Clint Ruin & Lydia Lunch -Don't Fear the Reaper
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Here, I like this even more than "Stinkfist," more accessible but still beautifully twisted. There's still "sonic terrorism" (Clinch) but here Ruin and the Lunch also have fun with covers of two pop songs like the title track and even the Beatles from the white album, two gorgeous covers (the one by BOC is a masterpiece, IMO). However, the masterpiece is "Serpentine" by Ruin, an elegant and dark duet between the two voices accompanied by trumpet. A delightful "divertissement" between the two but splendid. more
Clint Ruin & Lydia Lunch -Stinkfist
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J.G. Thirlwell, in one of his 100 identities, alongside a perfect accomplice like Lydia Lunch, unleashes himself in three tracks of pure sonic terrorism, at times devastating. "Meltdown Oratorio," featuring Lunch's declamations, is sublime. In the fourth track, Thurston Moore joins in, co-authoring the piece with Lunch, and the three of them create a hell of a racket. The duo has done better separately, but for fans of these guys, this is a must-have. Beautiful cover :D more
Steve Hackett -Wolflight
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Steve Hackett — Wolflight | DeRank™: 3,00

Hackett's misstep in the last decade, one of his less beautiful albums which, by the way, is placed between two much more inspired ones. There are a couple of decent songs (the title track is nice, for example, as is "The Wheel's Turning") but overall I find it weak, flat, and very disappointing, with few ideas and even some messy parts. There are melodies, arrangements, and solutions in several tracks that aim to be epic but flirt with the cheesy; sometimes they hit the mark and give it a high five. It's a heavy album to listen to, boring, even if here and there in almost every song there's that piece or that passage of guitar that, okay, is nice, but it's not enough. The cover is also terribly cheesy... Sure, the wolf cubs are nice, but the overall effect, my goodness, no. For me, while waiting to listen to the latest release, the decade 2010-2020 has been fruitful for Hackett from a qualitative perspective, "Wolflight" being the only half misstep. more
Steve Hackett -Tribute
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Steve Hackett — Tribute | DeRank™: 1,00

Steve Hackett on classical guitar is always the best, in my opinion (maybe it's because I adore the sound of the instrument), even when he records an album under unfortunate conditions and in a complicated time, namely during a turbulent divorce from his now ex-wife Kim and also at war with the manager who had taken away his chance to record music in a studio (oh, to put it mildly). This album Hackett had to play and record in his own home, in an improvised studio, probably while Kim was busy ripping the carpet off the floor to take that with her too (guys, we’re lucky she didn’t come to our house asking for her husband’s record covers back, just kidding Kim, don’t sue DeBaser). Apart from his faithful friend King on production and mixing, here there’s only Hackett and his guitar. That’s it. Not even his brother on flute. Just him. Him and the classical composers he pays homage to, because here Hackett relies on the safe harbor of performing other people's pieces. The most represented is Bach, of course, since he was the one who originally opened new "Horizons" in guitar playing for Steve many years ago. And well, it might be an album made out of necessity (it was the only type of album he could afford to make at that moment, in fact), but it's still Hackett playing Bach and company with a classical touch. A gem. Hats off. more
Steve Hackett -Defector
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Steve Hackett — Defector | DeRank™: 0,00

"Defector" has always left me quite cold and disappointed; it's a decent work, at times even something more, but I can't shake the idea that it's the unlucky little brother of "Spectral Mornings," even Kim's artwork is less appealing than the previous one. Half of the album is instrumental, which isn't a big deal since the singers are rarely the strong point of his albums (unless he had hired Sally Campovecchio full time, just saying), the sung tracks are the calm "Leaving" and "The Toast," classic Hackett-style ballads, beautiful songs, and then there are the two tracks where Hackett awkwardly veers towards a more pop direction, perhaps in an attempt to create something chart-friendly. Like you find "The Show" with that slappy bass line making you think, "Is it Hackett or is it AnoderUanBaizddeDast?" which I really like... The bass, I mean, the song is a bit of a mess. Just like "Time to Get Out," which isn’t bad but bland. In 1980, his former companions were much more inspired in the pop realm. Then there's the cute retro finale, nice. The instrumentals are also hit or miss; the dull "The Steppes," and the sunny "Jacuzzi," which I won't even mention the classical guitar piece, not bad but nothing exceptional in the others. I don’t know, it’s a clear step back after Spectral; from here he would start a more "pop" phase for a couple of years with the poorly executed "Cured" and the definitely better "Highly Strung." more
Steve Hackett -Guitar Noir
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Steve Hackett — Guitar Noir | DeRank™: 6,09

