A is for ... (Part 2)

Following on from Part 1...

[A] is for Addiction

Oh bugger. This one is topical. I mentioned to Jo before Xmas that I loved coffee beans coated in chocolate. One of the girls from work had brought some into the office. They are uber-fantastico. We noticed they were selling some in Myers but they were expensive, but in the post-Xmas sales they were cheaper. These ones from Threehats Imaginative Foods were normally $18, but we got them half-price. Then Jo spotted one of the others in the range for just $5 in the Continental Shop at our local shopping mall. She bought me two.

Hell, I might just go get myself another handful. Or two. Who needs sleep anyway?! It's so overrated.

[A] is for Aeroplane

No I am categorically not an plane nerd. I don't wear an anorak and take my notepad and 2B pencil to the local airfield to marvel at the different shades of grey of the RAAF planes. I am, however, in total awe of huge planes taking off and coming in to land, particularly 747's. I can stare in amazement and wonder - just how do they get such huge beasts off the ground?

I remember numerous times at Heathrow airport near the rental car pickup/return depot which is right next to one of the main runways. Jumbo after Jumbo taking off less than 100 feet from where we were standing. The sheer power and force can be exhilirating.

Flying on the damn things is another story. I've had my fill of long-haul flights. I've done the Europe~Australia trip close to 15 times now. Saying that, at least the last few times has been in Business Class with work. Having on-demand movies is fantastic. Almost as good as being able to lie almost flat and sleep for the whole trip. On my most recent work trip I had to come back from Germany via London and Bangkok. When I got to London and picked up my boarding pass I was upgraded to First Class. Without wanting to sound like a snob, I have to say that I was slightly disappointed and would have preferred going back to Business Class, but it was a great experience nonetheless. The only things I could spot that were slightly better was the food, which was already pretty good in Business Class. I also received my own pyjamas so I didn't have to sleep in my clothes and we had about 4 stewards/stewardesses to only 12 of us.

I still feel slightly nervous when I get on a plane, but once we're up in the air I don't think about what could happen.

[A] is for The Almighty

Music makes up a large part of my life, so there will be a few entries within this A-Z that relate to music. The Almighty are my favourite band and have been for over 15 years.

Back in early 1990 I was at college day-release organised by the company I was working for. The one year that I went to college I was going for a qualification in Mechanical Engineering. Anyone who knows me well will know that I ain't got a clue when it comes to mechanical stuff, but it was to assist my career of the time working in the Computer Aided Design industy. This was at the height of my metalheadedness and I met Nick and Ben there which opened my eyes to a lot of new music. While Ben disappeared before the course ended, Nick and I became close buddies and 18 years later we're still in touch and catch up for a beer when I go back to England.

Veering off subject slightly, but I failed the course miserably. This might have been because we spent most lunch times at a pub called The Boat Race, drinking Newcastle Brown Ale and playing pool. After several weeks we worked out we could smuggle a bottle or two back into the classroom as we sat the back and we could hide them behind the curtains. Even better than that was when we realised that we could just stay down the pub all afternoon drinking, playing pool and wishing we could chat up the hot barmaid.

So anyway, in a music store one day Nick pointed out a cassette EP by a band called The Almighty. I'd heard the name as they had recently played the Cambridge Corn Exchange music venue. (It was called Corn Exchange because that's what they used to do there many moons ago. There was method in the crap name). On a whim and with my last five pounds (not including my bus fare home) I bought it and on the bus ride home I cranked up the volume on my Sony walkman and probably much to the annoyance of the other passengers on the bus.

That album was Blood, Fire & Live! a live album released from the tour supporting the Blood, Fire & Love debut album. Originally the title had Roses rather than Love but to avoid confusing with Guns n' Roses at the time, it was changed.

I can remember listening to them for the first time like I can remember every other important event in my life. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying the band are on a part with greats such as Led Zep, The Stones, etc, but the music and the attitude was a reflection of where I was at that time in my life. The music is rock. It's riff-driven, sometimes anthemic, sometimes catchy. At the end of the day it was balls-to-the-wall, in your face rock music and I loved every fuckin' minute of it. Shame it was only 8 songs.

I went out and bought the debut album on vinyl as soon as I had some money to spare. I preferred the raw edge of the live EP as the debut was, in my mind, a little tinny and didn't capture the essence and the power of the band's live peformance.

Vocalist, songwriter and rhythm guitarist Ricky Warwick had become an overnight hero to me.

I then had to wait a while. They were getting rave reviews for their first releases and their live performances were likened to Motorhead. In 1992 they released their difficult follow-up album, Soul Destruction. I bought it on the release day and didn't take it out of my Walkman for weeks. They had matured and released 12 more songs rock that was meant to be cranked up to 11.

I saw them for the first time on the tour to support the album and it's still one of the best gigs I've been to.

They came back a couple of months later when Megadeth announced a shock gig at the Cambridge Corn Exchange. With them they brought support in form of the The Almighty and the just-about-to-be-famous Alice in Chains. The gig was awesome and I was practically first row throughout. The bruises have just about gone down.

In 1993 they released Powertrippin'. The original guitarist, Tantrum (yeah that was his name), had left. I remember being devastated, thinking the band were finished but he was eventually replaced by Canadian Pete Friesen. If you ever watch Wayne's World, Pete is the band member in Alice Cooper's dressing room who makes the comment about Red Indians.

Grunge had invaded and stolen most of what was left of rock music. The Almighty found a new, slight change of direction with a heavier album. Again they came and played Cambridge. I saw them again supporting Iron Maiden at Wembley Arena a few weeks later and then they played their biggest gig in their short (so far) history. They supported Metallica at Milton Keynes Bowl in front of 75,000 people. Megadeth and a temporarily reformed Diamond Head were also on the bill. We managed to get about 20-30 rows from the front and I don't remember much about it now!

In '94 they changed direction again with the album Crank. This was much heavier and a gamble which payed off with most of the fans, but the record label didn't agree so much. Again they toured and this time I caught them at Rock City in Nottingham, supported by Warrior Soul.

1996 saw the release of Just Add Life and probably their biggest change of direction. I like the album but it took a few listens. The track All Sussed Out remains a favourite to this day. I missed the tour because I was in Australia. When I got back I found they had disbanded and that was that.

At least for the time being.

The reformed in the early 2000's and recorded two more albums, one just called The Almighty and the other Psycho-Narco. The first of the two was a fantastic return to their original roots and in my mind alongside Soul Destruction as their best release. They still play gigs together now, sometimes supporting charity, something that came about after bassist Floyd London had suffered from cancer.

Ricky Warwick, who I've had the good fortune to meet on a couple of occasions, is one of the most down-to-earth dudes I've met and he always has time for the fans. These days he has a reasonably successful solo acoustic career in the States and is a member of the band Circus Diablo which is currently making waves around the world.

They were never huge and I apologise for inflicting my musical tastes on the world, but to me The Almighty are the best band on the planet. They are loud, they are wild and they are just downright Al-fuckin'-Mighty.

So anyway, here's a couple of clips just. The first track is Destroyed from the debut album and is full of typical rock lyrics and it's a pretty poor video, but they didn't have much money back then! The second is All Sussed Out from Just Add Life.