27. Queen / A Night At The Opera. 1975. 5/5

Some albums are destined to leave their mark on the history of music forever, and this is one of them, but not necessarily for the popular and heralded reasons.
Sure, A Night At The Opera contains Bohemian Rhapsody, arguably one of the most popular songs of all time. It also contains You're My Best Friend, a song that has been used in dozens of movies, TV shows and commercials when the mood suits the purpose. Both are indeed great songs.

But what about those generally ignored? Death On Two Legs, the album opener, is on eof the classic songs of all time. '39 has always been a personal favourite. Love Of My Life, which was usually performed acoustically live, has mostly been under-rated.

As to be expected with the title, the album runs like an opera, with each act running smoothly into the next, and each complementing the other.

Memories : Freddie Mercury's front choppers when I first saw the Bohemian Rhapsody video. That could scare the life out of you!!

Rating : This album is timeless, and almost perfectly arranged and performed. 5/5.

26. Blind Guardian / A Night At The Opera. 2002. 2/5

This was the first Blind Guardian album I bought, when it was released in 2002. I had never heard any of their stuff, but it looked as though the band were of a genre that was right up my alley.
Having secured it from Utopia, I listened to it probably a dozen times, thought it to be "OK", and promptly slotted it away and forgot about it.

Listening to it today, I'm not overly sure what I saw in it originally. While growing from the same roots of other stuff I love, I found it to be very confusing, with too much competing within the music itself to allow the songs to blend together. What came across was not so much a wall of noise, but more like when you get the radio caught between two stations, and you can hear both at once (I know in this digital age that this doesn't happen too much anymore, but those that can remember it happening will know what I am talking about).

Rating : This was one of those out-of-the-blue purchases, that you hope will pay off, but doesn't. Seems like only others of my friends (ie Kearo) has the golden touch in this regard. 2/5.

25. Queen / A Kind Of Magic. 1986. 5/5

It is rare in life that one looks forward to both a movie coming out, and the soundtrack to that movie. But back in 1986, the film Highlander was released, and the accompanying soundtrack was done by Queen, and released as their own album, entitled A Kind Of Magic.

I can't remember which I sampled first - the film or the album. However, the album itself is teriffic on its own. Most of the early songs on the album skew towards the sentimental - One Year Of Love, Friends Will Be Friends, Who Wants To Live Forever. Towards the end, they rifle up the volume - Gimme The Prize, Don't Lose Your Head, Princes Of The Universe.

The album combines all of these elements - the best elements of Queen - into one package. It resembles A Night At The Opera, in that the story told through the lyrics and the song arrangement, even without knowing the movie itself. The album gains momentum as it goes along, completed with Princes, leaving you on a high rather than a decline.

Memories : Six of us (oooh...let's see...me, Bono, Kearo, Jason Thacker, Dale and Joel I think...)travelling to Wollongong to watch Highlander at the cinema for the first time. And saying how brilliant it was. Then, some years later, four of us (Bono, Kearo, Joel and myself) travelling to Sydney to watch Highlander II....and watching one of the worst films of all time....ugh.

Rating : Though, as I've said before, ballads are not my cup of tea, Queen do them so well, they can't help but be liked. And then the harder stuff....yeah... 5/5

24. Alice Cooper / A Fistful Of Alice. 1997. 5/5

Alice Cooper’s comeback over the previous decade leading up to this album had been built on excellent collaborations with songwriters who had found their sweet spot with where the music scene was at the time, and then having guests come in to lend a hand as well, which meant that he had plenty of fans of music drawn in by this method. The albums “Trash” and “Hey Stoopid!” were huge and spawned a number of top ten singles, while the 1994 concept album “The Last Temptation” is an underrated album even to this day.
This album was from a show recorded on June 2 of 1996, a year before this album’s release. It was from a gig held at Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo club in Mexico. There were a number of special guests who played at the gig, including Sammy Hagar himself who guested on “School’s Out” and Rob Zombie, while Slash also played on a couple of songs.
When you have a career as long as Alice and as many albums as he has released, it isn’t easy to put together a set list that will showcase that period and be able to play songs that the fans want to hear. At this point of his career, there is no doubt that some of those hits from his current albums were what the younger fans wanted to see, while the older fans were still more interested in those hits from the first seven albums of the original Alice Cooper Band. Trying to juggle that and keep everyone happy would not have been easy (even less so today another 25 years on), and there will always be songs left out that fans want to hear. The added benefit of that is that no matter what songs are chosen to be a part of an Alice Cooper set list, you know they are going to be top shelf.

I recently reviewed another live album on this podcast (Rainbow’s “On Stage” for those that are interested) and said then that it is ‘unfortunate’ when the songs are chopped and changed from their original play order, which was done on that album to allow them to fit on the vinyl. Here on “A Fistful of Alice” it is also done, though it seems as though it was done more for convenience than it was to fit, given this was released on CD. Several changes exist, and also on different releases. Of the gig that was played, only “Hey Stoopid” didn’t make any of the releases of the album. “Welcome to My Nightmare” was replaced on a couple of versions of the album by “Bed of Nails”. And “School’s Out” appears as the opening song even though it was towards the end of the set. None of this is particularly important of course, but it is informative.
When it comes to the quality of this live album, it really is top shelf. The band at this time, consisting of Reb Beach and Ryan Roxie on guitar, Todd Jensen on bass, Paul Taylor on keyboards and Jimmy DeGrasso on drums, sound amazing throughout, but especially on the older songs, which they give a terrific modern updated feel to the music, giving them a full sound and a slightly faster tempo that works brilliantly.
While the old and the new are spread evenly throughout the album, they all come together seamlessly on the track list which is a difficult thing to achieve. And in a way it is a shame that there are basically four versions of this album – the US, the UK, Japan and Australia – because it would have been great to have the whole set list on one edition. So as it turns out, you don’t hear “Under My Wheels” on the US version but you do on the other three, you hear “Billion Dollar Babies” on the US and Japanese version, but not the other two, “Bed of Nails” appears on the Japan and Australia version, but not the other two. So, whichever version you have, or that you stream, you are missing out on something.
But it is the added power and presence of the old track here, such as “School’s Out”, “I’m Eighteen”, “Desperado”, “I Never Cry” and “Teenage Lament ‘74” that are really impressive, showcasing those songs in their best possible light, and in the process proving to the younger crowd that the older songs are still relevant. So too “Welcome to My Nightmare” and especially “Only Women Bleed”, which is a truly fantastic song and brilliantly performed here. And of course the newer songs and better known hits are here, “Poison” and “Feed My Frankenstein” (we’re not worthy), and a ripping version of “Elected’ to close out the live show. There is also the single from his latest album at the time, “Lost in America”, and then one new studio track at the end of the album, “Is Anyone Home?” which is also a good song.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – a live album should always be a great album because it should have the best songs and showcase a band in their natural environment. Apart from the stated different versions problem I have already spoken of, this album does the job. Alice and the band have so many brilliant songs and albums in the 1970’s that don’t always get their due, and the ones on this album most definitely have been treated in the right way. Updated from their 1970’s versions to spit and polished 1990’s versions gives them a new lease on life, introduces them to new fans, and showcases their brilliance. This is an album that demands constant rotation, multiple plays, and the joy will continue no matter how often you put this album on.
I bought this not long after its release, and enjoyed it thoroughly. I still do. It’s a terrific live album, one that often got journeys in the car as well. In the early 2000’s, on my return to my home town, I often spent Saturday nights after the golf club I used to drink at had closed up on the headland overlooking the ocean, sitting in the car with this pumping through the speakers, myself and one of my cricket mates with a couple of roadies and singing every word. Great days. And this album is good for that, because Alice wrote anthems, made for singing loud and possibly while drunk.
As I said, there had been only one official live Alice Cooper album before this one, and there have been several released since. But this will always be my favourite. It has the essential and the awesome, and it’s pretty hard to beat.

