Albums of the Year

Hey. Sorry about the long delay, just getting shit together such as projects for uni and other busy doings. So anyway here's my personal top 50 albums of this year.

1. Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue
2. Mastodon - Crack The Skye
3. Brand New - Daisy
4. Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything To Nothing
5. Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
6. Karnivool - Sound Awake
7. Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg
8. Porcupine Tree - The Incident
9. Silversun Pickups - Swoon
10. In Case of Fire - Align The Planets
11. Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions
12. 30 Seconds To Mars - This Is War
13. Inme - Herald Moth
14. Hurt - Goodbye To The Machine
15. CKY - Carver City
16. Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers
17. A Place To Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
18. Alberta Cross - Broken Side of Time
19. Future Of The Left - Travels With Myself And Another
20 Mew - No More Stories / Are Told Today / I'm Sorry / They Washed Away // No More Stories / The World Is Grey / I'm Tired / Let's Wash Away
21. Metric - Fantasies
22. Gallows - Grey Britain
23. Alexisonfire - Old Crows/Young Cardinals
24. Taking Back Sunday - New Again
25. Dream Theater - Black Clouds and Silver Linings
26. Billy Talent - III
27. Ghost Of A Thousand - New Hopes, New Demonstrations
28. Killswitch Engage - Killswitch Engage
29. Fightstar - Be Human
30. Architects - Hollow Crown
31. Thursday - Common Existence
32. The Used - Artwork
33. Kevin Devine - Brother's Blood
34. Telegraphs - We Were Ghosts
35. AFI - Crash Love
36. Polar Bear Club - Chasing Hamburg
37. Horrors - Primary Colors
38. Paramore - Brand New Eyes
39. Johnny Foreigner - Grace And The Bigger Picture
40. MC Lars - This Gigantic Robot Kills
41. Weezer - Raditude
42. Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
43. Boxer Rebellion - Union
44. Bats - Red In Tooth and Claw
45. Muse - The Resistance
46. Enter Shikari - Common Dreads
47. Placebo - Battle For The Sun
48. Mars Volta - Octahedron
49. Frank Turner - Poetry of The Deed
50. Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown

And the top 5 worst albums go to...

1. U2 - No Line on The Horizon
2. Marilyn Manson - High End of Low
3. Papa Roach - Metamorphosis
4. Creed - Full Circle
5. Blackout - Best In Town

This weeks records

Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions

So the long await is now over for our favourite scotsmen and once again they have delivered an exceptionally great record. The only problem I have is I still seem to prefer Puzzle making this a sort of anti climax. But the songs will eventually sink in at one point, so for now I'll say thumbs up Biffy.



Weezer - Raditude

It actually took me quite a while to completely dig this album fully especially after the excellent Red Album but thankfully most of the songs have clicked. "Put Me Back Together" is just another reminder of how fondly we all love Weezer. Also "Tripping Down The Freeway" and "In The Mall" are personal highlights.



Dead Confederate - Wrecking Ball

A recent discovery for me and I have to say this is a fine display of alt rock at its best. They have a very Manchester Orchestra vibe going on which is always pleasing to the ears. We can only hope for more material to surface.



Johnny Foreigner - Grace And The Bigger Picture

Having been slightly weary about them when they first came onto the scene, looking further into their music has helped me realise how interesting their sound is. With more happy jangly guitars in place, this certainly was worth a purchase and for the most part, an enjoyable record.



Orko - Creating Short Fiction

Yet another scottish act in stock with the cost of only two pounds from Banquet Records, it was an interesting purchase to say the least. The sound is very Biffy Clyro-esque but with a lot of atmosphere to add. Having released this in 2006, they have gone no further but however they have some upcoming shows hinting a sign of new material on the way.

Top 50 albums of the decade

So it seems that the time has come for everyone to reflect back and choose their finest albums. But rather do several hundred, I'm just gonna keep this nice and simple and pick 50 of the most awe inspring albums from the last 10 years.

1. Fair To Midland - Fables from a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True
2. Muse - Origin Of Symmetry
3. Deftones - White Pony
4. Mastodon - Blood Mountain
5. Tool - 10,000 days
6. Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth
7. Queens of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf
8. Incubus - Morning View
9. System Of A Down - Mezmerize/Hypnotize
10. Death From Above 1979 - You're A Woman, I'm A Machine
11. Wolfmother - Wolfmother
12. Biffy Clyro - Infinity Land
13. Finch - Say Hello To Sunshine
14. Nine Black Alps - Everything Is
15. Subways - Young For Eternity
16. Machine Head - The Blackening
17. Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Of Me
18. The Datsuns - The Datsuns
19. Alexisonfire - Crisis
20. Alkaline Trio - Crimson
21. Rise Against - The Sufferer and The Witness
22. Audioslave - Audioslave
23. Cooper Temple Clause - Kick Up The Fire, And Let The Flames Break Loose
24. Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
25. Silversun Pickups - Carnavas
26. Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
27. Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet
28. Reuben - In Nothing We Trust
29. Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness
30. Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Rodrigo Y Gabriela
31. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
32. Hurt - Vol 1
33. Mogwai - Mr Beast
34. Hold Steady - Boys And Girls In America
35. Oceansize - Frames
36. Killswitch Engage - As Daylight Dies
37. The Music - Welcome To The North
38. Emanuel - Soundtrack To A Headrush
39. Billy Talent - Billy Talent
40. Mammal - The Majority
41. Thrice - The Artist In The Ambulance
42. People In Planes - Beyond The Horizon
43. Weezer - The Red Album
44. Enter Shikari - Take To The Skies
45. Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue
46. Fightstar - Grand Unification
47. Funeral For A Friend - Hours
48. Lostprophets - Start Something
49. Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything To Nothing
50. Linkin Park - Meteora

