Selected Albums & Introduction

Album Of The Week Selections

27/04/2024 - No Place Like Home - Big Country (1991)

20/04/2024 - Decades (An Archive Of Song 1996-2015) (2018) - Nightwish

13/04/2024 - Layers Of Ages - Peter Knight's Gigspanner (2015)

07/04/2024 - Requiem For My Mother - Rebecca Dale (2018)

30/03/2024 - Fuck The System - The Exploited (2003)

23/03/2024 - Wild Mood Swings - The Cure (1996)

16/03/2024 - The Singles 1978-1982 - U.K. Subs (1989)

09/03/2024 - Pylon - Killing Joke (2015)

02/03/2024 - Aura - The Mission (2001)

24/02/2024 - Rubicon - Tristania (2010)

17/02/2024 - Original Soundtracks 1 - Passengers (U2) (1995)

10/02/2024 - From Here To Reality - GBH (1990)

03/02/2024 - Architecture - Ist Ist (2020)

27/01/2024 - The Collection 1982-1988 - Big Country (1993)

20/01/2024 - Shadows Of A Dying Sun - Insomnium (2014)

13/01/2024 - Get A Life - Stiff Little Fingers (1994)

06/01/2024 - Losing Streak - Less Than Jake (1996)

30/12/2023 - Scum - Anti-Nowhere League (1997)

23/12/2023 - Metal Rhythm - Gary Numan (1988)

16/12/2023 - The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (Soundtrack) - Howard Shore (2002)

09/12/2023 - The Cure - The Cure (2004)

02/12/2023 - Streetcore - Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros (2003)

25/11/2023 - Songs Of Innocence - U2 (2014)

18/11/2023 - Endless - Soviet Soviet (2016)

11/11/2023 - 20 - Kate Rusby (2012)

04/11/2023 - Lights And Offerings - Mirrors (2011)

28/10/2023 - Rhythm Collision Vol.1 - Ruts DC (1982)

21/10/2023 - Evinta - My Dying Bride (2011)

14/10/2023 - Hunger - Then Comes Silence (2022)

07/10/2023 - My Cousin Rachel (Soundtrack) - Rael Jones (2017)

30/09/2023 - King Of Kings - Leaves Eyes (2015)

23/09/2023 - All Over The World - Electric Light Orchestra (2005)

16/09/2023 - Can't Touch Us Now - Madness (2016)

02/09/2023 - The Light At The End Of The World - My Dying Bride (1999)

26/08/2023 - Never Born To Follow - The Men They Couldn't Hang (1996)

19/08/2023 - The Peacemakers - Karl Jenkins (2011)

12/08/2023 - Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits (1985)

05/08/2023 - The Bitter Truth - Evanescence (2021)

29/07/2023 - Inception (Soundtrack) - Hans Zimmer (2010)

22/07/2023 - The Seer - Big Country (1986)

15/07/2023 - The Planets - Gustav Holst performed by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (2004)

08/07/2023 - Ballads Of The Broken Few (plus extended release) - Seth Lakeman (2016)

01/07/2023 - Wishmaster - Nightwish (2000)

24/06/2023 - Last Curtain Call - Theatre Of Tragedy (2011)

17/06/2023 - Good Times Will Come Again - Megson (2016)

10/06/2023 - Bloodflowers - The Cure (2000)

03/06/2023 - Devil's Advocate (Soundtrack) - James Newton Howard (1997)

27/05/2023 - The Art Of Lying - Ist Ist (2021)

20/05/2023 - The Ghost In Our House And Other Stories - Merry Hell (2015)

13/05/2023 - Waves - Dawn Of Solace (2020)

06/05/2023 - Another Kind Of Blues - U.K. Subs (1979)

29/04/2023 - Shades Of God - Paradise Lost (1992)

22/04/2023 - Motorizer - Motorhead (2008)

15/04/2023 - Ritual - White Lies (2011)

08/04/2023 - Allt - Julie Fowlis, Eamon Doorley, Zoe Conway, John Mc Intyre (2018)

01/04/2023 - Hello Rockview - Less Than Jake (1998)

25/03/2023 - The Peel Sessions - Skids (2015)

18/03/2023 - Mantaray - Siouxsie (2007)

11/03/2023 - Telekon - Gary Numan (1980)

