Everybody in the band is so different. Everybody has different musical influences. It can't come out too stale. It's got to come out pretty fresh, you know."

The album seems to have an epic ZEPPELIN-esque quality. Is this your Physical Graffiti, the definitive LA Guns album?

"I hope so. I don't think we sound like anybody else. We've become better songwriters. Phil [Lewis] really sang on this record. He didn't just talk his way through it. He really worked hard on it."

You worked with famed KISS producer Michael James Jackson on the new album. What was his attitude towards the way you wanted to sound?

"He had kind of stopped doing rock albums and had got burnt out from doing movie soundtracks like Lethal Weapon. So he kind of wanted to get back into doing a rock album. He just called our management. So we met him and we talked with him. I didn't like him at first, man. He looked like a school teacher and seemed a little too straight. But he's got a nasty side, which we brought out in him. We liked the way he recorded with us. We just wanted to have a real sound. He really liked the band and everything, and he was real excited about it, and we had a lot of input on things too. We like to have some say on how things should sound. If some parts sound fucking wimpy or something, we'll say we don't like them. It worked out great, I think, and it sounds really good."

What are your influences musically as a bass player?

"I don't really have any influences. I kind of stumbled into it. I tend to like bass players like Sid Vicious from the SEX PISTOLS. Playing bass is more like a feeling. More feeling than talent. I think someone like John Entwistle would bore the shit out of me, man. I like falling down and fucking being drunk."

What sort of shit made the songs happen?

"We kind of wrote them about ourselves, girlfriends, or any kind of shit, you know. Like 'Snake Eyes' was kind of written for Tyla from the DOGS D'AMOUR, who's like a really good friend. He went to Vegas and, like, won all this money and shit, you know. So we wrote this kind of, like, gambling song about him. There's like all these different things that come up and stuff. There were some weird songs that didn't make it on this record that were really cool. I wish they'd made it. There's like a reggae mosh, which was a really cool song, and there was like a jazz tune. You'd never hear shit like that, and I really wish that they'd made the record. You can't put them all on, you know."

Do you think you're going to give your LA contemporaries a good run for their money?

"There really hasn't been anything that's come out of LA in a while that's been exciting. Somebody needs to start something for sure. I'm not really into hanging out with musicians or fucking going to shows to talk about music and shit. Musicians are fucking boring, man. When we're out, we never talk about music. You know, we always talk about other things."

What are your main hopes with this album?

"There's always pressure. The debut album, you know, it's kind of got to rock. The follow up album, you know, it's got to really fucking rock. And the third album is when people want to see if you've got something else to offer. If you're stalling out, repeating the same shit, then you're dead. I think our song-writing has just got better, and it seems that we're getting more open. There's a lot of other things out there that affect your life. We get bummed out like everybody else and have been down like everybody else."

Mark Crampton
Riff Raff
August 1991

Live Review: Pistol Daisys, Irvine HAC, 21st February, 2026

2026-02-25T17:23:00.019+00:00

Pudgy Zoomers

I’m always dubious about getting behind “chick” bands. This is because chicks in rock are flaky as fuck. Blokes stay in bands because most of them are pretty autistic and wouldn’t have a chance getting off with chicks anywhere else—yes, Mick Jagger, I’m talking about you.

Girls, however, find “being in a band” a bit of fun at first, but, after the first year or two, it's more grot and grunge, and gets in the way of other feminine imperatives, like taking care of the grandpa or finding Mr Right.

This is why the PISTOL DAISYS are now sadly no more, just days after I managed to catch them in all their glory at a small, cosy gig at Irvine's Harbour Arts Centre, before jetting off to Tokyo.

I mean, why even bother to write a review now that the band has gone and disbanded? So, why was I here?

First, there was the thrill of the cool name, like a glorious feminine riff on the legendary SEX PISTOLS, then there was the half-interested process of checking them out on YouTube, followed by the flickering enthusiasm of thinking, “Yeh, typical pudgy zoomers, but they’ve got something.”

That something was a kind of alt-pop sensibility with an intriguing, girl-on-girl, interracial chemistry fizzing between chunky red-head and guitarist/singer/songwriter Lorna Lynne and Chinese Malaysian singer/rhythm guitarist/songwriter “Belly” Rachel.

Hell, that’s worth an evening out of anybody's time on a damp February night in Irvine!

The band were packing them in at the Harbour Arts Centre. It looked like over a 100 at the small venue located near the beach park where OASIS gave one of their seminal live performances in 1995 (and also near the now demolished Magnum Leisure Centre where THE SMITHS debuted five songs, including "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side," "Frankly, Mr Shankly," and "Bigmouth Strikes Again," in 1985).

Yes, Irvine is rock history, as BIFFY CLYRO front man Simon Neil, who was born in this town, will tell you. Tonight the rock history was Belly and Lorna having a big emotional girlie goodbye party between and during the songs.

They came on strong with the hammering rhythms of “Whisky & Wine,” showcasing the musical muscle of third member drummer/producer Lewis Kelly, ably assisted by one of his pals on bass.

This was followed up by “Wolves” and “DSYS” and then one of the band’s minor hits “Saint Glasgow,” which Belly was inspired to write after seeing a pervert hanging round a primary school, if I heard her right. The audience were invited to join in the catchy if somewhat unchallenging chorus of “na-na nah nah, na-na nah nah.”

The "alt" in the alt-pop of the Pistol Daisys is the sense that things are maybe a bit better if they are a bit shit and sloppy, a credo that definitely defines the city of Glasgow of today, and counterpoints the overstrict Scottish precision and puritanism which once made this country the spearhead of the industrial revolution. The Daisys and their fans embrace that release, which is also visually signalled in the plus-size curviness of our two glorious front women.

Lorna and Belly are “big girls,” but are still young enough for the pudginess to be kinda cute and feminine in a Robert Crumb cartoonish way. And just like Robert Crumb’s female creations, they also have that cheery street-smarts that can take a few knocks. As usual in Scotland, the gig had a heckler or two (no, not me, I'm a gent), especially when the rhythm section disappeared for a bit and the girls went into their acoustic set, which involved a bit of live guitar tuning.

This channelling of JOAN BAEZ was a nice gear change and deepened the mood, allowing things to be ramped up again when the boys returned with “Funeral Song,” “Calling Your Name” and “Crying in Marseille,” another minor hit, which all seemed to draw strength from the rather bruised and battered love-lives of Lorna and Belly. Maybe this is why Belly’s bought the tickets back home to Kuala Lumpur.

But, at the end of the day, the Daisys are/were just a typical chick band. Just as they had done enough to make you think they were going somewhere (not Malaysia), they threw it all away.

With Belly gone, the plan is to plough on and, who knows, something might come of that, as both Lorna and Lewis are talented, but it’ll be a different band, and it won’t be this one.

Colin Liddell
Revenge of Riff Raff
25th of February, 2026

Interview: Eddie Macdonald, The Alarm

2026-02-05T21:56:00.019+00:00

GOING (BACK) OUT IN A BLAZE OF GLORY

The ALARM were one of the bands from the "Celtic fringe" that surfed the post-punk energy that fed into Live-Aid-era stadium rock. Unlike U2 and SIMPLE MINDS, however, the band broke up in 1991, when charismatic frontman Mike Peters walked away. Ironically, having killed the goose that could have laid a lot more golden eggs, Peters went on to revive the Alarm name with different line-ups but no major success. After his death in 2025, you could be forgiven for thinking that the story was over. But strangely that tragic event did not weaken the legacy. Instead it provided room for other original members to step back into the limelight and pick up the torch, none more so than Eddie Macdonald, the band’s bass player and Peters song-writing partner from their glory days.

Last year Macdonald launched Alarm 2.0, a project dedicated to recreating the sound of the early Alarm, as he explained on a Zoom call to the Revenge of Riff Raff.

“We did our first two gigs at the Lexington in London,” he says proudly. “The audience got it—and I loved it. We went away into the night and I think everybody felt happy. It is the right thing to do and it works.”

But this wasn’t the original surviving line-up. It was essentially Macdonald taking over Mike Peter’s post-Alarm project—James Stevenson (guitar) & Steve “Smiley” Barnard (drums)—with Matt Peach guesting on vocals, and pointing it squarely in the direction of the Alarm's 1980s achievements.

“I enjoyed it so much, playing with the other guys, because I haven't really had what I call an Alarm experience,” Eddie explains, referring to his relatively low-profile post-1991 career. “I've had some solo shows, I've played the albums myself a couple of times, I've done a couple of shows in London playing the Declaration album and the Strength album, and I really enjoyed it, but I love the idea of playing all the songs rather than individual albums.”

He has also done some of the Alarm material, like the 1982 anti-war anthem "Third Light," on which he originally did the vocals, with his SMALLTOWN GLORY project back in 2016.