Missed out a load of artists but still that sums up the decade for me.

This weeks records

Foo Fighters - Greatest Hits

Possibly a pointless purchase on my behalf, but being a Dave Grohl fanboy I thought I would treat it more like a collector's item. Besides the new tracks "Wheels" and "Word Forward" are decent enough as well. Bring on Them Crooked Vultures album in 8 days!!



Karnivool - Sound Awake

This by far is THE definition of fucking awesome! It ticks all the boxes in what I'm looking for in music. It's diverse, it's progressive and it has its heavy moments. Yet another great export from Australia.



Horse The Band - Desperate Living

Oh the joys of trips to London. As part of our exhibition trip, we were treated to a mini tour of London which led us to a very underground part bombarded with record stores. Best still there were several cheap CDS on offer. This was by far my prize purchase of the day. Having only been out for a month, I was thrilled to find it for £3. As for the music, it's what Horse do. Nintendocore FTW!!!



Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward

Part of the reason for me getting this was due to reading one of the blogs I follow (I put on my worried shoes a.k.a Joel Paynter) explaining about the release of ex-BYOP vocalist Jemina Pearl releasing a solo record. It then reminded me how good the band were and seeing as how I saw their final album "Get Awkward" for £3, who could say no??



Test Icicles - For Screening Purposes Only

Despite being a very short lived band, they sure made a hella racket for just one album. In conjunction with this purchase, I was told that former member Dev Hynes a.k.a Lightspeed Champion was walking round the same street we were exploring. Oh how proud he would felt to know that people are still buying his records.



The Boxer Rebellion - Exits

And the winner for the lowest price purchase goes to said album. Having bought their latest album only last week I was thrilled to find this in another record store after our tour had concluded. It definitely is my most prefered record from the band especially at £1.



Cooper Temple Clause - See This Through And Leave

So our record searching concluded of all places at HMV. But this HMV is definitely one of the best I've come across in London and I was surpised to find Cooper Temple Clause's first record here as I was pretty sure this was out of print. But for £9, it was definitely worth it considering this is their best album by a long shot.

Last weeks records

Hey guys sorry about the belated update. I've just been meddling with the other PC due to looking at unsuitable websites har har har :P

Anywayz...



Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg

This has definitely met my expectations and by far a contender for album of the year. I really don't get the hate for them though. It all seems to relate to the whole copying of Led Zeppelin's sound. Whilst they do list them as an influence, I don't think they whole heartedly rip them off. A good example of that is Black Mountain.



Atreyu - Congregation of The Damned

Mediocre at best. It seems they don't really want to progress into a fresh sound that they developed on their last record (which I was possibly one out a few people who liked it). The song "Gallows" is pretty good but I do miss the whole teenage angst anthems you would find on "The Curse".



Paradise Lost - Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us

Suprisingly good record. Theres a great sense of epic feel beyond this band. They make suitable night time music purely for their atmosphere.



The Boxer Rebellion - Union

Very nicely done and certainly worth the hype. In fact it was definitely worth getting for only £7. The only problem with this record is that I had a listen to their debut "Exits" which sounds a lot heavier in comparison with Union. But this is still worthy of a listen. Very Muse-esque in some ways.



Secret Machines - Secret Machines

I was slightly cynical about this album but it was £3 in fopp so why the hell not?? It's struck me as some of the best work I've heard from them suprisingly. Quite an underrated band as well, only remembered about them last year.





The Scare - Chivalry

Been tracking this down for a while and finally glad I found it in Rough Trade under the OZ/NZ section haha. After buying this, I was wondering what the guys were up to and to my suprise they have a new record named "Oozevoodoo" which like Chivalry also sounds very rocking.



Willy Mason - If The Ocean Gets Rough

Another bargain I found in fopp. This certainly is a nice chilled record and I can only hope for more material from young Willy. Ho Ho Ho

This week's records

Fu Manchu - Signs of Infinite Power

This record sort of took me by suprise as I only heard it would be coming out a couple of weeks beforehand. But it's good solid stoner rock and roll in the same vein of Queens of The Stone Age. Unsuprisingly, their bassist Scott Reeder was in Kyuss whom Josh Homme was their guitarist.



