Gary Speed wasn’t as naturally skillful as Youri Djorkaeff, didn’t score as many as Kevin Nolan, wasn’t as fast as Nicholas Anelka and certainly didn’t make as many headlines as his midfield colleagues Jay-Jay Okocha, Ivan Campo and Fernando Hierro.

Yet the outpouring of feeling from my fellow Bolton fans online and on radio phone-ins shows how highly he was esteemed at the Reebok Stadium. He was a key part of the best team Bolton has had in more than 50 years and as such is part of a very special group of players in the minds of Bolton fans. Just look at the picture above. Can you imagine this guy being on the losing team very often?

The BBC’s Dan Walker has written movingly about Gary, and you can see some of his best Bolton moments here on Youtube (h/t Richard McCormick)

Supporters of Leeds, Everton, Newcastle and Sheffield United will have their own stories, as of course will all proud Welsh fans. But allow me to share a couple of my favourite memories of Gary Speed.

The first one that springs to mind as a game at Eastlands in 2005. I was in the away end with a couple of thousand other Bolton fans who saw us battered for the whole game. Despite Manchester City hitting the woodwork numerous times, we hung onto 0-0 until a last minute penalty was awarded. Who was the right man to step up and smash it home? Gary Speed of course. We all went home very happy that day. And this picture seems to suggest Speedo was happy with his day’s work:

Another great memory was the day Gary scored a lovely overhead goal during a 4-1 demolition of West Ham. Such a deft finish from a player who could do a bit of everything. He seemed to enjoy playing West Ham, because he put in another outstanding performance against them a few months later in a 4-0 thumping. That game marked his 500th Premier League appearance (a record at the time) and saw him completely boss the midfield. Wonderful stuff.

Gary was into his late thirties but didn’t seem to be slowing down. In 2007, the team was not in good shape, but against all odds we went on a remarkable UEFA Cup run. The obvious standout results were the victory over Sergio Aguerro’s Atletico Madrid and the amazing 2-2 draw with Frank Ribery’s Bayern Munich.

But in between those astounding results was one every bit as unlikely. With a depleted side we went to Serbia and became the first ever English team to beat Red Star Belgrade on their own patch. Among the youthful players helping us get the result there was an old head guiding play and seeing us safely home. Speed was outstanding that night.

His record with Wales speaks for itself. 85 international caps is a superb achievement. More than 800 league games played and well over 100 goals scored is another massive milestone. This guy was the real deal. Not a ‘legend’ in the overused contemporary sense. But a true gentleman and a wonderful athlete. That his promising managerial career has been cut short only makes the tragedy of his early death all the more galling. There were signs that he’d be the man to bring Wales in from the international wilderness. And if that does end up happening at the next World Cup, Gary Speed will still have played an integral role.

My memories are all Bolton-based but I’d love Leeds, Everton, Newcastle, Sheffield United, Wales and other supporters to share their stories in the comments below.

Depression and suicide are monsters which stalk too many of those we love. If you’re suffering, remember there is ALWAYS someone to talk to. Ring the Samaritans – they really do care (08457 90 90 90).

I’m spending a lot of time listening to the latest Lightning Seeds album at the moment. Ian Broudie’s music has always meant a lot to me (and to many football fans, I suppose). The title track of the album Four Winds is written about the suicide of Ian’s brother. The lyrics seem even more poignant today following the death of Gary Speed:

“I wish four winds could blow you home
Back to when we’d sit and find a way
To face today
I guess you got those blues”

God bless Gary. Thanks for the memories.

This is going to be a subjective blog (although if you disagree with the sentiment in the title, you’re just plain wrong). It’s also going to be an emotional one.

But I’m in danger of disappearing up my own backside here… What made R.E.M. great was that they wrote fantastic pop songs. Everybody Hurts, Losing My Religion and Man On The Moon won’t make my top ten (see below) but they were undeniably superb pop records. DJs agreed, journalists agreed, but most importantly millions of people across the world agreed. They bought R.E.M.’s music in droves.

Massive sales don’t make great music, of course. So what gave the band from Athens, Georgia the title of America’s Greatest Band for me? Well, maybe it was the track Texakarna, which was on one of the earliest compilation tapes I heard and fell in love with. Maybe it was the Bulgarian bootleg album my mate Pete had in is car which we all listened to on repeat when we were 17. Or maybe it was one of my first arena gigs in 1998, where they blew me away with the power of What’s The Frequency Kenneth? and the subtlety of Try Not To Breathe.