The new incarnation of the Alarm, however, is a step up from this, and has a seven-show tour lined up for early March hitting 200-to-300-capacity venues in Birmingham, Paisley, Hull, Liverpool, Lytham, and Norwich (details and tickets). The main difference from last year’s Lexington shows is that Eddie will be handling more vocal duties with Craig Adams (THE MISSION, SPEAR OF DESTINY, etc.) taking up some of Eddie’s bass duties, as he explains:

“The guys asked me, ‘Look, Eddie, would you mind standing up and singing the songs? You wrote them with Mike, and you've just got to get up in front, because you know these songs, you know where they come from. you know the feeling, you know where you were when you wrote them and the backbone of what the material is.”

That material will always hold a special place in the hearts of Alarm fans. In addition to its musical qualities—see the epic sweep of songs like the “The Spirit of 76” or the hypnotic tug of “Rain in the Summertime,” etc.—it encapsulated the mood of optimism and defiance that characterized much of youth culture in the late 70s and early 80s.

A remarkably unwithered-looking Macdonald casts his mental eye back to the very beginning:

“Mike was a one-off,” he recalls his departed comrade from those days. “It's really funny, when we started off, Mike had his own band and I went 'on tour,' not supporting, but just following a band, called the RICH KIDS, sleeping in bus shelters and railway stations, because I came a bit later to the whole punk scene than Mike did.”

The Rich Kids included such punk, post-punk, New Romantic, and New Wave luminaries as Glen Matlock (SEX PISTOLS), Midge Ure, Rusty Egan (both later VISAGE and ULTRAVOX), as well as the eccentric Steve New.

“I actually followed these guys around the country,” Eddie recalls wistfully. “I actually got to meet them as well, and I said, ‘I write songs.’ And Glen [Matlock] said, ‘Well, good luck, mate. Go away and write some songs.’ And so I came back off that tour, met up with Mike and said, ‘Look, Mike, I've been writing songs, I've been on tour, and I know I want to be in a band.’ And literally that's how we started.”

In addition to the RICH KIDS, other musical touchstones included the BEATLES, BOB DYLAN, NEIL YOUNG, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, and more contemporary inspirations like the THE JAM and THE CLASH.

“They were our go-to artists, really. We used to play their songs. We loved playing Dylan songs and we [later] toured with Dylan.”

Thing happened fast in the late 70s/ early 80s, with the Alarm emerging out of a succession of earlier projects and crystalising as The Alarm in 1981 in the North Wales town of Rhyl. Macdonald and Peters were joined by Dave Sharp on guitar and Nigel Twist on drums. The band soon moved to London and were releasing early Alarm classics like “Marching On” on IRS and appearing on stage with U2 the very next year.

In 1984, sporting giant demented mullets, they released Declaration, an album full of ebullient energy and manifest purpose that landed on the wrong side of Britain’s cynical music press, but which found its own audience and also appealed to the visual semantics of early MTV.

In fact, the Alarm were one of the first, if not the first, bands to do MTV Unplugged, which first aired in December 1989, although this was largely down to the other band members:

“Mike and I decided we wanted to go home for Christmas, but Twist and Dave Sharp decided to stay in New York and they recorded the first ever MTV Unplugged. So when you open the book about that, the first page of the book is the Alarm, Dave and Nige.”

Their love of a Dylan tune helped. It also endeared them to Dylan himself, whom they supported on his 1988 tour, on which the Alarm were promoting 1987’s Eye of the Hurricane album.

During the tour, the band were working on their next album 1989’s Change and were pleased to get some feedback from ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ himself.

“I was working on a song backstage in Berkeley called ‘How the Mighty Fall.’” Eddie recalls. “And him and Neil Young were sitting there. I was playing in a room and basically he just said to me at the time, ‘That's a good song, you should finish it.’ I said ‘I'm still working on it.’ He goes, 'You should finish it. It's a good song.' And we did finish it.”

The song is slated to be one of the highlights on the new tour, but instead of the more polished, Tony-Visconti-produced version that graces the Change album, Eddie is going to take the song back to the rawer version that Dylan approved of:

“I'm going to be playing that song on this tour we've got coming up, my version of it. I'm going to go back to the one I was doing in Berkeley rather than the finished version that we recorded.”

But with great songs like this and with Bono, MTV, and Bob Dylan backing them, the question has to be asked how did the wheels come off? Why weren’t the Alarm able to step up to global superstardom?

“That's a really good question,” Eddie ponders as if for the first time (if it were me, I would have been obsessing about it for the last 35 years!) “I listen to the music now and, to be honest, I always had criticisms sometimes of the quality of the finished recording. I have firmly believed in the songs always. And I feel that certain bands made a certain sounding record at a certain time that went further, and it's really hard as an artist because you always do your best. I came back after my wedding at the time, when I got married, having just finished the Strength album, and I was not happy with the quality of the recording of the Strength album. I listened to the album and played the songs live, and I do believe there was so much more in that record. I mean, Springsteen had this story about the amount of times he remastered Born to Run as an album. He wasn't happy with it. He heard it and he wasn't happy. Time and time and time again, he went back and got someone to remaster that record. I think, when you have an element of success, you can have more control over the finished product.”

But there was more to the Alarm’s missed opportunities than putting out a better mix. The sheer emotion of a band that constantly wore its heart on its sleeve must have taken a toll on frontman Mike Peters. I remember seeing them perform in 1989 in Japan to an audience that didn’t "get it" for the first half dozen songs, until Peters got down off the stage and took the show into the crowd, finally getting the response the band needed.

That kind of thing must have put a lot of the pressure on Peter’s shoulders and may at least partially explain his out-of-the-blue decision to break up the band at the end of a 1991 show at London’s Brixton Academy.

“Mike was my brother,” Eddie remembers bitter-sweetly. “We grew up together, we played football from like the age of three or four. And I was really angry with Mike when he left the band, because I think anybody else would be. It's like getting divorced. It was really, really painful. And it lived with me for years and years. I never forgave him and I never will, and when I see him hopefully in heaven or hell or wherever it may be, I will tell him exactly that.”

The unexpected demise of the band coincided with a general downturn in Macdonald’s life:

“When the band ended I went through a very dark phase indeed in life. I got divorced, I lost my house, I had to literally go back to ground zero. I had to start again from scratch, rebuild my whole life, and like most people you've got to get out there and earn a living, you've got to support yourself, you've got to support your family. I had to rebuild from the ground up, and it made me a much stronger person because I realized how reliant I was on the Alarm as my foundation, and when that foundation has been torn away you're exposed and that is when you realize you've got to come back, rebuild.”

Eddie turned to photography with music pushed more or less into the background.

“I was lucky to have been taught by some of the best photographers on the planet when I left the band. I put myself through college, uni, retrained, and got myself back again. I love photography, and that was it.”

But it’s a funny old world, and the sabbatical from music ended up leading him back to music in the most odd and interesting way with a chance encounter with Richard Jobson, the frontman of fellow new-wave legends THE SKIDS.

“We were both doing an Adobe Conference. He's an incredibly accomplished filmmaker. His role there was to talk about film and direction, and, if you've seen any of his films, they're really gritty films. He's a strong geezer, and he said to me, ‘What are you doing here,’ and I said ‘Well, what you do in film, I do in photography. That's the reason I'm here today.’ We both started out as musicians and we then went into another world that we both love.”

With Jobson doing film and still dabbling in music, Eddie got the message.

“I had a good conversation with Richard. I mean, I really respect Jobbo, and I think he's a strong, strong man, and he gets shit done. I like that. I think, honestly, he's a tour-de-force. You don't get in Jobbo's way. No way.”

This regaining of musical confidence and mission has been further heightened by various gigs that Eddie saw in recent years.

“Who did I see recently? I suppose it's OASIS when they were playing at Wembley. And the KILLERS as well. All the fans were singing their songs as they got onto the train, and I love the idea that the people take their night with them. That's the one thing we used to try and do as the Alarm. We would make people take those memories and the music home with them, as much as in the gig itself.”

While Alarm 2.0 and the coming tour is very much focused on reviving the songs and the style of the 1980s incarnation of the band, Eddie is already feeling new stirrings of creativity and had even penned a new song recently titled "Crash and Burn."

“The next stage is working on new material, because I'm surrounded by great musicians who've worked with some really good artists through the years, and they're all encouraging me, saying, ‘Look, you've got to start getting this material that you've had in your head or on little demos out there. Why don't you go out, get these songs and show people what the Alarm may have done post-Brixton?’”

So, how do the other original members of the band feel? Apparently, they are more than supportive and big things are planned after the next tour is finished.

“I was talking to Dave and Nigel the last couple of days. They are 100% behind what I'm doing because they know that it's really important to keep the band going. They're going to be joining me later in the year on a completely new project we're working on. The fans are going to get to see Nige, Dave and myself, plus James, Smiley and Craig, and we'll all be getting together and doing something which is incredibly exciting.”

In the meantime check out the tour...

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Colin Liddell
Revenge of Riff Raff
5th of February, 2026

Album Review: Faith No More, "Angel Dust"

2026-02-04T21:54:00.007+00:00

Following up the groundbreaking The Real Thing was never going to be easy, and in a sense, FAITH NO MORE haven't tried. Angel Dust harks back to Introduce Yourself, bass-heavy songs laden with keyboards. In a way, this makes The Real Thing's soaring beauty seem a one-off. There's nothing here to match the sonic exhilaration of "From Out of Nowhere" or the rap assassination of "Epic."

