Monday 8 July 2013

Belle and Sebastian "Fold Your Hands, Child, You Walk Like A Peasant" (2001)





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Belle and Sebastian “Fold Your Hands, Child, You Walk Like A Peasant” (2001)

I Fought In A War/The Model/Beyond The Sunrise/Waiting For The Moon To Rise/Don’t Leave The Light On, Baby//The Wrong Girl/The Chalet Lines/Nice Day For A Sulk/Woman’s Realm/Family Tree/There’s Too Much Love

‘Fold Your Hands, Child, You Walk Like A Peasant’ is the sound of a band desperately trying to hang on to their trademark sound and continue with business as usual, whilst knowing that their sound and DNA have changed irreparably forever. Belle and Sebastian may have continued for another three albums and a film soundtrack after this, but this is where the great experiment of six years before truly ends and this one, album number four, is the ‘stepping stone’ between the B+S of their first six years and the one for the remaining eleven. Criticised at the time for containing too many ‘experiments’, ‘Peasant’ actually sounds quite traditional now we fans have heard what’s coming next and the mixture of the two styles on the same records makes for a rather uncomfortable, bumpy ride. For all its occasional mistakes, though – and acknowledging the fact that this is an album far below the level of the first ground-breaking pair of records – ‘Peasant’ is an album that can hold its head up high, more noble than peasant. Never again will this most wonderfully ragged but right band sound so wonderfully tattered; never again will they possess a sound that can never be confused with anyone else. And yet already, on just album four, there’s a sense of doing things by numbers that alienated some fans and a handful of experiments that angered many more, even if compared to the albums to come this is the sound of Belle and Sebastian playing it ‘safe’ (‘safe’ in this context, by the way, means being resolutely un-commercial and afraid of the charts and commercialism – B+S did always get things the wrong way round; or is it in fact everyone else who got them wrong?) Yes this album reached the top 10 for the first time and is in fact the band’s second highest charting album of all to date – but that’s more because of the growing word of mouth that had been arriving about this famously hard-to-find, promotionally-reluctant band since 1995; this album actually sold less copies than ‘Tigermilk’ or ‘Sinister’ in the long run. An album of beginnings and endings, less dominated by lead writer and singer Stuart Murdoch than before if not as much as the albums to come, it often gets overshadowed by its more illustrious predecessors - but even though ‘Peasant’ is very much the ‘end’ to a great run of works, it’s still a very groundbreaking and misunderstood record.

There are two key reasons for the slightly bittersweet, nostalgic air that hangs heavy on the album. The first is the loss of bass player and lead ‘experimentalist’ Stuart David, the first band member to leave the band from the ‘core’ of long-term unemployed and struggling musicians Stuart Murdoch had called in to play on ‘Tigermilk’ and, like Ray Davies before him on ‘Village Green Preservation Society’, Stuart knows that his band will never be the same again. More upsetting still to the band is the imminent loss of Isobel Campbell, fellow founding member, occasional singer and – more importantly – Murdoch’s muse throughout almost all of his songs. She doesn’t technically leave till after the sessions for the next curious B+S project ‘Storytelling’ (the soundtrack to a forgotten B movie where the musicians were far bigger stars than the film directors; nevertheless this didn’t stop the majority of their half hour soundtrack being cut from the movie), but her relationship with Murdoch is already in trouble. In retrospect it’s amazing that B+S carried on at all, never mind that their trademark sound ‘developed’ as much as it did in such a short time, the band ending up closer to a generic ‘commercial’ sound after this as the band get ‘lead’ by producer after producer (they’d never needed one when Campbell was in the band – Murdoch’s faith in her opinion all he needed to work out which direction to go in). Frankly losing Campbell in this way and carrying on would be like Wings continuing after Paul and Linda broke up and the latter had left the band – unthinkable. Losing your longterm partner is bad enough for any songwriter, but what made it worse was that Campbell was always an integral part of the band’s identity, far more so than the time she actually took centre stage. There’s a key song titled ‘Belle and Sebastian’ on the band’s first EP (since collected on the ‘Push Barman To Open Old Wounds’ compilation) Where Murdoch underlines what a hopeless hapless fool the narrator is until practical Belle comes into his world and turns his random babbling fantasies into reality that’s really affecting. It doesn’t take much detective work to contemplate that ‘Belle’ is ‘Campbell’ and ‘Stuart’ is ‘Sebastian’ – and the fact that the names are taken directly from a French children’s show about a dog and his boy that both singers bonded over when they met is significant too. Campbell’s voice may have been quiet throughout her B+S years but she, too, hits an outpouring of grief over her split with Murdoch which is all over her early run of solo albums, her work with the band ‘Gentle Waves’ and her collaborations with Mark Lanegan (perhaps not coincidentally, an album full of ‘break-up’ duets entirely written by Isobel) and offer up ‘her’ side of the story, in much the same way that the early Pretenders album chart Chrissie Hynde’s dissection of Ray Davies in the late 70s and early 80s, ‘The Circus Is Leaving Town’ from ‘Ballad Of The Broken Seas’ especially.

