Led Zeppelin: "BBC Sessions" (Atlantic)
Zep were probably the greatest hard rock band of all time, but their few live recordings have really let them down: the double album, The Song Remains The Same, is a dire, overblown document of a band in full-on rock monster mode, and the accompanying concert movie was a self-indulgent muddle. Trust Auntie Beeb to set the record straight with this selection of BBC sessions spanning the years 1969 to 1971, when the band were just forging their hammer of the gods. CD 1 sees Page, Plant, Bonham and Jones proving their mettle in the BBC studios, recording tracks for programs like Top Gear and Chris Grant's Tasty Pop Sundae, but it's the second CD, recorded in concert at the Paris Theatre in London, and featuring an introduction by John Peel, which shows a quartet on fire and completely mad for it. Dire cover art, though.
Kevin Courtney
Alabama 3: "Exile On Coldharbour Lane" (Elemental)
The Very Reverend Dr D. Wayne Love and his disciples in The First Presleyterian Church of Elvis the Divine have finally released their debut album, having already preached to the converted on such country acid-house anthems as Woke Up This Morning and Ain't Goin' To Goa. Don't be too taken in by the tongue-in-cheek proselytising - Alabama 3 are a bit of a one-trick pony, and the songs on Exile. . . trundle along on the same ol' redneck-techno beat. Such cowpoke club tunes as U Don't Dans 2 Tekno, Hypo Full Of Love and The Night We Nearly Got Busted are rip-roaring, disposable fun, while their version of John Prine's Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness is little more than a novelty. Sorry, Dr. D Wayne Love, ain't goin' to Coldharbour Lane, no way, no how.
Kevin Courtney
Sinead O'Connor: "So Far The Best Of Sinead O'Connor" (Chrysalis)
Sinead O'Connor's rehabilitation into the pop mainstream begins with this retrospective of her somewhat erratic recording career to date, spanning the creative clout of Troy, the commercial peak of Nothing Compares 2 U, and the resurgent defiance of Fire In Babylon. Tracks from her four albums show her mood swings, from the brash Mandinka through the despair of I Am Stretched On Your Grave to the self-effacing Thank You For Hearing Me. The collection also includes a collaboration with Tim Simenon of Bomb The Bass, a version of Don't Cry For Me Argentina which makes Madonna's recent rendition sound shallow, and her latest single, This IS A Rebel Song, whose very personal message is bound to get lost in a political storm.
Kevin Courtney