23. Gary Moore / A Different Beat. 1999. 2/5

Let's face it. I listen to Gary Moore for his rock, which he basically stopped releasing after 1990. Since then, it has been blues, or versions of the blues, that he has concentrated on.

This album was actually a little experimental, using what I guess could be call fusion blues, along with elements of sampling and rap along with it.
Overall, and as a concept, it has its merit. Gary Moore has never been afraid to try different things or approach things from a different angle, and this is what he does on this album.

In the overall scheme of things, however, if you are not a fan of the blues, then you won't get a lot from this album. And that's pretty much where I stand.

Rating : There are interesting concepts involved here, but it doesn't really grab me. 2/5.

22. Queen / A Day At The Races. 1976. 3.5/5

Following on from the monster that was A Night at the Opera, the follow up was always going to be a difficult process, not only in the success of the album itself but in the success of the album’s single “Bohemian Rhapsody”. A Day at the Races brings us a multitude of genres within the album’s framework, which only the individual can decide whether it works or is too much to deal with. One thing it is not, is predictable.

It starts off on exactly the right foot. “Tie Your Mother Down” is one their greatest, a hard punching track that showcases everything that is great about the heavier side of the band, not surprisingly written by Brian. His guitar is the star of the song, perfectly foiled by the drums and bass to act as the superb rhythm throughout, while Freddie has a ball, crooning to the beat. It is a dramatic and upbeat opening to the album to draw in the listener.
From this point until we reach the second side of the album, there can be differing opinions on what is presented. I can appreciate the songs that appear in this section, and the way they are written and performed by the band. But for the most part I’m not especially interested in the songs. When I put this album on I listen to it all the way through and enjoy it, but I am waiting for other songs to come on when thee are being played. All of this is in a similar way to the previous album, because it has a similar set up with some brilliant songs, and then others that are wonderfully done, but just don’t attract me. Thus is the conundrum I have here with “You Take My Breath Away” which sounds great, but just has not got the drive for me, and in a similar way this is also true of “Long Away”. “The Millionaire Waltz” has different genres thrown in all along for its five minute length, though it is when Brian’s guitar takes hold that it most attracts me. Then John Deacon’s ”You and I” completes the first half of the album with a middle-of-the-road easy listening song which Freddie makes sound so impressive with his vocals.
The second side of the album starts with the eternally brilliant “Somebody to Love”, one that combines all the greatest parts of the Queen conglomerate, the multi-layered vocals and harmonies that mix within the beautiful rhythm of bass and drums and the piano, and then Brian’s solo guitar through the middle. After all these years it I still a show stopper whenever it comes on the stereo. Oh, to be able to sing like that.
The underrated “White Man” follows, starting off in a slow melancholic way before the heavier band clicks in and drives the lyrical aspect of the song in a serious and passionate way. From here we are treated to “Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy”, which harks back to the style of the previous album, sounding as it does as though it should be being played on a beach in Brighton, England in the 1930’s. Again it is the layered back vocals that help this become as ‘fashionable’ as it is. Roger Taylor’s “Drowse” honestly makes me feel that way almost every time I listen to it, before the album finishes with "Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)", which has two choruses in Japanese as a tribute to those fans. Neither of these songs has much fascination for me as a lover of Queen the band and their music.
As it turns out, perhaps it’s just a matter of taste. There were a couple of songs on A Night at the Opera that I tolerate, and have learned to tolerate, because of how much I love the rest of the album. Here on A Day at the Races though, there are a couple of songs that I don’t enjoy, and I am unable to treat with the same recognition which would allow me to hold this album in higher esteem. Despite two songs that I consider are some of the best of Queen’s catalogue, the album itself doesn’t quite get that high a rating.

Rating:   “Why can't they understand I'm just a peace lovin' guy”.  3.5/5

21. Dream Theater / A Change Of Seasons. 1995. 5/5

I hadn't been exposed to Dream Theater for very long when I first heard this album, and it was the album that really got me into them.
Although it contains only one original - the epic title track - it has four other songs, mostly medleys, all live versions, filling up the album.

For a start, the title track is awesome. Writing and playing a song that spans 23 minutes without losing you halfway is an effort in itself. It amazes me how you come up with an idea that says "Hey - let's do a 23 minutes song!". Truly marvellous.

Along with this, the live songs are brilliant. Funeral For A Friend & Love Lies Bleeding gave me a new appreciation for Elton John. Perfect Strangers is bloody great, while the other two songs rival these as well. If there is one thing Dream Theater has proven, is that they can make just about anything sound great.

Memories : Hearing Love Lies Bleeding takes me right back to my childhood, hearing Elton John on the radio, or my mother's endless playing of his albums (especially 2 Low 4 Zero).