Even for those who didn’t know (and B+S never talk about these things – or indeed anything usually - so that’s probably most people) it’s clear that something is up on this album. Most B+S lyrics tend towards the melancholic anyway, but generally speaking are sad on behalf of the host of memorable characters who inhabit an often untrusting and uncaring world (there’s a long list of Judies, Janes, Lisas and Belles, any or all of whom could be modelled on Campbell herself). Almost all of this album is told in the first person, full of ‘I’s and ‘Me’s unusual for Murdoch’s writing style, due perhaps both to an outpouring of grief and a slowly coming to terms with the fact that this ‘fairytale’ relationship didn’t work itself out and also the fact that without Belle as the second half of the character Murdoch doesn’t have the heart to write from ‘Sebastian’s point of view (not till recently, anyway, when Murdoch seems to have gone back to singing about her ‘retrospectively’ and bidding her a moving ‘farewell’ on ‘Write About Love’). The one exception to this is, the one song that cannot be autobiographical, is ‘The Chalet Lines’ – and, well, this graphic and disturbing song about a rape victim too afraid to tell the police might well be the most revealing song of all, describing love and romance in the most unsettling, imagination-less way possible. Two songs stand out as being obvious references to the fallout though: ‘Don’t Leave The Light On, Baby’ (in which Murdoch’s narrator receives an angry phone call from his loved one ending with the spiteful words ‘don’t call me love’ and who poignantly decides not to leave the light on her for her as usual that night because he knows she’s not coming home that night – or possibly ever) and ‘Women’s Realm’ (in which Murdoch declares ‘I don’t care whether you hear this’ and then pours his heart out about a lover whose ‘tired of playing games’). Both songs speak volumes even if by, say, Pete Townshend’s or even Ray Davies’ standards this isn’t exactly anger or bitterness and even if the narrator is still busy trying to keep the news from himself at all costs, going about his business as usual (one of the key lines here is the line in ‘Light’ where he finally agrees that ‘it’s best to go down without a fight’, too scared and upset to broach the subject head-on). The key line on this whole album comes right at the end, on virtually the last song this first line-up of B+S sing, that ‘I can’t hide my feelings from you now’ and several other songs talk about ‘honesty’ and revelations, unusual for a songwriter who almost always only talks about himself through observing other people.

To put it mildly, ‘Peasant’ is the end of a long run of impressive work from Murdoch that stretches back to ‘Tigermilk’ and is right up there with the very best work by anyone we cover on this site (which, of course, means everyone at anytime in our eyes). It had been a mighty unexpected five years for Murdoch, who had started off 1995 unable to do anything for long periods and who spent most of the time in bed after contracting chronic fatigue. As a fellow sufferer, I know well the symbolism in Murodch’s writing: unable to actively take part in the wider world outside his bedroom window, Stuart described what he remembered instead, the characters from his youth who were either struggling or about to struggle and the author’s ‘shock’ on his rare days out when he sees that the rest of the world hasn’t changed at all. ‘Tigermilk’ was written and recorded when Murdoch couldn’t even stand upright as the author’s one desperate link to a world that seemed to have abandoned him – I don’t need to tell regular readers how similar this is to the very website you’re reading or how shocked I was when I found out the similarities we shared (B+S never talk in interviews – more because of Murdoch’s problems tiring easily as I’ve since found out, and he rarely talked about it then or now; one day when the rest of this website is written I can’t wait to return to ‘Tigermilk’ and re-write my review given what I know now). Thankfully Murdoch has been on the road to recover for some 15 years now, but as a sufferer I know well what a threat the illness can be even when you’re well and how scared you are that a bad spell is about to return. The emotional stress of this period causes some very illuminating lyrics scattered throughout this album: Murdoch might hand the aside ‘And I have been sleeping badly lately...’ from the song ‘The Model’ to colleague Stevie to sing, but it hangs in the air like a shadow over the rest of the song, delivered with a ‘menace’ that only a fellow sufferer could have written. Elsewhere the narrator of ‘Too Much Love’ ‘drags’ himself across the dancefloor, convincing himself he’s having a good time, although his body has different ideas, the soldier of ‘I Fought In A War’ sees nothing but a ‘sickness’ that ‘went beyond the bedsit infamy of the decade before’ (chronic fatigue is often linked with ‘gulf war’ syndrome which was in the news a lot around in 2001 just before 9/11 – perhaps Murodch saw a documentary and empathised with the sentiments?) and the angry narrator of ‘Women’s Realm’ tells his even angrier lover to ‘close your eyes and settle for a compromise’, desperate for the silence that can restore balance to his world. In truth, there’s nothing like as many references here to ‘sleeping’ as on the first two albums, but it is very much there.

If there is a theme on this album it’s of life drifting on beyond your control. The soldier on ‘I Fought A War’, the confused pursuer of ‘The Model’, the poor rape victim of ‘The Chalet Lines’, the bruised lonely narrator of ‘Don’t Leave The Light On, Baby’ and even Joseph (the father of Jesus) in ‘Beyond The Sunrise’ (all Murdoch songs despite the varying singers on all of them) are confused as to the changing worlds around them, with other figures clearly in control while they are left feeling helpless and powerless. We’re used to hearing Murdoch’s companions ‘powerless’ in the sense that they tend to live in a faceless modern world that couldn’t care less about them but in which they have to interact in order to survive, overcoming bullies, bosses and boredom in equal measure. This album is different, however: the narrators of these songs aren’t figures the singer passes by on the street and emotionally and intellectually connects with – they really are him this time around and each and every song is in the first person as a result. To take the first song as an example, just look at the title: ‘I Fought In A War’ might be the lyrical sequel to ‘Me and the Major’ and the musical close cousin to ‘It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career’ but it’s made personal this time around; the narrator might have enjoyed debating the pros and cons of peace and love with a major too steeped in his ways in the past but this time he’s in the thick of the action, stuck in the dugout surrounded by heavy casualties and contemplating a war that ‘stretched before me infinitely’. This is not the sudden flowering of music from an inspired writer who finally finds his calling after several years ill in bed – this is not the music of escapism, it’s music used as therapy, to work out problems in everyday life, and as such this makes ‘Peasant’ a key B+S album, even if it is a bit hit and miss.

