Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion III (1991)

The 'Use Your Illusion' albums represent a turning point in the sound of Guns N' Roses, as although the band did not abandon the aggressive hard-rock sound it had become known for with 1987's 'Appetite For Destruction', 'Use Your Illusion I' demonstrated a more diverse sound, incorporating elements of blues, classical music, heavy metal, punk rock, and classic rock and roll. This is exemplified by the use of piano on several tracks by singer Axl Rose and keyboardist Dizzy Reed. Another factor in the different sound compared to the band's earlier work is the addition of former The Cult drummer Matt Sorum, who replaced Steven Adler, after he was fired from the group due to his heroin addiction. Besides the stylistic differences, another new aspect in 'Use Your Illusion I' was longer songs, with the epic ballad 'November Rain' clocking in at nearly nine minutes, and 'Coma' being more than 10 minutes long. A few songs were even sung by other members of the band, with Izzy Stradlin taking lead vocals on 'Dust N' Bones', 'You Ain't The First', 'Double Talkin' Jive', and '14 Years', while 'So Fine' was sung by Duff McKagan. The band had some difficulty achieving the final sound they wanted, and after mixing 21 tracks with engineer/producer Bob Clearmountain, the band decided to scrap the mixes and start from scratch with engineer Bill Price of Sex Pistols fame. Released at midnight on 17 September 1991, the albums were among the most anticipated in rock history, although despite expectations of sales reaching the likes of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' or Bruce Springsteen's 'Born In The U.S.A.', they ultimately underperformed domestically, but were still commercially successful enough to become the first albums by one band or artist to enter the US charts at the number one and two spots.

Reception to 'Use Your Illusion I' was mainly positive, and it is regarded as the heavier-sounding album of the two, due in part to the influence of Izzy Stradlin, although some critics bemoaned the amount of filler on the record, while 'Use Your Illusion II' was the slightly more popular of the two, selling a record 770,000 copies in its first week, against 'Use Your Illusion I's first-week sales of 685,000. Both albums have covers courtesy of Estonian-American artist Mark Kostabi, which consists of a detail from Raphael's painting 'The School of Athens', with each using a different colour scheme for the same picture. Because they were recording songs for two albums at the same time, they over-estimated how much material would be needed, and so after the final track-listings were finalised there were a number of tracks left over, which have leaked inline over the years. There are currently enough reasonable recordings out there to compile a third album in the series, and so here is 'Use Your Illusion III' to complete the trilogy. 'Sentimental Movie' features a Slash vocal, 'Cornshucker' was written and demoed by Steve Adler, while 'The Plague' was originally just a 54 second snippet, but it's been remixed by Youtuber 5agge into a full length song by adding in segments of other tracks, and as it sounded pretty good I've included it here. 

Track listing

01 Ain't Goin' Down
02 Just Another Sunday
03 Bring It Back Home
04 Crash Diet
05 Too Fast To Live
06 Shallow
07 The Plague
08 Sentimental Movie
09 Cornshucker

10 Too Much Too Soon
11 It Tastes Good, Don't It

'The Plague' audio sources:
'The Plague' (1986)
'Welcome To The Jungle' (1987)
'Ain't Going Down' (1990-1991)
'Back Off Bitch' (1991)
'Down On The Farm' (1993)

Charlotte Church - I Can Dream (2014)

If you know the name Charlotte Church at all, it's almost certainly as the pre-teen singing sensation who won 'The Big, Big Talent Show' in 1997, and then went on to sign a contract with Sony Music, and to release her first album, 'Voice Of An Angel' in 1998, when she was just 12 years old. The collection of arias, sacred songs, and traditional pieces sold millions worldwide, and made her the youngest artist to have a No. 1 album on the British classical crossover charts. In 2000 she released 'Dream A Dream', an album of Christmas carols, and in 2001 she added pop, swing, and Broadway into her repertoire with her album 'Enchantment', which in turn led to her first all-pop album in 2005, with 'Tissues And Issues'. Four singles were released from it, with the most successful being 'Crazy Chick', which reached number two in the UK charts. In November 2006, it was announced that she and Sony had parted ways, which according to her publicist was a mutual decision reached after a series of meetings throughout the year, although there was speculation that her pop releases' chart performance contributed to the decision. Although she announced that she would be working on new music in 2008, it was to be another two years before we heard from her again, when she appeared on 'Friday Night With Jonathan Ross' on 13 March 2010, and confirmed that she had already begun writing and recording her sixth studio album. 'Back To Scratch' was duly released on Dobby Records in the UK on 25 October 2010, together with the title track preceding it as the lead single. However, in March 2011 it was announced that she had ended her US$3 million deal with Power Amp Music over promotional disputes, and consequently 'Back To Scratch' never received a US release. 

The main reason for this post is that I have just listened to a podcast interview with Church, speaking with comedian Richard Herring, and she discussed the real reason for leaving her US contract, which was that they refused to let her record an album of the music that she loved, which was nu-soul and R&B, and in particular the music of Jill Scott. She therefore left the label and set up her own studio in her garage, where she was able to record the music that she wanted, and to release them independently on her own label, Alligator Wine Records. The result was four CD-EPs, with 'One' coming out in 2012, followed by 'Two' and 'Three' in 2013, and 'Four' in 2014, and the music contained on them is very different to anything that had been heard from her in the past, with scything electric guitars evident on songs from 'Three' and 'Four', and burbling keyboards throughout, while her vocals range from the ethereal to the dynamic. All four EPs are extremely rare, and were almost impossible to locate, but I really wanted to hear them after listening to the interview, and so when I did finally track them down it was a no-brainer to post some of the music on the blog. To my mind, 'Three' and 'Four' contain her most impressive songs, and so this album is made up of most of the tracks from those two EP's, with the rest of them following later on a more ballad-orientated disc. The cover might seem a bit edgy for an album from a former child star, but it is the actual cover for the 'Two' EP, with just her name and the title added, which seemed to fit the image perfectly.   

Track listing

01 House Upon The Sea
02 Love Alone
03 Magician's Assistant   
04 Remains
05 Like A Fool
06 I Can Dream
07 Little Movements
08 Hood Shade
09 Entanglement
10 Water Tower  
11 Love

If you'd like to listen to the whole interview then you can find it here.

Bridgit Mendler - Skeleton (2015)

Bridgit Claire Mendler was born on 18 December 1992 in Washington, D.C., moving with her family to Mill Valley, California, at the age of eight. It was there where she first expressed an interest in acting, and when she was eight years old she began taking part in local roles in both dramatic and musical theatre, becoming the youngest performer in the San Francisco Fringe Festival. In 2004 she got her first voice acting role in the animated Indian film 'The Legend Of Buddha', in which she portrayed young Buddha, and the next year she got her first acting role as a guest star on the soap opera 'General Hospital'. In 2007 she made her film debut in the film adaption of the Alice series, titled 'Alice Upside Down', starring alongside Disney Channel actress Alyson Stoner and Lucas Grabeel. In 2009 she became a recurring character in the Disney Channel series 'Wizards Of Waverly Place', appearing in a total of eleven episodes, spanning from 2009 to 2012, when the series ended. In 2011 she starred as Olivia White, the lead role in the Disney Channel Original Movie 'Lemonade Mouth', for which she performed numerous songs for the film's soundtrack, which was released on 12 April 2011 by Walt Disney Records. Two singles were released from the soundtrack, with 'Somebody' peaking at number 89 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and 'Determinate' managing to reach number 51. On 31 March 2011 it was confirmed that Mendler had signed with Hollywood Records, and had begun working on her debut album, while at the same time starring in the Disney Channel Original Movie 'Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas!', featuring the song 'I'm Gonna Run To You', which was released as a promotional single on 12 November 2011. In Summer 2012, she confirmed that the title of her official debut single was her own co-write 'Ready Or Not', which peaked at number 49 in the United States, but which reached the top twenty of a number of European countries. 