Rating : I can't fault anything on this. Just awesome musicians. 5/5

20. Various Artists / A Call To Irons : A Tribute To Iron Maiden. 1998. 1/5.

When I originally saw this in Utopia, I was very excited. It was the first tribute album I had seen for Iron Maiden. I knew only a couple of the bands on it, and not very well, so I was looking forward to it.
Major disappointment.
This album really makes you appreciate how good the original band is, and how special Bruce Dickinson's vocals are. I realise this is a death/doom/gloom metal tribute, and I don't listen to much of these type of bands, but this was still desperately disappointing.
There are a couple of decent versions on the album. But mostly it is awful. $32 I will never get back.

Rating : Well, it was truly fortunate to get this much. 1/5

19. Judas Priest / '98 Live Meltdown. 1998. 4.5/5.

After such a long time out of the public eye in the period between the end of the Painkiller tour and the release of Jugulator, it was a no brainer that the World Tour that followed would be recorded and released in order to show the world that Judas Priest still had what it took to be the great band they had been, and that the change in lead singer hadn’t changed that. And so the world received '98 Live Meltdown to do just that, and although fan reaction was missed, it still provided the comparison that we all needed in order to make up our own minds.

As with most live albums, there is a delicate balance to find between the new material you are touring on, the old material you would like to include, as the classic songs that cannot be left out of the set list no matter how many times they have been played. Here the job was all the more difficult, because the new album had a new lead singer in Tim “Ripper” Owens. So not only did they want to highlight the latest album thoroughly, to show the world that they could do justice to these songs that they had produced, but they wanted to show that their older material was still relevant to them and that Ripper could indeed do justice to it as well. Overall Judas Priest was able to do this, and with only a couple of exceptions pulled it off magnificently.
The majority of the songs played here off Jugulator sound better live. All of “Blood Stained” and “Burn in Hell” and “Death Row” are improved by the live versions, and the crowd interaction led by Ripper. It gives them a better atmosphere throughout. For me though “Bullet Train” is lacklustre here, and “Abductors” is only average. You can hear how much the band want you to like them, and Ripper’s energy singing ‘his’ songs certainly gives them an extra punch.
Elsewhere, the material really cooks. Every song off Painkiller is a triumph. Hearing “A Touch of Evil” and “Metal Meltdown” and “Night Crawler” alongside that album’s title track “Painkiller” in their live setting is a real treat, and Ripper does a great job. Add to that the classic elder statesmen of the set list “Beyond the Realms of Death” and “Victim of Changes” which both sound fantastic. “Metal Gods” and “The Sentinel” are favourites of mine and I really enjoy Ripper’s vocal versions. And once you get to the end of the album and have those great crowd favourites such as “Breaking the Law”, “Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)”, “Hell Bent for Leather”, “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” and “Living After Midnight” where both the band and the crowd use all their energy it’s a great sound.
The main downside is the terribly disappointing version of “Diamonds and Rust”. The original Judas Priest cover version is legendary and is what set it apart from the original, but here the band goes back to just reducing this to an unplugged version, and it loses all of the Priest power. A poor choice in my opinion.

I still love this album. How can you not? It is full of Priest classics, and also gives you a smattering of the songs that made the era of the band that no one talks about anymore. If it wasn’t for two or three tracks, and that bum note version of “Diamonds and Rust” this would be a full marks live recording for me. It still acts as a great album because you get those Jugulator songs live that have disappeared forever from the reborn Priest formation.

Rating:  “What’s my name?!!”   4.5/5.

18. Animal / 900 lb. Steam. 2003. 3/5.

I obviously bought this for the W.A.S.P. connection with Randy Piper, and the fact that Chris Holmes originally toured with them. I still think the album has some very good songs.In fact, it starts off a treat, but somehow it loses it a bit mid-album, before picking up again towards the end.
I, of course, did not believe it would be a W.A.S.P. rip-off. In fact, it sounds a lot like the old L.A. bands seem to be progressing in their latter years (ie L.A. Guns).
It still shows all of the promise it did on release.

Rating : A solid outing without breaking any new ground. 3/5.

17. Danzig / 777 – I Luciferi. 2002. 2/5.

This album, for me, was a HUGE disappointment when I first got it, and it has been one I have been somewhat apprehensive about pulling out again for fear of hating it more.
So, putting it on this evening, I made sure I went into it with an open mind, and not pre-judging it.
I listened all the way through, allowing it to play uninterrupted.
At the end, I came to this conclusion – it is just a wall of noise, with not a lot of anything going for it. OK, sure, there are a few catchy bits from the middle of the album until the end, but in all reality, I really am not sure at all what Glenn was trying to achieve with this. To me, he had really run out of ideas, and didn't know whether to go backwards, forwards, or tread water.

Rating : It's not so bad that it deserves nothing, but it didn't inspire me to delve into it again in the near future. 2/5.

16. AC/DC / '74 Jailbreak [EP]. 1984. 3/5

In the mid-1980's, the AC/DC publicity machine decided to right a wrong, and put out this EP. It contains the track "Jailbreak", which only appeared on the Australian version of the album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap and not the International version. Goodness knows who came up with that decision, but in retrospect it must be considered to be a ridiculous one!

Seeing as they were trying to rectify the mistakes of the past, they also included four songs that only made the original debut release, Australian only version of High Voltage. Those songs were "You Ain't Got a Hold on Me", "Show Business", "Soul Stripper" and "Baby, Please Don't Go". All of these were solid songs from that era, which had been missing from the International scene, and now allowed the fans and hard core collectors to get into the swing of things.

For most Australians this became a superfluous release, though no doubt many (like myself) still own a copy, just to keep their collections full.

Rating:  She was down, he was up, had a gun in his hand.  3/5

15. Stryper / 7 Weeks : Live In America. 2004. 5/5.

We always knew these guys could play and, above all else, sing. But when you listen to this album, it still just blows you away that a guy can sing like this live.
Containing their best of the best (on a reunion tour around the US), this is a fabulous showcase of what Stryper were all about. Whether you pay attention to the lyrics or not (I tend not to...), the music and energy is just brilliant. This is up there with the bet live albums of all time.

Memories : Front row of the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, June 1987. One of the loudest gigs of all time, in the Yellow & Black outfits. Remembering the whole day – Pete Orgill with his scotch, which was duly confiscated, Dorky losing his card in the cashcard teller, Bono asking for a lift with a guy in a Porsche, people getting trampled fighting over the Stryper Bibles they tossed out during gigs. Ah to be 17 and foolish again...

