Monday 30 September 2013

The Moody Blues "The Magnificent Moodies" (1965) (Album Review)



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The Moody Blues "The Magnificent Moodies" (1965)


I'll Go Crazy/Something You Got/Go Now/Can't Nobody Love You/I Don't Mind/I've Got A Dream//Let Me Go!/Stop!/Thank You Baby/It Ain't Necessarily So/True Story/Bye Bye Birdie


Dear AAA readers, one of the things I was excited to find out once this site began growing a little bit (we're up to 150,000 hits now by the way!) was which of our AAA artists would turn out to be the most popular in terms of average hits per album. Would it turn out to be a well-established act like The Beatles, Pink Floyd or the Rolling Stones? A band with a smaller but fiercer following, like the Grateful Dead or Simon and Garfunkel? Or would it turn out to be someone less likely (chances are we're the only album reviews site ever to talk about quite a few of our records in-depth; sadly there aren't many takers for Lulu or Nils Lofgren out there). Well, as it turns out, the results have flabbergasted me completely: in terms of average hits per album, some usual suspects are doing quite well (Paul McCartney - the Wings albums in particular and The Kinks) but one artist is out way in front of everyone else: Denny Laine, about the last person I'd expect to have such a cult fanbase (I thought I was the only Laine lover out there!)

Now I'm not one to go against the flow and I'd love to bring you more because that's obviously what my audience seems to be craving - and who am I to cast aspersions when I consider Denny to be one of the 1960s and 70s' most under-rated writers and singers too - but the fact is there aren't all that more Denny Laine albums out there: I do have 'Japanese Tears' somewhere (a 1980 compilation of outtakes solo and Wings plus the A and B side of a contemporary single about Paul's week inside a Tokyo prison), but it's scattered across various Wings tapes in my collection that haven't seen the light of day in years (and the only time it ever came out on CD, about 1990, it predictably died a death and is now selling for small fortunes on Amazon - frankly its not worth the fiver I once paid for the vinyl record). I do also own '...Performs the hits of Wings', a live album made on the cheap for the Hallmark label, but even though it contains a pretty riveting re-working of 'Time To Hide', there aren't many nice things to say about it so I won't please me or you to write about it. The last Denny Laine album I own, 'Rave On', is a Buddy Holly covers project (made to celebrate the fact that Macca had just bought the rights to his back catalogue) and there's so much to say about AAA songs that I'll already be 103 by the time I've got through the albums I want to cover without having to research Buddy Holly's life and times (I'll pencil it in for when I'm 104 though). (One day I'll get my hands on 'Aaah...Laine!', the 1974 solo album that's meant to be really good, but frankly I've got more chance becoming one of the Spice Girls than I have getting my hands on that rarity).

So that leaves the glorious 'Reborn' CD (reviewed as part of News, Views and Music 123), seven studio Wings albums (six of which we've covered by now - and 'Speed Of Sound' won't be that far behind I promise) and this little curio, the first ever Moody Blues album. Now I know what quite a few of you are thinking: 'I don't remember seeing Denny Laine singing 'Nights In White Satin'. A few more of you are probably thinking 'I remember Denny singing 'Go Now' with somebody - but this line-up never made an album, surely?!' I know what most of the rest of you are thinking too: 'Gee, I wonder what a 1965 pre-psychedelia Moody Blues sounds like!' And the remaining few are probably thinking 'Gee, how did I get here when all I looked up was the phrase 'I wish the Spice Girls would Go Now!' Sorry about that - I hope you find a more interesting article to read soon! Denny Laine is indeed the lead singer, back in the days when Justin Hayward was still a folksinger thinking about applying for a job with the New Animals and John Lodge was still looking enviously on at his old mate Ray Thomas and wondering how his old 'El Riot and the Rebels' co-star had ended up in Birmingham's greatest beat band. That still leaves Ray, drummer Graeme Edge and Mike Pinder in the days when he used to play an upright piano not a mellotron, though.

So what could a pre-summer of love Moody Blues sound like? Well, the trouble is they sound like everyone else around in 1965, just with Brummy accents not scouse ones. Fans of the Hayward and Lodge eras tend to hate this album (the few of them that actually know of it anyway) because none of the trademark sounds are there: this is music that's heavily grounded and actually quite harsh-sounding even for 1965 (when most other AAA bands had already drifted into folk), a million miles and several solar systems away from next album 'Days Of Future Passed'. There's no mellotron, precious little guitar (Laine was the only guitarist in the band and he's often too busy singing to play - he doesn't play on all that many Wings songs either come to think of it) and the few harmonies on this record tend to be Denny and Mike together, not the full bodied sound usually associated with the Moody Blues. And as for the original songs, there's barely a reference to 'love' in the romantic sense, never mind in the 'universal' sense - lyrics about understanding mankind's purpose and his struggles to obtain it don't come in for another two years yet.

So is it any good? Well, yes - ish. Nothing on this album matches the best known song 'Go Now', a lot of the tracks here are anonymous American hits of the sort the Searchers covered rather than their lesser known, obscurer B-sides the likes of the Beatles and Hollies made their own and there's a sense of aimlessness that makes a lot of the fast songs sound too fast and the slow songs sound interminable. In short, the Moody Blues aren't yet a group - they're a promising pianist with a knack for writing hooks and are largely a back-up band for charismatic frontman Denny, who gets all the best moments on the record. That said, I've always been of the opinion that Laine was wasted in Wings, that in some parallel universe where Brian Epstein came from the Midlands and the Cavern Club was in Ronnie Scott's in Birmingham he would have ended up the star, not the runner-up to one. We're so used to hearing Denny as an empathetic harmoniser or as a quiet steady rock keeping a sometimes over-flashy band together so Paul McCartney can soar away to nirvana that its a shock to see and hear him as the star-to-be in his own right. Denny looks the part and sounds it even more, taking control of the recordings here so confidently it's hard to believe this album was his first real visit to a recording studio (by contrast, future stars Mike Pinder and Ray Thomas get one song each). The original songs, too, are promising: Laine and Pinder are a real songwriting team, sounding just enough like the American rock and roll songs the band cover on the rest of the album but with an added something new; 'True Story' (with the narrator sighingly admitting that the song indeed happened to him) and 'Stop!' (with its sudden, ear-catching full stop in the middle of every chorus) might be gimmicks, but they're clever gimmicks that in the context of 1965 were as revolutionary as anything around at the time. The music is quite unlike anything Pinder will write for the Moodies to come (as a general rule his are the most epic, out-there multi-suite songs once the band gets going circa 1968; here every song is written for a simple piano and guitar accompaniment), while the lyrics maintain Laine's Wings-era simplicity while surprising in just how many of them are about romance and broken hearts (by contrast none of his songs for Wings are what you'd call 'traditional' love or lost-love songs). Even some of the covers - such as Ray Thomas' first lead vocal on the Gershwin's 'It Ain't Necessarily So' and the frenetic closer 'Bye Bye Birdie' are as good as anything else a beat band are offering in 1965.

What's surprising when you look back on this album now is that it isn't just 11 re-treads of 'Go Now' and the original gathered together. 'Go Now' wasn't just the Moody Blues' biggest hit in the Denny Laine era, it was their only hit and was followed by a morale-sapping string of failures that didn't even chart (though the eccentric 'Boulevard De Madeleine' came closest just before Denny left). 'Go Now' is clearly an 'adult' song, dealing with major themes of betrayal, guilt and wanting to do the best by someone else while at the same time wanting selfishly to have them in your life forever. The song was striking for a pop combo in early 1965, picking up where The Animals had left off with 'The House Of The Rising Sun' as the 'new' sound of the day with an intensity few songs of the 1960s ever topped. However, none of the other songs here come close to matching that mood: these really are 'teenage' songs, designed to be about more frivolous and light-hearted matters and 'Go Now' sounds mighty odd when heard at the 'core' of this album as track three. If I was a record company executive, with the biggest hit for my studio for years, I'd have got the band recording mature ballads, not some of the fluff that fills up this album (the closest is 'Can't Nobody Love You?', but somehow the balladesque drama of the original seems to have been turned into out and out country by changing the arrangement to a bar-room piano and harmonica). The lack of any song with the power or panache of 'Go Now' must have really confused the fans who bought this album and few of them seem to have bothered to buy it in fact (it will turn out to be the Moodies' poorest selling studio album right up until 1983). That's a shame because even the fans who'd worn out their 45 copy of 'Go Now' would have found much to enjoy they probably weren't expecting.

