Davblog

In which someone you've never heard of writes about things you have no interest in

Rumours

Still a couple of weeks behind on the classic album project. Today’s album is Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours”.

Some Historical Background

I can’t really remember a time when I didn’t know and love this album. It seems to have been around forever. It has actually been around about thirty-five years. I guess that at some point I must have made the connection between this band and the old Fleetwood Mac (I know I had a copy of the single “Albatross”) but I don’t remember how I felt about the transition.

I had a copy of this on vinyl, but I have no idea when I bought it. I suspect it wasn’t long after it was released. It was also one of the first albums I replaced on CD.

One memory of this album. About twenty-five years ago I’m sitting in my flat listening to the album with a group of friends. We’ve been in the pub all evening and it’s now the small hours of the morning. Someone decides it is a good idea to start reading aloud the lyrics from the album as though they were poetry. They don’t really stand up that well. Hilarity ensues.

The rest of this blog post will be written as I listen to the album.

The Songs

1. Second Hand News

A slightly strange start to this song (and, indeed, to the whole album). There’s no introduction. You’re launched straight into the song. It’s like they were impatient to start and couldn’t wait for you. Given the strength of some of the songs on the album, this is a slightly weak start. Nothing wrong with it – there are just stronger songs that they could have used to open the album. It’s really short as well.

2. Dreams

And here’s one of the classics from the album. Does anyone not love Dreams? Actually, I’m sure there are plenty of people who think they hate it. Let’s not forget that this album was released at the height of punk rock and there were lots of people who would have hated all of this album on principle. They’re wrong though. I’m convinced that any balanced record collection has room for both Stevie Nicks and Sid Vicious. I love this song.

3. Never Going Back Again

After the swirling AOR of Dreams, this is a complete change of pace. It’s pretty much just Lindsay Buckingham on his own; picking away at his acoustic guitar. Another really short song though – just over two minutes. In fact the whole album only runs 36 minutes.

4. Don’t Stop

Another of the big songs from the album. Another song that everybody knows. I love it.

5. Go Your Own Way

If Rumours has a unifying theme, it’s the fact that the members of the band were all in couples that were splitting up while they were writing and recording it. Nowhere is that made more explicit than in the lyrics of this song.

6. Songbird

I mentioned that I thought the album started slightly weakly. And if I’m honest I think that side one ends even more weakly. This is probably my least favourite song on the album.

7. The Chain

In contrast, side two opens with what is, in my opinion, the best song on the album. The Chain points firmly in the direction of the slightly more experimental music on the bands next album, Tusk. And, of course, three minutes in the music completely changes and becomes one of the BBC’s best-known theme tunes.

8. You Make Loving Fun

This appears to be the antithesis of all the break-up songs on the album. Not sure how it got on here. Still a really good song though.

9. I Don’t Want to Know

Another quirky little tune that wouldn’t song out of place on Tusk.

10. Oh Daddy

Like Songbird, this is another one that I’m not particularly keen on.

11. Gold Dust Woman

As this starts, I always think I’m not going to enjoy it, but Stevie Nicks’ vocal noodling in the final two minutes never fails to draw me in and then I’m vaguely disappointed when it just fades out at the end.

In Summary

They don’t get much better than this. If you think you don’t like it because of preconceptions that you have about the band or the genre then please just try to forget your bias and give it a listen.

★★★★★

Songs of Faith and Devotion

I’m running a couple of weeks behind on classic albums again. Today I’m catching up by listening to Depeche Mode’s 1993 album Songs of Faith and Devotion.

Some Historical Context

Depeche Mode are very much my era. Their first singles came out in 1980 – when I was eighteen. But while I’ve always really liked them, I’ve only ever considered them a singles band – albeit a great singles band. The only albums I’ve ever owned by them have been compilations.

In the mid-80s I had some friends who were big fans and who played their newest albums incessantly. So Black Celebration and Music for the Masses are probably the only of their albums that I know well.

A little-known Depeche Mode fact for you. There’s a bar dedicated to them in Tallinn where they play their music constantly. If you’re ever in the city, I recommend a visit.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard this album all the way through. But I certainly recognise some of the titles from my compilations.

The rest of this blog post will be written as I listen to the album.

The Songs

1. I Feel You

We start with one that I know well. This must have been a single. It’s pretty standard Depeche Mode fare. But that means it’s really rather good.

2. Walking in My Shoes

Another one that I know well. I like this even more than the last one. This is definitely a band who are at the peak of their game.

