Uriah Heep: Salisbury (1971)

Despite my love and recent purchases of the later, most current iteration of Uriah Heep – Living the Dream and Into the Wild are killer modern rock records – there’s nothing like that classic, early 70s incarnation. Like their debut, sophomore record Salisbury has a different track order depending on if you have the UK or the US version, and while the original UK would have been a better selection (you can’t beat opening with “Bird of Prey”), you can’t throw a rock in a record store here without hitting at least three copies of the US pressing for under $8. On the upside, wicked cover art, though.

ChrisAugust 11, 20251 Comment

Motörhead: The Manticore Tapes (2025)

First breaths of a band are a tricky thing. It can take a few years – hell, it can take a few albums – before a band achieves that singular cohesion of function and form. Being kicked out of Hawkwind, Lemmy Kilmister knew EXACTLY what he wanted to become: the ugliest, dirtiest rock and troll band in the world. But despite the clear mission statement, it took a year to drudge up the exact combination of filth – namely, “Fast” Eddie Clarke on guitars and Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor on drums – to truly make Motörhead the band Lemmy needed it to be. The Manticore Tapes bring to life one of the earliest recording the classic trio did, a series of recorded rehearsals at Manticore, the headquarters of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Don’t call it a “lost album”; call it the birth of a sound that would continue to make your lawn die 50 years later.

ChrisJuly 1, 2025July 1, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

Metallica: Load (1996)

Here’s my dirty secret: until a few days ago not only did I not own a physical copy of Load, the sixth album from arguably my favorite heavy metal band of all time Metallica, but…I had never even listened to the album in its entirety. I knew the singles, wasn’t overly impressed, but that’s only part of the reason. By 1996 I had shifted into other genres and tastes, and both Load and Reload were albums I assumed I would get to in time, but never did (I still haven’t listened to all of Reload). On the event of the band getting their remastered deluxe set ready for next week, I decided now was the time and grabbed the vinyl, just as I did every other remaster the band have released to date. It was the perfect way to grab these on vinyl for the first time, and so far the remasters have all been superb. Since my copy of Load arrived a week early, I finally sat down and listened to the entire album.

Guess what? I’ve got thoughts (long post ahead).

ChrisJune 9, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

Ozzy Osbourne: Blizzard Of Ozz (1980)

Since it’s my birthday month, June was supposed to be filled with easy favorites, albums I love and didn’t review yet. I woke up and couldn’t think of a single one to cover. So I went to my Discogs collection and clicked the random button and out popped Blizzard Of Ozz, the solo debut by one Mr. John Michael Osbourne, aka Ozzy Osbourne. Life is filled with coincidences: the last time I used the random button to write was for Diary of a Madman, and Blizzard… was probably the album that got me on the heavy metal train to begin with. All aboard, indeed…

ChrisJune 3, 2025June 3, 20252 Comments

Deep Purple: Whoosh! (2020)

Sometimes listening to nothing but new music – or music unfamiliar to my ears – can be a drain. I’m constantly trying to create context on the fly, thinking about what works, what doesn’t and where a particular song, album, or artist/band fits within my musical worldview, if at all. What I’m saying is sometimes I want to listen to music for comfort, where there is no greater picture to see, and just wrap myself in a warm blanket of music that simply exists to provide a good time. Enter once again Deep Purple, whose 2020 album Whoosh! took a while to get used it, but now can wash over me like a warm bath, leaving me clean and ready to tackle the next thing. Does it really need to be more than that?

ChrisMay 29, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

The Damnation of Adam Blessing (1969)

Sometimes there is no explanation for why one band rockets into stardom and one band just…simmers. Certainly listening to the self-titled debut from The Damnation of Adam Blessing (or Damnation, if you’re streaming services) you’d be hard pressed to find any fault: killer lead vocals, solid grooving rhythm section and plenty of fun guitar work shaped around covers and originals. Is it just case of so much music exploding at the time for every one big band grabbing the spotlight a dozen others get lost in the dark? are lost in the shuffle? I don’t know, and while I admit to getting blinded by terms like “underground” or “cult” when it comes to the rock of the late 60s and early 70s there’s a lot in The Damnation of Adam Blessing that convinces me these guys were huge in another reality.

ChrisMay 5, 2025May 5, 2025Leave a comment

Consuming the Tangible

We are what we consume

Tag: hard rock

Uriah Heep: Salisbury (1971)

Motörhead: The Manticore Tapes (2025)

Metallica: Load (1996)

Ozzy Osbourne: Blizzard Of Ozz (1980)

Deep Purple: Whoosh! (2020)

The Damnation of Adam Blessing (1969)