Lyrically, then, this album is a tragedy. Musically, however, it sounds much like a comedy all the way through, played with the same bright breezy melodies as usual as if the narrator hasn’t yet noticed the world changing all around him. There’s a particular ‘shine’ on the usual B+S brass here that sounds like an oompah-ing band playing in the park rather than the accompaniment to perhaps the most autobiographical set of songs Murdoch ever wrote. It’s as if Murdoch and co were trying to ‘cover up’ the very honest admissions in the lyrics by adding more upbeat songs here than usual for a B+S album. Indeed, ‘Nice Day For A Sulk’ might be the most upbeat song Murdoch ever wrote, despite the grumpy title, with its memories of a time when life was carefree and sulking was done for fun, not a reaction to an unsympathetic world. Many B+S albums try to tell us two things at once, but only ‘Peasant’ really succeeds, thanks to an album that’s all smiles on the surface and where the grief only really carries on on the inside. Study the lyric sheet, though – and unlike some bands B+S fans should always study the lyric booklets, for these songs are more like poems than pop songs - and the sadness is there all right.
However, this album is not solely the work of Murdoch. Following on from his first song, the well received ‘Seymour Stein’ from ‘Arab Strap’ about the manager of a leading record label who came to ‘poach’ the band and completely misunderstood their ethos, Stevie Jackson gets his second song onto a B+S album. ‘The Wrong Girl’ is a curious song, continuing Jackson’s obsession with the Beatles (who are namechecked heavily on his excellent solo LP ‘I Can’t Get No Stevie Jackson’), which is never a bad thing of course, but sounds oddly empty sandwiched in between perhaps Murdoch’s two heaviest songs on the album. Opinions differ as to whether it’s Campbell or Sarah Martin who write and sing on ‘Waiting For The Moon To Rise’ and ‘Family Tree’ (B+S never ever give writing credits for their songs!) – I could be wrong but in my opinion it’s clearly the former on ‘Moon’ (with its lines about having to struggle through drudgery in the day, looking forward to escapism at night – or in the future perhaps?) and the latter on ‘Family Tree’ (with its classic lines about how ‘I’d rather be fat than be confused’). Both songs are the highlight of the record, whoever wrote them, especially the latter which is one of my all-time favourite B+S records, a call-to-arms songs for misfits everywhere in true B+S fashion. It’s true that Murdoch still writes and sings the other eight songs on an eleven track album – but given that he’s sung and written every single B+S song bar one till now shows that Murdoch is cracking under the strain and, indeed, won’t be quite as in command on any future B+S product again.

Ironically the album’s class-baiting title (remembered by Murdoch as one of his ‘favourite’ pieces of graffiti, seen emblazoned across the walls of a pub toilet in his youth) couldn’t have fitted a more class-less B+S album, one which is dominated by the characters of Murodch and Campbell. All of the first three albums, to gradually lessening extent, deal in class: the art student mocked by her own teachers for having ideas above her station (‘She’s Losing It’), the school-leaver shop assistant groped by her store manager, powerless to complain at risk of losing the only job she’s likely to get (‘Expectations’) and the music lover of ‘Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying’ figures that rich pop stars don’t write for the likes of him anymore. The curious title of ‘Peasant’ is very B+S: faintly literary (the band even ‘mock up; two of the album tracks into books, clutched by the models on the front cover, perhaps a reference to the earlier track ‘The State I Am In’ in which Murdoch writes his ideas into a self-help book that the character in another song, ‘Mary Jo’, admits ‘doesn’t help at all’), slightly historical, completely out of left field and completely the opposite of the compact, catchy title most record companies would demand. Frankly, though, it’s on the wrong record: this is a surprisingly straightforward album, with less poetical turns of phrases than normal and the lowest quota of ‘made up’ everyday people of the band’s career; the only song that ‘fits’ is ‘Beyond The Sunrise’, the most overtly historical song of the band’s career, where Joseph puts down his half-glimpsed visions of ‘angels’ down to liquor and claims his wife was no ‘saint’ – never have the biblical characters sounded more working class. The cover models by the way have nothing to do with B+S – maintaining a longstanding tradition the band broke on ‘Arab Strap’ by appearing on the cover – but are instead a pair of sisters from the Icelandic experimental group ‘Mum’, appearing apparently at random (perhaps the band were making up for having ‘nicked’ the name of sister label act ‘The Boy With The Arab Strap’, who were apparently less than impressed than anyone looking up their work on the internet was instead met by pages about B+S’ third album!)

Overall, then, ‘Peasant’ is not the best or the most rounded of B+S albums. Fans interested in the band should get one of the first three albums (preferably ‘Tigermilk’) to experience the band at their best when they sounded like no other. Some songs here sound like ‘filler’, the problem that began to affect ‘Arab Strap’ but more so, with tracks like ‘The Right Girl’ and ‘Nice Day For A Sulk’ easily the weakest B+S tracks until their frankly horrible album ‘Life Pursuit’ in 2007. Others, like ‘Beyond The Sunrise’ are huge gambles, experiments that most fans tend to hate, although I have a sneaking respect for it myself, the sound of a band who know things are changing and their sound will have to stretch to fit the format in the future. The rest of the album, though, is largely excellent: ‘I Fought In A War’ is a marvellous coda to the ‘war and peace’ dialogue that’s been going on on these albums for some time, ‘The Model’ is a thrilling patter song that says more about the hopeless narrator than the title figure he’s trying to chat up, ‘Don’t Leave The Light On Baby’ is a B+S jazz blues that’s eerie and beautiful by equal measure, ‘The Chalet Lines’ is a remarkably brave piece of writing, fragile but with an inner strength on a subject few other writers would handle with so much care and best of all ‘Family Tree’ might have nothing to do with Murdoch but is in many ways the archetypal B+S song, deploring a world where everyone is encouraged to act the same and where people might as well be manikins, without any of the humanity and emotion that makes living worthwhile. Yes ‘Peasant’ might not be perfect – ‘old’ traditional fans dislike it for making too many leaps forward, whilst later fans spurn it for not making enough – but at its best ‘Peasant’ is an album that will make you think and in many cases make you cry. It’s an album that very much deserves a re-appraisal and contains many moments that are among the best and most original this most wonderful and unique bands ever gave us. Far from being a youthful peasant, this album is of mature and noble birth.


