Album Of The Week
October – U2
This week we go all the way back to
1981 while staying firmly in the realms of post-punk with the third of my 24 albums
by U2 to be selected, their second release, October.
If last week’s band Ist Ist is the
modern face of the genre then U2 are very much part of the genesis of post-punk
with their debut album, Boy, released in 1980, a landmark album at a time when bands
initially rooted in punk began to incorporate other styles and influences into
the raw, DIY ethic that characterised punk rock.
U2 are a major part of my music roots
from the time in 1981 when I first became aware of them via an edited live
concert broadcast on television. I have followed them through their career and
although as they have matured they may have lost a degree of the youthful
urgency and made a few errors along the way they are still a very important band
to me. I think in some respects, the massive commercial success since The
Joshua Tree may have alienated some of the purists but that is not uncommon
when some rock bands find commercial success although there are few to have
rivalled what U2 have achieved over the years.
Back at the time though when October
was released we had no idea how big an act they would become and October almost
became the final album that U2 would release.
At the time, 3 of the band members,
Bono (Paul Hewson), The Edge (Dave Evans) and Larry Mullan were part of a
Christian society and they found that there were conflicts in trying to marry a
life of faith with being in a rock band. Things came to a head and two of them,
Bono and Edge stated, all be it briefly, they would leave U2. This stance did
not last long and they found a way to reconcile the dilemma and balance faith
with their chosen occupation. There was concern though from within the band that
they were becoming a “Christian rock” band and Christian faith is certainly a central
theme within October. However, there is a very personal and introspective feel with
the album that avoids delving into pulpit preaching, instead there is a
maturity and honesty in Bono’s lyric writing.
There is quite a contrast of styles
on the album highlighting the possible conflict they were having as a band at
the time though there are hints of the raw bombast that was to follow with 1983’s,
breakthrough War album, where the shackles were well and truly off.
Although October was only U2’s second
album we can already hear a distinct style and sound within the band, a sound
that has stayed their bedrock throughout their albums even though Edge has been
keen to experiment and incorporate electronics at times.
As mentioned above, there is a maturity
and intensity within the lyrics which at times shows an insight beyond their
years which would later see them, maybe unfairly, labelled as “conscience rock”.
With the benefit of 45 years of
hindsight, this is a major album for U2 and a landmark album as the post-punk
genre grew and developed.
October peaked at number 11 in the
UK album charts and produced two singles, both of which enjoyed moderate
commercial success.
My first selection from the album
is the lead single and opening song, the anthemic Gloria.
This is an infectious song with a
lyric that covers love and faith both of God and a woman with the inclusion of
a Latin chorus, making this a very unique song and a live favourite from their
early days.
Dagger – Ist Ist
This week we have the most recent
release from Manchester post-punk band Ist Ist, the third to be selected from
my collection of 6 albums from this prolific band.
Dagger, is the fifth studio album
from Ist Ist and was only released in February of this year but it is an album
which has made a strong impact on me with the development of sounds and textures
that drew me to the band prior to their first album back in 2020.
As I stated in my album of the week
post in May 2023 for their second album, The Art Of Lying, there is a
foundation in their sound that goes back to the bands such as Joy Division early
Sisters Of Mercy, the Cure and more recent post-punk bands such as White Noise.
With each Ist Ist album there are
subtle industrial shades that manages to combine starkness and warmth topped
with lush keyboards, emphatic rhythms and soaring melodies. Alongside this there
is the deep, warm vocals of Adam Houghton whose resemblance to the vocal style
of Ian Curtis cannot be ignored, however, this is not uncommon in post-punk and
goth rock bands.
This latest Ist Ist release, Dagger,
continues and enhances these soundscapes perfectly with a scale of delivery
that makes this a natural progression in their impressive array of albums bearing
in mind that this is their 5th studio album in 6 years.
Ist Ist honed their craft playing live
and it took 6 years from band formation to first album but that solid
foundation and compactness of sound is evident to what they bring with this new
album. A test of any band though is how they transfer their music from the
studio to the live setting and Dagger feels like a very “live” album.
There is a nice variation of approach
on the album with enough mood and tempo shifts to keep it interesting and
lyrically there is enough optimism to balance some of the starkness.