Rating : One of the best live albums of all time (oh – I've already said that.. :) ). 5/5.

14. Danzig / 666 – Satan's Child. 1999. 3/5

With Danzig, you know what you are getting. This is probably only the third or fourth time I have listened to this album, and as such, it is difficult to use experience as a key. Belly Of The Beast and Unspeakable are my faves, a higher tempo than perhaps the rest of the album comes at. As always, Glenn's vocals are at the forefront, but it does all feel a bit samey. That's not a detraction on the album, except that half way through it, I feel as though I am still listening to the first couple of songs.
I'm sure the big Danzig fans love it. I like it, but have trouble getting through it because of that.

Rating : It's an interesting album, but one I don't think of throwing on regularly. 3/5.

13. Van Halen / 5150. 1986. 3.5/5

There is an exchange in the movie Airheads that has Chazz asking Harold Ramis’s character “Whose side did you take in the big David Lee Roth/Van Halen split?”, and when he eventually answers “Van Halen” Joe Mantegna’s character immediately replies “He’s a cop”. Even though this movie was released a decade after the events it references, it was still a touchy subject and hot topic. Who made the better music – Van Halen fronted by David Lee Roth or Van Halen fronted by Sammy Hagar? As a teenager at the time, I can tell you the fight was real, and whichever side you took you would find yourself in an argument with someone. After the commercial success of 1984 and DLR’s departure, was there any hope for the next album, which happened to be 5150?

When this album came out, there was a bit of the residual shying away from allowing this album to be good to my ears. It would be traitorous to let myself actually enjoy this album, as a protest to DLR moving on from the group. Still, it didn’t take much for me to be won over to the dark side for a time. In essence, about three or four listens to the first side of this album was enough to convince me that the ship could continue on its course. And, all hysteria aside over the vocalist, why wouldn’t it continue? The rest of the crew was exactly as it had been through those first six albums, and surely they would be the posse that led the charge. And Hagar could sing, which on the first side of this album he showed with gusto. The opening stanza of “Good Enough” is a solid opening track, incorporating enough of the good vibe Van Halen sound to keep the optimism high. This is followed by the big selling single “Why Can’t This Be Love?”. The energetic “Get Up” is then overwhelmed by the high quality second single “Dreams”. In all of these tracks, the further infusion of keyboards and synths into the music is an attribute that slightly confused at the time, though perhaps not so much all these years later. It was the age of synths, and Eddie has a passion for the instrument as well. It’s just that most fans wanted to hear him playing the guitar rather than the keyboards, and these songs – especially the two singles – had him contributing a lot of one and only a slice of the other. The opening side was finished off by “Summer Nights” which always sounds as though it should have been performed by DLR.
The second side of the album falls apart a little bit. “Best of Both Worlds” is a reasonable song, though a bit standard tracked and without a lot of energy which could have been added. This becomes irrelevant as the dud ballad “Love Walks In” comes on. Seriously, Van Halen playing a true soft rock ballad? I still don’t think I’ve forgiven them for this. Sure there may have been songs in the past that have skidded close, but nothing on this scale. “5150” is a better rock track, living up to the more noticeable ideals of the band, while “Inside” is fine for what it is.

In the long run, I think this album probably highlighted its ideals better when it was released than it does now. And it probably never provided an answer to that burning question over the better prospects of Hagar or Roth. When running a rule over both 1984 and 5150 they seem to be on a similar path, one that has forked away from the guitar heavy earlier albums. Whichever man was helming the vocals for 5150 you would expect a similar result from the album. The music was changing, and while my feelings over the album haven’t changed since its release, that change is still obvious.

Rating:   “It’s got what it takes…”  3.5/5

12. Deep Purple / 30 : The Very Best Of... 1998. 5/5.

This double disc best of came out at a time that Deep Purple seemed to be on the rise again, especially in Australia. It is a comprehensive history of the band, covering every formation of the group, and including their greatest songs, most of them remastered.
It is no small feat to do this well, and they could easily have added a third disc to fit more of the latter years into the package, especially off House of The Blue Light and The Battle Rages On. But for a two disc compilation, this is terrific.

Rating : This is the kind of thing you look for in a greatest hits album. The full history, the best songs, the hits. They're all there. 5/5.

11. Jeff Scott Soto / 2001 Duet With Queen. 2001. 2/5.

This is simply JSS singing vocals over the top of the original three tracks by Queen. Apparently it was done for the Queen Fan Club. It's interesting to listen to once, but hardly inspires one to revisit it, despite the quality of both band and the solo singer himself.

Rating : If it was a new recording, it would have rated higher. This is probably generous anyway. 2/5

10. Iron Maiden / The First Ten Years Disc 6 - 2 Minutes To Midnight/Aces High. 1990. 4/5.

One of 10 repackaged and re-released singles from the first ten years of Iron Maiden. Both of these singles come from the Powerslave album.

The first single was the brilliant "2 Minutes to Midnight". The B-sides on this was a cover of a Beckett song, "Rainbow's Gold", as well as a track called "Mission From 'Arry". This was an actual argument between Steve Harris and Nicko McBrain that was secretly recorded by Bruce Dickinson after a gig on the tour. It is extremely funny, and is quite an amazing insight behind-the-scenes of such a great band.

The second single is the equally brilliant "Aces High". The B-sides on this was a cover of two tracks from Nektar combined into one. Titled  "King of Twilight", it also includes parts of another Nektar song called "Crying in the Dark".

This is followed by a live version of "The Number of the Beast" recorded at Dortmund in 1983.

The final track on the album is "Listen With Nicko! Part VI", where drummer Nicko McBrain, in his own initimable style, gives us the history of the two singles over the course of ten minutes.

Some good stuff here, and well worth a listen.

9. James Labrie's Mullmuzzler / 2. 2001. 4/5

There is always the need to compare an artist's solo album with the albums of the band he is a member of. Labrie, of Dream Theater, has always made an effort to try an distance himself from the exact same music of his alumni, though of course the roots run deep. Here, with his second effort under the moniker Mullmuzzler, it is impossible not to hear the inherant similarities with Dream Theater. Put this out of your mind, and you can enjoy the album for what it is – Labrie's effort to do his own thing on his own terms. And it works.

