All Categories — All Formats  

Quite an unusual soundtrack from Les Baxter – not just because it's a rare one done for an early 60s horror film, but also because this presentation of the music features a handful of very long songs – rather than the usual shorter film score numbers! In a way, the music works like one long suite, divided up into a few passages – heavy on the kind of exotic scoring that Baxter was using in his key Capitol Records sides a few years before – but also turned towards darkness a bit more, as you'd guess from the setting! Instrumentation isn't far off from Baxter's exotic records – light strings, percussion, vibes, offbeat woodwinds, and more – but the phrasing is a lot more eerie – and at points, a lot more dramatic too. Titles include the short "Main Title" – plus the longer "Drop Of Water", "The Telephone", and "The Wurdalak".

Huge! Dark, heavy – an album of mythical proportions, and that's a lot to say for a mainstream LP! It would be hard to imagine the modern rock landscape without this album or group, who provided the template for so much music to follow, and the soundtrack to many bong-fueled excursions to the dark side! Includes "Black Sabbath", "The Wizard", "Wasp/Behind The Wall Of Sleep/Bassically/NIB", "Wicked World", and "A Bit Of Finger/Sleeping Village/Warning".

The fourth nearly flawless album of heavy genius from Black Sabbath – featuring some of the mightiest rock riffs ever! Vol 4 is just the tiniest of notches below Master Of Reality and Paranoid in overall greatness – which is the tiniest of possible complaints given that those previous two albums are among the few truly perfect rock and roll albums ever recorded! But this one has "Supernaut". Enough said. Other titles include "Wheels Of Confusion", "Tomorrows Dreams", "Changes", "FX", "Snowblind", "Cornucopia", "Under The Sun" and more.

Huge! Dark, heavy – an album of mythical proportions, and that's a lot to say for a mainstream LP! It would be hard to imagine the modern rock landscape without this album or group, who provided the template for so much music to follow, and the soundtrack to many bong-fueled excursions to the dark side! Includes "Black Sabbath", "The Wizard", "Wasp/Behind The Wall Of Sleep/Bassically/NIB", "Wicked World", and "A Bit Of Finger/Sleeping Village/Warning".

The third album by Black Sabbath – the album that put the heavy in metal – one of the most influential rock albums of all time and a record that finds Sabbath at absolute peak perfection! This is the one that set the Sabbath style in stone, honing in the the heavy riffs, thundering drums and eerie mood perfectly. Includes the ultra classics "Sweet Leaf" and "Children Of The Grave", plus "After Forever", "Lord Of This World", "Solitude", "Into The Void" and the instrumentals "Embryo" and "Orchid".

The grandest scale and most elaborately furnished Black Sabbath album to this point – but they still bring the heavy! The title track is one of the most influential metal songs ever, with the foreboding lyrics, trudging stomp of a rhythmic pace and those bridges that are almost pretty – and the most of the rest of the album is great, too – more carefully produced than the previous few without compromising the menace. Titles include "A National Acrobat", "Fluff", "Sabbra Cadabra", "Spiral Architect", "Looking For Today", and "Who Are You".

Quite possibly the greatest moment of genius ever from Black Sabbath – and a genre-changing record that influenced generations! The group are at their lean, raw best here – free from any cliches at all, and working in an incredibly heady brew of fuzzy guitar, romping bass, and dark drums – all topped by the instantly recognizeable screech of the young Ozzy Osborne! Guitarist Tony Iommi virtually redefines rock use of the guitar with this record alone – and the Oz follows suit with some of the creepiest vocals set to record ever. Titles include the classics "Paranoid" and "Iron Man", plus "War Pigs", "Planet Caravan", "Electric Funeral", "Hand Of Doom", and "Rat Salad".

Black Sabbath going strong – very much in their own space by this point in their career, setting a sound that countless others would try to follow – but never match for fierceness like this! The fuzz is definitely turned up to 11, the rhythms move at a breakneck speed, and Ozzy's vocals have all the mean, sinister sounds that set a generation on fire – plenty of energy to fill up long tracks that include "Megalomania", "Hole In The Sky", "Symptom Of The Universe", "Supertzar", "Am I Going Insane", and "The Writ".

A wonderful session by Andrew Hill – recorded in 1968, but issued only briefly in 1981 – and out of print for years! The session is a key one in understanding Hill's work – as it's a bridge between the arch modernism of his early Blue Note sides, and the more soul-oriented playing of the Grass Roots album. The group features Joe Farrell and Charles Tolliver on horns – both of whom open up the sound at the same time they're giving it a nice bottom – and the rest of the combo includes Victor Sproles on bass and Billy Higgins on drums. The album's an enchanting one – lighter than earlier years, but still with a compelling vision that's all Hill's own. Titles include "Dance With Death", "Love Nocturne", "Black Sabbath", "Partitions", and "Fish N Rice". CD features a bonus alternate take of the title cut.

Rock forbears of all things sludgy and metal, Black Sabbath get the much-deserved critical respect of a cover feature for Mojo – which includes an exclusive interview on the eve of their reunion album and tour! A couple more vital reunions are covered in this issue, too – including an interview with The Breeders and a talk with Iggy on The Stooges. Also includes pieces on Wings, Creedence, Deerhunter, Rod Stewarts' mod years and more. The free CD is Heavy Nuggets Vol 2 – 15 Hard Rock Gems From The British Underground – featuring The Pretty Things, Blossom Toes, Mighty Baby, Possessed, Jerusalem, Family, Twink and more.

