I am not a number, I am a free man

Albums

90125 - Yes
The Yes Album - Yes
Fragile - Yes
Never Say Die - Black Sabbath
The Number Of The Beast - Iron Maiden
Sona Fariq - Sona Fariq

The Number Of The Beast - Iron Maiden

The first album with Bruce Dickinson at the microphone. Paul Di'Anno sang on Iron Maiden and Killers and I think it is fair to say he sang a fair bit better than Brucie could ever manage. However, Mr Dickinson has a certain charm of his own and added his own touch to the groups' sound and style.

The rest of the group, Dave Murray and Adrian Smith on guitars, Steve Harris on bass, Clive Burr on drums; are all on good form here. You don't expect vast levels of virtuosic talent from Maiden, and to be honest you don't get it. You do expect rock solid and fast riffs, plenty of crashing around on the drums and something that deserves a nice high volume and you get all of that in spadefuls. There is plenty of space in the sound for lots of bass work and that is a good thing, Harris is probably the most talented individual in the group and as well as playing some corking rock bass lines he writes a large proportion of the songs (or song, for the cynics among you).

Maybe it does get a bit repetitive for those not fully into the style, but it is great fun. A candidate for that one representative album of the genre. A couple of the classic popular Maiden tracks are here, number of the beast, run for the hills; but the album tracks are all top notch as well.

I don't have even a majority of Maiden albums, but this is one of my favourites of those I have heard. A great example of the new wave of British metal that hit the early eighties.

Recommended to:
-metal fans of all shades
-those looking for something fun, noisy and honest
-Patrick McGoohan aficionados

Not recommended to:
-people offended by references to the beast, whores and death and destruction
-those who cringe at the thought of three guitars being thrashed to within an inch of their lives
-anyone with a love for the pure tones of a choirboy

Laser Squad Nemesis

Time for a little analysis of Alliance results to date. Seeing as divsion one can't be bothered to finish their games I shall have a look at divsion two today.

The Brigantes and Bouncing Krauts have got away to corking to starts, perhaps a little unexpected, but looking at the league table, nothing seems certain at the moment. Doomed have only won one in three and even gobbo's crew are winning things. Even gobbo is winning things. The only conclusion that is easy to draw is that is nothing is certain.

Keep an eye on the Bouncing Krauts, they might go further than anyone (including this humble duck) predicted.

Other People's Mistakes

Eating too much chocolate. Bad for you, spoils it in the long run, bad for you.