February has witnessed the recording return of some of my favourite musical heroes. So here’s a summary of the who and what.

SATURDAY is Brit Pop band Ocean Colour Scene’s ninth studio album and marks the 21st anniversary of their formation in 1990. After touring with Oasis in 1995 and chart success with MOSELEY SHOALS, Ocean Colour Scene continued to release new material as well as a stem of successful live albums. SATURDAY continues with the band’s brand of retro orientated rock and was recorded at the iconic Rockfield studios. While there’s a paucity of OCS classic pop anthems, there’s much here to admire and I think it’s the band’s best album to-date. ‘Saturday’ comes closest to matching previous classics, while ‘Just A Little Bit Of Love’ is a moving, beautiful slice of pop-rock with one of the most expressive vocals on the album with solid piano notes adding depth and drama. ‘Sing Children Sing’ is another rocky winner with guitar riffs that sing out loud and clear. There’s also a powerful melody, some telling backing vocals, and an anthemic vibe. ‘Harry Kidnap’ is another favourite with its acoustic backdrop, folk-tinged vibe and a fabulous trade mark vocal performance including some soaring moments. And there’s more… ‘The Word’ is dominated by wandering piano notes with fabulous choruses punctuating some of the album’s best lyrics and another fine, reflective vocal performance. ‘Village Life’ and ‘Fell In Love On The Street’ combine folk and rock with great melodies, more terrific instrumental arrangements and production values that bring home the bacon. This is one great record!

HELLBILLY DELUXE VOL.2 is the fourth album from former White Zombie lead singer, Rob Zombie, and is supposed to serve as an accompaniment to his debut solo record, 1998’s HELLBILLY DELUXE. Rob Zombie has stated that this may be his final album released on CD, calling the format ‘dead’, although it is his first release with Roadrunner Records after 18 years with Geffen. The new album is preceded by the single ‘What’.

After a seven year hiatus, the legendary Peter Gabriel releases SCRATCH MY BACK - a collection of classically orchestrated covers of material by acts such as Elbow, Lou Reed, Neil Young and David Bowie, amongst many other esteemed artists. Dubbed by Gabriel as a ’swap shop of songs’ and produced by Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper), this is a beautiful acoustic album, boasting nothing more than the accompaniment of lush strings and Gabriel’s distinctive voice. Includes unique versions of ‘Heroes’, ‘The Boy In The Bubble’ and ‘Waterloo Sunset’.

It’s been seven years since we heard anything from Bristol trip-hop aficionados Massive Attack. Their last outing was (for many) the underwhelming 100th WINDOW, an album created mainly by Robert del Naja (aka 3D), as his partner-in-rhyme Daddy G was on hiatus being, well, a daddy. From the potent, claustrophobic opening track ‘Pray For Rain’ - all tribal drums, bleak atmospheres and the contrastive rich vocals of TV On The Radio’s Tumbe Adebimpe - it’s clear that HELIGOLAND is a bid for former glories. As the record unfurls through the angular, choppy post-punk of ‘Babel’ (with Martina Topley-Bird), the lurching ‘Splitting The Atom’ (featuring the familiar falsetto of regular Massive Attack vocalist Horace Andy) and the pounding, bass-heavy ‘Girl I Love You’, the feeling grows that this is their strongest work since 1998’s Mezzanine. Unlike that album, the band make regular diversions here into dissonance, especially on ‘Flat Of The Blade’, a wonky parade of bleeps and glitches matched to vocals from Elbow’s Guy Garvey. But there are lighter moments too, such as the relatively weightless ‘Psyche’ (again with Topley-Bird), the sparse ‘Paradise Circus’ (featuring the feathery voice of Hope Sandoval) and the plaintive ‘Saturday Come Slow’, with vocals by Damon Albarn. It might not be a Blue Lines II, but HELIGOLAND’S thick production, superb guest performances and dense, stoned atmospheres make it exactly the stellar return to form they obviously aimed for.

