I know CD singles are obsolete today, but regardless, this one is pretty damn good. ‘Sad But True’ is a kickass song, with its heavy groove and catchy lyrics, it’s one of the more memorable tracks from 1991’s ‘Black Album’. There’s an acoustic/orchestral version of ‘Nothing Else Matters’, an insanely energetic live version of ‘Creeping Death’ (honestly, the energy in this recording is crazy), and finally, a demo version of the title track.

A pointless frisbee for most people, but for collectors, this is everything a single should be. Title track, alternative version, live track, and demo track. Spot on.

Probably my favourite track off of the band’s debut album, ‘Voices’ is a solid piece of nu metal, and serves as a great opening song from 2000’s ‘The Sickness’. An early indicator of what Disturbed are about, it’s heavy, got some great groove, and has vocalist David Draiman’s signature style all over it.

Included on this CD single are two live tracks, ‘Stupify’ and ‘The Game’. Both are decent enough, not that I’d care to ever come back to these, but if nothing else, they provide evidence of the energy present at the Chicago five-piece’s early shows.

Other than that, this is your bog-standard CD single. Great for collectors, obsolete table coasters for everyone else.

Released in 1987, ‘Introduce Yourself’ is the second album by alternative metal outfit Faith No More. It follows on closely to the sound and style of its predecessor, only a slightly better production sets them apart.

I wasn’t overly keen on 1985’s ‘We Care a Lot’, and honestly, I kind of struggled with this one too! The band were certainly something different and unique at the time, and their song-writing is becoming more confident, but, like many later fans, I guess I just tend to dismiss these early, Chuck Mosley releases.

Chuck Mosley, of course, is the vocalist who would be replaced after this album by powerhouse front man Mike Patton of the band Mr. Bungle. Mosley’s rap-like style worked fine, but, I guess it kind of put a limit on what the band could do, and if any band were to thrive without any limitations, it would be Faith No More.

Clutching at straws, but if I had to pick out any notable songs, there’s ‘Chinese Arithmetic’, ‘Anne’s Song’, ‘Blood’, and in particular, a re-recorded version of ‘We Care a Lot’, which is probably the only song I really care to come back to, if ever. It’s a shame, and I certainly don’t mean any disrespect to Chuck Mosley, but with this album out of the way, Faith No More can really move on to becoming the metal heavyweights that they are, while ‘Introduce…’ and ‘We Care…’ can both slip away into obscurity, at least for me, anyway.

Following two fairly boring psychedelic rock albums, I figured the early Deep Purple era just wasn’t for me. Maybe a bit “before my time”, but I found ‘Shades of Deep Purple’ and ‘The Book of Taliesyn’ to be pretty uninteresting. So, whilst going through the bands discography, I set about the arduous task of having ‘Deep Purple’ in my playlist, ready for multiple listens throughout a number of weeks. Much to my surprise however, I actually enjoyed it!

Released in 1969, this was Purple’s third album in barely the span of a year. An impressive feat, especially by today’s standards! But with little time between releases, I didn’t have much hope for this one. But something about it just resonates with me. It’s not much different from its predecessors, but the song-writing just seems a bit more focused. It feels as if the British five-piece are leaving the 60’s psych music behind and shifting towards a more progressive rock-based sound. This is especially evident on the 12-minute track, ‘April’.

And of course, it works! The interplay between guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and keyboardist Jon Lord is really starting to shine here. And while past albums were half-full with covers, ‘Deep Purple’ only features one cover song. I’d imagine after a year of recording and touring, the members here were becoming more comfortable with their own writing, or perhaps by this point they’d made a name for themselves, enabling them to rely more on their own compositions rather than using others.

Notable tracks include ‘Blind’, ‘Chasing Shadows’, ‘Bird Has Flown’, ‘Why Didn’t Rosemary’ and bonus track ‘Emmaretta’, but in all honesty, the whole album is pretty easy and pleasant to listen to from start to finish. And while everyone and their dog knows that better things are to come, ‘Deep Purple’ is no-doubt an early indication of what the hard rock and heavy metal pioneers are capable of.

‘Celestial Entrance’ is the second album by Norwegian progressive metal band Pagan’s Mind. Released in 2002, it sees a vast improvement upon the groups 2000 debut, with song-writing, instrumentation and vocals all taking a huge step up in quality.

I first got into Pagan’s Mind by stumbling upon some of their music videos on YouTube, and found myself instantly digging their sound. So when my first album experience of theirs was their debut, 2000’s ‘Infinity Divine’, I was slightly disappointed. I just felt like the music wasn’t very inspired, and that vocalist Nils K. Rue (who is absolutely fantastic, by the way!), maybe hadn’t quite found his niche in the band.

That all changes with ‘Celestial Entrance’.

The band really hit their stride here, with a sound a bit more their own. With some fantastic compositions, excellent musicianship, including some remarkable interplay between the guitars and keyboards, and of course, the aforementioned Nils K. Rue, who’s vocals are incredible, and has really found their place in the music.

While a couple of the tracks are still fairly hit-or-miss, there is plenty to enjoy here. ‘Aegean Shores’, ‘…Of Epic Questions’ and ‘Back to the Magic of Childhood’ are all great tracks that are well worth repeated listens. But the true gems are ‘Approaching/Through Osiris Eyes’ and ‘Dreamscape Lucidity’. Both songs are absolute masterpieces, and the album is worth checking out for these alone. Then there’s the closing track which horribly rips off Dream Theater’s ‘Leaning to Live’, in key, melody, even the lyrics are almost identical. It’s a weirdly hilarious but forgivable way to end the album.

Overall, Pagan’s Mind will go on to release much stronger albums than this, but this is a solid follow-up to their debut, and a highly recommended addition to the collection of any progressive or power metal fan.