"Guitar Noir" is a beautiful album by an artist who has reached full maturity, a refined, elegant work often set in soft atmospheres, delicate when not dark or melancholic. This is also one of the albums where Hackett manages to better blend the acoustic and electric parts of his music, in a constant exchange and dialogue between them in most of the songs, with the excellent help of Magnus' keyboards, following a well-defined path, still far from the furious eclecticism that will dominate his albums in the following decade. Then Hackett allows the acoustic "soul" and electric "soul" to take separate paths, resulting in two of the best pieces, two instrumentals, "Walking Away From Rainbows" for classical guitar and "Sierra Quemada," which is the most typically "his" electric piece in terms of guitar style—a piece that would have fit well on "Spectral Mornings," just to be clear. The other two standout tracks that elevate the album are "Vampyre With a Healthy Appetite" and then, of course, the splendid "There Are Many Sides of the Night," which traverses electric, acoustic, and even orchestral elements, encompassing all things Hackettian, the peak of the album. The low point is the nice yet isolated "Lost in Your Eyes," which feels out of place with the rest and, frankly, is cute but not much more. Other than that, there are beautiful (on average) refined songs that contribute to making "Guitar Noir" one of the most coherent and successful works of Hackett's electric phase post-'79. more
tony banks -a curious feeling
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tony banks — a curious feeling | DeRank™: 3,00

It was a good solo debut, a more than decent work that didn’t foreshadow the future scarcity of Totonno Banche’s solo albums (and not just his, eh...). Let’s say it follows a trail, in terms of sound and writing, very close to that of "And Then There Were Three," and after all, this was the stylistic hallmark of Banks' writing in the late '70s—an elegant and refined pop with prog hints, melodic, linear, romantic, and a bit melancholic, obviously centered around keyboards. Being a total bear, Totonno plays everything by himself, from the piano to the equilateral triangle, only bringing in Chester Thompson on drums and a singer, Kim Pancetta, with a clean, clear voice that for me is a bit anonymous, with certain songs that, focused on her vocality, tend to have semi-aor sounds that don’t excite me much. In reality, the only track that truly gives me real emotions is the inspired instrumental "Waters of Lethe," with beautiful Banksian melodies and Totuzzo also enjoying himself on electric guitar. The rest are more than pleasant songs or instrumentals, just a couple of little turds (the title track is quite bad) but the rest is enjoyable music. Sure, it’s not a particularly beautiful album or anything special, and if we think it’s his best, well, what a shame. I must say, among the solo debuts of various Genesis members, I find this one the least impressive. more
Queen -Sheer Heart Attack
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Queen — Sheer Heart Attack | DeRank™: 12,83

An album that I really like, just slightly below the previous one and absolutely on par with the next. The usual, incredibly entertaining queenly circus at its maximum splendor and inspiration; here more than ever, ideas that would later be presented on "A Night at the Opera" the following year are anticipated. "Sheer Heart Attack" is a lively, varied, colorful, kitsch, glam, pop, hard-rock album, filled with cabaret interludes, over-the-top choruses, stunning melodies, and silly glitz, all recognizable in a quarter note. Another merit, much more evident than in "Queen II" and "Opera," is the compression of the many ideas, from exaggerated kitsch to the sweetest melodies, into very short songs, averaging a couple of minutes, two and a half tops, sometimes even less, like in the delicate minute-long sketch of "Dear Friends." These are shards of songs, fragments of pop-rock-glam pearls ("Killer Queen," "Flick of the Wrist"), delicate ballads ("Lily of the Valley"), lightning-fast rock moments ("Stone Cold Crazy"), and brief flashes of brilliant retro oddity ("Bring Back That Leroy Brown"). Then there's "In the Lap of the Gods," which is both a curse and a delight, the trash and beauty of the Queen, emblematic of their style, and the "Reprised" version, almost the first "rock-arena" song from Mercury. The few longer tracks also work great (especially "Brighton Rock," a showcase for a great May on guitar, and "She Makes Me," also by May). more
Queen -A Day At The Races
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Queen — A Day At The Races | DeRank™: 10,28

