Andy's Best Albums of 2018 (Part 6 - The Top 10)

10. SUEDE - "The Blue Hour" (Review here)

Suede's third album since reforming at the turn of the decade and their strongest since getting back together. While its predecessors, "Blood Sports" and "Night Thoughts" were good but slightly patchy efforts, "The Blue Hour" saw Brett Anderson and co reaching for the heights they stretched for with "Dog Man Star" all those years ago and actually succeeding with a dark and brooding epic of an album which invited you back for repeated listening again and again. Great stuff.

9. LAST GREAT DREAMERS - "13th Floor Renegades" (Review here)

Having announced their arrival in style with 2016's "Transmissions From Oblivion", Last Great Dreamers released a more than worthwhile follow-up with "13th Floor Renegades". Like its predecessor, it sounded as though it had waded into some almighty brawl between the punks and the glam rockers circa 1977 and emerged grinning and clutching the prized scalps from each side. However, it also saw them turning their hands to everything from laid back country ("Miles Away") to psychedelia ("Broken Things" and the epic closer "Going Home") and showed the sound of a band continuing to grow and improve even after all this time in the business.

8. RICH RAGANY & THE DIGRESSIONS  "Like We'll Never Make It" (Review here)

Following three excellent albums with the Role Models, "Like We'll Never Make It" saw Rags assembling a new group of gunslingers including Shush's Andy Brook and Gaff from the Dedwardians to create an impressively varied album which was different enough to be distinguishable from his day job but with the killer riffs and hooks very much left intact. More laid back than the Role Models' output, "Like We'll Never Make It" had hints of everyone from The La's ("That World") to Elvis Costello (the title track) and the Dogs D'Amour ("Lose With Me"). Crucially though, every song here had a killer chorus and hooks which stuck in your head for days. Proof that Rags is one seriously talented guy who can turn his hand to pretty much any style of music he feels like and still come up trumps.

7. THE BAR STOOL PREACHERS - "Grazie Governo" (Review here)

Similar to the Interrupters, 2018 was the year where the Bar Stool Preachers went from a band who could potentially be something special to a band who genuinely were as "Grazie Governo" built on the promise shown on their debut, 2016's "Blatant Propaganda" to create a righteous howl of anger at the state of the world. Mixing the ska punk dexterity of Rancid with the sheer fury of the Angelic Upstarts, songs like "Drive" and "Cry Wolf" really show what this band can do and mark them out as the brightest hopes UK punk has had for many a year. Quite simply, an essential album.

6. THE FUTURE SHAPE OF SOUND - "Shakedown Gospel" (Review here)

I'll admit it, for the first 4-5 months or so of 2018, I was genuinely worried about the state of music - it genuinely seemed that 90% of the stuff I'd had in my review inbox just seemed like half-arsed retreads of what had come before and that maybe, just maybe, that everything was running out of steam. "Shakedown Gospel" was very much the album that reaffirmed my faith that there were still great bands out there who were putting out worthwhile albums and what a tonic it was. Signed to the Urban Voodoo Machine's Gypsy Hotel label, this is an album which veered from blues through gospel, rockabilly and voodoo swamp rock to straight-up fire-breathing rock 'n' roll and featuring guest slots from Jim Jones and Big Boy Bloater among others. A real was a wake-up call to other bands that their games needed raising and the album that gave me my reviewing mojo back at a time when I desperately needed it. Thanks guys.

5. GINGER WILDHEART - "The Pessimist's Companion" (Review here)

A late entry on to this list, "The Pessimist's Companion" was a follow up of sorts by Ginger to 2017's "Ghost In The Tanglewood" with him letting the more gentle side of his songwriting out. There was a definite darkness to the self-reflection on songs such as "Why Aye (Oh You)" and "I Love You So Much That I'm Leaving" but elsewhere, "There Is A House" and the quite lovely opener "May The Restless Find Peace" had the overbearing message that there's always hope no matter how bad things may seem sometimes. A genuine note of reassurance in a turbulent year for both the guy who wrote it and probably many who listened to it as well, "The Pessimist's Companion" was a much welcomed arm around the shoulder for the dark moments in your life.

