Beautiful day (U2) (LP 4776 - 4780)

U2  All That You Can't Leave Behind  (CD, Island Records, 2000) **** 

U2  How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (CD, Island Records, 2004) *** 

U2  No Line on the Horizon (CD, Island Records, 2009) **** 

U2  Songs of Innocence (CD, Island Records, 2014) *** 

U2  Songs of Experience (CD, Island Records, 2017) *** 

Genre: Rock, pop

Places I remember: The Warehouse, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Beautiful Day (All That You Can't Leave Behind)

Gear costume: Wild Honey, Walk On (ATYCLB), Summer of Love (Songs of Experience)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: A new millennium and U2 returns to their signature sound and I'm back on board after a couple of disappointing nineties albums. I wasn't alone, but that left the band in a precarious position. How much do they revitalise the classic U2 sound, and how much do they experiment? Afterall that combination was responsible for their best albums so far - War, The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby.

All That You Can't Leave Behind still retains some production tropes from those experimental years but marries them, mostly successfully, to the traditional U2 sound. That sound includes nineties masterpiece Achtung Baby. That warm tone has returned.

Wild Honey, Walk On and Beautiful Day are good examples of that tone and U2's pop smarts. All are terrific songs that are standouts.  The rest of the songs have their moments but the album's varying styles ultimately make it seem like a long album. 

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb kicks off with an anthemic U2 number - Vertigo, which deliberately lunches their mainstream rock sound for the early naughties. 

The production is a back-to-basics approach with a clean rock sound that I generally like, but there is no Achtung Baby style reaching for greatness. Nevertheless, it's still a good U2 album.

Five years went by before their third album in nine years - No Line on the Horizon. It's a return to a particular type of U2 experimentalism with Bono abandoning first person narratives and the band toning down the familiar U2 shapes that dominated How to Dismantle...It's also an album I'm not very familiar with - as in I've probably played the album once in the years since its release.

To make up for that, I've played it four times back-to-back for this post. It's definitely grown on me. There seems to be a maturity about the meditative and melancholy sound. At times it vergers on an ambient soundscape. Bono's lyrics also fit this mood, and so it's ripe for continuing rediscovery.

Songs of Innocence came after another lengthy five plus years break. In 2014, the album courted controversy by being an automatic download to itunes. It came to my inbox but I ignored it and bought a physical copy instead. I like to choose my music thanks, rather than being forced into that kind of situation. I think Bono and Apple eventually got the message, because they haven't repeated this promo trick.

It's a double CD (a five-track bonus CD is listed as CD2), so I've listened it (and follow up Songs of Experience) even less that No Line on the Horizon. That makes for a long listening experience. Usually, a double CD is a statement of importance, but this just feels like a lot of fair to middling U2 songs to me (remember I haven't listened to it a lot). Nothing much stands out yet, in other words.

Songs of Experience is a more succinct statement and I enjoy it more than Innocence, but it's a lot like How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb in that it's U2 producing their tried and true sounds without getting above a canter. In summary - the progress made towards a mature U2 on No Line on the Horizon has come to little with the two Songs of...albums. Time again for a fresh approach if they want to stay relevant, methinks.

Where do they all belong? That's it for U2 in the 21st Century - a bit hit and miss, nevertheless, U2 are an important rock band and when they get desperate enough they can produce landmark records.  

I will follow (U2) (LP 4768 - 4775)

U2  Boy (Vinyl, Island Records, 1980) ***  

U2  October (Vinyl, Island Records, 1981) *** 

U2  War (Vinyl, Island Records, 1983) **** 

U2  Under a Blood Red Sky (Vinyl and CD, Island Records, 1983) ***** 

U2  The Unforgettable Fire (Vinyl, Island Records, 1984) **** 

U2  The Joshua Tree (Vinyl, Island Records, 1987) ***** 

U2  Rattle and Hum (CD, Island Records, 1988) ***

U2  Achtung Baby (CD, Island Records, 1991) *****

Genre: Pop, rock, new wave 

Places I remember: Marbecks Records, Roger Marbeck, Sounds music store.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: New Year's Day (War)

Gear costume: The Fly (Achtung Baby) 

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: U2 is a band that I came to early with the Gloria single and then October (1981) and have collected them in a spasmodic way since then. They are a band I've often liked but they have never become a band that demanded my absolute attention. Maybe that stems from October - an interesting album dominated by that single. That said, I still have a lot of their albums, so I'll split my posts into 20th Century and 21st Century albums.