Mendler's debut album, 'Hello My Name Is...', was released on 22 October by Hollywood Records and all the songs were written by Mendler with collaborators, as well as her being involved in its production. The album charted in several countries including Poland, Australia, United Kingdom, France and Spain, and her vocals have been compared to Lily Allen, Cher Lloyd, and Jessie J. A second single was extracted from the album, with 'Hurricane' hitting the number 1 spot on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100. On 25 November 2014, Mendler was announced as a member of the main cast of the NBC comedy series 'Undateable' in season two, and she stayed with the show until its cancellation after the third series. Having left Hollywood Records in 2015 and signed to Black Box Records, she began working on new music the following year, and her 'Atlantis' single was released in August 2016, followed by the EP 'Nemesis' in November. In October she was was cast as Ashley Willerman on the fifth season of the CMT television series 'Nashville', and then the next year she landed the lead role in the Fox comedy television pilot 'Thin Ice', although the network ultimately passed on the pilot in May. Her acting work during this period didn't leave much time to work on her music, and so after one last single 'Diving' in August 2017, her second album was shelved, and her music career was put on hold. So for any fans who would like to hear more from her, here is her unusually titled shelved second album from 2016, with artwork that she says she wanted to represent some of the more soul-bearing songs on the album. 

Track listing

01 How To Do
02 I Fought The Love
03 Deeper Shade Of Us
04 Catalyst
05 Dedication
06 Coins In The Air
07 Timeless
08 Flowers
09 Cold
10 Snap My Fingers
11 Library
12 While You Were Sleeping

Trevor Rabin - 90124 (1981)

Trevor Charles Rabin was born on 13 January 1954 in Johannesburg, South Africa, into a family of musicians. His mother, Joy, was a painter, ballet dancer, actress, and classical pianist, and his father, Godfrey, was a lawyer, musician, conductor, and the lead violinist in the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. With this background it's no wonder he took up the piano at the age of 6, and at twelve he started to teach himself the guitar using piano exercise books, never having had a formal lesson in the instrument. A year later he played in The Other, before forming Conglomeration, and later joining Freedom's Children for a one-year stint until 1973. At sixteen, he was discovered by a local record producer and became a session musician, playing a variety of styles including jazz, fusion, country, classical, conga, and kwela. In 1972, Rabin reunited with his bandmates in Conglomeration to form the rock band Rabbitt, with drummer Neil Cloud, bassist Ronnie Robot, and singer, keyboardist, and guitarist Duncan Faure, releasing their debut album 'Boys Will Be Boys' in 1975. This included a re-recording of the band's 1972 single, a cover of Jethro Tull's 'Locomotive Breath', and Rabin won an award for his orchestral arrangements. Rabbitt's second album, 'A Croak And A Grunt In The Night', was released in 1977, while Rabin was still pursuing a career as a session musician, and he released two albums under the pseudonym Trevor Terblanche. 

In 1977, Rabin recorded and released his first solo album, 'Beginnings', for RPM Records, playing all the instruments except the drums, for which he used session player Kevin Kruger. Also in 1977 Rabbitt agreed to a distribution deal with the US label Capricorn Records, but they were unable to tour abroad due to the international disapproval of South Africa's apartheid policies, and restrictions on South Africans obtaining visas. The situation became a catalyst for Rabin to leave the country, and in 1978 he arrived in London to continue his solo career. By July he'd struck a recording deal with Chrysalis Records, and in September 1978 they reissued a remixed and re-ordered version of his debut solo album under the name 'Trevor Rabin'. In 1979, he released his second solo album, 'Face To Face', promoting the album with a UK tour as an opening act for guitarist Steve Hillage. Rabin's third solo album for Chrysalis was 'Wolf', released in 1980 and co-produced with Ray Davies at his Konk Studios in London, with Rabin providing lead vocals, guitars, and keyboards, and using other musicians for the parts he didn't play, including drummer Simon Phillips, bassists Jack Bruce and Mo Foster, keyboardists Manfred Mann and John Bundrick, and Chris Thompson and Noel McCalla on additional vocals. Following its release, Rabin severed ties with Chrysalis as he felt the label did little to promote the album, and he moved to Los Angeles in 1981 to begin to develop material for a fourth solo album for his new label Geffen. 

During this time David Geffen also put him in contact with musicians that went on to form the supergroup Asia, but at an early rehearsal he felt his songs were not suitable for the group, which led to the label dropping him. Rabin then sent a tape of his new songs to various labels, including Clive Davis at Arista Records, who praised his vocals but deemed his songs unsuitable for the Top 40 format. RCA Records executive Ron Fair was impressed enough to offer Rabin a solo deal, which was declined after Rabin decided to work with bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White, formerly of the progressive rock band Yes, after his demos were discovered by producer Mutt Lange and Phil Carson of Atlantic Records. In late 1982, Rabin, Squire and White formed Cinema, which included original Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye, and they recorded '90125' with former Yes singer Trevor Horn as producer. Based mostly on Rabin's demos, the album displayed a more commercial and pop-oriented direction, much different than their progressive rock-themed albums in the 1970's, but during the mixing stages in mid-1983, former Yes singer Jon Anderson returned to sing on the album, which led to the group becoming a reformed line-up of Yes. 

Rabin was uncomfortable with the decision, feeling the new music did not represent what the band had become popular for, and wished for the album to be judged on its own merits as by the band Cinema. '90125' was released in 1983, and remains the band's highest selling album, with three million copies sold in the US alone, helped by its Rabin-penned lead single 'Owner Of A Lonely Heart', which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Before Anderson returned to the fold and Cinema became a Yes reunion, Rabin was very much in charge of the recording, with half the songs being his own, augmented by other members of the band. In fact, the demos that Lange and Carson heard could easily have been polished into an extremely good rock album under his own name, and as one of his demos has since appeared on a re-issue of '90125', and others on his own 2003 compilation, then we can now hear what a Rabin-helmed version of '90125' could have sounded like. This album includes his demos of four songs that Yes took on, as well as 'Fools' which was a precursor to 'Hearts', while 'I'm With You' was developed by Yes, but along with 'Would You Feel My Love' were both left off the final track-listing. Other tracks were demos for Cinema that remained unreleased, and so I've salvaged them from the vaults to make up Rabin's own version of '90125', which as it's essentially a preview of that album, is titled '90124'. 

Track listing

01 Owner Of A Lonely Heart  
02 Hold On  
03 It Can Happen           
04 Changes  
05 It's Over  
06 Would You Feel My Love   

07 Fools             
08 I'm With You
09 Don't Give In

Jay-Z - HOVA (1997)

Following the critical success of 1995's 'Reasonable Doubt', which was later included in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time at No. 248, Jay-Z struck a distribution deal with Def Jam Records in 1997, and they released the follow-up 'In My Lifetime, Vol. 1', featuring production by Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, DJ Premier, and Ski, and which went on to earn platinum status in the United States. In 1998 he released 'Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life', which spawned the biggest hit of his career at the time, 'Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)'. This relied more on flow and wordplay, and he continued with his penchant for mining beats from the popular producers of the day such as Swizz Beatz, an upstart in-house producer for Ruff Ryders, and Timbaland. Other producers included DJ Premier, Erick Sermon, The 45 King, and Kid Capri, and other charting hits from the album were 'Can I Get A...', featuring Ja Rule and Amil, and 'Nigga What, Nigga Who', featuring Amil and Jaz-O. 'Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life' would eventually become Jay-Z's most commercially successful album, selling over five million copies, and winning a Grammy Award. During the making of these two albums, he recorded a number of tracks with artists such as Sauce Money, Horace Brown, Lord Tariq & Nas, Jaz-O, and Tone Hooker, none of which have ever been officially released, and so for the second post in this look back at the career of Jay-Z, here are some of those tracks that he recorded between 1995 and 1997. 'Dead Presidents' is the 1995 promo release with the original verses which were removed from 'Dead Presidents II' when it appeared on 'Reasonable Doubt', and 'In My Lifetime' is the original Ski Street version.   

 

Track listing

01 Reach The Top
02 Dead Presidents
03 In My Lifetime
04 HOVA
05 Dead Or Alive Pt. 1 (Sauce Money)
06 Things You Do For Love (feat. Horace Brown)
07 Analyze This (feat. Lord Tariq & Nas)
08 If You Want It (feat. Tone Hooker)
09 Foundation (feat. Jaz-O, Sauce Money & Tone Hooker)
10 Dead Or Alive Pt. 2 (feat. Sauce Money)
11 Bring Back Your Love (feat. Christion)

The Cardigans - Rise & Shine (1992)

As a follow-up to my recent post from The Cardigans, the demo that I mentioned that the band recorded in their flat was eventually released as two limited edition EP's, 'In Search Of Pooh' and 'The World According To...', both consisting of four tracks each, and being released in Sweden in 1992 on the appropriately named Flat Records label. This left three recordings which were not available for general consumption, but luckily the whole demo is available if you know where to find it, and so here is the very first appearance on tape of The Cardigans, recorded in late 1992, and with Nina Persson providing lead vocals on about half of the tracks. It might not sound very much like the band that we know and love today, but it was good enough to get them a record deal, and so we should be thankful that A&R man Ola Hermanson heard something in them that he liked.     