4. THE SPEEDWAYS - "Just Another Regular Summer" (Review here)

Now this I definitely wasn't expecting. Formed from the ashes of Nottingham glam-punk mid-tablers the Breakdowns, the Speedways came up with one of the shock triumphs of 2018 in "Just Another Regular Summer", an album that took its cues from pretty much every great under-rated power pop band of the last 40 years (the Barracudas, Generation X, the Boys, right up to Biters and Ryan Hamilton in more recent times) and came up with the perfect summer soundtrack to afternoons by the BBQ and warm evenings in the pub beer garden. Quite simply if you've not discovered this band yet then you really need to cue this album up as a matter of urgency.

3. THE BRUTALISTS - "The Brutalists" (Review here)

Upon hearing that former Quireboys bassist Nigel Mogg had hooked up with former LA Guns guitarist Mick Cripps to form a new group, most people were probably expecting another Sunset Strip by numbers effort. As it turned out, they couldn't have been more wrong as the Brutalists' debut album took in everything from lagered-up pub rock through "Low" era Bowie style post-punk and mod revival aggro to the odd Chas & Dave style knees-up with Mogg really coming into his own as a frontman and the band sounding supremely tight and assured behind him. Definitely one of the surprise triumphs of the year.

2. EVIL SCARECROW - "Volume IV: Antarcarctica" (Review here)

Four albums into their career and two things are clear - Evil Scarecrow are a) not getting any more sensible with age and b) improving album upon album with "Volume IV: Antarcarctica" picking up nicely where its predecessor, 2014's "Galactic Hunt" left off. With such relatable (!) subjects as killer aliens disguising themselves as Red Riding Hood, gangs of Cosmic Goth Moths and the perils of summoning a two-headed turnip monster when your Satanic ritual goes wrong, the key thing here was that "Volume IV" was packed full of the killer riffs and headbanging choruses that have always made this group such an enjoyable proposition. Ten minute epics based around a "Choose Your Own Adventure" series about guitarist Brother Pain going on an epic quest across a frozen wasteland have never been this much fun, that's for sure. Oh and just in case you were wondering, yes they do use the word "stranglewank" on "Way To Die". Glad we've cleared that up.

1. THE MEN THAT WILL NOT BE BLAMED FOR NOTHING - "Double Negative" (Review here)

"Double Negative" proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Men That Will Not Be Blamed... have well and truly grown beyond any notions of being a "novelty" band with a ferocious mix of punk rock, goth and metal converging to create the album which I've definitely found myself coming back to more than any other this year. While there's still a sense of humour at play on the likes of "Supply And Demand" and "Obscene Fucking Machine", it's definitely got much darker over the years. However, "Double Negative" has an punky energy and snappiness that, on reflection, was slightly lacking on its predecessor "Not Your Typical Victorians" while keeping the musicianship of that album intact. Add to this a set of songs such as "Baby Farmer", "God Is In The Bottom Line" and the sinister closer "There's Gonna Be A Revolution" which veer into much darker and angrier but no less addictive territory and you've definitely got something here which stands head and shoulders above anything else I've heard this year. Where they go next is anyone's guess but for now, "Double Negative" is definitely a worthy winner of the 2018 SPR Album Of The Year award.

Andy's Best Albums of 2018 (Part 5)

20. THE MOURNING AFTER - "The 10th Century"

A band who I'll admit weren't even on my radar this time last year but after hearing this, their second album, that definitely changed. Hailing from Sheffield, the Mourning After peddle an attitude-laced take on '60s garage rock complete with scowling vocals, tightwire guitar lines and swirling organ as evidenced on songs like "Get Wrong Off Me", "Caught Red Handed" and "Space Rendezvous". Definitely well worth a look.

19. GHOST - "Prequelle"

I have to admit to finding Ghost's previous album, 2015's "Meliora", a bit of a disappointment, sacrificing a bit of the tunefulness of old in favour of bog-standard riffs to try and please the Metal Hammer crowd. However, "Prequelle" had them taking a huge step back in the right direction with a more melodic approach being reinstated on songs like lead-off single "Rats" to good effect. Definitely deserving of the praise it got and an album well worth listening to.