Rammstein - Leibe Ist Fur Alle Da

A little concerned about this one after hearing the god awful (but hilarious at the same time) single "Pussy". The album as a whole actually isn't too bad and has restored a little credibility for the band but still isn't a patch on their earlier material and lacks the catchy choruses that can be heard in "Keine Lust" and "Mann Gagen Mann".

I thought it would be ideal to post up what records I have been buying over the past weeks seeing as how I'm now pretty much an avid record collector.





A Place To Bury Strangers - Exploding Head

Have to say, this definitely is a progressive masterpiece. Their first album was awesome and they still haven't managed to dissapoint. I can't understand why publications like Kerrang and NME have written it off. Maybe because they can't handle that it's not artificially made :P



Japandroids - Post-Nothing

The irony of this was on the way to Rough Trade, Matt Hurst (a person on my course) were discussing this band and so I felt more than a bit excited to find it for a rather reasonable price. It was fifteen fucking quid when I saw it in HMV. But the music itself is very good and has encouraged to look further into the noise pop scene more.



Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary

I was a little curious about this one. They've had a lot of buzz recently since their reformation and so the reissues of their first two albums have come back into life. I have to say it's not bad at all and can see myself giving this a few more spins. There seemed to be quite a lot of great bands from the original emo wave. Contenders for the next ATP curated by Pavement?



Jesus Lizard - Goat

Yet another reissue and by a band I've been meaning to obtain material from for ages. I'm hooked!! This really does sound like a straight forward thinking record ahead of its time. Now I can see where bands such as Future of The Left and Pulled Apart By Horses get their influence from. "Seasick" seems to be the one song that sticks out and "Mouth Breather" also deserves a worthy mention.



Tubelord - Our First American Friends

Got this from the lovely people at Banquet Records seeing as how the corporate nazis at HMV didn't appear to stock it. But yeah, it's a solid record and it makes me happy to know these guys don't live too far away from me so that's one good local band in the bag even if the sound isn't too different from their contemporary plas Dananananakroyd but that's certainly not a low point.

Porcupine Tree

So on friday I paid a visit to the HMV Apollo in Hammersmith for one good reason. To watch one of the most innovative and underrated bands this country has given birth to. But before all of that, first to come was support from Engineers, a very visual and interesting alternative act. Their music transformed much better live than on record considering the sound was incredible it almost made my phone drop out of my pocket.

But now for the opening act Porcupine Tree who prepared a lot of suprises in advance. First of all no recorded footage was allowed resulting in automatic ejection if anyone was found using such property. Secondly one noticeable feature was this was an all seated gig dating back to the days of Pink Floyd where you take in the music without the hassle of being injured. And finally we had the privilege of watching a performance of latest album "The Incident", a progressive masterpiece.

Following that, they took a 10 min break whilst hypnotising us with a digital countdown. They came back to perform a handful of tunes from their extensive discography. Personal highlights included "Anthesize" and "Normal". Their frontman Steve Wilson seemed to provide a suprisingly good sense of humour when declaring the tree does not take song requests from fans. The set closed with "Trains" rounding off perhaps one of the best gigs of this year so far.

Blogs

Just to be aware I have another blog entitled deathtothnme.blogspot.com. Except I can't seem to sign in to it anymore :S

Reading Festival 2009

READING FESTIVAL 2009

Friday
Dananananaykroyd – To kick off this year’s festival was a band whose name is an absolute horror to announce. Forgetting that, Dananananaykroyd’s quirky mix of indie and screamo was the perfect way to open up the NME tent. They weren’t short of any members either considering they comprised of two vocalists, two guitarists, one bassist and two drummers!! The crowd seemed larger than expected but this could have been due to the torrential drizzle outside. Using as much energy as they possibly could, they rallied through their short set with the highlights including “Black Wax”, “Pink Sabbath” and “Some Dresses”. A fun way to start off the day. (8/10)

Manchester Orchestra – Next up were a band that have created more than a buzz this year. Hailing from Atlanta, Manchester Orchestra’s alternative rock vibes have been much appreciated by almost every publication. Their 30 minute set consisted only of songs from their fantastic latest album “Mean Everything To Nothing”. Taking to the stage, Andy Hull and co. opened up with “Shake It Out” which despite lasting longer than 5 minutes, all eyes were focused throughout the song. What followed was “Pride”, “I’ve Got Friends” and my favourite song of the year so far “In My Teeth” with seductive vocals from Andy. Another noticeable feature was their headbanging keyboardist, a more than hilarious sight to watch. They went on to perform the title track of their latest album and closed with the magnificent “River”. A truly great set especially so early on in the day. (9/10)
Alexisonfire – The first out of two sets for the Canadian post-hardcore mob, Alexisonfire were determined to create havoc on the main stage. Having played last year, an improvement was expected due to their latest album “Old Crows/Young Cardinals” being nothing short of amazing. And so they opened with the killer track “Young Cardinals” which is now their signature tune. “Boiled Frogs”, “This Could Be Anywhere In The World” and “We Are The Sound” were my personal highlights. The downside of the set was due to the poor sound occupying the main stage. Nevertheless, they did the best they could including frontman George Petit encouraging the crowd to shout as loud as they could. Like the previous year they closed with “Accidents”. A good performance overall, but the set could have been a lot better. (7/10)

