"To be fair, Queen chose a pretty awesome time to record a live album, as the set list that they played on this tour was second to none. Certainly, the absence of any material from their first two albums is perhaps an oversight, but by this stage of their career, with so many successful singles and songs that were fan favourites, and seven albums worth of material to choose from, making set lists was never going to be an easy thing. Would I like to have had songs from that era represented? Absolutely. But choosing songs to leave out would have been the hard part. And the fact that a song like “Somebody to Love”, which was the third song played on most nights of this tour, was left off the album, is incredible to believe. So yes. Choices to be made. So, let’s just be thankful for the songs and album that we have here to enjoy".

On this episode we are going to talk about “Live Killers” by Queen, the band’s debut live album released 45 years ago this week, on today’s ‘I was told a million times of all the troubles in my way’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"For so many fans, this album was the first that they had experienced the band, and what better way to be introduced to Faith No More than the barnstorming opening track “From Out of Nowhere”, which blazes out of the speakers without warning and trips the album into overdrive from the outset. Energetic and browbeaten from the start, it is a killer opening, and surely impressed the fans who knew the first two albums with the onus on the new lead vocalist.

Everybody on the single’s release knew “Epic”, a song particularly well named for the way it sounded and the way it was treated on release. The video is mayhemic, and indeed created some controversy because of the vision of a fish out of water, flapping madly to breathe. But it was the manic energy of the track both on screen and on vinyl and CD that made it so popular, that drove the sales of the album because it funnelled the popularity of the single into people wanting to dive into the album itself and find out what else they could find. Surely no one left disappointed".

On this episode we are going to talk about “The Real Thing” by Faith No More, the band’s 3rd studio album released 35 years ago this week, on today’s ‘it’s not over yet, you don’t remember I won’t let you forget’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"While I did pick this up on CD at some point following the demise of the band in the mid-1990's, my best guess is that it was after the demise of Cobain, and a point at which I had played both “Nevermind” and “In Utero” to death and went back to find this album as a stop gap. I was also eventually gifted this on vinyl by a work colleague, who had a still shrink wrapped second edition vinyl on the Sub Pop label, unopened and unplayed, which he claimed he would never listen to because he didn’t have a turntable. So that was an absolute bonus. Cheers Trent.

One of the problems with re-listening to this album over the past couple of weeks has been that at the same time I have been listening to an album that was released just five days after this, one that got a far greater exposure around the world, one which I knew a lot more of on its entry point to the world, and is a far superior release in every way, shape and form".

On this episode we are going to talk about “Bleach” by Nirvana, the band’s debut studio album released 35 years ago this week, on today’s ‘Barney ties me to the chair, I can't see, I'm really scared’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"As an album, the songs here can be categorised into two specific areas – the out and out more aggressive death metal tracks, where Chuck’s vocals reach the guttural growl that is one of the major characteristics of that genre of metal along with the groove of the guitars and drums, and the more typical Testament guise of thrash metal, where the vocals are more recognisable from the band’s early days, and the music is less toned down and more acceptable in the fast and bright tones that the early albums resided in. Both categories of songs here are terrific, don’t get me wrong there, but there is a line down the middle in regard to the style, and there is certainly more of the death metal scene here than the band’s original thrash roots.

On the thrash side, the opening track “D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)” is a beauty, kicking the album off in terrific tyle, fast and unabashed, with Chuck crushing hard with his vocals throughout. Ditto for the following track “Down for Life”, a song that could have come straight from those early albums, fast and thrashy guitars, terrific drumming from the master of speed Dave Lombardo, and Chuck’s vocals hitting right in the sweet spot. This is such an awesome song, no holds barred, and no time to rest to take a breath. Perfect Testament in the very best form".

