ALBUM REVIEWS
Bananarama – Glorious: The Ultimate Collection
Bananarama have released plenty of greatest hits albums before, but this one may be the most comprehensive yet, covering 40 years of music. Yet despite being a triple album with 50 tracks, including remixes and extended versions of some of their best-known songs, there’s still no room for hits such as Shy Boy. Ahead of two prestigious gigs at the London Palladium next month, Glorious boasts many of their favourites, starting with 1982’s Really Saying Something, featuring Fun Boy Three. Disc 1 also includes Cruel Summer and Robert De Niro’s Waiting before the Stock Aitken Waterman years kick in. The cover of Shocking Blue’s Venus and the ridiculously catchy Love In The First Degree cemented their popularity.
Judas Priest – Invincible Shield Review by Andrew Steel
There must be something in the water that keeps Britain’s heavy metal elder statesmen in rich form even as they enter their twilight years. More than half a century on from their first record, Judas Priest return with their latest effort, one of the most shrewdly forwardfacing albums of their lengthy career. Septuagenarian trio Ian Hill, Glenn Tipton and Rob Halford continue to deliver fresh cuts that hold up against their gold standard here, with younger guns Richie Faulkner and Scott Travis injecting high-energy spectaculars into every rampant track. Opener Panic Attack feels timeless in their oeuvre, while Crown of Thorns, with its soaring operatics, feels like a twenty-first century take on their vintage work. Horns aloft for the kings.
Kim Gordon – The Collective Review by Duncan Seaman
In the 13 years since the break-up of Sonic Youth, Kim Gordon has busied herself with two experimental bands, Body/Head and Glitterbust, exhibited her drawings, occasionally acted in films and on TV and written a memoir, Girl in a Band. Latterly she’s found her metier as a solo artist, first on the 2019 album No Home Record and now this 11-track collection of songs again produced by Justin Raisen (Sky Ferreira, Charli XCX). The deadpan vocals and preference for alternative tunings in It’s Dark Inside and I’maMan will satisfy those still craving the No Wave rock of Sonic Youth, but it’s in the trap-pop experiments of The Candy House and Shelf Warmer that she breaks new ground. I Don’t Miss My Mind is another highlight with its industrial beats and My Bloody Valentine-like noise attack.
Norah Jones – Visions Review by Naomi Clarke
Coming 22 years after her debut record and three years after her last album, Norah Jones returns with her beloved fusion of jazz with country, folk and pop. Straight out of the gate, the Grammy-winning singer shows she’s still got it as her soft, bluesy vocals shine through on opener All This Time. The 12-track record was born from jamming sessions with producer and multi-instrumentalist Leon Michels, with Jones on vocals, piano, guitar or bass while Michels mostly played drums. “I like the rawness between me and Leon, the way it sounds kind of garage-y but also kind of soulful,” Jones has said of the collaboration. The record has a light touch, and the tracks flit by like the breeze as she sings about feeling free and accepting what life brings.