This is a much more in-your-face album musically and follows the direction they took with "The Perfect Crime," their contribution to Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey. Mike Patton's vocals are used much more as an instrument, and at times he sounds frighteningly like Simon Le Bon. "Small Victory" is typical of this. Solid melody, bass on low register, and a guitar line that wouldn't sound out of place as the main theme to a cowboy movie.

"RV" sounds like the Faiths have been listening to TOM WAITS, or maybe PRIMUS, as does "Crack Hitler." "Be Aggressive" could be THE FALL jamming with BABES IN TOYLAND, while "Malpractice" is this album's "Surprise, You're Dead."

Nowhere do they reach their previous heights of emotional intensity. They still give an aggressive attitude, but they don't leave you breathless at the end of each song like they've just free fallen from 10,000 feet. Angel Dust is still an excellent album though. Maybe The Real Thing was almost too good and they will be judged too harshly because of it. They are still probably the best hard rock band in the world. It's just that this could have been so much better.

Grade B

Chris Collinwood
Riff Raff
July 1992

Edwin's "Almost as Intense as My Life" Top Ten Albums of 2025

2026-01-28T14:38:00.010+00:00

I know the Revenge of Riff Raff faithful have been wondering where their awesome album and show reviews have gone! Where are those meandering articles with run-on sentences that have so many damn words that they often make me forget I’m even reading a music review?

Well, 2025 has been a wild year for me. On ONE hand, I got engaged to Rachel Lanis, who in spite of her being Ukrainian and my being Russian — an interracial relationship if there ever was one — we somehow manage to make it work; and no, I’m not going to post a bunch of crude sexual metaphors involving Russian invasions and dropping bombs! I’m too sophisticated for such juvenile tomfoolery.

On the OTHER hand, my dad has been in the hospital since June thanks to a car accident which gave him a stroke, paralyzed half his body, and forced him to now have a trach in his throat. This entire ordeal is basically the proverbial one step forward, two steps back, where one day it looks like things are getting better, and the next we see no progress. On top of that, it raises certain ethical questions; like, does my dad even want to be tethered to a bed and fed through a tube, while my mom watches "Murder She Wrote" and "Matlock" by his bedside; only to have the nursing staff babysit him when she’s not there just in case he gets stealthy and pulls the tube from his throat

And, among all this, I still had to find a job, which I did, thank God. So now I’m gainfully employed and will soon sign up for a healthcare program, because this is the United States, and if you ain’t employed, you ain’t insured.

So you can see why writing about music wasn’t my number one priority. (Flimsy excuse ~ Ed)

However, that didn’t prevent me from still buying a lot of albums and CDs and going to lots of shows. Like in every year, I did my standard practice of buying one new CD or LP a week in my genres of choice. And, from those, I picked my top ten albums.

Before I list them off, I do want to say my biggest disappointment was that damn new ALICE COOPER album, The Revenge of Alice Cooper. The big gimmick behind that one was that it was by the original Alice Cooper band. There’s just one thing wrong with that; original Alice Cooper lead guitarist Glen Buxton died in 1997. So it’s actually 4/5 of the original Alice Cooper band.

But, even as cool as that seems, original Alice Cooper rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal Smith are just a decent late 60s/early 70s garage-y hard rock band. While, I guess Dunaway and Smith hold their own as a rhythm section, Bruce is helped heavily by the session guitarists, leaving him to play basic three-chord riffs. So, yeah, the original living members are there, but so are a lot of other people.

And, on top of all that, Alice has ALREADY worked with his original band in recent vintage! Sure, The Revenge of Alice Cooper is the first Alice Cooper studio album since 1973’s Muscle of Love to feature Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, and Neal Smith on every song, but Alice had already worked with his original bandmates on a handful of songs from his 2011 album Welcome 2 My Nightmare!

So, really, who cares if members of the original Alice Cooper band are on the new Alice Cooper album? I mean, I’m a diehard Alice fan, so I will buy every Alice Cooper release regardless of what it is, but I would much, MUCH rather have him make an 80s style shock metal album with guitarist Kane Roberts, who played on Constrictor and Raise Your Fist and Yell, than do this whole 70s Detroit rock nostalgia kick. Or as Giles Lavery, Alcatrazz/Warlord/Jack Starr/Dragonsclaw singer and fellow diehard Alice Cooper fan, told me, “I love Bob Seger, but I don’t need Alice to be the new Bob Seger!” Hear, hear!

Especially since untouchable Alice Cooper classics like Love It to Death, Killer, and Billion Dollar Babies practically invented the majority of the tropes, concepts, approaches, conceits, and ideas that permeate throughout hard rock, heavy metal, punk rock, and well, all the derivatives thereof.

But, fifty-five years after inventing the wheel, I probably shouldn’t expect Alice Cooper to do anything more than put out a decent hard rock album, no matter who plays on it. At least there’s no Tom Morello this time!

And the latest HAWKWIND album is just okay, but I haven’t been expecting a real knock-out from them in nearly a decade anyway. Though, curiously, for some reason, There Is No Space for Us has been making all kinds of top-ten lists, so maybe I’m missing something. Also, some old, classic, success-averse heavy metal bands released some really solid new ones in 2025; specifically VICIOUS RUMORS with The Devil’s Asylum and HELSTAR with The Devil’s Masquerade, even though there's no devils on my top ten list this year.

Of course the latest album from HELLOWEEN, Giants & Monsters, was a decent one too, but I wasn’t as taken by that one as their previous release, Helloween from 2021. And, if we’re talking about old school German thrash and speed metal bands, I enjoyed The Arsonist by SODOM and Bone Collector by GRAVE DIGGER quite a bit as well, even though neither of those made my top ten list either.

And I was pretty happy with the 30-minute-long, single song release from CATHEDRAL called Society’s Pact with Satan, along with the latest TODAY IS THE DAY album, Never Give In. And there are probably ten other releases that I enjoyed that escape me, but, as it stands, here are my top ten albums of 2025:

10. THE TRANCE DIMENSIONALS (featuring Nik Turner) – Space Angels

If you’ve ever read a Revenge of Riff Raff “Best albums of any year list”, you’ll know it will include (a) at least two new albums by also-rans, er, I mean “cult” metal bands that have been around forever but were never successful, (b) a token “extreme metal” release, (c) a token punk or punk-adjacent album, (d) a bunch of unapologetically dorky crap that hip people wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole, and (e) at least one thing related to Hawkwind.

This list has two things related to Hawkwind; neither of which is actually by Hawkwind, whose latest album, There Is No Space for Us, is okay, but nothing I want to add to a top ten list. No, I’m talking about, Space Angels, the latest album by the Trance Dimensionals. First of all, I wanna say big ups to my boy Massimo Gasperini, the man behind Black Widow Records. If you picked up a niche release in the darker side of psychedelia, doom metal, space rock, heavy prog, or doomy heavy space prog, it might very well have the Black Widow logo stamped on it.

Secondly, the Trance Dimensionals is the latest project from long running guitarist and synthesizer guy STEVE HILLMAN, who has a bunch of albums going back to the early 80s, both as a solo artist and with his previous band RA RISING. His latest, the Trance Dimensionals, have been operating since 2016, and they do the driving, “motorik” riffs with wishy-wooshy space noises, the pretty, acoustic numbers with all them flutes, and, of course, at this point, the obligatory sexy female reciting outer space mumbo jumbo.

In this case it’s a girl who goes by the name of Angel Flame who also sings on the cover of “D-Rider” by Hawkwind and the album’s title track, where she sounds like an angsty teenage space brat, but is all the cuter for it.

On top of all that, Dave Anderson from Hawkwind and AMON DUUL II plays bass on the album! And, of course, Nik Turner, who co-founded Hawkwind back in 1969 with Dave Brock, and is “featured” on the on the cover, plays flute and saxophone and sings a bit on this as well.

There are also a bunch of credits to things like “fretless bass” and “cosmic oscillations”, but I think you get the point. If you want a new album that evokes classic, early 70s Hawkwind, you’re in good shape with Space Angels. I mean, the new Hawklords album, Faith, is no slouch either, but I can’t put EVERYTHING on my top ten!

9. H.E.A.T. – Welcome to the Future

Sweden killed it in 2025 when it came to producing catchy, fun, party-oriented hard rock; I’ve loved new releases from glam metal sleazoids CRAZY LIXX, AOR arena rockers THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA, straight-ahead traditional heavy metal band AMBUSH, and, of course, this here release I’m about to discuss by H.E.A.T.

I think I knew from the dance club synthesizer bursts opening the album on “Disaster” that Welcome to the Future would be a top-ten album of the year list contender. I mean, I kinda HAD to include the album because of that awesome 80s throwback cover art.

Also, for those who care, Welcome to the Future is the second H.E.A.T. album with returning original vocalist and Bruce Dickinson lookalike Kenny Lackremo; while the previous singer Erik Grönwall, who replaced Lackremo back in 2010, went off to sing for SKID ROW.