3. Condemnation

I think they must be front-loading all the singles on this album as I recognise this too. This is one of their slower numbers. I don’t like it quite as much as the previous two.

4. Mercy in You

This is the first song that is new to me. It’s ok, but I can understand why the previous three would be chosen as singles above this one. Or perhaps it’s just my familiarity with the singles that makes me think they are better.

5. Judas

We’re now a couple of songs away from the comfort of stuff that I know well and I’m starting to get the first niggle that it might all be a bit similar. Not that it’s bad. Or even that it’s dull. I’m just not sure that it will hold my interest for the whole album. Oh, the instrumental bit that runs for the last 90 or so seconds is very nice.

6. In Your Room

And we’re back with the singles. Another one that I know and love. This was a very single-heavy album.

7. Get Right with Me

Another one that I’m hearing for the first time. Nothing that really grabs me here.

8. Rush

This is good. A little more going on than some of the other songs on the album.

9. One Caress

Ooh, strings. We like a bit of strings. Very nice. Yes, that was really good.

10. Higher Love

I like this one too. Pretty typical stuff, but it has a couple of nice little hooks.

In Summary

I said at the start that I always considered Depeche Mode to be a singles band. Listening to a whole album hasn’t really changed that opinion. It’s all good stuff, but the singles are head and shoulders above the other tracks. I can’t see myself rushing out to buy a load of Depeche Mode albums, but I’d definitely consider listening to this one a few more times.

★★★★★

Week Notes 43 & 44

Blogging

I managed two blog posts this week. One on MPs’ web sites and one on the Daily Mail’s paedophiliac tendencies.

Health

My weight has stuck on a bit of a plateau for the last few weeks. It’s oscillating around a point a couple of pounds heavier than the lightest I’ve reached. Need to do something to break that deadlock. And I know exactly what that something needs to be (start doing more exercise), it’s just hard to galvanise myself.

I’ve done a few long walks this week. On Tuesday, I walked all the way from Westfield to Victoria – about four and a half miles. And I’ve made a change in the tools that I’m using to track my walks. I had been using RunKeeper – but I’ve been getting some really inaccurate trails from it. So I’ve switched to Endomondo and, so far, it’s been far more accurate.

Training & Speaking

Lots coming up in the next few months. In fact, I’m starting to wonder if I’ve taken on too much. The complete list of things I have planned is as follows:

Films

I saw Beasts of the Southern Wild last weekend. Everyone told me it was wonderful, but I can’t really see what the fuss was about. Yes, the young girl playing the main part was very good. But the film just didn’t do anything for me at all.

Gigs

I’ve been busy in the last two weeks.

Deacon Blue: They were good. But they seem to attract a very strange crowd. The venue was full of middle-aged, overweight, over-emotional people who looked like they didn’t get out much.

Kate Rusby: She’s always incredible. And this show was no exception. It’s astonishing to realise that she was celebrating twenty years in the industry. One of the best shows I’ve seen this year.

Sparks: I’ve been a fan of Sparks since I first heard “This Town Ain’t Big Enough” in 1974. But I’ve never seen them live. But this wasn’t the best way to see them. The tour was called “Two Hands, One Mouth” and I should have realised that it would just be the two Mael brothers without a band. Many of their best songs were stripped of their power when the music is just a piano. The whole performance came over as amateur. This is obviously a minority opinion though, most of the crowd seemed to love them.

The Polyphonic Spree: This was a Halloween concert. They played a lot of the songs from Rocky Horror. But they were rather under-rehearsed and they missed out a couple of my favourite songs. The second half (where they mostly sang their own songs) put them on much firmer ground and they were far better.

Mailbait

We’re in the middle of one of the biggest paedophile scandals that this country has ever seen. And yet, the Daily Mail still thinks that it’s appropriate to report on Elle Fanning‘s Halloween costume with the headline

Lady Liberty! Teenager Elle Fanning shows off her womanly curves as she pays homage to New York Statue

The article continued the theme:

Elle was a posing professional as she wore a metallic maxi dress which looked rather demure at first glance.

Although it covered up her chest area and thighs, the design featured a high split which allowed her to pop her leg out of the side.

When she turned around, flesh was on show as the cut-out material scooped to just above her derriere and featured clasps which fastened at the centre of her neck.

Elle Fanning is 14.