One thing 'Go Now' probably did inspire, though, was the sheer amount of 'farewell' songs on this album. Even for 1965, there aren't half a lot of unhappy songs on this album (perhaps taking its cue from the 'Beatles For Sale' released at Christmas the year before - although by contrast 'Help!', released the same month, is quite a happy, bouncy sort of an album). Both the original and cover songs are about 'split-up' songs and telling a girl to go in no uncertain terms, veering from the sudden aggressive 'Stop!' to the pleaful 'Let Me Go' to the playful 'Bye Bye Birdie!' to the passive-aggressively moody (punintended unintended as it were) 'I Don't Mind'. Most of these songs are straightforward I-hate-you-and-you-hate-me songs, with the exception of the last which tries (but generally fails) to create another 'Go Now' by having the narrator pretending not to care while his heart is breaking. Interesting, another deeply unusual choice of song (for 1965 anyway), the old classic 'It Ain't Necessarily So' is also about looking beyond appearances for the truth; coincidentally this will become the defining theme of the future Moody Blues the world knows and loves. If the 1965-era Stones were angry, The Hollies worried, The Kinks confused and The Searchers effectively doing what the Moody Blues will end up doing (recording Phil Spector-esque epics about deep relationships, rule-breaking and morality issues of the day on their superb under-rated gem 'Take Me For What I'm Worth'), with the Beatles every shade in-between, then The Moody Blues are about sadness and heartbreak.

The main trouble is that this album simply doesn't sound as good as any of the Moodies' contemporaries. We've been rude about Decca here before (and their set up that saw all rock and roll albums recorded in the same way as classical music until at least 1967), but at least this grungy, raw sound suited bands like the Rolling Stones (who might have 'cleaned' up their sound entirely had they started on EMI and worked with George Martin) - even in this early era The Moody Blues were meant to be a 'polished' band more akin to the Beatles (or better still between the Beatles and the Stones, close to the Searchers' sound before they got 'folk-rock' and psychedelia in quick succession). They could be the most polished band that ever lived, in fact, but sadly it sounds on this album as if they're playing under a layer of mud in a train tunnel with the 4:30 from Settle to Carlisle train whistling past. Amazingly the sound seems to have got worse on CD, not better, thanks to the poor condition the master-tapes are in (if you're wondering why you haven't heard 'Go Now' on the radio or on a 'greatest hits' CD for a while when it used to be everywhere, that's because the original tapes for it are on the verge of falling apart and no one wants to be responsible for braking the tape entirely - yes the tape is on CD now but it was creaking back in the 1980s when the first CDs were manufactured so still sounds pretty rough). Not that the rest of the songs from this period sound much better: had someone told me that Denny Laine had recorded 'I Don't Want To Go On Without You' with a bucket on his head I'd had believed them (after being enough of an anaorak to ask what make, naturally). Even my old warped vinyl copy (which I bought minus the cover from a charity shop for 50p) plays better than my CD (Technically a copy of '16 Unforgettable Hits' rather than this album - and naturally it has a huge picture of Justin Hayward on the front instead of Denny Laine, but I bought it cheap so I'm not complaining much really, honest I'm not). As far as I'm concerned the sound quality of this album is the main thing holding the 1965 Moody Blues back from stardom, despite the one big hit -how different musical history might have been for both the Moodies and Wings had the band had enough big hits to encourage Denny to stay.

Big collectors should stick to the vinyl edition then - but the beauty of CDs are the extended running time that can add oodles of extras for no extra price (well, eventually, once everything has been around a few years anyway). There are no less than 16 of them with this album, turning it from a weight-watchers 30 minutes (only a fraction shy of making our 'five shortest AAA records' list) into a whopping 70. Many of these songs - all taken from A sides and B sides with the exception of 'People Gotta Go', a punkish outtakes that first came out on a various artists 'Beat Treasures' compilation - are better than the album, recorded when the band had more confidence and time to record their work. If you can listen out not only for 'Boulevard De Madeliene' (the closest to psychedelia Denny Laine ever came - and the stepping stone from 'his' era to the first Hayward-era single 'Love and Beauty'), but Denny's eccentric 'From The Bottom Of My Heart' and the greatest of the short run of Laine-Pinder songs, the finger-snapping 'And My Baby's Gone', are hidden gems that deserve to be better known by all. Interestingly, though, most of the unofficial (well, less official) repressings of this album take their lead from the American edition of this album, which substituted the original songs 'And My Baby's Gone' 'From The Bottom Of My Heart' 'I Don't Want To Go On Without You' and 'It's Easy Child' for 'Something You Got Baby' 'I Don't Mind' 'Stop' and 'Thank You Baby'; unusually for the days when the American record companies seemed to be messing up classic English rock albums un purpose, they actually got the better deal this time around.
Sadly there never was a second album for the Denny Laine era, as one flop 45 after another killed off more and more interest from Decca. As a result, it's hard to work out just how much worth this one lone album has. 'The Magnificent Moodies' doesn't quite deserve the adjective 'magnificent' - 'patchy' would be better, or 'Mediumly average' would be better, although 'The Mediumly good Moodies' probably wouldn't have gone too well. That said, its actually a better debut album than the first Hollies and Searchers albums and easily better than anything the Rolling Stones or The Small Faces were doing that year. The Moody Blues could have really grown into a band we'd have known and loved for a long time to come - well they did, of course, but there's precious little here except a co-writer, one familiar voice (ray's - Mike sounds oddly unlike himself on this album, as if he's trying to sound like Denny) and a distinctive drumming style to link the two. Fans of the 'Nights In White Satin' style Moody Blues really won't like this album very much at all, except in a ha-ha-ha-weren't-they-young? baby photographs sort of a way, but fans of mid-60s beat pop will find much to enjoy. And all you fans of Denny Laine out there - or even some of his fiercest critics - what you find on this CD might surprise you hugely and make you yearn for the days when Denny was easily the most important member of a band.
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'I'll Go Crazy' is the opening track - in Britain at least - and is an odd choice to kick-off the Moodies' album career. A James Brown song, it would have suited the more gravel-voiced AAA stars (Roger Daltrey for one) or the more manic, charismatic ones (Steve Marriott), but Denny Laine has a voice so unlike Brown or either of these two that hearing a posh Brummie white version of the song sounds deeply wrong - much more so than most Merseybeat era covers that at least try to engage with the spirit of the original. Brown's songs are all about repetition and building up steam to a climax - by contrast Denny seems to be reading out a shopping list and the rest of the bound sound deeply bored, Pinder's high harmonies and Thomas' grumpy bass suggesting that the band are at the end of a long shift and want to go home. The song does liven up slightly when we hit the chorus: 'You've got to live for yourself, yourself and nobody else', but all of a sudden a shriek from Denny kills off even this cut riff and heads the band straight back into the one-note verse. Brown's original version of this song is one of his very best and one of his most popular, doing well to make #15 in the US charts back when most black artists didn't even make the top 100 (though best heard on his famous 'Live at the Apollo' set). The Moodies' version is tired filler, the band clearly not that familiar with the song (is it one of Denny's choices, as he's the only one with any enthusiasm for it here and even he doesn't have enough) and simply fills a big hole where another Laine-Pinder original should be. Whoever decided to make this album lowlight the opening song on the record should have at least had their heads looked at - the Americans got it right by cutting this song from the album all together!

'Something You Got Baby' isn't an awful lot better, to be honest, but the song is more suitable for the band. The Searchers' cover of this song (on fourth album 'Sounds Like Searchers' )is precision personified, a little bit too polished in the way the parts of the song run effortlessly together and the way the three-part harmonies are just so; by contrast The Moodies sound like enthusiastic amateurs playing wildly in the hope that everything will come together by the end. Denny is on great form, writing the neck out of the song, but the tempo is hopelessly slow, the harmonies sound under-rehearsed and the guitar solo is a crashing chaos of chords, the very sound of a gifted player winging it because he hasn't learnt the song yet. To be honest, my CD copy of this track makes Denny sound like he's drunk, but I'm willing to bet that's a quirk of the re-mastering rather than a reflection of the original performance. When you hear the Searchers version you feel that they've been playing this song man and boy for ten years and are now on take 84; by contrast the Moodies sound as if they are learning on their feet and only got hold of the record that morning. The original of this song was by writer Chris Kenner, a New Orleans soul singer best known for the instrumental 'Land Of A 1000 Dances', which might in fact have been a better choice for the Moodies in this period (even back in 1965 they tended to better with music that was exotic and slightly unearthly rather than powerful r and b). The song itself is average really - it's a better choice for a cover than Brown's more soul-driven material and has some sweet words that are basically 'Good Vibrations' five years early ('There's something you got baby, makes me work hard all day'). The Moodies also have the good sense to convert the song's irritatingly twee five-note-riff to Ray Thomas' flute (making its first appearance on record) rather than an orchestra. Indeed, I wish the band had used Ray's flute more: back in the pre-Jethro Tull days it was very unusual to see a flautist in a band and his playing really suits the few songs on this album where he decides to play, giving the Moodies a slightly 'sophisticated', classical air compared to the more r and b sounds around them. Sadly, though, 'Something You Got' is one of those irritatingly empty songs that never changes pace, tempo or mood and one where the listener knows exactly where the song is going to go from first note to last.

