20 Years Ago - King Diamond/Black Rose

Advantages: Smooth and mellow
Disadvantages: A very samey kind of smooth and mellow

.... The beat - when it appears - is staccatoed and unpredictable and most of the time it's just Sade, a bass and a meandering piano with a side order of very subtle percussion. This beatless approach would work well on a shorter track, but at an ill-advised 5:22, it's pillows at the ready! (Hence the title of my review). Mark: 3/5 8. I Will Be Your Friend (4:44) Virtually the twin sister of Smooth Operator but the only difference being the difference in lyrics. Same pace, sam mood, instruments, sax intro, everything! The lyrics, as on the rest of the album, are not very inspiring. "I will be your friend until the end of time". Perhaps it's telling that Diamond Life was recorded 20 years ago, because the lyircs on this track and the album as a whole wouldn't really hold up these days. Mark: 3/5 9. Why Can't We Live Together? (5:30) Subtle... Read review

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Advantages: It's Neil Diamond
Disadvantages: It's Neil Diamond

..., classical, pop, trance, dance, ambient, R&B, reggae, rap, Britpop, country and western, alternative and whatever school of music Kraftwork, Pink Floyd and Coldplay fall into from about 1950 onwards - but everyone has to draw the line somewhere. This is just wrong! And yet.... I can't help myself..... I have been seduced by the Dark Side of the Force, easy listenin'. Two weeks ago I had street cred. My friends' children still think I'm cool because they don't know what's happened - well ok, that maybe more to do with my car than anything else - but even so, how did I get from there to here? It all started like this. Many years ago, I'm chatting away to my, then, Boss as we drive between meetings and we get onto the topic of music. To my absolute consternation, he tells me that in his view, the God of Pop is not Robbie or Elvis... Read review

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Advantages: Couple of really good songs
Disadvantages: Very much a step back for the old boys

...Judas Prist - Sin After Sin released by Columbia in 1977. I initially bought this album a few years ago to compliment my Judas Priest collection, but it took a while before I really listened to it. Now this album, is actually worth owning mostly because of the few really amazing tracks such as "StarBreaker", "Sinner" and the for some odd reason very overlooked "Raw Deal" which almost never gets mentioned when talking about Judas Prist. There is not really any groundbreaking news on this albums, apart from the fact that they seem to have taken a step back from the sounds of Sad Wings. However, one can easily overlook this as it later leads to much heavier sounds and material from this awesome band. Some of you may notice Diamonds and Rust, which is in reality a quite good rendition of Joan Baez's original song, from the album... Read review

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