Ahead of the release of his long awaited debut album Breaking Hearts and Saving Souls on August 1st, Roland K Smith of Roland K Smith & the Sinners takes us through some of the albums that shaped his musical life. The band will be doing a run of dates to celebrate the release of the album, check the details at the end of this post…
The first album I bought…
It was my ninth birthday and I was allowed two choose two cassette tapes to accompany my brand new Sony Walkmen. I chose Blind Melon | Blind Melon and Michael Jackson | Dangerous. I listened to Dangerous to death. I knew every word to every song. I might have played Blind Melon twice.
An album that soundtracked a relationship…
I don’t want to give too much away here, but Prince | Purple Rain was on heavy rotation when I started seeing the missus. That was about eight years ago and she’s still with me. Take the tip, gentlemen.
The album that inspired me to form a band…
Nirvana | Unplugged in New York. That was the album I was listening to when I started learning guitar at age ten and the album I revisited years later while I was forming my first band. It’s such a great collection of songs and Kurt sings them all so well.
The album that reminds me of my high school years…
Violent Femmes | Violent Femmes was already twenty years old by the time I got my hands on it, but its honest musing on teenage life hit me like a ton of bricks. This was an example of hearing the right album at the right time.
An album I’d love to hear played in full live…
The Beatles | Please Please Me but by the Beatles in 1963 or whenever it was released (DS – yep!). In this fantasy I’m eighteen years old in a sweaty, smokey pub in Hamburg, hammered on beer and surrounded by 1960s babes and then these guys rip into I Saw Her Standing There and Twist & Shout. Imagine how bat-shit-crazy that would be.
My favourite album artwork…
Bob Dylan | Bob Dylan. It’s a picture of Dylan at about nineteen years of age, holding a guitar and wearing a sailor cap, and it feels like the calm before the storm. He’s this cocky little kid looking straight into the camera with a cheeky grin that says “I’ve only ever written two songs, but I’m going to be the greatest songwriter of all-time.”
My guilty pleasure album…
Everclear | So Much For The Afterglow. I know they’re daggy, I know they’re a shitty second rate grunge band, but they still hold a prime position in my playlist. The songs are way too earnest, but they’re great pop tunes, and the guitars are masterfully over dubbed. I don’t think I’ve heard better production on a mainstream rock album.
An album I loved but now have no idea why I bought it…
Oh god, there would be tons… I have a habit of throwing out CDs as they reveal themselves to be shit. I think the first album I ever jettisoned was Pearl Jam | Ten.
The last album I bought was…
Justin Townes Earle | Nothing’s Going To Change The Way You Feel About Me Now. Great record – really nice songs, performed really well. I’ve been into this guy since his first album and it’s been a pleasure watching him grow into one of the best musicians doing the rounds.
Doubtful Sounds 