This creepiness didn’t go unnoticed. There was soon plenty of criticism of the headline both on Twitter and in the article’s comments. Later on the headline was updated to the simpler

Lady Liberty! Teenager Elle Fanning pays homage to New York Statue

And the article was edited to remove the worst of the content. Although the author still insisted that Fanning “was eager to show the lady she is becoming”.

The Fanning family must be getting used to this. The Mail were similarly creepy about Elle’s older sister Dakota when she was 14.

The Mail has been very vocal in its coverage of the Savile affair. But, of course, they seem to see it more as yet another stick to beat the BBC with rather than actually understanding what the real problem is here. If they really understood the problem, would they publish so many stories containing the creepy phrases “older than her years” and “all grown up“?

Two weeks ago Melanie Phillips wrote an article where she blames the “liberal left” for making paedophilia acceptable. In her survey of organisations that promote the sexualisation of underage girls she somehow omits the Mail and its “sidebar of shame”. Alan White has written an open letter to Phillips inviting her to comment on the Mail providing this useful service for paedophiles. I await her response with interest.

Finally, I highly recommend that you take twenty minutes to watch Martin Robbins‘ brilliant talk on this subject from the Pod Delusion‘s third birthday bash.

MPs’ Web Sites

When I set up Planet Westminster in 2006 I thought it would be a relatively simple project to maintain. Over the years, more and more MPs would start blogs. Every couple of months I’d add the new ones and everything would be great.

It hasn’t worked out like that at all. MPs’ web sites have proved to be really difficult to keep track of.

The problem is, of course, that the vast majority of MPs have absolutely no idea how web sites, blogs or web feeds work. That’s to be expected. What’s less expected is that many of them seem to get round that problem by delegating the work to people who also have no idea how web sites, blogs or web feeds work.

I’ve just done a clean-up of the feeds I’m currently monitoring. Here are some of the problems I’ve dealt with.

A few MPs (including Douglas Carswell and Caroline Lucas) changed the address of their web feed. Just changed it. No notification as fas as I can see. No attempt to redirect the old address to the new one. Just an old address returning a 404 error. Anyone who was subscribed to the old address would have just stopped getting updates. It’s almost like they don’t want people to follow what they have to say.

Ed Miliband’s web site has just ceased to exist. It now redirects you to the main Labour Party web site. Because the leader of the party obviously has no constituency responsibilities. Or something like that.

John McDonnell seems very confused. In 2007 he had a web site at john4leader.org.uk. In 2010, he was at john-­mcdonnell.­net. Both of these sites are now dead and he’s at john-mcdonnell.net. It’s like no-one has told him that you can reuse web site addresses. I wonder what he’ll do once he’s run out of variations of his name on different top-level domains.

Eric Joyce has just lost control of his domain. His ericjoyce.co.uk address currently goes to an unfinished web site campaigning for “John Smith for State Senator”. It doesn’t look as though Joyce realises this as he’s still promoting the web site on his Twitter profile.

Then there’s Rory Stewart. His web feed was returning data that my RSS parser couldn’t parse. Taking a closer look, it turned out that it was an HTML page rather than RSS or Atom. And it was an HTML page that advertised an online Canadian pharmacy pushing Cialis. Not really what an MP should be promoting.

Stuff like this happens all the time. MPs need to take more notice of this. And they need help from people who know what they are talking about. My theory (and it’s one that I’ve written about before) is that MPs’ web sites and blogs are often overcomplicated because they are developed by companies who come from a corporate IT background and who dismiss the possibility of using something free like WordPress and over-engineer something using tools that they are comfortable with. It can’t be a coincidence that many of the worst MP web sites I’ve seen serve pages with a .aspx extension (sorry – only geeks will understand that).

I’m going to repeat an offer I’ve made before. If any MP wants a blog set up for them,then I’m happy to help them or to put them in touch with someone who can help them. It needn’t be expensive. It needn’t be complex. But it can be very effective. And it will work.

Update: Eric Joyce replied to me on Twitter. He said:

Thanks. It’s being worked on and they seem to have pointed it at an obvious specimen page.

Week Notes 41 & 42

Blogging

All we have to show for the last two week’s is yesterday’s classic album post. And I only write that because I was feeling guilty about not having written anything else.

Health

Massive failures on this front too. I’m currently about two and a half pounds heavier that the lightest I’ve been. Two weeks ago I had a bad weekend when I ate far too much. That was followed by a few days when I was running a training course for some clients where food was far too easily available. As a result of all of that I put on about four pounds. The last two weeks have a been a slow attempt to lose that weight.

