Album review: ORANGE GOBLIN – Rough and Ready, Live and Loud, 25 Years of British Rock and Heavy Metal

 

ORANGE GOBLIN - Rough and Ready, Live and Loud, 25 Years of British Rock and Heavy Metal

Dissonance/Cherry Red [Release date: 5.11.21]

Counting back to 1995, Orange Goblin are a ten album band, whose latest live recording was available only as a digital release in 2020, due to the unforseen circumstance we call Covid.

Now it’ll be out in hard copy on 5 Nov (there’ll be fireworks that day etc etc). The album’s title – Rough And Ready, Live And Loud, 25 Years Of British and Heavy Metal – sounds more like a book launch than a CD release. Still, that said, the cliché, “does what it says on the tin” quickly swims into view.

The cover art is in black and white, and that somehow seems appropriate. This band’s Stoner/ Doom / Sludge Rock is a dark, monochrome world, occasionally illuminated by the fiery intensity of an amp blowing riff from guitarist Joe Hoare, or a howling mating call from vocalist, Ben Ward.

This timely release is spliced together from recordings of various live gigs over a 3 year period, 2016-2019. It selectively plunders 7 of the band’s albums. A live ‘best of…’ if you like.

The music press went into ecstasy overdrive when the band released 2012′s Eulogy For The Damned album, after a 5 year shutdown. The brutal, densely constructed, Blue Cheer like ‘The Fog’, and the steamrollering, combative heavy metal of ‘The Filthy And The Few’ are the picks from that album. Done live, they are indeed performance art, illustrating just why the primal thrill of Orange Goblin’s metal thrives on audience response.

The pair of tracks from 1998′s Time Travellers Blues quake with turbulent energy. Hoare’s explosive, bluesy riffs ignite the Sabbathy ‘Shine’, and Ward steps up and into to an outrageously rocking reconstruction of the the album’s title track.

TTB’s original opener, ‘Blue Snow’ is a bonus track here… it didn’t appear on the digital release.

The remaining tracks growl and thunder their way through the band’s heavy rock battlefield, knee deep in glaur, showing the occasional flicker of a harder, more dangerous edge.

Performance art indeed, from a band born to perform live. ****

Review by Brian McGowan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Josh Taerk Sunday Sessions 2024

Latest session: Sunday 14 April

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio



David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 7 April 2024.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 2 April 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 15 April 2024

ENMY The Ledge (FiXT)
KAROBELA Get Hard (indie)
KATH & THE KICKS Neptune (indie)
THE BEE TELLERS River Poem (Black Sand Records)
LAUREN FREEBIRD Like A Bomb (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 15 April 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 KATARINA PEJAK – Pearls On A String (Ruf Records)


To see our Tweets you need to be logged in to a Twitter account



Popular (last 10 days)


Please log in/register