The Dowling Poole - Deep Breath EP (2016)

Genre - Rock / Pop / Alternative

Label - 369 Music

Track listing:

01 - Deep Breath

02 - A Kiss On The Ocean (Live Acoustic from Manchester)

03 - Paper, Scissors, Stone (Live Acoustic From Manchester)

Released very late in 2016, The Dowling Poole issued their brilliant Deep Breath EP. Once again following the formula of its two predecessor releases, Myles Checks Out and Bright Spark EP's, of featuring three tracks, one new exclusive studio cut, in this case the rather excellent 'Deep Breath', and once again two more live acoustic tracks recorded in Manchester (UK).
This time around the new studio track, 'Deep Breath', has a darker more menacing atmosphere about it, once again show casing another side of this mega talented combo's song writing. A really great track that really leaves the listener longing for album four, or at the very least, more new EP's!
The two live acoustic tracks are taken from the same session / show as the ones released on the previous two releases, once again having a brilliant sound quality and feel to them, and once again showing just how good these guys are live!
Please, Willie Dowling, Random Jon Poole and Givvi Flynn, stop teasing us and get album four underway!

Very well worth checking out!

Rating: 10/10

The Dowling Poole - Bright Spark (EP)

Genre - Pop / Psychedelic / Power-pop

Label - Self Released / 369 Music

Track listing:

01 - Bright Spark

02 - The Sun Is Mine (Acoustic Live In Manchester)

03 - Where The Memories Fester (Acoustic Live In Manchester)

Following hot on the heels of their Miles Checks Out Ep released earlier last month The Dowling Poole release the Bright Spark Ep, a new three track EP that pretty much closely follows the formula of its predecessor with one brand spanking new studio track accompanied by a further two live acoustic tracks recorded in Manchester.
First I'll briefly speak about the two live acoustic tracks. The sound quality is once again tremendous, and once again they capture the very essence and quirkiness of this outfit perfectly in their live environment, especially the little bit of banter at the beginning of Where The Memories Fester.
And as for the new studio track Bright Spark, well what can I say, maybe not as instant as Miles Checks Out or some of the groups other tracks, but an absolute stonker all the same. Musically Bright Spark has Willie Dowling written all over it, but both vocally and lyrically it feels very much like a Random Jon Poole track, especially with Random tacking the lead vocals throughout the verses.
Bright Spark, together with Miles Checks out does the tremendous job of leaving the listener longing for the group to get around to record their third studio album, please hurry, I'm loving the vibes on the new songs!

Rating: 10/10

The Dowling Poole - Miles Checks Out EP (2016)

Genre - Psychedelic Pop / Psychedelic Rock / Power Pop

Label - Self released / 369 Music

Track listing:

01 - Miles Checks Out

02 - Saving It All For Saturday (Live Acoustic From Manchester)

03 - Getting A Licence (Live Acoustic From Manchester)

Willie Dowling and Random Jon Poole return with their Dowling Poole project and a brand spanking new Ep, Miles Checks Out Ep. The Ep features one brand new studio track and two excellent live cuts taken from their live acoustic show in Manchester.
The studio track is just brilliant,  quite typical of what we have to come to expect from this rather excellent project, worth purchasing the Ep for alone. The two live acoustic tracks are recorded brilliantly, capturing the band at the hilarious best, I mean the two live songs really do capture the true essence of this project, and the sound quality is amazing, they could very well have been recorded in a studio, the sound is that good!

Well Worth Checking Out!

Rating: 9/10

Ginger Wildheart - Yoni (2016 Re-mix and Re-master)

Genre - Hard Rock / Classic Rock

Label - Round Records / Pledge Music

Track  listing:

01 - Black Windows

02 - When She Comes

03 - Holiday

04 - Smile In Denial

05 - Jake

06 - The Night I Was Born Again

07 - Why Can't You Be Normal All The Time

08 - Can't Drink You Pretty

09 - This Bed IS On Fire

10 - Save Me

11 - Wendy You're Killing Me

12 - Siberian Angel

Originally released back in 2007 and the follow up to Ginger's debut solo album Valor Del Corazon, Yoni is also being re-issued. Only this time Yoni is not only being re-mastered like Valor Del Corazon and Market Harbour, no, Yoni is also getting its long over due re-mix treatment. Once again re-mastering, and in this case re-mixing duties fall to long time Ginger producer and friend Jase Edwards, and it has to be said he has done a fantastic job here!
Firstly it has to be said that although it has always been recognised that Yoni is jam packed with brilliant songs, its production, well to be more accurate its mix, has at times come in for a little criticism. It also seemed to sound thin and well tinnie in comparison to other albums, especially when you played a track from Yoni in a playlist with other non Yoni tracks. and although I always loved many of the songs on this album I often found myself not listening to them for that particular reason. Well no  more! Jase Edwards has done a fantastic job in rebuilding the alum from the bottom up Yoni now sounds huge!
Not only is every instrument and vocal clearer and more defined, but they sound fuller, and well more powerful throughout. You finally get to hear Random Jon Poole's awesome bass playing, especially the awesome solo / run on the mid section of 'The Night I Was Born Again' and 'Why Can't You Just Be Normal All The Time'!
'Smile In Denial', always one of my favourite Ginger tracks sounds awesome as do Ginger classics like 'Black Windows' and 'When She Comes.' The new mix really brings to life the string arrangements and intricate guitar works on 'Jake'. Amazing.
To be fair you start to notice new hidden textures that had previously been buried in the mix with each and every new listen of the album.
I would hazard a guess that Yoni finally sounds as it was intended to sound, rich full and amazing!

Very highly recommended!!!!!!!

Rating: 10/10

Ginger Wildheart - G.A.S.S. Month 10 EP (2015)

Genre - Hard Rock / Classic Rock / Pop / Punk / Extreme / Alternative

Label - Self Released

 

Track listing:

01 - No One Smiled At Me Today

02 - Hot Piss

03 - Caer Urfa

 

Bonus Demos

04 - Frankenstein 2000

05 - Without Emotion

So here we are, the tenth instalment of Gingers mighty G.A.S.S. project, what a ride its been so far, and its not over yet as there are still two more instalments to come!
The first of the brand spanking new tracks this month comes in the form of No One Smiled At Me Today, (Featuring Jimmy Ashhurst – bass & vocals, Mark Gemini Thwaite – guitars & vocals, Robin Diaz – drums, Rami Jaffee – organ, Mike (Bull’s – Eye) Bowen – vocals, Kayla Parzynski – vocals). Recorded by the same line up as last months Friends Of Bill whilst Ginger was in the USA, (a line up that someone has given the name Elizebeth). This is a cracking song, a great melodic rocker, I understand why so many fans are hoping that this line up turns into something a little more permanent as there is definetly a certain chemistry there! A great song that does not disappoint.
Hot Piss is up next, a perfectly disjointed affair very much in the veins of Gingers previous Mutation projects. A great song that features the talents of  Jon Poole – bass and vocals, Denzel – drums and vocals, Chris Catalyst – guitars and vocals, Jake Adams – vocals, Jasmine Adams – vocals, Taylor Graley – vocals, Daisy Vanbergen – vocals. If you enjoyed the mutation albums or Endless Nameless by The Wildhearts you are sure to love this. Disjointed and manic but not overly distorted!
Caer Urfa closes out this months new tracks. Its a beautiful melodic track that features the talents of, Robin Guy – drums, Paul Ronney Angel – mandolin and bouzouki, Big Lou – vocals, Matt Nasir – piano, Hannah Rickard – accordion, fiddle and vocals, Kevin Vanbergen – hammond organ, Thea Brook – vocals. This is a great song that sees Ginger turning back the years lyrically, as he looks back to his early years. Another great song!