The last truly great album by Queen before "Innuendo," fifteen years later. I've also reassessed this A Day at the Races; it's inferior to the previous three albums, but only just a little. It's a lovely work that wraps up the theme of "maturation" or greater ambition that began splendidly with A Night at the Opera. A quartet of particularly successful songs for me: "Somebody to Love," of course, one of the best in the Mercury repertoire; the other 100% Queen track, "The Millionaire Waltz," which recalls the operetta/suite style of Zeman's Rhapsody with changes in tempo, rhythm, and style, and is almost equally successful, very beautiful; the usual old-fashioned playful track "Good Old-Fashioned (indeed) Lover Boy" and the concluding choral ballad "Teo Torriatte," a cheeky... erm, homage to the band's Japanese fans, featuring a polyglot vocal from Freddie Mercury, a stunning melody but also a "stadium" chorus that the following year will find its ultimate sublimation in the two most annoying songs in all of music history. On the hard rock side, I find "White Man" to be more beautiful than "Tie Your Mother Down" (catchy, nice, but nothing exceptional), and then there are a few small gems scattered among the lesser tracks, which are all quite nice actually; perhaps the most charming among these is Taylor's "Drowse." more
Ufo -Obsession
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Ufo — Obsession | DeRank™: 0,00

Well, this last studio album with Michelino on guitar is definitely the least beautiful of the UFOs from the '70s. For goodness' sake, it's a more than decent rock/hard rock album, but when it comes to songwriting, it's definitely of a lesser quality compared to the four previous albums, which consistently delivered songs ranging from good to excellent. Until that moment, UFO had always written simple, classic yet beautiful songs, indeed, great melodic ideas, solid rock anthems, nice solos, everything was nice—here, however, those horrible arena-AOR tear-jerkers start creeping in, and for heaven's sake, I'd rather cut my veins ("Looking out For N.1" is the one that I dislike the most). Overall, even though "Only You Can Rock Me" is a perfect opening for the album, there are few songs I could describe as more than "nice," 2-3 good rock pieces, nothing more than that. A passable album but far inferior to its predecessors and not the most brilliant closure for the best period of their career. more
UFO -PHENOMENON
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UFO — PHENOMENON | DeRank™: 0,28

A classic that has been chewed, savored, and digested for a while now, but it's always nice to put it back on the audio burners from time to time. I really like it, a perfect classic rock album from the '70s with peaks of excellent hard rock ("Rock Bottom" reaches the heights of the genre, and yes, in '74 that title was in fashion for albums and songs) inspired from beginning to end where all, but truly all, the tracks are great, from the more energetic rock pieces to the ballads (with the instrumental "Lipstick Traces" thrown in and let's also include a cover of Dixon just in case, see "Built for Comfort"), everything flows wonderfully. Three years had passed since the second studio album and the first live one, just enough time to chart a new artistic trajectory and acquire the German electric guitar star, the young flashy Michele, who immediately takes the reins of the band’s songwriting, along with Mogg. Three years well spent, because even in this 2.0 version, structurally simplified in the songs, the UFOs, who by now only have their name and the cover of this album as their spacey essence, are just as effective, if not more so, than at their beginnings, producing 4-5 solid albums until '79 of which this one, perhaps, remains the best, but it's hard to say. Truly an excellent album. Produced by Leone Leoni, bassist of that other underwhelming band, Ten Years After... more
UFO -LIGHTS OUT
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UFO — LIGHTS OUT | DeRank™: 0,00

"Phenomenon" ultimately remains my favorite by a narrow margin, with this one coming right after, slightly above "Heavy Petting," if only for "Love to Love," which is one of their best tracks, epic rock that is "refined" without slipping into tackiness, and for the cover of the Love's gem of melodic pop perfection, "Alone Again Or." In short, "Lights Out" is an album full of love. UFO's songwriting is very straightforward, with classic songs, such as the ballad "Try Me," which might even be a bit cliché, but they use it to craft consistently good, or at worst, pleasant songs. Having listened to them frequently in the past few weeks, I can confirm they are among my favorite classic '70s rock/hard rock bands; I wouldn't take them to a Desert Island, but they have released several excellent albums in the genre, truly excellent. This one is undoubtedly on their podium. more
Ash Ra Tempel -Seven Up
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Ash Ra Tempel — Seven Up | DeRank™: 6,19