'Go Now' was always going to be one of the album highlights anyway, but it sounds ridiculously superior to the first two tracks on this album, the sound of a band who at last know what they're doing and can pitch their performance just right instead of hoping for the best. Legend has it that this was Linda McCartney's favourite song (till she discovered reggae at any rate) and I doubt she was the only person to feel that way in Britain at that time (that and the fact that the Moodies had been one of the Beatles' favourite choice of warm-up acts in the 60s helped get him the into Wings). Back in 1965 'Go Now' was a highly contemporary song - Bessie Banks first scored a hit with it as recently as 1964 (as the wife of co-writer Larry Banks she got dibs on the song but didn't really have the power or believability of Denny Laine) - but it sounds as if it belongs from a different era altogether, what with the gentlemanly ways of the narrator, whose lover has broken his heart but is anxious to see her leave before she seems him cry. Strangely Banks and Benneyt never had another hit record after writing this one - and its surprising that the Moody Blues didn't try (or were ordered by Decca to try) another song from the same writers. Out of all the songs on the album, it's easily the most polished and convincing, with Denny's vocal judged perfectly and the first real appearance of the stunning harmonies that are going to become a Moody Blues trademark. Listen out for Pinder's exciting piano break though: until this point only Gerry and the Pacemakers had successfully added a piano into a 'band' sound instead of a second rhythm guitarist but the effect works well - indeed, it's a shame that after these album sessions Pinder will rarely play the piano again on record. Noticeably, too, while 'Go Now' sounds nothing at all like the rest of the album, it is the closest thing here to the trademark Moodies sound to come: big, atmospheric, lush, orchestral-without-really-using-an-orchestra and with a lyric that leaves the reader to read between the lines about just why he wants his girl to leave. Easily the best thing on the album - and the best thing recorded by the Denny Laine era line-up of the band - for once the record buying public really did turn a band's best song into their biggest hit. In fact, you don't really want 'Go Now' to leave....

Especially as 'Can't Nobody Love You' is up next. In truth its one of the better cover songs on this album, but it seems to have been the record most designed to hit the same spot as 'Go Now' and it just doesn't quite have that song's panache. The song is ever so nearly a one-man show (Denny takes the lead vocal, plays the flamenco style guitar and plays the harmonica), with just Pinder's piano and Edge's rather clunky drumming to accompany him. Denny does his best to conjure up a romantic mood, but the song is just that shade too slow and slightly insincere compared to 'Go Now' and sandwiched together that just makes this second of only two attempt at a slow song on the album sounds even worse. That said, this is quite a revolutionary recording for the day - it lasts for 4.03 for one thing, back in the days when 'The House Of The Rising Sun' had only just set a precedent for songs passing the 4.00 barrier. Unfortunately, you can also see why so few recordings from this era ever lasted that long: there isn't really enough material here to satisfy a three minute song and, yes, you guessed it, this song badly needs a middle eight to keep it interesting. Still, on the positive side, at least the band sound like they know what they're doing on this one and the performance is a strong one, with Denny's pleading vocal particularly good.

Alas 'I Don't Mind' is another of the album's weakest tracks. Another James Brown cover, the same issues apply: the song is meant to be a slow builder, gradually building up steam and physically hurting the listener with its stop-start melody and construction. By comparison, The Moody Blues' version simply sounds as if they can't remember the notes and are grappling to keep the song going. Mike Pinder takes the lead vocal for this song - his first ever committed to tape - and he sounds quite different to the future Pinder we all know and love; slightly high and shrill, he sounds like a combination of James Brown himself and companion Denny Laine (Pinder's natural strong-but-fragile voice is a real gift for the future 'questioning' line-up of the band, but lacks Laine's and Thomas' quiet authority on this record). Pinder's piano playing is again terrific, however, and Graeme Edge finally has a song he can 'show off' on, where the percussion is an integral part of the arrangement (emphasising all the 'missing' notes) rather than getting in the way. At least you can see why the band chose this song - unlike 'I'll Go Crazy' which didn't suit them at all - as the song is well suited to a piano-led arrangement and has plenty of scope for backing harmonies (which feature Denny testing out his falsetto for the first time). Lyrically, too, this is kind of the 'soul' version of 'Go Now', the narrator confident he can wave his baby goodbye without too much sorrow because she surely can't resist his charms and will be back the next day (if the narrator of 'Go Now' was an old-fashioned Victorian gentleman, then this narrator is a Victorian scoundrel). Note too the opening words of the second verse: 'I Don't Mind, 'cause this is my song, I don't mind, goodbye, so long' - with a few tweaks this will end up becoming the much deeper and more spiritual 'My Song', a Pinder composition found on the Moody Blues album 'Every Good Boy Deserves Favour' in 1971.

Side one ends with 'I've Got A Dream', a Jeff Barry cover from the days when Barry was just another up-and-coming pop writer rather than one of the 'creators' of The Monkees (in his head, if no one elses). Like many a Barry song, its likeable and hummable without ever quite having the depth of the greatest pop songs of the era - anyone expecting a song about racial tolerance inspired by Martin Luther King's speech of the same name is going to be disappointed. In actual fact, it's probably Abba who stole this song for their own superior 'I Have A Dream' in 1976 as the two are very similar, the narrator basically using his drwam as the basis for a chat-up line in which he says his dream won't amount to very much without someone to share it with. As pop songs go in 1965, this is a minor treat: twinkling and bright, this is one of those songs that gets under your skin and even includes a magical middle eight (even 'Go Now' didn't have one of those!) Telling his girl that she might as well have a crack at making his dream come true (because the narrator can't 'throw it in the river' 'toss it in the sea' or 'keep it in a paper bag'), the song switches to a more downbeat minor key, making the switch back to the major key for the verses all the more effective, the narrator's enthusiasm sounding infectious. This song is much closer to the sort of things Denny will sing in his solo career and with Wings and he has just the right delicate touch for this song, double-tracking some harmonies that sound remarkably like his work with McCartney (although I'm not so sure about his extended 'wooooooh-ohhhhhhs' on the fade-out, which sound a tad too heavy for a song this shallow). The rest of the band sound quite at home here, too, with another piano-based riff and another rare use of Ray's flute-playing, although its notable that neither Ray nor Mike appear to sing on this track. All in all, one of the better songs on the album, even if this light and fluffy song is the antithesis of the drama and sophistication of 'Go Now'.

'Let Me Go!' ushers in a second side that's largely full of group originals and, like the other Laine-Pinder songs here, are much more suited to the band's unusual piano-and-flute backing. Dare I say it, most of the Pinder-Laine songs are better than any of the so-called professional writers' songs for the band ('Go Now' aside) and 'Let Me Go' is one of the best. Perhaps inspired by The Beatles' 'No Reply' from the year before, this narrator is left waiting for a phone-call from his beloved that never comes and she's never in when he calls her. The scenario, though it might be entirely innocent, is enough to inspire a marvellously brooding track, full of pathos and drama and highlighted by Ray Thomas' mournful flute playing which suits this song better than most. Again, though, this is Denny Laine's show and he's at his best when he's actually got something emotional to connect to. A catchy chorus makes for a nice bit of a contrast too, with its cry of 'let me go!' and an early instance of Moody Blues 'aaaaahs' in the background. The writers clearly wrote the song with the heartbreak of 'Go Now' in mind (the two songs even share the same sad, slow-walking pace tempo) but in actual fact this song is closer in feel to a future Moody Blues classic 'Nights In White Satin' (presumably Justin Hayward would have heard something of the band's earlier work when trying to write something for them and by most accounts this was one of the songs they were proudest of, with good reason).