Now for this months demos:

 
This months demos are Frankenstein 2000, the last of the three songs that Ginger wrote for Alice Cooper that never got used. (The other two being Molly O Lindy and Friction In My System), and Without Emotion.

Ginger explains:

"FRANKENSTEIN 2000 – I wrote this verse about a model I was briefly seeing in Japan, called Summer, so the ‘Frankenstein’ line was originally ‘Summertime’. It was a lovely song originally, and although the relationship didn’t last long the melody stayed and I eventually used it in Save Me, on the Yoni album.
The line “but when you walked into the room the audience forgot the sound, and looked around” was absolutely true, and happened as me and Willie were playing an acoustic gig in Tokyo, and Summer walked in. I always loved that line."
and
"WITHOUT EMOTION – Matt Sorum approached me to write a song for a proposed solo album for Cherrie Currie, ex Runaways (who’s mentor, Kim Fowley, sadly passed away recently. Lovely fellow). It’s funny, all the way through our email conversations I realised Cherrie thought I was a girl. I don’t know if the male reveal lost me the gig or she didn’t like the song, but she didn’t use it anyway.
Givvi Flynn, on the other hand, sang the demo (recorded by Jase Edwards) so well that I was happy to let her record it for her solo album ‘Thieving From The Magpies Nest’."

What can I say, both of these songs are great. I actually think that I prefer Frankenstein 2000 to the song that that the melody eventually became. (Save Me). There just seems to be something magical here that I really connect with, it really is a pity that Alice didn't choose to record these three songs, or even that Ginger never chose to record them properly for that matter.
As for Without Emotion, I have always loved this song, ever since I first heard the version that Givvi recorded for her album, Thieving From The Magpies Nest! Here we get to hear how Ginger envisioned the song I guess. Its still has basically the same feel, just maybe slightly heavier guitars, buts a great song and performance. Would have been interesting to have heard Ginger on vocals though.

So once again Ginger knocks it out of the park and delivers a phenomenal product with this months instalment, although to be honest I don't think that we have had a bad instalment so far!
Just a real pity that it will all be over in two months time (for the time being anyway!)

G.A.S.S. has proved to be a huge success with Ginger so far delivering 30 brand new songs in ten months together with over 20 demo tracks, all of the highest standards and no fillers in sight!

Rating - 10/10

The Dowling Poole - Kiss On The Ocean EP (2014)

Genre - Melodic Rock / Powerpop

Label - Self Released

Track Listing:

01 - A Kiss On The Ocean

02 - Fuck You, Goodbye (Previously Unreleased)

03 - The Straw Man (Previously Unreleased)

04 - Hey Stranger (Live In Manchester)

Here we have the second official release from the excellent if rather eclectic new out fit The Dowling Poole, put together by music scene veteran's (if not legends!) Willie Dowling (of Honeycrack, Jackdaw4 and The Grip fame) and Jon Poole (of Cardiacs, The God Damn Whores, and Wildhearts fame).
This rather excellent little Ep features the title track, which is a brilliant little melodic track that even the Beatles would be proud of. This track also features on the bands debut debut album, Bleak Strategies, which was reviewed by the site previously. The other three tracks are all previously unreleased numbers, two studio tracks and one a rather touching live track, which is dedicated to legendary Cardiacs leader Tim Smith.
The two new studio tracks include, Fuck You Goodbye, a brand spanking new track written specifically for this Ep. Again this a rather melodic song, propelled along by its acoustic framework before building into quite a powerhouse of a song. Its a great track and if the bands second album is heading in this musical direction then we are all in for a treat. The other track, The Straw Man was recorded during the Bleak Strategies sessions, and for some reason left off of the album. Despite its rather dark subject matter, the nasty Jimmy Saville business, this is a great little track.
All of the songs here have both Willie Dowling's and Random Jon Poole's legendary quirky sense of humour stamped all over them, making for a fun ride for the listener.
This is a great little Ep, and good introduction to the band. Available at the bands bandcamp page for
 just 99 pence this really is something that you should be checking out!

VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Rating 10/10

Ginger Wildheart - G.A.S.S. Month 7 EP (2014)

Genre - Hard Rock / Pop / Punk / Alternative

Label - Self Released

 

Track listing:

01 - Mr T & Me

02 - Location, Location, Location

03 - One Way Down

Bonus Demos

04 - Its Only Natural (You're the One, You're the One, Yeah I Know You're the One, You're the One [Yeah I Know You're the One] Demo)

05 - The Thin Line (Between Love and Insanity)

Here we are with month 7's instalment of Ginger Waldheim's mighty and ambitious G.A.S.S project.
This month all three songs were once again mixed by Kevin Vanbergen and mastered by Jon Astley at Close to the Edge Studio's.
This month's instalment opens up with Mr T & Me, a touching and rather personal track about Ginger's love for his young son. This track is a truly solo effort very much in the vein of Hey! Hello!and features no guest musicians. Its a great mid tempo rocker (with a sound similar to Hey! Hello!), a really nice song with some great sentiments lyrically.
Next up we have Location, Location, Location, this time featuring the talents of Random Jon Poole (Cardiacs, The Wildhearts, Goddamn Whores, Ginger Wildheart Band, The Dowling Poole) on bass, Denzel (Ginger Wildheart Band, Mutation), on drums, and Chris Catalyst (Eureka Machines, The Scaramanga Six, Sisters Of Mercy, Ginger Wildheart Band), on guitars and vocals. A great song, with some great if a little heartfelt lyrics, these guys really do know how to produce magic together!
One Way Down close's out this months new songs, this time once  again featuring the talents of Random Jon Poole, Chris Catalyst and Denzel, plus this time around adding the talents of Taylor Graley on vocals. This track is a softer track, similar in style to Melanchoholic, again with some deep and heartfelt lyrics, and more importantly once again showcasing Gingers versitality as a song writer.
Once again another great track although I do have to admit that One Way Down is my least favourite of this months new tracks.
And now for this months two bonus tracks.

The Bonus Demo's in Gingers words:

"It’s Only Natural – Early demo of the track that ended up on 555%,You're the One, You're the One, Yeah I Know You're the One, You're the One (Yeah I Know You're the One), and a far less poppy approach too. I like both versions. In fact I think I only changed it around later because I get bored like that.
Recorded by Jase Edwards about 2 days before I went to LA to audition for Michael Monroe, so my head was a bag of confused ideas that was desperately shitting out stuff while simultaneously trying to cram info in.
It’s a sweet tune, nice recording, and I’m proud that we used the flanger effect on the drum fill before the final chorus. Only Jase would ever let me get away with that.

 The Thin Line (Between Love and Insanity) – I’m not even sure where this is from, although it’s definitely me singing, it seems like my lyrics and it sounds like that intended LA supergroup that I mentioned the other month.
Actually this isn’t too bad. Obviously the band didn’t think so as I didn’t get the job, but honestly can’t you imagine me fronting a band like this? As much fun as it would have been, as pairings go it would have been as appropriate as a porn tape featuring Woody Allen and Katie Price.
Still, I don’t mind this one too much. What do you think?"



What can I say?

Firstly Its Only Natural is a great song, with this here demo version being every bit as good, if not better in many ways than the finished article. the demo has a slightly slower tempo, and a more serious feel, making this demo a great track in its own right.

The Thin Line (Between Love and Insanity), is quite simply a great song, and although I can see what Ginger is saying about him not really fitting the role of big rock lead singer, he does a fantastic job here, good enough for me to be left hoping that there are a few more of these gems to come! Just like Shine, I would love this song to be given a great big production polish, and hey personally I believe that they both deserve a proper commercial release, maybe all the guys involved should consider getting back together for a one off studio album project?