The debut album, Boy, is full of passionate performances in a new wave, energised by punk, style. I Will Follow is the lead off song and it acts as a kind of early mission statement. It definitely has a youthful verve.

October is interesting for its religious and spiritual allusions, and how different it sounds to Boy. It certainly rewards repeat listens - there is a lot to digest in Bono's lyrics. However, unlike Boy which contained some big U2 songs like I Will Follow, Stories for Boys and The Electric Co., October only has Gloria as a big U2 song so it may have disappointed a few people.

War holds special memories for me as I was living in New Plymouth (Pioneer Road) and had recently met and started dating Jacky Smith. It seemed she had plans to travel overseas and I was smitten (love at first sight) so it was a bit of a mixed emotion time during a gloomy winter. I had a cassette copy of War that I listened to as I roamed the streets around that area of New Plymouth in a bit of a funk. Things worked out and I married Jacky in 1984 (reader - we're still married), but listening to War reminds me of that time in a second.

It's got some great moments on it - Sunday Bloody Sunday, New Year's Day, Two Hearts Beat As One are three. There was certainly no letting up in the passion and commitment departments (same with U2 - ha ha).

The live set, Under a Blood Red Sky, was a perfect wrap up of the strengths of the first three albums in a richly atmospheric Red Rocks setting. It again proves the value of a single album live album. Bono is a terrific frontman and he's great on this album, plus the guitaring from The Edge is much more of a feature in the live setting. The interplay between Larry, Adam and Edge is fantastic and Bono's vocals help create that classic U2 post punk sound.

The Unforgettable Fire is like a tone poem, in that it feels like a deliberate attempt to be a single-movement work that musically evokes a story, poem, or painting. That may be down to the soundscape helped along by the production tropes of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. They create a more ambient sound that at the time felt like a step forward for U2 but in hindsight is more a transition toward the sound of The Joshua Tree.

The big hit was Pride (In the Name of Love), but that isn't really representative of the album as a whole. Hence the four stars. Their next album though, The Joshua Tree, is a clear five-star effort. Each song works, the sound is crystal clear and nuanced perfectly with enough variation in songs to be consistently interesting. It's a winner and  a standout album of the eighties.

In comparison, Rattle and Hum, the double album follow up to The Joshua Tree, is just plain weird. As a movie it was a pretty cool experience. I saw it with GK and we both enjoyed parts of it. Some of it I found to be over the top bombastic, so I didn't buy the album as a consequence. I have a CD copy because Roger Marbeck gave me a pile of CDs and it was in the pile.

The weird odds and sods-ness comes from the studio/live split, the cover choices (Beatles, Dylan, Hendrix) and guest artists. My favourite tracks feature those guests - especially B.B. King. When Love Come To Town is lifted by his greatness.

Overall though, it acts as a place-holder rather than a forward-looking proposition. The obsession with America lends the set a kind of off-kilter vibe and Bono comes across poorly at times. All fur coat no nickers.

Achtung Baby was the next studio effort and it's a huge improvement on Rattle and Hum. Every song is perfectly rendered and there are some BIG songs on the album like Mysterious Ways, Zoo Station, One, Even Better Than the Real Thing to name four and I still love to air guitar along to The Fly.

The whole tone of the album is warm and rock solid - that's quite a trick. Bono's lyrics took a jump forward too with more emphasis on personal revelations and relationships. All up - this is a great rock and roll album and a contender for their best work ever. 

Where do they all belong? I didn't bother with the next two U2 albums - Zooropa and Pop. Their electronica, experimental phase was not to my taste, so their 21st Century recordings are next up.

Echoes in the dark (Uriah Heep) (LP 4756 - 4767)

Uriah Heep  ...Very 'Eavy...Very 'Umble (Vinyl, Bronze and Vertigo Records, 1970) ****  

