Ozzy Osbourne "Bark At The Moon" (1983)

A stark realization has dawned upon me, I've completely neglected thee Metal legend's solo career. My youthful exuberance for extremity had me turn a nose up at many of the older acts. Despite loving his timeless voice, I'd only fumbled my way into The Ultimate Sin. Now dawns an opportunity! Bark At The Moon has lured me in and blown me away! I've got Heavy Metal fever and the Ozzy journey shall now begin.

Working with the same lineup as The Ultimate Sin, the blemishes of its older recording swiftly diminish as that same fantastic song writing emerges. Don Airey's keys have a stronger relevance, rising up to give each song a couple moments of glossy sparkle as they resonate alongside power chords. Ozzy's voice is timely and mighty, right in the prime. He has a knack of flowing with the music, the two bouncing of one another.

One track sticks out like a thorn. With golden strings and gentle pianos, So Tired embarks on a ballad of sorts. It has a strong sixties soul accent. Ozzy just doesn't seem a fit for the instrumental that embarks on a warm emotive stride. It would of been more fitting for Dusty Springfield than Ozzy, who's voice suits something more loose, less classic. The guitar solo too feels at odds with the songs soft temperament.

The other nine songs are all cut of the Heavy Metal cloth with blazing guitar solos and all. Mostly fun, upbeat tracks with pace, good vibes and a little groove. It never runs short on energy and gusto, up to the end do they bang out hits, each song hinging on a memorable chorus that Ozzy nails every time. I particularly like how Spiders lets the bass guitar lead the song to embellish its creepy mood with its brooding prowl.

Giving an analytical ear to the record there is a sense of trying to embellish the music with a somewhat, horror, Halloween or cheesy evil tone. It comes from its retro synths which jive in quite often for a few bars. They just sound dated and "of the time" to me now but perhaps were heard differently then. Either way it just works, the great songwriting beats out any dated tropes which it has a few of in its composition.

 

Rating: 8/10

Cocteau Twins "Sunburst And Snowblind" (1983)

 
Journeying on with our deep dive on the Cocteau Twins, we have another EP featuring Sugar Hiccup and three songs left over from the Head Over Heals album. I'm getting the impression we may not find hidden gems in this avenue. These smaller release are a deeper insight to the band but more so a reminder that not everything is gold. Each of the three additional songs lack the killer spark to make them work. Possibly unfinished, they show their difficulty as the ideas present in the guitar work doesn't seem to gel with Fraser and that chemistry is absolutely vital.

From The Flagstones has all the markings of their sound, the washy guitars come across and its soft airy synths lack the gusto to elevate. Fraser comes in with power and persuasion but it misses the mark. Hitherto is the better of the three, its slow, dark and mysterious atmosphere more engrossing but on this track its Fraser who's voice doesn't quite catch the wind. Because Of Whirl-Jack brings upbeat pianos with a jovial energy and its pivot to focus on plucked acoustic strings works but the song feels like it never finds a crowning moment, perpetually swaying between verse and chorus.

One thing I can say is its fun to hear these songs and a reminder of the hard work and time it takes to craft great music. These songs are in no way bad but they highlight how bands will write songs that often don't make the light of day. Its nice to see that this music and that on the other EPs were shared, although contractual obligations may have had something to do with that given the groups outspoken dismissal of Lullabies. Anyway, whats next? You guessed it! Another EP.

Rating: 3/10

Cocteau Twins "Head Over Heels" (1983)

 
 With the departure of bassist Will Heggie, the now duo find their calling on Head Over Heels, their sophomore effort where the starts align and the magic blossoms. Its opening track When Mama Was Moth is unassuming, a slow dreary build up, nudged along by the booming echo of a drum strike as weary guitars drone under the sparkling astral melody that inspires intrigue. It takes all but twenty seconds on the following Five Ten Fiftyfold for the Ethereal beauty to emerge. Fraser plunges her voice into a spirited swoon, riding the curtails of lavish reverberation. The distant noir saxophone a perfect compliment in this gorgeous moment.

The mood is brighter, an uplift and warmth courses through these songs, arrangement shifts, guitar chords and moving the key upwards steer these esoteric and ethereal sounds to the light. The dreary, gothic darkness is still present in the abstract layers of dense guitar noise. The bass guitar shimmers underneath with a brightly punctuated chorus effect. The drum machine paces with pounds minimal groove, plunged in extravagant echos that add greatly to the muddy atmosphere.