'Stop!' is another original that isn't quite as strong but still has an interesting stop-start quality and a cute chord progression linking the verses and choruses that's one of the Merseybeat things ever written (even though the band actually came from the Midlands). Again, listen to the way that the piano is the heart of this sound and the guitar is at best a pretty little inconsequential sound over the top. It's unusual to hear the Moodies this brash and loud in any era - their cries of 'stop!' and Graeme Edge's drum crashes are central to the song, which does indeed come to a full stop when they reach this point - but the song suits them really well in this era when they have the deeper bass tones of Pinder and Thomas in the band rather than Hayward or Lodge. A cleverly constructed piece of pop, 'Stop!' has just about enough pathos in the lyrics to prevent the song from seeming too gimmicky as well and it's interesting to note that the song is addressed not to the narrator's missus (as lazier writers would have written it) but to another outsider whose been leading her on. Listen out for a curious production decision at around 1:55 when the song fades into the background and to all intents and purposes seems to be over, before Denny cuts back into this 'Please forget about us...' rejoinder at full volume. Was this is a deliberate decision, keeping in with the theme of the song about difficult goodbyes and stopping and starting relationships? or is it simply a production mistake that was never corrected? (I'd be mighty surprised had this song come out on EMI but somehow on Decca in the mid-60s I wouldn't be that surprised). Either way, the song doesn't quite have the legs of 'Let Me Go' but is a darn sight better than most of the cover songs on this album and another of the album highlights.

'Thank You Baby', a third straight Laine-Pinder song in a row, is probably the weakest of the three and the most retro song here, sounding more like it comes from 1962 than 1965, plus a 'show-awoah-aowah-woah' chorus that's more 1950s than 1960s. That said there's a lovely piano part again that's the most Pinder-like moment on the album, with a sudden rush of descending chords that come when you're least expecting it. I'm not sure Pinder's high falsetto harmony is quite as successful though (the band are really missing John Lodge at this point). The lyrics are quite sweet too, in fact this is the only happy narrator on the whole album, praising his beloved for all the times she'd stood by him and promising to stand by her. There's even a sense at unhappier times in the past, with Laine singing 'even though they're not that long ago, I saw my troubles grow, but with you by my side, we've seen them run and hide', which isn't quite 'Stand By Me' is perfectly acceptable 1965-era pop. Like 'Stop!', however, the one thing that stops this song from reaching the heights of the best songs here are the peculiar stop-start melody that's pretty uncomfortable to listen to for any period of time. The band also sound a little under-rehearsed here too, struggling a bit to all hit the notes whenever the song kicks back in again. Still, even this weakest of the Moody originals can hold its head up high in comparison to the rather anonymous cover songs on this album.

'It Ain't Necessarily So' is easily the best cover on the album after 'Go Now'. Ray Thomas' first ever lead vocal, it's a surprise he didn't get more on the album, because he's far more confident and able with his delivery than Pinder and even Laine most of the time. For its day this Gershwin song was a daring composition indeed, describing passages from the bible in term and saying how each of them are probably a pack of lies.The performance of this song is also one of the best on the album, all the band coming together for a song they clearly know well. Ray's vocal for this song is somewhere between Paul Robeson and Mick Jagger, switching tacks verse by verse to sound sincere and mocking, even if he doesn't quite hold the extended last note 'sooooooooooo' for as long as most cover versions of the song manage. The Moodies' new arrangement for piano makes the most of the song's doom-laden atmosphere and Denny turns in his best guitar solo of the album during the middle with a frenetic guitar solo that's more like Dave Davies than his usual, more laidback style. The harmonies need some work, though: unusually Denny doesn't seem to have the natural flair for harmony vocals we know he'll have in his Wings days just yet (he's much more used to singing lead in 1965) and Pinder's falsetto is still a tad on the grating side. Still, musically alone this cover song is fabulous and Ray Thomas' vocal is impressive. What a shame that he didn't get more vocals on this album - he was always underused in the Hayward-Lodge eras line-up anyway and its a shame to hear him sidelined even this early on (the Moodies did several TV appearances in this era and almost all of them have Denny hogging the camera while Ray taps a tambourine and goes 'aaaah' in the background, a sad waste of his talents).

'True Story' is the final Pinder-Laine song and another album highlight, even if there isn't much here to actually qualify as a 'true story'. Basically, the narrator is slightly worried about his 'baby' and both whether she's doing the right thing by him and whether he's doing the right thing by her - chances are every relationship in the history of the universe has had similar thoughts at some point. Denny's exhortations throughout the song that this is a 'true story' do add some drama to the song, though, and a nice gimmick that connects the audience more closely to their idols (if the 1950s were all about flashy superstars who were out of this world, then the 1960s were much more about superstars that were only really 'one of us' made good and still shared our problems; as a very general rule stars from the 60s are still more approachable from those than any other decade). The melody for this song is pretty funky, much closer to r and b than the more poppy original songs on the rest of the album, although there's still a very catchy chorus. So catchy in fact that it even makes Denny laugh during the second verse when he sings the very Beatlesy phrase 'Found me another one, love for her is gone...' - the fact that Decca left it in suggests how quickly this album was being churned out. There's also a rather curious ending that doesn't so much resolve itself as simply give up, coming to a dur-dur-dur-dur-dur full-stop. Overall, another fine song and proof that the Moodies were arguably better as songwriters than as cover merchants in this era.

The album ends on it's most frenetic moment, a noisy cover of the Willie Dixon number (yes, the blues singer who ended his career co-writing songs with the Grateful Dead) 'Bye Bye Burd', retitled 'Bye Bye Birdie' here presumably so white 60s teenagers would understand it a bit more. You get the sense that this is the Moodies letting their hair down and having a great deal of fun after the intensity of their usual material (especially if you see them perform this song in concert - 'Beat Club' is about the best, Pinder and Edge having a competition over whether they can hit piano and drums at exactly the same time!) This is clearly Laine's choice of song, though, and well suited to his voice and raw harmonica playing, which are clearly both being played live, Laine so close to switching between the two that he sometimes sings through his harmonica 'Dylan' style. Clearly intended to be a rousing finale in the same style as 'Twist and Shout' or any of the early Hollies albums (this piece is a dead ringer for 'Mickey's Monkey', although concerning a different animal), it's still notable that this song is another one about break-up and loss (had Denny just come out of a nasty relationship?) Quite unlike anything else the Moody Blues will ever record again, this is much closer to Denny's later style when he's 'rocking out', having a similar thump-thump riff to perhaps Denny's greatest single song 'Time To Hide'. The rest of the band don't sound all that convinced, especially Pinder who struggles to keep up and Thomas whose relegated to percussion, although Edge is having a whale of a time trying to sound like Keith Moon on the drums. As for bassist Clint Warwick, as with so much of this album he's mixed so low he's hard to hear (thanks again Decca!), although if you listen carefully he seems to nail this groove best of all the twelve songs, suggesting his heart lay more with noisy r and b than pop. A memorable end to this first album, even if it doesn't quite have the raw intensity of 'Twist and Shout' or the class of 'Money'.

What we have, then, is a debut album from a band who don't quite know what they want to be yet: loud rock and rollers, cute pop merchants, songwriters of original material with a bit of added edge about them or ballad merchants with a penchant for the dramatic. Few fans in 1965 could have guessed the direction the Moody Blues would take in just a couple of years' time, after dropping sales, line-up changes and an invitation to re-record Dvorak's New World Symphony will change their lives forever. In time the Moody Blues will become known as one of the most thoughtful and intelligent bands of them all. That intelligence is frustratingly missing from most of this album, which spends far too long on r and b cover auto-pilot (especially on the album's weaker first side), although there are signs of the majesty and control that the band will have in the years to come. Whilst 'Go Now' and 'It Ain't Necessarily So' are the only two covers that really add anything other bands weren't providing, the four original and exclusive songs are all far-reaching and thinking and show that, both seperately and apart, Denny Laine and Mike Pinder are going to become valued songwriters, already steering well ahead of most of their 12965 contemporaries. I'd love to have seen how this band would have developed had they scored just a little bit more interest from their singles to keep their album career afloat a little longer. Come 1966 would they still have been indulging their fun side with r and b shouters like 'Bye Bye Birdie?' Would they have finally have found a way of making the dramatic intensity of 'Go Now' work for them across a whole album? Would they have moved on to make their own 'Revolver'? Or would they have simply stuck to the disjointed and uneven quality of this album? Who knows. All we can tell you is that this is far from the best debut album ever made - and yet at the same time it's far from the worst (I'd take this album over both the first Hollies and Searchers albums - and its neck and neck between this record and 'The Rolling Stones' and 'The Kinks'). The trouble is, even though the original material is much closer to 1966, the musical style here (the piano, the harmonies, the cute 50s covers only a mum and dad could love) are already part of a dead world by mid-1965. What a surprise, then, that the Moodies will go on to be not just among the pack but leading it for most of the rest of the 1960s. Magnificent? Not quite. But garbage thrown together quickly that should be skipped over quickly so fans can hurry on to 'Days Of Future Passed'? Hmm, that ain't necessarily so either, even though many fans have done it down the years. A fascinating time capsule that's both ahead of and behind the times, full of the great and the ghastly, 'Magnificent Moodies' is still worth hearing - especially the 16 bonus tracks which would have made for an even more enjoyable second album in their own right. If nothing else, 'Magnificent Moodies' shows why Denny was once a great group leader, up there with the very best, not solely an impeccable number two.