The Airborne Toxic Event – To the NME tent where one of America’s finest indie bands were to take stage. Their stage presence was outstanding and they felt so happy to finally have the chance to play the festival. Their sound consisted of The Strokes meets Arcade Fire and this proved to go down more than just well. “Papillion” and “Gasoline” were extremely well received by the crowd. But it was only when they played “Sometime Until Midnight” that the crowd were jumping around. A raw mix of guitars and violins proved a positive contribution to the festival. (8/10)

Funeral For A Friend – It’s been a rough ride for Welsh rockers Funeral For A Friend, but on the verge of their forthcoming greatest hits album, they were in for the biggest shock of their career. They opened their set with the fantastic new single “Wrench” despite having to battle with the horrendous conditions. “Roses For The Dead” and “Juneau” followed. But it was not until “All The Rage” that the torrential rain got the better of them eventually leading to the main stage sound completely cutting out. Now everything felt like an all time low. The crowd were constantly cheering to lighten up the spirits but that seemed to fade when the band had to leave the stage. However all was not lost when they returned for a soundcheck. As soon as you could hear the sound of a guitar, once again everything was up and running. And to celebrate, they unleashed all time favourite “She Drove Me To Daytime Television”. They went on to play more old favourites in the form of “Art of American Football” and “Escape Artists Never Die”. Another new song “No Honour Among Thieves” was warmly received. They concluded their set with “Into Oblivion (Reunion)” reflecting on the fact that the set was full of confusion and excitement and thankfully managing to triumph over what could have potentially been a performance coming to a stand still. (9/10)

Deftones – Next up were a band that have been mostly anticipated to return onto UK soil. However missing from the band was bassist Chi Cheng, still recovering from his horrific car crash back in November. So an extra special performance was required. Taking to the stage, they opened with “Fietciera” where a load of cheers awaited frontman Chino Moreno. Following that was “My Own Summer (Shove It)”, possibly my favourite song of all time thus being a privilege to hear it played live. Next up followed “Hexagram”, a song that demonstrates just how well Chino can hold his screams in one place. But eventually the set progressed more into the melodic side of things. “RX Queen” and “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)” had an exceptional response. “Change (The House of Flies)” went completely off the Richter scale in terms of musicianship. Then they did the unthinkable. They closed their set with a song that they have openly said they hated and beforehand the chances of hearing it were next to nothing. And that song was “Back to School”, one of the most well known hits to date for the band. Overall, an excellent set proving them as one of the driving forces for rock/metal. (9/10)

Jack Penate – What followed next was a tense wait in the NME tent to save a decent spot for the headliners Faith No More. It meant that I had to put my open minded cap on and endure the acts prior. First up was Jack Penate, perhaps one of the worst artists currently involved in the yawn inducing NME fads. It was hit or miss whether he could spring a surprise but the performance was incredibly lukewarm. Opening song “Second, Minute or Hour” was catchy enough but that’s as good as it was going to get. Other songs that were just about bearable included “Spit at Stars” and “Tonight’s Today”. Everything else just dragged on for way too long and the music contained little diversity so the packed out tent made me think how anyone could like this drivel. The highlight of the entire set was when he uttered the famous words, “This will be my last song”. (4/10)

Florence and The Machine – Just when I thought the line up couldn’t get any worse, I was proven wrong. Yet again, the tent was packed rock solid to the rafters. Enter Florence and The Machine, a woman who seemed to care more about fashion than her music. Granted, the songs did have a slight semi-charm making the sound a bit more theatrical. “Kiss With A Fist” was perhaps the only song worth listening without the fear of having an ear infection. It just felt that this type of music was too overly produced and way too commercial for my liking, thus not having a suitable place at the festival. We also learned that it was her birthday and on stage stood a large box. It appeared to be a large klaxon which even she thought was a random choice for a present. But at least it gave her a lot of fun which led to the next song “Drumming Song”, in which she replied, “I fucking love this thing.” How charming. Now fuck off and don’t come back to Reading again. (5/10)

Friendly Fires – At festivals, it’s always good to find bands you weren’t exactly sure about in the first place, then witnessing them live can change your opinion for the better. This is the exact situation Friendly Fires landed in. Whilst not being a huge fan on record, maybe catching them live could serve them justice. The first recognisable tune was “Jump In The Pool”, a song that received a million cheers due to its very atmospheric theme. “Skeleton Boy” was a very enjoyable dancey tune and by this point there was a full house in the tent. What I loved was how there was great musicianship, particularly in the area of indie which they are lumped into. Most of the songs had a very Rapture-esque feel which is a never bad thing in my books. New song “Kiss of Life” sounded very tribal and raw. They closed the set with a song I wasn’t familiar with entitled “Ex Lover” but it just happened to be the best tune of their performance. It showed they were capable of writing decent material rather than what you’re used to hearing on the radio. (7/10).