   
Track listing

01 Rise & Shine
02 Happy Here
03 Wrapped
04 Hard
05 Treasure
06 The Rescue Of The Man Next Door
07 Pooh Song
08 Dig My Earth
09 Simon Says
10 Celebration
11 Fine

The Triffids - Night Of The Triffids (1989)

Perth high school students David McComb (acoustic and bass guitars and vocals) and Alan "Alsy" MacDonald (drums and vocal), formed Dalsy as a multimedia project in 1976, making music, books and photographs. They wrote and performed songs with Phil Kakulas on guitars and vocals, and later all three formed The Blackeyed Susans, then Blök Musik, and finally Logic, just for one day. In May 1978 they renamed themselves The Triffids, after John Wyndham's post-apocalyptic novel 'The Day Of The Triffids', and they were soon joined by Andrew McGowan on guitar and Julian Douglas-Smith on piano, and when Byron Sinclair joined on bass guitar in September, McComb switched to rhythm guitar. The band originally began partly in response to the punk rock movement, with McComb writing over 100 original songs between 1978 and 1981, and the band recorded and independently released them on six cassette tapes over those four years. By 1979, Kakulas and Sinclair had left and were replaced by David's older brother, Robert McComb on violin and guitar, and Will Akers on bass guitar, being joined in 1980 by Margaret Gillard on keyboards. In July 1981 they released their first single, 'Stand Up', on the Shake Some Action label, recorded with Mark Peters briefly replacing MacDonald on drums. Gillard and Akers left in February 1982 and were replaced by Jill Yates on keyboards and a returning Sinclair, and April saw the release of 'Reverie', a four-track EP on Resonant Records. 

By mid-year Sinclair had left again, and Martyn P. Casey joined the band on bass guitar, and the four-piece of Casey, MacDonald and the McComb brothers, signed to Mushroom Records' White Label in Melbourne, and released the 'Spanish Blue' single in October 1982, followed by the 'Bad Timing And Other Stories' EP in March 1983. By this time they'd been joined by Jill Birt on piano, organ and vocals, and after being let go by Mushroom Records following the release of their last EP, they signed with new Australian independent label Hot Records. The band's self-produced debut album on the label, 'Treeless Plain', was released in November 1983 to some critical acclaim, but they decided not to release any singles from it, and so their next 7" was 1984's 'Beautiful Waste', followed by the 'Raining Pleasure' 12" EP in July. By mid-1984, The Triffids had spent so much time travelling between Perth in the west and Sydney on the east coast of Australia that they decided to travel that little bit further and headed to Europe, with the aim of giving themselves three months to make inroads into the UK. In late August 1984 the band relocated to London, where 'Treeless Plain' and 'Raining Pleasure' had been issued by Rough Trade Records to critical acclaim, and in just six months they had graced the January 1985 cover of the influential UK magazine NME. In November 1984, they recorded 'Field Of Glass', a three track 12" EP, performed mostly live in BBC Studio 5 in London, and it was released in February 1985. 

In early 1985, the band acquired their final permanent member, Graham Lee, and this new line-up recorded the 'You Don't Miss Your Water' 12" EP, with the title track being a countrified version of the William Bell classic, and it was released in August by Hot Records. During 1985 the band toured Europe, with their performances being praised by the European press, but they were struggling to get a UK record deal, and so they recorded their next album, 'Born Sandy Devotional', in London with Gil Norton producing, and it was released in March 1986 on Hot Records, with 'Wide Open Road' being taken from it as the lead single. While waiting for 'Born Sandy Devotional' to be released, the band recorded 'In the Pines' in early 1986, using basic eight-track equipment in the shearing shed at the McCombs' family property in Ravensthorpe. It was issued in January 1987 and took The Triffids deeper into folk and country music, with a lo-fi sensibility reminiscent of Bob Dylan's 'Basement Tapes'. Following the critical success of their last two albums, the band were courted by several UK major record labels, eventually signing a three-record contract with Island Records in the UK in November 1986. Between April and August 1987, the band worked again with Norton, to record 'Calenture', their Island Records debut, and the album, which was released in February 1988, saw them explore themes of insanity, deception and rootlessness, with the title referring to a fever suffered by sailors during long hot voyages. 

By 1988, their fame was such that NME invited them to contribute a cover version of the Beatles' song 'Good Morning Good Morning' to a tribute album, 'Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father', alongside songs by Billy Bragg and Wet Wet Wet. The Triffids wanted to record their next album in Australia, but after the 'Calenture' experience Island wanted to keep the band nearby, and so 'The Black Swan' was recorded between September and October 1988 in Somerset, UK, and produced and engineered by Stephen Street. It was well received by critics, but was not a commercial success, and the disappointment which that engendered, plus being tired from the constant travelling and touring, led to The Triffids breaking up. The group travelled to the US in 1989 for a pair of New York dates, before taking a much-needed vacation, which turned out to be permanent. It was the sad end of a much-loved band, and they are rightly regarded as one of the very best groups to come out of Australia, and so as a tribute to them, here are all the non-album tracks that they recorded during their career, and if you don't know the band and you like what you hear, then do try their official albums, as every one of them contains an abundance of superb music.

Track listing

Disc I - 1981-1984
01 Stand Up (single 1981)
02 Farmers Never Visit Nightclubs (b-side of 'Stand Up')
03 Reverie (from the 'Reverie' EP 1981)
04 Place In The Sun (original recording from the 'Reverie' EP 1981)
05 Joan Of Arc (from the 'Reverie' EP 1981)
06 This Boy (from the 'Reverie' EP 1981)
07 Spanish Blue (single 1982)
08 Twisted Brain (b-side of 'Spanish Blue')
09 Bad Timing (from the 'Bad Timing And Other Stories' EP 1983)
10 Left To Rot (from the 'Bad Timing And Other Stories' EP 1983)
11 Being Driven (from the 'Bad Timing And Other Stories' EP 1983)
12 Snake Pit (from the 'Bad Timing And Other Stories' EP 1983)
13 Beautiful Waste (single 1984)

Disc II - 1984-1987
01 Bright Lights Big City (from the 'Field Of Glass' EP 1984) 
02 Monkey On My Back (from the 'Field Of Glass' EP 1984) 
03 Field Of Glass (from the 'Field Of Glass' EP 1984) 
04 You Don't Miss Your Water (Till Your Well Runs Dry) (single 1985)
05 Convent Walls (b-side of 'You Don't Miss Your Water (Till Your Well Runs Dry)')
06 Time Of Weakness (b-side of 'Wide Open Road' 1986)
07 Dear Miss Lonely Hearts (b-side of 'Wide Open Road' 1986)
08 Native Bride (b-side of 'Wide Open Road' 1986)
09 Baby Can I Walk You Home (b-side of 'Bury Me Deep In Love' 1987)
10 Region Unknown (b-side of 'Bury Me Deep In Love' 1987)

Disc III - 1988-1989
01 Love The Fever (b-side of 'A Trick Of The Light' 1988)
02 Bad News Always Reminds Me Of You (b-side of 'A Trick Of The Light' 1988)
03 Everything You Touch Turns To Time (b-side of 'A Trick Of The Light' 1988)
04 Good Morning, Good Morning (b-side of 'Holy Water' 1988)
05 You Minus Me (b-side of 'Falling Over You' 1989)
06 Can't Help Falling In Love (b-side of 'Falling Over You' 1989)
07 Go Home Eddie (b-side of 'Goodbye Little Boy' 1989)
08 Shell Of The Man (b-side of 'Goodbye Little Boy' 1989)
09 Rent (b-side of 'Bury Me Deep In Love' re-issue 1989)
10 Into The Groove (b-side of 'Bury Me Deep In Love' re-issue 1989)
11 Jack's Hole (bonus track from the re-issue of 'Black Swan', recordedm1989)
12 How Could I Help But Love You (bonus track from the re-issue of 'Black Swan', recorded 1989)

Kanye West - Thank God For Drugs (2013)

