That's all, folks! #1 Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band - Born To Run

The music industry in 1974 was a strange place. The last remnants of the "free love" era of the 1960's were dying out; the Beatles, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison had either died or called it quits, whilst Elvis was fading fast(and would be dead just three years later). The heavier Rock scene was picking up, but didn't reach the dizzying heights of world domination until later in the decade. 1974 was a transitional period. The romance of pop and rock culture was seeping away, and something needed to bring it back.

Enter a young Bruce Springsteen, still infatuated by the shining promise of the American dream, and thrust that raw optimism to the world with "Born To Run", his flagship of romance and righteousness.

And with it, came Springsteen's sound. A collection of instruments never before associated with the Spartan traditions of rock 'n roll, Bruce collated sax, glockenspiel, piano, organ and his now famous harmonica to create a movie score type feel - expansive, open and brash. He combined this with the raw energy of an up-and-coming club band and Springsteen's own street-poet prose.

The result was magic. Opening with the optimistic freedom of "Thunder Road", Springsteen sings of breaking free, and getting loose and experiencing a world far removed from the New Jersey turnpike. In "Night" he speaks of the mundane life - "You work 9 to 5, somehow you survive" and in the seminal title track "Born To Run", he gathers all the ingredients needed to make a blockbuster film - the characters, the hardship and the will to succeed and condenses them into 4 and a half minutes. Of Jungleland, a musical masterpiece in itself, Springsteen pens the struggles of city living almost autobiographically, set in the back drop of one long night, full of hope, dreams and misadventure. The lyrical content is wonderful, visionary; "A barefoot girl sitting on the hood of a dodge, drinking warm beer in the soft summer rain...the kids down here look just like shadows, always quiet, holding hands".

Springsteen said of Born To Run years after it's release that it's all written about "one, long summer night" - with all the characters breaking free of their respective vices under the same sky, connected by the same hopes and dreams in one period of time.

By writing of escape and happiness in his album and portraying that message to the masses, he created hope in itself. His concerts have been described as "more of a spiritual gathering than a rock concert", where people go and they feel hopeful, they share the raw faith and optimism that Springsteen felt as he wrote the album in his bedroom in New Jersey.

He created the escape for people whilst attempting to do so for himself. Rock 'N Roll was Springsteen's big break - the record label were prepared to drop him if Born To Run didn't sell - and in a way, it was ours too.

For me, this album is the musical foundation of my personality. My dad is a huge Springsteen fan, and when I was brought back from the hospital, I was sat in front of the speaker and played "Born To Run", in full. It was the first piece of music I ever heard as a living individual, and has since patterned who I am. It reminds me of childhood, of the sunny perspectives and the innocent viewpoint from which I viewed the world. When I hear Born To Run, I revert back to that innocent child, forgetting everything but the moment I am wrapped in, with a broad smile across my face.

Born To Run was written just as the music industry needed a hero. It got one, and an album to set its stall by. Springsteen has since gone on to sell millions of records, headline festivals and still to this day embarks on expansive world tours, bringing his dreams and visions to a new crowd, a new collection of faces.

Everyone needs a hope. Born To Run is mine.

#2 Metallica - Master Of Puppets

The year is 1986.

Bon Jovi, America’s latest sweet heart, has released his soon to be hit album “Slippery when Wet”. Filled with glam hits such as “Living on a Prayer” and “You Give Love A Bad Name”, the blonde boy from New Jersey capturing the hearts of lonely teenage girls everywhere, propelling his name to the top of the Billboard charts. The biggest selling song from this year, slap bang in the middle of a decade where MTV and hairspray rule supreme, is appropriately Europe’s “The Final Countdown”. It has only been 12 months since Live 8, but mainstream music has hit new heights materialistically.

In the spring of this, most sparkly of decades, 4 men from San Francisco descend upon a small studio in Denmark to record their third album. Fresh from the underground success of their previous project, the long haired, tight jeaned ruffians from the land of hope and glory hit Europe looking to build on their cult status and break the cultural zeitgeist of heavy metal.
That’s right, Heavy Metal. The style of music far left of traditional Rock ‘n’ Roll was going through a transitional phase at this point, the “Classic Rock” acts that made their name in the mid to late 70’s are fading away, from Led Zeppelin’s break up 6 years prior, to the continued decay of Heavy Metal pioneers Black Sabbath, who were so comprehensively outshone on their own headline tour by spandex donning fireworks Van Halen.

However, just bubbling under the surface, there is a new, energetic style of Metal, appropriately called “Thrash Metal”. Fusing the operatic fantasy of traditional classic Rock with the energy of Punk and New Wave of British Heavy Metal(Bands like Iron Maiden, Saxon etc), Thrash is America’s latest dent on society, beginning in 1983 and acquiring a firm following thanks to the “tape trading” movement – the 80’s version of file sharing.

By 1986, Thrash was on the verge of a breakthrough, but it was crying out for an album to really stand out, to bridge the gap between traditional metal fans, and the shiny new Thrash ones. And Metallica, the band I am reviewing today, did just that with Master of Puppets.

Released in March, Master of Puppets has all the classic hallmarks of a great piece of work, a defining Thrash album. It took the fiery energy of Thrash, the punky drum beats and aggressive strokes, and combined it with an almost ethereal spark of musicality, allowing it to transcend categories, and appeal on an almost universal level.

