#12: Muse - Showbiz (1999)

1. Sunburn
2. Muscle Museum
3. Filip
4. Falling Down
5. Cave
6. Showbiz
7. Unintended
8. Uno
9. Sober
10. Escape
11. Overdue
12. Hate This And I'll Love You

I wasn't even sure what today's review was going to be until about 2am this morning, when this review began to form in my head while I was listening to 'Uno'. I personally find it difficult to tell people where to start with Muse if they haven't been following the band's progression, but as I'll probably end up covering all their albums eventually I may as well start at the beginning - especially as that's where my head's taken me right now.

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When bands graduate to titanic, arena-filling status, it can be easy to forget that there was a time when they were just like every other band - such is the case with Muse. It may seem like an age ago (indeed, it's getting on for a decade now), but in a time before sold-out Wembley Stadium shows, space-prog opuses, and even before 'Plug In Baby' was terrorising radio playlists, there was Showbiz.

And yet, from the haunting opening piano line of 'Sunburn', you can sense the ambition to be something greater than a band who've "played in every toilet" (a reminder that the road to success can be long and hard, even for a band like Muse). Lyrically, it's a clear indicator of the album's overriding themes: "She burns like the sun... and I can't look away!" Matt Bellamy howls as the piano takes a crashing turn. 'Muscle Museum', meanwhile begins with a menacingly brooding bassline, before the chorus sees him "begging for so much more than you could ever give." - it's a good introduction to the band's dark, emotionally-charged rock.

'Falling Down' is a more relaxed moment, although it can't contain itself for too long, with Bellamy's singing "Too late, I already found what I was looking for..." before breaking down into a roar of "you know it wasn't you!" towards the song's climax. Later on in the album, 'Escape' pulls much the same trick, beginning with plaintive sentiment before suddenly switching to weighty guitars. 'Filip' and 'Cave', on the other hand, reverse the format, starting out energetically before breaking down mid song.

'Showbiz' is the perfect centerpiece for the album, building up slowly from an echoy drumbeat before working itself into a frenzy of feedback, distortion, and gutturally howled vocals: "They make me dream your dreams! They make me scream your screams!" comes the cry from Bellamy, like the sound of a man driven insane by some twisted new form of mental torture.

Indeed, the mid-section of the album offers up some of the band's best work: Not just on this record, but in their back catalogue as a whole. 'Unintended' is still one of Muse's most tender moments, the fragile sound of a man struck so hard by love that he's got to scrape the shattered pieces of his heart from the floor before he can carry on with his life. Completely different, but no less brilliant, is 'Uno', which operates a perfect loud/quiet dynamic, opening with a squall of guitars before quietening down to little more than ominous guitar strums as Bellamy's malicious vocal cranks up the tension. And then it explodes once again in the chorus: "You could've been number one, and you could've ruled the whole world, and we could've had so much fun: But you blew it away!" screams Bellamy, his voice somehow encompassing both seething bitterness and wailing heartache. This leaves 'Sober' with a lot to live up to, and it just about manages it without being overly spectacular, but the thrashed-out guitars and wailing falsetto of the chorus do enough to keep it reasonably memorable.

As the album draws to a close, 'Overdue' storms through its two and a half minutes with Bellamy seething "I'm young, but I know when I'm aroused!" before his soaring falsetto returns on the chorus. Finally, in a fitting climax, 'Hate This And I'll Love You' alternates between strained, yearning vocals and a bombastic chorus that almost feels like a hint of what would come in the band's future, before presenting a tear-stained finale: "You lead me on," weeps Bellamy, before the guitars fade out to the chirping of crickets.

Looking back, Showbiz represents Muse before they had the intention of creating galaxy-spanning space rock or filthy intergalactic hip-shakers: Raw, visceral, and heartbroken, it's not aiming for the stars, but rather to hit you straight in the heart. In the context of their back catalogue, it represents somewhat of a paradox: It's not their most accomplished work, and yet some of their best songs are contained within it. Although it may have been difficult to see it at the time, in retrospect this album did contain a level of embryonic promise of the grander heights that the band would move on to - and in that sense, it's definitely worth your time to take a listen to it.

