Iron Maiden live

The Swoj Staff were at the mighty Iron Maiden's sold out show in Glasgow on Friday night (we've only just recovered enough to tell you about it!). Opinions were mixed it has to be said. Special guests Trivium went down a storm but the headliners themselves picked a more 'controversial' set list with the first 1 hour and 20 mins being devoted entirely to promoting material from the new album which only left 35 mins (5 songs) for the old classics.

As I've written before, Maiden make no apologies for playing a lot of new material in their set because they see it as their way of staying relevant and offering the fans something different each time, and I have no problem with that. In fact probably most people dont have a problem with that when it is normally split 50/50 but I heard a lot of disgruntled fans leaving the venue and in the club later that night. Personally I thought it was fine but slightly overkill. I dont think the new album (A Matter Of Life And Death) is as great as the rock press would have you believe (an 8/10 in my books) but as always, Maiden's material sounds 10 times stronger live than it does in the studio.

Possibly detecting a note of unrest (or having picked up on it elsewhere in the tour) they have vowed to return next year and play a UK festival and play a greatest hits set. If that happens then all will be forgiven!

In case you're wondering the old classics were: Iron Maiden, Hallowed Be Thy Name, 2 Minutes To Midnight, The Evil That Men Do and Fear Of The Dark (not in order).
This led to much discussion over a couple of drinks about which favourites were missed...lads, fire away with your own personal faves that were skipped...

Ramones - End Of The Century

I finally got round to watching the Ramones documentary End Of The Century last night. I've been really keen to see this since it was released last year but ended up missing the cinema run and then only just got round to watching the DVD.

It's a documentary that left me with mixed emotions. On one hand I found the history of the band (and punks origins) absolutely fascinating, but on the other hand none of the band members came across as particularly likeable people, especially ever-present guitarist Johnny Ramone, but then again you had to applaud their honesty and to tell the story exactly as it was without trying to cover anything up. You'll be amazed at how a band that lasted this long and has such cult status struggled all their career, never achieving the recognition of the bands they inspired, and had such damging internal friction!

I would definitely recommend seeing this as it's a real eye opener but already owning a couple of Ramones albums, I have to say, I wasn't exactly desperate to go out and buy more by the end of this film. 8/10

No Jackson for The Hobbit

I'm sure I'm not alone in loving the Lord Of The Ring movies, they were simply amazing. For years now there has been ongoing speculation about a movie version of The Hobbit (the prequel to the Load Of The Rings), with the main question being, "When will it be made?". Almost everyone had assumed that Peter Jackson would continue the work he did with Lord Of The Rings and get his go at making The Hobbit, sadly it is looking like this will not be the case - the film is going into production, but without Peter Jackson.

With Peter Jackson engaged in legal action with New Line Cinema over unpaid royalties, they seem to have given him the ultimatum of drop the law suit, or don't direct the Hobbit.

This obviously has annoyed a lot of people, with so many fans wanting to see the Hobbit done by Peter Jackson so that continuity in the style and tone can be carried over, but if Jackson is not involved, then neither will his special effects company Weta, so the new production team will have to start from scratch - which is unlikely to provide the same look and feel as people are wanting.

While I think it doesn't give the Hobbit much chance of living up the Lord of the Rings, others feel a little more agrieved. Sir Ian McKellen has voiced support for Jackson to make the film, and it is sound like if Jackson is not involved, neither will any of the original cast. As a result, fansite TheOneRing.net has started a 'Boycott New Line' petition.

However, do not lose all hope yet, some reports are surfacing that the ultimate rights owner of the Hobbit/LOTR series, Saul Zaentz, wants Peter Jackson on board. Rumours have also surfaced that Evil Dead/Spiderman director, Sam Raimi, has been offered the job, so maybe all is not lost yet!

For Ruin now on Myspace

Upcoming Irish death metal band For Ruin, fronted by the dedicated John Murphy, have now set up a Myspace site. The site features several of the songs from their latest CD, Obsidian. This is the first CD release since the band expanded from being the solo work of John to being a band, with new members Barry English, Drew Myers and Barry O´Sullivan joining up.

For Ruin have a number of gigs coming up in the coming months (starting as early as December), so check out their tour list on the MySpace site.

Visit the new For Ruin MySpace site:
http://www.myspace.com/forruinband

Visit the main For Ruin website:
http://www.forruin.com/

Long live the Barrowland Ballroom

The Swoj boys were out for a gig last night and we were delighted to be back in the Glasgow Barrowlands. Over the last couple of years a new venue has opened in Glasgow holding a similar capacity and seems to have taken a lot of business from the Barrowlands. If you ask any Glaswegian what his/her favourite concert venue is, chances are he/she will answer the Barrowlands no matter what style of music they go to see (ok maybe opera excluded!). The Swoj team have been going to this place for years and love it to bits. Don't get me wrong, it's an absolute flea pit and stinks but it has an atmosphere, layout, accoustics and just all round general vibe that is second to none, that seems to be a feature of most best gig venues (I'm sure I've heard CBGB's was disgusting in the 70's).

