Back catalogue: Rock (All)

Review: Black Label Society main man Zakk Wylde initially made a name for himself in the metal scene operating as Ozzy Osbourne's touring guitarist for many a moon, while most recently, he's currently filling the boots of the late great Dimebag Darrell on the Pantera reunion/tribute tour. In amongst the bearded shredder's hectic schedule is his Zakk Sabbath love-letter tribute act to the pioneering metal giants of a phonetically similar moniker. The trio, rounded out by bassist Robert "Blasko" Nicholson (Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie) and drummer Joey Castillo (Danzig, Queens Of The Stone Age), are now set to unveil a 7" single of their cover of the iconic Paranoid closing track 'Fairies Wear Boots', which was originally intended as a touring exclusive but now will receive a follow up retail-wide distribution. Complete with an epic, faithful rendition of Master Of Reality deep cut 'Solitude' on the flip side, but peppered with enough sonic liberties to engage without invoking the ire of avid fans the world over, this is Sabbath worship done only the right way.

Review: Favourably compared to The Ramones during their early tenure, yet never managing to reach the same critical or commercial heights, The Zeros were one of the true first wave pioneers of punk, hailing from their sleepy San Diego city of Chula Vista, California. Originally released in 1978 as their second single following on from the previous year's 'Wimp' b/w 'Don't Push Me Around', the iconic 'Beat Your Heart Out' is easily the band's most vital contribution to their own legacy, thanks in no small part to being popularised by The Muffs' rendition in the 90s. Recreated from the OG pressing with 'Wild Weekend' on the flip, 'Beat Your Heart Out' is also infamously known for being the track the band opted to repeatedly play over and over again for the duration of a now legendry San Francisco performance. No other cuts, just that one single eight times in a row. Now, that's what we call punk.

Review: The Zeros were a pioneering punk rock band from Southern California who burst out in the late 70s before calling it quits at the turn of the decade. They had a spell of activity in the 90s, but it was their grip of early singles which cemented their legendary status, culminating in 'They Say That (Everything's Alright)' and 'Getting Nowhere Fast' in 1980. Short, sharp and catchy as hell, this is So-Cal punk rock at its finest, now repressed by Spanish label Munster on white 7" with the original artwork intact.

Review: Punk pioneers Crass are in the midst of a great series of reissues of the classics. This one brings attention to the work of Zounds, an English post-punk band from Reading, Berkshire. They got together in 1977 and after starting out as part of the cassette culture movement on the likes of Fuck Off Records, they also got involved with the nascent squatting and free festival scene. They were anarchists to their heart - their name is derived from an old English word that is a contraction of "God's wounds" and this Ep shows that. It has been remastered for this reissue and features three visceral cuts.

Review: Zakk Sabbath, for the uninitiated, is THE definitive Black Sabbath tribute act led by bearded axeman Zakk Wylde of Black Label Society (who also happens to have spent many a year on the road as the touring guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne). Rounding out the trio with bassist Robert "Blasko" Nicholson (Rob Zombie) and drummer Joey Castillo (Queens Of The Stone Age, Danzig), the band are set to unleash their monolithic double LP Doomed Forever Forever Doomed, which sees them tackling 1970's Paranoid and 1971's Master Of Reality back to back. Produced by Wylde himself, expect embellished, fuzzy, massive reimaginings of some of the most quintessential Sabbath hits from 'War Pigs' to 'Iron Man' to 'Planet Caravan' to 'Fairies Wear Boots' to 'Children Of The Grave'. Are you overwhelmed yet, because you should be?

Review: It's not easy to pick out obvious hits from Frank Zappa's frankly intimidating musical legacy, but 1969's Hot Rats must surely be one of his most widely adored albums. As such, this special archival project is the stuff of dreams for his devotees, of which there are more than a few. Much has been said about the reams of unreleased material hidden away in his vaults, but now an attentive team have pored over sessions recorded in 1970, not long after Hot Rats was released, and they've pieced together a whole new album of songs never previously heard by anyone bar those who were in the studio at the time.

Review: Originally released in 1972, The Grand Wazoo is the eighth album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers. It was the second album Zappa had to record in a wheelchair following an on-stage assault in 1971, and it found the psychedelic jazz rock fusionist expanding his musical stamp with a bigger band dynamic. The music on the album is largely instrumental, following on from Hot Rats, Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Waka/Jawaka as another bold, bonkers excursion into the furrows of Zappa's highly creative mind. It's been some time since this gem was in print, and it's now comfortably resting into the chunky grooves of an 180 gm pressing, no less.

Review: Over-Nite Sensation has been long-hailed as the gateway drug into Frank Zappa’s extensive musical universe, after which there really is no going back. Now reissued and expanded by the Zappa estate, the album returns to the foreground again, in several formats, including one CD with over 57 unreleased and rare studio and live tracks piled on top of the original seven magnum opi. This edition, however, is an audiophile standard 2xLP edition, just as Uncle Meat intended from the jump. From the opening princely funk of ‘Dirty Love’ to the midway scattings of ‘Dinah-Moe Humm’ and the closing yippee-ki-yays of ‘Montana’, this album should be best remembered not only as FZ's sexiest, but coincidingly as the one on which music’s most notorious Bonnie & Clyde, Ike and Tina Turner, were enlisted to aid Zappa for the closing track, but were ultimately not credited due to a poor performance, by Zappa’s assessment.