Rating : I was more impressed listening to this tonight than I was when I first got it. That must be a plus. 4/5

8. L.A. Guns / Wasted [EP]. 1998. 3/5.

At a time when L.A. Guns was an evolving property, on the verge of splitting into two separate bands with two different agendas, this EP is actually surprisingly very listenable. It tends to delve into a slightly heavier direction than the day to day L.A. Guns material.

Six songs make up this EP. The first four songs are all new material, and they do rock. Featuring new vocalist Ralph Saenz, they are all better than average tracks. This is then followed by a remake of their biggest hit, entitled "Jayne 98", which, as with the original, I can take or leave depending on my mood at the time. The EP is topped off by a cover version of KISS' "Cold Gin", which is also worthy enough.
Perhaps the most notable thing about this EP is that it is the only recorded material the band made with their lead singer. He has since gone on to bigger things as Michael Starr in the band Steel Panther.
As always, EPs can be a difficult thing to review and rate, especially one such as this where there isn't really any interconnecting pieces. It really is a stand-alone piece that doesn't connect anywhere due to the changing nature of the band at the point this was released.

Rating:  We have ourselves to blame.  3/5

7. L.A. Guns / Hollywood A Go Go. 1997. 3.5/5

This is a pretty thorough and impressive greatest hits album. There is no argument here as to whether the band’s best songs have been captured, because they are all here.

As much as I have always enjoyed L.A. Guns, I must admit that over the past week or so that I have had this going around at work, I have discovered an ever greater admiration for them. There have always been the regular songs that I love – “Show No Mercy”, “Sex Action”, “One More Reason”, “Never Enough” – but I have grown a greater affection for songs like “Killing Machine” and “Long Time Dead” and others that I didn’t necessarily harbour before.

As a result, I heartily recommend this album to fans and non-fans alike. If you are looking for a quick fix, and don’t want to go out and just buy the first four albums, then this will do the job nicely.

Rating:  Oooh baby, it’s never enough .  4/5

6. Whitesnake / 1987. 1987. 5/5

Depending on when you came into this album and band, your view on the relative merits of Whitesnake [aka 1987] will probably be slanted one way or the other. For those that were into Whitesnake from their beginnings, from the ashes of the first demise of Deep Purple, this album can sometimes be seen as a sell out, one where the blues base of the band is washed out like acid-washed jeans. Those that come across it in recent years probably think that this is far too rooted in the late 1980's with its sound and production. Then there will most likely be others like myself, whose first meeting with the band was on this album, permed hair and Tawny Kitaen music videos and all, and it is where I first discovered my love of their music. The music videos drove the popularity of this album, being played on TV on all of the weekly video programs, and once the album had been procured, there was lots more to like.

The album is packed full of songs that forced this vinyl to be played over and over again. this was released during my final year at high school, and it remains a part of the soundtrack of that time of my life. Anytime I listen to this now it sends me back to those days, when so much of the first part of my life came to its conclusion. The songs here became anthems for that. "Still of the Night" led that charge with that riff and Coverdale's vocals belting out the opening lines. "Bad Boys" crossing all the boxes, that leading riff into Coverdale's howl is just perfect. "Crying in the Rain" is again started out on the right night with the leading vocals starting it off before we even break into the song. "Children of the Night" picks up the tempo again exactly when it is needed, along with "Straight For the Heart" and then "Don't Turn Away".
Yes, the album does have a couple of songs that can easily be skipped if you are of a mind to do so. "Looking For Love" does tend to go on a bit too long, and misses the mark with me. "Is This Love" is pretty much the same deal, it really is a power ballad, a song that much certainly have targeted radio airplay. I tolerate it only because of the album it inhabits and the time it came from.
Coverdale's vocals sound terrific on this album. He had recently had surgery on his troublesome sinuses, which had delayed the recording of the album, but it seems to have done no harm. They combine perfectly with John Sykes' guitaring. Some of the riffs he has written and performed here are legendary, and along with his solo's would dominate any other record. This pairing, who co-wrote the majority of this album together, has done an amazing job. It seems almost ludicrous then that Sykes was sacked before they started touring this album, and was replaced on tour by Adrian Vandenburg and Vivian Campbell. Sykes went on to form Blue Murder, where his songs generally disappointed. Is this album just a perfect moment in time for him? Could he have done more of the same if he had stayed? We'll never know, and given that Steve Vai came on to record Slip of the Tongue it remains a superfluous question.
As I mentioned, this album invokes memories that I will never forget, and so it is always viewed with rose coloured glasses by myself. Whether or not it can be seen as a perfect album, there are songs here for me that will always stand the test of time, and in the long run that is the best way to judge any album.

Rating:  I'm getting ready, I'm in the mood to fool around.  5/5

5. Van Halen / 1984. 1984. 3.5/5.

It is strange to recollect now that at a time that Van Halen reached the peak of their popularity in the commercial market, they also reached the end of their first chapter. Through all of the battles and visions of grandeur and so forth, 1984 was headed for a road works sign ahead. The album is dominated by the three singles lifted from it, the real fusion of synth that inflicts itself upon most of the tracks as a constant reminder that it was released in the mid-1980's, and the spandex on the music videos that propelled the album's success,

The album opens with the eponymous "1984", an instrumental that seems to be a strange way to start things off despite it being a popular method. Once this has passed the album goes straight to it's strength, the mega-hit "Jump" and its partner "Panama". "Jump" has of course stood the test of time, still riding high in rock playlists almost thirty years on. For a band that made its name as a hard rock band, led by the arguably the greatest guitarist of his era, it is still mystifying to this day how little the guitar gets a look in during this hit song. Apart from the solo, it is the synthesizer that is the instrument high in the mix. Amazing. The lyrics are pure DLR, whose exuberance drives the song along. "Panama" is a great follow up, and in many respects I still enjoy more, perhaps solely because Eddie's guitar returns to a more prominent position in this song.

"Top Jimmy" and "Drop Dead Legs" are typical Van Halen songs, both jauntily pushed along by Alex's drumbeat and Michael Anthony's bass. Ed's guitaring here is also closer to his classic stuff. "Hot For Teacher" got plenty of repeat business on MTV and the like for it's video clip, which probably raises the profile of the song higher than its quality deserves. It's a fun song, but just not a great one. "I'll Wait" bring a return of the synth, a real power ballad that probably tickle's a lot of people's fancy, but just rate super high in mine. "Girl Gone Bad" is the equal of those songs in the middle of the album, while the closer "House of Pain" has its moments without being overly memorable.