A Now Complete List Of Moody Blues Related Articles At Alan’s Album Archives:

'The Magnificent Moodies' (1965) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/the-moody-blues-magnificent-moodies.html


'Days Of Future Passed' (1967) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/the-moody-blues-days-of-future-passed.html

'In Search Of The Lost Chord' (1968)  http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-22-moody-blues-in-search-of-lost.html

'On The Threshold Of A Dream' (1969) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/news-views-and-music-issue-53-moody.html

'To Our Children's Children's Children' (1969) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-32-moody-blues-to-our-childrens.html

‘A Question Of Balance’ (1970) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/the-moody-blues-question-of-balance-1970.html

'Every Good Boy Deserves Favour' (1971) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-49moody-blues-every-good-boy.html

'Seventh Sojourn' (1972) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-53-moody-blues-seventh-sojourn.html

'Blue Jays' (Hayward/Lodge) (1976) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-38-blue-jays.html

'Songwriter' (Hayward) (1977) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/news-views-and-music-issue-112-justin.html



'Long Distance Voyager' (1981) http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/the-moody-blues-long-distance-voyager.html

'The Present' (1983) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/news-views-and-music-issue-98-moody.html


'The Other Side Of This Life' (1986) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-moody-blues-other-side-of-life-1986.html



‘Keys To The Kingdom’ (1991) https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/the-moody-blues-keys-to-kingdom-1991.html


'Strange Times' (1999) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/the-moody-blues-strange-times-1999.html

‘December’(2003) http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-moody-blues-december-2003.html


Surviving TV Clips 1964-2015: http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-moody-blues-surviving-tv-clips-1964.html


The Best Unreleased Recordings 1961-2009: http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-moody-blues-unreleased-recordings.html


Non-Album Recordings Part One 1964-1967: http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-moody-blues-non-album-recordings.html


Non-Album Recordings Part Two 1968-2009: http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-moody-blues-non-album-recordings_11.html


Solo/Live/Compilation Albums Part One 1969-1977: http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-moody-blues-livesolocompilation.html

Solo/Live/Compilation Albums Part Two: 1979-2015 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/the-moody-blues-livesolocompilation_25.html

Essay: Why Being A Moodies Fan Means You Can Never Go Home https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2018/04/moody-blues-essay-why-being-moodies-fan.html



Abandoned AAA Album Covers (Top Ten, News, Views and Music 213)




Every so often an album cover gets rejected - sometimes the record company takes offence (as happened on the first five examples on this list), sometimes the band can't be bothered (as per example six), sometimes the bands have too much choice (as per example number seven) and sometimes the result is just too scary to use (as per examples eight and ten). As we've often said on this site, however, the packaging can often make all the different about how an album is accepted - just think how 'dark' 'Yesterday and Today' would have sounded surrounded by decimated dolls and hunks of meat - or how ordinary 'Dark Side Of The Moon' might have been treated without its iconic cover. All our top ten are in chronological order this week

The Beatles "Butcher Sleeve" aka "Yesterday and Today" (1965)

By far the most famous album on our list, first pressings of the 'butcher' sleeve now fetch ridiculous amounts at auctions, making them one of the rarest AAA records of all time. An American-only compilation of songs from 'Help' and 'Rubber Soul' , it was taken from an 'arty' series of shots designed by photographer Robert Whittaker (who came up with the iconic 'With The Beatles' polo-shirt cover) and titled 'A somnambulent Adventure' (it was never designed by Whitaker as an 'album sleeve'). The theory was that the Beatles were having a nightmare - and as a result discovering all that was wrong with a modern capitalist society. Baby dolls were pulled apart and slabs of meat draped around all four Beatles, with all of the fab four bored of tired drab covers and Lennon especially egging the photographer on (even Paul, the Beatle who spent most time thinking of their public image, thought the shot was still intended only for an art gallery and would make a valid comment on Vietnam). Most dealers refused to stock the record at all and the few that did had so many customers refusing to buy the album or demand a refund that they soon complained to capitol and the cover was switched to a rather boring one of the Beatles playing with a box (compare their gleeful faces on the 'butcher' sleeve to the bored ones at this hastily arranged shoot and that will tell you all you need to know about the Beatles being hemmed into a 'box' themselves in this era!) Actually the original sleeve is arguably closer to the songs on the album, especially the harder-edged 'And Your Bird Can Sing' and helpless 'Nowhere Man', but the cover still has the means to shock now, so goodness knows why Capitol ever thought it was a good idea (did they even see it before 'borrowing' it for the cover?!)

Simon and Garfunkel "Wednesday Morning 5 AM" (1965)

Less of a change, but still controversial, comes from the first Simon and Garfunkel album, which was quite a flop on its release in 1965. If you've ever wondered why this album comes with such BIG graphics naming the duo and album (back in the days when neither were well known) that's because the full photograph of Simon and Garfunkel standing in front of a dirty tube station contains a rather too graphic obscene instruction on the wall. Legend has it the photographer didn't notice it when he belww up the pitcure and sent it off for use as an album cover but record company Columbia noticed and flipped. Figuring it was too late to ask for another cover, they simply cropped the cover, leaving S+G as dwarfs on their own sleeve. Paul Simon was tickled at the censorship and wrote his 1967 song 'A Poem On The Underground Wall' about the incident, reflecting on just the sort of person who leaves messages on subway stations.

The Rolling Stones "Can You Walk On The Water?" (1966)

For years it was assumed that this album - the first version of what would become the first Stones greatest hits record 'High Tide, Green Grass' - was just another piece of manager Andrew Loog Oldham's commercial nous, trying to get the publicity from stirring up controversy without actually having to go the whole hog. In the 1990s, though, proofs came to light that featured the Stones physically walking on water, a la Jesus (although they were actually walking along a conveniently placed plank). With the Stones already under huge pressure to conform from the Southern American States, this was a step too far for record label Decca, who absolutely refused to let such a 'blasphemous' title past. As with most obstacles the Stones encountered in the 60s, most people probably wouldn't bat an eyelid today and it would have made for an interesting title to go along with a string of faintly controversial singles.

The Monkees "Headquarters" (1967)

As regular fans of this site and this band will know, 'Headquarters' was the moment when The Monkees crossed over the divide between fact and fiction and became a 'real' band, not just some stars from a TV series miming to other people's playing. In keeping with the all-our-own-stuff vibe of the album, the Monkees planned to make their own arty cover for the record. They'd been inspired by Micky Dolenz bringing in a collection of paints one day and getting all four Monkees to 'draw' on the panel that separated the recording studio equipment from the musicians. The band got really into their artwork and made some very psychedelic designs and even got record company Colgems to accept their 'masterpiece' as the album cover. Unfortunately, no one told the cleaner who worked at the studio where the Monkees were working and she simply cleaned the whole glass panel before a professional photographer could come in and take a picture of it. Luckily a few 'home-made' snaps were taken, though frustratingly not of the whole cover, but we at least know what part of it looked like - the result is part gifted amateur, part genius, all Monkees (some pictures were included in the booklet for the excellent 1990s re-issue of 'headquarters' on Rhino). It would have made for an even less commercial album, probably, but would have fitted the album contents better than the rather forced 'holding hands' shot that graced the final album cover.

The Rolling Stones "Beggar's Banquet" (1968)

More Stones controversy for our list, this time for something so deeply uncontroversial to modern audiences you wonder why it was ever rejected. The original cover for one of the Stones' greatest albums had the contents for the album (along with a bit of other graffiti) scrawled over a toilet wall. Decca figured that fans would be 'offended' to have a toilet wall in their record collection and pulled the cover in favour of a very boring mock-party invite that didn't have half the frisson of danger all Stones covers should possess (although the naked girl scribbled on the wall on the back cover was pushing it for the times, even for the Stones). Thankfully sense has prevailed and every CD re-issue of the album since 2002 has restored the original cover. Sadly the Stones weren't the ones to write on the toilet wall, but whichever poor art designer had to write all the remarks on seems to have caught their spirit well: if you own for a copy look out for references to Bob Dylan, pianist Nicky Hopkins and the very Stonesy' wot - no paper?!'