Not a masterpiece like some other albums by Ash Ra, but this curious journey to Switzerland by Manuel Göttsching's band towards the refuge of exile guru Timothy Leary has always entertained me a lot. Between trips and shenanigans, this nice record came out, made up of two jams (one more cosmic, beautiful) improvised, tasting like Seven Up spiked with LSD. A nice and "fun" album, truly an interesting collaboration. The peaks of Ash Ra are still the first two albums, but I've listened to this one often and always with pleasure. more
Aretha Franklin -Aretha in Paris
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Aretha Franklin — Aretha in Paris | DeRank™: 2,79

Well, it’s Aretha live at the Olympia in Paris in 1968, at the height of her artistic glory and commercial success, what else is there to add. My goodness, there isn’t much difference between this live performance and one of her contemporary studio albums; it’s more like a live compilation of some of the best tracks from her repertoire, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the album is a blast. All the beauty and energy of Franklin and the best Soul and R&B are here in spades. I only think of the songs that open and close the live set: I definitely prefer her version of "Satisfaction" to the original by the Stones, no matter how much I like the Stones, while "Respect," well... it’s the usual perfect bomb to close a live album with fireworks. Beautiful, beautiful. more
Black Sabbath -Heaven And Hell
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Black Sabbath — Heaven And Hell | DeRank™: 0,19

Black Sabbath 2.0 with Dio on vocals (yes, Black Sabbath with Dio, they made the joke), Black Sabbath 2.0 who dive into NWOBHM Heavy Metal. I should point out that for me it makes no sense to refer to this type of music as "Heavy Metal," especially when talking about these Sabbaths, when the term "Heavy Metal" was coined precisely for hard-sounding rock or rock-blues records, including the early works of Sabbath themselves. So wouldn’t it be a huge contradiction to refer to "Heaven and Hell" with the same term, which is something entirely different? What the hell is "Heavy Metal" doing here and in other records of this genre? At most, this could be called "Soft Metal," there you go. Clean sounds, light, epic and absolutely melodic openings, at times practically pop-rock, in others a Hard Rock with a bright and "grand" sound. In any case, I consider this album a radical refreshment of sounds and lineup that the Sabbaths needed, after the last two subpar albums with Ozzy, and an excellent album in its own right, which, however, doesn’t drive me crazy at all. I still consider it a good album, with a great title track (great piece) and "Lonely is the Word," which are the standout songs, featuring beautiful melodies, RJ's lovely voice, and excellent guitar parts by Totonno Iommi. The rest speaks much less to me, but it’s pleasant. more
Black Sabbath -Sabotage
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Black Sabbath — Sabotage | DeRank™: 0,00

An album that has taken a musical direction largely oriented towards a more canonical and "classic" Hard Rock, losing the heaviness (because they played the heavy version of heavy rock, the overweight rock) that was beautiful in the early records; this, to my ears, makes it lose a few points, but oh well, because it's beautiful Hard Rock and "Sabotage" remains, in its genre, one of my favorite albums of the '70s (and, therefore, of all time). There are also songs here that explore different genres, "Am I Going Insane" leans more towards a sour pop-rock than anything else (and it's quite nice if you ask me). "Supertzar," on the other hand, is a terrible mess without appeal; I think it's the first shitty song from Sabbath, something unimaginable for a band like them up until that point. Other than that, everything is great; "Symptom" and the more elaborate "The Writ" (the final acoustic part is beautiful) are my favorites, two magnificent tracks, and even the 10 minutes of "Megalomania" flow very nicely. A great album, the last truly great one with Ozzy on vocals, before two albums that were definitely tired and less inspired (though not completely worthless) and the respraying (redeeming although to tastes not very pleasant to me) in "epic" tones with Ronnie James Dio. more
Alice -Capo Nord
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Alice — Capo Nord | DeRank™: 2,79