But, of course, you don’t care to know such trivia. You just want to know what makes Welcome to the Future the ninth best album of 2025. It just has twelve great, catchy, melodic, radio friendly songs across its 45 minute runtime. This is obviously the kind of music dudes made to get chicks back in the mid-80s until about 1992, when grunge came in and made everything depressing, and you were no longer allowed to have normal heterosexual desires that could be fulfilled by becoming a big rock star.

The question is, why would a band make such music NOW? I mean, H.E.A.T. seems to be doing pretty well in the touring circuit and getting plenty of attention from various rock publications, so it would stand to reason they actually LIKE this music. And I bet, even in our modern times, there are still some loose sluts who throw themselves at musicians. But, to be sure, every single one of the songs on Welcome to the Future seems geared for a commercial, top-40 radio that no longer exists.

But, hey, bully for me! If you just want song after song after song of heavy, chugging metallic riffage and blazing solos from Sky Davids, very 80s synthesizer tinklings from Jona Tee, a basic but reliable rhythm section in bassist Jimmy Jay and drummer Don Crash, and, of course, big, singalong choruses from, well the whole band, with such insightful and original song titles as “Bad Time for Love”, “Running to You”, “Calling My Name”, “Rock Bottom”, and “Losing Game”, and which kinda sound like DOKKEN meets DEF LEPPARD meets SURVIVOR meets FOREIGNER meets WHITESNAKE meets JOURNEY, then you should go listen to those bands.

And, then, when you’re sick of those bands, but need more bands that sound like them, listen to Welcome to the Future, or anything by H.E.A.T., really.

8. IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT – Goldstar

I actually became a fairly recent fan of the avant-garde, experimental, and progressive extreme metal trio Imperial Triumphant when I saw them perform early in 2025 on a bill headlined by black metal legends MAYHEM; Imperial Triumphant was second on the lineup with some weird goth-glam rock band called NEW SKELETAL FACES opening the night and former EMPEROR bassist Mortiis doing a dungeon synth set right before Mayhem.

But who was this trio in gold masks and black robes, who played this jazzy brand of black metal, where the guitarist tickled the guitar strings with a trombone slide? Well, they’re obviously just another group of music geeks from New York – specifically guitarist/singer Zachary Ezrin, bassist/keyboardist/singer Steve Blanco, and drummer Kenny Grohowski – who wanted to do their unique and quirky take on black metal. But is there more to Imperial Triumphant than just being weird?

The answer is, they covered “Experiment” by VOIVOD and “Happy Home” by the RESIDENTS on their 2020 album Alphaville, which was named after the Jean-Luc Godard neo-noir classic from 1966, and they decorate all of their albums in a 1930s art-deco style.

I really don’t think I have a right to NOT like this band.

What’s kind of crazy, to me at least, is how NOT trendy Imperial Triumphant is. Sure, they have their fans like me, but I have neither seen the hipster-y people like Anthony Fantano go bananas over them, nor have I seen the metal people express much interest beyond saying, yeah, they’re okay. I would think, given all these references to cool, arty stuff, that people would be drooling over them like they do BLOOD INCANTATION. Yet, I remain the guy shouting at the wind about the virtues of Imperial Triumphant!

This latest album, Goldstar, is just as good a place to start your Imperial Triumphant journey as any. At only 38 minutes long, its nine songs condense and encapsulate the Imperial Triumphant worldview in shorter, more digestible doses than the band’s earlier, longer albums. You get the brutal riffs and scary, demonic vocals, but you also get jazzy bits, odd time signatures, cool noises, trombone and trumpet blasts, tribal percussion, old-timey radio jingles, cryptic speeches, some psychedelic and spacey moments, and David Lynch movie lounge music.

And the last song, “Industry of Misery”, sounds like a warped, demonic version of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” by the Beatles, while “Newyorkcity” is just 43 seconds of noisy hardcore with lots of reverb and some broad called Yoshiko Ohara shrieking all over it.

Also, after reading through the lyric sheet, I think the band might have a message buried under song titles like “Eye of Mars”, “Gomorrah Nouveaux”, “Lexington Delirium”, “Rot Moderne”, “Hotel Sphinx”, and “Pleasuredome”, but I’ll be damned if I know what it is!

And, I’ll be double damned if I pretend to care what it is!

7. THE BIG DEAL – Electrified

I refer to the Serbian band the Big Deal as "Slavic wedding metal." I mean, they’re technically a metal band, and guitarist/songwriter/guy-who-basically-put-the-band-together Srdjan Brankovic is a metal shredding guy who also plays in the Serbian progressive metal band ALOGIA. But, with the added keyboards and vocals of his wife Nevena and second chick vocalist Ana Nikolic, the music just sounds like a heavier version of the pop music being played at a Slavic wedding or a dance club.

And, just look at this band. Other than Srdjan Brankovic, the other two male members of the band – drummer Marko Milojevic and bassist Nikola Mijic – look like the “bling” wearing tough guys at an Eastern European dance club. Actually the two chicks look more like club girls than rocker chicks themselves. Hell, check out the cover for their first album, First Bite. They literally look like they’re hanging out in a posh dance club with expensive ass drinks and people doing coke in the bathroom!

And I do wonder how much of a metal chick the singer Ana Nikolic was before she joined the Big Deal. Hell, I wonder how much she is one AFTER joining the Big Deal! According to Srdjan Brankovic, Ana IS “another rock lady” and an “r ‘n’ r lover.” So there ya go.

Still, I prefer the Big Deal chicks over gimmicky female fronted metal bands like SAVAGE MASTER, CASTLE RAT, or VICIOUS BLADE, with a stereotypical metal chick that guys simp for. I’d rather see a band like the Big Deal use the much better and more obvious gimmick of having its two female members wearing slutty clothes and getting drenched with water.

It is wild to hear the soft, pretty 80s pop vocals juxtaposed with the crunching chugga riffs on a song like “Fairy of White.” But, yeah, overall, this is arena AOR rock and traditional heavy metal with non-metal female vocals and 80s style keyboards. In fact, Nevena Brankovic looks about as hot as anyone can while jamming the heck out on a KEYTAR!!!

Basically, on one hand, you have “Burning Up” and “Coming Along”, which are classic, speedy power metal with lotsa guitar and keyboard shredding, along with the galloping, sorta progressive “They Defied”… well, at least, until the tango part comes in. And then, holy shit, you have songs like “Don’t Talk About Love”, which is literally just an 80s dance pop song with crushing guitars, or “Break Down the Walls”, which could be in the Flashdance soundtrack. And they’re AWESOME!!!

I know, maybe we should hire this band for our wedding.

6. BIOHAZARD – Divided We Fall

I was actually pretty annoyed and disgusted by the way Angry Metal Guy reviewed the new Biohazard album, Divided We Fall. He basically made it seem as though Biohazard is a band you grow out of on your journey to discovering more "intellectual" music; while also claiming the album is way better than it has any right to be in his three-out-of-five star review.

And I’m wondering if I missed when it became uncool to like Biohazard. I suppose the fact that Biohazard is often seen as such a big influence on nu-metal might make some people cagey about checking out their early/mid 90s classics like Biohazard (1990), Urban Discipline (1992), and State of the World Address (1994), but to me Biohazard has just been a metal band that incorporates rap style vocals into their sound.

Okay, they’re obviously heavily influenced by hardcore as well. But, damn, son, if you can’t rock the heck out to the gangsta metal of “Tales from the Hardside” or “Wrong Side of the Tracks”, you just too damn full of yoself, dig?

Divided We Fall is the first Biohazard album since 2012’s Reborn in Defiance, and the whole hype behind it is that they’re back with the classic, original line-up. But, then, they had that line-up on their last album. I know, I know, in the thirteen year interim between albums, there be some drama or some sheeyit where Evan be comin’ ‘n’ goin’, and Billy had his other band POWERFLO, but it’s all good in da hood again.

This new Biohazard album smokes. But I’m warning you; it’s about as subtle as an oncoming freight train. Basically, if you’ve never heard Biohazard, Billy Graziadei and Evan Seinfeld take turns yelling at you, as the music alternates between speedy hardcore, slow ‘n’ heavy breakdowns, and crushing chugga-chugga metal riffage, all of which are accentuated by excellent lead guitar work from Bobby Hambel; and the singers cuss a lot, and there’s occasionally rapping.

And some might guffaw at the opening cut “Fuck the System” with what appears to be its somewhat outdated sentiment about a broken system, while not explicitly pointing fingers at any side. But I appreciate that Biohazard haven’t tried to alienate large swathes of their audience because of who they pulled the lever for.

Then again, with lyrics like “We all believe the nonsense they put in the news/we accept propaganda as the absolute truth/we all forgive the promise that they make and break/we never question the news that we know is fake”, it gives me ideas about who THEY pulled the lever for.

I’m just glad their record label didn’t slap that stupid “Parental Advisor/Explicit Lyrics” stamp onto the album cover to warn the kiddies about all the f-words, like they did in the 90s. Because done nobody under the age of 40 be buying this thang anyway!!!

