Thursday Thirteen

Today’s Thursday Thirteen features thirteen albums from my collection which I just love. As always, in no particular order:-

1. Somewhere in Time - Iron Maiden. The album which introduced me to Maiden in 1986. Just a spotty faced young schoolboy at the time, this is the album which made me a metalhead. For life. Adrian Smith’s solo in “Wasted Years” is as fine a piece of guitar work as I’ve ever heard.
2. The White Album - The Beatles. OK, so it’s correct title is “The Beatles” but it’s known to everyone as “The White Album”. An awesome and simultaneously odd collection of tracks. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Happiness is a Warm Gun” are the standout tracks. Doesn’t sound dated, even almost 40 years on.
3. Clutching at Straws - Marillion. Many Fish era Marillo fans are split between “Misplaced Childhood” and “Clutching at Straws” as the first incarnations finest hour. For me, it’s “Clutching” although “Misplaced” is damn fine also. This album came out in the mid to late 80’s when Thatcher and her Tories were tearing out the heart of Scotland. We were the downtrodden and then along came this album with it’s barely hidden nationalist sentiments (”Slainte Mhath” anyone). This album had it all for the impressionable teenage lad from East Lothian. Songs written in The Quarterdeck Bar in North Berwick, lyrics about the Fidra Lighthouse and all sung by a 6 foot 4 former tree surgeon from Dalkeith. It had “me” written all over it.
4. Grace - Jeff Buckley. Simply superb. A voice from beyond the grave which is still haunting 14 years after it’s original release. This is one of the all time great albums.
5. A Farewell to Kings - Rush. “And the men who hold high places, must be the ones who start. To mould a new reality. Closer to the heart”. Even now, when I hear “Closer to the Heart” it sends a shiver down my spine. Mighty fine.
6. Firebird - Gazpacho. I first saw these guys in Tilburg in Holland supporting Marillion and felt that they were a bit of a Marillion clone. How wrong I was. “Firebird” is one of the finest albums I’ve ever purchased. Marillion’s Steve Rothery adds his sublime guitar skills in the form of a solo on “Do You Know What You Are Saying”. One of my all time favourite records.
7. Back in Black - AC/DC. An album with balls. Following on from Bon Scott was always going to be difficult. Brian Johnson pulled it off magnificently. One of the finest rock albums ever recorded.
8. Brave - Marillion. Steve Hogarth era Marillion’s finest moment. A spanning opus which is given a close run in the championship race by 2004’s Marbles. However, the track “The Great Escape”, in my mind the finest Marillion song ever written just gives it the edge. “A bridge is not a high place. 52nd floor. Icarus would know. A mountain isn’t far to fall. When you’ve fallen from the moon.”
9. Help - The Beatles. I used to sit on my bed as a boy and listen to my Dad’s original LP of this album. I remember the record being distinctly thicker and heavier vinyl than the albums of the time. It was like a dinner plate. I’ve always loved The Beatles and it’s no surprise that they have a second entry in the thirteen.
10. Hysteria - Def Leppard. Hated it at the time. Hated it for years afterwards. I always felt it had a sickly sweet vocal harmony thing going on which I just didn’t like. Older and wiser, I listened to it again about a month or two ago and loved it. It hasn’t changed so presumably I have. Getting old.
11. Internal Exile - Fish. Fish’s anger with London based record company executives morphs into an extremely nationalist album. If any collection of songs captures the simultaneous despair and defiance of Scotland in the early 90’s then this is it. The Proclaimers can stick their “Cap in Hand” up their identical arses. “Born to fight out of the tightest corner. You can bet on him with the odds against you. They’ll not put him down. No matter how they try”. Those lyrics still strike a chord with me now.
12. Scenes from a Memory - Dream Theater. Pure. Simple. Excellent. Prog metal at it’s finest.
13. The Real Thing - Faith No More. Some bands do one album which is so good that they forever live in it’s shadow. Faith No More were one of those bands. The Real Thing probably changed the face of hard rock music more than any other album of the 80’s. This album was the start of the “funk metal” movement. Utterly superb.

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