David Lee Roth's departure from the group after this album brought a small amount of success for both himself and his solo career, and the remainder of the group with new front man Sammy Hagar. It was a changing of eras, and this album signified it as such. From the hard rock guitar band of the late 70's and early 80's, this album with its synth oriented rock paved the way for bands like Bon Jovi and Europe to make their own mark on the industry.

Rating:  Might as well Jump.  3.5/5

4. Black Label Society / 1919 Eternal. 2002. 4/5

Most people have enough trouble getting into one band that not only brings them fame and (relative) fortune, but in holding that position in the long term. Well not everyone is Zakk Wylde, who while he was touring the world and writing and creating huge albums with Ozzy Osbourne, then also decided to create another band that went on to do the same thing. That band is called Black Label Society, and having already released two barnstorming albums, on this day 20 years ago they released their third album, “1919 Eternal”, and album that built on the dynasty already established and took it up a notch. 

Black Label Society had come about as a side project from Zakk Wylde’s number one priority of being the guitarist in Ozzy Osbourne’s band. However, rather than being a solo project, he wanted it to become a long term band, with the solidity of that being a name and a group. Some may then have felt it strange that for both of the band’s first two albums – and indeed “1919 Eternal”, it was Zakk who wrote all of the songs, and recorded all of the vocals, guitars and bass guitar on those albums. However, there was a change in drummer, with Phil Ondietch being replaced by Craig Nunumacher.
Now, so the story goes, Zakk had written a number of songs that were for the Ozzy Osbourne album “Down to Earth” that was released the previous year, and the episode for which you can find here on this podcast. Zakk had been off touring with Black Label Society and had the songs written to go for the new album. However, when he brought them in for the recording of that album, they were reportedly rejected by Osbourne for ‘being too Black Label Society’ and not fitting with the material that had been written already in Zakk’s absence. As a result, Zakk played as a hired gun on that album, for the first time not having contributed anything to the writing of the songs he was playing. A strange situation, but then Osbourne and his management have been known for this over their career. So these songs were now waiting to be used, and they turned up as the basis of the next Black Label Society album. This one. And it is noticeable that they also influence the writing of the remainder of the album. “1919 Eternal” is a different styled album from the first two Black Label Society albums. It really is geared closer to what an Ozzy Osbourne album would sound like, which is ironic given the tale about Ozzy’s album that I have just told.

The groove of this album is set up from the very first riff of “Bleed for Me”. And, even though there has always been a similarity in the vocals of Zakk with Ozzy, and that on some songs you can actually hear how Ozzy would sound singing the song, it should not surprise you that this is one of the songs that Zakk supposedly wrote for the Ozzy album. It’s a beauty. Then you move into “Lords of Destruction which just has so much going on, with the bass riff holding the song together, the rhythm playing another riff on top of that, and then the lead riff where Zakk just unloads. When it comes to Black Label Society songs, this for me is one of those signature songs. There is so much guitar, and different riffing guitar, in it, that you can only wonder how he fits it all in to one song, and then makes it all work. But it does. And this is followed by the tempo lifting “Demise of Sanity” which kicks right in and has a more structured verse and chorus style with heavy guitar, again no doubt as it was one of the rumoured songs Ozzy rejected. The third of those songs comes next with “Life, Birth, Blood, Doom”, slower in tempo but still hugely enjoyable, especially with the harmony duel tracking of Zakk’s vocals throughout. The opening four songs are just terrific.
“Bridge to Cross” comes at you with a much slower tempo, and is the first of many future songs in this style that Zakk was to write and record for Black Label Society albums. And here, don’t get me wrong, he does it really well. It isn’t a ballad as such, just a much softer and quieter acoustic song that he performs brilliantly. My problem is that does it fit around the other songs on the album? On future albums that problem was solved by having a majority of songs like this. Here, appearing after such a loud and electric start, it seems out of place. This is solved by “Battering Ram” which comes crashing out next with a fast paced drum-driven tempo with a brilliant guitar solo that restores the balance of the album. Zakk continues to show his versatility with the classical acoustic guitar instrumental “Speedball”, before we have some terrific Black Label Society staples in “Graveyard Disciples” and “Genocide Junkies”.
"Lost Heaven" is the second slow tempo song of the album, which again is almost like intermission at the movies - time to take a leak and grab a drink. "Refuse to Bow Down", “Mass Murder Machine” and "Berserkers" showcase that great Zakk Wylde riffing, all at a mid-tempo range and perhaps without as much excitement or interesting changes as the songs in the first half of the album, but are still enjoyable. And the album concludes with Zakk's guitar instrumental rendition of "America the Beautiful", an obvious tribute and reference to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US, which had occurred during the recording of this album.

This was the first Black Label Society album I had heard, and I got it after reading the rave reviews that it had received from the Metal Edge website. Some how before this I had actually come across Zakk’s acoustically driven solo album from years before, “Book of Shadows” and had been impressed with his vocals. When I got this album though and started listening to it, I was impressed even more. Not just with his voice, and the way he used different vocals in different songs, but in the way he used his vocals melodically and harmonically. That was what first hit me about the songs on this album, and given that was not his number one instrument on this album, it probably always augured well.
Beyond that of course is Zakk’s guitar playing, and as always it is second to none. Some of the riffs he produces on this album are some of his best, and that’s quite a statement in itself. In having not only written all the songs himself, but having played all of the guitars as well, it has enabled him to overlap and interlay those guitars in an extremely pleasing way that only Zakk could do.


It is quite possible that “1919 Eternal” remains my favourite album of Black Label Society because it was my introduction to the band, and that I have been looking for a repeat performance since. I also rate the first two album highly. Beyond this?... well, in general there is a little too much slow tempo, acoustic and other genre-hopping to allow me to rank any album after this to be its equal. That’s not to say there aren’t some great songs beyond this, there definitely are. But as a collection, as an album, this has been my favourite. And twenty years on, I don’t think it has lost anything in comparison. It still has that fresh quality that allows it to be listened to in today’s music environment and still be enjoyed by the current generation.

3. Midnight Oil / 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 1982. 4/5.

This was one of the first four or five albums I ever purchased, having first become intrigued by the singles being played on the radio and the music videos being played on "Sounds" and "Countdown". Even at that time of my life it was the hard rock side of music that was luring me in, and Australian pub rock was one of those things it was probably cool to listen to for a teenage male. But, with the advent of videos, how could you not be drawn in by the fury that was Midnight Oil? Some of their most lasting anthems come from this album.

