William_the_Bloody

Final Thoughts:

As stated above, I believe Blood for Blood is one of the greatest bands to grace the stage of hardcore. They are not as technically proficient as fellow travelers Converge, who arose out of the same city and time period, but they got down right what matters in punk, the attitude.

Page 1 Sisters of Mercy
Page 2 Blood for Blood

Next up, one more hardcore band, and than I steer this journal in a different direction.

William_the_Bloody

Gallows

I will be covering Gallows up to the release of Grey Britain, after Frank Carter left they became a different band, nothing against Wade McNeil, but the choice to go with a North American singer has significantly altered their sound, even if the musicianship and attitude remains the same.

Limited Edition 2005 (Demo)

It seems to be a trend these days to release a band's demo work once they hit it big, and Gallows is no different. I don't know if it was mutual decision with a record company to cash in (nothing wrong there), but it was released so I'll quickly cover it.

I'm at a bit of a disadvantage here as I don't own the album, and one of the tracks "the ballad of..." is extremely hard to come by for download, I'm still on standby for it, which could take sometime. At this point Steph Carter hadn't joined the band but the their sound is solid. You can tell from the get go that this isn't your average hardcore band. However I simply can't rate the album without having all the tracks, so here is one that would not be featured on Orchestra of Wolves.

swarm over death

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7Inch split 2007

One more quick entry before things get interesting with this band. Up to the lead up to the Orchestra of Wolves album, a series of singles were released that would all eventually make it onto the CD, with the exception of one song featured on a split they did with the band November Coming Fire. I haven't reviewed the other bands work, but the Gallows tracks features nothing worth throwing up here. ** stars thumbs down.

William_the_Bloody

Orchestra Of Wolves 2007

Gallows first full length release. There are many different versions of this album, but I am going to cover the one distributed by Epitaph Records in the North America.A good solid hardcore album, nothing spectacular at this point. There is some melodic dischord that I'm not to big on. The off tempo beat of "just because you sleep with me doesn't mean your safe" doesn't thrill me, but that's just my own personal taste. I also find the album to be a little old school in terms of heaviness, with a song like Abandon Ship having a slight pop tinge to it that was prevalent amongst melodic hardcore bands during this time. Belly of a Shark of course is the most notable track off this album, but I also like Black Hearted Queen, as it features one of the time honored traditions of British Hardcore in its intro; the Tom-tom drum beat. The tom tom drum beat harkens back to the days of Chaos UK & the Exploited, and is most notably memorable as the intro to Metallica's Whiplash song. Another good track on the album that I don't believe is on the UK release, is the cover of Black Flag's Nervous Breakdown, when the band had an even greater singer than Henry Rollins..in my opinion anyways.

Anyways I'll go thumbs up *** stars

In The Belly Of A Shark



black heart queen



nervous breakdown

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Staring at the Rude Bois (Single) 2007

There are now two great covers of the Ruts Staring at the Rude Boys song out there. The first being off of Dag Nasty's Field Day album, and the second, a single by Gallows. I actually like the Gallows version better than Dag Nasty's, though the latter probably had the least amount to spend on recording time. I also think that adding grime artist Lethal Bizzle into the mix was a nice touch, especially since by modern standards, Grime appears to have largely supplanted Reggae in the UK for some decades now. Nothing beats the original version though.

Anyways with Belly of a Shark on the B side, a big thumbs up and **** stars.

I'll leave you to decide which version is the best.

Gallows




The Ruts



Dag Nasty

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Grey Britain 2009

There were a lot of hardcore releases through the first decade of the century, and although the general consensus amongst many people is that Converge's Jane Doe is the best hardcore album of the 00's, I must dissent by proposing Gallows Grey Britain instead.

Yes it is true that Converge is an extremely technically proficient band, and that Jane Doe is flawless in these regards, but the album itself is punk turned inside out. Converge rose to prominence in the 90's, when hardcore was largely supplanted by post hardcore, bleak over perspective music that focused more on technicality and brooding, than the straight forward rebelliousness of the previous decade. This is reflected in Jane Doe, it is heaviness without melody, and bleakness without the f#ck you attitude of punk, Grey Britain on the other hand is the opposite.

