E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG - FREEDOM MEANS BEING UNAFRAID TO WRITE WHAT YOU THINK

As the anniversaries of 20-year-old albums continue to roll in, it dawns on me: was there ever a better year for popular/indie music?  Consider that 1991 saw the release of Nevermind, Achtung Baby, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Loveless, Blue Lines, Ten, Out Of Time, Trompe Le Monde, Girlfried, Gish, and, incredibly, Metallica 's Black Album.  Clearly, U2, Nirvana, RHCP , Pearl Jam , Matthew Sweet , and perhaps REM , were never better, and My Bloody Valentine ,  Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins, Metallica   and Massive Attack achieved career highs that year, too.

Will Young Echoes rev iew Written by James Christopher Sheppard The original Pop Idol returns, Will Young releases his fifth studio album, Echoes , at the end of August. Young hasn’t made big waves since his second album Friday’s Child when it reached five times platinum status and provided him with the massive single ‘Leave Right Now’ and ‘Your Game’. However, all of his album releases have gone Top Ten in the UK and been certified platinum. The openly gay popstar clearly has a devoted and loyal fan base, but can Echoes propel him back to the success of his early days? The entire album is produced by electronic and synthpop producer Richard X , so the collection should be more attention-grabbing than Young’s last rather unmemorable effort, Let It Go . ‘Jealousy’ First single, ‘Jealousy’, has already created some excitement amongst the Young fan-base, perhaps due to the upbeat feel of the song. It’s a simple, breezy, emotional tinged synth pop with an 80s feel. The ...

15 Years of the SPICE GIRLS by James Christopher Sheppard It’s exactly 15 years since the Spice Girls burst onto the British music scene with ‘Wannabe’ and stormed to number one. In July 1996 an unknown all-girl pop group were suddenly all over television and radio promoting a song more pop than pop itself, about really really wanting a zig-a-zig-ah and friendship never ending. The sentiment was fresh and girl power was born. The group were hard to miss, with each girl having their own individual style, which at the time was practically unheard of in the pop world. Prior to Ginger, Baby, Sporty, Scary and Posh , the commercial music industry, particularly in the UK, was dominated by indie pop bands like Oasis , Blur and Radiohead, the super divas Celine Dion and Mariah Carey , and boybands that dressed the same like Take That and Boyzone . Despite their beginnings as a manufactured group, Geri, Melanie C, Emma, Melanie B and Victoria broke away, wrote their own songs, got ...