04/03/2023 - Children - The Mission (1988)

25/02/2023 - Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth (Soundtrack) - Randy Miller (1992)

18/02/2023 - American Fall - Anti-Flag (2017)

11/02/2023 - Collateral Beauty (Soundtrack) - Theodore Shapiro (2016)

04/02/2023 - Stand Strong Stand Proud - Vice Squad (1982)

28/01/2023 - Reason Why? - Angelic Upstarts (1983)

21/01/2023 - No Rest For The Wicked - New Model Army (1985)

14/01/2023 - Days In Europa / Days In Europa (Remixed) - Skids (1979 / 1980)

07/01/2023 - Reveal - R.E.M. (2001)

31/12/2022 - At The BBC: The Best Of The BBC Recordings - Big Country (2013)

24/12/2022 - Headlights, White Lines, Black Tar Rivers - Levellers (1996)

17/12/2022 - Head Full Of Magic, Shoes Full Of Sand  - Merry Hell (2013)

10/12/2022 - Machine + Soul - Gary Numan (1992)

03/12/2022 - Saturday Night Sunday Morning - The Stranglers

26/11/2022 - Storm - Theatre Of Tragedy (2006)

19/11/2022 - Violence - Editors (2018)

12/11/2022 - Elements - Ludovico Einaudi (2015)

05/11/2022 - The Madness Continues - 1919 (2015)

29/10/2022 - Illumination - Tristania (2007)

22/10/2022 - In This Light And On This Evening - Editors (2009)

15/10/2022 - Quintessentials - U.K. Subs (1997)

08/10/2022 - October Rust - Type O Negative (1996)

01/10/2022 - Revelations - Fields Of The Nephilim (1993)

24/09/2022 - Casting Shadows - Wolfsheim (2003)

03/09/2022 - The Weight Of Your Love - Editors (2013)

27/08/2022 - Big Noise Transmission - Gary Numan (2012)

20/08/2022 - Damien: Omen II (Soundtrack) - Jerry Goldsmith (1978)

13/08/2022 - Automatic For The People - R.E.M. (1992)

06/08/2022 - Billy Connolly's Musical Tour Of Scotland - Connolly, McTell, Preskett (1995)

30/07/2022 - Super Black Market Clash - The Clash (1993)

23/07/2022 - Trade Test Transmissions - Buzzcocks (1993)

16/07/2022 - Brand New Age - U.K. Subs (1980)

09/07/2022 - Cures What Ails Ya - The Longest Johns (2020)

02/07/2022 - No album

25/06/2022 - Three Imaginary Boys - The Cure (1979)

18/06/2022 - Big Music - Simple Minds (2014)

11/06/2022 - Battlefield Dance Floor - Show Of Hands (2019)

04/06/2022 - Neverland - The Mission (1995)

28/05/2022 - The Book Of Souls: Live Chapter - Iron Maiden (2017)

21/05/2022 - Fight The Good Fight - The Interrupters (2018)

14/05/2022 - Libertine - Liv Kristine (2012)

07/05/2022 - No Going Back - Stiff Little Fingers (2014)

30/04/2022 - Indestructible - Rancid (2002)

23/04/2022 - Divine Madness - Madness (1992)

16/04/2022 - From Here - New Model Army (2019)

09/04/2022 - Forever Is The World - Theatre Of Tragedy (2009)

02/04/2022 - Collapse Into Now - R.E.M. (2011)

26/03/2022 - Shaking The Tree - Peter Gabriel (1990)

19/03/2022 - Shallow Life - Lacuna Coil (2009)

12/03/2022 - The 13th Chapter - The Dreamside (2007)

05/03/2022 - My Head Is An Animal - Of Monsters And Men (2012)

26/02/2022 - Elizium - Fields Of The Nephilm (1990)

19/02/2022 - Quartet - Ultravox (1982)

12/02/2022 - Better Than Death - New Today (2017)

05/02/2022 - Jagged - Gary Numan (2006)

29/01/2022 - The Blinding Dark - Covenant (2016)

22/01/2022 - We Are...The League - Anti-Nowhere League (1982)

15/01/2022 - Life's Rich Pageant - R.E.M, (1986)

08/01/2022 - Musique - Theatre Of Tragedy (2000)

01/01/2022 - Breaking Point - Clan Of Xymox (2006)

25/12/2021 - Where We're Bound - Show Of Hands  (2018)

 18/12/2021 - Traivellers Joy - Emily Smith (2011)

 JC Album Of The Week

Since I can remember I have been mad about music, at a very early age I owned a radio and would love to hear all music I could. I used to love quietly listening to the weekend shows while my parents were asleep and would be so excited to hear Gary Glitter, The Sweet, Mud, T-Rex and the glam rock bands. My parents were into classical and opera which didn't gel with me at all, I mean what 7 year old gets excited by Madame Butterfly?