#11: The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement (2008)

1. The Age Of The Understatement
2. Standing Next To Me
3. Calm Like You
4. Separate And Ever Deadly
5. The Chamber
6. Only The Truth
7. My Mistakes Were Made For You
8. Black Plant
9. I Don't Like You Anymore
10. In My Room
11. The Meeting Place
12. Time Has Come Again

In what's either a demonstration of the latent effects of 'Monkey Mania' or an uncharacteristic demonstration of taste by the British public at large, this album went to number one in the UK charts today. What better time to dive into the pleasures of this collaboration between Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) and Miles Kane (The Rascals)?

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At first glance, it sounds like the ultimate in throwaway whimsey: Two best mates head off to France for a couple of weeks to record an album, then get Arcade Fire's Owen Pallet to arrange and conduct an orchestra over the whole thing. But to look at it like that would be to ignore the vision behind the record and the care that's gone into it: Any dread that may be inspired by the phrase 'side-project' should categorically be put aside when listening to this record.

The album's opening gambit is a bold one, with titular track 'The Age Of The Understatement' sounding like The Coral collaborating with the London Metropolitan Orchestra to cover 'Knights Of Cydonia', while Turner's lyrics seem to invite a doomed romance: "Before this attraction ferments, kiss me properly and pull me apart." It's very much a statement of intent: A sweeping, bombastic tune that's over in a punchy three minutes, it's epic without being overwrought.

'Standing Next To Me' sees Turner and Kane nail their vocal harmonies exceptionally over an upbeat acoustic guitar strum, while the strings tastefully rise and fall at all the right moments. 'Calm Like You', meanwhile, shows from the very first line that Turner maintains his brilliant lyricism even outside of the context of his 'day job'. "I can still remember when your city smelt exciting: I still get a wiff of that aroma now and then," he sings wistfully, a perfect intro to the track's orchestral pop sensibilities. Later in the album, 'In My Room' combines these sensibilities with organ sounds borrowed straight from the 60's, while 'Only The Truth' starts out with a staccato vocal and drum combo before returning to the spaghetti-western style of the opener, galloping through its tale of a femme fatale ("Don't give her an eye or she'll sniper your mind!") in less than two minutes before breaking down into a squall of guitars, horns and strings.

Like many classic pop albums, the themes of love and loss run throughout the album. 'The Chamber' sees proceedings take a fragile, melancholy turn, with Turner advising a former lover to "Leave yourself alone." And while 'My Mistakes Were Made For You' may begin with the lyric "About as subtle as an earthquake, I know," it actually turns out to be one of the album's most tastefully restrained moments, with Turner's plaintive vocal taking centre stage before the sweeping orchestration gradually builds up to a poignant climax. This trick is repeated again on 'Black Plant', only this time it's a soaring string line that takes the lead in a tale of a boy "Who got papercuts from the love letters you never gave him."

It's not all sentimentality though, and the album certainly demonstrates a dark side at times. 'Separate And Ever Deadly' starts with a Tango-like beat before rapid-fire guitars that wouldn't be out of place on an Arctic Monkeys track kick in, while 'I Don't Like You Anymore' is the album's most sinister moment, with reverberating minor-key guitars matched with a pair of contrasting vocals: Turner's sounding ghostly and distant, while Kane's sound distorted, bitter and angry.

The album ends with two contrastingly tender tracks that demonstrate the breadth of The Last Shadow Puppets' ambition. 'The Meeting Place' is the album's most grandiose classic pop moment, with the orchestration sounding at its most epicly upbeat as the duo sing "I'm sorry I met you darling: I'm sorry I've left you." At the opposite end of the scale is 'Time Has Come Again', with Turner's melancholy vocals set starkly over a simple acoustic guitar line, before the strings rise calmly in the background, tugging at the heartstrings without ever overwhelming the song as a whole.

It's amazing how epic these songs manage to sound despite the fact they never extend past the four minute mark. As a whole, The Age Of The Understatement is an unashamedly grand pop album, updated with a modern twist thanks to Turner's trademark lyricism. Far more than simply a tribute to an era of music gone by, and certainly not a half-arsed joke between a couple of friends, this record shows that Alex Turner's vision extends far beyond sweaty dancefloors on a Friday night.