5. CORONER – Dissonance Theory

Since I first became a diehard Coroner fan, I’ve always said that they’re the epitome of substance over style. They have the five most boring album covers of all time decorating albums with the five most boring titles of all time; R.I.P. (1987), Punishment for Decadence (1988), No More Color (1989), Mental Vortex (1991), and Grin (1993). In fact, am I the only one who thinks Punishment for Decadence has a rather conservative title? As in, you’re being punished for your decadence?

Actually, now that I think about it, if I’m raising questions about the title, maybe it’s not so boring after all. I’ll have to rethink that point.

Otherwise their lyrics are the epitome of inoffensive. I don’t mean like they’re hyper politically correct or anything. I mean, they wouldn’t offend ANYONE. They’re just like philosophical musings about free will, existence, and reason; boring crap like that. Okay, the first album R.I.P. is just wanton death, war, and destruction, and they have some other kinda cool ‘n’ scary sounding songs like “Die by My Hand”, “Masked Jackal”, and “Read My Scars.” But, with an album title like Mental Vortex, it’s like, we get it; you’re not just violence-obsessed thrash metal knuckleheads; you’re actually thoughtful individuals who have lots of deep insights (eye roll).

Anyway, if you didn’t know, Coroner is a power trio that formed way back in 1983 in Zürich, Switzerland and the classic lineup of the band featured bassist singer Ron “Royce” Broder, guitarist Tommy “T. Baron” Vetterli, and drummer Marky “Marquis Marky” Edelmann.

It IS pretty damn cool that they got Tom Warrior to sing on their 4-track demo recording ‘Death Cult’ in 1986, but it would have been way cooler if Coroner whisked Tom Warrior away from his baby and made him the singer of Coroner; because, otherwise, Ron Broder’s voice is also boring. It’s kind of scratchy, horse, and robotic like Denis “Snake” Belanger of Voivod, but it’s neither particularly aggressive nor melodic, and his vocals are often buried in the mix anyway.

So, if you’re listening to Coroner, you’re most likely just listening because of the cool and badass music, which is just riff-filled, complicated-as-all-hell progressive thrash and progressive metal. Yeah, yeah, on Grin, they grooved and industrialed it up a bit, but it was the 90s, so give ‘em a break!

Anyway, Dissonance Theory is the band’s first album in thirty whole years. I’m counting their self-titled compilation from 1995 as an album, since it has a handful of original songs on it.

AND IT RULES!!! If the ONLY thing you care about is cool ass metal riffs, lotsa time changes, and some oddball jazzy chords, this ten-song, 47 minute long CD will totally do it for you. But, just putting this out there: it’s not 80s-throwback progressive thrash metal evoking the first four albums. In fact, quite a bit of the album is medium tempo. If anything, Dissonance Theory is closer to the Grin sound, but with less of the 90s groove.

Ahhh, who cares? It’s awesome!!!

Oh, I didn’t mention that the drummer Mark Edelmann is no longer in the band… and he used to write all the lyrics. So, did Ron Broder, Tommy Vetterli, and drummer Diego Rapacchietti (who replaced Edelmann in 2014) learn proper English so they could replace him? NOPE!!! Writing lyrics about sheeyit is boring. They just hired SOMEONE ELSE to do it; specifically, a certain Kriscinda Lee Everitt and Dennis Russ, who do their best to write vaguely interesting, deep, and topical lyrics that you can relate to the matters of the day, but which still feel “timeless.”

So, does it really matter what “Oxymoron,” “Consequence,” “Sacrificial Lamb,” “Crisium Bound,” “Symmetry,” “The Law,” “Transparent Eye,” “Trinity,” “Renewal,” and “Prolonging” are even about?

Spoiler alert: “Oxymoron” and “Prolonging” aren’t about ANYTHING!!! THEY DON’T HAVE WORDS!!! But the latter has a neat 70s prog keyboard jam-out that I wasn’t expecting!

4. BRAINBOMBS – Die

Ya know, since I’ve been working in an office that deals in parts for heating and cooling systems, box cutters don't seem all that threatening anymore. So it's nice that Sweden’s kings of unpleasant, slow, grinding, repetitive, and ugly noise punk could use one for the “I” of Die on the cover of their latest album.

But writing songs about using sharp tools to mutilate human body parts has been the primary shtick of this here Brainbombs band, going all the way back to their humble beginnings in Hudiksvall, Sweden in 1985. See, I’m not obsessed with all things gross and morbid. I don’t enjoy looking at autopsy videos or reading true crime stuff or perusing endless case files on serial killers.

And Brainbombs formed out of this group of “transgressive” weirdos that had its real heyday in the 80s and 90s, where hipsters took a sort of detached attitude towards everything a normal person would consider sick, perverse, and repulsive; there was tons of this stuff, from the RE/Search and Answer Me! zines to books like Apocalypse Culture, Apocalypse Culture II, and Cult Rapture from Feral House publishing, to the photocopied and self-distributed trash of Peter Sotos.

In fact, many of the Brainbombs’ songs were inspired by the writings of Sotos. And, if I wasn’t into their music and didn’t enjoy what they did, I wouldn’t be so forgiving about it.

Basically the Brainbombs do this repetitive, but surprisingly catchy and engaging brand of noisy rock, that’s often as simple as the riff from “I Wanna Be Your Dog” by THE STOOGES. But they layer it in white noise, curtesy of the superb guitar duo of Lanchy Orre, who plays in a bunch of punk and hardcore bands you can google, and Jonas Tiljander, who plays in the experimental space rock band BREMEN with the Råberg brothers from the Brainbombs. And, of course, there’s Peter Råberg’s sleazy-ass speak-singing and Dan Råberg’s trumpet squawks which add some aural texture to the din.

And, it’s obvious, with song titles like “Midnight Slaughter,” “See You Cry,” “Cooking You,” and “Kill Again,” along with four other less exciting sounding song titles, the latest Brainbombs album is just more of the same. But it’s a good “the same”! And, within that “same”, there’s some interesting variation, different types of rhythms, experiments with different instruments, etc. It’s just that Brainbombs fans know exactly what they’re getting on every release.

In the case of their latest album, the cleverly titled Die, the vocals do seem buried in the mix, and with no lyric sheet, it’s really, really hard to tell what Peter Råberg is singing about. But, then, I probably don’t want to know.

3. GUNSLINGER – Amped Up

Ultra-prolific former Hawkwind bassist Alan Davey’s Gunslinger band represents an alternate reality where MOTÖRHEAD actually released On Parole way back in 1976, and both Larry Wallis and Lucas Fox remained in the band; thereby altering the course of rock ‘n’ roll history, as Motörhead remained this bluesy and psychedelic biker rock cult band, and didn’t become the reason METALLICA exists.

Davey had started Gunslinger way back in 1979, but he had to put it on hold when he joined Hawkwind in 1984, and to be sure, he was a total Lemmy acolyte; right down to playing the Rickenbacker in a similarly aggressive style, with lots of distortion, string-bends, hammer-ons, and bass chords.

After Hawkwind, he released a bunch of solos albums and worked on a bunch of other projects and bands, including the mighty Gunslinger, who he brought back from dormancy with 2008’s awesome Earthquake in E Minor. And, now Gunslinger is back again… sort of. None of the musicians who played with Davey on the original Gunslinger were involved on 2025’s Amped Up. Instead you just have Davey on all guitar, bass, and vocals, and Lucas Fox on drums. Oh, and for what it’s worth, DEEP PURPLE drummer Ian Paice plays on the title track.

But, hey, if you want On Parole-era Motörhead, this is the next best thing you’re gonna get. After some spaghetti Western music to kick off the album, you get punky hard rock with that weird psychedelic production that was originally considered too bad to release commercially by United Artists way back in 1976, but I guess now has earned a cult-following all its own among the Ladbroke-loving space rockers who wish time stopped in 1975.

Plus, obviously, Alan Davey literally sounds like Lemmy; so much so, a less trained ear might mistake him for the legend himself.

Hey, speaking of Lemmy, I think “The Ace” might be about him; it’s hard to tell with lyrics like “he was the king of speed/he rode the silver machine.” Hahahaha, haha!

On top of that, you get lots of Western themes with songs like “Smoke Wagon,” “Someone’s Got You in the Gunsights,” “Like a Bullet,” and “20 Paces.” Though, I’m guessing “Berlin Wall” and “Living Like a Viking” are not about Western themes.

Holy shit! And the song “Black Glamdring” literally sounds like the original, bluesy, TWANGY version of “Iron Horse/Born to Lose”!!! Arrrrghghghgh!!!!

2. PAGAN ALTAR – Never Quite Dead

HOW DO YOU REPLACE TERRY JONES??? DO YOU KNOW TERRY JONES, FORMER LEAD SINGER OF THE LEGENDARY NWOBHM/DOOM METAL OUTFIT PAGAN ALTAR, WHOSE DISCOGRAPHY IS SPARSE, BUT 100% AWESOME???

