Album Of The Week
The Shouting End Of
Life - Oysterband
We go back to 1995 for this week’s album, the first selection from my 15 releases by the British folk rock act, the Oysterband with The Shouting End Of Life.
This is the 3rd album
released by the band under the name of Oysterband though between 1982 and 1990
they released numerous album under the name of Oyster Band and prior to that as
Oyster Ceilidh Band.
The band originate from Kent in England
and their name derives from the fact the area they were based is well known for
its oysters. I will have to take their word for that as that is definitely not something
that appeals to me.
Although active throughout the 1980’s,
the Oysterband did not come to my attention until well into the 1990’s as they
were mentioned in the same regard as the Levellers, a band that I had got into
from an early stage and a band that were instrumental in my developing interest
into folk based music.
Although they had been on my radar
for a while, it was not until I heard a song of theirs played on a folk show
that I bought their 2000 release, the compilation double album, Granite Years
(The Best of Oysterband 1986 – 1997).
This album was an excellent
routeway into their earlier music which I very much enjoyed and by the time
they released Meet You There in 2007 they had become a worthy addition to my growing
collection of folk based albums.
Because of the Granite Years I
delved into their back catalogue and was very impressed with the mix of folk roots
and punk sensibility, a stance very much
akin the Levellers and other bands that had found a natural bridge between
these two genres that were rooted in political issues and social history.
In 1993 Oysterband released Holy
Bandits which was seen a breakthrough release and with a reworked release in between,
The Shouting End Of Life continued a more political, direct approach from the
band and although the is plenty of acoustic instrumentation there is a definite
punk edge to the album with the social and political themes running through the
album.
I was instantly grabbed by this album
with the way is moves between and blends the rock and folk influences giving
and very balanced, varied flowing album.
The Oysterband had become very
adept at delivering very tuneful, melodic songs that tapped into the anger,
heart and concern at the subjects they were singing about. On top of this is
the vocals of charismatic frontman, John Jones, whose distinctive voice helps
make the Oysterband sound unique and instantly recognisable.
It is fair to say that there is not
one weak track among the 12 on offer with The Shouting End Of Life and some
went on to be firm live favourites right up the end of their touring days in
2025.
In 2024 the band announced their retirement
from touring but 3 of the band, John Jones, Ray Cooper and Al Scott now tour as
the John Jones Trio, they play a mix of solo, traditional and Oysterband songs,
keeping these great songs alive on the stage. Julie and I saw them this month
(May 2026) at the Phoenix Art Centre in Exeter and as a trio they were superb.
The rawness and punk edge of 30 years ago has obviously been left behind but
what remains is a considered, personal and engaging folk act.
My first selection from The Shouting
End Of Life is the opening track, We’ll Be There, a song about protecting heritage
and environment against the onslaught of development.
The Unforgiving –
Within Temptation
This week we have the first of my
12 albums selected from Dutch symphonic metal band, Within Temptation, their 5th
studio album, released in 2011.
Within Temptation first came to my
attention in the early 2000’s when I was exploring the whole realm of heavy
metal much more especially with bands that were incorporating gothic and symphonic
elements into their music.
In 2004 I bought their 3rd
album, The Silent Force, after hearing the song Stand My Ground on a cover CD
from one of the metal magazines of the day. I was impressed by the combination
of the metal power yet flowing melodies aided by synths and orchestration.
Topping this was the impact of lead
vocalist, Sharon den Ardel, whose big voice matched the scale and breadth of
the music itself.
It was Sharon alongside partner and
now husband, Robert Westerholt, who formed the band in 1996 and they have been the
creative driving force of the band since. From 2011, Westerholt no longer tours
with the band as he looks after the couples children although he is still a creative
member of the band and performs studio guitars and production.
As a note of interest, Roberts brother,
Martijn was also a founding member of Within Temptation but had to step down
due to illness although he has since founded symphonic metal band Delain who have
become a major name within the genre of symphonic metal.
By the time The Unforgiving was released
I had already added their previous 4 albums to my collection and Within
Temptation had become one of favourite metal bands, especially on occasions when
I wanted my metal to be less challenging.
The Unforgiving itself was written
initially as a soundtrack but developed into a concept album that coincided
with the writing and release of a comic book that explored the themes of the
album. Although I am nor into comics the short story videos gave a visual image
to what the band were trying to do.
The album concept very much follows
the theme of how good people can be tainted by making bad decisions when they
are not inherently bad themselves.
Musically, the album is very tuneful
yet powerful with a superb mix of guitars and synths with the orchestration providing
flow and depth.
With the band 5 albums in there is
polish to the release and clear sense of identity while continuing the shift
into a more mainstream sound away from the gothic infused themes of the first
two albums.
Personally, I thought the album was
great and my opinion has not changed in the intervening 15 years.