Uriah Heep  Salisbury (Vinyl, Bronze Records, 1971) ***  

Uriah Heep  Look at Yourself (Vinyl, Bronze Records, 1971) *****

Uriah Heep  Demons and Wizards (Vinyl, Bronze Records, 1972, 2015 reissue) *****  

Uriah Heep  The Magician's Birthday (Vinyl, Mercury Records, 1972) ***   

Uriah Heep  Uriah Heep Live (Vinyl, Mercury Records, 1973) ****  

Uriah Heep  Sweet Freedom (Vinyl, Warner Bros. Records, 1973) *** 

Uriah Heep  Downunda (Vinyl, Bronze Records, 1974) *** 

Uriah Heep  Wonderworld (Vinyl, Bronze Records, 1974) *** 

Uriah Heep  Return to Fantasy (Vinyl, Bronze Records, 1975) ****

Uriah Heep  Live in Europe 1979 (Vinyl, Raw Power Records, 1986) **  

Uriah Heep  Fallen Angel (Vinyl, Chrysalis Records, 1978) ***  

Genre: Hard rock, Heavy Metal, Prog rock 

Places I remember: RCA Record Club, Real Groovy Records, JB Hi Fi, Chaldon Books and Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Easy Livin (Demons and Wizards)

Gear costume: July Morning (Live)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: Uriah Heep was one of the bands that sound tracked my teenage years. ...Very 'Eavy ...Very 'Umble was their debut album and one of my earliest possessions in 1970. For a time, it was a permanent fixture on my Garrard SP 25 Mk III turntable. Whenever I hear Gypsy I'm immediately back in my bedroom at 18 Korma Ave., in Auckland, playing music my parents hated. As it should be.

At this point the band used a dual organ/guitar attack strategy thanks to Ken Hensley and Mick Box. David Byron added his distinctive vocals and the heavy/weird sound that they conjured up hooked me big time.

Funnily enough, listening to the whole album again now, what strikes me is how varied in style and polite it is. At the time this felt like the most radical music ever! There are songs that have a blues approach, at least one song with a very jazzy feel, a hard rock guitar song and Gypsy - which is amazing, but not typical of their sound.

Their marriage of hard rock with progressive rock would become a feature of their next albums.

In 1970/1971, I bypassed their second album, Salisbury, and third album Look at Yourself. Money is tight when you are 12/13, and those two years were filled with some amazing music. So, I looked away (until Demons and Wizards) and came to these albums later in life.

Salisbury sees the band heading into prog rock territory with the 16-minute title track. Ken Hensley in his sleeve notes called this 'our first trip into large-scale composing', with brass and woodwind being used alongside the electric band. There's plenty of experimentation elsewhere as well with the folky Lady in Black.

Look at Yourself again has some excellent moments - the epic July Morning is awesome, and the title track should have been the hit single. The sound is a lot bigger and much more in yer face than the three preceding albums. There aren't any weak songs on this, their first five-star effort.

Playing July Morning LOUD is warmly recommended. Those organ/bass/drum riffs are superb and when David Byron's terrific vocals take over it produces a peak Uriah Heep moment. 

The second Uriah Heep album that I bought after ...Very 'Eavy...Very 'Umble was Demons and Wizards in 1972. The impetus was the single Easy Livin which was immense. That and the Roger Dean sleeve made the album a must have at the time. 

The bonus was new bass recruit, Gary Thain, a Kiwi, who had now joined the band along with drummer Lee Kerslake. Gary had a very melodic bass style which added a lot to the band's sound. Tragically he would die from a heroin overdose in 1975 after leaving the band.

The sword and sorcery, prog aspects of the album cover and the title weren't translated onto the songs necessarily beyond The Wizard, and Rainbow Demon which lead off each side. Instead, as Hensley says in his customary sleeve notes, 'it's just a collection of our songs we had a good time recording'.

My attention was again diverted after Demons and Wizards so, bizarrely, I missed The Magician's Birthday, their second album of 1972. These guys worked hard - touring and producing two albums a year for three years in a row. I've always loved the cover so it is weird I didn't buy a copy until many years later. Maybe I'd read some reviews and it didn't have the freshness of Demons and Wizards. It sounds pretty good in 2026, but not up there with the band's best albums.

I did buy Live back in 1973 and loved it! What's not to love? 'Fridee night in Birmingham' - that sounded so exotic to a teenager in suburban Auckland. Listening to the album allowed me to indulge my fantasies.

It's a terrific double live album recorded in January 1973, which like all the best double live albums, puts you in the centre of the audience. David Byron's stage announcements are a hoot, too. From his 'Fridee night in Birmingham', to the mention of the chewing gum on his boot to the Gypsy intro where he says it features 'the Moog simplifier (sic)'!

The only blemish is the padded out Gypsy, but the excellent version of July Morning makes up for it. The extended rock'n'roll medley as an encore is a lot of fun too.