Pre-metal, post-psych, and an incredible batch of hard rock gems from Warpig – an obscure Canadian combo at the start of the 70s – but one who work here at a level that easily matches the best from early Deep Purple or Black Sabbath! Like both of those groups, there's a driving, intense feel to Warpig's music – fuzz borrowed from psych, but really focused in a forward-moving action – spurred on even more strongly by the driving drums and brooding basslines – which all serve to really shade the whole record in a hell of a lot of darkness, right from the start! This is no one-off, obscure-for-obscure-sakes sort of record – as the set's got the power to please even the most suspicious hard rock fan of the time – a flurry of great numbers that includes Flaggi", "Tough Nuts", "Advance Am", "Rockstar", and "Sunflight". Includes great notes too!

Overblown rock from an overblown cartoon – with cuts that include "Reach Out" by Cheap Trick, "Heavy Metal" by Sammy Hagar, "Veteran Of The Psychic Wars" by Blue Oyster Cult, "Mob Rules" by Black Sabbath, "True Companion" by Donald Fagen, and "Working In The Coal Mine" by Devo.

A wonderful session by Andrew Hill – recorded in 1968, but issued only briefly in 1981 – and out of print for years! The session is a key one in understanding Hill's work – as it's a bridge between the arch modernism of his early Blue Note sides, and the more soul-oriented playing of the Grass Roots album. The group features Joe Farrell and Charles Tolliver on horns – both of whom open up the sound at the same time they're giving it a nice bottom – and the rest of the combo includes Victor Sproles on bass and Billy Higgins on drums. The album's an enchanting one – lighter than earlier years, but still with a compelling vision that's all Hill's own. Titles include "Dance With Death", "Love Nocturne", "Black Sabbath", "Partitions", and "Fish N Rice".

Feircely rocking work from Jerusalem – a little-known band who cut this great debut for Deram in 1972! The group have a really heavy Black Sabbath sort of sound – with excellent lead guitars from Bob Cooke, and a sinister sound that has the grooves really dipping down into the depths, pushed even further by evil-edged vocals from singer Lynden Williams. The album's got the raw power of Sabbath's best work – and the whole thing's a killer record that should have been an instant classic. Titles include "Midnight Steamer", "Frustration", "Hooded Eagle", "Primitive Man", "She Came Like A Bat Out Of Hell", and "When The Wolf Sits".

The 70s rock soundtrack classic for Dazed & Confused – pressed on vinyl to commemorate for the 20th anniversary Richard Linklater's stoner masterpiece – a double LP on hella appropriate green vinyl! On big loud dumb (in a good way) radio rock jam after another – with "Rock And Roll Hoochie Koo" by Rick Derringer, "Slow Ride" by Foghat, "School's Out" by Alice Cooper, "Jim Dandy" by Black Oak Arkansas, "Tish" by ZZ Top, "Love Hurts" by Nazareth, "Low Rider" by War, "Highway Star" by Deep Purple, "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath and more.

Mojo ranks the "100 Greatest Music Films Ever" for the cover feature – and because it's Mojo we're talking about, it's a damn good list – with Don't Look Back, Searching For Sugar Man, TAMI Show, Hard Day's Night, Fistful Of Dollars, Eraserhead, The Wicker Man – classics both mainstream and cultish! This issue also has pieces on The Flaming Lips, Undertones, Shuggie Otis, Black Sabbath, a look back at Jesus & Mary Chain and Blur's Rollercoaster tour and more! The free CD is Action – 15 Cult Movie Classics – with tracks by Rodriguez, Ennio Morricone, Bobby Womack, Arthur Russell, John Barry Orchestra, Brian Jonestown Massacre and more.

Heavy Mexican rock from Nahuatl – a power trio with a really sinister-sounding vocalist! There's echoes of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple in the group's music here – especially on the tunes that are full-on and fuzzy. A few numbers are a bit more introspective – almost that Led Zep sort of contemplation amidst more rocking frenzy – and the production of the record really does a good job of bringing out the right edges in the music. Titles include "Machismo", "Evolucion", "Volvere", "El Hongo", "Dejame", and "Watching The Sun Going Down". Features the bonus track – "La Pobreza".

The darkness rises again – as this issue features a heady look at the music of Black Sabbath – and all the rare collectibles they've left us! Other articles include Bowie On TV, a special on The Canterbury Scene, The James Taylor Quartet, Why Reissues Sound Different, the 80s Mod Revival, and Emmitt Rhodes – The One Man Beatles! As usual, the images are as great as the writing – and not only does the issue feature loads of great reviews, but it's also got plenty of ads for records too!

A record as weird and wild as the cover – filled with really tripped-out sounds from the obscure Flipper sound library in Italy! The music follows strongly in the best style of the rock-driven sounds from Italian horror films – but there's also a more compact approach too, with some funky elements that really make the whole thing sparkle – and a restrained approach that's far less indulgent than the prog styles that Italy was famous for at the time. The whole thing's great – a wicked mix of freak and fuzz – and titles include "Perquisizione" by Alessandro Alessandroni, "Osessione Notturna" by Gerardo Iacoucci, "Black Sabbath" by Daniela Casa, "Violenza In Beat" by Umberto Santucci, "Percussion Blues" by Paolo Ferrara, "Ritmica" by Remigo Ducros, "Marker" by Paolo Ferrara, and "Una Storia" by Alessandro Alessandroni & I Cantori Moderni.

Feircely rocking work from Jerusalem – a little-known band who cut this great debut for Deram in 1972! The group have a really heavy Black Sabbath sort of sound – with excellent lead guitars from Bob Cooke, and a sinister sound that has the grooves really dipping down into the depths, pushed even further by evil-edged vocals from singer Lynden Williams. The album's got the raw power of Sabbath's best work – and the whole thing's a killer record that should have been an instant classic. Titles include "Midnight Steamer", "Frustration", "Hooded Eagle", "Primitive Man", "She Came Like A Bat Out Of Hell", and "When The Wolf Sits".