Commercially, The Unforgiving did
very well and went to number 2 in the Dutch album charts and number 23 in the
UK album charts.
I have been fortunate enough to see
Within Temptation live twice and the first time was at the Brixton Academy in November
2011 on The Unforgiving tour and they were superb with the scale of the music transferring
to the stage perfectly.
My first selection from the album
is the first full length track, Shot In The Dark, the third of three singles released.
The single came with a performance promo video but also a short film from their
“triplets” series that told a story around the themes of the album.
The Hope –
Ferocious Dog
We return to my 8 album collection by Nottingham based folk/punk band Ferocious Dog this week with their 2021 and penultimate album, The Hope.
As we covered in October 2025 for
my review of Fake New & Propaganda, I first became aware of Ferocious Dog
when Julie and I saw them supporting Mad Dog McCrea at the Plymouth Guildhall
in 2013.
I was captured by their energy and
conviction with their blend of folk based punk in a style that was reminiscent
of the Levellers in the early 1990’s.
Moving on 8 years to 2021 and Ferocious
Dog released their 5th original studio album and as it transpired,
the most commercially successful of what was to be their catalogue of 6
original studio albums.
Having just signed a new record deal
in 2020, there was a degree of polish to The Hope while maintaining the fire
that is evident throughout all of the Ferocious Dog albums. From the opening
strains of the instrumental Port Issac there is a feeling that this album saw
the band stepping up a gear in terms of production and delivery.
The band make no attempt to hide
their folk influences as is evident of their rendition of the traditional sea
shanty Haul Away Joe, although typical of Ferocious Dog their version is
delivered with full on celtic punk rock vigour.
Throughout the album they tackle various
social and political themes and as typical of any good folk act they delve into
history for their subject matter, as is the case with lead single Pentrach
Rising, named after the Derbyshire uprising in the 19th century.
The theme of armed conflict is also
included with the tracks 1914 and the heartfelt Broken Soldier which was
another heartfelt song influenced by the death of the band leader, Ken Bonsall,
whose son took his life at the age of 24 following problems with PTSD following
service in Afghanistan.
There is plenty of balance on the
album from the touching ballad of the title track though to the full on punk assault
of Punk Police which takes a swipe at those who feel the need to make punk an
exclusive membership club based on certain criteria. The subject of domestic
abuse is also covered in the up-tempo but lyrically chilling Born Under Punches.
Despite some gruelling subjects covered
throughout The Hope the overall feeling of the album is hope, strength through
adversity and the belief that good will prevail.
In my opinion, Ferocious Dog have
never released a poor album but there is touch of something special about The
Hope and this was reflected in its commercial success. The album reached number
31 in the UK albums and spent 18 weeks in the UK folk charts and peaked at
number 1.
It was with a degree of sadness when I read the band were calling it a day but Julie and I saw them at the Phoenix Art Centre in Exeter recently as part of their farewell tour and they certainly said goodbye to Devon in style as they were superb.
My first selection from the album
is the lead single, Pentrach Rising, as mentioned above, a song about a workers
uprising in Derbyshire in 1817.
I, Assassin – Gary
Numan
For my latest album of the week we return to my Gary Numan collection for the second time in 3 weeks.
This week’s selection, I Assassin,
released in 1982 is the fourth album to be released as a Numan solo album but
his sixth album in total which includes the two albums released under the name
of Tubeway Army.
At this time in his career Gary
Numan had been enjoying considerable commercial success with a string of top 20
singles, including 2 number 1’s and 3 back to back number 1 albums.
During this period though Numan
announced his retirement with a run of 3 shows at Wembley Arena in 1981
although he later stated he just wanted to take some time off after his rapid rise
and the attention that it brought.
He quickly returned to action though
and 7 months after his announcement he released the album Dance which showed a
marked change in musical approach and style and the following year he released
I, Assassin.
Whereas, in my opinion, Dance was a
bit of a disjointed album, I Assassin has a flow and direction that gives the
whole album a much more focussed and cohesive feel.
The album is dominated by very
strong percussive rhythms which is brought to the fore by Pino Palladino and
his iconic fretless bass guitar playing. Alongside Numans trademark atmospheric
dark synths I Assassin has a very defined style and identity.
In development of the textures on Dance
we saw an incorporation of jazz funk styles on I, Assassin and this would go on
to be a recurring theme with the mid 1980’s and early 1990’s albums, until the
distinct and pivotal shift in 1994, as covered in previous Numan reviews.
Whereas Dance left me a bit perplexed
upon its release I took to I, Assassin immediately and while taking notice of
the above it just struck me as a very good Numan album and in hindsight the
natural successor to Dance.
To this day Gary Numan rates this
as an album he is very pleased with although it is rare that any of it makes it
into his live set.
