Reviews roundup – Status Quo vs. Ektomorf vs. Z

Reviews roundup – Status Quo vs. Ektomorf vs. Z

STATUS QUO
Hello / Quo / Rockin’ All Over The World
Universal

Well, Frame must be trying to top up the pension plan as it’s time for another reissue of some Quo classics.  Well, I say classics, but “Rockin’ All Over The World” is included.  But kicking of with one of the classics it’s hello to “Hello”.

Now, everyone should own this as it’s chock full of classics such as ‘Roll Over Lay Down’ and ‘Forty Five Hundred Times’. As with all the reissues, it’s been remastered by Andy Pearce with the assistance of Bob Young.  However, the bonus disc only has three unreleased tracks out of the seven on offer, and two of those are versions of ‘Caroline’.

It’s a great album, but the bonus disc lets it down a little.

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Over to “Quo” now from the following year of 1974.  Probably my favourite of the early classics, it really flows as an album, and it’s augmented on the second disc with a live concert from the band’s archive of a show from Paris L’Olympia recorded on  11th January 1975.  According to the tracklisting, the original bonus track from the 2005 reissues, ‘Lonely Night’, is on CD2.  But my promo version has at the end of CD1 and at the start of CD2.  Fingers crossed, the issued version does it the former way, so we have the live show all to itself.  It’s a good live recording as well, even if the set list is the same as the other shows of that era.  Well worth it, though.

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Now on to the runt of the litter.  “Rockin’ All Over The World”.  I was really disappointed when I bought this in about 1980.  Apart from ‘Dirty Water’ and ‘Hold You Back’, I found the whole thing to poppy and bland by far.  Which may be why the bonus disc sees the entire album remixed by the original engineer John Eden.  And it does actually sound better.  Well done.  A lot of the songs are still mince, mind, but there is more chance of this version being revisited than the original.  It also comes with four demo tracks, which include versions of ‘Dirty Water’ and ‘Hold You Back’, so it ends up a surprising treat.

All the albums come with new liner notes and rare photos, although these were unavailable with the promo editions.

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EKTOMORF
Aggressor
AFM

If you like to have your bottom end Slayered, then this is the album for you.  Because in the words of that American lassie, it’s all about the bass, the bass.

That’s guitar and drums, as this album is propelled from behind.  Which makes it a mighty groovy metal rumble.  “Retribution”, their last album was good, and I reckon this one is a tad better, as there a couple of riffs that really stick you.  They would be ‘Holocaust’ and ‘‘Evil By Nature’, the latter of which features Corspegrinder from Cannibal Corpse (George to his Mum) crooning along.

They’ve still got some Cavalera influences in there, but they seem to have settled into a “South Of Heaven” meets Soulfly crossover which works well.  This time around they finish things up with a rather sweet acoustic ballad called ‘Memento’ and they seem to be getting closer to that career defining song.

It’s probably the only thing that has stopped them crossing over to the big time, but it’s still a mighty fine racket.

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Z
Real Life Never Stops
Prudence

And now for some weird electronic shit from Germany from the catchily named Z.

But that’s interesting shit, not damn, I’ve stepped in it shit.  In a move that will cheer up Mick Magic and his world of Magic Moments At Twilight Time, this CD is based on recordings made in the late seventies and early eighties, which were released on cassette.  Ask your Dad.

And it’s a mix of spacerock, ambient sounds, electronica, swooshes, bleeps and whistles.  The original synthesised sounds have been augmented with real instruments.  However, it’s the purer electronic sounds which work best, although some of the Hawkwindy guitars are really good.

In fact, if you liked the early nineties Hawkwind electronic rhythms, then this may be a place for you.

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