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I spent many hours writing and recording this album and sometimes it felt like I would never get it completed. I seemed like a good idea to celebrate its eventual release with a track that, I think, evokes a sense of achievement at the same time as heralding a new beginning. It sums my feelings about the whole process of making this album happen. The time has come for people to actually hear the music that, until now, has only existed in my head.
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There are some people out there that think you should grow out of rock `n` roll when you start getting too old. Not me mate! When I get old I`ll still be rocking with the best of them. I`ll be a total Rock Fossil.
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The motorbike sound is nothing new on the guitar I know but I couldn`t resist it so I built the whole idea of the song around going for a spin on your bike and being chased by the Police. At the start I layered a few bike sounds panning from left to right and it just seemed right to have them being chased by a cop car so I added that in as well. The whole thing is what I would call a `bits` track. Lots of different guitar parts creating one big journey of sound.
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I wasn`t sure what to call this song until I added the twangy guitar that doubles up with the bass line. To me it sounds so much like part of a spy theme I had to call it something in that vein so I called it Top Secret. Part of me was also thinking it would make a good analogy for my music prior to the making of this album because before now only a select few had heard any of my material.
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This one stems from a little joke between my wife and me. Every time we look at old photographs my wife would comment how happy we used to be. I can assure you we`re both still very happy now but I thought it was a really nice but sad title for a song.
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Wibbly bibbly wibbly bibbly wibbly bibbly etc. You know the sound I mean? Rock guitar music with loads and loads of notes. After I wrote this track I could just hear the critics complaining about it being yet another guitar track with `too many notes` so I thought I`d get in there first and claim it to be Just Another Wibbly Bibbly.
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This one`s got a kind of a Jazz-Funk influence about it. A musical style I used to really like and still do. Listen out for the ghosts and ghoulies sounds in the breakdown section. Its amazing what you can make a guitar sound like sometimes.
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I`m a big fan of the novels written by Bernard Cornwell detailing the adventures of the fictitious character Sharpe during the Napoleonic Wars. In one of them I learnt about The Forlorn Hope. This was real and it was the name given to a group of volunteers who were prepared to be the first men to enter the breach of a fortress to face the waiting enemy. It meant virtually certain death but if they survived it meant promotion and glory. For most common soldiers this was the only chance they would get to be promoted out of the ranks and into the officer class. I was fascinated by the thoughts and emotions that must have gone through the men`s minds` as they soldiered on through the barrage of horror and bloodshed that they faced, hoping they would still be alive when it was over.
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Not a lot to say about this one. It`s just a good rocker.
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I wanted to show my Bluesy side but was determined not to write something around a twelve bar blues. I wanted to be different so I came up with this piece. I tried to think of a title that would also be a bit different and ended up with Suburban Blues. I grew up in the suburbs of South London, where life could sometimes be rather boring. The tune rather reminded me of those times.
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I had the chords for this buzzing around my head without knowing what to do with it until my wife and me spent a weekend away in Dorset on the south coast of England. The place we stayed at was a place I used to go with my family when I was a kid and I kept being reminded of happy childhood memories. It was all the inspiration I needed. When I got back I finished the song and called it Looking Back. It seemed the perfect way to finish an album.
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CD Information