But that’s not the only failure. Two weeks ago I had a tour of the facilities of the Balham Leisure Centre. I came away from that with a free pass to use the centre for a week. And then I failed to use it at all. Ok, that’s not exactly true. On the Friday night I had an hour’s session where an instructor showed my how to use all the gym equipment. I left that session fired up to go back over the weekend and start exercising. I didn’t do that. And I haven’t been back since.

This is the second time this has happened to me. About twenty years ago, when I was working for Disney, a gym opened in the complex where the office was based. Before it opened, they came to the office and ran assessment sessions for anyone who was interested. When it opened, the offered us all free introductory sessions. I took them up on both of those offers. Then, a few days later, a friend and I went to do our first session at the gym. As we neared it, we saw that it was full of really fit-looking people. We looked at each other, turned around and went to the pub instead. We never went back.

I’m not sure what it is about me and gyms, but we don’t seem to be a good match.

Training and Speaking

I’m starting to think I may have over-committed slightly. There’s a lot coming up that I need to prepare for.

There’s the London Perl Workshop on 24th November. I know I need to write a two-hour Moose tutorial for that. And I’ve proposed another couple of talks as well. One of them would mean quite a lot of preparation.

Two weeks later, there’s Perl School 3. That’s an extended (six hour) version of the Moose course.

And in February I’m running my annual series of public training courses in conjunction with Floss UK and O’Reilly.

Films

I’ve seen The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Ginger & Rosa. I thought Wallflower was great, but Ginger & Rosa was a little disappointing. The cast were great and they all put in really good performances, but the plot and characterisation were both a bit obvious.

I should point out that both of those visits to the Clapham Picturehouse were paid for using free tickets that I was given by Virgin Media Shorts. I’m not entirely sure what I did to earn them, but Peer Index were involved.

Gigs

On Monday 8th I saw Radiohead at the O2. I thought the band were great (although their setlist was a bit too heavily weighted towards newer material for my tastes) but I hated the O2. I was on level 4 on a seat that was pretty much at the side of the stage. I should really have been sold as “limited view”. The seats are uncomfortable, the prices are ridiculous and there’s no atmosphere. I won’t be going to the O2 again.

On Saturday 13th I saw John Cale at the Royal Festival Hall. I saw him there a couple of years ago where he played Paris 1919 all the way through which was great. This was less so. I think my problem is that I don’t actually like John Cale as much as I think I do.

Then on Tuesday 16th I saw Suzanne Vega at the Barbican. She was playing a short series of tours to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Solitude Standing. She played the whole album and then followed it with a few more favourites. It was a great night. I think I should add her to my list of people who I see every time they are in town.

This week is going to be busy. I’m going the three gigs in the next five days. More on them next week.

Let It Bleed

This week’s (ok, it’s actually from a couple of weeks ago – I’m catching up) is the Rolling Stones’ Let it Bleed.

Some Historical Context

My earliest memories of popular music are from the late 1960s. It was a time when the Beatles dominated. But the Stones were the only band who came close to equalling them. That, at least, was the popular belief of that time. Looking back on it now I’m pretty sure that the Beatles’ influence has been overstated. I’m not one of those people who argue that the Stones were the better band. But there’s no question that their career has lasted longer.

I don’t remember the Stones in the 60s. I do remember them in the 70s. I remember seeing the “Only Rock ‘N’ Roll” video on top of the pops. I had a copy of Rolled Gold and that pretty much saw to all of my Stones needs.

In the 80s I had a flatmate who was a huge Stones fan, so I got to know their work far better than I had before. And Let it Bleed was one of his favourites. I got to know it well. But it’s twenty-five years since I heard it. I’m looking forward to hearing it again.

The rest of this blog post will be written as I listen to the album.

The Songs

1. Gimme Shelter

I’ve loved this song since I first heard it. I still love it. I have nothing to add.

2. Love in Vain

This is pretty standard slow blues. It’s a good song and performed well. But anything would struggle to be noticed when following “Gimme Shelter”.

3. County Honk

This was a songs that really surprised me when my flatmate introduced me to the album. It’s a country version of “Honky Tonk Women”. I loved the original (a single that wasn’t on any album) but this version is also really good.

4. Live with Me

Until now, the album hasn’t really sounded like the Stones. The first three tracks have seen them experimenting with different styles. This sounds more like a typical Stones song. And, I’m afraid, it rather suffers for it. One of my least favourite tracks on the album.