‘I Fought In A War’ opens the album in traditional humble B+S style for the fourth and final time. Like ‘The State I Am In’ ‘Stars Of Track and Field’ and ‘It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career’, Murdoch sings the first verse a capella and the band only slowly creep in around him. Like the other songs, the fact that Murdoch is alone and singing in such a sad and lonely way really adds to the song’s feeling of being trapped and isolated. The stakes are notably higher this time around though: even the stroke victim in the third song didn’t face a life as cruel and torturous as this. The narrator leavers his ‘friends’ behind, sees his colleagues cut to shreds around him and sees nothing but ‘sickness’ in his future, the threat not necessarily being what he’s faced or is currently facing but the idea that life could be like this indefinitely, the difficult times stretching on ‘forever’. All the narrator has is ‘memories’ of life back home before all hell broke loose: of ‘looks’ and ‘words’ his loved one gave him and spoke to him ‘back when we were getting on’ and an imaginary vision where she sits looking into the eyes of someone else ‘making shells back home for a steady man to wear’. While the ‘battlefield’ imagery is one both suitable and fitting for B+S’ songs (‘Me and the Major’ setting out Murdoch’s view that most soldiers are mugs, fighting wars because that’s all they know how to do rather than for any grand heroic concepts), ‘I Fought In A War’ seems too personal to just be another anti-war song. Instead it seems as if it’s just a metaphor for the ‘battleground’ that life is proving to be – given everything we’ve written about above, could it be that Campbell was talking about leaving the touring group and that this is Murdoch’s paranoid response to what she might be up to without him? Certainly Murdoch has never sounded so alone as when he sings the song’s opening verse (much longer than on the other three examples) and when the rest of the band finally come into the song they sound every bit as uncertain and scared (the string section, in particular, seem to have come out of a horror movie soundtrack). Like many of Murdoch’s best songs the lyrics to this one are fascinating, written more as an essay or a short story than a pop song with words that barely bother to rhyme, and yet sound perfectly suited to the song’s eerie melody line, one that jumps from key to key throughout, as lost and homeless as the man in the song. The closing brass trill that finishes the song doesn’t completely resolve either, always a hint the writer is going through a situation that’s ‘ongoing’ and hasn’t reached its own resolution yet, making for an unsettling song all round and one of the album highlights.

‘The Model’ is a quite different song, more like the ones on ‘Sinister’ in the way that Murdoch and Jackson cross lines about a girl whose playing hard-to-get, although this time the song is less about ‘the model’ and more about the ‘pursuer’. A sing-song, nursery rhyme-ish melody can’t disguise the very real anguish at the heart of the song: ‘Sebastian’ (for that’s surely who the un-named narrator is) as socially awkward and hopeless as ever – but this time around she’s not smiling like she used to be, instead she’s very cross. Murdoch starts each verse with the words ‘I will confess to you’ before giving his point of view across (none of which sound all that much of a cause for concern) about why he ‘missed your party’, the whole song seemingly the response to the piqued final verse where ‘she’ puts him down ‘in a whisper in a choir stall’ and probably didn’t think twice about – it’s very B+S that the narrator should come up with a whole wordy song full of excuses for a matter the ‘model’ doesn’t even seem to have noticed! The song is breathless and urgent, as if the narrator has a lot on his mind but isn’t quite up to addressing head on yet so what we get is a song that sounds like an admission of guilt but somehow ends up embracing many ‘old friends’ instead: ‘Lisa’ from ‘Dylan In The Movies’ and a few other songs making a cameo appearance. The end result is a story we don’t really understand, along with just enough hints to make it clear how ‘serious’ this song is underneath all the ‘fun’; the narrator’s drooping eyelids hinting at a return to life back in his ‘ill’ days and what sounds like a very final final line (‘It’s days and months before I see you again’) hinting at the turbulence hidden and misdirected in this song. Musically Murdoch and Jackson have never sounded better together, Jackson acting like the voice of reason to Murdoch’s increasingly histrionic narrator and the band put in another fine performance.

‘Beyond The Sunrise’ features Jackson again, singing in a much deeper, less natural way than usual playing the part of ‘Joseph’ to Sarah Martin’s ‘Mary’. Whilst the lyrics don’t mention Jesus or the act of immaculate conception and could indeed be a red herring, there is a musical feel here very like lonely wanderings down dusty desserts and an old fashioned turn of phrase that points to this being a biblical reference. Some fans hate this song for not doing very much at all – and it’s true that you do have to work at this song – but what’s there is lovely. A snatch of mellotron, a backwards electric guitar, chiming gongs and an acoustic guitar played so softly and gently that the ‘snatch’ at each new chord sounds deafeningly loud. Jackson and Martin cope well with Murdoch’s roleplay, Jackson making ‘Joseph’ far sadder and melancholic than the usual figure painted in the bible, unsure whether to take his wife’s story of ‘angels’ at face value and wondering ‘why me?’ at the big revelation to come (which never quite does in this song –it’s clearly set before Mary finds out she is pregnant), sizzled from drink and in ‘denial’ of Marty’s ‘saintly’ qualities, yet still deeply in love. The song has a real ‘cowboy’ flavour the band will milk further on ‘Storytelling’, with its lonely harmonica and features some truly lovely harmonies from Murdoch. Lyrically its unusual and a complete one-off for B+S – is Murdoch perhaps replaying the ‘Belle and Sebastian’ story as a biblical one, telling the story of a relationship that just had to be and has happened many times across the eons? (If so its notable that ‘Mary’ is presumably ‘Sebastian’ in this incarnation, ‘talking to the fairies’ or angels in this case, while Joseph is more practical – and its interesting that it should be in this of all periods that Murdoch tries to write a song from the ‘other’s perspective). I’m rather glad that B+S didn’t make this song the template for all their music to come (everything is so quiet it’s hard simply to decipher what is going on), but unlike most fans I rather admire this song, which tries something very different and does it rather well.