18. PETE SPIBY - "Failed Magician"

Following the break-up of his former group the Black Spiders, "Failed Magician" saw Pete Spiby taking a more methodical approach to his music with the acoustic-led approach on songs like "Bible Studies" and "Guiding Light" being reminiscent of Alice In Chains in their more thoughtful moments. Released to the fans as a triple-album set featuring electric and acoustic versions of the songs plus a bonus set of cover versions, Spiby deserves credit for giving the fans value for money with this one as well.

17. THE SPANGLES - "Sweet FA" (Review here)

Take two members of the Main Grains and one from the Idol Dead, give 'em an arsenal full of Ramones riffs and Undertones melodies and you've got the Spangles. Powered on by a mix of power-pop melodies and scuzzy punk attitude, this was a supremely confident first effort and definitely marks these guys down as a band to watch. (NB - No videos on Youtube yet unfortunately, c'mon lads, sort it out!! ;) )


16. SMASH FASHION - "Rompus Pompous" (Review here)

Another group who I'll confess to being ignorant of prior to being sent this album for review back in the summer but this definitely changed things on that front. Hailing from LA, Smash Fashion take the Bowie/Bolan '70s glam template and drag it kicking and screaming into the 21st century with nods to everyone from the Sweet to Starz and even roping in former Spider From Mars Mike Garson to lend some swirling "Lady Grinning Soul" style piano to closer "Smiles And Daggers". A great effort which should bring Smash Fashion to wider audience if there's any justice.

15. THEE DAGGER DEBS - "Thee Dagger Debs" (Review here)

Signed to garage rock specialists Damaged Goods, Thee Dagger Debs sound like what would happen if you crossed the pub rock swagger of Dr Feelgood with the glamour puss purr of the Runaways. Yes, it's very much indebted to the sounds of the mid-seventies but TDD very much put their own stamp on it making the likes of "Eight While Ten" and "Whitechapel Blues" a supremely intoxicating brew. Well worth a listen.

14. THE INTERRUPTERS - "Fight The Good Fight" (Review here)

Having being marked as "one to watch" with their previous album, 2016's "Say It Out Loud", "Fight The Good Fight" saw the Interrupters very much make that decisive step from "could be's" to "will be's" as songs like "Not Personal" and "Rumours And Gossip" saw them wrest the ska punk legacy away from the baseball caps 'n' shorts fratboy brigade and adding some much-needed Specials/Rancid style belief and fury back into the genre. It's official - the Interrupters have arrived.

13. FRANK TURNER - "Be More Kind"

After a couple of albums which saw him taking more of a look at affairs of the heart, the age of Brexit and Trump saw Frank Turner reverting to the more political leanings of his earlier material with songs like "1933" and "Make America Great Again" seeing him railing against the injustice of the world in 2018 while "Don't Worry" and the title track see him desperately searching for the pinpoint of light at the end of the tunnel. A good reminder that Turner still has plenty of fire in his belly.

12. RYAN ROXIE - "Imagine Your Reality" (Review here)

Ryan Roxie has always been a very under-rated songwriter going right back to his days with Sunset Strip should've-beens the Electric Angels in the early '90s and "Imagine Your Reality" was twelve glorious slices of sunshine-soaked California rock 'n' roll with hooks and choruses designed to get whole stadiums singing along. Definitely an album to put a ray of sunlight back into your life.

11. SUPERSUCKERS - "Suck It" (Review here)

Now thirty years into their career scarily, the Supersuckers' recent run of form continued apace with "Suck It" seeing them returning to their more typical scuzzed-up rock 'n' roll after previous album "Holdin' The Bag" saw them take one of their occasional diversions into country music. Alternating between angry frustration at the state of modern music ("History of Rock 'n' Roll") and the band's more traditional spit 'n' sawdust rock 'n' roll humour ("All Of The Time", "Parking Lot"), it's proof that Eddie Spaghetti and co are showing no signs of slowing down with age.

Andy's Best Albums of 2018 (Part 4)

30. SHE MAKES WAR - "Brace For Impact" (Review here)

Similar to the more thoughtful end of the early '90s alt-rock movement (Throwing Muses, Belly, the Breeders etc), this fourth effort from Laura Kidd aka She Makes War is a heartfelt and honest album veering from political despair ("Devastate Me") to quite brutally honest looks at human relationships ("Undone", "Then The Quiet Came"). Similar to Frank Turner or Louise Distras, Kidd is a talented musician with a good songwriting talent and "Brace For Impact" is a good demonstration of her abilities.

