Lemonheads' seminal album 'It's A Shame About Ray', lovingly reissued for it's 30th Anniversary. Reissue includes a slew of extra material, including an unreleased 'My Drug Buddy' KCRW session track from 1992 featuring Juliana Hatfield, B-sides from singles 'It's A Shame About Ray' and 'Confetti', a track from the 'Mrs. Robinson/Being Round' EP, alongside demos. This reissue celebrates their prestigious fifth album, these deluxe bookback editions feature new liner notes and unseen photos. 'It's A Shame About Ray' had a considerable impact back in those heady, carefree days of '92, the record perfectly captures Dando's ability to effortlessly encapsulate teenage longing and lust over the course of a two-minute pop song. Singles such as 'My Drug Buddy' and the breezy perfect pop of the title track might stand out (plus the add-on of 'Mrs. Robinson' which later copies included), but the album's real strength lies in the tracks in-between; the truly fantastic 'Confetti' (written about Evan's parents' divorce), and the eye-wateringly casual acoustic cover of 'Frank Mills' (from the "hippie" musical Hair), a version that seems to resonate with every ounce of pathos and emotion felt for the lost 1960s generation. To hear Evan Dando sing lines like 'I love him/but it embarrasses me/To walk down the street with him/He lives in Brooklyn somewhere/And he wears his white crash helmet' is to truly appreciate how wonderful and tantalizing pop music can be. Then, there's the rush of insurgency and brattishness on the wonderfully truncated 'Bit Part'; the topsy-turvy 'Ceiling Fan In My Spoon'... this was male teenage skinny-tie pop music on a level with The Kinks, early Undertones, Wipers.
Vinyl LP pressing. Digitally remastered edition. Bad Religion has become synonymous with intelligent and provocative West Coast punk rock and are considered one of the most influential and important bands in the genre. Over the past three decades the band has continually pushed social boundaries and questioned authority and beliefs armed only with propulsive guitars, charging drumbeats, thoughtful lyrics and an undying will to inspire and provoke anyone who will listen. Stranger Than Fiction is the eighth album from Bad Religion, and one of their most popular. First released in 1994, the album has been certified Gold and features hit singles" 21st Century Digital Boy", "Infected" and "Stranger Than Fiction." Features guest appearances from some of punk's greatest including Rancid's Tim Armstrong (vocals on "Television"), Jim Lindberg of Pennywise (vocals on "Marked") and Wayne Kramer of the MC5 (guitars on "Incomplete".)
There is no overstating Judas Priest's position at the very top of heavy metal's Mount Olympus. The long-term association (eight consecutive live and studio albums) between the band and producer Tom Allom includes the cornerstone 1980 classic British Steel, their second LP together. It was recorded in four weeks at Tittenhurst Park, previously owned by John Lennon, and the home of Ringo Starr at the time. It was British Steel that took Priest to the masses at the onset of the '80s with huge anthems like "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight," earning the band their first RIAA platinum Top 40 album in the U.S. and their first Top 10 in the U.K. in the process. Deeper album cuts like "Metal Gods" and "The Rage" would also prove to become beloved concert staples. Universally hailed as one of the most influential albums in heavy metal history, fellow musicians and disciples credit British Steel for unleashing metal from its blues origins.