I’m sure all those experiences have a lot to answer for. The personal experience of a band can never be taken away from the link we have with them. I adore the Smiths, but never had the joy of seeing them live, so a part of my appreciation of that band will never be complete.

But R.E.M. were exceptional, not just because I enjoyed their music while I was coming of age…

For a full history and thorough analysis of the band’s music I would recommend the peerless book Fiction by David Buckley. But here are just a few thoughts about why R.E.M. stand above all other US bands.

1) The Music. Sounds obvious eh? But the revolutionary style of early-80s R.E.M. can’t be overstated. Yes, they were influenced by Gang of Four, Wire and Pylon. But this was a band which arrived with a fully-fledged and unique sound. Buck’s jangling guitar, Berry’s driving rhythms, Stipe’s sensational voice and other-worldly lyrics and Mills’ inventive bass playing became so much more than the sum of their parts.

Then in the 1990s they wrote smash hits without ever conforming to what the record industry wanted them to do.

By the time of Up, Reveal, Accelerate and Collapse Into Now they were making esoteric, yet life-affirming music. This was a band who experimented and took their fans with them.

2) The lyrics. They may have started as indecipherable nonsense, but by the time the band hit its mid-1980s peak, there was a treasure trove of lyrics on every record. Songs about obscure Southern characters mixed with damning indictments of US foreign policy. Which other band offered so much? Astonishingly they didn’t write a proper love song until 18 years into their career. When they did it contained such gorgeous lyrics as this: “At my most beautiful, I count your eyelashes, secretly/With every one, whisper I love you/I let you sleep, I know you’re closed eye watching me, listening/I thought I saw a smile.”

3) The activism. My favourite bands tend to be those who inspired me to do more than just listen to pop music. And R.E.M. never let me down. Their politicking was never as obvious as that of their good mate Billy Bragg or The Clash, but their subtle guiding and prompting was every bit as essential to my political and social awareness. The activism was separate from the music, but also featured heavily in it. Who could fail to be moved by Flowers Of Guatemala, be enraged by Orange Crush, or be moved by Final Straw? How ironic that these great supporters of liberal causes should announce their split on the same day their home state of Georgia executed a man who was most probably innocent.

4) The aesthetic. Yes it’s a cliché, but the image of a band really matters. Not necessarily what they look like but the whole package. From their enigmatic record covers in the early days to Stipe’s androgynous image in the later years, there was always something compelling about the band’s visual presentation. Even the tickets to their gigs which I treasure to this day have carefully designed artwork. These things matter to music fans and Stipe knew that intimately.

5) The influence. It’s not an overstatement to suggest alternative music would not exist in its current form without R.E.M. There are massive acts like Radiohead and Nirvana who were directly influenced by them, but their inspiration spread far and wide. Bands as diverse as Pavement and Idlewild were cited as descendents of R.E.M. and even today I received a tweet from Andy Mort of Atlum Schema describing them as “soundtracking his whole life.”

Yes, maybe they should have finished when Bill Berry quit in the 1990s. Maybe they should have been more transparent about exactly what caused the fracture in their relationship with Jefferson Holt. Undoubtedly they made a couple of dud albums (Monster and Around The Sun very rarely make it to my speakers). But today let’s remember R.E.M for what they truly are. America’s greatest ever band. Cheers for everything guys…

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So here, in chronological order, are my top ten R.E.M. tracks:

1) Radio Free Europe.   Their first single – astonishingly good.

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2) Harborcoat.   What’s it about? Not a clue, but listen to those harmonies!

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3) Begin The Begin.   One of the greatest opening tracks to an album ever.

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4) Cuyahoga.   One of the most marvellous choruses I’ve ever heard.

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5) Welcome To The Occupation.   A superb didactic pop record. Who’d have thought a damning indictment of the CIA could be so catchy?

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6) Texarkana.   Lovely,  lovely song.

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7) It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).   Need I say more?

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8) Leave.   The longest R.E.M track. Hypnotic and utterly brilliant.

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9) At My Most Beautiful.   Just a gorgeous track.

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10) The Great Beyond.   R.E.M.’s biggest-selling UK single.