In 1977 I started secondary school and started mixing with older boys and one in particular introduced me to Punk and talked about a Radio 1 DJ called John Peel. My musical life was changed forever. I was introduced to the likes of The Stranglers, The Jam, Buzzcocks, The Clash and so much more. I would record parts of John Peel's show and really got into a lot of the music he was promoting.

I got myself a weekend job as soon as I turned 13 and started buying as much music as I could, Black and White by The Stranglers, Valley Of The Dolls by Generation X, Another Kind Of Blues by U.K. Subs, Machine Gun Etiquette by The Damned, Nobody's Heroes by Stiff Little Fingers, Replicas by Tubeway Army were stand out purchases from these early days.

The Stranglers and Tubeway Army/Gary Numan became my favourites and still are to this day.

In the early 80's I got into U2, The Alarm, Big Country and bands that became labelled as "conscience rock" as well as bands that fell into the broad brush genre of post-punk/indie/alternative and now as a 56 year old this genre makes up and large amount of my collection.

Until the mid 1990's I had made a point of avoiding Heavy Metal although Iron Maiden and Judas Priest had caught my attention, Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son and British Steel had made it into my collection.

I then discovered bands like Paradise Lost, Theatre Of Tragedy, Nightwish, My Dying Bride and Anathema, bands that incorporated gothic rock influences into their music which really appealed to me as I was into the likes The Mission, The Cult, Sisters Of Mercy, Bauhaus and Killing Joke.

I threw myself into metal but came to the point where I was pursuing the genre rather than music that  was actually grabbing me but I have about 200 albums that would be classed as Metal or one of its sub-genres.

In the early 1990's I got into the Levellers and in a round about way they helped introduce me to more folk based music and gradually I got into the Oysterband, Runrig, Clannad and contemporary folk artists such as Show Of Hands, Seth Lakeman, Kate Rusby, Julie Fowlis and many others.

The latest genre to grab my attention came from my love of film and some of my favourite films are backed by brilliant scores but it was the series The Tudors and the great music by Trevor Morris that got me into film and TV based music and subsequently into contemporary classical from the likes of Ludovico Einaudi, Max Richter, Johann Johannsson and film score composers like Hans Zimmer and Alexander Desplat.

From about 1992 my vinyl buying ceased and I moved over to CD as some artists were by then no longer releasing on vinyl so I made the switch which meant replacing a lot of my collection in this format over the years. I have not been tempted back to vinyl since its resurgence mainly due to space to store them and price. I have also not bought into the romanticism of vinyl as ultimately its about the music itself and not the media through which one listens to it. For me, music is about how it makes you feel, how it hits you, resonates and provokes, to get lost in technicalities dilutes the experience in my opinion.

So as of now I have about 1365 albums and EPs in my collection and its easy to only listen to the newly acquired albums and forget the old and this was bugging me for a long time. Therefore, back in 2018 I decided to have a dedicated album of the week drawn completely at random from my collection. I do not choose the album myself, I allow a spreadsheet with a random number function to do it for me and the only stipulation I impose is that when an album has been selected it cannot be selected again. I play the album 3 times during the week and its often a reminder of why I bought it in the first place. On rare occasions I will ask myself "why did I buy this" and there has been some culling of my collection, mainly Metal when, as I said before, I was pursuing the genre rather than a band or artist that had really grabbed me.

My wife, Julie, thinks I am mad (in a nice way) but I enjoy "album of the week" day, generally a Saturday and so far there have been 159 selected out of the 1365 albums I have so there is a lot more to come.

From now on, I will post an update each week once I have drawn a new album. hope you enjoy.

Thanks

JC