29. BIG BOY BLOATER & THE LIMITS - "Pills"

Hand on heart, I'd heard a few BBB albums before this and never quite got what the fuss was about but "Pills" definitely represents his strongest effort to date with the gallows humour of songs like "She Didn't Even Buy A Ticket"" and "Slacker's Paradise" balanced out by the more serious "A Life of Debt" and "The Digital Number Of The Beast". Definitely worth a listen for the old-skool rock 'n' rollers out there.

28. ELECTRIC SIX - "Bride Of The Devil"

E6 have usually figured somewhere in this list over the last few years but "Bride of the Devil" is definitely their strongest effort for a few years (probably since 2014's "Mustang" at least) with the likes of "Hades Ladies", "You're Toast" and "Full Moon Over The Internet" giving some catchy hooks to Dick Valentine's never less than surreal lyrics. Definitely a bit of a return to form here.

27. SARAH VISTA - "Killing Fever" (Review here)

Sounding like Tammy Wynette and Nick Cave sharing a couple of bottles of moonshine in some Wild West saloon while Ennio Morricone provides the atmospherics, this was a good first effort from the former Kiria/Missy Le Pink, crammed full of country style murder ballads and grim tales of lethal revenge. For those who like their country music a bit darker than yer average, this is definitely recommended.

26. THE VIRGINMARYS - "The Northern Sun Sessions" (Review here)

After a turbulent year which saw them dropped from their label and reduced to a duo following the inexplicable commercial failure of their second album "Divides", "The Northern Sun Sessions" saw the Virginmarys pouring every ounce of vitriol about their predicament into song form with the result being a ferocious and angry collection of songs which grabs you by the throat and doesn't let you go. Sheer anger and frustration has rarely sounded this addictive.

25. FAZ WALTZ - "Double Decker" (Review here)

Stop me if you think you've heard this one before - Italian band, definite '70s glam influence, decent way with a tune and hook. Nope, it's not Giuda, in fact Faz Waltz have actually been around longer and, on "Double Decker"'s evidence might actually be slightly better than their fellow countrymen if I'm honest with this album. As well as the T-Rex/Mott/Elton influences, there's also a nod towards Small Faces indebted '60s style psychedelia. Certainly, this lot should definitely be picking up a few more plaudits than they have so far if this album is anything to go by.

24. THE AMORETTES - "Born To Break" (Review here)

After a bit of a creative mis-step with 2016's "White Hot Heat", "Born To Break" saw the Amorettes get over their awkward phase and evolve into a slick Runaways-style bubblegum glam-rock outfit. With an improved production job and some decent chugging riffs and hooks (most notably on comeback single "Everything I Learned (I Learned From Rock 'n' Roll"), this was the sound of a band getting their mojo back and blowing the cobwebs away nicely.

22.= HANK VON HELL - "Egomania" (Review here)
22.= TURBONEGRO - "Rock 'n' Roll Machine" (Review here)

The Turbojugend had double cause to celebrate in 2018 with both Turbonegro themselves and former singer Hank Von Hell (formerly Von Helvete) on the comeback trail. Von Hell's album was pretty much a straight continuation from where he left off with the band a decade previously with the likes of "Wild Boy Blues" and "Pretty Decent Exposure" rocking like a caveman's implement of choice while "Never Again" and "Adios (Where's My Sombrero?)" showed a darker side to his work.

"Rock 'n' Roll Machine" on the other hand saw Turbonegro at their most bombastic, liberally chucking bits of Van Halen, Def Leppard, '70s Elton John and AC/DC into the sonic mixer and topping it off with their none-more-irreverent sense of humour. Cheesier than a swimming pool full of fondue, it could've been a disaster but there's just something about its sheer cheek and killer tunes and riffs that undeniably works and gets you up and boogieing on the dancefloor again. Impossible to pick between these two so I've put them equal on the list but rest assured they're both well worth a listen.