#10: Editors - The Back Room/Cuttings (2005)

The Back Room:

1. Lights
2. Munich
3. Blood
4. Fall
5. All Sparks
6. Camera
7. Fingers In The Factories
8. Bullets
9. Someone Says
10. Open Your Arms
11. Distance

Cuttings:

1. Let Your Good Heart Lead You Home
2. You Are Fading
3. Crawl Down The Wall
4. Colours
5. Release
6. Forest Fire

I won't beat about the bush: This is one of my favourite albums, full stop. Anyone who knows me will know of my love for Editors, a band who are important to me both musically and personally, so yes, this will probably turn out to be a bit gushing. I wouldn't normally cover bonus disc material, but in this case I feel like the 6-song collection that accompanied the limited edition of the album not only compliments the main album superbly, but stands up as a mini-album in its own right. In fact, it was so important that I own the two-disc set that I was compelled to buy a replacement copy after my brother lent it to a friend and never got it back (of all the CDs he could've lost...) - if you haven't heard it, then I'd absolutely recommend you get hold of the tracks somehow. And if you haven't heard this album at all... I'd say you're in for a treat - but then, of course I would. And go see them live too: They're even better than on record.

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Although they're often weighed down by inevitable comparisons to certain other bands that I probably don't even need to mention, in my opinion Editors can stand up as a great band in their own right. Their 2005 debut album, The Back Room, amply demonstrates what they are capable of, and then some.

The album jumps into things immediately with 'Lights', a frantic two an a half minutes that serve as a great introduction to Editors' sound: Powerful drumming and effects-laden guitars that provide a shimmering backdrop to Tom Smith's arresting baritone as he proclaims "If fortune favours the brave, I am as poor, poor as they come." 

The album continues with further examples of this sound. 'Munich' and 'Blood' are each built around an infectious post-punk riff and an instantly memorable chorus hook: 'Munich' warns that "People are fragile things, you should know by now: Be careful what you put them through," while 'Blood' seethes with malice for a former friend or lover "Blood runs through your veins: That's where our similarity ends." It's this lyrical darkness that combines with the soaring guitars to make Editors such an intriguing proposition: Gloomily oppressive, yet at the same time oddly uplifting.

Critics of Editors' sound often falsely assume that the band are a one-trick pony, but they definitely have other cards up their sleeve. After the frantic pace of the first three tracks, 'Fall' demonstrates a more contemplative side, with the shimmering guitar effects sounding just as good when the band slow down the pace, and Tom's vocals sounding more thoughtful as he sings "I wanted to see this for myself." This style is continued on album centrepiece 'Camera', which begins with little more than a ghostly keyboard line before building up to an absolutely epic crescendo as the lyrics achingly ask "Look at us through the lens of a camera: Does it remove all of our pain?"

Elsewhere, 'All Sparks' combines a mid-tempo drive with a the message that "All sparks will burn out in the end" - a statement that could either be taken as a message of hope, or one of disappointment. 'Someone Says', returns to the crashing intensity of the opening three tracks, with the guitars taking on a minor key tone while the lyrics add to the sense of urgency: "I've got so much to tell you in so little time," intones Smith, as the song rushes towards its conclusion.

Even amongst all the doom and gloom, Editors can still pull off moments of euphoria. 'Fingers In The Factories' is a fists-in-the-air triumph that feels like a rousing rallying cry, while 'Bullets' is still one of the most emotionally charged three minutes of music I've ever heard. "You don't need this disease: Not right now," pleads Smith with a tear-stained hopefulness, before the guitars outdo themselves by soaring to ever greater heights as he repeats the refrain over and over, and you almost believe it more every time it's uttered from his mouth.

The album's most epic moment, however, comes with 'Open Your Arms'. It combines the best bits of everything that comes before it: The epicness of 'Camera', the heartfelt vocals of 'Bullets' and of course those sparkling guitars all combine in a massive wall of sound finale that eventually breaks down into minimal, ethereal album closer 'Distance'.  It's oddly downbeat seems like a strange way to end such a high energy album, and yet it contains a little bit of hope: "I wish you all the best," is the earnest send-off from Smith, before the song shimmers and fades out of existence.

This fade-out works rather well to lead us into Cuttings, with 'Let Your Good Heart Lead You Home' starting out with a stripped-down guitar line before breaking into a crashing drumbeat that pounds relentlessly as the guitars build up around it. 'You Are Fading' follows much the same pattern, with Tom's melancholy vocals once again contrasting with the huge-sounding instrumentation.

