"Call me Doctor Frankenstein of London"

1997 saw U.K. band Catherine Wheel release their fourth full length album, Adam and Eve, a stunning collection of songs. After starting with the shoegazer sound of their debut, Ferment, and its follow up, Chrome, the band moved to a heavier sound for Happy Days and then surprisingly to a very lush amost Pink Floyd-like, acoustic tinged, harmonic laden sound with A&E. The album resonated with critics, long-time fans, and not too many other people. It was even praised by one of the men responsible for the album of the year in 1997, Thom Yorke, who has said Catherine Wheel were/is a band that should have made it huge. Perhaps the finest single ever released by the Wheel, "Ma Solituda", featured the spectacular b-side, "Paranoia". It is a brilliant haunting track and features one of my favorite opening lines, the title of this post, "Call me Doctor Frankenstein of London". I urge you to check out the Wheel, if not for me, do it for your yourself.

Paranoia - Catherine Wheel

"We leave it all so far away one thing is sure we shouldn't stay"

As the 80s turned to the 90s, Duran Duran watched the ranks dwindle to three - LeBon, Rhodes and John Taylor - and their popularity drop like a brick in a pond. Augmented by new "permanent" member Warren Cuccurullo, formerly of LA band Missing Persons, and drummer extraodinaire Sterling Campbell, Duran Duran released the first single off their upcoming album Liberty to a very muted reception. The track, "Violence of Summer (Love's Taking Over)", features a brilliant piano opening that kicks into a bass-heavy club track with LeBon's familiar voice appearing older and more mature than the band's earlier work. The single and the album tanked. Perhaps the band wore out its welcome, apparent by the fact that a mere three years later they were topping the charts again, but I actually love this single, this album, and the transition. Who cares if John Taylor only remembers the drugs from this time, he still made brilliant music, didn't he?

Violence of Summer (Love's Taking Over) - Duran Duran

"Come, armageddon! come!"

1992 saw a Democrat return to the White House for the first time in 12 years, Mike Tyson went to jail, Kurt and Courtney got married, and 10,000 Maniacs released an EP entitled "Few and Far Between". Off their album Our Time in Eden, "Few and Far Between" was a solid single, but what made the EP was the inclusion of several covers. The first cover is of Morrissey's classic "Every Day is Like Sunday". Natalie's voice soars on this interesting take and the band captures the winsome feeling Moz created with the original.

Every Day is Like Sunday - 10,000 Maniacs

"Welcome Back, Frank"

Since I'm posting an instrumental upon my return to blogging, I figured I would quote the title of one of my favorite comics, "The Punisher:Marvel Knights". So I have been a little busy at work, foreclosures are up....my brother moved in for a few weeks....and other family matters have taken precedence...but tonight I return, and I promise, more good things will come and on a regular basis. Tonight, in celebration of the upcoming Cure shows I will attend, here's a look back to Lost Wishes, the instrumentals from the Wish studio sessions. Tonight, check out "The Three Sisters", a song that I only wish had lyrics.....

The Three Sisters - The Cure

"You played yourself to death in me"

Classic 90s band which should have made it, Failure could have made it and in my opinion should have. Ken Andrews wrote brilliant songs and was lucky enough to have the best James Bond intro video since 1984s A View to a Kill. "Stuck on You" is one of my favorite songs from the mid 90s - a mid tempo rocker with heart and soul. Here is a live version from the Whiskey in LA.

Stuck on You (Live) - Failure

"I can see right through you, baby, you're a nuclear bomb"

During his mid-90s hiatus from New Order, Bernard Sumner released two Electronic albums with Johnny Marr. Curiously enough though, his best vocal performance may have been for a then struggling band from Manchester known as Sub Sub. Formerly a very dance oriented group, Sub Sub transformed into a great rock band, and eventually changed names to the Doves. "This Time I'm Not Wrong" represents their transition from techno to guitars, and surprisingly sounds very similar to their first hit, "Catch the Sun".

This Time I'm Not Wrong - Sub Sub featuring Bernard Sumner

"Nothing you can sing that can't be sung"

New Jersey's own synth-pop treasure Anything Box released its debut album Peace in 1990. It featured the classic synth track that any club kid of the early 90s should remember "Living in Oblivion". The band captured a combination of early Depeche Mode, Erasure, and Yaz in a perfectly blended conconction. Following up on the success of Peace, the band went away to record their follow up Worth in 1991. It never saw the light of day until 2001 thanks to the wonderful people at Sony Records. The album is a breathtaking piece of work from a band clicking on all cylinders. Check out "World Without Love" and their cover of the Beatles "All You Need is Love" to see what I mean.

World Without Love - Anything Box

All You Need is Love - Anything Box

"I couldn't ever bring myself to hate you as I'd like"

The arrival of Madchester saw the jaw-dropping rise of the unheralded Stone Roses. After toiling for years in various forms unsuccessfully, the band finally clicked with the times - ecstasy, dancing, partying - along with the Happy Mondays, they were an embodiment of the times. My personal favorite, "I am the Resurrection", is an 8 minute epic with an incredible jam closing out the song, almost Greatful Dead meets Pink Floyd.

I am the Resurrection - The Stone Roses