Okay, yeah, I said that a little facetiously, but not really! Terry Jones IS a great a singer with a powerful, kinda weird, nasally, haunting voice, and if you followed Pagan Altar, you WOULD be like, can you REALLY replace Terry???

Here’s another band like SATAN, PENTAGRAM, CIRITH UNGOL, and NASTY SAVAGE, who thanks to the internet and diehard old school heavy metal enthusiasts, has been given a second (or third?) shelf life, when in older times, they would more or less be mired in the ghetto of utter obscurity. Okay, it’s not like Pagan Altar is HUGE. But, then, neither are Satan, Pentagram, Cirith Ungol, and Nasty Savage. All three of those bands’ second (third?) shelf lives involve performing for fifty people in dumpy clubs and the odd festival.

But, apparently that’s just enough to make sure that we have new albums by all these bands. And, so here we are with this brand new release from the criminally underrated Pagan Altar. And, just like Satan, Pentagram, Cirith Ungol, and Nasty Savage, the Pagan Altar discography isn’t enormous and has gaps of many years between albums; and this very easy to collect in full.

Formed in 1978 by the father/son team of Terry Jones on vocals and Alan Jones on guitar, Pagan Altar were and weren’t part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. They were in the sense that they had a recording out right about the time when a bunch of other bands under the banner of the New Wave of Heavy Metal were putting out albums. And they weren’t because, well, they played slow, spooky, SABBATH-y heavy rock, which of course was considered the old, outdated brand of heavy metal in a world of IRON MAIDEN, DEF LEPPARD, ANGEL WITCH, DIAMOND HEAD, and TYGERS OF PAN TANG.

One thing the Joneses had in common with Brian Ross of BLITZKRIEG, Satan, and AVENGER, however, was a love for Doctor Who; hence the group’s earliest recordings featuring a song called “The Time Lord.” But, otherwise, Pagan Altar’s big contribution to the metal world at the time was a heavily bootlegged 1982 demo tape that eventually received an official release in 1998 as the super creatively titled Volume 1 before being re-released again under its intended title Judgment of the Dead.

And, for all of Martin Popoff’s condescending talk about “poverty metal”, if Judgment of the Dead is being poor, I don’t wanna be rich! It’s THAT good. Again, like those aforementioned bands, it’s a little different, a little weird, and therefore failed to catch the attention of the important metal tastemakers…

…until it didn’t and Pagan Altar was baaack baby with two stupendous follow-up albums of melodic, doom-y, 70s-style, occult and folklore-themed heavy rock; Lords of Hypocrisy (2004) and Mythical & Magical (2006). Then things slowed down to a crawl until it was revealed that the senior Jones had died of cancer in 2015. The group put out their final recording with Terry Jones as another excellent album called The Room of Shadows in 2017.

And then I pretty much thought that was it for Pagan Altar. But then I heard that Pagan Altar was coming back with another new release. Alan Jones dug up a bunch of unfinished Pagan Altar songs, wrote up a couple more, and voila, here we are! The group never really had a “classic” era lineup; it was always just Terry and Alan Jones and whoever they have on rhythm guitar, bass, and drums this week.

And, while both bassist Diccon Harper and drummer Andy Green had already played on the previous album, the REAL question was, of course, who would step in the shoes of the late, great Terry Jones???

And, that, my friends is THE ONE, THE ONLY, BRENDAN RADIGAN!!! What? You’ve never heard of the singer of such well-loved, ultra-popular, household names as BATTERING RAM, SAVAGE OATH, STONE DAGGER, TORTURE CHAIN, and MIND ERASER??? That’s right, all your faves.

And, now he’s in Pagan Altar, and all is right with the universe.

Never Quite Dead rules. That is all. What? You want me to describe all the songs to you? Some are more straight-forward rockers, some are slow and dreamy, some are downright doomy, and all feature Alan Jones’ terrific guitar work. But, after reading the liner notes, I learned that “Well of Despair” was written as a spoof of doom metal for those who complained on internet forums that Pagan Walter weren’t doomy enough. Zing! Got ‘em!

Oh, and the last song is a pretty, bouncy, sentimental folk song with harmonica meant to make you feel all fuzzy inside.

1. DIRKSCHNEIDER & THE OLD GANG – Babylon

It’s downright CRIMINAL how little people in the world of rock and metal pay attention to Udo Dirkschneider! And I get it; 2025 was the year OZZY OSBOURNE died, and most people see guys like Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson as eminently more “important” than raspy voiced Udo Dirkschneider. But, come on, why does GEOFF TATE play the big, thousand-seater clubs, and Udo gets my local 200-capacity joint, only for the place to be downright EMPTY? I felt so embarrassed for the Detroit metal scene the night we saw U.D.O. Meanwhile, ACCEPT, who are down to ONE original member in lead guitarist Wolf Hoffman, can pack my same tiny club!

Sometimes I literally feel like the only person who listens to ANYTHING by Udo! Okay, there’s one other guy. Hi John!

Like, here is this absolute legend of heavy metal who goes all the way back to the 70s – actually possibly earlier, since apparently the seeds for Accept were planted in 1968 – who sang with Accept for fourteen years on some of the best, most influential heavy metal of all time and then led his own band U.D.O. since 1987 (albeit with a four year break when he rejoined Accept from 1992 to 1996), and released album after album after consistently awesome album of heavy metal greatness on a nearly yearly basis, and then his spectacular new release, the best album of 2025, barely gets a mention on any of the best albums of the year lists!

And, unlike Accept, Udo’s band features THREE members from the classic Accept line-up! Udo took a break from U.D.O. proper and started this here Dirkschneider & the Old Gang band with former U.D.O. guitarists Mathias Dieth and Stefan Kaufmann. And, if you weren’t already aware, Stefan Kaufmann also played drums with Accept before riffing and shredding in U.D.O. The rest of the band is rounded out by, of course, Peter Baltes of Accept and U.D.O. on bass and some vocals, Udo’s son Sven on drums, and this really cute chick named Manuela Bibert on vocals and keyboards.

They had already teased us with a three-track EP called “Arising” in 2021, but now DATOG have delivered a proper album with 12 songs and 61 minutes of music. Now, before you balk at the 30s-ish art deco cover art, Babylon is PURE Udo-tastic HEAVY METAL. Udo does his usual Udo thang, shrieking in his Brian Johnson-but-German voice to the metal riffs, as two masterful axemen unleash brilliant riffs and stunning solos; the only difference here is that the formula is tempered by the lovely and gorgeous vocals of Manuela Bibert.

And her pop vocals sound so darn cute on “Dead Man’s Hand”, and she sounds terrific moaning and groaning all over the Middle-Eastern-tinged title track, and she’s having so much darn fun on the goofy, but totally fun opener “It Takes Two to Tango”, where the chorus goes, “It takes two to tango/it takes six to rock.” Oh, and to make matters even more awesome, the last track, “Beyond the End of Time,” seems like the band was trying to replicate the mid-tempo, epic, fantastical journey “Princess of the Dawn” that was at the end of the Accept album Restless and Wild, but with Bibert’s and Baltes’ additional vocals.

There are also a couple ballads; the adorable “Strangers in Paradise,” complete with a flamenco guitar solo that will make you feel like you’re on a romantic honeymoon, and “Blindfold,” which is actually not a new song, but a remake of a song from the 2020 U.D.O. album, We Are One, that Bibert also sang on.

Plus you just have straight head-banging tunes like “Hellbreaker,” “Metal Sons,” and “Batter the Power.”

I guess it’s also fun to point that Udo looks like my dad. So, if you’re curious what my dad looks like, he looks like Udo.

Edwin Oslan
Revenge of Riff Raff
28th January, 2026

Also by Edwin:

Preview: The Genbaku Onanies, Tokyo 2026

2026-01-22T16:00:00.009+00:00

Since 1982, the GENBAKU ONANIES (rough translation: "The Atomic Pussies") have been carrying the flame of J-punk, bouncing short, explosive songs off the walls of minor venues like Earthdom. You'd think they'd have had so many line-up changes they would be unrecognizable by now. Not so. Despite the pummelling sonic assault course, they've been on for 40 years, the Onanies are remarkably unchanged. Vocalist Taylow and bassist Eddie are original members and drummer Johnny joined in 1986, proof positive that punk can keep you young if it doesn't kill you. Support from FORWARD and THE SLOMOTIONS.

14th Feb. Earthdom, Shin-Okubo. Price: ¥2,900 - 9,800 (Ticket info)

Interview: Karl Hyde, Underworld

2026-01-20T16:42:00.002+00:00

If nothing else, their iconic soundtrack for Trainspotting—and in Japan their sets at Fuji Rock and Rainbow 2000—assure UNDERWORLD a spot in music history. But from their design collective Tomato to their music for the London Olympics, the British duo of singer Karl Hyde and musician Rick Smith are feverish in their exploration of new opportunities. I spoke with Hyde about his solo debut Edgeland ahead of next month’s SonarSound Tokyo.

After three decades, why the solo debut now?

"Underworld was always touring, so I didn’t have time. But recently we’ve been given some space. It made us think it’s time to try some other things out so we don’t get tired of working with each other."