Once I actually had the album, there was even more to it than that. The moody opening song "Outside World" really lulls you in, without even knowing with the keys and Peter Garrett's vocals strangely efficient. Its sereneness is followed by the more frantic and demanding nature of "Only the Strong", often leading to my being "locked in my room... and I just wanna screeeeeeeeaaaaammm!!!" whilst listening to it.
The heart of the album follows, and it stacks up against the middle of any album ever recorded. "Short Memory", my all-time favourite Midnight Oil song "Read About It", "Scream In Blue", "U.S Forces" and "Power and the Passion" are all songs that everyone of Generation X know the words to - certainly in Australia. Just fabulous songs, all with their own message, and still all brilliantly enjoyable. They all still hold up as well today as when they were recorded 30 years ago.
This is all a tough act to follow, and the end of the album for me suffers a little because of it. However, "Tin Legs and Tin Mines" still has quirkiness that makes it endearing.

All in all this is one of the finest albums to come out of Australia. While some believe Diesel and Dust or Blue Sky Mining rank above it, this to me will always be Midnight Oils' finest moment.

2. The Beatles / 1. 2000. 5/5.

This was a greatest hits collection released in 2000, containing 27 of their best songs. It may appear out of place amongst most of the rest of the albums that will be on here, but when you grow up with parents who grew up with The Beatles, you are going to be drawn along somewhat. It can't be denied that they were groundbreaking.
One of the things with The Beatles too, is that to say this is their definitive best of is open to personal opinion. There are songs missing for me, as I am sure there would be for most fans.

I have always enjoyed their pre-experimentation years more than their later, non-touring session albums. Pure rock and roll pop songs like "She Loves You", "Can't Buy Me Love", A Hard Day's Night", "Eight Days a Week" and "Help!" have generally been my favourite type by the band. This being said, two of my absolute favourite Beatles songs are "Eleanor Rigby" and "Penny Lane", which certainly don't fit into this category.

Everyone knows The Beatles. Everyone knows The Beatles songs. You may not love the band or their music, but you sure as hell know the words to most of their songs. It's almost a prerequisite in the modern music world. This collection does a pretty fair job of putting together their decade in one package.

Rating:  Love you every day girl, always on my mind  5/5

1. Metallica / ...And Justice For All. 1988. 5/5.

As the band saw the calendar click over to January 1988, it is fair to say that Metallica had experienced the highs and lows of life on the road over the preceding three years. The remarkable success of the album “Master of Puppets”, and album that is still considered one of the finest ever recorded in any genre of music, had given the band a much boosted profile. They had taken thrash metal, and begun to mature it into something that transcended that sphere of music, with amazing guitars and drums, and songs that drove home their stories in an energetic and inspiring fashion that almost encouraged the fans to believe they were at one with the band itself. They had toured with Ozzy Osbourne, opening for him on The Ultimate Sin tour, bringing them into the focus of those fans who had not yet picked up on them, and they won all of them over in the process. This had then been haunted by the death of Cliff Burton, and the introduction of Jason Newsted as the band’s new bass guitarist, and after another slew of months of festival appearances across Europe along with the release of the “Garage Days Re-Revisited" album, had the band massing an abundance of fan adoration, and all of them asking for more. And so with this behind them, Metallica entered the studio to record their follow-up to that amazing album.
It’s interesting that the first few weeks of recording hit a snag. The band’s producer from previous albums, Flemming Rasmussen, was initially unavailable at the time Metallica wanted to start, so the band hired Mike Clink, the man who was behind Guns ‘N Roses “Appetite for Destruction” album, to do the job. However it quickly became obvious that the partnership wasn’t going to work, and when Rasmussen became available a few weeks after initially being asked, he was rushed into the studio, and Clink was relieved of his duties. What did come from that idle time was the band recording two more cover songs as a way of trying to find the sound they wanted for the new album, and thus came the versions of Budgie’s “Breadfan” and Diamond Head’s “The Prince” that found their way onto the singles B-sides. At least those first couple of weeks had been put to good use.

Has there been a more brutal, stark and anger-filled opening track to an album than “Blackened”? Everything you wanted to know about what Hetfield and Ulrich were feeling at the time is laid out here for all to bear witness. And it is the first indication of the differences that lie in wait for the listener from their previous albums. “Blackened” is just a fabulous song, spitting in venom and leaving the listener in no doubt as to where the world is headed, played out by double time kick drums and furious pace of the guitars which drives the song through the roof, turning up the volume and having the house shake from the output. Hetfield’s lyrics have always been spectacular, but when you hear lines such as “Smouldering decay, take her breath away, Millions of our years, in minutes, disappears, Darkening in vain, decadence remains, All is said and done, never is the sun” - and “Fire is the outcome of hypocrisy, Darkest potency, In the exit of humanity, Colour our world blackened”, then the anger within comes to the surface. A truly amazing track. This is then followed by the equally remarkable title track “...And Justice for All”, as frank and dirty about the justice and political system as the opening song was about the environment and nuclear winter. Within all the lyrical fire though comes the music itself, where we begin to hear the possibility of a progressive thrash sound, a metal sound that does not fit the traditional theme of thrash but intertwines it with the basis of a progressive metal sound that also does not fit that category. Winding out for almost ten minutes, ‘Justice’ is a brilliantly produced song that the fans loved. These opening two songs on the album should have been played much more often than they ever were following the end of the Damaged Justice world tour, but the band found a way to suggest that the fans found them too long and so removed them from their set list. Surely nothing could have been further from the truth. Both are ground-breaking songs for the genre, and live they were even better. To me, this was more of the band’s change in direction after this album than the work of the fans.
More was to follow with “Eye of the Beholder”, one of those songs that latched onto me from the first time I heard it and wouldn’t let go. Lars’s double kick drum beat throughout the majority of the song keeps the drive going, with Hetfield’s lyrics touching on freedom of speech and civil liberties again dominating the dark agenda of the album. Topping off this is the single “One”, famous at the time as it was the first song that Metallica had produced a music video for. They even produced a “Two of One” video with the original version and the single cut version, along with Lars being interviewed. Everyone at the time had it, and watched it over and over. The video was amazing, combining scenes from the movie “Johnny Got His Gun” with the band jamming the song. It was unique, such that even when the band had been cool before for NOT doing music videos, they were now cool because they HAD done one, and it was amazing.