So there we have it, yet another awesome instalment from the mighty G.A.S.S. project, you really should be checking this out folks, great music, great features, G.A.S.S. simply equals awesome!



Rating - 10/10

 G.A.S.S. the story so far:



Month One:
01 - Everything
02 - That's a Nasty Habit That You've Got There
03 - Bloody Knees
Bonus Demos
01 - Ice
02 - The Jackson Whites (Original Home Demo)

Month Two:
01 - El Mundo (Slow Fatigue)
02 - Hellbound
03 - King Rat
Bonus Demos
01 - You Are The LIght
02 - How I Survived The Punk Wars (Demo)

Month Three:
01 - Only Henry Rollins Can Save Us Now
02 - Do You
03 - Petite Mort
Bonus Demos
01 - Friction In My System (Written For Alice Cooper)
02 - Patience And Gratitude

Month Four:
01 - Honour (feat Courtney Love)
02 - Down The Dip
03 - If You Find Yourself In London Town
Bonus Demos
01 - Melanchoholic
02 - Begin from Within (Original Demo)

Month Five:
01 - The Pendine Incident
02 - Carriageway Roses
03 - Brand New Original Sin
Bonus Demos
01 - Shine
02 - Superpowered Superfly (Original Demo)

Month Six:

01 - Don't Stop Loving The Music
02 - The Whiskey And You (Chris Stapleton / Tim McGraw Cover)
03 - Ostracide 
Bonus Demos
01 - Bloodlust (Venom Cover)
02 - Molly O Mindy (Written For Alice Cooper)

Month Seven:
 
01 - Mr T & Me
02 - Location, Location, Location
03 - One Way Down
Bonus Demos
01 - Its Only Natural (You're the One, You're the One, Yeah I Know You're the One, You're the One [Yeah I Know You're the One] Demo)
02 - The Thin Line (Between Love and Insanity)

 

 

Ginger Wildheart - G.A.S.S. Month 6 EP (2014)

Genre - Hard Rock / Pop / Punk / Alternative

Label - Self Released

 

Track listing:

 

01 - Don't Stop Loving The Music

02 - The Whiskey And You (Chris Stapleton / Tim McGraw Cover)

03 - Ostracide

Bonus Demos

04 - Bloodlust (Venom Cover)

05 - Molly O Mindy

So here we are at the midway point of Ginger Wildheart's phenomenally ambitious G.A.S.S. project, so lets recap, that's eighteen brand new tracks and twelve previously unreleased outtakes / demo tracks, amazing.
This month the new tracks lead off with Don't Stop The Music, a great track which opens with an awesome bouncy riff. The song features the talents of  Jon Poole (bass), Denzel (drums), Chris Catalyst (guitars and vocals), Jake Adams (vocals), and Jasmine Adams (vocals) and was once again mixed by Kevin Vanbergen. A great mid tempo rocker that I imagine is going to go down a storm live.
Next up we have Gingers cover of Chris Stapleton's The Whiskey And You (popularised by Tim McGraw) which is once again mixed by Kevin Vanbergen, and again features the talents of Jon Poole (bass), Denzel (drums) and Chris Catalyst (guitars and vocals). This time around the mix is a little more laid back, remember SilverGinger 5's cover of Somebody To Love? Well that's the sort of sound that they go for on this track, and it works really well, a nice contrast to it predecessor and whats to follow. The last of the new tracks on offer this month is Ostracide. Again this track is  mixed by Kevin Vanbergen, and again features the talents of Jon Poole (bass), Denzel (drums) and Chris Catalyst (guitars and vocals). I have to say that Ostracide is a blinder! Definitely one of the best songs that G.A.S.S. has produced so far. Opening with a blinding riff and big rock beat, I could really imagine The Wildhearts pulling off a stonking version of this one! It really is a stonker of a song with all of Gingers trademark big chorus's, tempo changes and did I mention, killer riffs! the subject matter of this one is a little personal, and obviously close to Ginger's heart, but what can I say? The song is a stonker!
Next up we have this months bonus demos / previously unreleased tracks, a cover of Venom's Bloodlust and a little gem called Molly O Mindy.

I'll let Ginger explain,
"
BLOODLUST – Born from a daft/drunken idea between me and Jones, this Venom classic was recorded as part of the first Mutation album. Jase Edwards, as well as producing, provides ripping axe solo action and Denzel proves that he’s an even better drummer than Abaddon. I loved singing/yelling this. Shouting my head off is where my heart lies and I curse the day I was ever born with an innate sense of melody.
Originally intended as a double A-side ‘Geordie’ single, expect a cover version of Angelic Upstarts “I’m An Upstart” at some point before the end of G·A·S·S·,
MOLLY O LINDY – Written as part of the session of songs to be presented to Alice Cooper, I feel sure that he would have done a fantastic version of this, further convincing me that he never even heard these tracks.
Imagine Bob Ezrin getting stuck into the production on this with Alice at his super creepiest? Hey, who knows? Maybe he’ll get wind of this demo this time around and check it out? Or maybe he’ll just ignore it again? Ha ha."

First I have to say that the cover of Bloodlust is awesome, reminding us of just how great an assembly of musicians Ginger pulled together for the Mutation projects, full of energy bile and dare I say Venom? True to the original but with a mutated Mutation stamp all over it!
Molly O Mindy, what can I say, I have been waiting years to hear these songs originally written for Alice Cooper, and the song doesn't disappoint! This as Ginger says above could have been huge for Alice, id love to hear Ginger give it a full blown Bob Ezrin production job, its awesome as it is here in this form but my God this song could be a huge Killer!

So once again five awesome tracks delivered and no dips in quality, amazing.
Come on sign yourselves up to G.A.S.S. you be disappointed!

Rating  - 10/10

G.A.S.S. the story so far:

Moth One:
01 - Everything
02 - That's a Nasty Habit That You've Got There
03 - Bloody Knees
Bonus Demos
01 - Ice
02 - The Jackson Whites (Original Home Demo)

Month Two:
01 - El Mundo (Slow Fatigue)
02 - Hellbound
03 - King Rat
Bonus Demos
01 - You Are The LIght
02 - How I Survived The Punk Wars (Demo)

Month Three:
01 - Only Henry Rollins Can Save Us Now
02 - Do You
03 - Petite Mort
Bonus Demos
01 - Friction In My System (Written For Alice Cooper)
02 - Patience And Gratitude

Month Four:
01 - Honour (feat Courtney Love)
02 - Down The Dip
03 - If You Find Yourself In London Town
Bonus Demos
01 - Melanchoholic
02 - Begin from Within (Original Demo)

Month Five:
01 - The Pendine Incident
02 - Carriageway Roses
03 - Brand New Original Sin
Bonus Demos
01 - Shine
02 - Superpowered Superfly (Original Demo)

Month Six:

01 - Don't Stop Loving The Music

02 - The Whiskey And You (Chris Stapleton / Tim McGraw Cover)

03 - Ostracide 

Bonus Demos

01 - Bloodlust (Venom Cover)

02 - Molly O Mindy (Written For Alice Cooper)

 

 

The Dowling Poole - Bleak Strategies 2014

Genre - Psychedelic Pop / Psychedelic Rock / Power Pop

Label - Pledgemusic

Track listing:

01 - The Sun Is Mine

02 - A Kiss On The Ocean

03 - Hey Stranger

04 - Saving It All For A Saturday

05 - Paper, Scissors, Stone

06 - Empires, Buildings and Acquisitions

07 - Where The Memories Fester

08 - Twilight Subplot

09 - Getting A Licence

10 - Clean

11 - The Straw Man (track exclusive to pledge music pledgers)