I’ Assassin carried on Numan’s
commercial as well as creative success and along with generally positive
reviews the album hit number 8 in the UK album charts and although there were
only 8 tracks on the initial release 3 of these were released as singles, all going
into the top 20 UK singles chart.
Following the initial 8 track album, a subsequent
CD release included 7 additional songs but for the sake of this review I will
concentrate on the original album for the main although I will include one of
the bonus tracks along the way.
My first selection is the album
opener, White Boys And Heroes, a song that pulls on “film noir” subjects and imagery.
The single release of this song reached number 20 in the UK singles chart.
The Perfect Crime
– Anti-Nowhere League
This week we head back to 1987 with
the second album, The Perfect Crime, from the longstanding punk band, the
Anti-Nowhere League.
It took 5 years for the League to
follow up their notorious and controversial debut, We Are…The League and their 1987
follow-up, The Perfect Crime they also caused a stir but for completely different
reasons.
As we covered with my album of the
week piece for We Are The League in January 2022 their first album was a full
on punk rock assault laced with biting, expletive laden lyrics filled with critical
yet tongue in cheek observations.
With The Perfect Crime there was a
major shift away from the style and sound which took many by surprise. The band
had added a second guitarist to their ranks and there had been a change of
drummer but the biggest change was moving to a new record label which was not
punk orientated.
The intention with The Perfect
Crime was to make the album a more mature offering, the raw punk approach had
been crafted into a smoother, new wave direction. Lyrically the 10 songs dealt
with social and political themes of the day but it was all about the delivery.
The dual guitars added a layer of intricacy which in the main worked but it was
the splashes of synth effects that did not work. It gave the feel of 80’s pop cliché
which in my opinion detracted from the songs themselves.
In 1982 the punk band, Angelic Upstarts
tried the same thing with their Still From The Heart album and in the main, it
was a failure despite the album containing a few good songs so in some respects
the writing was on the wall for the ANL with The Perfect Crime.
I remember at the time the band got
some good television exposure with their new approach and watching a live TV
performance the new songs came across quite well but on the actual release of
the finished album the reception was not good.
Band frontman Nick (Animal) Culmer
later said that the record company pulled funding for the album after hearing
the demo recordings meaning the album was released without proper production.
Whether that would have made any
difference to its reception is debatable given the dramatic shift with the
overall sound of the band.
I quite liked some the new material
at the time but it needed direction though in isolation there are some good moments
within The Perfect Crime. With better production and dropping the synths it could
have been a better album which may have sat more favourably with the fan base.
The band disbanded soon after the
release of The Perfect Crime and that seemed to the end of the Anti-Nowhere League
but thanks to Metallica and their covering of the infamous song So What there
was an unexpected resurrection. However, it would be another 10 years before we
would see another album from them by which time The Perfect Crime would be a
distant memory.
My opening selection is the album
opener Crime which sets the scene for this new, clean, polished Anti-Nowhere
League.
Hope Bleeds – Gary
Numan
This week we move into double figures
with the tenth Gary Numan album to be selected as my album of the week with the
2004 live release, Hope Bleeds.
As we saw with my last Numan album
to be selected, Exile, Gary Numan had a dramatic attitude shift in the later
1990’s with him adopting a more personal approach to his music rather than
looking to recapture previous chart success.
By the time we got to 2004 his shift
into darker, industrial music had rejuvenated his career and ironically he was
getting more attention as well as maintaining an improved commercial interest.
The recording of the gig that the Hope
Bleeds album became was made in 2003 and the initial release was as a concert DVD
in 2004 and then as a live album in 2005.
The show itself featured songs from
his most current album at the time, the acclaimed 2000 release Pure as well as
songs from the turn around albums Sacrifice and Exile and accompanied by some
of the Numan classics but in an updated industrial style.
We are also given songs from the
impressive 2003 Hybrid remix album as well as the title track from what would
be his next studio album, 2006’s Jagged, a song that continued and developed
the sonic themes of Pure.
What is evident with these songs is
the greater emphasis on guitars alongside Numan’s trademark moody electronics
which gives the whole set a very industrial sound and as this album shows, it
is perfect for the live setting.
Numan has to use vocal backing for
the big chorus songs and again these songs come across perfectly on this very
professionally produced album.
What this recording also portrays is
the intensity of a Numan show, which each song moving into the next, there is
little chat as it’s the music and the atmosphere that dominates the event.
Julie and I have seen Gary Numan live
a number of times and I can say that Hope Bleeds captures perfectly the mood
and dynamism of his live output.
My first selection is the song
Pure, which follows the instrumental walk on track, Hybrid. On this version of
Pure, Numan incorporates his very early track, Friends, into the song which
highlights how he was blending his old material into his new style, as per the
Hybrid project mentioned above.
This song in particular has a very
sinister lyric and coupled with its industrial metal backing makes for a
powerful opener to the set.
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