It begins with “Battery”, and a deep texture of acoustic guitar that ominously grows in volume, building up to a slippery, snake like riff that sets the tone for the rest of proceedings. Clocking in at 5:13, the opener is one of the shortest songs in 'Puppets, but ticks all the boxes in terms of the peerless brutality that has become associated with Metal.

The next track, “Master of Puppets”, is a superlative work of art, effortlessly blending the dark, burning nature with the contrasting beauty of a classical piece. The song hits hard until the 3:35 mark, before fading into a clean, picked guitar playing around the chord of E Minor and D. This washes into an intricate harmony guitar interlude, a solo, and then rebuilds back all the way to the main, now world famous riff. It finishes with a collection of manic laughter, and closes a curtain on what is a sumptuously satisfying 8 and a half minutes.

 A second of silence follows before the third, a deafeningly heavy tribute to a deep sea creature, and literally feels like you are taking a dive, sifting through fathoms of water. The bass heavy sound and echo sound on James Hetfield’s mic give the work a cave like openness.

The fourth, beginning with another E minor picked intro and finishing with a squealing cacophony, is ode to madness “Welcome Home(Sanitarium)”. Another fantasia esque opening complete with distorted chorus that Kurt Cobain would later make world famous in “Smells like Teen Spirit”, the song rises in emotion and perceived desperation with every upturn in volume, culminating with the “Just leave me alone!” line ¾ of the way through.

The 5^th, “Disposable Heroes” is a prog infested thrill ride through the both World War’s, focusing on the anonymity of the dead soldiers. Slowly churning at the beginning, the song explodes like a cannon after a minute and half, turning into a thrash – rock piece, varying tempos often and unexpectedly, featuring the now clichéd “group vocal” chorus of “back to the front”

The 6^th, another sniping social commentary, is “Leper Messiah”, unambiguously referring to Christianity, likening the religious movement to a visceral plague. The tempo of the piece is relatively mild, perhaps a conscience decision to allow the message, rather than the music, come to the fore.
After “Leper Messiah” reaches its conclusion, the layered bass tones of instrumental masterpiece “Orion” seep into the listeners’ consciousness. What begins with a cerebral chordal piece, slowly develops into a grinding, patient riff, accentuated with flourishes of lead guitar. Then, comes the interlude, and a moment of rare beauty. A slow bass riff, picked out with clarity and gentility, breaks into a lead passage with classical precision, culminating in a bass and guitar solo, the former being shockingly technical.

The final act of this gripping drama is “Damage Incorporated”. Unrelenting, no holds barred, the speed alone is a timely reminder that after all, this is a thrash album.

When one looks back at the thrash scene, Master Of Puppets will stand as the release that helped propel it into the mainstream metal audience. Hitting the Top 40 without any radio or video airplay, MOP is and always will be a timeless tribute to an era, music and a movement.

#3 AC/DC - Back In Black

19th Febrary 1980. Bon Scott, lead singer of AC/DC is found lifeless inside a Renault 5 in South London. Pronounced dead on his arrival to the hospital, the world wakes up to find one of the biggest Rock 'N Roll bands of the day are now without a lead singer.

It was a tragic moment that could have seen the end of AC/DC, guitarist's Malcom and Angus Young considering whether to call it time in the band in memory of Scott. However, from all the unlikely sources, it was Bon's bereaving family that gave them the nod to continue, believing it was what Scott would have wanted.

They hired "Geordie"(the name of his band, not his accent...although, he was actually a Geordie) singer Brian Johnson, a man who Bon Scott himself recommended, and set to work.

So, rejuvenated by the news that they will continue, and inspired by the sadness that had preceded the album and the willingness to cement a fitting tribute to their fallen comrade, AC/DC began work on what has since become the legendary "Back In Black" album.

Opening with a fitting nod towards Scott with a song he helped write, "Hells Bells" starts with the ominous chime of church bells before leading into the sinister riff that sets the tone for song, and the album. This was refined, this was precise. AC/DC were back, and they meant business.

Following on from the opener, "Back In Black" rattles through hit after hit on an album that packs more punch than an a four armed Chuck Norris. The sexual shenanigans in sing along rock song "You Shook Me All Night Long" and the rifforama frenzy that made the title track "Back In Black" one of the single most recognisable Rock riffs in history, "Back In Black" is AC/DC's defining album.

With "Back In Black", AC/DC made the transition from big Rock band to true gods of the industry. Selling 49 million copies to date, it is the third highest selling album ever, and the highest selling hard rock album ever. Telling statistics of the album's mass appeal. It wasn't an album that particularly had any metaphorical weight, AC/DC weren't trying to tell a story, nor were they making a political statement. It was good, honest, hard-working Rock 'N Roll for the masses. And maybe that's why it appealed to everyone. What's not to like? Riffs? Check. Vocals? Check. Wild guitar solos? Check. Check. Check.


When it all boils down, music is a motivator. A lifter. A collection of people making lots of noise that comes together to make one, big sound. And AC/DC are just that. They had a fucking massive sound, and they sold it to the world.

Back In Black: The world's greatest tribute.