"The Dowling Poole is a new band formed by singer-songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Willie Dowling (ex Honeycrack/Jackdaw4) and Jon Poole (ex Cardiacs/The Goddamn Whores/The Wildhearts/Ginger Wildheart Band).
Dowling and Poole first met in 2011 when recording and producing Ginger Wildheart’s award winning, top-ten "555%" album, and it was mutual admiration at first sight.
"I was immediately taken by Jon's remarkable and diverse musical talent", says Dowling, "but it took me an age to pluck up the courage to phone him and ask whether he'd like to do something together."
Fortunately, Poole had been thinking along the same lines and was equally thrilled at the prospect of working with Dowling. They started writing songs and locked themselves away in Dowling's recording studio in France for a few months, writing and recording an album they have titled "Bleak Strategies".
Influenced by pop masters such as XTC, Blur, 10CC, The Kinks, The Beatles and more, The Dowling Poole debut album "Bleak Strategies" is an eclectic and contemporary sounding mix of semi-psychedelic pop, somehow quintessentially British-sounding, laced with harmonies and a multitude of influences from the best of 50 years of rock and popular music.
"It was a very collaborative process", says Poole, "We both brought songs to the table and we performed, sang and produced them together. You'd be hard pressed to guess who wrote what since we both were adding ideas left right and centre to each others work".
"Bleak Strategies" will be out in the summer along with the single "The Sun Is Mine", (the perfect radio song for summer), but it's available to pre-order now from PledgeMusic. You can see videos on the origins of the band, and download a free track - "The Straw Man" - and there are other tracks to listen to in a 'try before you buy' fashion, as well as regular video updates from the PledgeMusic website: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/thedowlingpoole"

Okay so that's the background sorted, now what about the album? Well to be honest its exactly what I think that you would expect from a collaboration between two of the wackiest songwriters in music today!
Imagine Jackdaw4's quirkier tracks such as Jesus Wants My Soul Back, and the poppier Goddamn Whores tracks crossed with a healthy dose of the Beatles at their most eccentric and I would say that you are pretty damn close.
From The mellow laid back opener The Sun Is Mine, to the catchy Hey Stranger, the eighties influenced A Kiss On The Ocean, the bouncy pop of Saving It All For A Saturday, the stomping Getting A Licence,to the laid back Paper Scissors Stone, to the ambient Twilight Subplot and clean,this album really does have it all.
Empires, Buildings and Acquisitions is just as quirky as it gets, pure brilliance. There simply is not a bad track on this album, although for many it is surely going to be an acquired taste!

One song that really does deserve a little more explanation here is The Straw Man, with its controversial subject matter, that being about the entire Jimmy Saville saga. A great song that has been issues as Pledge exclusive, (not on the album) as they believed it didn't fit, its the rockiest of all the songs on offer with probably the fastest tempo too. A great song and worth pledging for alone!

This album is just fantastic, much in the same way as A Night At The Opera and Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club are. Genius really does border on madness!

Rating - 10/10

Ginger Wildheart - G.A.S.S. Month 1 EP (2014)

Genre - Hard Rock / Pop / Punk

Label - Self released

Track listing:

01 - Everything

02 - That's A Nasty Habit You've Got There

03 - Bloody Knees

Bonus Demos

04 - Ice (Demo)

05 - The Jackson Whites (Original Demo)

OK so Ginger Wildheart has had tremendous success as of late with his various Pledge Music projects, most notably the awesome 555% triple CD release and the Mutation / Hey!Hello! releases, but this time he has opted to go down a far riskier path with his G.A.S.S. project, So what is G.A.S.S? and just why is it so damned risky?
G.A.S.S. (Ginger Appreciation Secret Society) is a totally fan interactive project, the ultimate fan club so to speak, with membership spread overt three different levels, with the most basic offering full access to the exclusive website, and access to 36 brand new tracks, (yes I said 36!) spread over a twelve month period, as well as access to various demos etc, podcasts, competitions etc, and the ultimate top tier offering a membership card that allows the holder to gain access to meet and greets throughout the year. Pretty awesome hey?
So this is a review of the first batch of the 36 songs, (the plan is to release 3 a month over a twelve month period, a little like the aborted Singles club that Ginger tried a few years ago, which got aborted due to an inept record label!)
So what do we have here then?
Track one, Everything, featuring Givvi Flynn on backing vocals and recorded (and mixed) by Jase Edwards, is a mid paced melodic rocker that would have fit comfortably along side any of the tracks on the now legendary 555% project or for that matter even on the aforementioned aborted singles club! A great song!
Track two,  That's A Nasty Habit You've Got There, recorded by Jase Edwards, mixed by Jason Sanderson and also features Jason Sanderson on backing vocals, is a slightly darker track with a quicker tempo. Again this song would have fitted well on the 555% project or even Market Harbour, another great song!
Track three, Bloody Knees, again recorded by Jase Edwards, mixed by Kevin Vanbergen and featuring Givvi Flynn on vocals and Jon Poole on keyboards, is a real monster of a song. Givvi and Ginger sharing lead vocal duties in much the same way as Ginger did with Victoria in Hey! Hello!, but this time around the song feels much darker, more Market Harbour than anything else, with a real Wildhearts feel in places (check out its awesome mid section!), just less heavy. Bloody Knees is one of the best songs Ginger has produced ever, and this guy has created some corking tracks over the years. A definite classic!
Its important to note that Ginger plays all instruments, unless otherwise stated, on all three tracks in much the same way as he did with the Hey! Hell! project, and again does a grand job!
So that's three great new tracks, membership also allows you access to various rare demos / outtakes that again will be uploaded and made available over the twelve month period. This month we have two, Ice and an original demo of the Wildhearts classic The Jackson Whites.

I'll allow Ginger to explain,
"ICE - I'd been given a brief to write some pop/rock songs for a Japanese artist, something that sounds like Ginger. I penned a few songs (I'm sure we'll be sending you the others in due course) and the artist didn't like them because they were too melodic and sounded too much like The Wildhearts. This has happened a few times, once for a proposed movie soundtrack where the director insisted I write something as he was a huge fan (No Way Out But Through), then complained that it sounded too much like me writing a song for a film. This is why I don't write for people very often. This song was recorded with Jase Edwards."
"THE JACKSON WHITES - This is a home demo that I made of The Jackson Whites, the first track written for Chutzpah!, in New York City, 2008. This was before bringing it to the band, where we made a further demo of it in Finland, recorded by our manager at the time, Virpi, which also featured standard tuning. The decision to drop the tuning was made in Denmark as we were actually recording the album. So much for demos, eh?"

Ice is a great little poppy rock track, that if I am honest, I am surprised has been made available as a bonus demo, when the quality of its recording and hell the quality of the song could have easily made it possible to put it out as one of the new 36 tracks! Ice = a great three minute pop rock experience!
The Jackson Whites demo is a surprisingly good quality demo of an early version of the song, You can hear what it sounded like before they tweaked a couple of the riffs and down tuned the guitars!

If this first instalment of G.A.S.S. experience is anything to go by then we are in for a real treat with Ginger pushing himself to deliver the quality product that he has become symnominous with!

Rating 10/10


NB - G.A.S.S. membership is available at any point over the next twelve months, with all releases being made available in due course, so there is plenty of time to save those penny's if you cant subscribe straight away.