I lost track of Uriah Heep again after Live, so I'm late to the party with the rest of their catalogue, starting with Sweet Freedom. Stealin' was a hit off the album. The rest of the album sounds like the band are at times moving towards new territories while trying to hang on to what makes them Uriah Heep. It feels like a transitional record.

Downunda is a double compilation album to commemorate their Australian tour of 1974. The sound quality varies on this pressing for some reason. Bizarrely, a NZ pressing of it (which this is) seems to be worth around $100 according to Discogs.

The next studio album, Wonderworld, was the last to feature Gary Thain on bass. It continues the transitional phase from Sweet Freedom and has the same experimental approach while retaining Uriah Heep's patented organ/guitar sound. Highlights would be So Tired. and Something or Nothing.

Return to Fantasy is a bit of a misnomer as it doesn't return to Demons and Wizards territory. Although it does employ synths, it does continue the best bits of Wonderworld and Sweet Freedom with new bassist John Wetton. That means it works the same rock moves of those albums but with a bit more conviction and a harder edge overall. As such it's a welcome return to form.

Live in Europe 1979 came out in the mid-eighties. No, I'm not sure why either. Nevertheless, it exists. Given I loved their live in 1973 album I thought it was worth a punt. If you can adjust to the fact a new vocalist (John Lawton) has replaced David Byron, then it's a sprint through the old songs. If not (and I struggle) it sounds slightly off and a bit of a grind.

That does introduce a new problem for the band, any band actually. As they age older members get replaced and the band morphs into a different beast. Ultimately, I guess, they run the risk of becoming their own tribute band.

Fallen Angel is the only studio album I have with the non-Byron version of the band. John Lawton is again the vocalist and this is actually his last album with the band. Box/ Hensley/ Kerslake are still there, and Trevor Bolder is on bass.

I didn't have high hopes but it's not too bad, as it happens. Lawton still suffers a little in comparison to Byron, it must be said, but the music is pretty damn good. When I think about Black Sabbath - I can only think Ozzy; Led Zeppelin - Robert Plant; Yes - Jon Anderson; Deep Purple - Gillan. You get the idea, I'm sure. Those singers are synonymous with the band. Uriah Heep are no different. Those classic early albums have Byron's distinctive howl all over them, for good or for bad, and that's how I like my Uriah Heep.

Where do they all belong? No plans to buy any of the other albums out there. I'll stick with the classic lineup.

Guilty pleasure (Unknown Mortal Orchestra) (LP 4754 - 4755)

Unknown Mortal Orchestra II (Vinyl, JagJaguar Records, 2013) ****  

Unknown Mortal Orchestra V (Vinyl, JagJaguar Records, 2023) **** 

Genre: Indie rock, psychedelic rock, NZ music 

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Meshuggah (V)

Gear costume: Swim and Sleep (like a shark) (II)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: Unknown Mortal Orchestra is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Ruban Nielson. Initially from Auckland, he and the band are now based in Portland, Oregon. 

On II he plays with two of his brothers and sundry others. The music is hard to categorise as he likes prog, psychedelic, dream pop and indie rock structures. II is more experimental than V, which feels more commercial (but not by much).

He, and the band, are exciting because they take plenty of risks and they mostly pay off. He's a true talent.

Where do they all belong? I'm keen to track down his/their other albums. I was lucky to pick these two up in a JB Hi Fi clearance sale.

Oh my (UFO) (LP 4746 - 4753)

UFO  Phenomenon (CD, Chrysalis Records, 1974) ***  

UFO  Force It (CD, Chrysalis Records, 1975) *** 

UFO  No Heavy Petting (CD, Chrysalis Records, 1976) *** 

UFO  Lights Out (CD, Chrysalis Records, 1977) *** 

UFO  Obsession (CD, Chrysalis Records, 1978) *** 

UFO  Strangers in the Night (CD, Chrysalis Records, 1979) **** 

UFO  No Place to Run (Vinyl, Chrysalis Records, 1980) *** 

UFO  Mechanix (Vinyl, Chrysalis Records, 1982) ****

Genre: Hard rock

Places I remember: HMV

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Doctor Doctor (Strangers in the Night)

Gear costume: Rock Bottom (Phenomenon); Let it Rain, Somethin' Else (Mechanix)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: UFO are a hard rock band from the seventies who had three big things going for them on Phenomenon - their third album: Phil Mogg's superb vocals; axe hero Michael Schenker (fresh from Scorpions); and producer Leo Lyons from fellow Chrysalis band, Ten Years After. He knows blues rock territory.

