Last week was a great one for new bands, with Bad Touch in first place, followed closely by Stone Broken in second place and Metallica in third. So who deserves to triumph this week? Place your vote at the foot of this page and decide…
Pink Floyd – Childhood’s End
This newly released, remixed cut from Floyd’s 1972 album Obscured By Clouds is part of their definitive Early Years Box Set (out on November 11). Pure catnip for existing fans – and pretty bloody good for everyone who knows Dark Side Of The Moon and not much else – it’s hitherto been a rather underrated piece of the Pink Floyd history. Hopefully this upcoming set will rectify that, and bring up a few more hidden treasures…
ZZ Top feat Jeff Beck – Sixteen Tons
Billy Gibbons and co take on this rootsy Merle Travis classic (also immortalised by Tennessee Ernie Ford and Johnny Cash, among many others) with gusto. Plus extra sweet guitar icing from Jeff Beck. Taken from ZZ Top’s Greatest Hits Live. Lovely stuff.
Shinedown – How Did You Love
A box-fresh, chest-thumping beefcake of a tune from Shinedown – complete with an emotionally charged new video and frontman Brent Smith in rather nice glasses, instead of the raybans and trucker cap he’s favoured lately. It’ll be interesting to see how they fare as support for Iron Maiden next year; either way you can bet they’ll give it 110%, or 120% … a lot of %.
Beware Of Darkness – Muthafucka
One badass, achingly cool highlight from one of the best rock albums this year so far (that might’ve slipped under your radar) Are You Real?. Californian trio Beware Of Darkness drum up hints of Band Of Skulls and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, streamlining them into their own groovy, garagey alt rock hoodoo.
Dirty Thrills – Lonely Soul
Lead singer Louis James wrote this gorgeous ballad about the passing of his father; Moody Blues singer Nicky James. Packed with soul and warming slide guitar touches, Lonely Soul is a mature, moving piece of songwriting from a very promising blues rock outfit. Their first headline tour kicks off on October 21. Check ‘em out…
The Sore Losers – Got It Bad
We rediscovered Belgian rockers The Sore Losers recently, and now we have we can’t get enough of them. New album Skydogs, from which this swaggering, stylish number is taken, taps into hints of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and other greats; while still sounding decidedly new and urgent, not old and tired.
Alabama 3 – (I’ll Never Be) Satisfied
Charting the demises of various rock’n’roll legends (and sort-of claiming responsibility for them, in trippy song form), (I’ll Never Be) Satisfied is a tasty piece of part-electronic part-psychedelic blues rock, with a commanding spoken word backbone. Awesome video, too.
Eric Johnson – Once Upon A Time In Texas
How about some first-class unplugged action to conclude with? Eric Johnson might be known for his incredible electric displays with G3 and others, but he’s an insane acoustic player as well – as this dextrous, mystique-laden instrumental from new album EJ (on sale now) confirms.