Jamie T – Next up was an artist that on occasions has his moments, but from most of the material I have listened to, I was hoping for the songs to at least transform better live. And indeed, they sounded a lot different than usual but this due to the fact he had a live band performing with him. “Salvador” had a more up tempo beat and “Calm Down Dearest” sounded a lot better than on record due to the fact there was no symphony in the background. However the set took a change for the worse where the songs became a slow constant bore. New song “Chaka Demus” sounded average at best whilst despite a mass sing along occurring, songs such as “If You Got The Money” and “Shiela” just were so uninspiring it caused one to drop off. He then announced that as part of the set he had to cut out a 7 minute symphony, a momentous occasion considering it would be too time consuming. He left the worst till last in the form of “Sticks and Stones”. As if he couldn’t lose any more credibility, he achieved it by climbing up the tower situated next to the stage only to fall back into the crowd. (6/10).

Faith No More – The wait was finally over. Faith No More were by a far stretch the most diverse band you would find at Reading. There is absolutely nothing to fault about them, and just like last year with Rage Against The Machine, this was the must see band of the festival. But unfortunately, judging by the crowd, it appeared everyone had buggered off to watch Kings Of Selling Out. On the more positive side of things, it meant that the performance could be witnessed by a very appreciative crowd. Opening up their set with “Midnight Cowboy”, you could almost sense that this was a band ready to challenge their audience. What followed was “From Out of Nowhere”, the first real rocking track to which the power of Mike Patton’s incredible vocal range was unleashed. This progressed into “Be Aggressive”, a funk metal classic which now showcased bassist Bill Gould’s talent. The performance evidently would turn out to be more special than expected. It gave the band a chance to interact with the crowd, something they would have been too afraid to accomplish at their main stage headline slot at Download. The first surprise occurred when during “Malpractice” they abruptly changed tempo to perform a hilarious cover of the theme tune to Eastenders. You could tell they were back to their unpredictable ways. Following this was their classic cover “Easy”, a great chance to take a breather from all the crunching riffs. Things were back in shape when they performed the magnificent “Midlife Crisis” gathering a mass singalong towards the end. The crowd were rewarded with a second rendition of the Eastenders theme before plunging back into the chorus. Then came “Epic”, their biggest hit to date which even the average attendee could recognise. But it was not until the end of “RV” that Mike Patton really took it to his advantage to control the audience by encouraging them to keep in time with the vocals and rythmn. This was done by Mike pointing a stick directing the change of pace, even to the point of embarrassing the crowd unintentionally. But when he was eventually satisfied with the results, they walked off the stage only to come back for a two-song encore. The set closed with the incredible “Land of Sunshine”, a track featuring demonic laughter, the perfect way to celebrate a certainly twisted performance. (10/10)

Saturday

Dinosaur Pile Up – Today was a chance to explore the more intimate side of Reading. Rising bright and early were Leeds three piece Dinosaur Pile Up. Having played the BBC introducing stage last year, a promotion to the NME stage seemed well deserved. They opened their set with “Summer Hit Single” which was perfect timing due to the sun shining outside. Without the release of an album, they sure managed to make the most out of the material they were playing. Other recognisable tunes included “Traynor” and “My Rock And Roll”. The highlight of the set was when their frontman explained about their shitty camping experience and how somebody who camped next to them asked for disco rickets. Something that would have been more appropriate during the 70’s. Aside from this, good start to the day. (8/10).

Polar Bear Club – Next came my first trip to the lock up to see perhaps one of the best new bands at this current moment. Polar Bear Club’s raw post hardcore/punk rock sound is something that cannot be matched. One noticeable feature was how tiny their frontman looked and yet how well his voice projected. Their set opened with “Eat Dinner, Bury The Dog And Run” and already their fans down the front were going mad for them. Despite not being a popular band, their set was full of songs that were all memorable. “Another Night In The Rock” and “Burned Out In A Jar” were exceptional highlights. They went onto perform new song “Living Saints” taken from their forthcoming album “Chasing Hamburg” gaining the best reception of the set. They concluded with fan favourite “Our Ballads” causing the crowd to frantically mosh. Excellent performance from a band that deserve a lot more recognition. (9/10)

Spinerette – Back to the NME tent now for ex-Distillers frontwoman Brody Dalle’s new side project to take stage. Rather than the usual punk rock you would normally hear from her, she has now adopted a more alternative vibe in the same vein as The Pixies. And it paid off quite well as it was great to hear her more melodic singing rather than the rough vocals you were exposed to hearing in the early days. Whilst not overly familiar with the songs, at least there was a great deal of people coming to witness her return to the festival. The noticeable tracks ironically became the last two tracks of the set. “Baptized by Fire” sounded a lot different live than on record purely because the drums became more clear. The final track “Ghetto Love” was also different but incredibly enjoyable to say the least. A not too shabby set. (7/10)

Metric – One of Canada’s finest alternative rock bands were up next. The set opened with “Help I’m Alive”, one of a handful of tracks to be played from the critically acclaimed album “Fantasies”. During the course of the set, you could tell the musicianship was near on perfect. Tracks such as “Gimme Me Sympathy” and “Sick Muse” had very euphoric pop vibes but were delivered with charm and intelligence. They then stepped up a gear to play one of their well known songs “Monster Hospital”, a hard rocking belter. The set closed with perhaps the best track off their latest album, “Stadium Love”. The sounds of keyboards were a delightful pleasure to my ears. All that can be said is top notch performance. (8/10).

