MY SIX BEST ALBUMS
IRVINE WELSH, 58, wrote cult novel Trainspotting, later made into an iconic film. He also wrote The Acid House and Filth. His play Performers is at the Assembly Rooms during the Edinburgh Fringe, 4.45pm daily. DAVID BOWIE: Station To Station (Parlophone) A transitional album for Bowie where he moved into becoming a soul artist. He was going through a heavy cocaine period.
I don’t believe that art influences people to take drugs but I almost want to take cocaine listening to this. It’s a grandiose album of great conviction. IGGY POP: Brick By Brick (EMI) This was when he was flying under the radar but it’s a great critique of the brashness of modern America and hankering for humanistic values.
The greatest thing about him is his voice. When he hits that low timbre in the ballads, it’s hypnotic. LOU REED: Rock ’N’ Roll Animal (Sony) A live album that feels almost studio-produced. I don’t usually like guitar solos but it starts off with a fantastic one from Steve Hunter that perfectly sets up Sweet Jane. He does a harrowing version of Heroin. I was dabbling with heroin at the time and Reed gave it a kind of credibility. ROXY MUSIC: Country Life (EMI) Popular wisdom says they were past their best but I beg to differ. I think this is their masterpiece. It foreshadows all the musical trends of the Eighties and Nineties and had the effect of an exotic, glamorous cabaret. For a teenage boy, it had an amazing cover with semi-naked women that probably wouldn’t be allowed now. OASIS: (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? (Creation) This spawned some mega anthemic songs that had never been done with that vitriol and power before. As a songwriter, Noel Gallagher was untouchable then. You played this and felt yourself being pinned to the ceiling with every song: Roll With It, Don’t Look Back In Anger and Champagne Supernova. MULL HISTORICAL SOCIETY: Loss (WEA) Colin MacIntyre hatched all these beautifully crafted pop songs from his bedroom in Tobermory, played every instrument and produced it himself. It can be quite rousing and he knows how to build a song. His gigs are incredible entertainment.