Fraser finds herself with a greater presence in the mix. The timing often brings her in at moments of power to usher in these warm shifts of tone. Although yet to go fully wordless, her singing emphasizes feeling and emotion with many unconventional annunciations of words. The lyric sheet brings clarity but the mystery of how her voice says something different is so alluring. Words take on new meaning, all said as if looking for another, swinging from her swoon they hypnotize.

Its right inline with Guthrie's evolution. His ambiguous guitar noise clambers into new territory where craft and measure balance more obvious chords, arpeggios and string sections with the denser fog of ambiguity. It poises the music in the precarious place where convention and mystery dance in the moonlight. Its overall tone is dark, esoteric and spooky yet consistently blushes with a dazzling beauty.

Although I thought I had not ventured to this record before, a couple of tracks startled me as to how I knew them so well, yet the rest was a complete mystery! My guess Is the random videos from Youtube autoplay when I first discovered the Cocteau Twins, many years ago. Amazing how well the particulars of these songs have stuck. The love I had for this band starts here. Its a technically flawed flourish of creativity and inspiration. Big gatherings of echo crowd some moments and it has tarnishes all over. I'm loving this in a way where I know it will just keep giving and I think these amateurish growing pains are an amazing part of the experience.

 Rating: 8/10

Cocteau Twins "Peppermint Pig" (1983)

 

Before the Cocteau Twins sophomore record, arrives another, ultimately disappointing, three track EP. Released in April of 1983, it captures a moment of creative poverty where the music fails to venture upon anything of remark. Reading up on its creation, the group were forced to work with an outside producer while also feeling that their creative efforts were not up to scratch. It shows just about everywhere. The record has a drab, dry tone where its instruments feel lone and separate. The baselines rumble in repetition with a tone that feels distant from the hazy guitars. They reside in a narrow, chromatic space, dull and meandering. The hypnotic wash of pedal effects and reverb offer up little depth or texture unlike before.

Its fractions from being right but these small differences in feeling turn the songs into dull drones. The title track has some merit as layers of creepy synths and loose, shaky pianos add some much needed depth. The drum machine too is lacking in arrangement variety. The tone is dull and grinding, lacking natural echo and creativity that got it by on Garlands. In front of it all Fraser sings with a routine, that distance between instruments amplify a sore tiredness in her performance. As the band have described it themselves, its not a good record but it should be said the title track holds up okay. Its Laugh Lines and Hazel that offer little musically, further exposed by this drab production style. Disappointing but not a representation of whats to come.

Rating: 2/10

Conflict "Its Time To See Whos Who" (1983)

After enjoying a dip into Crass's first few record's I decided to seek out some more Anarcho Punk since the sound really appealed to me. Steve Ignorant of Crass actually joined the band after this, their debut record, released in 83 around what seems to be the peak of popularity for this rebellious sound. Many similar musical ideas are deployed although the record opens with a misleading track, "Young Parasites" sounds very much like The Clash with its prominent colorful baseline and generally tuneful, toned down aggression. Poorly performed guitar leads make a mockery of themselves as a shout cuts the track short to start over again.

The mood is flipped upside down with the real record as "Kings & Punks" kicks in with a crash of fast, lively drumming, temperate guitar riffs and an angry Colin Jerwood shouting with fury over a crunching baseline. At just a minute it sets the tone for fast and to the point music where songs rarely span further than the two minute mark. These tempo driven quick cuts make for an energetic atmosphere were nothing stays settled for to long as anger and frustration comes to fruition in dissent.

With an anarchy mindset, the lyrics take on progressive issues of anti-war, meat as murder and anti-establishment values with an exasperated grit of irritation. Jerwood keeps the heated resentment flowing but the accompanying music leans from its dissonant rebellious accent into catchy melodies and rocking riffs that despite being enjoyable, finds itself distancing from the core idea. A few songs here drift from the path and in these moments the consistency dips noticably.

When all elements are on the same page the soundtrack is set and the resolute attitude becomes engrossing. The records production is reasonable, guitar tone a little brittle and plastic, at times it doesn't quite have the aesthetic vitality to match its anger and the same might be said of the drums which despite being rather lively and rampant, find themselves getting buried in the mix. I also love the way the records end with some sort of improvised jam where the tempo keeps increasing and they keep going for it over and over. Chaos! Great album, potential to be great but falls short it too many places.