Following the release of the acclaimed 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' in 2010, Kanye West embarked on a couple of collaborative efforts, recording 'Watch The Throne' with Jay-Z in 2011, and releasing the 'GOOD Music (Cruel Summer)' album in 2012. This was the first, and so far, the only collaboration album of West's G.O.O.D. Music label, and featured the main signees from the label, including West himself, Pusha T, Big Sean, Kid Cudi, as well as affiliates 2 Chainz, and the then up-and-coming rapper, Travis Scott. After the release of this record, work began on the follow-up to '...Fantasy', and accelerated in 2013 when more producers were brought on board for the project, although with more people involved, this did result in some of the content leaking online. So much material was produced that up to three and a half hours of an album was made, which was reduced and refined by Rick Rubin before release. The original working title was 'Thank God For Drugs', but this was eventually changed to 'Yeezus' when the album finally appeared in 2013, housed in the iconic sleeve of a picture of a blank CD case with a red square on it. After the recorded material was pared down for official release, much of the remaining music leaked online, and has been compiled by a number of fans into different versions of 'Thank God For Drugs'. The general consensus among fans is that the best of these is by simplejosh, who utilizes the original versions of many of these leaks, and edits them into full versions of songs of which full versions never existed, such as 'No No No No', 'Emotionless', and 'LOUDER!'. Exceptions have been made for 'Talk To Me' and 'Bound 1', as while those tracks have released versions, these ones are distinct enough to be included in this alternative album. Artwork was prepared for 'Thank God For Drugs', which was designed by George Condo, the artist behind the cover for 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy', and it is largely similar to what ended up being used for 'Yeezus'. However, this one had different designs on it, including a figure with pills being plunged into it, while doing the peace sign with its left hand and holding another pill in the other. As this artwork was so similar to the released cover to 'Yeezus', I've gone in a completely different direction and used a fan-made cover that I found online, which I really liked. 

Track listing

01 I Am Not Home
02 WOW (feat. Justxn Paul)
03 Hollywood Be Thy Name (feat. Justxn Paul)
04 Why Feel Bad? (feat. The Weeknd)
05 Can't Get Over Me (feat. Justin Vernon & The-Dream)
06 No No No No (feat. 2 Chainz, Travis Scott & The-Dream)
07 Talk To Me (I'm In It) (feat. Justin Vernon & Assassin)
08 LOUDER! (feat. Pusha T)
09 Perfect Bitch (feat. Justxn Paul)
10 Awesome (feat. Charlie Wilson)
11 Emotionless (feat. Chantal Kreviazuk, Kendrick Lamar & Pusha T)
12 Enjoy The Pain (feat. John Legend)
13 No More Games (feat. Chantal Kreviazuk)
14 Bound 1 (Nobody To Love) (feat. Charlie Wilson & John Legend)

Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee (2024)

Cindy Lee is the drag queen hypnagogic pop project of Canadian musician Patrick Flegel, former guitarist and lead singer of Women, a brilliant and volatile Canadian post-punk band of the late 2000's, who flamed out quickly after two albums, an onstage fistfight, and the unrelated sudden death of one member. Their spindly guitar lines, asymmetrical rhythms, and surprisingly sweet melodies have remained influential on wide swaths of DIY rock. Following the breakup of Women in 2010, Flegel collaborated with Morgan Cook in the band Androgynous Mind, releasing the EP Nightstalker in 2012, and from there, the project evolved into Cindy Lee, which sees Flegel recording music primarily alone, but continuing to perform with a rotating roster of supporting musicians. The demo cassette 'Tatlashea' was released in 2012, followed by the full-length albums 'Act Of Tenderness' and 'Melenkost' in 2015, and in 2018 'Act Of Tenderness' was re-issued, with 'What's Tonight To Eternity?' following in February 2020, and the project's fifth album, 'Cat o' Nine Tails', appeared just a month later, in March 2020. Four years later, in March 2024, Cindy Lee released the double album 'Diamond Jubilee', but this time it was only available as a download from a geocites site or for streaming on Youtube. Despite this limited availability, it received widespread critical acclaim, including the highest score given out by Pitchfork in four years, and it is a shortlisted finalist for the 2024 Polaris Music Prize. There is no accompanying press or liner notes, no artist bio, no interviews; just a sprawling two-part, two-hour record that has dropped in from nowhere, and because of this it's ignored by the algorithms, playlists and radio stations who have no access to the tracks to promote it. However, the buzz appears genuinely justified, and 'Diamond Jubilee' feels like the work of an artist operating at the peak of their powers, who is able to harness and crystallise all that potency and charge into a record that, on the surface, should be far too large, messy and stretched out to contain such a cohesive body of work. Flegel blurs genres with glee, gliding between '50s doo wop, '60s girl groups, psychedelic pop and lo-fi indie, all delivered with a woozy, dreamy, occasionally crepuscular tone. I must admit that Cindy Lee are a new band to me, but on seeing the effusive reviews for the album I had to give them a try, and after hearing it, it was no-brainer to share it for any one who can't get hold of a copy any other way. 

Track listing

Disc One
01 Diamond Jubilee
02 Glitz
03 Baby Blue
04 Dreams of You
05 All I Want Is You
06 Dallas
07 Olive Drab
08 Always Dreaming
09 Wild One
10 Flesh and Blood
11 Le Machiniste Fantome
12 Kingdom Come
13 Demon Bitch
14 I Have My Doubts
15 Til Polarity's End
16 Realistik Heaven

Disc Two
01 Stone Faces
02 Gayblevision
03 Dracula
04 Lockstepp
05 Government Cheque
06 Deepest Blue
07 To Heal This Wounded Heart
08 Golden Microphone
09 If You Hear Me Crying
10 Darling of the Diskoteque
11 Don't Tell Me I'm Wrong
12 What's It Going to Take
13 Wild Rose
14 Durham City Limit
15 Crime of Passion
16 24/7 Heaven

Christina Aguilera - Just Be Free (1995)

After news that The All-New Mickey Mouse Club would be filming its final season, Christina Aguilera sought out a record deal, and she spent time in Philadelphia recording demo tracks with various producers, hoping to have an album released by the time she had finished high school. She began recording with New Jersey-based producers Robert Allecca and Michael Brown, after the pair gave her the opportunity to use a recording studio, and presented her with demo music. According to biographer Pier Dominguez, they told her that the demo recordings they would produce would be their property, but also that they would never commercially release the material. The tapes were conceived as a way of introducing Aguilera to the music industry, described as a "foot in the door" attempt to build interest in her musical abilities. During the recording sessions, she experimented with different languages, recording songs such as the title track 'Just Be Free' in Spanish, and musically the album generally consists of dance tracks and ballads, the latter of which were created in an effort to showcase Aguilera's vocal talents. Nearly all of the songs on the album were co-written by Aguilera with Bob Allecca and Michael Brown, and they showed that even at the age of fourteen she was first and foremost a talented musician and artist. 

However, the venture actually backfired after the recordings were not very well received among critics, and it was to be another two years before she started to attract the attention of the music industry. Six years after the completion of the album and Aguilera had achieved mainstream success, Brown and Allecca released the record, and after discovering this, Aguilera took steps to sue the pair in an effort to stop the release. She filed a suit against the label Warlock Records, and the affiliates Platinum Recordings and JFB Music for "improper use of her name and license on the upcoming album 'Just Be Free'". In response, Warlock Records filed their own lawsuit in an attempt to ensure the release of the record, and during the proceedings, Aguilera agreed to let Warlock Records release 'Just Be Free' after reaching a settlement with the company and its affiliates. She allowed the release under the condition that the label would have to include a letter written by Aguilera in each album released. The letter stated: 

"'Just Be Free' was recorded when I was 14 and 15 years old. At that young age, I made the recordings as a possible stepping stone to a career in music, which is my ultimate passion. They were made just so that I could get my foot in the door of the music business. I did not intend that the recordings would be widely released, especially after I signed with a major record label. I have not updated or finished the versions recorded in my childhood, and they are being released "as is," although I tried to prevent the release for several years. The recordings do not in any way reflect my current musical taste and where I am as an artist. The growth and vocal development I experienced as I matured into young adulthood is not reflected in the recordings. The album of new recordings that I intend to release this fall will be the album that truly reflects my artistry, my vision, and my passion. The 'Just Be Free' recordings will hopefully be a footnote in a musical career that I dream will last for many years to come." She realised that they were going to put out the album one way or another, and this way she got to make a statement on it, and so she was happy about that. She also chose the photograph that was used on the album's cover, which depicts her at the age the album was recorded. When it was eventually released it received generally negative reviews from critics, with most of them understanding why she tried to stop it appearing, as they thought that it contained dated club tracks, overwhelmed by poor effects and mundane beats. However, it is a historic artefact in her career and so for any fans who can no longer find a copy and want to hear it, here it is for you to try. 