21. DIRT BOX DISCO - "Immortals" (Review here)

Like Electric Six, Dirt Box Disco are one of those bands who seem to crop up on this list every year but "Immortals" is another enjoyably rough 'n' scuzzy slice of foul-mouthed pop punks from these Derby veterans. Like the Undertones and the Toy Dolls having a closing time punch-up, the likes of "Stop Shouting", "Box Of Tapes" and "Caveman" are exactly the sort of songs you can see rooms full of people yelling along to at future DBD gigs and long may it be so.

Andy's Best Albums of 2018 (Part 3)

40. EUREKA MACHINES - "Victories"

Okay so maybe it's not quite up to the standard of the Eureka Machines' sublime first trio of albums (one of my mates rather cruelly described it as sounding like a reunion album from a band that never actually split up in the first place which is really a bit harsh). However, "Victories" is still a solid effort from Chris Catalyst and his crew with songs like "My Rock 'n' Roll Is Dead" and "The Next Line" showing that at least some of the old magic was still there and that this band are still capable of delivering a top drawer song.

39. EVIL BLIZZARD - "The Worst Show On Earth" (Review here)

Another one to file in the "weird but definitely enjoyable" bracket, Evil Blizzard describe themselves as "four masked bassists, a singing drummer and a pig with cleavers". And musically they're no less odd, drawing from the post-punk of PIL and the Fall on one side, the glam stomp riffs of the Sweet on another and the riffs of early Sabbath on a third, it adds up to an unnerving, claustrophobic but surprisingly listenable album. You may need to sit down for a few minutes after this one.

38. MONSTER MAGNET - "Mindfucker" (Review here)

Scary to think that Monster Magnet are now thirty years into their career. However, on the evidence of "Mindfucker", these old dogs are still capable of pulling new tricks out of the hat. A definite step up in quality from its rather "play it safe" predecessor "Last Patrol", the likes of "Rocket Freak" had an added urgency to balance out the more standard stoner-metal fare. Definitely Wyndorf and co's strongest effort for a good few years.

37. TWIN FLAMES RADIO - "Twin Flames Radio"

Similar to the Alarm's "Equals", this is definitely an album that grew on me with repeated listening as former Dogs D'Amour drummer Bam and former Vixen bassist Share reunited following three under-rated albums with Bubble a decade or so previously to produce a collection of heartfelt '70s indebted old school glam rock with the likes of "Always You", "You Got Your Reasons" and the epic "Peace & Love & Rock 'n' Roll" being fine efforts indeed. Hopefully the first of many albums from TFR.

36. THE FILAMENTS - "Look To The Skies" (Review here)

Similar to Rancid circa "And Out Come The Wolves", this fourth album from the Filaments is a furious collision of punk and ska with hints of everyone from GBH to the Specials, veering from the political fury of "Fuck The Alt-Right" to the more considered "Ask No Favours". Definitely a band continuing to get better with age and probably the Filaments' strongest effort to date.

35. DRAGSTER - "Anti-Everything" (Review here)

Continuing to build on the fury of its predecessor, 2014's "Dead Punk", "Anti-Everything" sees Dragster still railing ferociously against the injustices of Britain in 2018 with the sound getting even heavier and songs like "Charmed To The Teeth" showing an almost Motorhead style level of power. The sound of a band comfortably growing into its sound, this is definitely affirmation of why Dragster are one of the most promising punk bands in Britain today.

34. THERAPY? - "Cleave"

"Cleave" was always going to struggle a bit compared to its predecessor, Therapy?'s roaring return to form that was 2015's "Disquiet". However, it's an intriguing listen that brings up more little tricks every time you play it. I think it was XTC's Andy Partridge who once said that sometimes the best music is made when the ball doesn't quite go in the hole and "Cleave" is definitely an album that reminds me of that saying. Don't expect to get it first time in other words but persevere with it and you'll quickly realise that this is a good solid effort from Andy Cairns and co.

33. HUGH CORNWELL - "Monster"

Forty plus years into his career and twenty five on from him leaving the Stranglers, Hugh Cornwell remains a man with a definite eye for a thought-provoking lyric and catchy tune and "Monster" is another solid addition to his back catalogue with the likes of "Pure Evel", "Mosin'" and the Lou Reed tribute "Mr Leather" being good efforts. Proof that this particular man in black still has a lot to say and plenty of fire left in the tank.

