01: Iron Maiden - Killers

So to my project for 2015. And after the Fall overload I wanted something which was: a single genre, with a single album per week. Certainly something I know nothing about, or at least very little and something that was potentially risky, in terms of it may well turn out to be a big steaming disaster.

And after thinking about various things (I had another idea floating around but I forget what it was), I settled. This year I will listen to 50 records that fit into the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal.

So what is the NWOBHM? From the wikipedia page it would seem that it was a tougher take on those great heavy metal records of the 70s - Sabbath and their ilk. But to me going in, I will think along the lines of Spinal Tap until I hear otherwise.

I'm following this list which hit the spot as beyond Iron Maiden, I've never even heard of any of these groups - some of them are rare, so I may have to resort to downloads but in general I'm trying to buy them. That's the rules.

And so to Iron Maiden. They seem to emerge fully formed and all the Spinal Tap type sounds are in place - those high pitch speedy guitar solos and running drums. Track 3 is the business: Murders In The Rue Morgue. Someone call the Gendarmes! I'm not sure how accurate it is with regard to the source text, but it's a pretty insistent number that's almost borderline funky. It's quite a strange sound for me - at times it felt like a blueprint for music that 14 year old boys should like. Relatively complex, heavy on the riff aspect, the drums are kind of supporting everything rather than being heavy and up front. But after a few listens it settles down and I'm starting to get it. It kind of chugs along at this quite high tempo for some time. And then with "Prodigal Son" it all settles down, and they're playing something that's really quite beautiful and sounds a little bit like 90s indie almost, all jangle guitars and a kind of up beat melody.

I kind of wanted them to go a bit heavier and darker but it's always quite light. So something like "Twilight Zone" starts of with a riff, and then it lightens up a bit when I'd prefer something a bit more oomphy. But you know what - this isn't the best record in the world, but it's not too bad. Once you get over that it sounds a little cliched, it really starts to open up.

So here's the Rue Morgue (live no less) and roll on the rest of the list:

The Fall. Done.

And I'm done. I certainly never want to hear Mr Pharmacist again. iTunes says that I have 1136 songs by The Fall, for a total of 3.4 days solid listening. I'm not quite sure I covered every single track, I think some may have snuck through the cracks somewhere. At times this felt like an ordeal, especially in the periods where I would end up with a 5/6 hour playlist that would spill out over numerous commutes. I missed podcasts - though still found time to catch up with them later in the year.

But, like life, The Fall just keep going. Mark sacks the band, puts his head down and magically they're back in the zone. He's probably recruited them from pubs in Salford. I read the Steve Hanley book, the most surprising thing was how Mark would call everyone cock. It's a Manchester thing.

The early years, the time I spent with The Fall growing up, was still as fresh and vibrant and urgent as I remember. Room To Live is still the one that gets me - though by the sound of Hanley, all the band hated the record. To me it's the Fall in one easy package - rockabilly, post punk and avant all in one record.

The later years were wobbly but there were some peaks amidst surprisingly few troughs. Elena brought something genuine to the group and the two records before the last two were as good as any of the good early records. And the two spoken word records were a true revelation - just Mark doing what he does. Total commitment.

And that was what I did in 2014. I spent a lot of time on trains, subways and busses listening to the Fall. In 2015 I will probably be doing the same but more on an Iron Maiden type of tip...

Week 52: 11/04/14 - 31/12/14

And thankfully the Fall released one record this year. This one. And thankfully the bad covers are gone and we're back in familiar territory.

And thankfully they kick off with a version of Wings and it's a good 'un. "Here is a list of incorrect things" is still one of my favourite lines by the group. And then we're off into Mark mumbling territory but out of nowhere, the band have suddenly got really good, and that lifts it out of the doldrums and into something pretty special. On Amorator Elena sings and all is right with the world. The sound quality veers all over the place and some of the songs are not at their best, but after the total disappoint of the recent output of the Fall, this is something of a blessing. They close with What About Us with Elena singing it just as she did when she joined the band. This is a good thing.

Week 51: 21/07/13 - 11/04/14

And we get ever closer to the close. For some reason I put an errant track (I African Manucian) in this week - no idea why, it's much older but a good one none the less.

And then the Remainderer itself. We're still in the territory of The Fall where Mark mumbles over some vaguely tedious backing sounds. The Remainderer is better than the past two LPs but it's still not coherent enough for me. Everything's a little bit on auto pilot - they even revisit Elves in a roundabout way on Remembrance R. And then a weird one - Say Mama which then cuts into a mixed in version of Race with the Devil that they played at Peels birthday. No idea what's going on there. And then it's gone and I've completely forgotten about it. Oh well.