Track listing

01 Just Be Free
02 By Your Side
03 Move It (dance mix)
04 Our Day Will Come
05 Believe Me
06 Make Me Happy
07 Dream A Dream
08 Move It
09 The Way You Talk to Me
10 Running Out Of Time
11 Believe Me (dance remix)
12 Just Be Free (Spanish version)

The Cardigans - Blah Blah Blah (2005)

Peter Svensson and Magnus Sveningsson, both heavy metal musicians, formed The Cardigans in October 1992 in Jönköping, Sweden, with drummer Bengt Lagerberg, keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson and lead singer Nina Persson. Living together in a small apartment, they recorded a demo tape, with Persson providing lead vocals on about half of the songs, and A&R man Ola Hermanson heard the demo and signed the band to his Trampolene imprint. They released their debut album 'Emmerdale' in Sweden and Japan in 1994, with it being re-released internationally in 1997 after the group achieved some commercial success. The remainder of 1994 was spent touring Europe and recording 'Life', which was released worldwide in 1995, becoming an international success, and selling more than a million copies. For the US release of 'Life' in 1996, tracks were taken from both the UK 'Life' and previous album 'Emmerdale', making their American debut on Minty Fresh Records essentially a compilation album. After the success of 'Life', the band signed with Mercury Records, who released their third album 'First Band On The Moon' in 1996, with lead single 'Lovefool' becoming a worldwide hit, particularly in the US and Japan. 

In 1997, the band played themselves in an episode of 'Beverly Hills, 90210' as the featured entertainment at their college graduation party, hosted by Kelly Taylor's dad, and they performed 'Lovefool' and 'Been It'. 1998's 'Gran Turismo' produced their second global hit single with 'My Favourite Game', while other songs from the album were featured in videogame and film soundtracks. In 1999 Tom Jones asked The Cardigans to record a duet with him on a cover of Talking Heads' 'Burning Down the House' for his 'Reload' album, which would be last new music for three years. In 2002 they returned to record the 'Long Gone Before Daylight' album, which was released the following year, and it became the one of the best selling albums in Sweden that year. The songs showed a more mature side of the group, with their familiar happy pop sound giving way to songs with more of an American country music influence. It is a much darker album than their previous works, and quieter than 'Gran Turismo', and Persson even dyed her hair jet black, reflecting the band's change of mood. The new sound didn't appeal to everyone, and criticism was generally mixed, with some welcoming the change of direction, while others missed the old pop sound, and accused the band of possibly being ashamed of their former "happy" attitude. 

In October 2005 the band released their sixth album, 'Super Extra Gravity', to generally favourable reviews, and a #1 spot on the Swedish album chart, but after they'd finished promotional activities in Autumn 2006, they entered an extended hiatus and devoted themselves to other projects. After six year out of the limelight, they received a lucrative offer from Hultsfred Festival to perform the album 'Gran Turismo' in full, and after initial hesitation, they decided to accept the offer. With Oskar Humlebo filling in for a reluctant Peter Svensson, they asked their agent to put on more shows for them, and they ended up making their live comeback with gigs in Lund and Copenhagen ahead of Hultsfred, before playing in Poland, Finland, Russia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Japan. Persson has confirmed that Svensson will never rejoin the band, and that as a result there would be no new Cardigans albums, as they would not feel right making new music without him, but they continue to tour sporadically. Throughout their career they have always given their fans value for money on their singles, often using the b-sides for their idiosyncratic cover versions of songs from the likes of Thin LIzzy, Blizzard Of Oz, and Kraftwerk. The flip of 1994's 'Rise & Shine' CD was a fifteen-minute piano rendition of a number of songs from their albums, and while it was very well done, it did seem to go on a bit after a while, so I've chopped it up into five segments and slotted them in between the other songs as interludes.  

Track listing
 
Disc I - 1994-1996      
01 I Figured Out (b-side of 'Black Letter Day' 1994)
02 Cocktail Party Bloody Cocktail Party (Part 1) (b-side of 'Rise & Shine' 1994)
03 Plain Parade (b-side of 'Sick & Tired' 1994)
04 Laika (b-side of 'Sick & Tired' 1994)
05 Cocktail Party Bloody Cocktail Party (Part 2) (b-side of 'Rise & Shine' 1994)
06 Pooh Song (b-side of 'Sick & Tired' 1994)
07 The Boys Are Back In Town (b-side of 'Hey! Get Out Of My Way' 1995)
08 Cocktail Party Bloody Cocktail Party (Part 3) (b-side of 'Rise & Shine' 1994)
09 Mr. Crowley (b-side of 'Carnival' 1995)
10 Emmerdale (b-side of 'Carnival' 1995)
11 Cocktail Party Bloody Cocktail Party (Part 4) (b-side of 'Rise & Shine' 1994)
12 Nasty Sunny Beam (b-side of 'Lovefool' 1996)
13 Country Hell (b-side of 'Your New Cuckoo' 1996)
14 Cocktail Party Bloody Cocktail Party (Part 5) (b-side of 'Rise & Shine' 1994)
15 Blah Blah Blah (b-side of 'Been It' 1996)

Disc II - 1998-2005
01 War (b-side of 'My Favourite Game' 1998)
02 Burning Down The House (single with Tom Jones 1999)
03 Hold Me (b-side of 'You're The Storm' 2003)
04 The Road (b-side of 'For What It's Worth' 2003)
05 Das Model ('00) (b-side of 'For What It's Worth' 2003)
06 If There Is A Chance (b-side of 'Live And Learn' 2003)
07 Changes (b-side of 'Live And Learn' 2003)
08 For The Boys (b-side of 'I Need Some Fine Wine....' 2005)
09 (If You Were) Less Like Me (b-side of 'Don't Blame Your Daughter (Diamonds)' 2005)
10 Give Me Your Eyes (bonus track from the special edition of 'Super Extra Gravity' 2005)
11 Slow (bonus track from the special edition of 'Super Extra Gravity' 2005)

JC Chasez - The Story Of Kate (2006)

Joshua Scott "JC" Chasez was born on 8 August 1976, in Bowie, Maryland, and when he was five years old, his biological mother entrusted guardianship of her son to her own former foster parents Roy and Karen Chasez, and was later adopted by the couple and raised Mennonite. As a child, Chasez was extremely shy but very musical, and after a friend bet him $20 to enter a talent contest, he discovered he enjoyed performing, and later won a national dance competition at age 13. In 1989 his mother saw auditions for Disney's The Mickey Mouse Club advertised in The Washington Post, and after auditioning he was cast in the fourth season, going by his initials as there was another cast member named Josh (Ackerman). He stayed on the show until its cancellation in 1994, during which time he befriended future bandmate Justin Timberlake and performed alongside Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Tony Lucca, Keri Russell, and Ryan Gosling. In 1995 Chris Kirkpatrick put together the boy band NSYNC, with Chasez and Timberlake as the two lead singers, and they began recording and performing the following year in Europe. In 1998, the band released its debut album '*NSYNC', which sold 11 million copies, earning them popularity in the United States. Following a series of legal struggles with manager Lou Pearlman, they signed with Jive Records, and released their second studio album 'No Strings Attached' in 2000, which became the fastest-selling album of all time, selling 2.4 million copies in the first week. After their Celebrity Tour in 2002, NSYNC went on hiatus, and though they never formally disbanded, various members embarked on solo careers. Chasez recorded the song 'Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)' for the soundtrack to the 2002 film 'Drumline', and it was later released as a single. He subsequently began work on a solo album with Jive Records, with tracks written and produced by Dallas Austin, Basement Jaxx, and Robb Boldt, and after numerous delays his debut album 'Schizophrenic' was released in February 2004. Following the release of 'Schizophrenic', Chasez began work on his second album, 'The Story Of Kate', which featured production from Chasez's former NSYNC bandmate Timberlake, Timbaland, Dallas Austin, Jimmy Harry, and Emanuel Kiriakou. Although originally slated for release in 2006, the album was delayed to the following year, while two singles, 'Until Yesterday' and 'You Ruined Me', were released online, and Chasez performed material from it on various TV shows. After the album's release was stalled yet again, it was effectively cancelled when Chasez and Jive mutually parted ways in September 2007. Chasez continues to work as a songwriter and producer, with songs written for David Archuleta, Matthew Morrison, and Backstreet Boys, but he has yet to release another solo album, and so now is the time to give 'The Story Of Kate' the hearing that it deserves. 