5. Let It Bleed

Another one that I remember well from the 80s. I particularly remember that it was really easy to play on the guitar. My flatmate and I used to play it together. The recordings have, thankfully, gone missing. I’d forgotten that some of the lyrics were rather risqué.

6. Midnight Rambler

One the original vinyl, this song opened side two. And it’s a cracking start. It has to be one of the Stones’ best songs.

7. You Got the Silver

Another one that, to be frank, is just a bit of filler. Don’t remember having heard it before.

8. Monkey Man

Not sure about this one either, to be honest. It’s a bit derivative.

9. You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Another absolute classic. One of my all-time favourite songs.

In Summary

Bit of a mixed bag, to be honest. In “Gimme Shelter”, “Midnight Gambler” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” this album has three of the Stones’ finest songs. But there are also two or three songs that are purely filler.

★★★★★

Week Notes 39 & 40

Blogging

Another fortnight of limited blogging. The sum total is two classic album posts and a rant about woo-mongers.

Wasted Inches came to an end about a week ago. I’ve now republished all of the stories that I originally published back in 2002.

Health

Still not running. Still losing weight rather slower than I’d like.

Through a sequence of events that I’m still not really clear about, at 10am this morning I was at Balham Leisure Centre being given a tour of the facilities. I came away with a free one-week pass and a list of classes. I’ve even booked a gym induction session for next Friday. I should probably, at least, get back into the habit of swimming there. I used to enjoy that. Not sure why I stopped.

Training and Speaking

Yesterday was the second Perl School class. It was a repeat of the first one – Modern Perl for Non-Perl Programmers. I sold a reasonable number of tickets and I think the attendees all found it useful (perhaps even enjoyable).

The next Perl School is in two months time. That’s going to be on Moose. The one after that (which isn’t scheduled yet) will probably be on database programming using DBIx::Class.

I’ve also finalised the details of next year’s public training courses that I’m running in association with Floss UK and O’Reilly. There will be two two-day courses. One on intermediate Perl and one on advanced Perl. More details and a booking form are on the Floss UK web site.

Other Programming

I’ve spent some time over the last couple of weeks revisiting a couple of long-term projects. I should really try to get at least one of them finished.

Films

I saw Looper. I enjoyed it. It’s one of those films that you shouldn’t think about too hard. I’m sure the plot has lots of holes in it.

Gigs

On Thursday I saw John Cooper Clarke at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. I’ve been a fan since Disguise in Love was released in 1978 but I haven’t seen him live for over thirty years. I’m afraid it was a bit of a disappointment. He’s very disorganised. He spent far too much time rifling through piles of paper looking for the poem he wanted to read. He also spent too long telling jokes rather than reading poems. And I was surprised that he didn’t do more of his older, well-known stuff. The only “greatest hit” that he read was Beasley Street.

On the plus side though, his book Ten Years in An Open Necked Shirt has finally been republished. I’ve been trying to get hold of a copy for twenty-five years. The occasional copy the comes up on eBay sells for silly amounts. I bought a copy from the merchandise stall for £8. It’s highly recommended.

Other Stuff

On Thursday I became a great-uncle for the first time. I’ve always considered myself a pretty good uncle – but this seems to be some kind of promotion.

What Doctors Don’t Tell You

There’s a new magazine in the shops this week. It’s called What Doctors Don’t Tell You and I’m reasonably sure that no-one who reads this blog would be at all interested in reading it. If you think that you might be then try looking at the sample pages on their subscription site.

It’s all complete nonsense, of course. And many of the usual suspects are already hard at work debunking it. Which has led to a predictable reaction from the magazine’s editor. I hope she remembers what happened to the last people who tried to sue Simon Singh for libel.

As always with woo-mongers there’s a fatal flaw in their argument. Their argument, paraphrased, goes something like this:

People get bad service from medical professionals, therefore patients should turn to alternative treatments instead.

There are, of course, two elements to that statement. No-one would deny that the first half is accurate. Of course there are problems with the National Health Service. Some doctors don’t keep as up to date as they should with current research, big pharmaceutical companies have too much power, the government is trying to destroy it. No-one is going to deny these problems exist. I haven’t read it yet, but I believe that at least one of these issues is the subject of Ben Goldacre’s new book.