While Phenomenon is yet to harness the power of the new UFO completely, the album has some great moments - principally Doctor Doctor and Rock Bottom. Both would become regular additions to the setlist from then on.

Force It, again superbly produced by Leo Lyons, was where the classic UFO started to take full flight. That said, I'm not a huge fan of this and the next couple of albums. Moog sings great and Schenker shreds with aplomb - it's just that the songs aren't as strong as they should, could, would be later on. The highlights on the album are Let It Roll, the lead off song, and Shoot Shoot.

No Heavy Petting was the last album produced by Leo Lyons and it's quite similar to Force It in its approach. The songs aren't even as strong as they were on that album so No Heavy Petting is something of a disappointment, even though the Hipgnosis team contributed an excellent cover.

Lights Out was produced by Ron Nevison and was a slight step forward, while sounding distinctly like the UFO of the previous few albums. 

Love to Love is the last song on the album, and for me it's a clear highlight. The misstep is the cover of Love's Alone Again Or. What's the point of a close cover like this?

Obsession was Michael Schenker's last studio album on lead guitar. No doubt, he is a great guitarist but his tone isn't a particularly warm one so I'm not a huge fan as it happens. His impressive lightning leads are often shrill and harsh to my ears.

Overall, the album hits hard (like Lights Out and indeed all of these albums) but it also takes a lead from Love to Love to experiment a bit, even including strings and piano on the ballad Lookin' Out For No. 1.

The live album, Strangers in the Night, is a great summary of the band's strengths with Michael Schenker. The set captures the band at its peak. The sound is superb and the band are tight as. The highlights are many with definitive versions of songs like Doctor Doctor, Rock Bottom, Shoot Shoot, Let It Roll and Lights Out.

No Place to Run was the first album with new guitar ace - Paul Chapman. My other reason for owning a copy is the producer who happened to be George Martin! Sadly, I have to report that even his genius can't lift the album beyond some generic hard rock moves. Standout track would be their version of Mystery Train.

Mechanix, however, is another story. I love this album, mainly because it was the first UFO album I heard. For some reason their seventies output had passed me by. Secondly, the songs are great. Highlights are The Writer, Somethin' Else, We Belong to the Night, Let it Rain, and Terri - a fantastic power ballad.

Where do they all belong? The hard rock genre is much maligned these days and not my go-to anymore, but listening to UFO still gives me pleasure.

Flip flop and fly (Big Joe Turner) (LP 4745)

Big Joe Turner Roll 'Em Pete (CD, MCPS Records, 2007) ****  

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: The Warehouse

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Roll 'Em Pete

Gear costume: Flip Flop and Fly

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: Roll 'Em Pete is an amazing piece of music. Pete Johnson is an incredibly gifted boogie woogie piano player and when that is joined with Big Joe Turner's blues shouter delivery, it makes for a spine-tingling moment.

According to Paul Oliver, Roll 'Em Pete "features spectacular piano playing by Johnson and a forceful vocal by Turner in the style he made famous - half-shouted and with repetitive phrases building up tension at the close." Bravo!

Roll 'Em Pete is the first of 14 songs on this compilation. There are stacks of budget compilations out there with varying degrees of quality. Given that these songs appeared originally on 78s that's not surprising, I guess. This album is a cut above others I've had over the years.

Where do they all belong? There is only one Big Joe Turner and every home should have one album by him. I'd warmly recommend this one.

Great romantic (Tunde) (LP 4744)

Tunde  Tunde (CD, RCA Records, 2004) ***  

Genre: Soul, pop

Places I remember: The Warehouse

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Passing the Hours (on YouTube)

Gear costume: Great Romantic (on YouTube)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: Tunde Baiyewu's vocals in The Lighthouse Family are superb and he and Paul Tucker make a very successful duo. Unfortunately, when he's without Tucker he struggles a bit to be distinctive.

The songs on his debut album, Tunde, are pleasant and quietly effective but lack that x factor to make them truly memorable. I bought the album on the back of his albums with Tucker, but haven't bothered to look for more of his work away from The Lighthouse Family.

Where do they all belong? The Lighthouse Family are the place to go. My reviews are here.