Like many over the last few years I’ve been very challenged by the critique offered by the likes of Shane Claiborne and others in the ‘New Monastic movement’. The basic premise is that in the West we’ve become far too materialistic and it’s killing our souls. It’s an opinion offered not just by Christian thinkers, but a powerful image was recently put in my mind by my great spiritual hero Tony Campolo. He railed against a phenomenon that on the surface seems pretty benign. Out of town storage facilities have sprung up everywhere over the last ten years and seem to offer us an opportunity to keep rarely used goods out of the way. But what do they really say about our society?

With so much stuff in our homes that spare rooms, lofts, sheds and garages can no longer cope, we now have to hire a separate space to store our accumulated belongings. This despite a fifth of the world’s population living in extreme poverty. How sad.

When I moved house recently, I was taken aback at how many books, DVDs and CDs I’d acquired even since the last time I’d moved, three years previously. My Nick Hornby-esque devotion to these things means I’ve always had a lot of ‘stuff’, but it was getting beyond a joke. So, I’ve begun decluttering. Not for a feeling of ‘zen’, but because a simpler life is what I aspire to. Asceticism shouldn’t be a goal in and of itself. But to prevent myself becoming obsessed with material possessions, I’m trying to get rid of some of mine… Let’s see how I get on.

What last year’s Compassionart project proved was that it’s possible to assemble some of the biggest names in the Christian music scene and come out with a coherent, quality product. The man behind that album, Martin Smith, is just one of the star names involved in One Voice. Others include Israel Houghton, Matt Redman, Smokie Norful, Darlene Zschech and Erica Campbell.

Starting with the single ‘One voice one heart’ in the aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami, this album has grown from collaborations between artists from several different musical genres. That fact makes the lack of musical variety on display a little disappointing. Some African stylings here (‘Let the people’) and sweeping orchestration there (‘Awesome wonder’) aren’t enough to keep the attention for the album’s 56 minute duration. The predominant style is a sort of gospel/pop-rock crossover.

That said there’s some quality song writing and outstanding playing here, with ‘Let it be’ hitting a soulful groove. ‘Shine on’ also deserves a mention – it features a choir made up of top notch talent like Bishop John Francis and Noel Robinson.

The track ‘One voice one heart’ closes the album and is the best thing here. That serves to demonstrate how great a song it is, and unfortunately also how the rest of the album doesn’t quite measure up.

High Point – The song ‘One voice one heart’. The original single towers over the rest of the record.

Low Point – An overlong album. Perhaps inevitable with so many big names to squeeze in.

2 stars

 

Phatfish’s 8^th album is everything you might expect from one of the UK’s best loved Christian bands. High quality songwriting, production and musicianship are the order of the day. Highlights include the rocky title track, and the anthemic ‘Come to Jesus’.

Lyrically it doesn’t stray too far from what we’d expect either. The words could easily be used in church, even if the arrangements of some of the songs would be beyond the average four-piece worship band. Phatfish are surely one of the best groups at weaving lines of scripture into a modern rock song without it sounding forced, or out of place.

Lou Fellingham’s voice is as versatile as ever. She plays the rock chick on tracks like ‘Mission’, but is equally comfortable on the slower numbers. She’s a great talent, as shown by her solo records.

It’d be possible to accuse the Brighton-based band of not being especially adventurous in their style. But the secular charts are full of classic guitar/bass/keys/drums combo’s, so why should different rules apply in a Christian context?

We’re told the band was started in the mid 90’s in a bid to create a ‘musically excellent’ project. Mission accomplished, I’d say.

High Point – ‘He watches over me’. A brilliant closing track.

Low Point – A couple of the tracks are fine, but in a truly great album, wouldn’t have made the cut.

4 stars

This review first appeared in Christianity Magazine.

If you’re a fan of Contemporary Christian Music, I’ll wager you’ve got a Delirious? live album somewhere on your shelves already. ‘My Soul Sings’ is their sixth, which is enough to test the wallet of even the most committed fan.

What differentiates this package is the accompanying full length DVD and the fact that it was recorded in Columbia. This means several of Martin Smith’s links between songs are translated, and the lead singer himself drops in a few bits of patter in Spanish. The band’s popularity in Bogotá is evident as the congregation is virtually word-perfect.

The DVD is well produced and clearly shows a well polished band at the top of their game. Whether anyone wants to watch a concert DVD more than once is another question though.