Patrick Wolf – If the rumours of Them Crooked Vultures were true, wading through Patrick Wolf was never going to be a pleasant experience. Taking to stage looking like an absolute pillock, he opened with “Vulture” a very electro sounding record. For the amount of time he was allocated, it felt he was walking into the crowd more than actually performing on stage. His music may have been diverse, but it really did bore me to tears. At one point just before “Hard Times”, he dedicated the song to “people who fucking hate the world and hate themselves”. It appeared he was asking for a pledge for sympathy. Well Mr Wolf, you ain’t getting it. (5/10)

Them Crooked Vultures – Over the past month or so, there had been on going speculation about possibly the most exciting project to happen in music for a while. The band comprises Queens of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and the legendary Foo Fighters frontman and Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Because this performance hadn’t been listed on the original schedule it wasn’t suprising that so many people had come so far to witness a very special occasion. Prior to the performance it was noticeable a large drum kit appeared on stage giving away yet another hint. At long last, the heroes of rock and roll took to stage to be warmly greeted and receiving tons of cheers. However the band have not released any studio material so it was just a case of sitting back and taking in the music all at once. The sound wasn’t too far off from the usual QOTSA we’re used to hearing but it was an absolute joy to see these three legends on stage. It was more than likely that Dave Grohl had stolen the show despite having no words to say and just grinning for the majority of the set. It was definitely one of the worst kept secrets in a long while but it sure made the festival a lot more special than expected. (10/10)

Rival Schools – Having to wade through the huge crowd from TCV, I was thankful the lock up wasn’t too far away from the NME tent. Again more legends took to stage, but only on a very miniscule level. Rival Schools are one of the pioneers of the genre post-hardcore so without a doubt felt very happy to play a part in this year’s festival. With only one album on their hands, the majority of the set consisted of “United By Fate”. “Travel By Telephone” sounded incredible live and the fans felt very appreciative as well. However they took the time to play three new songs which went down a storm and already made me look forward to hearing the new album. But it was they who broke the news of the recent split on Oasis where frontman Walter Schreifels asked the crowd if they were unhappy to which a delightful “NO” was answered back clearly showing Oasis were never favourites amongst the average Reading goer. The highlight of the set was when the band concluded with their most famous song “Used For Glue”, causing the best mosh pits to be witnessed all day. A great performance overall. (8/10)

65daysofstatic – It was off to the Festival Republic stage to witness something a little different. 65daysofstatic added to the variety by being the only post rock band to play the fest, a genre consisting of no vocals. Their stage set up was incredible. While having no words to say whatsoever, they literally tore down the stage to a packed audience. Their contribution of heavy electro rock was completely flawless and just watching them had already made me a fan. I could see where all the hype had come from in the first place and it really did pay off. Absolutely mind blowing. (9/10)

Atreyu – Out of the only two metalcore bands playing, one of them happened to be very talented, the other appealed more to scene children brought up on Kerrang. The former being Atreyu and the latter being Bring Me The Horizon. The obvious choice was Atreyu having been waiting so long to catch them live and the wait was certainly worthwhile. The first track to ring alarms was “Right Side of The Bed”. At this point the circle pits became more intense, particularly for the size of the stage. “Doomsday”, “Becoming The Bull” and “Ex’s and Oh’s” couldn’t have sounded any better live. They then took the time out to play a brand new song from forthcoming album “Congregation of The Damned”. The song entitled “Bleeding Is A Luxury” hinted a return to the heavier roots they adopted prior to their recent melodic releases. They rounded off the set with the classic “Lip Gloss and Black” to which the crowd took the mayhem to a completely new level. An astounding set. (10/10).

Thursday – Despite what the clash finder had originally stated, Thursday did not begin as soon as Atreyu had finished. So this felt like a great bonus to the fest and a very worthwhile watch. Opening the set with long term fan favourite “Understanding In A Car Crash”, a very good way to get things going. The set consisted of a large proportion from latest album “Common Existence”. “Resuscitation of A Dead Man”, “Friends In The Armed Forces” and “Beyond The Visible Spectrum” were mostly acceptable. A very amusing highlight was when vocalist Geoff Rickley asked if anyone had any whiskey on them to which blank replies were received. It ended up a very sober affair. But nevertheless, they were swiftly moving through the set dedicating “Division Street”, to bands from New Jersey playing the festival including The Bouncing Souls and Gaslight Anthem. The set drew to a close with “Jett Black New Year”, a song I had never heard before but became hooked on after its breathtaking performance. An unexpected surprise. (8/10)