‘Waiting For The Moon To Rise’ is Campbell’s first song for the band (or is it Sarah Martin? See above...) which effectively kick-starts a prolific period that runs for the next ten years and only seems now to be beginning to run out of steam. As the only real place we get to hear Campbell and Murdoch singing together it should be significant – and yet apart from a rather vague sense of being unhappy and looking forward to a freer future there’s not much really happening compared to other songs on this album. The image of the ‘moon’ waiting to ‘rise’ once the more celebrated and brighter-burning ‘sun’ has finished his work is a strong one, however, surely a metaphor for life away from B+S as a band. There’s a strong third verse too where, aping Murdoch, Campbell realises her best chance of living the life she wants is only in her ‘dreams’ and so she refuses to give them up, sleeping on despite the tug of the light from the sun (the band?) trying to pull her back in again and closing her eyes tight. Listen out too for the first verse where the sun ‘creeps upon my shoulder’ – the sudden success of ‘Tigermilk’ after several years of failure for almost all the band members caught most of them by surprise (the first pressings only went up to 500 because the record label assumed it wouldn’t even sell that amount). Musically there’s a strong churning cello part (traditionally the part Campbell plays on B+S albums, although given the usual lack of credits goodness knows whose actually playing this part on the album!) that’s set against a rather irritating squeaking synthesiser, as if two completely separate worlds have opened in on each other and collided. A fascinating song, if not quite up to the best of the album.

‘Don’t Leave The Light On, Baby’ is another classic, a first-rate song about loneliness and isolation that – unusually for this album – makes no attempt to hide the sorrow at its centre. Murdoch starts off by singing that ‘it’s been a bloody stupid day’ and while he doesn’t elucidate why we can guess – the lover calling him to tell him not to ‘leave the light on, baby’ takes on a whole new significance when he adds that the pair are drifting apart and that she tells him ‘Don’t call me ‘love’ – don’t call me!’ Admitting that ‘I know I truly love her, but I’m wrong for her’ the narrator doesn’t know what to do – he really wants her back in his life and for things to go back to how they used to be, but he also knows that won’t make her happy. The closing verse then finally works out what to do: to ‘go down without a fight’, letting her fly without holding her back however much he misses her (its fitting that the music of this section should so strongly recall ‘Bless You’, John Lennon’s equally giving song to Yoko during his ‘lost weekend’ and heard on ‘Walls and Bridges’ – perhaps Beatlemaniac Stevie Jackson had been playing the album to Murdoch?) Moving in the extreme, Murdoch’s humble request to ‘forgive me for my honesty’ is forgiven – this is a tremendously adult picture of a relationship where neither party has done anything wrong but still go their spate ways. Musically this song is the perfect fit, a slow moving requiem for time gone by that’s dragged out to a slow pace but is nevertheless infused with tension throughout, sounding very much like the weary withdrawal in the song. Campbell, Martin and Jackson join in for some beautiful harmony parts that in this new context sound chilling and cold rather than possessing their usual warmth (which must have been especially hard for the former to sing) and Jackson in particular is on great form here, having never sounded sadder. One of the two truly great songs from this album (along with ‘Family Tree’), this song deserves to be much more widely known than it is nowadays.

‘The Wrong Girl’ by contrast isn’t poor, it’s just empty compared to what’s going on here. Jackson’s second song doesn’t quite have the originality of his first and he turns in a rather uncharacteristically poor vocal for it too, almost as if this is a ‘rehearsal’ take added to the album at the last minute. The song only has three verses, all of them short – which by B+S’ essay-standards (just see the ‘key lyrics’ above) is very short indeed and yet even these few lines don’t actually make sense even if they still fit the band’s loose theme of ‘the wrong kind’ of girl bringing the most out of the narrator and giving him confidence. At least the song has plenty of space for the band’s instrumentalists though, with solos for piano, keyboard and horn section that are quite effective and lots more B+S harmonies in full swing, Murdoch returning the favour on the last song by offering up the perfect harmonic foil to Jackson’s rather gruff lead. Ultimately, though, this is light relief on a very heavy and powerful album and so by the end of the record ‘The Wrong Girl’ ends up being rather overlooked, ‘the wrong kind’ not only for the simple, sweet narrator but for this record too.

‘The Chalet Lines’ is another song seemingly designed to make us uncomfortable, a more graphic and straightforward account of rape than on ‘You Made Me Forget My Dreams’ a few years before. Murdoch’s near-solo performance (accompanied by just a cello) is a tour de force, vulnerable but full of inner strength as he embodies the character of a girl taken advantage of who suffers even more in the aftermath, unable to connect with friends who expect her to get ‘over it’ or go to the police. Murdoch’s always been strong on details and there are many in this song, her face ‘like a smear on the windowpane’ of the bus she takes randomly to leave the place where it happened, the gap of time where ‘it happened a month ago but might have been yesterday’ events are so fresh in her mind, her graphic account of what she’d do to him if she met him again and her angry despairing comment on trying to get on with the rest of her life: ‘What’s the fucking point of all?’ There is no such place as ‘The Chalet Lines’, by the way, but there are hints that the ‘chalets’ are the little cabins in holiday places like Butlins or other holiday camps (‘I’ll have to leave the camp now, anyway), the irony being that a place connected with ‘fun’ and ‘carefree’ times can be the scene of such a life-changing crime. My only wish is that Murdoch had written a melody-line as strong as his lyrics, as the song tends to drift along, hesitantly stumbling, which makes the words hard to hear and understand and the song does tend to disappear musically hidden in between two of the catchiest songs on the record. Still, that shouldn’t take away from the power of both lyrics and performance which rate among Murdoch’s most moving and pioneering work, a requiem not so much for the event that occurred as for the changes the character knows it will bring in her life, robbing her of her childish innocence and filtering every stranger she meets from hereon in with the same suspicious gaze. Murdoch is good at writing for victims, but few ever had to endure as much as the character in this song.