Track listing

01 Until Yesterday
02 I'm Not Sleeping Alone
03 You Ruined Me
04 Better With You
05 Satellite
06 Fuck With My Mind
07 Fire
08 God Bless America
09 Hot Section
10 I'll Be Somebody To Someone Someday
11 Beautiful Girl
12 I Found You Out

Leona Lewis - Pulse (2012)

During 2011 and 2012 sessions continued for Leona Lewis's third studio album, 'Glassheart', and by August 2012 she was able to announce that the lead single from it would be 'Trouble', which was released on 7 October 2012. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number seven, and the album followed in October, debuting at number three in the UK and at number four in Ireland. However, the second single, 'Lovebird', failed to reach the UK top 200 in the absence of radio support, her first release not to chart since the start of her career. In February 2013, Lewis left her management, Modest! Management, and she also announced that she would begin work on her fourth studio album, which would be released later in the year. In July 2013 she revealed that her new studio album would be a "Motown-influenced" Christmas collection, with both classic covers and original material, and 'Christmas, With Love' was released on 2 December 2013, with the lead single, 'One More Sleep', coming out the previous month. Despite having enough unused material to compile an album from 2010, there was an equivalent amount left off 'Glassheart' from the 2011/2012 sessions, and it was enough to put together a companion album to that as well, so for this final post from Leona Lewis we have a collection of outtakes from 2012, along with a guest appearance on a single by Miko Fukuhara, gathered together under the title of 'Pulse'.

Track listing

01 Mr. Magic Touch 

02 A Thousand Lights 

03 Burn

04 Pulse 

05 Piece Of Your Heart  

06 Stay 

07 Burning Down

08 It's All For You

09 Love Killer

10 I Miss You Missing Me  

11 Sugar (bonus track from the Deluxe edition of 'Glassheart)

12 Colorblind (bonus track from the Deluxe edition of 'Glassheart)

13 Playground

14 Save Me (feat. Miko Fukuhara) 

Weezer - Ecce Homo (2012)

When Rivers Cuomo started to think about writing Weezer's tenth studio album, he was coming up with songs that sounded totally different from their previous record 'Hurley', which had been kind of dark, whereas the new songs seemed to be more upbeat. During the time that Cuomo was writing these songs, he experienced several important life events: On December 6, 2009, during Weezer's tour in support of Raditude, the bus carrying Cuomo, his wife, his daughter, their nanny, and his assistant Sarah Kim, skidded off an icy road in Glen, New York. Cuomo suffered three cracked ribs and some internal bleeding, resulting in Weezer subsequently having to cancel the remainder of the tour. He eventually recovered from his injuries, but another tragedy was around the corner, and on 8 October 2011, former Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh was found dead in a hotel room as a result of an overdose. Around this time, Cuomo also lost his grandfather, a former girlfriend, and his Vipassana meditation teacher, and was separated from his family for five months due to the difficult birth of his son, Leo, during this period. All this made Cuomo re-evaluate his life, and so for the band's next record he came up with a concept album titled 'Ecce Homo' (Latin for "Behold the man"), deriving the title from the book of the same name by Friedrich Nietzsche. The concept for 'Ecce Homo' centred around a character named Sebastian who, for deliberately ambiguous reasons, appeared to exist throughout various eras of history and, over the course of the narrative, comes to realize the necessity of faith in a higher power. The album cover would have been the 1474 Antonello da Messina painting, also called 'Ecce Homo', which was later used for the fan-club single 'Everybody Needs Salvation', and the plan was that the album would have included a fold-out star map, and a picture of the Tower of Babel. In the end the idea was scrapped, and four of the tracks eventually appeared on Weezer's actual tenth album 'Everything Will Be Alright In The End', which was released in 2014. A selection of demos considered for 'Ecce Homo' were included as part of the digital compilation 'Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years' in 2020, and this gives us a starting point in piecing the album together, which is based on a track listing from Weezer's own website. 

Track listing

Act I:
01 Semper Fidelis
02 The Rules Of Life
03 Gravity Will Bring You Down
04 Sing My Blues Away
05 The British Are Coming
Act II:
06 Narcissus Blooming
07 Ain't Got Nobody
08 I Won't Flake On You
09 Ivory Telephone
10 Cleopatra
Act III:
11 The Waste Land
12 Bless The Whole Wide World
13 Everybody Needs Salvation
14 A Boat On The Sea
15 Anonymous
16 Resurgam Fidei ('Return To Ithaka')

The Sundays - Nothing Sweet (1997)

Vocalist Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin met as students at Bristol University in the mid-1980's, and after falling in love and moving in together, they wrote music in their free time while collecting unemployment benefits. Except for Wheeler's vocal duties in a band called Jim Jiminee, the couple had no musical background, but Gavurin had a drive to write music, and Wheeler displayed similar feelings. After the couple had completed several songs, they migrated to London and enlisted the support of bassist Paul Brindley and drummer Patrick Hannan, who had also attended Bristol University, and whose brother Nick had also been a member of Jim Jiminee. The band chose the name The Sundays' as it was the only one everyone could agree upon, and demo tapes were sent out to several London clubs after the group felt energized by their efforts. Responses to the tape were enthusiastic and an employee at Vertigo Club offered the band an opening slot for an upcoming show in August 1988, which just happened to have three reviewers in the audience from the top music papers. Instead of reviewing the main band, they wrote about The Sundays, and the group subsequently became the focus of a record label bidding war. They eventually signed with Rough Trade Records and had a distribution deal signed for the United States with DGC Records, releasing their first single 'Can't Be Sue' in January 1989. It topped the British indie charts and received acclaim as one of the best singles of the year, with the group soon being invited to record a session for the John Peel radio show. 

They worked on their debut album for over a year, as unlike many bands who sign a record deal after playing the circuit for years, the band didn't have enough material for a long-player, but after writing and recorded more songs, 'Reading, Writing And Arithmetic' was released in January 1990. It was a commercial success, reaching number 4 on the UK charts, and peaking at number 39 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. Its distinct Englishness in lyrics, augmented by Harriet Wheeler's accent, alongside their lighter-than-air guitar pop, influenced the nascent Britpop scene, notably impacting bands like Sleeper, while the hit single 'Here's Where The Story Ends' gave them considerable success in the USA. The band experienced some hardships leading up to the recording of their second album, as in 1991 Rough Trade Records went bankrupt, and a lot of their bands had to find new record deals. The Sundays signed with Parlophone Records in the UK, but constant touring coupled with their decision to manage themselves hampered the group's creative output. This was already an issue, as Gavurin and Wheeler were the main songwriters, and were perfectionists when it came to writing and recording their music. The band's low profile around this time led to rumours that they had disbanded, but this was laid to rest with the issue of a new single, 'Goodbye', which was a minor hit in the Autumn of 1992, and the b-side was a cover of The Rolling Stones' 'Wild Horses'. Their next album, 'Blind', was finally released in October 1992, and was as successful as their debut, peaking at number 103 on the Billboard 200. Critical reception was also positive, although some critics thought the album lacked the quality song-writing of its predecessor. 

After a tour of the US, the band holidayed in Thailand and, upon returning to England, they put their music career on the back burner for a time, with Gavurin and Wheeler expressing a desire to settle down. Wheeler gave birth to the couple's daughter, Billie, in March 1995, and they also built a recording studio in their home, not only to save on the cost of renting a studio, but also to expand their creative freedoms. After a five year hiatus, the group reconvened and released their third album, 'Static & Silence', although the reviews were more mixed than for their first two records. While the band retained much of the same sound that they developed on previous albums, they added horns to a number of tracks, and although the album was not as successful as their others, the single 'Summertime' became their most successful hit to date on the UK chart ,and achieved a top 10 spot on the US Alternative Rock chart. As might be expected, bearing in mind how hard Gavurin and Wheeler found it to write their music, not many of their singles included exclusive material, with only one new song appearing in 1990, and two in 1992, but for their comeback in 1997 they were much more prolific, and so if we add in the previously unreleased 'Turkish', we have a nice 41-minute album of rare and hard to find recordings from this enigmatic band.    