The Beatles "Everest" aka "Abbey Road" (1969)

The Beatles knew that 'Abbey Road' was going to be their last album more likely than not and wanted to go out with a bang. At first, this included not just the cover but the contents. Stuck for a name everyone could agree on, George Harrison came up with 'Everest' based on the brand of cigarettes engineer Geoff Emerick was always smoking during their recordings. Liking the idea of the band leaving at their 'peak', the band toyed with the idea of being flown out to Everest by helicopter (or at the very least a suitable looking alternative). When it came to it, though, the band were simply too tired and grumpy to go to such great lengths anymore and decided to stay local, doing a 'Let It Be Rooftop' and taking their cover snap literally on their doorstep at the crossing into Abbey Road. A shame, as a snowy Beatles might have been just as iconic! Intriguing footnote: Paul McCartney remembered the trick when asked to come up with a cover idea for 'Wings Greatest' - with the band in disarray after one of many splits, he got a suitably mystical figure that had sat on the Mccartneys windowsill for years flown out to a mountain at vast expense, although as all the viewer can see on the cover is a figure surrounded by snow and ice the result isn't as impressive as it should have been!

Pink Floyd "Dark Side Of The Moon" (1973)

There was never any doubt in Pink Floyd's mind what their album cover should be - they spent a grand total of 30 seconds perusing artist Storm Thorgerson's many ideas before exclaiming 'that one' in unison and walking back to finish the album (about the only thing they did all agree on in 1973!) Storm, however, was far from convinced about what direction to go into on album Roger Waters had loosely told was about 'life, death, madness, greed, religion and death' or words to that effect. He'd made at least 20 different ideas, all of them sketched loosely so he could work on them later (including the one for 'Dark Side' the band wouldn't let him change - that's why 'Indigo' is missing from the prism and why the line of light doesn't exactly correspond with what would happen if you did the experiment 'properly'). You can see some of these 'outtakes' on the Floyd's next release, a re-issue of their first two albums 'Piper At The Gates Of dawn' and 'A Saucerful Of Secrets' under the collective title 'A Nice Pair', including light being refracted by a pair of spectacles, a giant fork balancing in the middle of a road (boom! boom!), a kettle of fish and an eerie phantom floating above a road with her head missing (an idea returned to for 'Wish You Were Here'). Frankly, the Floyd got it right - none of these other album covers can compare and its a surprise that someone as confident as Storm didn't see it from the first, but nevertheless its a surprise that more of these ideas weren't revisited as many of them are too good to be thrown away on a re-issue hardly anyone bought.

Pink Floyd "Animals" (1977)

Sticking with the Floyd, Storm's book 'Mind Over Matter' reveals quite a few alternate artworks that never quite happened. The one that's most different is the one for 'Animals', that was famously replaced by Roger Waters' own idea of a flying pig drifting over Battersea Power Station. Unusually Storm tried an illustrated cover of a small boy walking in on his parents having sex and drawing the listener towards the 'animal' instincts of humans in quite a different way to the music. Roger reportedly wanted an album cover with more 'hope' which was when his flying pig was born.

George Harrison "Somewhere In England" (1981)

We've already dealt with this album cover on news, views and music 194; to reiterate replacing the brilliant cover of a swirly illustrated George made out of darkness with a bland picture of George standing in front of what appears to be an anonymous road (before the back cover pulls away to reveal he's in an art gallery) is sheer madness. Apparently EMI didn't like the cover because George 'wasn't smiling' - by contrast his 'happy-with-this-suckers? fake grin on the 'finished' album cover probably put off more fans than a serious-but-serene George would ever have done. Utter stupidity, even though the second cover is quite clever too (you assume from the front George is somewhere low brow - and on the back he reveals he's somewhere 'high brow', which is actually pretty fitting for this mixed up album of material and spiritual matters).

Grateful Dead "In The Dark" (1987)

We end with an album cover that wasn't actually that different to the finished cover. However, the first attempt at capturing the band's eyes shining 'in the dark' was apparently 'too scary' (and relegated to the inside sleeve); a jumble of the band member's eyes all stuck together to create one massive huge one. The record company were still upset with the 'finished' vinyl cover, though which does seem to emphasise the band members' many and varied bushy eyebrows, so for every CD re-release the main cover photograph has been turned upside down, making the contents marginally less scary (unless you turn the sleeve upside down!)
Right, that's all from us for now - we'll be back with more albums and covers as finished next time around with more news, views and music. See you there!



A NOW COMPLETE List Of Top Five/Top Ten/TOP TWENTY  Entries 2008-2019
1) Chronic Fatigue songs http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/news-views-and-music-issue-1-top-five.html

2) Songs For The Face Of Bo
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-2-top-five.html

3) Credit Crunch Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-3-top-five.html

4) Songs For The Autumn
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-4-top-five.html

5) National Wombat Week
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-top-five-national.html

6) AAA Box Sets
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-6-top-five.html

7) Virus Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/news-views-and-music-issue-7-top-five.html

8) Worst AAA-Related DVDs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/news-views-and-music-issu-8-top-five.html

9) Self-Punctuating Superstar Classics
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/news-views-and-music-issue-9-top-five.html

10) Ways To Know You Have Turned Into A Collector
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/news-views-and-music-issue-9-top-five.html

11) Political Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/news-views-and-music-issue-11-top-five.html

12) Totally Bonkers Concept Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/news-views-and-music-top-five-totally.html

13) Celebrating 40 Years Of The Beatles' White Album
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/top-five-issue-13-40-years-of-beatles.html

14) Still Celebrating 40 Years Of The Beatles' White Album
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/news-views-and-music-issue-14-top-five.html

15) AAA Existential Questions
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/news-views-and-music-issue-15-top-five.html

16) Releases Of The Year 2008
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/news-views-and-music-issue-16-top-five.html

17) Top AAA Xmas Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/news-views-and-music-issue-17-top-five.html

18) Notable AAA Gigs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/news-views-and-music-issue-19-top-five.html

19) All things '20' related for our 20th issue
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/news-views-and-music-issue-20-aaa-songs.html

20) Romantic odes for Valentine's Day
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/news-views-and-music-issue-22-top-five.html

21) Hollies B sides
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/news-views-and-music-issue-23-top-five.html

22) 'Other' BBC Session Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/news-views-and-music-issue-24-top-five.html

23) Beach Boys Rarities Still Not Available On CD
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/news-views-and-music-issue-25-top-five.html

24) Songs John, Paul and George wrote for Ringo's solo albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/news-views-and-music-issue-26-top-five.html

25) 5 of the Best Rock 'n' Roll Tracks From The Pre-Beatles Era
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/news-views-and-music-issue-27-top-five.html

26) AAA Autobiographies
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/news-views-and-music-issue-28-top-five.html

27) Rolling Stones B-sides
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/news-views-and-music-issue-29-top-five.html

28) Beatles B-Sides
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/news-views-and-music-issue-30-top-five.html

29) The lllloooonnngggeesssttt AAA songs of all time
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/news-views-and-music-issue-31-top-five.html

30) Kinks B-Sides
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/news-views-and-music-issue-32-top-five.html

31) Abandoned CSNY projects 'wasted on the way'
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/news-views-and-music-issue-33-top-five.html

32) Best AAA Rarities and Outtakes Sets
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/news-views-and-music-issue-34-top-five.html

33) News We've Missed While We've Been Away
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-35-top-five.html

34) Birthday Songs for our 1st Anniversary
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-37-top-five.html

35) Brightest Album Covers
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-37-top-five.html

36) Biggest Recorded Arguments
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-38-top-five.html

37) Songs About Superheroes
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/news-views-and-music-issue-39-top-five.html

38) AAA TV Networks That Should Exist
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/news-views-and-music-issue-40-top-five.html

39) AAA Woodtsock Moments
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/news-views-and-music-issue-41-top-five.html

40) Top Moments Of The Past Year As Voted For By Readers
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/news-views-and-music-issue-42-top-five.html

41) Music Segues
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/news-views-and-music-issue-43-top-five.html

42) AAA Foreign Language Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/news-views-and-music-issue-44-top-five.html

43) 'Other' Groups In Need Of Re-Mastering
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/news-views-and-music-issue-45-top-five.html

44) The Kinks Preservation Rock Opera - Was It Really About The Forthcoming UK General Election?
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/news-views-and-music-issue-46-top-five.html