What was your take on being part of one of the planet’s most watched sporting events?

"It was a joy to see Danny [director Danny Boyle]’s passion and belief that kick-started such a positive summer in the UK. All the critics were out to rubbish it, and they were pleasantly wrong."

After that it must have felt nice to bring out that part of your musical consciousness that had been sublimated in Underworld.

"I started it before the Olympics. I’d done some live shows with BRIAN ENO at the Sydney Opera House, and out of that came a renewed belief in myself. Working with Brian gave me an opportunity to see that I might be able to do something in parallel with Underworld. Through Brian I met the fantastic Leo Abraham and through eight days of improvisation with him I made the album."

Sounds like a lot of fun…

"It was. Working on the Olympics, I would take a day off and get together with Leo, and we would express ourselves musically in whatever way we felt."

The liner notes suggest the project helped break your writer’s block…

"I’ve written in a very particular way for a long time now, which is to write the fragments of my life that I see as I move through cities. But it was starting to get repetitive, and it was suggested that I start writing about me. I just didn’t know how to do that without sounding disposable. So I stripped it back until I had nothing, and there was a period where I felt finished. Speaking with other writers helped me find my voice again."

Some of the songs on Edgeland have a sense of romance.

"I am a romantic. Even when I’m walking through the streets at nights and there’s decay and filth, I've always seen it as beautiful and poetic."

How will Edgeland translate live?

"We’re nearly finished rehearsing here in the UK. I’m shocked to have such a fantastic band. [But] we’ll be playing more material than the album."

Japanese fans may want to hear a few Underworld songs.

"I promise not to disappoint them."

So you’ll be providing some rave anthems?

"Well, this group isn’t a jumping up and down group. We’ve taken tunes from Underworld and translated them into our own sound. Underworld have always been seen as an anthemic colossus that rolls around the world. When I stood on stage with Brian Eno at Sydney Opera House I felt I had to explore that side of Underworld that had been hidden for 20 years."

Speaking of your anthemic side, how do you perceive that music in retrospect?

"There’s been some real magic music. It’s music of celebration. It was music to celebrate what is good about the human race, the coming together of people together en masse to enjoy each other’s company."

Why does music exist, what purpose does it serve?

"For me, and my generation, it takes me out of myself and to another place, and I like that. It lifts me, it suits my mood. I go into my library and pull out records that suit my mood and if they aren’t there I ’ll go online and find them."

You’ve been to Japan many times. Tell us about the evolution of your visits.

"We first came over in the early ’90s. We played the opening night of the original Liquid Room. We were offered to play a massive show supporting OASIS, or do a very small show supporting others in Japan, and we chose to come to Japan. It was astonishing how the Japanese embraced our music. We went from there to headlining the big festivals and playing to 25,000 people—a really quite extraordinary ascendancy because of the way Japanese have taken to our sound, and for that I will always be grateful."

Dan Grunebaum

18th March 2013
Metropolis

"Fender Bender," The Attempt to Degender the Strat

2026-01-13T09:12:00.030+00:00

Courtney Love and daughter Frances Bean Cobain rocking the "Hello Kitty" Strat

Back in the Zeroes, US guitar-maker Fender felt electric guitars were too "macho" and "gendered," thus cutting their potential market in half, and decided to reach out to the softer, more sensitive half of the population with this cat-themed item.

After permission from Japanese character company Sanrio, the special edition guitars were launched in 2005 to a fanfare of publicity. As part of this several of the guitars were given to prominent rock figures, including Slash from GUNS N’ROSES, Dave Navarro of JANE’S ADDICTION, and THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, who all nervously posed with the them for publicity shots.

Slash doing what's he told

But it was the one that Fender gave to HOLE's Courtney Love that truly fitted into the company's agenda of making the thrusting phallic lines and orgasmic scream of the Strat less "threatening" to the part of the population that likes to knit and go shopping.

But did it make a difference? No. Women have been "strapping on" Strats since the 70s whenever they felt the need to, and continue to do so.

Really, this was just a short-lived gimmick which didn't really do much to de-gender the fender or anything. The guitar, after all, isn't an actual penis and is nothing to be afraid of. It's just something you strum and pick in whatever way suits you best.

Courtney Love's guitar on exhibit in Tokyo October, 2009

Colin Liddell
Revenge of Riff Raff
13th January, 2026

Album Review: Arcade Fire, "Neon Bible"

2026-01-12T16:17:00.005+00:00

ARCADE FIRE’s breakthrough 2007 record. God, this is awful! Pretentious as fuck, twee, maudlin, vaguely preachy but without ever making eye contact... I just about made it through the album by copious use of the fast-forward button.

I would sum this up as "shy white people music."

So, after blowing the fuck out of this, I guess my only job left in this review is to explain why they are such critical darlings and sell a shit-ton of records to a certain subset of the human race.

First up, it sounds like the kind of music that succeeded in that particular period (the Harry Potter period) running in a loose pack with THE NATIONAL, BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE, VAMPIRE WEEKEND, SUFJAN STEVENS, etc. But what was the selling for this sort of thing, as it lacks the raw, visceral musical pleasure that you find in the bands that supposedly inspired this generation like THE CURE, TALKING HEADS, and BOWIE?

Part of the answer is that this sort of thing is a signaller of drab sensitivity for the jaded generation, the Millennials.

Another ingredient is the murky sound and whispery vocals. This serves to create a fake sense of intimacy and parasocialism that that blighted generation was particularly susceptible to.

And then there’s the passivity thing, with washes of dancey energy and “cinematic builds”—y’know, that thing where the song starts off all restrained, introspective, or even funereal, and gradually, like in album closer "My Body is Cage," more and more elements are layered in—church organ, drums, swelling strings, horns, the kitchen sink, blah, blah, blah—creating a “dramatic” escalation that feels sweeping and emotional to the emotionally underprivileged.

Grade D

Colin Liddell
Revenge of Riff Raff
12th of January, 2026

Live Review: Rock the Bowl '91, Milton Keynes Bowl, July 6th, 1991

2026-01-11T23:32:00.007+00:00

PHEW! WOTTA SCORCHER!

A house, a tree, a roundabout, another roundabout, a shit-awful bus shelter, another roundabout, a real trendy fire station with knackered-looking fire engines.

Such was the view as our coach wound its way around Milton Keynes to deliver us to the site of Rock the Bowl '91, a day that held some surprises, plenty of sunshine, buckets of brilliant music, and of course, alcoholic beverages (thank you, Polydor, A&M, and Warners).

LITTLE ANGELS

After months of speculative hype, here we were standing like lemons in a field ready to witness Little Angels first British outdoor festival appearance (indeed, their first outdoor festival full stop) to an audience of 60,000 sun-dazed, pissed-up punters, by far the largest crowd they've ever played to.

There were great expectations about this, their opening slot on the bill, seeing that THUNDER had opened Donington last year and took the day for themselves. So the pressure was on for the 'Angelic' ones to do the same here.

Just as the great Milton Keynes concrete clock hit 3pm, those horny red devils, Little Angels, took to the stage amidst the shrieks of girlies wetting themselves at the sight of Toby Jepson, bedecked in shrink-wrapped shorts and ripped T-shirt.

The throbbing intro to "She's a Little Angel" boomed out of the virginal PA system as 'crystal clear' as a hippopotamus fart in a goldfish bowl. Thus the poetic subtleties of "Kicking up Dust," "I Ain't Gonna Cry," and "Radical Your Love" were all lost in the maze while the sing-along punch of "Young Gods," "Products," and "Boneyard" failed to cut any immediate atmosphere. Sure, those in front of the stage were aptly out of their heads, but the majority were staying pretty safe. I'm still convinced that they'd have been better off opening at Donington.

Inevitably, the frustration came out into the open at the end of their set during a cover of THE WHO's "My Generation" when axeman Bruce decided he'd had enough and he proceeded to smash up his guitar. The rest of the band followed suit and joined in by thrashing anything they could lay their hands on... they huffed and they puffed but failed to blow the house down. A lack of outdoor live experience and the fact that the band's sound was somewhat muffled didn't allow them the room they needed to hit the sixes.

"We'll be headlining here in a couple of years," snarled Toby as the 'best of British' hit the decks for the 'warm wet circles' of their company's beer tent backstage. (Mark Crampton)

THUNDER

The weather forecast was for thundery showers, but the only thunder in evidence on what will doubtless be one of the most perfect days of this summer came from Messrs Bowes, Morley, James, Lockhurst and Matthews. Louder than the great God Thor himself, Thunder worked hard during their share of the limelight and were rewarded by a rousing reception from the 60,000 strong crowd.

Casting aside climatic conditions, they did not deliver one of their most captivating performances, although in the case of these chaps, even an average show is still pretty damn good. Beginning with "Flawed to Perfection," the Sons of Thor filled their allotted 60 minutes with the best of their new LP, Backstreet Symphony, plus a few new tunes. Danny's rapport with the crowd was as chatty as ever, and after a sadly distorted version of "Englishman on Holiday," the boys were brought to a standstill by the rowdy punters chanting, "'ere we go."