But those problems don’t lead inevitably to the conclusion that the woo-mongers draw. Just because there are problems with the NHS, that doesn’t mean that you should abandon it and put your health in the hands of people peddling unscientific nonsense. I don’t understand how anyone can reach that conclusion from our initial premise.

No, surely the only sane reaction to our initial promise is not to run to the arms of the woo-mongers, but to see what we can do to fix those problems. I have no easy answers. It’s not the kind of issue that can be solved overnight. But it’s never going to solved if we all stop using the NHS and replace it with magic water and prayer meetings.

I’m torn on the best action to take. Generally I think that we should all do what we can to stop people reading this magazine. I’ve emailed the relevant people at WH Smith, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose and a couple of times, when I’ve seen the magazine on sale, I’ve hidden it behind copies of Practical Parenting. But at other times I think that we should just let the gullible idiots read this stuff and use whatever treatments they like. Let Darwin take care of the problem.

The downside of that approach, of course, is that they’ll continue to use their magic potions most of the time, but will switch to using real medicine when it really matters. Or use both together and claim that it’s the eye of newt homeopathic remedy that cured them. So perhaps we should make them choose. Use whatever nonsense treatments you want, but don’t come crying to the NHS when you want real treatment.

Wow. That turned out quite a lot angrier that I thought it would be. Sorry about that.

System of a Down

Last week’s classic album is System of a Down’s eponymous début album.

Some Historical Context

System of a Down completely passed me by. I had never heard of them until at some point in the last few years I read an article on the Guardian web site called “100 essential albums from the last ten years” or something like that. I used that article as the impetus to buy half a dozen or so albums that I’d never heard of. One of those album’s was System of a Down’s second album, Toxicity. I listened to it, decided that it really wasn’t for me and put it to one side.

Then, a few weeks ago, I got involved in a discussion about choosing a single iconic album to represent each of the last twenty-five years. Some of the people involved in the discussion were appalled that I hadn’t considered SOAD’s first two albums for 1998 or 2001. In case I was missing out on something good, I listened to the first album and decided that it really wasn’t any better than the second one. SOAD were really not a band who I enjoyed.

So imagine my excitement when the band’s first album was pulled out of the hat and became last week’s classic album of the week. This will be the second time I’ve heard this album. Yes, I have preconceptions, but I’ll try to be fair.

The rest of this blog post will be written as I listen to the album.

The Songs

1. Suite-Pee

It’s difficult to review this without sounding like a cliché – “this isn’t music”, “I can’t make out the words”, “he’s just shouting”. If I want to listen to stuff like this then I know where to find Napalm Death.

2. Know

Oh. At least this one has a bit of tune. Not a very good one, but a tune nonetheless. Are we sure it’s not the chap from Napalm Death on lead vocals?

3. Sugar

I’m hating this. But we persevere. There’s a false ending just before the two minute mark, but the songs all sound so similar that it could just be the break between two shorter songs.

4. Suggestions

This started ok. Nice little bit of guitar. But within seconds it turned into the usual dirge. Oh, and a bit where they put on comedy voices like Monty Python’s pepperpot women.

5. Spiders

They’re trying to lull me into a false sense of security here. This starts off sounding almost musical. I bet it won’t last. [time passes] Ok, I was wrong. It stayed vaguely musical for the whole three and half minutes. Not good, just vaguely musical.

6. DDevil

Back to their usual sound. It’s terrible. Mercifully short though.

7. Soil

More of the same. I’m losing the will to live.

8. War?

How much more of this is there? There’s nothing constructive to say about this at all. It’s just horrible.

9. Mind

Ok. Here’s another one that sounds different. And not entirely horrible. Then at 1:45 it goes silent and comes back sounding rubbish again. And at about 3:00 we’re back in their usual style. Then it spends three minutes wandering around various styles – none of them very good.

10. Peephole

Between the usual dross there’s an interesting little guitar riff trying to get out here. Soon gets buried though.

11. CUBErt

Another one that sounds like it might be interesting – for about ten seconds before the usual nonsense sweeps in. Almost over now. I need a drink.

12. Darts

I have nothing more to add.

13. P.L.U.C.K.

Last song. I’m going to get though this. Lucky the album is only 40 minutes long.

In Summary

I hope I never have to listen another note by this band. It is horrible. I know this is just my opinion and a lot of people don’t share it. There’s a lot of evidence that many people see something in this noise that I just can’t.

I guess this is how Daily Mail readers felt when they heard the Sex Pistols for the first time.

★★★★★