Track listing

01 Don't Tell Your Mother (b-side of 'Can't Be Sure' 1990)
02 Noise (b-side of 'Goodbye' 1992)
03 Wild Horses (b-side of 'Goodbye' 1992)
04 Here's Where The Story Ends (live, b-side of 'Wild Horses' 1993)    
05 Turkish (unreleased song 1997)
06 Can't Be Sure (demo) (b-side of 'Cry' 1997)
07 You're Not The Only One I Know (demo) (b-side of 'Cry' 1997)
08 Through The Dark (b-side of 'Cry' 1997)
09 Life Goes On (b-side of 'Cry' 1997)
10 Nothing Sweet (b-side of 'Summertime' 1997)
11 Gone (b-side of 'Summertime' 1997)
12 So Much (bonus track on re-issue of 'Static & Silence' 1997)

Personal Trainer - Fiddlefunk (2023)

Following on from my recent discovery of new bands The Ezra Collective and English Teacher, my new tip for the top is Personal Trainer. They are a Dutch indie rock band based in Amsterdam, who are occasionally referred to as a collective, as they are built around frontman Willem Smit, and have a continuously changing line-up with which they perform. The band initially started as a solo project of Smit, who frequently asked different people to play along on stage, and currently he is the only permanent member of the group, with his fellow band members rotating between artists who are part of, among others, Netherlands counterparts Canshaker Pi, Pip Blom, Steve French and The Klittens, as well as English bands Home Counties and Bull. In 2020, they performed at Eurosonic Noorderslag in Groningen, and in 2021 they played continuously for 24 hours in Paradiso Amsterdam. On record, Smit teams up with Casper van der Lans to produce efforts that cement their status at the head of the burgeoning Dutch guitar scene, and they've been releasing singles and EP's since 2019, with their first album, 'Big Love Blanket' appearing in 2022 on The Industry record label. Now signed to Bella Union, they released their second album this year, with 'Still Willing' receiving praise from critics and the public alike, and so if, like me, you are only now discovering the delights of Personal Trainer, then here is all the music that they've released up to this point, which was not included on either of their albums. 

Track listing

01 The Lazer (original single version 2019)
02 Stormchaser Of The Month (b-side of 'The Lazer')
03 Edible Plastic (single 2020)
04 Issue Box (b-side of 'Edible Plastic')
05 The Industry (b-side of 'Edible Plastic')
06 Crops (from the 10" 'Gazebo' EP 2021)
07 Politics (from the 10" 'Gazebo' EP 2021)
08 Muscle Memory (from the 10" 'Gazebo' EP 2021)
09 Fiddlefunk (from the 10" 'Gazebo' EP 2021)
10 The Loozer (from the 10" 'Gazebo' EP 2021)
11 1,000,000 (from the 10" 'Live At Katzwijm' EP 2023)
12 Total Wotal (from the 10" 'Live At Katzwijm' EP 2023)
13 The Feeling (single 2023)
14 Babyolifantjes (b-side of 'The Feeling')

Sunday Girl - Four Floors (2012)

Jade Williams was born on 21 May 1988 in Sidcup, Greater London, and is professionally known as Whinnie Williams. She grew up in Broxbourne, working at a local pet shop every Sunday during her teenage years, and as she had not revealed her name to the other members of staff, she became known as Sunday Girl, which would later become her music alias. Having overcome stage fright through hypnosis, she joined many cover bands, including a ska band, a jazz band, and a trio who did covers of '40s blues standards with a ukulele and double bass. However, she soon became bored of singing covers and so took a gap year during her studies to travel and, more importantly, focus on her song-writing. While singing at a night club, she was discovered by a manager, and he helped direct her to work with other songwriters, which led to her eventual signing with Polydor Records and Universal's Geffen Records in late 2009. Her debut single as Sunday Girl was 'Four Floors' in March 2010, followed by 'Self Control' in July, and then she was offered a support slot on Ellie Goulding's tour during November. Her third single, 'Stop Hey', was officially released through iTunes by Polydor in February 2011, and in June she was featured on Martin Solveig's album 'Smash', performing 'Let's Not Play Games', which she co-wrote. 

Her cover of 'Love U More', originally by Sunscreem, was promotionally released in October 2011, but its commercial release was delayed indefinitely, although that seemed insignificant when her big break came, with her cover of Pixies' 'Where Is My Mind?' being used for Thomson's 2011 holiday TV campaign, and the single's success helped her to be signed by Universal's Island Records in early 2012. In turn, this led to other TV ads, in particular for supermarket chain Aldi, with her cover of 'My Favourite Things' in 2015. In March 2012 she co-wrote the song 'Turn Up The Radio' for Madonna's twelfth studio album 'MDNA', and her song 'High & Low' was featured on the official motion picture soundtrack of 'StreetDance 2'. In February 2013 she announced the end of the Sunday Girl project, and released her first singles under the name Whinnie Williams, with both 'You Don't Love Me' and 'Break Hearts In Your Sleep' appearing in 2013. In 2018 she founded interiors brand Poodle & Blonde, and has been the host for BBC 3 show 'Flat Out Fabulous' since 2020, but with the end of the Sunday Girl project, the proposed Polydor album was shelved, so I've taken all her known recordings up to 2013 and added a few choice covers from Blur, Keisha, MGMT and Everything Everything, to add to the one from Pixies, and we end up with the album that could have appeared in 2012 if Sunday Girl had carried on. 

Track listing

01 Stop Hey
02 Self Control
03 Four Floors
04 Human Love
05 Where Is My Mind
06 TiK ToK
07 Love U More
08 Tender
09 Time To Pretend
10 High & Low
11 Photoshop Handsome

Selena Gomez - Seven Heavens (2017)

Selena Marie Gomez was born on 22 July 1992, in Grand Prairie, Texas, to a 16 year old mother, and the family had financial troubles throughout Gomez's childhood, with her mother struggling to provide for the pair. She first gained an interest in pursuing a career in entertainment watching her mother prepare for stage productions, and in 2002, she began her acting career on the children's television series 'Barney & Friends, portraying the character Gianna. She appeared in thirteen episodes of the show between 2002 and 2004, after which she was dismissed as she was "too old" for the series. In 2007 she was given a recurring role on the Disney Channel series 'Hannah Montana', as pop star Mikayla, and she later auditioned for a role in the network's series 'Wizards Of Waverly Place', ultimately winning the lead role of Alex Russo. 'Wizards Of Waverly Place' saw Gomez playing a teenage girl in a family of wizards who own a restaurant in New York City, and it quickly became a success for the Disney Channel, and marked Gomez's breakthrough into the mainstream. Following her appearance in the teen musical comedy film 'Another Cinderella Story', she contributed three songs to the soundtrack, including the single 'Tell Me Something I Don't Know', which became her first entry on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. She also recorded the song 'Fly To Your Heart' for the soundtrack of the animated 2008 film 'Tinker Bell', and that same year, at age 16, she signed with Hollywood Records, and formed her own production company, July Moon Production. Her film and TV career continued throughout 2009, and hoping to cross over into the music industry, she formed the pop rock band Selena Gomez & the Scene through her record deal with Hollywood Records. 

The group's debut studio album, 'Kiss & Tell', influenced by pop rock and electronic rock, was released in September 2009, and it debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the U.S. with first-week sales of 66,000 copies. It received mixed reviews, with some critics praising its fun nature and others criticizing Gomez's vocal performance, and although the lead single was not commercially successful, the second single, 'Naturally', became a breakthrough hit, reaching number twenty-nine in the U.S. and number seven in the United Kingdom. In 2010, Selena Gomez & the Scene released their second studio album 'A Year Without Rain', which debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 at number four, and once again it received mixed to positive reviews, with some critics reacting negatively to Gomez's Auto-Tuned vocals. The band's third and final studio album, 'When the Sun Goes Down', was released the following year to the usual mixed reviews, and the album's lead single, 'Who Says', was the band's highest charting effort, peaking at number twenty-one in the U.S. Gomez confirmed in January 2012 that she would be taking a break from music, placing Selena Gomez & the Scene on hiatus, and for the next twelve months she concentrated on her axcting, but despite earlier claims that she would be taking a break from music, she released 'Come & Get It' as the lead single from her debut solo album in 2013. 