‘Nice Day For A Sulk’, though, is probably the weakest song on the album. These three verses might be fuller and longer than Jackson’s three on ‘The Wrong Girl’, but by Murdoch’s standards he has no space to show off his usual eye for detail and ability to get into the skin of the people he writes about. A quiet day where nothing really happens and the narrator ‘sulks’ for ‘fun’ because he feels like it, this is clearly set in some rose-tinted past (hence the references to lots of past bands, although the only real link between ‘Manfred Mann’ and ‘The Jam’ is the rhyming of their names). The narrator is pursued by a girl with ‘horsey teeth’ who ‘smells of milk’ and gets discovered in ‘a cheapo bar with a bag of chips’ but nothing serious happens in the song – at least not until the final lines where Murdoch confronts the growing schism to come, commenting ‘Summer lasts forever when the band’s together’ and acknowledging it might not always be so. Musically this song tries so hard to be upbeat and charming that its’ actuallty rather charmless, the melody straining Murdoch’s voice to breaking point and the band adding a rather irritating three-way arrangement of lolloping piano, squeaky mellotron and peculiar synthesiser bleeps that sounds more like a day I’d want to forget than remember. A curiously empty and bland song on an album generally overflowing with ideas, it even fades in rather than being given a ‘proper’ start, as if the band couldn’t be bothered to think up a suitable part for it!

‘Women’s Realm’ sounds like its going to be a song where Murdoch finally makes good on the promise of the last few albums of writing a women’s lib song after several close shaves. However it’s another turbulent song about his relationship with Campbell that ends with him ‘sleeping better in a sleeping train in a shed in a station with a torch and a copy of woman’s realm to keep you warm’ than he does at home, worrying about what to say during the pair’s next phonecall to each other. Musically the song is similar to the title track of ‘The Boy With The Arab Strap’, with a catchy rolling piano lick that’s nicely jazzy if surprisingly upbeat given some of the sentiments. Campbell sings a full verse of the song, interestingly the verse about trying to ‘compromise’, and their friends ‘growing up’ and settling down to have families which adds a new perspective on a song that’s really one long moan. Murdoch’s doesn’t keep the song personal though, he spreads it out to the universal by picturing ‘a town shut down’ for the weekend and yet one that still has ‘enough to do’ to mean he successfully delays the inevitable and decides ‘it’s too late to call you up’. Along the way there’s a classic Murdoch couplet oozing with discontent and injustice: ‘It would take a left-wing Robin Hood to pay for school while your dad’s a boozer and you keep him alive’. By the end of the song the narrator has turned to dancing for a bit of fun, but he gets there too late and the only people there are the cleaners he helps ‘clean up’, as if he’s now the responsible one unlike his friends. The key line in this song is at the beginning, though: after six years of ongoing conversations, with Murdoch writing his songs for ‘Belle’ aka ‘Campbell’ to hear he starts by saying that ‘I don’t care if you whether you hear this or if I’m alone here singing songs to myself’. Change is clearly on the cards...Less developed than most B+S songs, this is another tricky song to get a hold of but which makes much more sense when you know the B+S story, wrapped together with an infectious hook that successfully covers up the whole story of the lyrics in the first place.

‘Family Tree’ is a classic Isobel Campbell song and easi;ly her best moment within or without the band (although reportedly Stuart Murdoch had quite a hand in the lyrics too). It's  a terrific piece of writing, one that was a definite selection for my ‘top 101 AAA songs’ a few issues ago. Given that Murdoch was too busy writing about his own problems to be the usual ‘voice of the people’ Martin fills the role in well here with a quiet taunt of a society where everybody has to think and look and act the same and in which school is a curse not a blessing. The lines where the narrator is lonely trudging around town ‘looking for somebody just like me’ but all she sees are ‘mannequins’ ‘looking stupid, being used and being thin’ is a masterful couplet. The song is also an excellent call-to-arms for the obese, unfairly set upon by the media in the last 20 years because as the song says ‘I’d rather be fat than be confused’, with all of us made to fit one ridiculous man-made idea of what we should be like (if man was meant to be all the same he’d have been born the same). This is a song that celebrates differences, the school rebel thrown out of school for wanting ‘poetry and music and some laughs’, eager to learn the truth behind the meaning of life instead of meaningless ‘chemistry, biology and maths’ is also easy to identify with, out for freedom rather than anarchy and afraid of turning out like her alcoholic despondent peers trapped in the prejudices of their parents, ‘here in a cage, with a bottle of rage and a family like the mafia’. The song comes to a full stop many a time but somehow magically picks itself back again, fighting on with a quiet purpose despite the final verse telling us how every generation before us have gone through the same things, a family tree ‘going back to Napoleon’ or ‘back to the Romans’ that might never be changed. Campbell has one final twist though, turning on her peers and parents who ‘expect me to be an accountant...and start having babies’ simply because that’s what everyone else is expected to do. Isobel knows that there is a better life to be had simply by being herself and rounds the song off with a quiet threat that ‘I’m not here to fool around’. So ends one of the greatest of all B+S songs, never rising above a whisper throughout but as determined, courageous and angry as any song you’ll find. Frankly it’s a shame that'Belle' has so small a role to play on the next run of B+S records – this superb song is every bit as good as any song written wholly by Murdoch and ‘Family Tree’ remains the greatest song on this record. 

After ‘Family Tree’ the ending of ‘Peasant’ is rather anti-climatic. ‘There’s Too Much Love’ is one last slab of guilt from Murdoch, ‘hanging about’ waiting for someone (presumably Campbell) to appear and getting crosser and crosser when she doesn’t appear. He says that’s she’s ‘angry’ with him in turn for being two-faced, but he never claimed to be any different to anyone else out there (‘underneath I am the same as you’) and besides is too brutally honest for his own good to be two-faced (‘I’m brutal, honest and afraid of you’). Murdoch has never sounded quite this unhinged, especially on the line ‘Just hope that you are on my side my dear’, while the title seems to be ironic, the ‘too much love’ coming from ‘her’ seeing other people and not from ‘him’ forgiving her as usual. The narrator is back to dancing as his greatest passion and escapism, but the significance here is that ‘dancing on his own’ seems pointless and that without a partner he might as well not bother. The music for this song is upbeat but angular, as if the narrator is stabbing at the notes rather than singing and even the usual B+S choir can’t soften the blow (especially as they’ve been mixed rather oddly and in the background – perhaps that’s to make Campbell sound like a ghost?) An unusually bleak ending, B+S will never again have this same sound of strings-and-brass and so this song is a ‘farewell’ in many ways, if not a fond one. Not the way the album should have ended, even if the sentiments make much sense of the other songs on the album.