Ginger Wildheart (Band) - Albion (Pledge Edition) 2014

Genre - Hard Rock / Classic Rock / Pop / Punk / Metal
Label - Pledge Music

Track listing:

01 - Drive
02 - Cambria
03 - The Road To Apple Cross
04 - The Order Of The Dog
05 - Chill, Motherfucker, Chill
06 - Burn This Town Down
07 - Body Parts
08 - The Beat Goes On
09 - After All You Said About Cowboy's
10 - Grow A Pair
11 - I Need You
12 - Capital Anxiety
13 - Into This
14 - Creepers
15 - Albion

Albion is Ginger Wildhearts latest venture with the fan funded Pledge Music system, building upon the huge success of the 555%, Mutation and Hey! Hello! projects, and what a monster of an album it is. Albion has been recorded primarily by the lineup that Ginger put together for the live shows to support the 555% albums, hence the Ginger Wildheart Band monica and what a line up it is featuring the talents of Ginger Wildheart (The Wildhearts / Mutation / Solo / Hey! Hello! / Michael Monroe Band / Courtney Love Band / SilverGinger5 / Clam Abuse / Supershit666 and more), Chris Catalyst (Eureka Machines / Sisters Of Mercy), Denzel (Ginger Wildheart Band / Barbarossa / Young Legionnaire / Horsefight) , Rich Jones (Ginger Wildheart Band / The Loyalties / Bassknives / Michael Monroe Band), Victoria Liedtke (Ginger Wildheart Band / Hey! Hello!), Random Jon Poole (The Wildhearts / Goddamn Whores / Cardiacs), and Bryan Scary (Evil Arrows) with Kevin Vanbergen handling production duties.
Firstly I have to say that despite its familiarity (hey this is the sixth albums worth of material Ginger has released in less than two years!) Albion is not an instant album, its very much a grower, giving up more and more layers with each listen, and having lived with it since just prior to Christmas here goes for a track by track review.

Drive -  a typically schizophrenic power-pop/rock song, that although a great song, takes a spin or two before it really grabs you, but boy when it does its a blinder!

Cambria - a song that comes across as a cross between a Mutation track (it would have fitted easily onto The Frankenstein Effect) and one of The Wildhearts more edgy tracks, say Chutzpah! or an Endless Nameless track with its blast beats and in your face lead vocal, (which are offset at times by Victoria's vocals to amazing effect

The Road To Apple Cross - A belter of a track that seems to blend all of Ginger previously released styles into one song) and could have easily have made it on the Chutzpah! album by The Wildhearts, with Gingers alternating vocal styles and its monster riffs. Truly a great song and one of the albums many highlights.

The Order Of The Dog - begins with a lovely mellow introduction almost fooling you into thinking that this is going to be an instrumental track. Again the song has many twists and turns and takes us, the listener on a great journey. Would have easily fitted onto 555%. A great song and another album highlight.

Chill Motherfucker, Chill - A light and relatively mellow rocker that would not have been out of place on 555%. One of my favourite songs on offer with the great lyric, "Sometimes you are the shit, sometimes you are the pan, this you must understand". Just simply awesome!

Burn This City Down - Co-written with Chris Catalyst, (something that is evident throughout this album is that although its clearly gingers baby, the other band members have been heavily involved at all stages), a great song with a real energetic feel to it.  This song really does bode well for any future Ginger / Catalyst collaborations. Definitely an album highlight!

Body Parts - A real up beat pop rocker, and obvious choice for a lead single / promotional track. 

The Beat Goes On - A real gem of a track, with a more upbeat version of the feel found on some of Ginger's earlier solo work, say on Valor.... A real good song with a nice commercial feel to it.

After All You Said About Cowboy's - This song was originally recorded as part of the 555% sessions but Ginger wasn't happy with the way it turned out, too far removed from the feel vision of the original demo, so he decided top shelve the song in order to re-record it at a latter date. Nows that date, and the song is beautiful. It really does have a Market Harbour era kind of feel to it, a really great song with some great pop elements. Another album highlight.

Grow A Pair - A fairly uptempo pop / rock n roll track similar in feel to Begin From Within with some great vocal exchanges between Ginger and Victoria. this song could have made a great Hey! Hello! or even Silverginger5 track. Love it!

I Need You - Gingers ode to the fans (I think lol). An uptempo pop / rock track with a great sing along chorus, going to be amazing in a live setting!

Capital Anxiety - Fast aggressive punky track. Could be fun live but feels a little out of place here, and one of the tracks that I imagine will be dropped from the eventual ten track commercial release of the album. (I'll come to that later!)

Into This - A mellow laid back poppy rocker. Another song that wouldn't have been out of place on the 555% triple album, but also one of the weakest tracks on offer here and one I'll probably be skipping a lot in future, that despite having some great lyrics, yet a weak chorus by Gingers standards.

Creepers - An uptempo melodic rocker that goes through many twists and turn (and tempo changes), a fun song. Victoria probably provides her longest lead vocal here, not the albums strongest track, and a little prog rock in places but still a bloody strong song that inbeds itself further into your brain with each and every listen.

Albion - The albums epic title track, what can I say. Ten and half minutes long, with so many twists and turns that it could give the mighty Sky Babies a run for its money. A really nice touch having the Drive riff re-enter things hear during the song as it gives a sense of the album coming full circle. Awesome, simply awesome.


So what can I say? Well Albion is very much a companion album to the 555% triple album set, and I say companion and not successor as the two releases sit so comfortably side by side. This Pledge Edition of the album also contains fifteen songs, something that will change for the commercial release which will only be featuring ten of the fifteen, (and I would hate to be the person charged with choosing which five tracks have to be cut!) Therefore if you want to get a hold of all of the songs here you will need to pledge quickly (the entire album is available for immediate download for just £8).

This album (as with the bulk of Gingers back catalogue) is very, very highly recommended!

Rating - 10/10

Givvi Flynn - Thieving From The Magpies Nest (2013)

Genre - Hard Rock / Pop / Punk? / Rock
Label - Pledge Music

Track listing:

01 - Good Guys
02 - Without Emotion (written by Ginger Wildheart)
03 - TV Is King (The Tubes cover)
04 - Seven Day Summer
05 - Darlin' (Danny Frye cover)
06 - More Beautiful Than Before
07 - Dirty (written by and featuring Willie Dowling of Honeycrack / Jackdaw4)
08 - Penny Arcade
09 - The Chauffeur (Duran Duran cover)
10 - I Did It Again
11 - Everyday (Slade cover)
12 - Thieveing From The Magpies Nest