'Crawl Down The Wall', meanwhile, sees him scraping himself from the depths of despair and contains one of my favourite choruses in any Editors song: "We'll see how this goes, we'll pull love from our lows," is just a perfect mix of confusion, desperation and hope. In contrast, 'Colours' feels like one of the band's poppier moments, seeming very upbeat compared to a lot of their other songs. It's a love song, but possibly an uncertain one: The lyrics contain mixed messages, with Tom telling his love that "You mean a lot to me, you've got a heart of gold," before telling her to "Fill your life with something else baby."

'Release' once again sees the band outdoing themselves in the epic stakes: It just sounds so massive that it's impossible not to be overwhelmed, and the simple, repeated refrain of "Release, find your peace my love," builds with a fervour that matches the rest of the song. Finally, in much the same way that 'Distance' provides a serene finale after 'Open Your Arms', 'Forest Fire' sits beautifully after the epic intensity of 'Release', once again ending proceedings with a message of hope: "I'll miss this when it's gone, let's not waste life, come on."

Overall, The Back Room and Cuttings are great records simply because of the level of intensity and emotion that they generate. Some may have tired of Editors in the years since this album's release, but not me: The same things still get me every time, whether it be the lyrics or that characteristically electrifying guitar tone. For people who judged the band purely on the singles, I can only encourage you to check out the rest of their material and see that there is a level of depth to this band beyond their (admittedly brilliant) dark and angular post-punk style. For those who are already converted, dig this album out again and stick it on - you owe it to yourself to get reacquainted with it.

(P.S: If that's not quite enough Editors for you, there's great depth in their B-sides beyond those included on Cuttings. I've gone on enough, but to throw some names out there: 'Find Yourself A Safe Place', 'Come Share The View', 'Heads In Bags' and their cover of Stereolab's 'French Disko' are particular highlights.)

#9: Radiohead - Kid A (2000)

1. Everything In Its Right Place
2. Kid A
3. The National Anthem
4. How To Disappear Completely
5. Treefingers
6. Optimistic
7. In Limbo
8. Idioteque
9. Morning Bell
10. Motion Picture Soundtrack

You could argue that I should start covering Radiohead with OK Computer, but I figured it would be more in the spirit of this blog for me to look at an album of theirs that I'm less familiar with. Besides, Kid A was such a radical departure from OK Computer that it almost seems irrelevant which album I start with - so I'll begin with this, their first foray into a more electronic-based style of music.

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Radiohead's fourth album was, by all accounts, a difficult one to make. Spawned in part by writers block, overwhelming media attention, and depression, Kid A represented a huge and very conscious change for Radiohead, with the band abandoning their three-guitar lineup and replacing it with a myriad of electronic instruments and more besides.

It's clear from the very beginning that this is a very different record to OK Computer. Opening track 'Everything In Its Right Place' slowly swirls into being with a mesmeric synth line and warped, cut up vocals, before Thom Yorke's voice cuts through it with simple, repeated statements that are somewhat abstract and open to various different interpretations (a theme that continues throughout the album). The eponymous 'Kid A', meanwhile, sounds like a video game soundtrack recorded underwater, with vocals that are little more than a computerised burble.

Things almost begin to sound a little bit more 'normal' on 'The National Anthem': The song begins with a fuzzy bassline and the first 'real' drums we've heard on the record so far. However, even this is shot through with electronic effects, and Yorke's vocal is once again twisted slightly, yet still recognisable. Then the brass kicks in, with scattershot trumpets and parping horns eventually spiralling off into wild, unpredictable patterns, contrasting brilliantly with the rhythm section, which remains resolutely in time throughout.

'How To Disappear Completely', however, takes the record in a completely different direction. Underpinned by an acoustic guitar, strings swoonsomely rise and fall around Thom's vocal as he sings "I'm not here, this isn't happening...", craving the escape that the title suggests. 'Treefingers' maintains the calm vibe, with its minimal ambience almost acting like an extended interlude before the second half of the album.

'Optimistic' kicks things back into gear with probably the record's most conventional song, built on a simple guitar riff and a steady, pounding beat. But even this track shows the band's newfound love for electronic sounds, with an eerie synth looming in the background as Thom tells us that "You can try the best you can... the best you can is good enough." The record then changes direction once again: 'In Limbo' brings back the ambient swirling sounds, but layers them superbly with a clean guitar line, an understated drumbeat, and Thom's distorted, echoy vocals before the whole thing becomes distorted and eventually fades into static.

