The sound track to my life (Wildhearts in general)

Member Name: valve90210

Product:	Wildhearts in general
Date:	05/12/08 (72 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The finest band in the world ever!!!

Disadvantages: Their self-destructive nature

The Wildhearts.

I first got into the Wildhearts when I was about 15 and a friend of mine gave me a copy of their first full length album, Earth V's. I was at a stage of my life where music was becoming much more important to me, where I was really beginning to discover who I was. Gone were the days of rubbish commercial pop music, that everyone listened to, being enough for me. I listened to quite lot of different music at the time and found that the stuff I liked most was guitar based rock/metal. I listened to a lot of different bands, trying to find something that I really connected to, something that felt like it was me.

I found Slayer too fast and thrashy for me, Iron Maiden, too widdly and cheesy, Metallica where pretty good though again the subject matter was too cheesy. Even though I liked a lot of the stuff I was listening to, none of it really felt like it was what I really wanted to be hearing but I really couldn't put my finger on what it was that I wanted to hear, I just hoped that there was something out there and that I would know it when I heard it.

When I first heard The Wildhearts album Earth V's, I was blown away, I had found the music I had been looking for!!! It just felt right straight from the off. It had everything I liked, guitars, drums, distortion, heavy riffs but it also had more. It was full of energy, passion, feeling and attitude, also it had great melodies and variety, every track had it's own style and could be picked out from the others but all with the same feeling and sound
about them. I felt like I had arrived at my musical destination.

In a very short space of time, I grew to love the bands music in a way that I never thought possible for music. I wanted to hear as much as I possibly could. I purchased all the available EPs that I could afford, and purchased every single (they used to release each single with three brand new studio tracks exclusive to that release, much better than the rubbish remixes most single of the day were released with!) as soon as it was released. With every
new song I heard, I was just as blown away as on my first listen to the first album. They really could do no wrong!

At the same time, they could do virtually no wrong in the eyes of the music press too, Kerrang regularly featured the band and their, now legendary, antics and excesses. However as with a great many bands, just at the times when they look to have been ready to hit great heights, they self-destructed. Guitarist CJ was fired, Kerrang reported it and Danny & Ginger took offence and trashed the Kerrang office.

Late 1994 and early 1995 saw the Wildhearts playing as a 3 piece after the loss of CJ, they played some gigs and then in May 1995, they released their second full length album, beautifully title PHUQ. This was met with widescale applause, Kerrang and Metal Hammer loved it, even the likes of NME etc rated the album very highly which was quite a surprise as The Wildies were not really the type of music they normally covered.

The album spawned a couple of singles and even some appearances on Top of the Pops, could this be the moment they
would hit the great heights they promised...

For some reason, the record company (EastWest) decided to stop promoting the album and even dropped the release of a third single, things again looked like being completely destroyed again...

However, the band fought on and released a record on their own label again, this was widely applauded.

In 1997 it seemed like the band was doing well, they were in the studio recording their third full length album and things seemed to good. However behind closed doors all was far from well, with drug problems causing friction and drama.

They released an album named Endless Nameless, a much darker album than they had previously made. On first look it
seemed to be a huge wall of noise and distortion, everything was harsh and angry sounding. A lot of fans of the band hated the album and were disappointed. Others (myself included) kept faith and continued to listen to the album and although not as instantly accessible as their previous work, after a little getting used to, it is actually easy to see it as a great album, the songs, underneath the distortion, are every bit as well written and full of feeling as previous work, and when combined with a little knowledge of what the band was going through at the time of recording, can be seen to be full of raw emotion and passion, along with a massive portion of frustration.

At the time of the albums release I was just starting at university and for the first time I had a group of friends who were into the same music as me, one of whom was also a huge Wildhearts fan, who also loved the Endless Nameless album.

I had never been a gig, I grew up in a smallish country village and had no venues nearby and no means of getting to anywhere even if I had managed to convince any of my friends who didn't like the music to come with me. But here I was at university with like minded people, and in a town with a direct train link to London. The Wildhearts were touring and we planned to go along to see them. I was excited by the prospect.

Sadly, not for the first time, the band self destructed and cancelled their toru over here after problems on the Japanese leg of the tour. It looked like the rollercoaster ride of the Wildhearts was over once and for all.

Time passed and eventually the band members got back together and started making music again. They released
another album, and began touring. Having finished university, but having been to various gigs over the years, I was determined to see them live. I managed to talk a friend into coming with me.

We saw them at the Kentish Town Forum. Sadly the only tickets we could get were up in the gallery so we were pretty far from the stage. However, seeing my favourite band in the world for the first time, was still amazing. They were so so good live, they had all the energy and passion that they had captured on the albums. The atmosphere was electric, the audience was made up of the die hard fans who had been around since 1993 and everyone was singing along and bouncing around. I really enjoyed the gig but made a promise to myself that next time I'd
book early enough to get standing tickets, I had to be in the mosh pit!!!

Since then, there have been more bouts of splitting up, reforming, touring and releasing records, and at every
opportunity I have gone to see them live, making sure to get standing tickets and and being in the mosh pit from start to finish.

They are the best live band I have ever seen, they clearly love performing and they really enjoy it. Ginger is a good front man, having a good bit of banter with the crowd between songs and getting the crowd really worked up before unleashing a huge riff from his guitar and turning the place into a frenzied mass of flying hair and bouncy loons!

I know it probably sounds like a completely cheesey cliche, but when I am in the middle of the mosh pit at a Wildhearts gig, it is the one time I truely feel at home. I am in a friendly like minded environment, listening to the music which has been the soundtrack to my life for the last 15 years, bringing back all kinds of memories good and bad and washing it all down with a huge amount of adrenaline. It really makes me glad to be alive!

I am a huge fan of the Wildhearts and always will be, they have consistently written fantastic slices of melodic, catchy riffy rock with passion and feeling. The chief song writer, Ginger, has to go down in history as one of the finest song writers ever. They've never released a duff track, never a moment of filler on an album, and although they have evolved over the years, they have managed to keep the essense of the Wildhearts the same, and they have never grown boring or tired.

I have spent way too much money on building up my collection of albums, singles, EPs etc and they really are my prized possessions. Last year my girlfriend got me a broken drumskin signed by all the band members after it was changed mid-song during one of the gigs on their tour. It is the best thing I own! Since I was 15 they have been the sound track to my life and long may they continue to be so!!!

I would implore everyone to check out The Wildhearts, they could become your favourite band ever. I Shall be reviewing their albums in the coming weeks so hopefully at least one person will check them out.

Summary: Truely amazing