It became her first top-ten entry on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, reaching number six, and the 'Stars Dance' album was released in July, debuting at number one in the U.S. The mixed reviews continued, with critics this time commenting on her inability to create her own musical identity and panning her vocal abilities. In April 2014, Gomez fired her mother and stepfather as her managers, as she wanted to find fresh handlers as part of a strategy to "move on into more adult-oriented fare in film and music", and with her contract with Hollywood Records coming to an end, she surprise-released her new single 'The Heart Wants What It Wants' in November 2014. To complete her contract with her label, they released her first greatest hits album, 'For You', after which she officially parted ways with Hollywood Records and later signed with Interscope Records in December 2014. While working on her second studio album, she collaborated with German DJ Zedd on 'I Want You To Know', released in February 2015, and she followed this in June with 'Good For You', featuring rapper ASAP Rocky, as the lead single from her second studio album. Gomez released her second studio album, 'Revival', in October 2015, and its dance-pop and electropop vibes were finally reviewed positively by critics, who praised its production and lyrical content. 

Gomez embarked on her worldwide Revival Tour in May 2016, which focussed solely on her as an artist, and featured less choreography and fewer effects than her previous tour. She Gomez began working on her third studio album while touring, and added a new song titled 'Feel Me' to the setlist of her Revival Tour, with the song later being released in February 2020, due to high demand from fans. After touring in North America, Asia and Oceania, she cancelled the European and South America legs in August 2016 due to anxiety, panic attacks and depression caused by her lupus, and following the cancelation of her tour, she rechecked into rehab to focus on her mental health, and was noticeably absent from social media. After being absent from the public eye for four months, she triumphantly returned to the spotlight by appearing at the American Music Awards where she was nominated for Favourite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Artist of the Year, the first of which she won. In February 2017, Gomez and the Norwegian DJ Kygo released a single together titled 'It Ain't Me', which reached the top ten of most major music charts worldwide, including the U.S. and the U.K. 

In May she released the single 'Bad Liar' to universal acclaim from music critics, with some deeming it her best song to date, and she followed this with 'Fetish' featuring rapper Gucci Mane two months later. In October 2017, Gomez and EDM producer Marshmello released the single 'Wolves', which was another commercial success, and in May 2018, the single 'Back To You' was included on the soundtrack of the TV series '13 Reasons Why: Season 2', but the third album remained elusive, and was nowhere to be seen. In October 2019, Gomez released 'Lose You To Love Me' as the lead single from her third studio album, and the next day, she surprise-released the album's second single, 'Look At Her Now', with the album 'Rare' following in January 2020, becoming her third consecutive number-one album in the US. In 2017 she was photographed wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the legend Seven Heavens, and this was taken to be the title of her third album, which was expected to come out in 2017, but as it appeared to have been put on the back-burner until she re-appeared in 2020, then I've collected all the songs that she recorded for it and have constructed her actual third album from 2017, now titled 'Seven Heavens'. 

Track listing

01 Fetish (feat. Gucci Mane)
02 Bad Liar
03 Strong (feat. Justin Bieber)
04 P.O.S.E. (Praise On Someone Else)
05 Kinda Crazy
06 Stained
07 It Ain't Me (feat. Kygo)
08 Feel Me
09 Back To You
10 Bad Guy
11 Higher Or Heaven (feat. Halsey)
12 Love's Not Over (feat. Cody Simpson)
13 Wolves (feat. Marshmello)

Jay-Z - The Greatest MC (1994)

Shawn Corey Carter was born on 4 December 1969, in Brooklyn, New York City, and was raised in Marcy Houses, a public housing project in Brooklyn's Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood. His father abandoned the family, and so he and his three older siblings were raised by his mother. He attended Eli Whitney High School and George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School, both in Brooklyn, and then Trenton Central High School in Trenton, New Jersey, but he didn't graduate, dropping out during his sophomore year at Trenton Central High School. According to his interviews and his lyrics, he sold crack cocaine after leaving school, and was shot at three times during this period. Known as "Jazzy" around the neighborhood, he later adopted the stage name "Jay-Z" in homage to his mentor Jaz-O. He can briefly be heard on several of Jaz-O's early recordings in the late 1980's and early 1990's, including 'H. P. Gets Busy', 'The Originators' and 'Hawaiian Sophie', and he also became embroiled in several battles with rapper LL Cool J in the early 1990's. He first became known to a wider audience on the posse cut 'Show And Prove' on the 1994 Big Daddy Kane album 'Daddy's Home', with Jay-Z being referred to as Big Daddy Kane's hype man during this period. However, Kane explains that he did not fill the traditional hype man role, and was instead basically making cameo appearances on stage when Kane left the stage to change outfits. He appeared on a popular song by Big L, 'Da Graveyard', and on Mic Geronimo's 'Time To Build' in 1995, which also featured early appearances by his former Murder Inc. colleagues Ja Rule and DMX. His first official rap single was 'In My Lifetime', which was released with an accompanying music video in 1995, but before this he had recorded a number of demo tracks which he passed around in the hope of finding a record deal. With no major label prepared to give him a deal, he sold burned CDs out of his car, and with Damon "Dame" Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke, created Roc-A-Fella Records as an independent label in 1995. After striking a distribution deal with Priority, Jay-Z released his 1996 debut album 'Reasonable Doubt', with beats from acclaimed producers such as DJ Premier and Super DJ Clark Kent, and an appearance by The Notorious B.I.G. The album reached number 23 on the Billboard 200, and was generally favoured by critics, kick-starting a career which would make him one of the biggest rap stars on the planet. But everyone has to start somewhere, and so here are those 1994 demos, collected together and named after the opening track of the album, which shows that even at the start of his career, Jay-Z knew exactly what he wanted to be. 

Track listing

01 The Greatest MC
02 What's In A Name? 
03 Get Off My Dick (feat. Sauce Money) 
04 Understand Me 
05 Pass the Roc 
06 Broken English & Drug Sellin' 
07 Rippin' It Up, Right? (feat. Sauce Money) 
08 Nuttin' But Love (feat. Sauce Money) 
09 Under Pressure (feat. Sauce Money) 
10 Behind The Ropes (feat. Sauce Money) 

Leona Lewis - Perfection (2010)

The success of her 2009 album 'Echo' had raised Leona Lewis's profile enough for her to be asked to provide vocals on a cover of 'Everybody Hurts', released in January 2010 to help raise money for victims of that year's earthquake in Haiti. Her first tour, titled 'The Labyrinth' supporting 'Spirit' and 'Echo', started in May 2010, and was scheduled to cover North America from July to August supporting Christina Aguilera's Bionic Tour, but Aguilera cancelled, leaving Lewis's plans in limbo. However, a DVD of the UK leg of the tour, along with a ten-track CD, was released with the title 'The Labyrinth Tour Live from The O2' on 29 November 2010. She began work on her third album, 'Glassheart', shortly after she completed 'The Labyrinth' tour, and although originally announced to be released on 28 November 2011 in the UK, it was delayed for a year before it eventually appeared. During 2010 Lewis worked with numerous writers and producers including Ammo, Jonas Quant, Chuck Harmony, Claude Kelly, Ryan Tedder, Fraser T Smith, Al Shux, Steve Robson, Dallas Austin, Rico Love, and Ne-Yo, and a lot of material was recorded for 'Glassheart', but most of it was eventually scrapped, and more sessions took place in 2011 and 2012. In September 2011 she released the dance-pop single 'Collide', written by Autumn Rowe and produced by Sandy Vee, and it debuted on the official UK top 40 singles chart at number 4. She followed this in December 2011 with 'Hurt: The EP', containing four covers, and she closed the year by performing on the American version of X Factor, and as the featured performer for the closing of the 2011 Doha Film Festival, where she sang ten songs. A number of the tracks recorded in 2010 have now surfaced, and so although she didn't release a studio album that year, she certainly had enough material to do so, and so this is what it could have sounded like, with the addition of the 'Collide' single. 

Track listing 

01 Save Myself 
02 How Everything You Are
03 Breaking Into Pieces
04 Crying Is Beautiful
05 The Fabric Of Our Lives
06 I Know Who I Am (from the film 'For Coloured Girls' 2010)
07 I Didn't Want To Hurt You

08 Collide
09 Mountains
10 Can't Fight It   
11 Hero

12 Everybody Hurts
13 Perfection

14 Haunted