'Idioteque' shocks things back into life with what is probably the best synthetic percussive noise ever, forming the basis for an electronic drumbeat that runs throughout the song as sampled chords hum like haunting guitar feedback. Whatever the song is talking about, be it nuclear war, global warming or something else entirely, Thom's urgent vocal assures us that "We're not scaremongering: This is really happening," adding to the song's sense of oppressiveness and intensity. Its outro leads seamlessly into 'Morning Bell', where tight drumming and an aquatic-sounding synth suddenly give way to buzzing guitars - which then leave just as suddenly.

'Motion Picture Soundtrack' ends the record on an almost dream-like note, with a reedy organ and sparkling harps underscoring a gentle vocal from Thom, although in contrast the lyrics can be interpreted somewhat darkly ("I will see you in the next life..."). After the song finishes, there's a pause, and then the harps return amongst almost choral sounds in what isn't so much a hidden track as a delayed outro to the album as a whole.

While Kid A may be a vastly different proposition to the album that preceded it, that doesn't make it any less of a success. Every track seems to attempt something different, and while this means that some songs stand out more than others, the record still manages to flow as a cohesive whole. It's the perfect example of why it's foolish to write a band off just because they've decided to change: It may have disappointed those who hoped that the band would be saviours of rock, but this album proved that Radiohead have ideas by the bucketload and talent to spare.

#8: ¡Forward, Russia! - Life Processes (2008)

1. Welcome To The Moment (The Rest Of Your Life)
2. We Are Grey Matter
3. A Prospector Can Dream
4. Spring Is A Condition
5. Don't Reinvent What You Don't Understand
6. Some Buildings
7. Breaking Standing
8. Gravity & Heat
9. Fosbury In Discontent
10. A Shadow Is A Shadow Is A Shadow
11. Spanish Triangles

Yes, two recent albums in a row again, but in fairness they both came out last Monday so by covering them now I'm keeping this blog cool and relevant. Or something like that. Anyhow, ¡Forward, Russia!: I loved the first album, so I was greatly looking forward (haha) to the follow-up. Those of you expecting Give Me A Wall mk.2, however, might want to cast aside those preconceptions...

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It's been almost two years since ¡Forward, Russia! unleashed their debut album on the world, and their follow-up, Life Processes, proves to be a quite different beast, but just as accomplished nonetheless.

The album begins on (almost) familiar territory: 'Welcome To The Moment (The Rest Of Your Life)' sounds more like Give Me A Wall than anything else you'll hear on this album, but even during its frantic two minutes you can feel it straining, striving for something more epic. Follow-up 'We Are Grey Matter' starts out in an uncharacteristically restrained manner, with an echoy "Call! Response!" refrain and a minimal synth line, before a disco drumbeat kicks in. It's only after a minute or so that those characteristic guitars return, along with a shout of "Let me make this fucking clear! I've got a landmine attached to my leg!" which ironically doesn't make things clear at all.

Indeed, Tom Woodhead's lyrics are still as enigmatic and cryptic as ever, but intriguingly this time they seem to be shot through with references to the bible. For example, on 'A Prospector Can Dream' he asks: "Did you ever study the Israelites? They made a new life for themselves with such a peculiar change." Not your average Friday night conversation down the pub then, but yet within all the oddball metaphors there are some lyrics that stick out as meaningful: "We could be something in a new location!" could be a rallying cry for people stuck in dead-end towns everywhere.

It's evident that the band were full of ideas when recording this album, and it shows with their ability to cram multiple ideas into the space of a single song. 'Spring Is A Condition' combines brooding intensity with a purposeful, earnest chorus and some electrifying guitar work before throwing in some video game synth noises in for good measure, while 'Don't Reinvent What You Don't Understand' mixes jerky math-rock riffs with shimmering guitars to great effect.