Rise Against – As regrettable as missing the Arctic Monkeys was, there is no excuse to be missing the melodic hardcore legends that are Rise Against. Their passionate lyrics and musicianship plays a big role about why punk is so important. The set commenced with “Collapse (Post-Amerika)” taken from their latest album “Appeal To Reason”. The fun had already started and this was by far one of the best crowds to be involved in out of the entire festival. Mass singalongs were entirely welcomed by the band as the crowd were doing just as much work vocally as they were. “Re-Education Through Labor”, “Audience Of One” and “Survive” just proved this band has so much great material to offer and how great they are at catering for their audience. The highlight of the set was “Prayer of The Refugee”, a song uniting everyone in the crowd to protest and stand their ground in something they strongly believe in. What followed next was four song encore. This included the epic “Give It All” and set closer “Ready To Fall”, a song that proved Tim McIlrath’s vocals to be so powerful, it makes me envious how anyone can develop a singing voice like his. Tremendous work. (10/10)

Sunday

Broadway Calls – The last day had come and with no lock up present, it was a good call for the Broadways to open the NME tent. Playing to a crowd which looked less than 50 people, this was definitely the most intimate show of the festival I had witnessed. Whilst not being a huge fan of the pop punk genre, Broadway Calls seemed to have an impressive style which was leaning more towards Jimmy Eat World. They were firing out songs from their latest album “Good Views, Bad News” to which positive vibes were entering my ears. The set closed with “Call It Off”. So overall, not a bad start to the day, though Broadway Calls may have not been the ideal choice for the perfect cure to a hangover. (8/10)

In Case Of Fire – It is always great to see the progression of a band from their early days of the underground to reaching a respectable position. Of course, it can go one way or another, but right now, In Case Of Fire are in safe hands. Having witnessed their performance on the Festival Republic stage, now was the time to excel onto the NME tent. The set opened with one of their older tunes, “The Cleansing”, and already a sense of excitement rose into the air. Following this was “Enemies”, a tune I’ve gradually managed to appreciate after mediocre first thoughts. Next was latest single “Parallels” which although a decent track doesn’t exactly bring the best out of what they are really capable of. The lowlight of the performance was how they managed their setlist. For example, it was their decision to play an entirely new song and whilst there is no problem with this, it felt very bizarre considering only releasing their debut album back in May. Nevermind that, they at least redeemed themselves by closing with the best song off “Align The Planets”, “Plan A”. Overall, a very satisfying performance, but an improvement in setlist managing would be much appreciated. (8/10)

Lethal Bizzle – You can raise eyebrows all you wish, but there is no denying that Lethal Bizzle really knows how to control his audience so early on in the day. With only a DJ and an MC to back him up, Bizzle made sure everything was in order. It was during “Police On My Back” (sampling a Clash song), that he was prepared to warm the crowd by encouraging them to jog as fast as they can keeping in time with the rhythm. The odd request however did go down quite a feat. The performance was laughable purely because Bizzle was looking to stir up a war between rival festival Leeds in terms of how loud the crowd was. This was tested during his new song “Going Out Tonight”, backed up midway by a “Smells Like Teen Spirit” sample to which the crowd went absolutely ballistic and by now the confirmation had come through that Reading really had won the battle. An unexpected good performance. (7/10)

Frank Turner – It has been a sin that I have not come across this man before and having missed out on three occasions, there was absolutely no excuse. The ex-Million Dead frontman’s solo work has proven him to be one of the most artistic lyricists in punk. Whilst he might not be stricitly punk, it’s certainly where his roots lie. A full band in the house, he was ready to take off in style. The first noticeable tune was “Substitute”, and already it was hard not to fall in love with his words. “Long Live The Queen” was another tune that could almost reduce a grown man to tears. But the set started to include more up tempo work and following was “The Road”, his new single from forthcoming album “Poetry Of The Dead”. Another favourite included “Reasons Not To Be An Idiot”. The highlight was when Frank encouraged the crowd to participate in a circle jig rather than a circle pit (claiming the crowd were too old for that). Indeed a hilarious obversation. Frank closed his set with “The Ballad Of Me And My Friends” gathering a mass singalong. A simply great performance and relieving to finally catch him live. (8/10)

The View – It was off to the main stage where I would be residing for the rest of the day. Despite not sounding that bad on record, the challenge of seeing them live wasn’t a turn up for the books. They looked lifeless, sounded dreary and the timing just didn’t seem right at all. Whilst songs such as “One Off Pretender” and “Temptation Dice” were passable, the rest sounded like a continuous bore that could only make one’s eyes droop. Perhaps a downgrade to the NME tent would have been more appropriate as the main stage is no place for jangly guitars. (5/10).