Overall, then, Belle and Sebastian display all the talent they’d shown on their first three albums, but they’re distracted by the splits that have either arrived or are to come. Murdoch has spent so long talking about other people’s problems successfully that it’s rather odd to hear him sing about his own and yet there’s no doubting the brilliance of many of the lyrical couplets on this album. Five years on from the amazing ‘fairytale’ of B+S’ creation, however, the end of the story seems to be in sight and reality has crept into the story, with none of those involved quite sure whether to come clean and accept that this is a new, rawer, angrier band or sweep the whole thing under the carpet and carry on as before. If ‘Peasant’ occasionally over-reaches itself, though, and seems to be trying new things just for the sake of it then that doesn’t take away from the sheer bravery and verve of the band for attempting anything new at all and ‘Peasant’ has much going for it even if its not quite as consistent or as original as the albums before it. The album also has two real classics in ‘Don’t Leave The Light On, Baby’ and ‘Family Tree’ that more than make up for the occasional miss-fires, making this a very underappreciated record and one that’s been much misunderstood (if only because of the band’s reluctance to talk about the struggles that went into making it!) It’s sad to say goodbye to the band’s sound at all, of course, before the band go in quite a different, more commercial direction on their next few records (Murdoch perhaps recognising that without ‘Belle’ there’s no point in writing more ‘Sebastian’ songs to her for a while) but there are several great goodbyes on this record and more than a few interesting new directions to travel in. Fold your hands, reader, and say a prayer for this troubled album which tries to tell the tale of one of the biggest upsets that ever happened to at least two of the chief protagonists who worked on this album and yet which is still in such shock that it also tried to pretend that it never happened at all. Overall rating – 7/10

Other Belle and Sebastian articles from this site you might be interested in:


A Now Complete Link Of Belle and Sebastian Articles Available To Read At Alan’s Album Archives:
‘Fold Your Hands, Child, You Walk Like A Peasant’ (2001) http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/belle-and-sebastian-fold-your-hands.html
'Storytelling' (2002) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2017/02/belle-and-sebastian-storytelling-2002.html

'Push Barman To Open Old Wounds' (EP compilation 2003)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-100-belle-and-sebastian-push.html

'Dear Catastrophe Waitress' (2004)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/news-views-and-music-issue-139-belle.html
'The Life Pursuit' (2006) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/belle-and-sebastian-life-pursuit-2006.html

'Write About Love' (2010)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/news-views-and-music-issue-86-belle-and.html
'God Help The Girl' (Stuart Murdoch Film) (2014) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/belle-and-sebastianstuart-murdoch-god.html
Girls In Peace Time Just Want To Dance (2015) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/belle-and-sebastian-girls-in-peacetime.html

Belle and Sebastian: Existing TV Clips http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/belle-and-sebastian-existing-tv-clips.html
Belle and Sebastian: 12 Unreleased Songs http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/belle-and-sebastian-12-unreleased-songs.html
Belle and Sebastian: Non-Album Songs http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/belle-and-sebastian-non-album_29.html
Belle and Sebastian: Solo/Live/Compilation/Rarities Albums http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/belle-and-sebastian-assorted.html
Essay: B and S Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/belle-and-sebastian-essay-talking-bout.html
Five Landmark Concerts and Three Key Cover Versions https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/belle-and-sebastian-five-landmark.html

Famous AAA Fathers (News, Views and Music Issue 201)




Whose the daddy?! Err, these five are to be exact! You didn’t think those musical genes came from nowhere did you?! Admittedly their fame may have been wiped out the minute their famous sons took to the stage but for a time there these five AAA dads were much more famous than their off-spring (much to the chagrin of Murray Wilson in particular). There are two jokers in the pack here: one who had their hit single after their famou8s son had his and another who has nothing to do with music (except his links to his son) and who famously refused to buy his son his first guitar because his exam grades were too poor but who did become ultra-famous in Canada as a sports journalist and writer. There may not be many recordings (and we’ll point out to you what they’re on if there are) but we AAA fans salute you for having music round the house just long enough to influence your very talented off-spring...

Murray Wilson (Father of Beach Boys Brian, Dennis and Carl)

To Beach Boys fans Murray has forever become established as the bossy father, so sure of his own musical opinion that the band’s hapless producer had to give him his own fake set of controls to fiddle around with so he could ‘think’ he was in charge. Anyone whose ever heard Murray on any Breach Boys session tapes (especially the ‘Help Me Rhonda’ tapes, where Brian finally gets so upset he fires him from the group) will know what a monster Murray senior could be. However, fans are wrong to dismiss Murray as having no musical talent. He could play the piano at least as well as his offspring and – even if he overstressed his talents as a songwriter somewhat – did manage to get a song published before Brian was even born. ‘Two Step Sidestep’ sounds like the sort of thing Brian will go on to write in his sleep, but it did respectably when released in 1952, covered by Lawrence Welk on a national radio programme and released as on singles by forgotten bandleader Johnnie Lee Wills and the only slightly better known Bonnie Lou. However, nothing else broke for Murray the same way and by most accounts (except his own) he became a bitter man, jealous at the ‘easy’ way Brian and co found success after his own struggles (his story is easier to understand when you learn his lack of success led to him getting in debt and taking a dangerous factory job, where he lost his right eye in an accident). After being fired from the group Murray did what all good parents do when they’re mad at their children: he stole all the band’s publishing rights under their nose and formed a ‘rival’ group the ‘SunRays’ (as in ‘Mu-Ray’) who, perhaps thankfully, flopped. Much better is Murray’s own solo album, released to cash-in in on the Beach Boys fame, ‘The Many Moods Of Murray Wilson’ – it’s nothing like the music his sons wrote and not even close to the same quality, but it does reveal that Murray was at least a little bit unfortunate not to have become a bigger success in the 1940s.