After hearing Givvi's numerous contributions to other artists music such as Ginger Wildheart, Jackdaw4 and more rercently Random Jon Poole's solo album, I was really looking forward to hearing just what this little lady with a huge voice from the Midlands could deliver on her debut album. I was not dissapointed. Opening with the brilliant Good Guys with its thin Lizzy meets New World Order riffage the album gets off to a great start. Following quickly is Without Emotion, a great song writtn by Ginger Wildheart and donated for this release. "I sang on the original demo of this song when Ginger wrote it back in 2010. If my memory serves me correctly, it was put together very quickly by Ginger and Jase Edwards and I arrived one Sunday to do my thing and buggered afterwards. True to his word, Ginger let me have the song for my album (as he had flippantly promised at the time) when I asked. I am eternally grateful off soon."
The song has a typical Ginger feel to it, and Givvi delivers a fantastic vocal performance, (although to be honest the entire band do a fantastic job throught the album!) defininetley a favourite for me.
Next up is the cover of The Tubes classic, TV is King, an enjoyable enough track but in my opinion not as strong as the previous two. Seven Day Summer follows, a songs that sees Givvi duet with guitarist Jay Clark, a solid song a quick return to the standards set by the albums two opening tracks.
Darlin' is a cover of a song by Danny Frye, a good old fashioned rock 'n' roller of a track that sees a nice change in both pace and tempo, another great song. "Danny Frye did rock ‘n’ roll in a dirty, sexy, Cleveland punk way and I loved the ‘Hellbent’ album (still do). He also had the most glorious voice and I wish I’d had the chance to sing with him. Sadly, he was taken from the world on July 12th 2003 and I only knew him very briefly. This song is full of Danny’s wicked sense of humour and it’s been a pleasure to remember him during the recording process. RIP Danny, this one’s for you x"
Givvi and the gang follow this up with the wonderful More Beautiful Than Before, which has a delightfully venomous feel to it and a truly wicked guitar solo!
Next up is the wonderful little track Dirty, written by the one and only Mr Willie Dowling of Jackdaw4, Honeycrack, The Grip, Sugar Plum Farries fame. Dirty brings another change in both style and pace proving that this album has plenty of variety! " I just had to record this – it was definitely the final piece of the jigsaw. And who wouldn’t want a Dowling original on their CD?! When I heard the demo, I couldn’t stop singing it. I have learned that if you don’t ask, you don’t get. As you now know, I asked :). Big love and huge thanks to Willie for not only letting me have the track, but for being kind enough to play and sing on it too. That’s right, THE man is on HIS track on MY album. I love that sentence."
The wonderful Penny Arcade follows proving to be yet another great track and leading nicely into The Chauffeur, a cover of the Duran Duran err pop classic? Well to be fair Givvi and the guys turn in a truly great performance turning this song, which apparently was the first song Givvi ever recorded many years ago with her father, into a monster of a track.
We then get to I Did It Again with its fun Rolling Stones esque riff, a grteat song that quickens the pace again and brings a cheerful element of fun back to precedings!
Everyday, a Slade cover is the albums penultimate track, a great atmospheric track that slows things down a little but is awesome non the less!
"I tend to go for unconventional voices and Noddy Holder has got to be the king of shoutycrackers! What a noise! Slade wrote so many amazing songs that it was difficult to choose one but the sentiment in this is lovely – something I’d struggle to write myself. As you may know, I’m quite good at the shoutycrackers myself so I thought this would make a nice addition. Technically, this is the album ballad."
The albums closer is also the albums awesome title track, the wonderful Thieveing From The Magpies Nest, a great rocker with its lyrical seemingly poking fun at the Xfactoe culture. A great way to close a truly wonderful (and long over due) debut album from the massivly talented Givvi Flynn.
" Inspired (I think) by an Elvis Costello ballad, Jay wrote the bridges to this first then he and I finished it during a couple of studio sessions. With Eli’s help, this track has turned into a monster! So much so that we have given the middle section its own title (Part II – To Hell and Bacharach). Many folks have told me I should go on X Factor. I shouldn’t. This is why."

 Very, Very Highly Reconmended!!!!!!!!

Rating 11/10

Album credits -

Givvi Flynn – All lead vocals, backing vocals, button monkeying, engineering, general pushing &.

Jay shoving Clark – Guitars, bass, programming, vocals on ‘Seven Day Summer’ and ‘More Beauty Than Before’, backing vocals, production, engineering, piano on ‘Penny Arcade’.

Eli Cameron – Piano, backing vocals, programming, keys, video editing, production, engineering.

Willie Dowling – Vocals, keys and additional guitars on ‘Dirty’.

James Wall – Backing vocals on ‘I Did It Again’ and ‘TV is King’, photography, filming, salad logistics, photobombing.

Brandon ‘Bradderz’ Clark – Additional Guitars on ‘Penny Arcade’.

Lord Percy Scandal – Logistics manager, online presence, Pledge Music liason, admin and TFTMN photography.

The God Damn Whores - Heya-Heya-Heya-Heya-Ho!

Genre - Hard Rock / Pop / Punk /
Label - Pledge Music

Track listing -

01 - Introducing The Whores
02 - Mundane And Beautiful
03 - Media Slave
04 - Poolius Ceasar
05 - Sparkly Silver Sky
06 - The Harrowing Line
07 - Fucking Hell
08 - Macho Sapiens
09 - Dilligence
10 - Cynical Haze
11 - Trip A.M
12 - We're Going To Live For A Very Long Time

Finally Random Jon Pooles delivers the second God Damn Whores album, and about bloody time!
The former Cardiac, current Wildheart and Ginger Wildheart bassist eventually delivers the goods.
If you heard the first Whores album then expect pretty much the same kind of madness. Great quirky tracks from Jon's ever so slighty demented sense of humour. Well crafted songs excellently executed with a great sense of fun always at the fore front!


About This Album

All songs written by Jon Poole except track 12 which was written by Ware, Marsh, Gregory.
All instruments and vocals performed by Random Jon Poole except for stunt guitar solos on tracks 2, 8 and 11 which were played by Jase “The Ace” Edwards.
Additional chanting and mayhem was caused by Adam Collier-Woods under lively circumstances.
Produced and recorded by Random Jon Poole between 2008-2010.
Mastered by Jase Edwards at Majestic Splendour studios



Rating  - 10/10

Random Jon Poole - Random Jon Poole

Genre - Electronic / New Wave / Rock / Pop
Label - Pledge Music

Track listing -

01 - New Receivers
02 - Into The Sunset
03 - Bleep Bleep Bedlam
04 - Alien Interaction
05 - Dignity In Trauma
06 - We Are Just The Same
07 - Years And Years
08 - Bark Like You
09 - I Know You
10 - The Death Of Soul (Part Two)
11 - Prototypes
12 - P-S-Y-C-H-O-S-I-S Spells The End

Cardiacs, Wildhearts Bassist and God Damn Whores main man Random Jon Poole finally delivers his long awaited debut solo album, and its bloody great. More new wave electronic than rock or metal, but makes for a refreshing breath of fresh air all the same. Anyone who has ever seen Random Jon Poole either live or with one of his other day jobs will already know just how quirky and off the wall he can be, and this is all evident on this wonderful album.
If you fancy listening to something a little different then give this album a go!

Album Credits:
All songs written by Jon Poole

All instruments and low-grade vocals by Random Jon Poole
Swell vocals by Givvi Flynn
Produced and recorded by Random Jon Poole between 2005-2008.
Mastered by Jase Edwards at Majestic Splendour Studios
Cover art by Rich Jones at Turning Rebellion


Rating - 09/10

Mutation (Ginger Wildheart) - II - Error 500

Genre - Hard Rock / Metal / Experimental / Extreme / Alternative
Label - Pledge Music (exclusive at moment)

Track listing:

01 - Bracken
02 - Utopia Syndrome
03 - White Leg
04 - Protein
05 - Mutations
06 - Computer, This Is Not What I...
07 - Sun Of White Leg
08 - Relentless Confliction
09 - Innocents In Morte
10 - Benzo Fury

What can I say? Pure unadulterated intensity, I think that that is the only way to truly describe this album, which is the sixth albums worth of material released by Ginger in the matter of nine months, unbelievable!
Where as Mutation I, The Frankenstien Effect was pretty much Gingers baby, with him going into the studio with the song structures melodies and ideas firmly in mind, Error 500 is much more of a coroberative effort, with the multitude of musicians involved lending their input and the resulting album has to be heard to be believed. Intense does not really describe this album, there's riffs, lots of them, great vocals, intense to say the least, and some great songs that really do make this one hell of an album. Gingers original plan was to release both The Frankenstien Effect and Error 500 to those that had pledged, and then get them to vote on which tracks should make it onto the commercially released album, but this has proved a little tricky with many, Ginger included, saying that they believed that Error 500 should be released as it is and not broken up or diluted in any way. This is one hell of an album, and probably as extreme has Ginger can get, definetly its a million miles away from his previous solo or even Wildheart releases. Error 500 even makes The Frankenstien Effect sound like a Bon Jovi record!
I really can not find the right words to describe this album, but can honestly reconmend it as possibly the most frontier challenging album since The Wiuldhearts released Endless Nameless back in 1997.