Straining on tiptoes in order to see 'em from my centre bowl position, I was delighted by the aforementioned new numbers executed about midway through their set, these being "Better Man," an acoustic ballad performed by the chaps seated centre stage on stools. The second of the newies came in the shape of "Does It Feel Like Love," a typical Thunder workout providing an assurance of better things to come on their next recording, whenever that may be.

Naturally, their considerable following kept up the vocal support on "Dirty Love" and "Backstreet Symphony," and 'Harry' took to the stage on a bike sporting a false beard (could he be taking the proverbial out of the headliners?). The one thing that wasn't consistent for them was the sound, resulting in a passing storm rather than a full-blowing electrical maelstrom. (Lyn Guy)

THE LAW

Backstage, the rumours were flying faster than a stealth bomber that The Law weren't going to appear, but the gossip fell flat on its face when they proceeded to turn the Bowl on its head.

A minimum of fuss saw "For a Little Ride" rise triumphantly from the stage. "Stone Cold" followed, emphasising the point that this band isn't one to throw themselves around. Paul Rodgers, simply in jeans, white shirt and waistcoat attire, proved that he still has an incredible vocal talent, despite what anyone might think.

"This is our theme tune," he announces, as they go into "Laying down the Law." I don't know whether it was the sun of Thunder's disappointed set, but the crowd was dead.

It's not exactly cool to introduce your song as been written by CHRIS REA, but "Stone" was heavier, more vibrant live, as was all the material that they aired during their set. But still, the crowd failed to rise to the occasion.

"What do you think of it so far?" asked Rodgers, only to be rebuffed by apathy.

"Nature of the Beast," a BRYAN ADAMS-penned number, saw a bit more of a response. Maybe people were anticipating something. Then suddenly the killer punch was delivered with "Can't get Enough." Rodgers smiled. Finally people were up on their feet, but there was more to come, the FREE classic "All Right Now" took us back to yesteryear and life pumped through both young and old, smiles lighting their faces, even the ones in the queue for the beer tent.

They may have been gate-crashers to this event but The Law damn near stole the show. (Joe Mackett)

BRYAN ADAMS

T'was, or should that be, t'is the summer of 91 that saw the return of Bryan Adams, and what a return! Backed by his original watertight three-piece, he cracked his way through a set of his old familiar songs just to regain a common ground with the audience that had gathered to witness what has got to be one of the best festivals in a long time.

He kicked in with, "She's Only Happy," then drew us towards him gradually, offering "The Kids Wanna Rock" and "It's Only Love." Needless to say, we were eating out of his hand by the time "Hearts On Fire" cartwheeled its way out of the sound system. About this time, the sun had really begun to bite my neck, but I held out. You know what they say, "Where there's no sense, there's no feeling."

This was actually Bryan's first outdoor gig in the UK. How do I know? Because he told us. What do you think, I research this stuff? The only criticism that I would give is that he played it a little too safe in that I was hoping we would get a trip through the round window to check out some of his new material. But at least he did play his new single, "Everything I Do," which is now, at time of going to press, his biggest British hit to date.

"Heaven" and "Run To You" had me singing like an out-of-tune engine, but, shit, I was having such a good time, along with the rest of the thousand million odd that had converged on the Bowl (with the exception of the chap wandering to the first aid tent nursing a split lip),

As the smell of freshly lit hash wafted through the air Bry teased the crowd with "Summer of 69," then launched into "I need somebody." Off I went again, crooning like a moose. Needless to say, he left the stage to applause that I'm sure caused some little boffin somewhere to poo his drawers as the needle on the Richter scale registered the response.

A three-song encore turned up the heat with "One Night Love Affair," "Long Gone," and of course "Summer of 69," the intro to which comprised of Brian Adams on guitar, the entire audience on vocals. This guy is definitely back. (Peter Grant)

ZZ TOP

As the Tres Hombres took to the stage, the mulish sun hung in the air, determined to get a peek at tonight's headliners, who stoked the multitude with "Planet of Women." The perfect setting for some down-home Texan boogie was to have its ultimate climax, "Sleeping Bag," "Waiting For the Bus," "Jesus Just Left Chicago," "Got Me Under Pressure," yee-haw!

Twenty-two cuts in all, derived from their illustrious ten album career, Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill's classic cool was choreographed to perfection as their guitars dipped and swung low in the 'lap of luxury.' Only once was there a moment of panic as the PA cut rough for a second.

Whoa, thar goes "Gimme All Your Lovin'" reet thar. Say, ain't that "Heard It On The X" over yonder? As the temperature reaches boiling point, the Tops turn it down a notch as "2000 Blues" segues into "Blue Jean Blues."

With the great orb in the sky finally asleep, the huge Recycler stage really comes to life. Its junkyard trickery, allowing the bearded ones a breather. Yo, what's this? Back on stage in bumper cars? Exiting the vehicles, resplendent in new suits. There's only one track, hell yeah. "Sharp Dressed Man" an' don't it just hit the spot?

If that didn't get you, then "Legs" certainly did, y'all. Those gals, those huge video screens. My head's in Mississippi, all right. If these guys are lip-syncing as accused by THE BLACK CROWES, you sure as hell can't tell.

But yeah, can't leave a longhorn out to stew. You've got to nail the critter. "Tube Snake Boogie" sees the barbies alight. "La Grange" saw the sporadic hoedowns breaking out in contagious fashion. Finally, finally, "Tush" brings it all down. Y'all pass me the steak n' bourbon, duck walking all the way home. (Joe Mackett)

Live Pix Paul Smith
Riff Raff
August 1991

Video Review: Nelson, "After the Rain"

2026-01-11T14:34:00.002+00:00

When I was handed this videola and told to review it, I thought, "Yeah, witht a combine harvester."

Well, such is not the case. The NELSON twins aren't as bad as I was hoping. To look at them, you'd think they'd sell more cheap gimmicks than those shitty turtle things that have destroyed many a bank account balance and caused young children to throw their parents out of house and home to make way for the important things in life like Ninja Turtle Death Stars that really kill.

Matt and Gunnar (is that really his name?) seem sincere enough about their music and their commitment to making a visual art form that translates their feelings (man). So, would I if I stood to make a million or three.

After a chitty-chatty and a view of some screaming, adoring fans (held on the other side of a fence, I hasten to add) the first number, "Love and Affection," fills my screen in all its glory, and it ain't a bad little tune at that. A few effects are bunged in here and there, like reversing the film, then slowing it down and speeding it up -- a bit like your average day on the M1.

To my reckoning, the strong has got to be the title track "After the Rain," which is accompanied by rather a profound story that starts off with a slob of a father telling his son that he's no good. To cut a long story short, the son gets dragged out of his bed by the twins who come out of his wall and they end up sitting by a campfire with Cochise, the strange Red Indian who's holding two coloured balls in his hands (ooo er missus!), one representing spirituality, the other sexuality and aggression. Pan right (lovey) and we have the concert scene.

When filming a live concert for MTV, a decision not to overdub was taken by Mattso and Gunnso. So we get all the lowdown on how it was done. They also go to great pains to prove that they are more than corporate mannequins set to trap the unsuspecting public, so we get shots of live playing in domestic situations and also in the final scene where they perch themselves on stools with a couple of acoustics and knock out "Keep one heart" as is whilst the cameraman goes around in circles. Pretty good.

Peter Grant
Riff Raff
August 1991

Video Review: Enuff Z'Nuff "Enuff Z'Nuff"

2026-01-11T10:11:00.004+00:00

A collection definitely for the true Z'nuff fan and anyone else who likes to see the real side of a band rather than the shiny commercial side. We join 'chirpy' Chippy, 'deranged' Donnie, Derek 'the fridge' Frigo and Vikki (is that really a girl?) Fox, as they recline by the side of a pool one Sunday afternoon off from recording. Chip 'chirps' away about how things are going and how long their days usually are as regards work.

"Fly high, Michelle" takes us through a psychedelic "Sergeant Pepper's" scene. I don't know whether it was my TV or the vid itself, but the sound was rather distorted for this one number.

If you've never seen Chicago, 'Chipolony' takes us on a trip around his neighborhood where we meet Mr. Pissed Off Pizza Man, who's definitely got a 'chip' on his shoulder because he's owed for consumed comestibles. Then we peek through the window of Chip's local low-budget clothes shop. Everyone is so friendly. If I were him, I'd get some popularity injections.

There's plenty of live coverage and some real miming as well. Well, that's what it looks like they're doing on "I Could Never Be Without You," filmed at a beachside concert where the tits are ripe and bouncy.

Charisma is something that they all possess except maybe 'Chipit,' who seems to have gotten his in kit form and has to work to keep it together. The "New Thing" vid is a real goodie as are the rest.

Eric schmerick 'the fridge' reckons that the ZeeeNuffs would be lost without him in a world of 70s music, whilst Vikki the hormone replacement victim doesn't actually say anything, but he's a great visual drummer.

All in all, it's worth the dosh.

Peter Grant
Riff Raff
August 1991