History And The Mystery Of The Planet Gong, The - Gong

Advantages: Astounding sound, amazing music
Disadvantages: none

...?). Heck, it happened to Oasis after two albums! Some bands eventually make their way out of the “rock doldrums” and some just disappear under the deadweight of their own fading reputation. Brave New World is an album that farts in the face of anyone who says that was the way that Iron Maiden was going. ...THEN A HISTORY Picture a young boy on the cusp of puberty, the joys and sorrows of adulthood as yet blissfully unknown to him. He’s tucked up in bed tuning in his portable transistor radio that’s shaped like a walkie talkie, combing the waveband known only as “FM Air” listening for messages from outer space, or at least the Police radio. All of a sudden he hears a dark and chilling voice (who we later learn is Vincent Price) reciting passages out of the bible that talk of diabolical deeds... Read review

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Advantages: Pop perfection that should be bottled and sold
Disadvantages: Three duff live tracks

...'Parallel Lines': the story of how a small punk band from downtown New York ate the world. First, the history lesson, so concentrate: In 1977/78, Blondie (vocalist Debbie Harry, guitarist Chris Stein, rhythm guitarist Frank Infante, bassist Nigel Harrison, keyboardist Jimmy Destri and drummer extraordinaire Clem Burke) were looking to break away from the punk label they had been tagged with. They had had some success in Britian with a cover of Randy & The Rainbows 60's pop nugget 'Denis', while their second album 'Plastic Letters' was met with critical acclaim. The band were looking to expand on that success with an album which would crystallise their vision. 'Parallel Lines' was released and for a short, fabulous time, Blondie were the biggest and best band on the planet. It is hard to understate the importance of 'Parallel Lines... Read review

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Advantages: Highly originally, technically superb, uplifting
Disadvantages: Guitarist not given enough chance to shine

...Well people I’m back, and as it’s been a good while now since I did a music review, I thought that I’d get the ball rolling again with a look through some of the favourite albums in my collection – one of which is the topic for today; Jamiroquai’s Emergency on Planet Earth. Now as you know, I’m not really one for delving into the history of the band and finding out masses of facts, but I am one to occasionally point out some interesting things about the artists. One of the things that I discovered about Jamiroquai quite recently was something that shocked me considerably – that is, behind The Spice Girls and the chubby crooner Gary Barlow’s Take That, Jamiroquai were the best selling band of the 90’s in the UK, making Jay Kay and the lads the 3rd best selling act of the decade... Read review

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