Like all of their previous
releases, Dagger is released on the bands own label meaning there is no
compromise with the output and that DIY ethic gives the band a very underground
feel despite the impressive commercial success they are gaining with each
album.
Dagger peaked at number 21 in the
UK album charts and number 2 in the independent charts highlighting their growing
commercial appeal.
In support of the album Ist Ist are
due to embark on a 14 date tour starting on the 9th April, in their
words, the biggest tour they will have done and Julie and I will be seeing them
at the Phoenix Art Centre in Exeter on the 11th April.
My first selection from the album
is the opening song, the up-tempo electronic infused I Am The Fear.
At The Mill - Paradise Lost
We move back into my metal collection
this week with the second of my 21 albums to be selected by British gothic/doom
metal masters, Paradise Lost.
The importance of this band in my
route into gothic and doom metal, and my general keenness on metal as a whole,
cannot be overstated following the purchase of their Reflection compilation album
back in 1998.
In the late 90’s I was looking for
rock music with some more power and edge as well as broadening my horizons from
punk, post-punk and associated genres. As a result I got more into metal and it
was the music of Paradise Lost at that time, along with their contemporaries
Anathema and My Dying Bride that really grabbed my interest.
In all the time I have followed Paradise
Lost, they have shown they are a band that does not stand still and no two
albums are the same, each one showing a progression and development of ideas
and influences. Hence we get a band that has delivered crushing doom metal,
melodic gothic rock and electronic based post-rock but all with an indelible
signature that clearly stamps each release as a pure, honest Paradise Lost
album.
What aids this continuation and
progression is a core quartet of band members that go all the way back to the
bands formation in 1988, a band that has grown and matured together and
certainly in the realms of metal it is unusual for a band to have 4 original
members after almost 40 years.
So we come to this week’s album, At
The Mill, a live release that was recorded during the Covid pandemic, a time that
decimated live music. To get around this, Paradise Lost made this “live”
recording without an audience but there was no attempt to make it look like a live
concert. What we have is a band just going into a room, plugging in and playing
with no stage effects, just a raw, pure sound, a chance for them to preach to
the converted while the concert halls were closed.
All bands who rely on live performances
to survive had to come up with ways of generating income during lockdown and
many organised live streams and other such ways of keeping in touch with the
fanbase. To that end, this live session recorded at The Mill nightclub in Bradford
became a full album and DVD release with a set list that spanned the bands recording
history and included 3 songs from the Obsidian album that was released during
the pandemic.
I have only seen Paradise Lost live
once but have a good selection of their live albums and DVD’s and At The Mill is
a worthy part of that collection.
My first selection is the set
opener, Widow, a song that hails from the 1993 album Icon and a song that is staple
of the Paradise Lost live set.
Album Of The Week - 21/03/2026
We are on our (local) travels next week so I will not have the time to dedicate to an album but this is a chance to delve into the archive and see what was being reviewed back in 2023.
https://jcalbumoftheweek.blogspot.com/2022/07/album-of-week-from-july-2022-album-of.html
Album Of The Week - 14/03/2026 - Track 5
My final selection from Auri is the closing song on the album, Them Thar Chanterelles.
There is a wonderfully playful and whimsical opening to the song the builds into a full on folk anthem and is the perfect way to end this very impressive debut album from Auri.
Album Of The Week - 14/03/2026 - Track 4
My penultimate selection from Auri is the track Savant.
I love the mood changes with this mainly instrumental song laced with gorgeous vocal harmonies but within this there are some dark, ominous moments as well as a poem recited in Finnish.
Album Of The Week - 14/03/2026 - Track 3
My third selection from Auri is the song Night 13.
The vocal melody of this quiet, beautiful song reminded me very much of Nightwish and this song, with guitars, would have fit very comfortably on some of the latter offerings.
As it is, this excellent song was the first single released from Auri.
Album Of The Week - 14/03/2026 - Track 2
My second selection from Auri is the track I Hope Your World Is Kind.
This is a beautifully melodic song which could be described as "if Nightwish were a folk band".
The song itself draws influence from a fantasy story, The Kingkiller Chroncle, and the lyrics come as a narration from the character, Auri, from whom this band was named.
The is song is a real highlight from an album packed with gems.
Album Of The Week - 14/03/2026
Auri - Auri
This week we move into the area of
the cinematic and folk based debut of Finnish/British trio Auri, with this,
their 2018 self-titled release.