'Breaking Standing' seems like the album's most accessible, almost poppy moment, with guitars that sparkle and shine - even in the heavier parts of the song they feel a little restrained, allowing Tom's vocal to take centre stage with memorable hooks such as "When it weighs too much, think of it as seven times the weight." It made sense as a first single, and it sits well in between the weightiness of 'Some Buildings' and 'Gravity & Heat'. The former is an epic slow-burner that once again breaks out the biblical references ("Ashes to ashes! Dust to dust! Jesus Christ and Lazerus!"), while the latter spends six minutes lurching brilliantly between heavy metal riffing and swathes of reverb-laden guitar. The heavy metal guitars also feature on 'A Shadow Is A Shadow Is A Shadow', which must surely be considered a pioneer as far as songs that contain the phrase "pitchfork-wielding mess" are concerned.

However, if you thought the rest of the album was a departure for the band, then 'Fosbury In Discontent' will provide even more of a shock: Consisting of little more than a piano and Tom's plaintive vocal, it's an unexpectedly tender moment amongst the intensity of the rest of the record. The album's ambition truly comes to fruition with another great departure, closing track 'Spanish Triangles': A nine-minute epic that builds steadily from an understated drumbeat and sparse, echoing guitar to a towering, majestic soundscape for Tom's yearning vocals to soar above. The lyrics achingly remind us that "We all have our moments!" - and this is certainly one of ¡Forward, Russia!'s best yet.

So, while the tracklisting of Life Processes warns against reinventing what you don't understand, there should be no such worries when it comes to this album. ¡Forward, Russia! have managed to create a record that's very different from Give It A Wall without losing sight of what made them such a great band in the first place: Their relentless intensity and Tom's crazed vocal theatrics are still very much in place here. Rest assured, the band still understand how to make not just one great song, but an album full of them.

#7: Blood Red Shoes - Box Of Secrets (2008)

1. Doesn't Matter Much
2. You Bring Me Down
3. Try Harder
4. Say Something, Say Anything
5. I Wish I Was Someone Better
6. Take The Weight
7. ADHD
8. This Is Not For You
9. It's Getting Boring By The Sea
10. Forgive Nothing
11. Hope You're Holding Up

Honestly, it wasn't deliberate... but much like this album, this review is better slightly late than never, right? I've really got to try and start working ahead again... anyway, Blood Red Shoes are a brilliant live band who make a far louder noise than just two people ever should, and their album finally came out this week.

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It's been a long time coming, (due to record label issues more than anything else) but at last the debut album from Blood Red Shoes is finally here. But has it been worth the wait?

'Doesn't Matter Much' kicks the album off as it means to go on: With a grungy guitar riff, pounding drums and a simple, catchy chorus. Next up is re-recorded version of 'You Bring Me Down' that ads a touch of polish and a dash of anger to an already sublime slice of intense guitar pop. The rest of the band's previous singles are also present and sounding better than ever. 'I Wish I Was Someone Better' barrels along at 100 mph, thrashed out guitars and incessant drumming underlying a simple, non-ironic message of, well, wanting to be someone better, while 'It's Getting Boring By The Sea' combines reverb-laden guitar stabs with the frustration of hometown boredom - "You can't escape anything in this town" is surely a sentiment that many can relate to, regardless of whether they're from a seaside town or not.

'Take The Weight' slows the pace a little without removing any of the band's intensity, and the band even prove they can do vocal styles other than 'shouty' with an a cappella round towards the end of the song. Of course, the brattishness returns in style on 'ADHD', with Laura-Mary shouting "Now now now now now now now now boy!" as Steven distractedly tells us that "I'm so bored I can't think straight."

It might seem like an odd word to use to describe a Blood Red Shoes song, but if the band has a 'tender' moment then 'This Is Not For You' is it. Dealing with a failed relationship, it sees Laura-Mary show a much more melodic side to her voice as she tells her former lover "I don't want you to think I do the things I do because of you," before wearily deciding to "pretend that everything is just fine." They can't contain their anger for long though, and the song's climax sees them crank the volume up as Steven's howl provides a perfect contrast to Laura-Mary's melodies.

The band have evidently got a lot of bile to spew: 'Try Harder' mockingly sneers at scenesters ("We'll change our hairdye! We'll change our footwear! We'll change our ideas to fit what magazines say!") while 'Forgive Nothing' is arguably the album's most bitter moment, with Laura-Mary seething "Forgiving nothing is being kind: You turned your back and you left your spine!"