Brand New – By far the coolest emo band (whilst not using the term in a derogatory way) to ever exist in the history of music, Brand New were set to calm a lot of nerves. Taking to stage oh so quietly, they opened with “Sowing Season (Yeah)”, a magnificent song to get things going. What followed was “The Archers Bows Have Broken”, “Okay I believe you but my tommy gun don’t” and a sweet rendition of “Jesus”. A strike of luck arose when frontman Jesse Lacey announced that new album “Daisy” had leaked onto the internet resulting in a rouse of cheers. To celebrate, they played two fresh songs, “Gasoline” and “Bought A Bride”, hinting a return to their heavier roots. The set drew to a close with the incredible “You Won’t Know”. Slowly building up along the way it became one of the anthems for this year’s festival. A great band to save my sanity from the View’s dire performance. (8/10)

Vampire Weekend – That sanity didn’t last too long sadly. With poor choices laid out across the arena, it was best just to stick to the main stage. Unfortunately this was going to turn out into of one of the worst performances to watch at any festival I have been to. Vampire Weekend are nothing short of a pop band. Worst still, dark clouds were beginning to move across the sky. Contradiction there maybe?? Annoying vocals and poorly tuned guitars really started to grate on me making the set move on too slowly. Of course, the only tune I happen to find bearable is the one song everyone seems to like, “A-Punk”. But because of its short time length, it wasn’t long before everything was back at ground zero. There is so much wrong about this band, it would be too time consuming to go into every little detail. Commercial indie pop does not work at Reading and would find a better home at V festival. Absoulutely fucking dreadful. (3/10)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It was a relief to know that there would be no more bands to come to which I have been impartial to. While not the best of female fronted bands, Karen O really proved herself to be a charismatic frontwoman. Opening the set with “Dull Life”, we would expect some twisted elements and delightful surprises. From the heavy electro sounds of “Zero” and “Heads Will Roll” to the rockier vibes of “Gold Lion”, Yeah Yeah Yeahs showed just how diverse they were for a mainstream alternative band. But rather than play the normal version, they went for an acoustic rendition of old favourite “Maps” with the crowd rejoicing in the blissful melodies. To finish off was crowd pleaser “Date With The Night”, where at one point the band paused to strike poses standing completely still before moving back into the song. Not much can be said about the band, all you can say is they did exactly what they said on the tin. (7/10)

Bloc Party – A lazy booking on Festival Republic’s behalf, this was the third year in a row for Bloc Party (and the second to sub headline). Nevertheless, they had plenty of hit material to provide. Starting with “So Here We Are”, they already felt welcomed. An action packed set list was to follow in the form of “Hunting For Witches”, “Positive Tension” and “Talons”. The only lowlight of the set was how arrogant frontman Kele Okereke came off when suggesting “The Crowd seem to really like us” and also stating that this year’s lineup was the best yet, a statement I’d be happy to argue with. But aside from that, most of the time the set provided a lot of entertainment despite playing new single “One More Chance”, the only weak song from the list. “Banquet”, “Mercury” and “The Prayer” added to that excitement. Reading festival has a very special meaning to the band as it was here they formed and it had been learnt this was the tenth anniversary of their birth. During “Flux”, a set of lasers were set soaring across the sky adding to their effective performance. The set then closed with long time favourite “Helicopter” where the rowdiest cheers awaited the band. The band announced they wouldn’t be returning to the festival in a great while so overall it felt very fulfilling for them to go out in style. (8/10)

Radiohead – The wait was over. Radiohead have been long due to play Reading Festival and last time they did so, they were still promoting their first album “Pablo Honey”. They have come so far since then it would have been stupid not to offer them the chance of headlining. And whilst I had to live with the regret of missing AFI and Lostprophets back at the NME tent, it went on to become no great loss at all. Being unpredictable yet again, the normal screens had changed colour to which individual cameras were focusing on each member. Coming on stage, this was a band ready to break the boundaries. And even more surprising to learn about Thom Yorke’s evil sense of humour. Welcoming the crowd to a resounding “What’s Up!!!!”, they did the unthinkable and opened with “Creep”, a rarity in this day and age. Having got that out of the way, Radiohead knew all too well they had plenty of material to cater for their fans. From In Rainbows came “15 Step”, “All I Need” and “Nude”, a song that can only send shivers down one’s spine. From Hail To The Thief came “There There” and “2+2 = 5” both magnificently delivered. And of course there were the classics such as “Just”, “Karma Police” and “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” the latter being performed in dramatic fashion. They would then get their experimental side on by performing “Idioteque”, making the show feel all too magical for its own good. Just before the encore came “Bodysnatchers”, without a doubt the best track to appear on In Rainbows. In a strange turn of events when the encore was about to begin, one of the band members was refrained from taking their drink onto the stage giving the audience more than something to point and laugh at. They took the time to perform recently leaked track “These Are my Twisted Words”, a song which translated all too perfectly live. But the time had come for the epic “Paranoid Android”, a song where Thom Yorke described (in an unintelligible manner) about taking drugs. During the course of these 6 minutes, it was hard not to lose interest to perhaps one of the most innovative bands of our times. The set concluded with “Everything In Its Right Place”, where at the very end when the band deserted the stage, all you could hear was the echoes of Thom Yorke’s voice for a good few minutes, a beautiful sound to be heard. Overall, an absolutely fantastic finish and by far the best performance of the weekend. (10/10).