Formed in 2000, Northern Ireland band The Answer play old-school blues-rock, influenced heavily by 70s stalwarts AC/DC and Led Zeppelin.
AC/DC / Whole Lotta Rosie
When I was eight years old, my brother played me this track in the car and I was blown away. I’d never heard guitars this loud and aggressive. Before this I was mostly listening to Dire Straits and Queen. At that age I didn’t know what Bon Scott was singing about, but I knew it was something dirty. After hearing this, I went out and got every AC/DC album I could find and I was headed down a path from which I have yet to return!
Nick Drake / Hazy Jane II
After returning from the American leg of the Black Ice tour, I had become incredibly sick due to rock ’n’ roll excess, dropped down to a size minus one, and contracted bronchitis. The doctors suggested I listen to Nick Drake, and by heck, Hazy Jane did the trick. Any time one is feeling a little delicate after a night’s indulgence, I would recommend this too.
Van Halen / Dance The Night Away
Any time the party is dipping a little, I always run to this track and it gets the celebrations back on track. You just can’t help but raise a smile when the opening riff kicks in. It shows what good songwriters the guys were, too. Van Halen are as much about great tunes as guitar pyrotechnics.
Masters of Reality / Domino
A band that originally passed me by, but when I discovered their first album recently, I was blown away. This Rick Rubin produced gem recalls all the best parts of Black Sabbath and Cream and rocks like a hurricane. And I’ll be damned if Josh Homme didn’t just listen to this track and base Queens Of The Stone Age’s career on it.
Metallica / The Day That Never Comes
To be honest, I didn’t think Death Magnetic would be up to much, but Hetfield and his cohorts pulled it out of the bag and recalled some of the greatness of Metallica in their heyday. On this track, Hetfield hasn’t sounded as empowered since Ride The Lightning. The harmony guitars get me every time.
Vain / Secrets
I always get a little stick for liking Vain, but they are the most underrated glam metal band of all time. No Respect was the album Motley Crue always wanted to make! Secrets kicks that album off and is the best opening track on a debut album ever.
The Pretty Things / In The Square
This is off the album Parachute and is part of a five song cycle. I could listen to it for days on end. It’s incredibly dark and mysterious and really takes the listener to another place. And maybe Radiohead stole the melody for Paranoid Android.
Jellyfish / Joining A Fan Club
One of the most underrated bands of all time. Andy Sturmer and Roger Manning Jnr realised their genius on the Spilt Milk album, none more so than this opening track where in the first ten seconds they manage to reference Queen, Supertramp, The Beach Boys and Wings, and make it sound unlike anything you’ve ever heard before. No mean feat!
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