Category: album concept

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The Black Keys – ‘Delta Kream’ Album Review

As tough and brittle as a Rubber Factory, rock-blues natives from Ohio, The Black Keys are true realists when it comes to making the swampy work of blues-rock.

Known for spiting their differences about the music industry, The Black Keys – made up with Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney – they are a brutal force to be reckoned with as this same force goes to great depths to deliver truly raucous works of outrage, contemplation and delivery.

Their tenth studio album, Delta Kream is a swampy dredge of traditional blues-rock that harks the duo back to their collective roots of The Big Come Up in ’02 and Rubber Factory in ’04.

Despite the differences of seeing the brutish anthems of El Camino that saw the band receive commercial success from 2011, Delta Kream is a luxurious midnight-cruiser of an album that is worth every road trip in the mist of darkness.

The twelve-track listen is a stripped-back rendition of cover songs of blues artists that continue to inspire them, that ultimately remind them to never let go of the blues.

When all said and done, Delta Kream is a showing of the blues brothers-from-another-mother truly in their element. Take a trip down memory lane, because this album yearns for candlelight.

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Gerry Cinnamon: The True Story Teller of Music

Fiercely independent in any scenario is a difficult task to undertake and complete well. Being fiercely independent in the music industry without any financial backing from that of a record label? – An unequivocally difficult feat to do and do well, mind. A true musician who personifies in relatable story-telling is the man that goes by Gerry Cinnamon.

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A brutish, relatable and genuine in design, Cinnamon is a brutally honest with his portrayal as a music artist, as he is with his lyrics. Held deep within an industry that changes to the consumer, Gerard Crosbie has kept himself to himself – with keeping his local accent in tone with his brutally honest lyrics. It is a tribal fusion of rock and folk at its best.

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Fashioning a reputation as the world’s greatest independent music artists, he has championed and broken great records in his journey. His sing-along anthems are emphatically powerful, rich and simply modest. With just a man and his acoustic guitar, he has reached impressive heights that gives Ginger Ed a run for his money.

Sometimes, Belter, Canter, Where We’re Going, Ghost.

An acoustic extraordinaire and a simple marvel in creating empathetic work, he joins the ever-growing list of prolific Scots who are turning the industry upside down into a Northern nuisance of fantastic music.

Biffy Clyro, Twin Atlantic, Paolo Nutini, Lewis Capaldi, The Snuts, Gerry Cinnamon. These are just a few artists that come to mind in an industry littered with them.

If it’s one thing the Scots do right, it’s writing music.

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Black Pistol Fire: Look Alive

Shake Your Money Maker: Southern Rock and Blues-Rock Fashions into a RE-BRANDING

One particular release that you may have missed this year was the sixth release from Black Pistol Fire. Raucous with their fusion of southern rock, blues and garage punk, Look Alive is a stand-out album that is emphatic in its style aswell as its music production. Fused between the boisterous concoctions of The Black Keys, Cleopatrick and the quirky expertise of Queens of the Stone Age, comes a rock-child that joins the list of ever-growing duo rockers.

Accustomed with the stigma of charcoal black already in a rock deluge, Black Pistol Fire have a certain class and persona when it comes to their tastefulness of blues-rock, which goes farther than merely immersing in the black décor. The album comes out swinging with self-titled, Look Alive and Pick Your Poison, with both indulgent songs swinging a depth into the work of Cage The Elephant and among others. Rampant throughout, the album boasts and brags with such a large pair of cajones, as we’re dazzled through the bright funky lights of of Never Enough and spat out the other side with Level.

The album is not just an aggressive boaster though, it has passive – often contemplating – slow-burners like Hope in Hell and Always On My Mind that wouldn’t be a shock to see such songs escape the song-writing booths of Pixies.

A glorious reprise for a fusion of classics – southern rock, blues and dripped in garage punk – Look Alive is a fanatic favourite to swoon and enjoy within your own time, and will no doubt become a classic in it’s own time.

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Why do we hate Coldplay?

We’ve been engrossed in Chris Martin’s charade of swell pop contemplation since 2000.

Running strong for over 20 years in the industry, they have become one of the biggest bands in pop phenomena history – charting unknown territory and raising to global stardom, all the raising critical acclaim for emphatic albums that hold beautiful pieces of music within them.

But what’s happened? Over the years, it seems we have grown tired of the same formula and the distastefulness of writing burnt-out pop – and Coldplay are next in line. It seems marginally unwarranted and frankly, undeserved for a class act of musicians who simply make music to make us happy.

Selling 75 million copies worldwide and selling sold-out arena shows and tours , they still have a hardened fan base that will simply love anything they produce. I mean, anything.

But, those lot who sneer at the prospect of Coldplay and their music – are they right?

I have seen them live and avidly love to see them doing so well, especially after growing up with the first three albums they made. But, it seems I have fallen off the radar with such a colossal band and instead, have turned to those who are simply new and upcoming. The news of new music from Coldplay doesn’t fill me with that eager excitement you’d want from a band you’re a fan of. For me, I don’t think they have their shine or edge they used to have during the 2010s. Their new album has a sense of pretentiousness about it and doesn’t have a majorly beautiful or uplifting song within the exhausting song-list. And frankly, it’s off-putting. After running for so long at the top of their game, are they set to be toppled? It wouldn’t be the first time – nor would it be a rare occasion for a huge, successful band to simply hang up their sticks and retire, satisfied with what they’ve achieved in such a hot-climate industry. The case of scraping the barrel really comes into play, right? Especially after the displays of Everyday Life. Or will they simply let the uncharted brand of the band carry them until they’re 70? It wouldn’t totally surprise me if a band like Coldplay would be next to simply shut up shop and sell their song-writing rights to a company for millions.

Now, whether you have been a fan of Coldplay or never were from the start, I’m intrigued into what you have to say about a band like Coldplay.

Has their reputation of “boring” and “stale” finally caught up with them? Or are these merely transfections from salty fans and artists who haven’t received the same acclaim as these boys have done?

Either way, let me know.

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Thirty Seconds to Mars: The Majesty of ‘A Beautiful Lie’

Romp with frenetic energy, stellar line-up and an amazing concoction of noise, the band’s 2005 second album has become an instant cult classic.

Irrespective of the number of albums they sold (which stands at over 5 million) or how many emphatic tunes are within this album (which stands at 6 for the well-known), A Beautiful Lie is a nostalgic trip into creating a rock masterpiece for all the ages. The flaship of Thirty Seconds to Mars, ruled the rock roster from ’05 to at least 2011 across the western world.

With their collective reaching infamous heights such as, “The Kill”, “From Yesterday,” “Kings and Queens,” and “Closer to the Edge,” they are the flagship of breaking barriers and selling platinum in not only their home continent, but onto international soil, too.

However, I am also tempted to state the band in past-tense for their musical history, but believe or not – – they are a band that are still active and alive today in the industry.

Despite recent releases that don’t usually resemble the Thirty Seconds to Mars we witnessed back in ’05.

But, this is not new news for a band to change with the times, strip their chaotic rock anthems, and blossom into the ventures of pop to strike resemblance and relevance among an ever-growing listening audience – their rife trap-beat and achingly simple 2018 album, AMERICA showed us exactly that.

But, A Beautiful Lie was something else. Ripe with angst, passion and strong intentions, it ultimately set the precedence for the industry, swung opposing heads to the LA brothers, and allowed them to dominate the tempting top-position in the rock world.

Despite the rock teetering out to enter the plethora of mass culture, it still allowed them to achieve critical acclaim, notable accolades of awards and sell over 15 million albums worldwide – when we were still purchasing albums, that is.