On this episode we are going to talk about “The Gathering” by Testament, the band’s 8th studio album released 25 years ago this week, on today’s ‘no one lives forever, there is no forever’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"Having turned in a different direction on their previous album “Slang”, the opening three tracks here on “Euphoria” certainly bring back a sense of the past, all of them channelling the sound and structure that can be found on both “Hysteria” and “Adrenalize”. The opening salvo of “Demolition Man” is excellent, up tempo, energetic, with great guitars from both Phil Collen and Vivan Campbell, and vocals from Joe Elliott that are in top form. Def Leppard are generally excellent at composing opening tracks on their albums, and this one follows that pattern perfectly. This is followed by “Promises”, which was the first single released from the album, and this is most definitely written in that late 80’s era style. In fact, you could easily imagine this coming straight off the “Hysteria” album. It slots right back into the pop rock sound that Def Leppard had been cultivating for over a decade and is inoffensively enjoyable for what it is. The third track here is “Back in Your Face”, with the attitude and spark that you would expect from a song with this title. The lyrics are playfully belligerent and the song again harks back to those earlier days of the band. Overall, the first three tracks on the album showcase the blueprint that the band had set out for itself".

On this episode we are going to talk about “Euphoria” by Def Leppard, the band’s 7th studio album released 25 years ago this week, on today’s ‘so far gone and I'm almost there’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"Bruce had begun those initial writing sessions while still in Iron Maiden alongside producer Keith Olsen, whose credits stretched throughout the hard rock and soft rock bands across a decade or more. While expanding on these at Olsen’s LA studio, Bruce heard another band recording, and was so impressed he actually took the band to Rod Smallwood (who was still acting as Bruce’s manager), who signed them up. Eventually Bruce decided to scrap the project with Keith Olsen, and instead found a collaborating partner by the name of Roy Z, a partnership that was to end up being the most productive of Bruce’s solo career. Roy had his own band called the Tribe of Gypsies – the same band Bruce had heard in those same studios – who became the recording and touring band for Bruce as well. From these fortuitous circumstances, Bruce had started down the path that would eventually lead him back to the top of metal music... though it was to be a circling and more winding path than Bruce perhaps initially imagined".

On this episode we are going to talk about “Balls to Picasso” by Bruce Dickinson, his 2nd studio album released 30 years ago this week, on today’s ‘the misty ghosts of childhood fears’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"The opening salvo of “Too Young to Know” has a sound that incorporates a sound similar to contemporary bands such as Bad Company and Free, as well as the Rolling Stones. Phil Mogg’s smooth vocals are the immediate focal point of the song, while Michael Schenker’s easy listening guitar also makes its presence felt through the majority of the song. The rhythm of Andy Parker’s drums and Pete Way’s bass guitar keep the momentum throughout the song. “Crystal Light” generally sticks to the same style of song that the band had produced on their first two albums, without it stretching beyond almost four minutes that this song goes for. There is an almost-Eagles-like feel to this song, in the quiet tones of the song rather than any of the country rock themes that band had around this time.

The star attraction of the album, and the first sign of the band’s growing direction, comes next with “Doctor Doctor”. From the subdued guitar beginning, into the Schenker riff supported by Parker’s hard drums, and then into the main riff of the song, this is the song where your ears immediately prick up and think ‘wow... that’s different!’ And it is as brilliant today as it was 50 years ago. This is where the harder edge of the band began to appear, and the popularity and success of this song is what drove what came beyond this album. Great melody, heavier sound, and Schenker’s guitaring, including amazing solo. The genesis of what UFO became is the basis of this track"

On this episode we are going to talk about “Phenomenon” by UFO, the band’s 3rd studio album released 50 years ago this week, on today’s ‘she walked up to me, and really stole my heart’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"Flash forward to the current day and I have been listening to this album for a number of weeks leading up to this podcast episode, mainly to get my own facts straight in my head because as to how I feel about it in 2024. Because over the years when I’ve pulled this off the shelves to have another listen, I’ve always enjoyed it. It's easy to just go with the flow and say that “Dynasty” is only an average album, but for the most part I've always found this album to be very listenable and enjoyable. Whether that is because there is more of Ace Frehley being utilised on this album which makes it a change up for the band in that respect, or whether it's because at the time it was released I was coming to the end of my primary school years and this kind of album was one that was starting to attract my attention, I don't know what the answer is. If I was going to rate or rank Kiss albums then I know this probably wouldn't rank in my top 10, but I still believe this is a very listenable album for me and one that I can and have easily put on and enjoy without any qualms"

On this episode we are going to talk about “Dynasty” by Kiss, the band’s 7th studio album released 45 years ago this week, on today’s ‘You showed me things they never taught me in school’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.