Their second album, Auri II, album
of the week in September 2024, was our first look into what could be described
as a Nightwish side project, although that may be doing a disservice to Auri
themselves.
Auri consist of Nightwish member
and principle song writer, Toumas Holopainen, his wife Johanna Kurkela, a
successful musician and recording artist in her own right and Nightwish
multi-instrumentalist, Troy Donockley who has a wealth of experience working
with folk artists.
The idea for this project was sown
between Holopainen, Donockley and Kurkela quite a few years before an idea took
form as recorded music, but as Nightwish were busy touring and with Kurkela is
also a busy touring and recording musician it was 7 years before the concept turned
into an album.
When Auri took form as the eponymous
release it was no surprise the direction they were taking with this record giving
the cinematic and folk influences from all 3 of the principle members of the
band.
It is also telling that Nightwish had
been incorporating more folk influences into their music and Donockley played
as a guest musician on the 2007 album Dark Passion Play before becoming a
permanent member of the band in 2013 after again guesting on the Imaginaerum
album of 2011.
As Toumas Holopainen has often eluded
to in interviews he has a deep love of cinematic music and Auri gave him the
chance to expand on this but with a more folk based slant than the Nightwish
albums.
Topping this rich musical pedigree
is singer Johanna Kurkela who is well known and regarded in Finland as a
folk/pop singer and her delicate, ethereal vocals fit perfectly within this band
format.
Although, through Nightwish, there
is bound to be a metal association, there is nothing metal about this album but
there are certainly Nightwish references that would certainly appeal to fans of
the band and it was these influences that led me to explore Auri. As I have a
love of contemporary folk music as well as symphonic metal, Auri was no great leap for me but it was a
nice surprise see the quality within this album.
Commercially, given the incredible
success of Nightwish and that of Kurkela, it was of no surprise that Auri went
to number 1 in the album charts of their home country, Finland.
My first selection is the album
opener, The Space Between, one of the two singles released from the album.
Album Of The Week - 07/03/2026 - Track 5
My final selection from Go Away White is the track The Dog's A Vapour.
This is the longest song on the album and see's Bauhaus in their best oblique, cinematic and surreal best and although not the closing track on the album its an excellent song to wrap up our look into the final Bauhaus album.
Album Of The Week - 07/03/2026 - Track 4
My penultimate selection from Go Away White is one of the darker songs on the album.
Musically, Endless Summer Of The Damned, is quite melodic driven by a rhythmic bass layered with Daniel Ash's effects laden guitars but its the lyric of enviromental doom delivered with Peter Murphy's pained vocal that adds the darkness to the song.
Album Of The Week - 07/03/2026 - Track 3
My third selection from Go Away White is one of the more direct songs on the album, the track Adrenalin.
Unlike some of the songs on this album this is a more conventional rock song without the more obscure lyrics making Adrenaline one of the more instantly accessible tracks on Go Away White.
Album Of The Week - 07/03/2026 - Track 2
My second selection from Go Away White is the track Undone.
This song has the typical Bauhaus mix of art rock quirkiness with its hypnotic bass, scratchy guitar and the off kilter vocals. This song takes me right back to the late 70's experimentation of the flegling post-punk bands.
Album Of The Week - 07/03/2026
Go Away White -
Bauhaus
This week we have the first selection
from my 7 albums by the iconic and influential post-punk band Bauhaus.
For many, Bauhaus will be hailed as
one of the first goth rock bands, a genre that evolved in the late 1970’s and has
gone hand in hand with post-punk from the outset, as the punk scene branched
into a more introspective and sombre direction. Moving away from some of the
direct confrontation of punk, bands like The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees
and Joy Division along with Bauhaus introduced more gloomy and subdued themes
into their music as well a generally “darker” presentation. The music captured
the ethics of punk combined with the artistic and musical experimentation of
post-punk that led to the results from the bands mentioned above. Among them Bauhaus
really embraced that openness and experimentation that when coupled with
influences from 70’s glam rock gave them a very distinct style and sound. On
top of this we had the vocals of frontman / songwriter Peter Murphy whose
delivery was not too dissimilar to another of their obvious influences, David
Bowie.