The second half of the album does not let up, doubling down on the opening four songs and pushing onwards. “The Shortest Straw” is an absolute gem of a song. Once again James is spitting his diatribe through the speakers at you, this time on the subject of blacklisting and civil liberties, and driven by that great riffing throughout and Lars’ double time drumming again. “The Shortest Straw” is the greatest song to drum to, none of it easy but it is so much fun. The tempo is superb and yet the whole song flows along brilliantly. Just awesome. This is followed by “Harvester of Sorrow” which dials it back in tempo and doubles down on the heavy riff. James continues to write lyrics along the lines of the darkness that has preceded it on this album. It makes for a strange choice as the first single released from the album, though as it is the second shortest song (apart from the closing “Dyers Eve”) perhaps that is the only reason it made the grade.
“The Frayed Ends of Sanity”, like “Eye of the Beholder”, is another of those songs that just leeched onto me from the first time I heard it, and I have never lost my love of it since. It has a great singalong chorus - “Old habits reappear, Fighting the fear of fear, Growing conspiracy, everyone's after me, Frayed ends of sanity, Hear them calling, Hear them calling me”. This leads into what is, for the most part, the album’s instrumental, “To Live is to Die”. This song is pieced together a medley of riffs written by Cliff Burton before his demise, and you can hear by the structure of the song that this is the case. There is a spoken word paragraph in the middle of the song, half of which were words by Cliff, the other half from other sources. It’s a nice touch to have something marking Cliff’s final act with the band, and to have Jason playing the bass as well.
The album comes to its scintillating conclusion with “Dyers Eve”, another James Hetfield lyric-fest shredding parents a new one with an amazing vitriolic spray that leaves no one in any doubt as to his feelings on the matter, with lines such as ‘children seen but are not heard, tear out everything inspired’ and ‘clipped my wings before I learned to fly’ and ‘same thing I always heard from you, do as I say not as I do’ are sung with such venom it is hard to fathom hat events lay behind the words. Not to be outdone, the music underneath the words is just as furious, with the drumming especially being particularly amazing. What is true from this is that there is no way Lars could play this song today the way he plays it on the album.

The major sticking point to this album, both at the time of its release and in the 35 years since, is the lack of the bass guitar in the mix. Even deaf Freddie could tell you from the outset that for some reason, you can’t hear Jason Newsted’s bass guitar on the album. Even on the song that pertains to use bass riffs written by Cliff Burton, it barely registers. The stark wall of guitars is missing the bottom end. Does it make any difference to the joyous enjoyment of this album? No. Absolutely not. But surely there had to be a reason behind it? As it turns out, the excuses for why Jason played all of his parts, and then had them almost eradicated are many, and seem to have changed over the years as well. Claims that James and Lars’ ears were shot from touring, and they couldn’t hear the guitars properly so they just kept turning them up in the mix, is the most bandied excuse. Jason held his tongue until the recording of the follow up album before telling the press that he had never been happy with the final mix of the album. In the long run, there has never been a satisfactory answer given to why the band hired a new bass guitarist to replace their fallen colleague, but then pretty much wiped him off the recording of their next album. Maybe the final insult came just a few years ago, when “... And Justice for All” was remastered and re-released for its 30th anniversary, and the band had the chance to do a remixed version, bringing the bass back into the mix and letting the world hear just what it COULD have sounded like. But no, it was announced that the sound of the album would remain, preserving how it was. What a missed opportunity. If for no other reason, most probably every person who owns the original version of the album would have bought the remixed version simply because it had the bass guitar audible. I would have.

We all have those moments in our lives when we remember the first time we heard a song or an artist, and we also have memories of certain albums the first time we heard them. That is definitely the case for me with “...And Justice for All”. In fact, there are many memories. Getting the album, bringing it home, and placing it on the stereo for the very first time, and hearing that beginning of “Blackened” coming out of the speakers. That’s a life moment right there. I remember the first gathering of our friends' group when we listened to the whole album together for the first time. And then of the album being in my car forever, on constant rotation. I remember that New Years Eve a few months later, and “... And Justice for All” was centre stage at full volume.
For me, the album was a game changer. Metallica’s music had spent the better part of the previous three years being front and centre of my music listening, but this was different. This was angry – pure anger. This was aggression - rampant aggression. This was fire, this was rage. Hetfield’s vocals had transformed from the high-pitched screaming of his youth to the harder nastier spitting tunes of the world wise young man he had become. His guitar blazed with the triple time downstrokes of his picking hand, while Kirk Hammet’s lead flew off the hardwood through the speakers at the same velocity. And Lars’s drumming was at its peak, worthy of the unofficial title of greatest drummer in the world. The time changes, the building of each track into its own masterpiece through music and vocals, and the connection of band and fan as a result is the ultimate conclusion.
Nine months later I saw Metallica at Sydney’s Hordern Pavillion on the Damaged Justice World Tour, a concert that still ranks as the best I have ever seen. It left me physically exhausted and yet mentally fully engaged. The most amazing adrenaline rush of my life. It is something that could never be reproduced or repeated, a truth that has been confirmed over the years. Anyone who missed that concert missed one of the most amazing experiences of their lives. But surely no one did... heh heh heh...

“...And Justice for All” remains the place where Metallica had climbed Everest and stood astride its peak and stared down below at all those attempting to follow. It is probably also the place that broke the band. James blew out his vocal chords and decided to rebuild it, and the result was still a great voice but in a different place than he had been before. Lars’s time changes and furious double kick never eventuated again, with the man himself pulling back in tempo and difficulty to eventually become a shadow of those glory days. Having conquered the metal world, the 1990’s saw a different band emerge, and a new fan base to follow them, one that had trouble working out why this album was such a ground-breaking and amazing achievement. 35 years later, this remains, in my opinion, Metallica’s last great album, the last of four albums that changed the face of heavy metal.

Ratings

5/5 : A must have album in every collection
4/5 : A worthy album that does most of the right things
3/5 : A good solid album, one worth listening to
2/5 : I bought this for a reason, but it failed to live up to the expectation
1/5 : Oh dear. It just doesn't cut it.
0/5 : What the hell was I thinking!?!