Existential meditations on the passing of time, eerie guitar sounds, Simon Gallup’s crisp bass lines coated in hazy synths and piano passages that sound as if they were played by ghosts in a haunted house. In a clear departure from the still somewhat punk-rocky vibe of their debut, Seventeen Seconds slowly arrives at the kind of sound The Cure eventually became famous.

One that combines the dire and despair of human experience with a pinch of cheeky playfulness. Even though people associate them with all things dark and bleak, they are at the same time a cheerful band, in a wonderfully bizarre way. That undoubtedly has got to do with some of the biggest hits they went on to produce and the aesthetics they adapted as a means of sticking a middle finger in the faces of everyone who pigeon-holed them as gruff and drab. But if you have the advantage of knowing what will come, you can foresee some of that in their earlier work already.

"Again and again and again and again and again" - A Forest (The Cure)

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This week on the Vinyl Crusade we feature the 4th Installment of the show dedicated to the cultural revolution and esoteric magnificence of Led Zeppelin IV. Tune in Fridays at 6.00pm EAST and Saturdays and Sundays at 9.30am EST and 6.30am PST on Megazine Radio.

It was in a mystic way that the strange world of Led Zeppelin IV began to open itself to me. The album conjured up a world of forests and magic and spirits, of gods and fertility rites and the dark secret powers of the earth. There was a kind of “wayward Tantric Magic” evident in the lyrics, melodies and intentions illuminated in their music. We were invited to enter into the mysteries of primitive ritual, to “dance in the dark of night and sing to the morning light.” The songs invited us to re-imagine a long forgotten world, to turn away from the dominance of Christian-Western rationality towards the sensual pagan magic of another time and place: “Tired eyes in the sunrise, waiting for the eastern glow.”

The songs promised a deep synthesis of the erotic and the religious, a convergence of drugs and mysticism, the awakening of a strange but authentic “reason” which transcends the stifling limits of distorted modern escapism, so dominated by technology and utility. As the majestic nature inspired ode to all humanity “Stairway to Heaven” so aptly puts it:

And it’s whispered that soon

If we all call the tune

Then the piper will lead us to reason

And a new day will dawn

For those who stand long

And the forests will echo with laughter.

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It's 1974 and like the Cure so aptly put it, its Friday and I'm in LOVE. That's right I'm at the local record store (Brashs) cueing up to buy the third studio album by UK rockers, The Sweet and their break out album, Desolation Boulevard. This glam band from the 70's influenced me as a person, as a budding rebel and as a conscious musician daring to break out of the mold of what was expected of me by my peers and by my parental dynamic.Who could forget the unmistakable smash hits of, Ballroom Blitz, Fox on the Run, Teenage Rampage and Blockbuster. So in a nut shell these guys were my jam and still grace a top ten spot in my coveted list of all time fav rock acts of the last 40 years.

Desolation Boulevard included original members lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bassist Steve Priest (RIP), guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker. Formed in 1968, they quickly teamed up with the pop songwriting machine that was Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, with whom they produced bubblegum hits with like “Funny Funny,” “Co-Co,” “Wig-Wam Bam,” and Little Willy to pen a few.”

But by 1974 Sweet wanted to be taken seriously, and in so doing parted ways with Chinn-Chapman, although Desolation Boulevard, or at least the U.S. version (which differed drastically from the English release), consisted of a Side One consisting solely of Chinn-Chapman contributions. While Side2 featured a new tougher, rougher and heavier sound, it won them some real critical respect; indeed, Pete Townshend asked Sweet to open for The Who across the UK on a tour to support "Who's Next". Who could forget the unmistakeable smash hits of, Ballroom Blitz, Fox on the Run, Teenage Rampage and Blockbuster. So in a nut shell these guys were my jam and still grace a top ten spot in my coveted list of all time fav rock acts of the last 40 years

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