Opinion

Disclaimer: In no way do I wish this to be a hate post, it’s just a re-evaluation of some of the core beliefs of many on the subject of Depeche Mode. In my opinion, Depeche Mode’s best album is 1988’s Music for the Masses. It presents itself as the best culmination of their repeated attempts to marry provocative lyrics with their stadium-sized ambition and hunger for popularity. It has been nearly matched twice, with 1986’s Black Celebration and 2005’s Playing the Angel. All three of these releases show Depeche Mode at their best, perfecting their formula to create albums that stand out among their 14-album discography. I’ve always had a problem with Depeche Mode despite these solid releases.
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A few of us began knocking ideas about for Christmas specials and it was really nice to hear Sam and Mark suggesting ones they wanted to write. I’ve been wanting to write this exploratory piece for a while, ever since Nathan’s review of Pink Floyd’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn actually. Initially I thought the subject of mental health wasn’t appropriate for Christmas but it’s probably far more apt to run a piece about this now rather than at any other time of the year.
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Time and Music are both funny things. Before I got into my first band at the age of 11 (Busted, if you must know) I would always get a strong feeling of irritation and discomfort when my mum listened to the radio. I can’t explain my discomfort in words, (maybe it was a sense of taste as my parents listened to a lot of ‘chill out’ music. Cringe), however I do have a strong memory of Madonna’s La Isla Bonita playing in my mum’s car as we pulled out of Asda’s carpark and just feeling annoyed by it. Fast forward twenty years and I listen to Madonna while I wash up.
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Last year, there was a campaign by Crack in the Road. They took that year’s major UK festival lineup posters and removed any all-male bands, leaving just a tiny minority of female-inclusive bands. This year, Emily Eavis stated that there would be a lineup “strong on women” at Glastonbury Festival 2016. If anything shows that the issue of gender bias is getting into the mainstream, it’s this, but what has Glastonbury Festival’s gender bias looked like over the years?
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The name of the artist is Fetty Wap and this unbelievable rapper has hit crazy tracks. One of them called ‘Promise’ features kid ink. He has over 300 million views which is phenomenal. Many people say he was shot in the head or something but actually he suffered from a disease called glaucoma and unfortunately lost an eye. This disability did not stop him from singing.
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Prince Tribute: A Musician Can Define Lives, by Veena Shaunak

Prince has had revered status in my head and heart for as long as I can actually remember. He has

At first I thought this band were rubbish due to the fact that I didn’t give them a try to see what they sounded like, but then I gave Your Demise a listen and they just blew me away with what they had to show and I had to tell everyone about it. This five piece band from St Albans have many awesome guitar solos and riffs that it’s unbelieveble to even try to learn them all! They also have catchy drum beats to help woo the crowd at a concert and get them going and a top bassist that fits in well with all of this to get the audience going. Try listening to The Kids We Used To Be (below) and you will see what I mean.
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I hate reality TV; let’s get that out of the way now. This will be my most biased article on Rockhaq because this was always going to be an attack. The thing I hate the most about these shows isn’t how it gives people a free ride or how it’s killing the brain cells of about six million people weekly or that it all lines Simon Cowell’s pockets. It’s how they take a musician, an artist and turn them into some cult of personality freak show that the red banner papers can’t get enough of. Read More

Guitarists are known for ripping out shredding solos and playing beautiful chords to swoon girls. Vocalists are known for impressive vocal work to swoon girls. Drummers are known to keep a beat and throw impressive fills in here and there. Bassists are known for standing in the back playing the same thing all set. Why? Read More

Does anyone remember that Morgan Freeman interview a few years ago? The one where they asked him about how he felt about World Black History Day and he replied “You want to confine my history to one day?” Obviously the music industry and its problems are a thousand miles away from the degradation that Black people have had to put up with for 400 years but I have a similar answer. You want to confine a section of an industry that is in deep trouble to one day? Read More