Album Of The Week
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 4 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.
Album Of The Week - 21/02/2026 - Track 6
The final selection from this weeks album could be a case of leaving the best until last.
When The Wild Wind Blows is taken from The Final Frontier album of 2010 and is an 11 minute epic fit to close any Iron Maiden album.
The song is based on the graphic novel and animated novel When The Wind Blows which tells the story of an elderly English couple dealing the aftermath of a nuclear attack. In this version though the ending has been altered to give it a level of Shakespearean tragedy.
For me, this song encapsulates everything I love about Iron Maiden, the narrative storytelling coupled with the complex yet melodic and powerful delivery from the band, the perfect song to wrap up this excellent compilation.
Album Of The Week - 21/02/2026 - Track 5
My penultimate selection from this excellent Iron Maiden compilation is the song No More Lies.
Taken from the Dance Of Death album from 2003 this song is again the band moving into their epic style with a song that doesnt let up from its opening bars.
The song's central character is facing his imminent death but is convinced that this life is not the end and that he is coming back.
This is a recurring theme with Iron Maiden but with this particular song, Steve Harris described this song as possibly being about the last supper of Christ knowing that his death was close to hand.
If someone was ever to ask me what my favourite Iron Maiden is then No More Lies would well be a contender.
Album Of The Week - 21/02/2026 - Track 4
The next track I have selected from this week's album is one of the shorter, more direct songs on From Here To Eternity.
Holy Smoke, initially from the 1990 album No Prayer For The Dying the song takes a well aimed swipe at televison evangelists and those who use faith as a money making exercise.
Album Of The Week - 21/02/2026 - Track 3
The third track I have selected From Fear To Eternity is the song The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Bree.
Taken from the 2006 album A Matter Of Life And Death, the song was the lead single from the album. At over 7 minutes this may have seemed a strange choice but the album only featured one song under 5 minutes and Bree is an incredibly strong track.
To stoke interest the band created a website with a backstory about the fctional character of Benjamin Bree.
Album Of The Week - 21/02/2026 - Track 2
My second selection from Fear To Eternity is the track El Dorado, a song that first appeared on The Final Frontier album from 2010.
This one of the more direct songs on the album but runs for almost 7 minutes and is based around the greed and shady dealings of bankers and investors that led to the financial crash of 2008.
Album Of The Week - 21/02/2026
From Fear To
Eternity (The Best Of 1990-2010) – Iron Maiden
For the second time in 3 weeks we
find ourselves back in my Iron Maiden collection with their 2011 release, From
Fear To Eternity.
This album covers 8 studio albums released
during the 20 year period as described in the album title which includes Brave
New World as featured as my album of week only two weeks ago. In total there
are 23 songs in a double album format covering a very productive period for the
band including plenty of 6 minute plus epics.
What I find very interesting about
the collection is how it documents the progression of the band over this key 20
period and the incorporation of more progressive elements into their music alongside
their trademark traditional heavy metal offerings.
The period of this compilation has
selections from No Prayer For The Dying from 1990 and Fear Of The Dark from
1992, the last 2 albums with Bruce Dickinson on vocals before he left the band
only to return to 7 years later which was marked with the Brave New World album.
It is from Brave New World
especially that we have seen Iron Maiden adopting a more progressive approach
with longer and more complex songs and this development is seen with the
selections from A Matter Of Life And Death from 2006 and The Final Frontier
from 2010. As also mentioned in my review of Brave New World, this album saw
Iron Maiden go to a 6 piece line-up with the return of Adrian Smith giving the
band a unique 3 guitar section.
The period of this compilation also
covers the Dance Of Death album which has a special place in my collection as I
saw them live on the accompanying Death Of The Road tour and its album that
contains some of the favourite Iron Maiden songs.
During Bruce Dickinson’s absence
from the band there were 2 albums released which featured former Wolfsbane
frontman Blaze Bayley on vocals. His
debut effort, The X Factor, is in my opinion an excellent album although this
album and its successor, Virtual XI have been seen as the weakest Maiden albums
and both were the least commercially successful in the bands history and remain
so until now. Was this purely down to the vocalist or was the band spark
somehow weakened with Dickinson’s absence as a contributor to song writing as
well as vocals?
It is an interesting point that the
tracks from those albums are represented here with live versions with the vocals
by Dickinson and not the studio versions from Bayley.
Whatever the nuances of the compilation
this release is a superb collection and showcases a period of time when their
output was everything as good, if not better than the “classic” releases of the
1980’s.
My first selection is Sign Of The
Cross, a song that originally appeared on The X Factor album and this live recording
was captured on the 2002 Rock In Rio album.
This 10 minute masterpiece ranks as
one of favourite Iron Maiden songs and as per numerous Maiden tracks it was
inspired by a work of literature.
Album Of The Week - 14/02/2026 - Track 5
Bringing Last Of The Wild to a close is the final track on the album, the excellent song Headstrong.
A song about roots and home but also breaking away, its a strong song to close the very accomplished album from the Noble Jack.
For me, I love the way the songs builds from its slow, pensive beginning to a foot stomping folk rock anthem to bring Last Of The Wild to a conclussion.
Album Of The Week - 14/02/2026 - Track 4
My penultimate selection is a perfect example of Noble Jacks delving into their Americana influences.
Late Night Train has a wonderful singalong melody with its plaintive harmonica and catchy chorus this song has elements of the Levellers for me.
.
Album Of The Week - 14/02/2026 - Track 3
My latest selection from Last Of The Wild is the song How Long.
A slower paced track which allows the fiddle to come to the fore and lead the melody of this beautifully emotive song.
Album Of The Week - 14/02/2026 - Track 2
My second selection from Last Of The Wild is the title track from the album.
Another of the more folk rock songs from the album again where the fiddle provides a strong melody for the lyric which warns of us of enviromental uncertainty for mankind.
Album Of The Week - 14/02/2026
Last Of The Wild –
Noble Jacks
We have a change of direction this
week as we look at the most recent release from folk/Americana/rock band Noble
Jacks with their 2022 album Last Of The Wild.
Julie and I first encountered the
band in 2018 at the Phoenix Art Centre in Exeter where they were performing as
a support act (for Wildwood Kin I think) and we were immediately struck by
their energy and excellent melodic fiddle driven folk rock. I came home that
night with their debut album, What The Hammer, and we have been following their
progress ever since.
Hailing from Brighton, it was
interesting to see that their debut album was recorded at the Metway Studios
which are owned by the renowned folk/punk band the Levellers who are also based
in Brighton. With their high energy yet immotive brand of folk and country
based rock this was a collaboration that worked perfectly to produce a very
accomplished debut recording.
This type of music though really
comes to life in the live setting and Noble Jacks have shown this is where they
truly shine and they have played across many festivals and alongside numerous
folk contemporaries.
To date, Noble Jacks have released
3 albums and Last Of The Wild, released in 2022 is their most recent and so
far, their most polished and professional offering with it being successful and
performing well in the folk and Americana charts. For their 2023 tour on the back of the Call Of The Wild
album they were named as “live act of the year” from one of the leading voices
in Americana music in the UK.
The album carries on the same folk/country
drive from the previous 2 albums with a mix of the up tempo tracks perfect for
the live setting while mixed with the more laid back considered songs.
There are moments where the country
influences are quite strong and although this is not a genre I am keen on these
moments add balance, flavour and depth to the album.
Last Of The Wild peaked at number 29
in the official UK Americana charts, a good showing for what it is a worthy
addition to their catalogue.
My first selection is the opening
track, Never Been Here Before, a lovely melodic song to kick off the album.
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