The first album by Carla Bissi under the stage name Alice, and under the wing of Battiato and Giusto Pio, is truly remarkable. In fact, her career begins here. "Capo Nord" is part of that cycle of albums written by Battiato and Pio during a moment of fantastic pop inspiration, in terms of music, lyrics, and arrangements. The Battiato-esque pop-rock/synth-pop didn't miss a beat; furthermore, here (as with Giuni Russo or Milva in the same years), this inspiration is gifted to one of the greatest interpreters of Italian music. An interpreter but also a songwriter, both because she was actively involved in writing with the two masters, and because she wrote two songs entirely by herself, one of which, "Una sera di Novembre," is among the most beautiful on the album, refined and elegant. Plus, there's her voice and great interpretive skills. We all know how great Alice has proven to be throughout her career, what she has accomplished as a musician, songwriter, and interpreter, but this album is already a very tasty appetizer. "Il vento caldo dell'estate," "Bael," "Sera," and especially the dark, resigned melancholy of "Rumba Rock" are truly memorable songs. Beautiful. more
Soundgarden -Louder Than Love
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Soundgarden — Louder Than Love | DeRank™: 0,00

I like it a lot; it's always been my favorite from the Soundgarden catalog. More visceral than the mature "Superunknown" and more polished than the raw "Ultramega Ok," it represents the perfect compromise achieved by the band's music, the most cohesive and "square" album. I consider it one of the best Rock/Hard-Rock albums released between the '80s and '90s. Moreover, this is the best lineup of Soundgarden, at its peak, with Yamamoto, a great bassist, who played a crucial role in the songwriting process. And then there's a brilliant singer/songwriter, an excellent guitarist, a drummer also in great form, and what comes out is a very homogeneous album, even in the quality of the tracks. Oh, I wouldn't go so far as to call it a masterpiece or consider it one of "my" essential albums, just because I see Soundgarden as excellent students who, while making a fantastic impression, haven't surpassed their masters (we all know the various inspirations of the band; I don't need to repeat their shopping list). So, it's a matter of taste, but I truly find this album skirting perfection; it has only great tracks, from the first to the last, no dips, no weak points, no underwhelming songs, it flows smoothly—it's a solid block of excellent hard-rock 2.0. Beautiful. more
Afghan Whigs -Congregation
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Afghan Whigs — Congregation | DeRank™: 3,93

Very nice, the appreciation grows with each listen. In fact, this is the first Afghan album that I've properly listened to in full, and at first it left me somewhat puzzled; I expected more Soul/Black influences given its stunning cover, which by itself indicates Dulli and the guys' passion for the hybridization between white rock and soul/r&b, just as the lyrics of the title track are also significant, for example. From the second listen onwards, however, I found myself in front of a beautiful album of typical "90s rock," with very beautiful songs one after another, inspired, some wonderfully engaging ("Turn on the Water" or "Conjure Me" or "Miles Iz Dead" with its magnificent little riff, "This is My Confession," for example). There's not a weak track; I'm not crazy about the production and sounds (in the sense of volumes, I really don't know this stuff), but the level of songwriting here is of excellent quality. In this album, their passion for pop-soul-r&b is not musically perceivable (except in a vague way), but it’s clear that they had broader intentions than just the simple "let’s do big rock." From the beautiful cover of "The Temple" taken from "Jesus Christ Superstar," for instance. Well, from what I’ve understood, "Congregation" acts somewhat as a bridge between the first two rougher albums and the two that follow, the albums of definitive maturity. A bridge very well done, I must say. more
Elton John -21 At 33
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Elton John — 21 At 33 | DeRank™: 0,00

An album that represents an improvement over the previous one, but of course compared to "Victims of Love," even a Best Of with me singing in the shower would have been an upgrade. A professional album, with a couple of good songs, another 2-3 nice ones, and the rest is pretty forgettable in my opinion. This first EJ album from the '80s, followed by the even more valid "The Fox," could have seemed like a prelude to a return to quality productions, but instead, it was a foreshadowing of some real crap. This is still an acceptable and decent album, anyway, that you can listen to a couple of times before collecting dust. But he will do worse, much worse, Uncle Reginald. more