45) Mono and Stereo Mixes - Biggest Differences
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/news-views-and-music-issue-47-top-five.html

46) Weirdest Things To Do When A Band Member Leaves
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/nerws-views-and-music-issue-48-top-five.html

47) Video Clips Exclusive To Youtube (#1)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/news-views-and-music-issue-49-top-five.html

48) Top AAA Releases Of 2009
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/news-views-and-music-issue-50-top-five.html

49) Songs About Trains
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/news-views-and-music-issue-51-top-five.html

50) Songs about Winter
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/news-views-and-music-issue-52-top-five.html

51) Songs about astrology plus horoscopes for selected AAA members
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/news-views-and-music-issue-53-top-five.html

52) The Worst Five Groups Ever!
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/news-views-and-music-issue-54-top-five.html

53) The Most Over-Rated AAA Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/news-views-and-music-issue-56-top-five.html

54) Top AAA Rarities Exclusive To EPs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/news-views-and-music-issue-57-top-five.html

55) Random Recent Purchases (#1)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/news-views-and-music-issue-58-top-five.html

56) AAA Party Political Slogans
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/news-views-and-music-issue-60-top-five.html

57) Songs To Celebrate 'Rock Sunday'
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/news-views-and-music-issue-61-top-five_21.html

58) Strange But True (?) AAA Ghost Stories
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/news-views-and-music-issue-61-top-five.html

59) AAA Artists In Song
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/news-views-and-music-issue-63-top-five.html

60) Songs About Dogs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/news-views-and-music-issue-65-top-five.html

61) Sunshiney Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/news-views-and-music-issue-67-top-five.html

62) The AAA Staff Play Their Own Version Of Monoploy/Mornington Crescent!
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/news-views-and-music-issue-68-top-forty.html

63) What 'Other' British Invasion DVDs We'd Like To See
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/news-views-and-music-issue-69-top-five.html

64) What We Want To Place In Our AAA Time Capsule
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/news-views-and-music-issue-70-top-five.html

65) AAA Conspiracy Theroies
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/news-views-and-music-issue-72-top-ten.html

66) Weirdest Things To Do Before - And After - Becoming A Star
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/news-views-and-music-top-ten-aaa-stars.html

67) Songs To Tweet To
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/news-views-and-music-issue-74-top-five.html

68) Greatest Ever AAA Solos
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/news-views-and-music-issue-75-top-ten.html

69) John Lennon Musical Tributes
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/news-views-and-music-issue-77-top-five.html

70) Songs For Halloween
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/news-views-and-music-issue-78-top-five.html

71) Earliest Examples Of Psychedelia
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/news-views-and-music-issue-79-top-five.html

72) Purely Instrumental Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/news-views-and-music-issue-81-top-five.html

73) AAA Utopias

74) AAA Imaginary Bands
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/news-views-and-music-issue-82-top-five.html

75) Unexpected AAA Cover Versions
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/news-views-and-music-issue-83-top-five.html

76) Top Releases of 2010
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/news-views-and-music-issue-84-top-five.html

77) Songs About Snow
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/news-views-and-music-issue-85-top-five.html

78) Predictions For 2011
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011_01_02_archive.html

79) AAA Fugitives

80) AAA Home Towns
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/news-views-and-music-issue-88-home.html

81) The Biggest Non-Musical Influences On The 1960s
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/news-views-and-music-issue-89-top-five.html

82) AAA Groups Covering Other AAA Groups
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/news-views-and-music-issue-90-top.html

83) Strange Censorship Decisions
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/news-views-and-music-issue-91-top-ten.html

84) AAA Albums Still Unreleased on CD
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/news-views-and-music-issue-92-top-five.html

85) Random Recent Purchases (#2)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/news-views-and-music-issue-93-top-ten.html

86) Top AAA Music Videos
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/news-views-and-music-issue-94-top-ten.html

87) 30 Day Facebook Music Challenge
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/news-views-and-music-issue-95-top.html

88) AAA Documentaries
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/news-views-and-music-top-five-aaa.html

89) Unfinished and 'Lost' AAA Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/news-views-and-music-issue-97-top-ten.html

90) Strangest AAA Album Covers
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/newsa-views-and-music-issue-98-top-ten.html

91) AAA Performers Live From Mars (!)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/news-views-and-music-issue-99-top-ten.html

92) Songs Including The Number '100' for our 100th Issue
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/news-views-and-music-issue-100-top-five.html

93) Most Songs Recorded In A Single Day
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/news-views-and-music-issue-101-top-five.html

94) Most Revealing AAA Interviews
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/news-views-and-music-issue-102-top-five.html

95) Top 10 Pre-Fame Recordings
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/news-views-and-music-issue-103-top-ten.html

96) The Shortest And Longest AAA Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/news-views-and-music-issue-104-top-ten.html


97) The AAA Allstars Ultimate Band Line-Up
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/news-views-and-music-issue-105-top.html

98) Top Songs About Sports
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/news-views-and-music-issue-106-top-ten.html

99) AAA Conversations With God
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/news-views-and-music-issue-107-top-ten.html

100) AAA Managers: The Good, The Bad and the Financially Ugly
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/news-views-and-music-issue-108-top-ten.html

101) Unexpected AAA Cameos
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/news-views-and-music-issue-109-top-ten.html

102) AAA Words You can Type Into A Caluclator
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/news-views-and-music-issue-110-top-five.html

103) AAA Court Cases
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/news-views-and-music-issue-111-top-five.html

104) Postmodern Songs About Songwriting
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/news-views-and-music-issue-112-top-five.html

105) Biggest Stylistic Leaps Between Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/news-views-and-music-issue-113-top-ten.html

106) 20 Reasons Why Cameron Should Go!
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/news-views-and-music-issue-114-top.html

107) The AAA Pun-Filled Cookbook
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/news-views-and-music-issue-115-top-five.html

108) Classic Debut Releases
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/news-views-and-music-issue-116-top-five.html

109) Five Uses Of Bird Sound Effects
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/news-views-and-music-issue-118-top-five.html

110) AAA Classic Youtube Clips Part #1
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/news-views-and-music-issue-119-top.html

111) Part #2
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/news-views-and-music-issue-120-top.html

112) Part #3
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/news-views-and-music-issue-121-top.html

113) AAA Facts You Might Not Know
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/news-views-and-music-issue-122-top-ten.html

114) The 20 Rarest AAA Records
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/news-views-and-music-issue-123-top.html

115) AAA Instrumental Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011_12_04_archive.html

116) Musical Tarot
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/news-views-and-music-issue-125-top-23-i.html

117) Christmas Carols
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011_12_18_archive.html

118) Top AAA Releases Of 2011
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011_12_25_archive.html

119) AAA Bands In The Beano/The Dandy
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/news-views-and-music-issue-128-top-five.html

120) Top 20 Guitarists #1
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/news-views-and-music-issue-129-top-ten.html

121) #2
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_01_15_archive.html

122) 'Shorty' Nomination Award Questionairre
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_01_22_archive.html

123) Top Best-Selling AAA Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_01_29_archive.html

124) AAA Songs Featuring Bagpipes

125) A (Hopefully) Complete List Of AAA Musicians On Twitter
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_02_19_archive.html

126) Beatles Albums That Might Have Been 1970-74 and 1980
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_02_26_archive.html

127) DVD/Computer Games We've Just Invented
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_03_11_archive.html

128) The AAA Albums With The Most Weeks At #1 in the UK
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_03_18_archive.html

129) The AAA Singles With The Most Weeks At #1 in the UK
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_03_25_archive.html

130) Lyric Competition (Questions)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_04_15_archive.html

131) Top Crooning Classics
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_04_22_archive.html

132) Funeral Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/news-views-and-music-issue-142-top-five.html

133) AAA Songs For When Your Phone Is On Hold
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/news-views-and-music-issue-143-top-five.html

134) Random Recent Purchases (#3)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/news-views-and-music-issue-144-top-five.html

135) Lyric Competition (Answers)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/news-views-and-music-issue-146-top.html http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/news-views-and-music-issue-145-top-five.html

136) Bee Gees Songs/AAA Goes Disco!
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/news-views-and-music-issue-147-top-five.html

137) The Best AAA Sleevenotes (And Worst)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/news-views-and-music-issue-148-top-ten.html

138) A Short Precise Of The Years 1962-70
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/news-views-and-music-149-top-eight.html

139) More Wacky AAA-Related Films And Their Soundtracks
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/top-five-for-news-views-and-music-150.html

140) AAA Appearances On Desert Island Discs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/top-eight-aaa-desert-island-discs.html

141) Songs Exclusive To Live Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/news-views-and-music-issue-153-top-10.html

142) More AAA Songs About Armageddon
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/aaa-armageddon-songsalbums-top-5-for.html

What difference does a name make? Arguably not much if you’re already a collector of a certain group, for whom the names on the album sleeves just...