A great album well worth checking out if you are brave enough, and just check out the credits below to see just who appears on this monster of an album!

Rating 10/10





Ginger Wildheart - Mutation (II) - Error 500

Song Credits:

Produced, Engineered And Mixed By Kevin Vanbergen (Except Track 10)
Track 10 Produced by Tom Bellamy & Paul Mullen.
Executive Producer Kevin Vanbergen
Mixed By Kevin Vanbergen

Recorded @ The Chairworks Studio & FX Yourspace
Mixed @ The Attic
Mastered By Dick Beetham @ 360 Mastering
Chairworks Studios Credits:
Assistant Engineers: James Mottershead, Bob Cooper
Pro Tools Engineer: James Mottershead
Runners: Harry & Andy

1: Bracken:
DRUMS: Denzil
BASS: Jon Poole & Shane Embury
GTR: Ginger, Rob Stephens, Paul Astick
LV: Ginger
BV: Ginger
Rich Jones
Kevin Vanbergen
Tom Bellamy
Denzil
Craig Temple
Simon Wright
Givvi Flynn
Jake Adams
Daisy Vanbergen

2: Utopia Syndrome:
DRUMS: Denzil
BASS: Jon Poole & Shane Embury
GTR: Ginger, Rob Stephens, Paul Astick
LV: Ginger, Craig Temple,
Dave “Catfish” Corbett (Hick vocal)
BV: Ginger
Rich Jones
Craig Temple
Harriet Bevan
Dave Kerr
Givvi Flynn
Paul Astick

3: White Leg:
DRUMS: Denzil
BASS: Jon Poole & Shane Embury
GTR: Ginger
KEYS: Jon Poole
LV: Ginger, Paul Astick, Jon Poole
BV: Ginger
Rich Jones
Harriet Bevan
Dave Kerr
Givvi Flynn
Paul Astick
Luke Dunnell
Tom Bellamy
The Boys From Black Moth!

4: Protein:
DRUMS: Denzil
BASS: Jon Poole & Shane Embury
GTR: Ginger, Rob Stephens, Kevin Vanbergen
LV: Ginger
BV: Paul Astick
Harriet Bevan
Ginger
Rich Jones
Givvi Flynn
Jon Poole

5: Mutation:
DRUMS: Denzil
BASS: Shane Embury
GTR: Ginger, Jon Poole, Tom Bellamy
PROGRAMMING & KEYS: Tom Bellamy & Paul Mullen
NOISECALL: Merzbow
LV: Mark E Smith
BV: Tom Bellamy
Paul Mullen
Luke Dunnell
Ginger
Givvi Flynn

6: Computer, This is not what i …
DRUMS: Denzil
BASS: Jon Poole & Shane Embury
GTR: Ginger, Shane, Jon Poole
LV: Ginger
BV: Ginger
Givvi Flynn
Paul Astick
Rich Jones
Harriet Bevan

7: Sun of White Leg:
DRUMS: Denzil
BASS: Jon Poole & Shane Embury
GTR: Ginger, Rob Stephens, Jon Poole
Keys: Jon Poole
LV: Ginger, Paul Astick, John Mackenzie, Jon Poole
BV: Ginger
John Poole

8: Relentless Confliction:
DRUMS: Denzil, Ginger & Paul Astick
BASS: Jon Poole & Shane Embury
GTR: Ginger, Rob Stephens, Paul Astick
LV: Mark E Smith
BV: Ginger
John Poole
Chris Catalyst
Simon Wright

9: Innocentes in Mortes
DRUMS: Denzil,
BASS: Jon Poole & Shane Embury
GTR: Ginger, Rob Stephens, Paul Astick
LV: Luke Dunnell
BV: Ginger
Paul Astick
Paul Mullen
Givvi Flynn
Rich Jones
John Mackenzie
Luke Dunnell

10: Benzo Fury
Programmed and Performed By: Tom Bellamy, Paul Mullen & Denzil
PROGRAMMING & KEYS: Tom Bellamy
GTR & BASS: Paul Mullen
LV: Paul Mullen
BV: Denzil
Paul Mullen

Ginger Wildheart - 555% (The Pledge Album) 2012

Genre - Rock / Pop / Industrial Pop / Electronic / Punk / You Name It Its In Here!
Label - Pledge Music / Independant.

CD1 Track Listing


01) Forget About It
02) I-N-T-E-R-N-A-L R-adio
03) Lie When You Tell Me The Truth
04) Incidental Noises
05) It Appears That The Party Is Over
06) Deep In The Arms Of Morpheus
07) Baby Skies
08) Silence
09) Powder Keg
10) Time

CD2 Track Listing

01) Another Spinning Fucking Rainbow
02) Westward Ho! (A New Reputation)
03) Do The Lonely Suffer More, Or Less, Or Just The Same At The Point Of Death?
04) The Other Side
05) Strange New Year
06) Lover, It’ll all Work Out
07) Illuminating Times
08) Begin From Within
09) Return of The Northern Cardinal
10) Taste Aversion

CD3 Track Listing

01) You’re The One, You’re The One, Yeah I Know You’re The One, You’re The One (Yeah I Know You’re The One)
02) Beautifully, Blissfully Unsettled
03) Confusion
04) Sleeping in The Light
05) In Vino Veritas (instrumental)
06) Very, Very Slow
07) Just Another Song About Someone
08) There Is Something Wrong With My Mind
09) We’ve Been Expecting You
10) The End

I have been a Ginger fan for as long as I can remember, ever since I first heard Mondo Akimbo back in the early 1990’s, and I have witness Ginger, via the many forms of The Wildhearts, SilverGinger5, Supershit 666, Clam Abuse and his solo work, produce countless classic songs, (as well as one or two that I just could never get my head around!

Ginger has a habit of taking on the record industry, throughout his career with the Wildhearts, he was constantly battling record label bosses, and then in 2003 he decided to release a single every month for a year, only for the idea to fail due to the ineptitude and incompetence of the label involved. Then in 2011, it looks like the industry has finally won, with Ginger considering retiring from music and getting a “proper job”. Luckily someone talked him out of it and talked him into trying the pledge music system, where artist ask there fans to purchase the CD’s (or other product) in advance and therefore provide the funds for them to produce the CD / product. Ginger reached his projected target of pledgers within 6 hours of the pledge going live and in the end made it more than 555% of the target. The result was this triple album, an ambitious project, 30 brand new songs, never to be released in this form commercially anywhere else ever! The top 12 songs as voted for by the pledgers will make it onto a commercial release (100%) leaving 18 exclusive tracks to this release.

Ginger roped in the talents of Willie Dowling (Honeycrack / Jackdaw4), Chris Catalyst (Eureka Machines), Random Jon Poole (God Damn Whores / The Wildhearts / The Cardiacs), Rich Batersby (The Wildhearts / Grand Theft Audio), CJ (the Wildhearts / Honeycrack / The Jellys / CJ & The Satellites), Fyfe Ewing (Therapy?), Denzil (Ginger solo band), and Victoria (?), to record this project and well the result is a three disc, thirty song collection of music, recorded in three seperate sessions, which incorperates pretty much any music style and genre that you could possibly imagine. The production across all three cd’s is amazing thanks to the talents and skills of both Willie Dowling and Jacob Hanson whom handled the production duties.

I can honestly say that as a whole, this 30 song set does include some of the best songs that Ginger has ever produced, Deep In The Arms Of Morpheus, Silence, Taste Aversion, Do The Lonely Suffer More...., Begin From Within, Beautifully Blissfully Unsettle to name but a few, and there are a few hear that just wont sit well with many long term fans. Some because they are too light weight (although Ginger has warned all along throughout this project for fans not to expect 30 Wildheart sounding tracks!) and some because they are too experimental.