As with many artists that like to
experiment there are moments when it doesn’t work and that is occasionally the
case with Bauhaus and I think that is why I initially saw them more as a
singles band in the early 1980’s.
I did finally get around to
collecting their albums, largely on the back of their singles She’s In Parties
and the cover of the Bowie song Ziggy Stardust.
Bauhaus broke up in 1983 after their
fourth album leaving a lauded legacy and a degree of cult status and despite
the occasional reunions for live events a 5th album was never really
seen as a possibility.
The we came to 2008 and after a gap
of 25 years Bauhaus presented Go Away White and I remember my surprise at this
news which was equalled by my surprise by how good the album was when I purchased
it soon after release.
Due to frictions during the
recording sessions the album may never have seen the light of day but they went
with it but it seems the tensions took its toll upon the band. However, they
were able to deliver a typical Bauhaus album with that intrinsic style and atmosphere.
We have the melodic, the quirky, the offbeat and the darkly dramatic tones associated
with Bauhaus and a couple of moments where one is left pondering at what has
been delivered.
The band have since come together
for live events but I think it would be highly unlikely that we will ever see a
sixth studio album although they did release a non album single in 2022. If Go
Away White is their final offering then it’s a strong album to bring down their
recording career.
The album received generally good
reviews and although it made little impact on the main UK album chart it did
reach number 13 in the independent albums chart.
My first selection is the album
opener, Too Much 21st Century, a stinging commentary on the greed
and ambition associated with this age.
Album Of The Week - 28/02/2026 - Track 5
Bringing this week's album to a close is the final track from the Legend soundtrack, the album closer, Ancient Forest.
This is a more jaunty track from Clannad but still laced with plenty of atmosphere and the song takes us on journey through the mystical forest setting of the Robin of Sherwood story.
Album Of The Week - 28/02/2026 - Track 4
The penultimate selection from Legend is the instrumetal track Lady Marian.
There is a beautiful Celtic folk feel to this gorgeous song which is one of the real highlights from the album.
Album Of The Week - 28/02/2026 - Track 3
My third selection from Legend is the dual vocal song Strange Land.
The atmospheric, ethereal beauty of this song, with its harp and layered atmospheric vocals captures of the essence of the forest domain in which much of this soundtrack is based.
Album Of The Week - 28/02/2026 - Track 2
Legend - Clannad
A change of direction this week as we
look at the second of my 11 albums from Irish Celtic folk act Clannad, with their
1984 soundtrack release Legend.
Back in the late 1980’s Clannad
were my first tentative steps in the world of folk music when a passing
interest led to me buying their Pastpresent compilation album, a collection
that focussed on their commercially successful releases during the eighties.
By the time my interest was sparked
in the band they had moved on from their more trad folk roots into a more
atmospheric world music influenced style using synths to compliment the acoustic
folk instrumentation.
What really captivated me though
was the ethereal beauty of the vocals from Moya Brennan. At the time when the
charts were dominated by singers such a Whitney Houston, Madonna and the scores
of pop power ballad and soul singers who seemed to be all about volume it was
the considered, delicate Gaelic voice of Brennan drew me in. Accompanied by
these often haunting songs sometimes delivered in the Irish Gaelic language they
caught my attention and garnered my interest.
The music on Legend was written to
accompany the UK television series, Robin of Sherwood that ran over 3 series
from 1984 to 1986 and from what I remember seemed to be very popular at the
time.
True to their sound of the time the
album is heavy on atmosphere with the synths adding layers alongside the acoustic
guitars and whistles topped of with the trademark beautiful vocals of Moya
Brennan.
Regardless of the fact that Legend
is a soundtrack it sits very well within the Clannad discography of studio albums
and I actually picked this up as part of 5 album box set.
At just over 32 minutes this is a
short album and I would have liked to have seen some the pieces expanded but overall
it a decent Clannad album with some very good moments.
Commercially the album performed well
and it peaked at number 15 in the UK album charts while 2 singles were lifted
from the release including the title track and main theme.
It is also worth noting that
Clannad’s big commercial breakthrough in the UK came as the result of a song written
for television when in 1982 their single, Theme from Harry’s Game reached
number 5 in the UK singles chart.
My first selection is the album
opener, Robin (The Hooded Man) the main theme for the series and also the lead
single released from the album.
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