So it was all there last night just as we remembered it: the neon signs on approach to the building, that first sweaty smell as you walk in the door, followed by the dodgy hot dog smell upstairs next to the merchandise stall, the disgusting toilets, the perfect floor & stage layout, the crazy crowd, the flying beer, the band feeding off the crowds energy, the night getting better and better, the soaking wet floor - to that final crush to get out the doors at the top of the stairs and take a gulp of fresh air...

We wouldn't change it for anything! Here's to more gigs at the Barrowlands and it's future on the concert map!
http://www.glasgow-barrowland.com/ballroom.htm

Gun'n'Roses album info

Came across this link today with information about the massively anticipated and massively delayed new album from Guns 'n' Roses.

It doesn't really give us too many details on what the album is going to sound like, beyond using phrases such as "massive riffs", "modern sound" and "almost like doom metal". The article does give the intended release date as November 21st, so I guess we won't have long to go until we can judge it for ourselves!

Check the article out: http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/1258736

Rock music in the charts

I've just been reading that My Chemical Romance and Trivium are currently #1 in the UK singles and album charts respectively (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6053586.stm).

To be honest I'm not sure where I stand on this. Of course I would much rather see 'real' guitar driven music receiving the credit it deserves and see it top of the pile rather than the latest manufactured boy-band wasters, but there's just something about us rockers/metallers that makes us uncomfortable in the limelight and receiving the adoration of the pop loving masses! I guess we are just so used to being kept in the dark and having our own scene that we don't like sharing it when a band hits the big time.

I suppose we should be saying good luck to them and here's to more appreciation to rock, metal and punk but I just have this fear of the guys who are flying our flag selling out and appearing on the latest teeny bopper magazines. Let's hope I'm wrong and the rest of the world is finally waking up to what we've known for years!

New Album summary

Tomorrow sees the release of the new Trivium album, "The Crusade". This has been receiving a lot of hype recently. I liked their last album "Ascendancy" so hopefully "The Crusade" will live up to the hype.

Other notable releases that we'll be watching out for include:
Cradle Of Filth - "Thornography" (16th Oct)
Deftones - "Saturday Night Wrist" (30th Oct)
Killswitch Engage - "As Daylight Dies" (20th Nov)
Tool - "Salival" (31st Dec)

In terms of recent releases, Iron Maiden's "A Matter of Life and Death", Mastadon's "Blood Mountain", Motorhead's "Kiss of Death" and Body Count's "Murder 4 Hire" are in the Grindaar teams possession, so we should have feedback on these to you soon.

Rye Coalition

Some rock magazines have been making a lot of noise lately about a band called Rye Coalition. Again, they're not exactly a new band, they've been releasing albums since 1997 and have 5 records to their name previous to their most recent effort Curses. The main reason their profile has been raised recently is that a certain Mr Dave Grohl has produced this new release - and he certainly knows a thing or two about music! Grohl's influence can be heard at various points in Curses and I'd describe them as 80% Paul Stanley style Kiss and 20% Foo Fighters - not a bad mix if that's how you like your rock!

After a couple of listens I'd say they're good but not the brilliant saviours of rock some are suggesting. 7/10
www.ryecoalition.com

New Music: New Project

We thought the blog would be an ideal way to keep you guys updated on what we're listening to but can't find the time to do a fully blown Grindaar review on, particularly any new music we've come across.

So to kick things off I've been checking out a band called New Project. Not many people have heard of them although they're not exactly new, but they are evolving their sound this year. They have a new EP out now called Primal.Logic.Slave which is pretty awesome. It's hard to pigeon-hole New Project and tell you who they are like, there are definite Industrial metal influences in there and there's something familiar about the riffs and vocals but I just can't put my finger on who they sound like, at a push I would say they're a bit like Filter and Static-X. But don't take that forced similarity as the final say, check them out for yourselves - you'll be able to listen to some of their tracks on their official website www.newprojectonline.com I don't think you'll be disapointed, I'd give them 8/10.

Now with added blog-ness

Probably a long overdue addition to the site, this blog is now in place to allow for more regular updates regarding Swoj.com. I'm sure this will evolve as we go, however the main intention is to have a way to keep people updated on the things going on behind the scenes, particularly with the items that are not 'front page' type content. I'm sure there will be the odd rant or two as well!