Review: Frank Zappa left a lot of complex musical mysteries for the intrepid explorer to discover, but there's unanimous appreciation for Hot Rats which makes it a great entry point into the maverick's career after his initial rock outfit The Mothers Of Invention disbanded. Released in 1969, it was a more jazz-oriented affair with mostly instrumental pieces that sometimes rocked, sometimes wigged out and sometimes did both in a manner akin to the free jazz pioneers of the era. Sonically, it's out of this world too and now it's repressed on heavyweight wax with a bonus insert to take you into the story behind one of the finest albums in the Zappa canon.

Review: "What's a girl like you, doing in a place like this?" Zappa croons with audible debauchery as 'The Mud Shark' falls effortlessly into 'What Kind of a Girl Do You Think We Are', making it clear that Fillmore East: June 1971 is the kind of live album that quickly makes you feel as though you're right there front and centre watching this rock 'n' roll icon delivering his legendary live show.

But there's much more here than simply a recording from a gig. The record is as much a concept album as anything else, offering a skew-eyed look at the life of a guitar outfit on the road, spinning yarns about - among other things - staying in a motel where guests can fish directly from their room, 'negotiating' sex with groupies and girlfriends, essentially representing the tongue-in-cheek, satirising Zappa in all his glory.

Review: Based in London, UK, but originally hailing from Argentina, Malena Zavala is nothing if not disinterested in picking a style and sticking with it. Following on from her 2018 debut album, 'Aliso', 'La Yarara' again sees her combining some bold and often disparate genres, and playing with language - Spanish and English - to dazzling effect. The result being a record that's devastatingly effective and equally original. 'What If I' is a positive, upbeat and hypnotic pop lullaby. 'Compay' is saturated in a bluesy atmosphere, melding this with downtempo electronica. 'I'm Leaving Home' is a lackadaisical, whispered slice of reflective chill out. The title track is South American exoticism, canned and then opened on record. A huge talent diving deeper into sonic possibilities, and following what sounds good rather than familiar.

Review: An incredible roster is drafted for this very rare rethink and revisitation of work by the mighty Dutch oddities ZEA, a band most probably won't be too familiar with, and, as a quick Google will tell you, are definitely not ZE:A, a South Korean boy band who make decidedly more chart friendly (in South East Asia at least) forms of music. Instead, these Netherlanders are known for their Kraut, kosmische, post punk, DIY electro stylings, and those building blocks make for some excellent reworking courtesy of a cast from various sites of steeped musical heritage. Andy Moor (The Ex, Amsterdam), Desmond Denker, Phanton, and Begritty (Cologne), Yurke (Dusseldorf), Istari Lasterfahrer (Hamburg), Dubby King Knarf (Knarf Rellom, Hamburg) all offer their own takes on that which was already difficult to describe, making for a strange and beguiling collection which is impossible to say no to.

Review: Music From Dreams is a label that never fails to live up to its name. Next to soundtrack your gentle passage from awake to whatever comes next is The Zenmenn and John Moods. The Zenmenn debuted on this label back in April 2021 with Entry The Zenmenn which showed off their beat-making credentials. Not much else is known about them and the same can be said of John Moods. What we do know is that they make superbly horizontal music together as is demonstrated here. These are lush instrumental tracks that lean on folk, soft and yacht rock to help you empty your mind of all woes.

Review: Coming out of the Ramones' school of punk pioneers, The Zeros are one of a long list of forgotten gems who were essential in laying the groundwork for the genre and culture that still causes so much derision to this day. Titled after the flip of their 1977 debut single, Don't Push Me Around offers a complete crash course of the band's most vital recordings, captured on one definitive compilation. Vintage studio takes, singles, B-sides and demos all rub shoulders here, boasting some of their most timeless bangers from 'Wimp to 'Wild Weekend' and of course, the now infamous 'Beat Your Heart Out', known for the band's opting to fill an entire San Francisco live set with nothing but the same cut eight times in a row.

Review: The Zodiac's Cosmic Sounds is an album from November 1967 that very much reinvented the psychedelic rock blueprint. The basic idea for it was one by Elektra Records head honcho Jac Holzman who was inspired by the commercial success of the debut album from The Doors which was released on his label. He enlisted some top people to get involved with the record from composer Mort Garson to lyrics written by Jacques Wilson via produciton from Alex Hassilev of The Limeliters. Lots of spaced out Moog sounds define the record and some interspersed folk poems add another edge entirely.

Review: During the making of Arkhon, her ninth solo album as Zola Jesus, Nika Roza Danilova found herself in the middle of an almost crippling creative block. Listening to the album, you'd never know. Crafted with the help of a small number of hand-picked collaborators (producer Randall Dunn and drummer/percussionist Matt Chamberlain included), it's a confident, ear catching and constantly invigorating set, with Danilova's trademark vocals seemingly soaring above backing tracks that, while rooted in the darker and more atmospheric end of electronic pop, defy simple categorization. Highlights are plentiful, with our picks including the percussion-laden power pop builds of 'The Fall', the alternately dreamy and breathlessly intense 'Into The Wild', the tactile, slow-build opener 'Lost' and heart-aching piano ballad 'Desire'.