Description
British Punk Royalty Brian James delivers his third solo rock album and boy this one rocks alright !! With guests such as ex Dead Boys Cheetah Chrome and The Lustkillers Adam Becvare joining the party with a sleeve painted by top horror film designer Graham Humphries ..who also painted the first two Lords of the New Church albums as well as The Rockers compilation .
1. Becoming A Nuisance ( W/ Cheetah Chrome) 04.01
2. The Regulator 03.45
3. Walkin’ Round Naked 03.01
4. Not Invited 03.38
5. When The Rains Come 03.48
6. Hind Sight 03.36
7. Insaning 03.31
8. Baby She Crazy 02.28
9. Hail Mary 04.39
10. Mean Streak 04.35
Dave Thompson (verified owner) –
Welcome to the 1971 show.
Yeah, you remember 1971. The MC5 were at their noisiest, the Pink Fairies were at their greatest; and, between those two poles, there existed a mass of white noise whose descendants would round up everything from the Dolls to Motorhead, punk rock to speed metal, and a thousand other meaningless terms besides. Basically, anyone who turns the volume up to eleven, crams the amps with unfiltered cigarettes and gut-rot Jack Daniels, and doesn’t care a hoot for how often the neighbors complain… they’re in there somewhere.
Ex-Damned, Lords of the New Church, Brian James’s Brains, the Dripping Lips and more, Brian James stepped into that arena in 1976, after a trial run with the legendary Bastard, and he hasn’t changed his attitude once since then. And why should he? Already essentially the last man standing when it comes to remembering what gutter-led guitar rock ought to sound like, maybe he did become sidelined as his chosen art form descended into that sea of mordant sub-metal obesity that the public liked to think of as subversive rock’n’roll in the eighties and early nineties.
But long after the last gun jammed and blew off its user’s fingers, and the final rose mumbled “screw this for a game of skittles, I’m going home,” James ear for nail-your-eyeball riffs and jerk-your-legs off rhythms just kept on keeping on, and The Guitar That Dripped Blood, his latest solo album, is the consequence.
It’s a raucous son-of-a-misbegotten beast, the sound of juvenile delinquency lived out long beyond its traditional boundaries, and honed to a knife edge that makes West Side Story look like a Scout club meeting. All James’s traditional musical motifs are here, the guitar that chars, the lyrics that chill, the overall sheen that grabs you by the throat and then pins you to the wall by sheer force of personality. “Recorded loud for playing louder,” is what it says on the sleeve, and a revolving door of guests and sidemen have no option but to turn up accordingly.
Favorite cuts? All of them, because this isn’t an album for cherrypicking. It’s one for putting on, and getting on with all the nasty little habits that you hold dearest to your heart. It’s a bunch of sweeties in search of space, a dead electric citizen getting young, loud and snotty, the Kings of Speed on a human being lawnmower. It’s the Deviants rewriting Raw Power in a sewer.
It’s brilliant.
– See more at: http://www.goldminemag.com/reviews/album-reviews/new-releases-phil-rambow-palace-of-swords-brian-james-philip-jeays-the-smoke#sthash.Rqdy7E1U.dpuf
Brian McNeil (verified owner) –
My ears are bleeding and my head is still spinning! Mr James delivers his 3rd solo outing complete with a ghoulish and freaky sleeve that seems more in keeping with the Gothic tradition of his erstwhile former bvand mates. However, this album is more in tune with that glorious summer of 1976 and that seminal debut album. The guitar work is sharp and blistering and the album roars along, this is the return of a punk visionary! The Damned’s place in the history of Punk at times gets unfairly overlooked, maybe because they had a very finely tuned sense of humour and had the gall to do a Beatles Cover! But this is a mighty return, chock full of really nasty and heavy riffage. PLAY LOUD! Best solo album from Mr James and also the best new album I have heard in a looooong time! The flame has certainly been kept alight and on this album Brian throws an effing Motolov Cocktail into the works as well! I tried to get the RSD Vinyl issue of this on the day and couldn’t find it anywhere, so this CD issue is very welcome around here. Cheetah Chrome makes a fine Cameo on the opening track " Becoming A Nuisance" which just sounds AMAZING! I played that 3x on the trot before I moved on. And so far I am on my second listen and TBH the whole album just sounds great, a fine summers day and the windows are open and I have a beer in my hand, what more can ya ask for! Brian James has finally delivered his answer to Raw Power in 2015! And thank you, his best record since the debut Damned lp, and just could be his best ever.
Andy P (verified owner) –
This album has such an apt title, because this is what it’s all about. A raw, shredding guitar sound that slashes through the speakers like something from a horror movie. This is probably the album that both Damned and Lords of The New Church fans have been hoping that Brian would deliver for a long time. Not that his other efforts haven’t been good, but this one turns the guitar right back up to overkill-level and the attitude comes snarling and sneering in the way that only he can do it. It’s as sleazy as the Dolls and as visceral as the Stooges, but it’s always Brian James. He’s proved over the years that he can play a variety of styles, but this is still the one he does best. Vocally, it has to be said, he’s never had the best voice for this kind of more aggressive music, but he’s struck a good balance on this album, providing a slurred, Bluesy style that does justice to the songs. The album was actually recorded with a variety of musicians, which is surprising when you hear how cohesive it is, although previous collaborator Aust Pig holds down the bass lines all the way through, which certainly helps the continuity. The most notable guest is Cheetah Chrome on the opening track, ‘Becoming A Nuisance’, and the way that the two of them play alongside each other shows why they’ve been friends for so long. In fact, there are certain songs where you could easily imagine their old cohort Stiv Bators taking over the vocals…now wouldn’t that have been a great line-up ? But in the event, this album is great enough in its’ own right and all you really need to do is play it loud !