For all intents and purposes Grey Britain is truly a well crafted album from start to finish. It brings hardcore back to its basic three chord rhythms, standard timing, and back up shouting vocals. It is bleak but uplifting, because the profanity and f#ck you attitude is straight in your face. This UK eulogy might not be as heavy as Jane Doe, but it sure is a lot more rebellious, and it contains one of my favourite hardcore songs of all time, Misery! So what can these $hitty punk bands do when a big record label throws money behind them?....apparently quite a bit.

**** stars, thumbs up, best hardcore album of the decade.

The Riverbank (Intro)



Misery




Queensbury Rules



Crucif#cks

William_the_Bloody

Final Thoughts:

In my old hardcore countdown thread I think I once mentioned that British punk was cursed, as it appears that every leading band in the scene implodes in one fashion or another. Be it the Sex Pistols, Discharge or Gallows. Consequently Gallows is one of those bands that only comes around once in a blue moon, as none of their peers in the British hardcore revival have been able to put out an album that comes close to rivaling Grey Britain, this includes metalcore acts like Bring Me the Horizon. I can therefore see why people are upset with the bands decision to go with a North American singer, that being said, those who are holding out for the Carter brothers to return, will be waiting a long time, as they have both stated they have no desire to return to hardcore. Quite simply put, the moment has passed. The remaining members in Gallows however, are still the guys behind the musicianship of Grey Britain, so don't write them off yet, and as for the Carter brothers...f#ck em!!! lol , just kidding I look forward to hearing stuff from their new bands.

Anyhow time for a different direction, next up The Smiths.

Page 1 Sisters of Mercy
Page 2 Blood for Blood
Page 3 Gallows

William_the_Bloody

The Smiths

Hand in Glove (Single) 1983

I am going to quickly skip over the Smiths first single. Hand in Glove is a great song! but it would be re-recorded on the first Smiths album, so it's largely the shotty production quality here, as well as a weak song for the b side. ** thumbs down, wait for the album.

This Charming Man (Single) 1983

Of the three bands I've reviewed so far, it took them all awhile to develop the sound that would lead them into greatness, or near greatness, but for The Smiths it was there from day one, a clear testament to the talent of this band. This Charming Man is far from my favourite song, but for a 20 year old to come up with this opening riff is pretty damn good, add Morrissey's vocals to the mix and you have a great single. Not too big on Jeane the b side track though.

On the strength of This Charming *** stars thumbs up

This Charming Man

William_the_Bloody

The Smiths - (Album) 1984

The Smiths self titled debut album firmly establishes the sound that would carry them throughout their career, it's a great record, so I will quickly walk through some of the songs.

The first two tracks off the album are nice somber tunes for a rainy day, but the album doesn't kick off for me until we hit Miserable Lie, a forgotten classic that starts off with a soft lullaby tone, before transforming itself into a high energy dance tune. This is personally one of my favourite Smiths' songs, as everything from Morrissey's whimsical lyrics, to Marr's nifty guitar riffs all clique together perfectly.

Miserable Lie



Both of their first singles appear on the US release, so here is a better recorded version of Hand in Glove.

Hand in Glove



The final song I'll put down for this album is Still Ill, another popular classic from the band.

Still ill



This album eeks out 4 stars for me, if they had put the singles version of "What Difference Does it Make", on the record it would throw the album over the top, that being said, this is a nice tranquil record from start to finish, the Smiths were the masters of making lullaby rock tunes, and it is much harder to make a good soft rock album than something that gets you going just because its spiked your testosterone levels.

**** stars, thumbs up.

William_the_Bloody

What Difference Does It Make? 1984

I suppose when I review a single it's only fair to take the A side primarily into account, as the B side was often an afterthought, a song for whatever reason was not picked as a single or for an album. That being said, Back to the Old House is a worthy B side to accompany one of The Smiths most popular singles, and one of my favourite riffs from Johnny Marr, not overly complex, but there is a reason why he is continually cited as one of Britain's greatest living guitars. I wish I could play like him, but alas...I am but a lowly bass player, so I shall let the master explain below.

**** stars thumbs up.

What Difference Does It Make?



Johnny Marr explaining his guitar sounds on amps



What Difference Does it Make? live