The album's most emotionally charged moment comes with 'Say Something, Say Anything': Steven's personal tribute to his father's death from cancer, his vocals sound raw and cracked before finally breaking down into a cry of "How long can you miss someone?" - again, a sentiment that's easy to relate to, and a moving one at that.

After all the anger, frustration and bitterness that permeates the record, 'Hope You're Holding Up' acts as both a glimmer of hope and an olive branch to lost friends or former lovers ("I hope you're holding up, I don't see you too much"). It also ends the album on a reflective note, with Laura-Mary pondering "Looking for reasons, it's hard to see: Would I change this for you, or change it for me?" before the song gently fades out into nothing more than breathy "aah"s.

Some may argue that Blood Red Shoes are a one-trick pony, and while this album doesn't feel like it's actively striving to quash these claims, there's plenty happening here to keep me interested. Box Of Secrets demonstrates that there's enough depth and energy in their girl/boy/guitar/drums style to last them for an entire album, with songs like 'Take The Weight', 'This Is Not For You' and 'Hope You're Holding Up' being different enough to prevent the record from becoming monotonous while managing not to stick out like a sore thumb alongside the rapid-fire singles. It's not really clear to me where they might go from here, but it's definitely a good thing that this record has finally seen the light of day. So, to answer my own question: Worth the wait? Absolutely.

#6: Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine (1992)

1. Bombtrack
2. Killing In The Name
3. Take The Power Back
4. Settle For Nothing
5. Bullet In The Head
6. Know Your Enemy
7. Wake Up
8. Fistful Of Steel
9. Township Rebellion
10. Freedom

As they're headlining on Saturday at Leeds Festival and it's not entirely unlikely that I'll end up seeing some or all of their set (depending on how things look once the full lineup is announced), I figured I may as well delve into Rage Against The Machine's back catalogue a little: And where better to start than with their self-titled debut? This review is perhaps a little shorter than I'd like, so sorry if it feels a bit half-arsed.

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Rage Against The Machine are a band as known as much for their outspoken political stance as they are for their music - and that's because, for them, the two go hand in hand. Take album-opener 'Bombtrack', for instance: Combining a clean but heavy guitar funk that just makes you want to bounce with angry, almost anarchical lyrics, with the intent being to "make punks take another look," as Zack puts it.

This leads into one of the bands most recognisable songs, 'Killing In The Name': Its simple, repeated hooks see de la Roche raging against white supremacy groups, before screaming the iconic anti-authority chant of "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me!" It's clear that that he's got a lot to be angry about, with each subsequent song tackling a different theme. 'Take The Power Back' tackles corrupt education systems, while 'Settle For Nothing' is a stark tale of broken homes and gang culture. 'Township Rebellion' rails against apathy and apartheid, while 'Wake Up' and 'Freedom' are both massive rallying cries that each end with Zack screaming the title repeatedly down the mic.

With all this talk of politics, it's easy to let the music take a back seat - but Rage aren't just a political soapbox. For example, amongst all the lyrical fire of 'Bullet In The Head' there's one hell of a funky, understated bass riff, while the jerky, staccato guitar at the start of 'Know Your Enemy' sounds like a series of little electric shocks - in a totally awesome way, of course. Morello even shows off some 'special effects' during 'Fistful Of Steel', first making his guitar sound like a siren, and then pulling off turntable-style scratch solos on it. It's not the only song to feature oddball guitar effects, with the beginning of 'Township Rebellion' sounding almost like a didgeridoo. 

Another thing that might be easy to overlook if you focus too much on the lyrics is the fact that de la Roche's vocals do a lot to complement the music. When he's spitting out his messages in a rapid, aggressive style, his vocals always flow well. And while his default emotional setting appears to be 'angry', he often lets his rage seethe under the surface during the slower, quieter moments before letting out raw, explosive screams when the band turn up the volume.

Rage Against The Machine is an unrelentingly heavy listen, and can start to drag towards the end of its 53-minute running time. But at the end of the day, you can approach this album in one of two ways. Either you can delve into their lyrics and the politics behind it all and hold the band up as a voice for change screaming "WAKE UP!" at the world from the rooftops... or you can simply whack 'Killing In The Name' on and jump around, shouting along in appreciation of the band's weighty funk. Perhaps I'm being a bit shallow, but the latter option seems like a lot more fun to me.