18 March 2023

TheBigBlack

Guns n' Roses - Use Your Illusions [Super Deluxe Edition] (2022)
[Hard Rock]

1987's 'Appetite For Destruction' set the rock world on fire, and reminded as us that rock 'n' roll could still be dangerous, long after The Rolling Stones had been measured up for wheel chairs. It was a fierce, in your face musical assault - but if one (very small) complaint can be made, it would be the lack of variation. It must be one of the most famous rock albums in history - and yet doesn't contain the diversity of any ballads or acoustic moments. We now know that was by design, and a few months later they showed us another side with the 'GNR Lies' E.P., but it still in no way prepared us for the epic size of the 'Use Your Illusion' albums 3 years later. These albums didn't reinvent rock, but they certainly reinvented Guns n' Roses, allowing them the room to produce 2 albums worth (4 album in the old school vinyl days) of every variety of rock ever performed - and with a massive budget to allow them to stretch their wings in new and different ways. The hard hitting songs were still here, some of them written pre Appetite even, but alongside them were sprawly ballads bigger than anyone had ever attempted before. The 30th anniversary remaster is crisp and clear, but to honest - did the original need any tweaking? A new mix has been made of November Rain (introducing a real orchestra rather than synth), but that didn't mean anything to me - as it is the only song I never really cared for. There are two entire live concerts included, and they are a great listen. Axl is firing on all cylinders, and Duff and Slash play pretty loose (as they were probably quite drunk.). The shows still aren't the band in the absolute late 80s prime before the bloat of fame and insane mind of Axl had started to corrode them from within, but they still show the greatness of the band just before they came unstack and headed into autopilot. Is it a shame this was the last original material the classic line-up ever released, or was there no better way to drop the mic and walk away?

mindkiller8

Edge Of Sanity - Crimson (1996)
[Death Metal]

When is a song too long in length? Do you start to wain at Metallica's early year songs hitting 8 or 9 minutes? Likewise when Opeth who would hit the 14 minutes mark with some of their early masterpieces? How about one that clocks in around the 40 minute mark? One song! This effort by EOS continues to blow me away to this day with the journey it takes the listener on. The underlying story for the song where barren earth can no longer re-produce, is well told through the various stages of the song. Starting in an aggressive tone and dark vocals, the listener is sent through a journey of soft interludes, rising again to thumping death riffs, fast picking and soft melodies. The vocals following the way and in places we soft quiet vocals and even chanting, all before the music and singing returns to the starting tempo, loudness and brutality (rebellion against the Queen). I've never heard anything like this. Each time I listen it feels like I am listening to it for the first time. Each listen reveals something new.

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