R.I.P Rick Wright
The news just reached our ears, Pink Floyd's Richard Wright has died from an undisclosed form of cancer.
He was always one of our favorite members of the band, which was described in the early 1970s as having two factions: the drinkers vs. the smokers. Kind of a polite way of saying that David Gilmour and Wright were of a similar philosophy, and Roger Waters and Nick Mason were of another. One must include Syd Barrett in the former category too; The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn was really Rick's and Syd's.
So that sucks. But look for this to be happening quite a lot in the coming years, as the baby boomer musicians start succumbing to various illnesses and all the Lords of the Sixties start expiring in greater numbers with greater frequency. Steel yourself.
And in the wake of all the websites that are quoting irrelevant Floyd lyrics to go along with this story, let us say: Have you ever read the Daily Standard? Reading all about a plane that landed upside down? We think he'd appreciate that.
Are you a music nerd? We have LOTS of albums that we would like to hear your track-by-track thoughts on! Look through the listings, claim an album, and tell us what you think.
Recently added albums
by The Beatles
Compilation albums aren't common on Music Nerds, and for a Beatle-nerd like myself, the opportunity to expound on the band's entire trajectory is simply too much to ignore. The majority of the tracks on 1 are unavailable on other albums (aside from other compilations): standard 60s policy. Even when an album track was put out as a 45, the single mix was usually different. 1, by ... [read the rest]
by Interpol
Turn On The Bright Lights is, to put it bluntly, an astonishing work. There are multiple reasons this album, and Interpol with it, should have faded into obscurity following its 2002 release, yet it has endured as the defining album of post-9/11 America. Start with the comparisons: Joy Division, the Smiths, the Cure, R.E.M., the Strokes. Then the hype: the release of a series of EPs in the ... [read the rest]
by KISS
It's hard to believe it's been 30 years since Ace Frehley's self-titled solo debut was released, along with Gene's, Paul's, and Peter's. Thirty years ago you couldn't go five feet without having something KISS-related in front of you: dolls, radios, Halloween costumes, puzzles, games, even a full makeup kit. KISS was everywhere, and 1978 was KISSmania at its peak. I was 7 years old, and even now ... [read the rest]
by Motörhead
Loud, brash, rude, melodic: Motörhead's 1916, released on Sony's WTG subsidiary in 1991, brings all of these elements together in one 11-song album that cemented the band's reputation, as well as earning them new respect from the newer rock and metal bands. One of the stronger albums in the band's oeuvre, it still makes me wanna drive fast, pick a fight, and chase skirts, all at the same time. At ... [read the rest]
by Motörhead
Motörhead's No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith, released in 1981, still stands as one of the band's high-water marks over 25 years later. I first heard it in high school in the late 80s, and I'm still floored at its sheer ferocity and full-on audio assault. Motörhead have released many live albums since this one, but absolutely none of them bests this. Keep in mind, 1981 was a transition period ... [read the rest]
by Genesis
To many, even some Genesis fans, Calling All Stations is a very difficult album to defend. However, it features a few traits that, pleasant or not, are rather unique for Genesis, or had not surfaced in a long time. Most notable of these is the exceedingly dark atmosphere and brutal dynamics. We Can't Dance had featured louder drumming than previous Genesis albums, and Calling All ... [read the rest]
December's Children (And Everybody's)
December's Children continued the policy of releasing different Rolling Stones material in the US and Europe. This album included some new material recorded at RCA Studios but also some older stuff from earlier sessions in the UK. That makes the record a bit uneven. It also means that it is not a "real" album: rather than a collection of new (or newly recorded) songs, it's a compilation ... [read the rest]
by Queen
I know it ain't hip to like Queen (or at least admit to it), but what the hell! I'll stick my neck out for one of my favourite 'growing up' bands and rely on the fact that — love 'em or hate 'em — they were one of the most successful and influential bands of the 70s and 80s. The facts and figures speak for themselves. Review thirteen, "dedicated to..." Queen. A Night At the Opera ... [read the rest]
by Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk, since 1974's Autobahn, has been widely hailed as the most influential band for any form of electronic music, but their influence doesn't stop there, not by any means. Listening to most artists who incorporated any kind of electronic equipment — which basically includes, um, nearly every artist that performed in the 1980s at the very least — you can detect some influence. The ... [read the rest]
by The Cure
Pornography is the fourth album released by the Cure. By this time, fans of the Cure had noticed their sound was becoming darker with each album, and this album pushed in that direction to its limit. Robert Smith admitted the album was intended to be virtually unlistenable, a sort of final scream before the members of the Cure went their separate ways. This certainly is evident to any listener ... [read the rest]
by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Chapter Two. Their eponymously titled debut album had been an enormous triumph for Crosby, Stills & Nash, spawning two top-thirty hits and thrusting them to the forefront of the sixties' tail-end scene. It also, however, presented them with a very practical problem: whilst Stephen Stills' multi-instrumentation on the LP had been (and remains) impeccable, he clearly wasn't going to be able to ... [read the rest]
The formation of the band with the name like a law-firm was, to quote the song (albeit out of context), "a long time coming". Crosby and Stills had been hanging out and jamming long since before the Byrd was ousted from the nest. The Croz's inevitable dismissal towards the end of '67 had merely been accelerated by his collaboration with Buffalo Springfield at Monterey (subbing for Neil Young). The ... [read the rest]
by Genesis
Genesis, the band's only eponymous album, is an interesting work to say the least. Most people would say that the "prog rock" parts of the group's work ended with Wind and Wuthering, and they're pretty nearly right. Not 100%, mind, but they've mostly stopped playing prog-rock here, with the exception of "Home by the Sea". On the whole, the album is something of a transitional piece ... [read the rest]
by The Clash
Fresh on the heels of their third album, the critically acclaimed and commercially successful London Calling, Joe Strummer (rhythm guitar and vocals), Mick Jones (lead guitar and vocals) and Topper Headon (drums) ensconced themselves in the Iroquois Hotel near Times Square on 44th Street in New York City. They had no songs in hand, but were about to make an album that would mystify some people ... [read the rest]
by Led Zeppelin
(Produced by Jimmy Page and released on the Atlantic label in 1973. Executive producer Peter Grant and original sleeve artwork by Hypnosis.) This album has a kind of pagan/Celtic feel throughout, from the original artwork through to the tunes, especially "No Quarter", the seventh track. (The number seven in numerology is a mystical number representing other forces at work.) Although the album ... [read the rest]