This collection of songs really see’s Ginger flexing his songwriting muscle, pushing himself into new areas, possibly even creating new sub genres of music (Industrial pop), some combining male and female lead vocals, and its because of this that I believe that this collection of songs works. Some songs are instant, others take a few listens to grow on you, and its this variety that makes this release so special.

Below I have tried to provide a brief track by track guide to 555%

Track By Track

Forget About It,
A melodic rock track, with Ginger delivering what at first appears to be a rather strained vocal track, yet it is a real grower and has become a quick favorite, and it is great to hear Ginger trying a different vocal approach!

I-N-T-E-R-N-A-L-R-adio,
An instant classic. A great commercial song with see’s Ginger being rather autobiographical with the lyrics about his song writing. This song is screaming out for radio airplay and must surely be considered for release as a single.

Lie When You tell Me The Truth,
A mid tempo melodic rocker, featuring joint male and female vocals from Ginger and Victoria, This song would have fitted well on to pretty much any of Gingers previous solo releases.

Incidental Noises,
A truly great song. Another melodic number that once again features Victoria’s vocals pretty high in the mix. This song has many twists and turns throughout its 3 minute 19 second duration.

It Appears That The Party Is Over,
More of an up tempo rocker, heavier guitars, but still filled with twists and turns, a real feel good song, destined to become a fan favorite I believe.

Deep In the Arms of Morpheus,
This is probably the oldest song in this collection, as it originally dates from a very early incarnation of t The Wildhearts, only previously available in acoustic form on a live bootleg form 2001. This song is in my honest opinion probably one of the best songs that Ginger has ever written. A melodic epic song, that really builds into something special, truly one of the best songs that Ginger has ever written!

Baby Skies,
A great up tempo melodic pop rock track, with many, many references both musically and lyrically to the Wildhearts epic Sky Babies, even if the songs theme is a little different. Cj + Ginger vocal always good to hear. Obviously the most 'Wildhearts' song on this first bunch, with the ending similar to the end of Chutzpah!

Silence,
This song opens with some great riffing, before dropping into a great atmospheric melodic verse, then building again to a great chorus. One of my favorite songs on the first cd.

Powderkeg,
Opening with a guitar line that could belong to a track on The Wildhearts Must be Destroyed, before developing into a great melodic little number. A Great song

Time,
Opening with a guitar line that sounds so contemporary it could belong to a Coldplay or Radiohead song, before building into a great song about the passing of time and growing old.....A great song and another with a real epic feel to it, again another of my favorite songs from the first CD, and the discs closing track.


Another Spinning Fucking Rainbow,
Hmmm how do you describe this song? Brilliant that’s how, a little quirky but proof positive that Ginger has lost none of his song writing genius. One of my favorites from the second disc.

Westward Ho! (A New Reputation),
A great melodic song, once again with Victoria sharing lead vocal duties with Ginger to great effect, and already proving to be a fan favorite.

Do The Lonely Suffer More, Or Less, Or Just The Same At The Point Of Death?
This song is awesome, it’s as simple as that! This track has such a diverse mix of musical influences and styles, it’s unbelievable. A really great song. One of my favorites from the second Cd. The lyrics have a very personal and dark feel to them that draws me in even more.

The Other Side,
A great melodic, poppy song, again with Victoria sharing lead vocals with Ginger, a beautiful song. A worthy single, with some great lyrics.

Strange New Year,
A nice up tempo rocker with a great feel good factor to it. A nice song, destined to be a live favorite i do believe.

Lover, It’ll All Work Out,
A great mix of musical styles and ideas, builds into a great melodic rocker, whilst tempo changes bring in some great moody melodic pop segments. Another of my favorites tracks from disc two.

Illuminating Times,
An epically melodic song that is heavy on keyboards, a grand sounding song. A powerful song that deserves respect and attention

Begin from Within,
Has Ginger created a new musical genre here? Industrial Pop? A great song, with a great message! Another instant classic!

Return Of The Northern Cardinal,
A song that would have fitted nicely onto Gingers third solo album, Market Harbor, and song that was been played live a couple of years back. The song has a kind of country feel to it in places. Another fine example of Gingers songwriting genius

Taste Aversion,
Amazing, that is that needs to said about this song. This song is quite possibly my joint favorite (along with Deep In The Arms Of Morpheus) song out of the entire 30!
Building from a quiet a mellow beginning of just vocals and piano before building into a great melodic rock / pop workout. A truly great song with some great lyrics.

You’re The One, You’re The One, Yeah I Know You’re The One, You’re The One (Yeah I Know You’re The One),
This song first saw the light of day back in February, when it was made available as an exclusive download to those whom had pledged towards this 30 song project. The song is a great up tempo melodic rock track with some great lyrics, I absolutely love it and I am so glad that it made the final 30 track selection!

Beautifully, Blissfully Unsettled,
Melodic track that builds into a real rocker, features Gingers fellow Wildheart, CJ on joint lead vocal. One of the best songs of the entire 30 song set, and possibly my favorite from disc 3. Again, this song could be a great choice for a single!

Confusion,
Melodic, almost industrial pop in places, a great song, great fun

Sleeping In The Light,
Melodic guitar riffs give way to a chilled out joint lead vocal from Ginger and Victoria, that really builds into something special. A beautiful and epic song.

In Vino Vertias,
The only instrumental song amongst the 30. Hard to describe, almost like Metallica meets the shadows, a beautiful and amazing musical journey.

Very, Very Slow,
The heaviest song on the entire 30 song set, and also the shortest! I really do love this song, and its lyrical theme is really fitting for me considering my erm, day job lol.

Just Another Song About Someone,
A fairly laid back rock track, nice change of style, with a more stripped down feel to it than many of the other tracks.

There Is Something Wrong With My Mind,
Black Windows little brother, with underkill references? A great song, once again mixing up the musical styles.

We’ve Been Expecting You,
After and interesting intro we get an acoustic based track, a wonderful little track, thoroughly enjoyable.

The End,
Another melodic track that builds into something big and epic, a great song.



This 30 song set is set to become a classic and legendary release, Ginger took on the record industry, and with the help of his huge and loyal fan base, won!

If you didnt pledge then you have missed out, scour ebay for a rare copy, but make sure you get the commercially released 100% when it finally hits the stores!


Rating 10/10

Ginger (Wildheart) - Kiss Alive II (2011)

Genre - Rock / Acoustic / Live

Track Listing:


01 - Geordie In Wonderland
02 - Mazel Tov Cocktail
03 - Drunken Lord Of Everything
04 - Answering Machine
05 - Hocus Pocus / Taxi / Cheers
06 - In Lilly's Garden
07 - Understanding Jane
08 - So Into You
09 - Miles Away Girl
10 - Sunshine From New York
11 - Surrender
12 - Unlucky In Love
13 - 29 x The Pain
14 - Loveshit
15 - I Wanna Go Where The People Go

Recorded live in Birmingham 2011this cd is a great momento of a great tour from last yearand is essentially an authorised bootleg as compared to a commercial release. Not the set list most were expecting dare i say, but all the better for it non the less. Ginger was joined by Random Jon Poole, Jase Edwards and Willie Dowling, and this cd manages to capture the true feel of the gig, it really is almost as though you are actually there. This is a great cd with excellent renditions of Drunken Lord Of Everything, Understanding Jane, Unlucky In Love and a rare live outing for Loveshit.
A great momento for those who were lucky enough to be there, a great way to experience what was obviously a cracking gig for those who just couldnt make it on the night (or tour!)

Highly reconmended!

Rating 9/10