32. LUCERO - "Among The Ghosts"

A group who only came on to my radar this year, this is actually no less than Lucero's ninth album but on this evidence these Tennesse alt-country rockers should really be a bit better known over here than they currently are. A beautifully dark and epic collection of gothic country rock with the likes of the title track and "Everything Has Changed" being real attention-grabbers. Go give this lot a listen forthwith if you've not already.

31. CURSE OF LONO - "As I Fell" (Review here)

Very much a continuation of Curse of Lono's debut, last year's "Severed", "As I Fell" was another strong effort from these Londoners with more of a widescreen epic feel to move things forward, recalling everyone from the Cure's more melodic side to Ennio Morricone via the Gaslight Anthem. The sound of a band moving forward with confidence and raising their game well.

Andy's Best Albums of 2018 (Part 2)

50. TV SMITH - "Land Of The Overdose"

In an era where the world at large seems to get scarier and make less sense as time goes on, it's good to see TV Smith still out there railing against injustice with his trusty acoustic guitar. "Land of the Overdose" is another barbed howl at a nation that's continuing to go to the dogs with the likes of "No Control", "We Stand Alone" and "File It Under Not My Problem" proving that his songwriting isn't getting any less sharp with age.

49. MASSIVE WAGONS - "Half Nelson"

While some fans were bemoaning the more commercial edge to "Half Nelson", I'd actually argue that it's Lancaster rockers Massive Wagons' strongest effort to date. While their previous album "Welcome To The World" seemed to have them blundering around in search of a point and a decent tune to go with the riffs, here the likes of "Back To The Stack", "China Plates" and "Billy Balloon Head" saw a more developed songwriting nous coming to the fore to make for what I'd say is their strongest effort yet. The fact that it yielded an impressive Top 20 chart placing suggests that a lot of people agreed with me as well.

48. THE ALARM - "Equals"

I'll admit that this latest offering from Mike Peters and co took me a few listens to get used to with the use of sampling and electronic drumbeats on a few tracks being a bit of a curveball compared to the Alarm's more straight-up usual fare. However, "Equals" definitely grows on you wirh repeated listening with the likes of "Peace Now", "Thirteen Dead Reindeer" and the stark "Cenotaph" being more than worthy additions to the Alarm's extensive back catalogue.

47. LUCY & THE RATS - "Lucy & The Rats" (Review here)

Although they style themselves as a garage rock revival group, Lucy & The Rats' sound is actually closer to the melodic but spiky indie of late '80s groups like the Primitives and the Darling Buds and they actually pull it off pretty well. Songs like "Girl" and "Can't Surf" show a group with a definite knack for a tune and a hook and mark them down as definite ones to watch going forward.

46. BULLETS & OCTANE - "Waking Up Dead" (Review here)

Given the lacklustre output of some of their contemporaries (Backyard Babies and Buckcherry I may just be looking at you lot here) in recent years, it's safe to say that expectations for the first new Bullets & Octane album for a few years weren't exactly high but fair play to 'em, "Waking Up Dead" was a good reminder of everything that we loved about 'em when they first burst on to the scene a decade or so ago with the likes of "When We Were Young" providing suitably snotty and energetic calls to arms to announce Gene Louis and co were back with a bang.

45. THE LIVING END - "Wunderbar"

I have to be honest, I had no idea that Aussie punks the Living End were even still going until this album was brought to my attention during the autumn but they're very much still out there. If you're expecting something along the lines of the barrelling punk of their early noughties albums like "Roll On" then "Wunderbar" is likely to come as a curveball, showing the band taking a much more methodical and thoughtful approach but fair play to them, they pull it off well with songs like "Dropping The Needle" and "Amsterdam" showing off their new approach in style.

44. HUNG LIKE HANRATTY - "What You See Is What You Get"

Similar to near neighbours Spunk Volcano & The Eruptions, Nottingham scuzz-punks Hung Like Hanratty are one of those groups who really don't give a shit who they offend. Foul-mouthed missives like "Disabled Parking", "Stop Playing With Yourself" and "Lawyers For You" mined the same sort of gleefully offensive yob-punk as the Macc Lads and Peter & The Test Tube Babies did back in the day making "What You See Is What You Get" a big dose of good unclean fun.