Favorite Tracks: 1824 Overture, One Nation Under The Bomb, Blind Attack, Blood Morons, Crazy Governments

Rating: 7/10

Echo And The Bunnymen "Porcupine" (1983)

Echo & The Bunnymen, based in Liverpool, are fast becoming a favorite of mine. "Porcupine" is the bands third and an infectious record rampant with dense songs from start to end. Their sound has transformed a little since "Heaven Up Here", a strong psychedelic vibe is present, through melodies, guitar effects and the drums which seem a lot busier with additional percussive sounds around the core drum beats. Its a richer experience, every instrument contributes to a constant wash of dense music that is expanded on a couple of tracks where strings, pianos and bells join in effortlessly.

Opening with "The Cutter" the band deliver one of their catchiest tunes yet and the knack for a good chorus really comes to fruition. Singer McCulloch gives another dazzling performance with heavy, emotional inflections into his sung words. Lyrically he seems rather pessimistic, cynical and morose with many negative statements and suggestions on positive attributions. Its most likely metaphorical statements for personal experiences, yet it comes across as a bit hollow, words that don't carry weight. Even so its easy to sing along to given his lively performance and timely delivery of melodic singing.

Behind him a dense instrumentation whirls with thought for all sorts of nuances and details that give it detail and depth, after many listens you'll still be picking out little quirks in the background. There is also a fluid sense of creativity where each song manages to make a break from the norm of its song structure for interludes and breaks that spice up the music, which is already rather rich and spicy given the fast bustling guitars that constantly layer up with other instruments and sounds.

The records production has a lot of weight on the music, much of the vibes and atmospheres these songs yield are felt in the tones and reverbs the instruments are captured with. "Clay" for example has a tinge of darkness about it, its guitars and vocals has far more echo and they bounce of one another for a sense of subtle disconnect. This use of reverb and sound design can be felt on the less thick songs the record has, it also plays a lot into the psychedelic vibe present.

Its a great record, probably best heard than described as its the sort of music that alludes me of the words to express it. That's a compliment though, if easily described perhaps it is more formulaic and predictable. Even though its songs are structured and follow norms it's the rich density of sound this album has that yields its charm. An engrossing listen, looking forward to the next one now.

Favorite Songs: The Cutter, The Back Of Love, Clay

Rating: 8/10

Killing Joke "Fire Dances" (1983)

Steadily working my way through the Killing Joke discography we arrive at the bands forth "Fire Dances". At this point I'm starting to wonder if I've heard the best of what they have to offer, however the next record includes two classics. "Love Like Blood" and the song some say Nirvana ripped of "Eighties". Unfortunately the progression to that point has yet to begun with this album mostly toying with the same ideas "Revelations" explored. A touch better overall it suffers from the same flaws as its predecessor. Even though I wouldn't rave about this release, I have to say Killing Joke do a great job at creating an original sound. When its fresh it has its charm but quickly tires as a session draws on.

The opener "The Gathering" gets things charged up with a rampant tom snare beat that glimmers an inkling of hope for another "Tension". Unfortunately the guitars are set on exploring discordant rumbling noises and creating a paranoid, nightmarish semblance. The baseline holds it together with solid melody line and the song experiments with some harsher noises groaning into the landscape. Much of the record follows this formula, tribal primitive drum pound and throb there way through drizzling distortions and nonsensical riffage that doesn't offer much in the way of song structure or progression and the bass guitar is often the only comforting outlet in a maddening climate.

Obviously its the point of this record. Much better than "Revelations" did, "Fire Dances" clearly establishes its vibe of mental insanity and playful madness no thanks to singer Jaz who seems to be enjoying his performances, flamboyant, theatrical and jester-like one can picture him dancing in front of the fire. Records that play with any theme can easily engulf you in it, regardless of if it borders on morose. There are moments where the band achieve this and their unusual riffs and style come off well, however it was to little as a whole. I'm left with an odd appreciation for this record. Its not one I wish to listen to often however it fills the gaps of experimentation that has led to a lot of extreme music I listen to today.

Favorite Song: Harlequin, Dominator, Lust Almighty

Rating: 4/10