Shane’s Rock Challenge: SILENT NOISE – 1986 – Whole Lotta Love 12” Single By Shane Pinnegar 1/10 A clumsy, heavy-handed early attempt to mix rap and rock, this diabolically bad 12” vinyl single contains few clues as to who was actually involved – producer ‘Mario T’ comes up with no hits through Google, though there’s […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: DREAD ZEPPELIN – 1990 – Un-Led-Ed By Shane Pinnegar 8/10 It’s the stupidest idea in rock history, but for one album it worked perfectly: take a Led Zeppelin tribute band. Have them play the songs in a Rasta reggae style. Top it all off with a chubby Elvis impersonator named Tortelvis. Madness. […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: SLADE – 1972 – Slade Alive! By Shane Pinnegar 9/10 Given the incredible amount of hits Slade had through the ’70’s, it’s a little surprising to see the track listing for their 1972 live offering Slade Alive! No less than 4 of the 7 tracks are covers, ranging from the blistering blues […]
![Shane’s Rock Challenge: Hard-Ons – 2005 – Live At The KKK Rally [Tour CD Single]](https://i0.wp.com/100percentrock.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Hard-Ons-Live-at-the-KKK-Rally-2005-cover.jpg?resize=250%2C200&ssl=1 "Shane’s Rock Challenge: Hard-Ons – 2005 – Live At The KKK Rally [Tour CD Single]")
Shane’s Rock Challenge: Hard-Ons – 2005 – Live At The KKK Rally [Tour CD Single] By Shane Pinnegar 7.5/10 Released to celebrate the Punchbowl band’s 21st anniversary celebrations, Blackie and Ray enlisted their former vocalist/drummer – and primary school friend – Keish to sing on this super-low-budget hand-drawn-and-photocopied-cover two-tracker. There Goes One Of The Creeps […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: STEVE JONES – Mercy By Shane Pinnegar 4.5/10 The cover of the former Sex Pistol’s debut solo album is stark white, with a black & white rendered picture of Jones, hair flying out, denim jacket on, bashing out a chord on his guitar, whilst on the back cover he reclines, guitar in […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: The Angels – 1987 – Liveline By Shane Pinnegar 10/10 Folks talk in hushed tones of the hallowed nature of live albums like Lizzy’s Live & Dangerous, Maiden’s Live After Death, UFO’s Strangers In The Night and so on – albums that were more than just live documents, but were career-defining statements, […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: MANIC STREET PREACHERS – 1998 – This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours By Shane Pinnegar 7.5/10 This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours features Manic Street Preachers first UK #1 with the wordy If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next. It’s a classy song – more pop than ever […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: THE ALMIGHTY – 1993 – Powertrippin’ By Shane Pinnegar 7.5/10 These Scottish greaseballs had delivered two full studio albums by this stage, performing solidly enough for Polydor to pick them up and give them a push, including scoring them the opening slot on Iron Maiden’s Donington Park 1992 Monsters Of Rock festival. […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: THE ANGELS – No Exit By Shane Pinnegar 7/10 With Vanda & Young leaving the band to self-produce their third album alongside Mark Opitz, (the former Easybeats are credited as ‘Production Consultants’), they couldn’t quite match the sheer power and quality of their previous effort. Once again, there’s some great songs on […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: THE ANGELS – 1980 – Dark Room By Shane Pinnegar 8.5/10 There’s no standout classic amongst The Angels’ early albums, but Dark Room is at least as good as the rest of them, even if it doesn’t have as many immediate slam dunks as, say, Face To Face. Somehow they combine their […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: THE ANGELS – 1977 – The Angels By Shane Pinnegar 6/10 Having formed in Adelaide as The Moonshine Jug & String Band in 1970, renamed themselves The Keystone Angels around 1974 and swung a support slot with AC/DC, The Angels were snapped up by producers Vanda & Young and brought into Alberts […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: SARAYA – 1989 – Saraya By Shane Pinnegar 6.5/10 Love Has Taken It’s Toll must be one of the great debut singles – and also one of the most criminally underappreciated. A bluesy stomp with echoes of Led Zeppelin, locked down and ready for action with Sandi Saraya’s gorgeously honeyed vocals front […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: LED ZEPPELIN – 1982 – Coda By Shane Pinnegar 7/10 A Coda is a little bit of music tacked onto the end of a larger piece – a musical epilogue, if you like – a section that “brings a piece of music to an end.” Led Zeppelin’s Coda is a collection of […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: JOHN LEE HOOKER – 1995 – Chill Out By Shane Pinnegar 7/10 John Lee Hooker was 78 years old when he made Chill Out, and would be the second last studio album he’d make in a career featuring over 100 records. It wasn’t his most vibrant or resonant collection, but Chill Out […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: JASON & THE SCORCHERS – 1985 – Lost & Found By Shane Pinnegar 10/10 Back in the 80’s the lines were very clearly delineated: rock was rock, country was country, and the two simply didn’t mix. Until Jason Ringenberg and The Scorchers came swaggering out of the barn, cowboy boots crunching on […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: Saints Of The Underground – 2008 – Love The Sin, Hate The Sinner By Shane Pinnegar 8/10 What makes one album a hit and another a flop? Luck, talent, timing, songs, backing, touring, radio, fashion and more all play a part, and so many excellent records miss their shot because one or […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: AC/DC – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap By Shane Pinnegar 8.5/10 It’s hard to believe Atlantic Records in the U.S. refused to release DDDDC at the time – something they eventually paid for, the Young Brothers never ones to forget or forgive, ever. At the time the band were on the bones […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: JEBEDIAH – 1997 – Slightly Odway By Shane Pinnegar 8/10 By late ’97 I was working as Head Chef of a little café/restaurant in the French Alps called L’Office, in the shadow of the mighty Mont Blanc. Good new music – rock music – was slim on the ground in a country […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: KISS – 1985 – Asylum By Shane Pinnegar 6/10 Has any band had so many glorious highs and embarrassing lows? The Animalize/Asylum period saw Gene Simmons off playing movie star and businessman and sleaze (a role not particularly new to him), leaving Stanley and the hired help – in this case drummer […]
Shane’s Rock Challenge: DESTROY SHE SAID – 2013 – No Church CD single By Shane Pinnegar 10/10 Two songs can sometimes pack all the punch of most bands’ complete albums, as evidenced by the thunderous growl of Melbourne’s Destroy She Said as they rail like a rabid AC/DC at god botherers and religious door knockers […]