This week’s top ten honours the humble motor car. The death trap on wheels, the metaphor for freedom, the put-down of capitalism, a source of...

This week we’re going to have a look at the 10 AAA singles that spent the most weeks at number on the American chart ‘Billboard’ – and it makes for...

Following on from last issue’s study of the American Billboard charts, here’s a look at which AAA albums spent the most weeks on the chart. The...

There are many dying arts in our modern world: incorruptible politicians, faith that things are going to get better and the ability to make decent...

This week we’ve decided to dedicate our top ten to those unsung heroes of music, the session musicians, whose playing often brings AAA artists (and...

Naturally we hold our AAA bands in high esteem in these articles: after all, without their good taste, intelligence and humanity we’d have nothing to...

What do you do when you’ve left a multi-million selling band and yet you still feel the pull of the road and the tours and the playing to audiences...

‘The ATOS Song’ (You’re Not Fit To Live)’ (Mini-Review) Dear readers, we don’t often feature reviews of singles over albums or musicians who aren’t...

In honour of this week’s review of an album released to cash in on a movie soundtrack (only one of these songs actually appears in ‘Easy Rider’...and...

Hic! Everyone raise a glass to the rock stars of the past and to this week’s feature...songs about alcolholic beverages! Yes that’s right, everything...

154) The human singing voice carries with it a vast array of emotions, thoughts that cannot be expressed in any other way except opening the lungs and...

Everyone has a spiritual home, even if they don’t actually live there. Mine is in a windy, rainy city where the weather is always awful but the...

Having a family does funny things to some musicians, as we’ve already seen in this week’s review (surely the only AAA album actually written around...

Some artists just have no idea what their best work really is. One thing that amazes me as a collector is how consistently excellent many of the...

159) A (Not That) Short Guide To The 15 Best Non-AAA Bands http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/a-not-that-short-guide-to-15-of-best.html%20%0d160

160) The Greatest AAA Drum Solos (Or Near Solos!) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-greatest-aaa-drum-solos-or-near.html%20%0d161

161) AAA Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame Acceptance Speeches http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/aaa-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame.html%20%0d162

162) AAA Re-Recordings Of Past Songs http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/aaa-re-recordings-of-past-songs-news.html%20%0d163

163) A Coalition Christmas (A Fairy Tale) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/a-coalition-christmas-news-views-and.html%20%0d164

164) AAA Songs About Islands http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/aaa-songs-about-islands-news-views-and.html%20%0d165

165) The AAA Review Of The Year 2012 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-aaa-review-of-year-2012-news-views.html



166) The Best AAA Concerts I Attended
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-best-aaa-concerts-i-attended-news.html

167) Tributes To The 10 AAA Stars Who Died The Youngest http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/tributes-to-10-aaa-stars-who-died.html



168) The First 10 AAA Songs Listed Alphabetically
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-first-10-aaa-songs-if-listed.html


171) The 10 Best Songs From The Psychedelia Box-Sets ‘Nuggets’ and ‘Nuggets Two’ http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-best-of-two-nuggets-psychedelia.html%20%0d172

172) The 20 Most Common Girl’s Names In AAA Song Titles (With Definitions) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/girls-names-in-aaa-song-titles-from.html 








180) First Recordings By Future AAA Stars http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/first-





185) A Tribute To Storm Thorgerson Via The Five AAA Bands He Worked With http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/a-tribute-to-hipgnosis-via-five-aaa.html



188) Surprise! Celebrating 300 Album Reviews With The Biggest 'Surprises' Of The Past Five Years Of Alan's Album Archives! http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/celebrating-300-album-reviews-10.html


190) Comparatively Obscure First Compositions By AAA Stars http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/comparatively-obscure-debut.html



193) Evolution Of A Band: Comparing First Lyric With Last Lyric: http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/evolution-of-band-comparing-1st-lyric.html







200) The Monkees In Relation To Postmodernism (University Dissertation) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/university-dissertation-monkees-in.html


202) Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain': Was It About One Of The AAA Crew? http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/carly-simons-youre-so-vain-was-it-about.html















217) AAA 'Christmas Presents' we'd most like to have next year http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/aaa-christmas-presents-wed-most-like-to.html




221) Dr Who and the AAA (Five Musical Links) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/01/dr-who-and-five-musical-links-to-alans.html

222) Five Random Recent Purchases http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/01/five-random-recent-purchases-news-views.html

223) AAA Grammy Nominees http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/aaa-grammy-nominees-top-twelve-news.html

224) Ten AAA songs that are better heard unedited and in full http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/ten-aaa-songs-that-are-better-unedited.html

225) The shortest gaps between AAA albums http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-shortest-gaps-between-aaa-albums.html

226) The longest gaps between AAA albums http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-longest-gaps-between-aaa-albums.html

227) Top ten AAA drummers http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/03/top-ten-aaa-drummers-news-views-and.html

228) Top Ten AAA Singles (In Terms of 'A' and 'B' Sides) http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/top-ten-aaa-singles-and-b-sides-news.html

229) The Stories Behind Six AAA Logos http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/the-stories-behind-six-aaa-logos.html

230) AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! The Best Ten AAA Screams http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/the-best-aaa-screams-top-ten-news-views.html

231) An AAA Pack Of Horses http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/aaa-songs-about-horses-top-ten-news.html

232) AAA Granamas - Sorry, Anagrams! http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/aaa-anagrams-news-views-and-music-issue.html

233) AAA Surnames and Their Meanings http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/aaa-surnames-and-their-meanings-news.html

234) 20 Erroneous AAA Album Titles http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/twenty-erroneous-aaa-album-titles-news.html

235) The Best AAA Orchestral Arrangements http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/fifteen-great-aaa-string-parts-news.html

236) Top 30 Hilariously Misheard Album Titles/Lyrics http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/top-thirty-hilariously-misheard-aaa.html

237) Ten controversial AAA sackings - and whether they were right http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/ten-controversial-aaa-sackings-news.html

238) A Critique On Critiquing - In Response To Brian Wilson http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/a-critique-on-critiquing-in-response-to.html

239) The Ten MusicianS Who've Played On The Most AAA Albums http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/the-ten-musicians-whove-played-on-most.html

240) Thoughts on #CameronMustGo http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/thoughts-on-cameronmustgo.html

241) Random Recent Purchases (Kinks/Grateful Dead/Nils Lofgren/Rolling Stones/Hollies) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/six-random-recent-purchases-kinksg.html 

242) AAA Christmas Number Ones http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/aaa-christmas-number-ones.html 

243) AAA Review Of The Year 2014 (Top Releases/Re-issues/Documentaries/DVDs/Books/Songs/ Articles  plus worst releases of the year) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/aaa-review-of-year-2014.html

244) Me/CFS Awareness Week 2015 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/mecfs-awareness-week-at-alans-album.html

245) Why The Tory 2015 Victory Seems A Little...Suspicious http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/why-tory-victory-seems-deeply.html

246) A Plea For Peace and Tolerance After The Attacks on Paris - and Syria http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/a-plea-for-peace-and-toleration.html

247) AAA Review Of The Year 2015 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/the-aaa-review-of-year-2015.html

248) The Fifty Most Read AAA Articles (as of December 31st 2015) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/the-fifty-most-read-aaa-posts-2008-2015.html

249) The Revised AAA Crossword! http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2016_07_10_archive.html


251) Half-A-Dozen Berries Plus One (An AAA Tribute To Chuck Berry) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/an-aaa-covers-tribute-to-chuck-berry.html

252) Guest Post: ‘The Skids – Joy’ (1981) by Kenny Brown  https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/guest-post-skids-joy-1981.html


254) Guest Post: ‘Supertramp – Some Things Never Change’ by Kenny Brown https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2018/06/guest-review-supertramp-some-things.html

255) AAA Review Of The Year 2018 https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-aaa-review-of-year-2018.html

256) AAA Review Of The Year 2019 plus Review Of The Decade 2010-2019 https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-alans-album-archives-review-of-year.html



257) Tiermaker https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2019/06/alans-album-archives-on-tiermaker.html

258) #Coronastock https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2020/04/coronastock.html

259) #Coronadocstock https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2020/05/coronadocstock.html