Alfred Lennon (Father of John)

To be fair, Alfred Lennon had no interest in music whatsoever – John’s love of skiffle and early rock and roll came from his mother Julia. Not that it would have mattered – the young Beatle was born out of wedlock and didn’t see his dad once between the ages of four and 22 (the fact that Alf was always at sea and away from Liverpool for long periods of time didn’t help matters either). However, when Alf came back into his son’s life circa 1964 he brought with him stories of singing lullabies to the boy and, like most sailors, had a better knowledge of American chart hits than almost every other Liverpudlian family around at the time. To prove it (or to cash-in, depending whose side you’re on) Alf even released his own record ‘That’s my life, my love and my home’. It hardly compares to ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ (the Beatles single released weeks earlier), but Alf does seem to have genuinely written the song himself and it’s actually moving as a sort of nostalgic travelogue about the days when Liverpool had genuinely been a thriving, bustling port (never officially released, it’s available on Youtube for your perusal).Lennon had one last falling out with dad in 1965, evicting him from the Esher house he shared with first wife Cynthia, afraid that his then toddler-son Julian was growing too close to his Grandad. Understandable, perhaps (Alf is meant to have asked for a quid or two on the side – rumour is Brian Epstein paid him to keep out of the papers), but a shame given that Alf shows at least a little of the musical brilliance his son enjoyed. Certainly you can imagine that, together with Julia (who died long before her son became famous and had the chance to make cash-in singles of her own), the musical gene must have been strong in the Lennon family.

Jim McCartney (Father of Paul)

Do you remember the Jim Mac Band? If you do then you must be an old Liverpudlian with a good memory, because they never made a record and hardly ever toured outside Merseyside. Those who did see them, though, raved about them – especially the prim and proper looking band leader who always seemed to be lost in the music. Jim Mac is, of course, better known as James Mccartney Senior, the dad of Paul whose love and worship of all forms of music did so much to encourage his son’s playing. Sadly, tight finances after wife Mary died meant that Jim had to give up his trad band, but its worth noting that for a time there they were one of the biggest Liverpudlian bands of the day and that its not everyone who ends up leading their own band. Sadly Jim never did make any recordings, but his son sort-of made up for it when, with time to spare during a Nashville session with Wings in 1974, Paul asked the musicians to have a go at ‘a couple of songs my dad wrote’. ‘Walking In The Park With Eloise’ and ‘Bridge Over The River Suite’ were duly issued under the pseudonym ‘The Country Hams’, although enough Macca fans knew the truth to buy the singles (which nowadays are featured as ‘bonus tracks’ on the CD re-issues of ‘Venus and Mars’). Paul proudly presented his dad with one for his 60th birthday and pointed to his name on the writing credits. ‘Oh no, I’ve never actually written a song, lad’ said Jim – at which point Paul’s face reportedly froze, fearing a copyright investigation – ‘I did make those two up, though!’ Ironically, of course, it was The Beatles in particular who ruined the career of trad bands like this, who until 963 had still just about been making a living for themselves. Paul will pay his own tribute to his dad’s style of music many times over the years, from ‘When I’m 64’ (started when Paul was 14) to ;’Honey Pie’ through ‘You Gave Me The Answer’. Remember, John’s Aunt Mimi did her best to keep instruments out of the house, so if Jim hadn’t been in a band (and bought a piano for their front room) the famous Lennon and McCartney partnership might never have got started...

Cliff Townshend (Father of Pete)

One of the biggest surprises in Pete’s book ‘Who I Am’ released last year was how much the Who guitarist worshipped his dad – and how concerned he was that bands like The Beatles (and The Who) seemed to kill off his career. Unlike Paul (who was too young to travel when his dad was a musician) Pete travelled everywhere his dad went until his teenage years, enjoying a regular stay at the Isle of Mann (where his dad was quite popular) which eventually ended up in the lyric for Who single ‘Happy Jack’. Pete’s love of rock and roll came very late when he was at art college and began to take music seriously – just as his father had done for years, although Cliff never really saw eye to eye with the rock and roll movement his son was such a part of. That’s definitely where the musical genes came from though – and, reading between the lines of the book, Pete’s determined, perfectionist stance. Sadly Townshend Senior never did make any recordings, even though out of the four ‘musicians’ on this list he arguably had the most successful career, touring up and down the country for many years.

Scott Young (Father of Neil)

Neil developed his love of music from his mother Rassy, who herself became a household name when she became a regular panellist on a local quiz show (actually inheriting the job from Neil’s granny). However, his love of words and his determined, no-ones-going-to-get-in-my-way mentality most certainly came from his father Scott, who had already made quite a name for himself as a newspaper writer before Neil was born. In fact, it wasn’t until the ‘CSNY’ era that newspapers began to stop referring to Neil in Canada as ‘the son of the sports writer’ – even the Buffalo Springfield’s #1 hit ‘For What It’s Worth’ hadn’t made Neil famous enough. After Scott and Rassy split Neil saw less of his father (who, famously, refused to buy him his first guitar because his school grades were dropping during his teenage years) but Scott’s career went from strength to strength as he turned his hands to writing books. The most interesting of these for the Neil Young scholar is Scott’s autobiography ‘Neil and Me’ which looks in (admittedly vague) detail about Neil’s childhood and fills in some of the ‘gaps’ about how his writing career took off. As far as I know, though, Scott had no particular interest in music right up until his death a few years ago and only listened to his son’s music when it happened to be on the radio.

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