Danny McKenna

Returning after a two year hiatus, English singer-songwriter Corrine Bailey Rae’s second album, THE SEA, is definitely a progression from her debut. The album is intensely emotional, and often deals with the death of Rae’s husband, who died in early 2008. ‘The Sea’ mixes jazz and rock influences in equal measure, being compared to the work of artists as varied as Marvin Gaye and Joni Mitchell, and includes the single ‘I’d Do It All Again’. ‘Are You There’ is a beautifully written and arranged, melancholy song about loss which builds from a virtual whisper to a rocky blitz, and is driven by a fine melody. ‘I’d Do It All Again’ is a strange choice for single although it is another moving, contemplative song with a subtle jazz vibe. But there’s light here as well with the funky rhythm of ‘Closer’, the gently swaying ‘Love’s On Its Way’ and jazz guitar dominated ‘Paris Nights/New York Mornings.’ It’s a fine return for Bailey Rae marred only by very average production which doesn’t provide the vocal clarity that the lady and her fans deserve.

SOLDIER OF LOVE is Sade’s first official studio album since the multi-platinum release of Lovers Rock in 2000. No production problems here though. Lush orchestrations, assertive percussive rhythms and that distinctive voice dominate this album. In fact there’s a subtlety here in bringing the record firmly into 2010 without upsetting the lady’s many fans. ‘Soldier Of Love’ is solid R&B number and one of the highlights of the album with its bold rhythmic vibe and gorgeous multi-layered vocals. ‘Morning Bird’ is another one with its haunting, simple instrumental arrangement and that almost detached, easy vocal. ‘Bring Me Home’ offers a darker, more edgy, harder sound, while ‘In Another Time’ has a distinctly soul/blues vibe. SOLDIER OF LOVE breaks new ground with a spoon rather than a shovel and so will suit many diehard fans. But it’s also a rather beautiful album with a finger tightly on today’s musical pulse and Sade in top form.

In 1984 the Chameleons found themselves in dispute with their record company over Statik’s treatment of their first album, and a parting of the ways was agreed provided the band turned in a second album before they went. WHAT DOES ANYTHING MEAN BASICALLY came along in May 1985 including the short instrumental ‘Silence Sea and Sky’, four songs previewed in a 1984 Peel session (’Intrigue’, ‘Roughnecks’, ‘One Flesh’, and ‘PS Goodbye’) a new song ‘Home is Where the Heart Is’ and four older songs from 82/83 but which were not included on 1983’s SCRIPT OF THE BRIDGE, IMHO the greatest album ever made. These were ‘Perfume Garden’, ‘Singing Rule Britannia’, ‘On the Beach’ and ‘Looking Inwardly’ with only the latter showing its age. The band had long since moved on from its scratchy simplicity, the others fit in perfectly. Oddly bolted on the end of the first CD here are ‘In Shreds’ and ‘Nostalgia’, both recordings dating from their brief period on CBS/Epic in 81/82. They sound out of place here but I suppose it’s better to have them than not at all.

Whilst this album doesn’t quite scale the mighty heights of SCRIPT OF THE BRIDGE, it certainly comes close, only being thwarted by the overproduction which smothers some of the songs in echo and overdubs, losing much of their impact as a result. Reg Smithies’ guitar which growled on the first album, just buzzes on this one, John Lever’s powerful drumming gets lost beneath all the effects and overdubs, and Burgess’s bass just isn’t loud enough. The Chameleons basically made such a glorious noise that they didn’t need ‘producing’, less would have been more, and pretty much all of these songs sound better on the various live and radio session albums you can get hold of if you are prepared to pay enough. For example, the Peel session ‘One Flesh’ soars to the heavens where this one plods, ‘Singing Rule Britannia’ loses John Lever’s propulsion etc., etc..

Singer Mark Burgess has acknowledged that they got the production wrong, and maybe because of that the bonus CD here contains the original demos for these songs. The sound is a bit rough but freed from temptations of the studio mixing desk the songs sound free and un-tethered and can’t help but make me wonder what might have been.

Compared the original Statik and Dead Dead Good CDs, Nigel Palmer has remastered this and there’s more sweetness at the top, more boot at the bottom and everywhere in between has opened up considerably. However he’s no miracle worker and the sound is still all a bit of a wash, but then that’s how they recorded it.

Russell Finch