As the band bid a slow goodbye to their fans through 2009, this album contains many great songs and although it’s an idiosyncratic offering, it’s a good way to remember the most important British Christian act of the last 15 years.

High Point – A good package – the CD and DVD together are nearly three hours of entertainment.

Low Point – The Spanish interludes are a nice touch – but may get in the way for some.

3 stars

This review originally appeared in Christianity Magazine.

Another group… another silly name. Or so it would seem. Actually Trufflehunter is a badger character from CS Lewis’ ‘Prince Caspian’. Whether it works as a band name is still up for debate…

But again, perseverance is urged. This is an album sounding unlike anything else released in the Contemporary Christian market this year.

What we’re dealing with is a vaguely ‘folk-rock’ style. ‘Signs of Life’ starts out in a fairly conventional verse/chorus fashion and with Shona MacDonald’s voice accompanied by soft rock backing, it seems this could be just the album for Sixpence None The Richer fans (another band named after a Lewis passage).

However, by track 4 – the otherworldly ‘Jerusalem’, it’s clear there’s more to this band. There’s a traditional Gaelic edge to the songs and at times they recall the classic early 1970’s atmosphere of Fairport Convention – a massive compliment.

If they can reproduce this over a whole album; Trufflehunters (in spite of the name) could go on to produce some very special records.

Highlight: ‘Days of old’ – a lovely, understated song. 

Lowpoint: The ‘zany’ cover photo featuring a badger mask.

Three stars

This review originally appeared in Christianity Magazine.

One can only wonder why a band would name themselves after the 36^th Archbishop of Canterbury. Still, get over the ‘interesting’ moniker and ‘White and Blue’ proves worth persevering with.

This second album from the Northern Irish three-piece is brief but well-formed. Pretty harmonies and guitar arpeggios abound, lending a pleasant folk-rock atmosphere to proceedings.

In fact, readers of a certain age will recall the work of Eden Burning and early Jars of Clay when listening to this record – no bad thing.

The quality of Stephen McCabe’s voice won’t have Mariah Carey worried, but it doesn’t distract from his heartfelt lyrics which clearly profess his faith.

Clocking in at just 30 minutes, White and Blue leaves the listener wanting more – don’t be surprised if The Anselm develop into a band who could quite easily grace the playlist of Radio 2. 

3 stars

This review originally appeared in Christianity Magazine.

For a man that’s recorded 12 albums and been active since 1993, Brian Houston’s still relatively unknown in the UK. His 13^th offering is unlikely to make him a superstar but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth investigating.

‘Three Feet from Gold’ has a simple feel to it. The songs are straightforward verse/chorus efforts and the instrumentation is fairly standard bass/drums guitar fare. Where Houston distinguishes himself is his lyrical prowess.

The Northern Irishman tackles heavy subjects like domestic violence alongside more flippant topics like his daughter’s disappointment with a boyfriend.

His Christian faith comes through in a subtle way. It’s certainly not explicit worship – in fact there’s not really much spiritual content at all. But his musing on life’s ups and downs are probably an accurate reflection of how many of us feel day-to-day.

Houston’s previous work has been praised by the sections of the press and this album should be no different.

High Point – The unfussy, crisp production.

Low Point – Some of the couplets make it sound like Houston’s swallowed a rhyming dictionary.

3 stars

This review originally appeared in Christianity Magazine.

The Spring Harvest Live album from last year delivers exactly what you’d expect. Some of the UK’s top worship leaders present songs old and new in an enthusiastic live setting.

Starting with the crowd counting down from ten, the pace is high throughout, with only a couple of slower numbers.

Noel Robinson is his usual irrepressible self while Martin Layzell faithfully reproduces the excellent studio versions of Matt Redman and Brooke Fraser songs.

The classic hymn ‘All Creatures of Our God and King’ may not sit next to Tim Hughes’ ‘Beautiful One’ in too many church services. But here it works – proving the breadth and depth of music available at Spring Harvest.

The problem with this, and many other live worship albums is that you feel you’ve missed out by not actually being there. But of course, many of those who were at the celebration will own this album and already be looking forward to the next compilation.

High Point – Andy Flanagan’s excellent version of his own song ‘We are Blessed’

Low Point – Already, some of the songs sound over-familiar.

3 stars

This review originally appeared in Christianity Magazine.