43. SPEAR OF DESTINY - "Tontine" (Review here)

Kirk Brandon remains one of rock 'n' roll's busiest men in 2018, following up last year's Theatre of Hate album "Kinshi" with a new Spear of Destiny effort. With plenty of the classic SOD fury combined with some more thoughtful numbers, "Tontine" was a good effort which proves that Brandon still has plenty of fire left in his tank after all these years in the game.

42. THE DAMNED - "Evil Spirits" (Review here)

With three-quarters of their classic early '80s line-up reunited thanks to the return of Paul Gray on bass, the Damned's first album in a decade was a solid effort which proved that they still have plenty to say for themselves in 2018. Admittedly, they're arguably always going to be living in the shadow of their red-hot run of albums from "Machine Gun Etiquette" to "Phantasmagoria" but songs like "Standing On The Edge of Tomorrow" showed that messrs Vanian and Sensible are still very much out there and kicking.

41. WONK UNIT - "Terror" (Review here)

Definitely one of the most off-kilter albums I've heard this year, Wonk Unit are continuing to go from strength to strength on this evidence and crashing through different musical styles with reckless abandon, veering from pop ("My New Safe Place") to thrash ("Judas Betrayers") to stark piano-led numbers ("Christmas In A Crackhouse") often in the space of a few songs. Don't expect an easy listen with this album but it's definitely an enjoyable effort which reveals new stuff with every listen.

Andy's Best Albums of 2018 (Intro & Part 1)

Blimey, the blog lives! Yes, I'm aware that it's kind of fallen into disrepair a bit over the last few months - I kind of fell behind with the whole Marvel/DC film blog and just never quite found the time to catch up. My plan is to reboot over the New Year so hopefully we should be back in business come January. Watch out for some other new stuff on there as well - more to be announced in due course.

Anyway, as is usual in the dying days of the year, here's my Albums of the Year chart. For the second year running, it's a Top 60 (the original Top 40 becoming a Top 50 and then expanding to its final format due to a lot of people pointing me in the direction of stuff I've missed in recent weeks) and it's good to see that it's a decent mix of both old and new bands in there. Hopefully you should be able to find a few in there that you've missed that are worth a listen.

Before we start though, there's the traditional matter of the annual Golden Turkey award to attend to and unfortunately there have been a few clunkers mixed in with the good stuff this year. I got a bit of hate mail for my less-than-favourable review of Skindred's "Big Tings" on Pure Rawk back in the spring but I'm afraid to say that I still stand by it. It's never fun when a band who you used to love for their furious polemic puts out a lacklustre "will this do?" effort in an attempt to win over the mallrat metal crowd but sadly that's very much the case here. I'm hoping for the next effort that Benji and co take a "back to basics" approach and return to the righteous fury that defined their best stuff. Similarly, Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons' "Age of Absurdity" was the sound of a band who really should know better (especially as Phil used to be in Motorhead ferfuxxake) going for a tired mainstream sub-Alter Bridge sound that completely lacked any edge whatsoever. And although it wasn't a total disaster, the Struts' "Young And Dangerous" would certainly be up there for biggest disappointment of the year in my book. Having seen them live in 2017 and realised what the band could do when they were unrestrained by the studio sheen that hobbled their first album a bit, turned up the riffs and really let rip, I was hoping that their second album would see them taking a bit more control and putting out something closer to their live sound. Unfortunately they went completely the other way with a horrifically over-produced album which, although it sounded good on the four or five occasions where the tunes had the clout to punch through, largely sunk without trace in a sea of gloopy synths and studio knob-polish. And the less said about the songs where they sounded like Maroon frickin' 5 the better. Hopefully next time they'll take that synthesiser, stick it right up the jacksy of whoever thought this approach was a good idea and get back to basics. For now though, I suspect that this undeniably talented band may have been fallen in with some dubious company...

There really could be only one winner overall though and, much as this feels a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, my official Worst Album of 2018 award goes to laughably idea-free Led Zeppelin clones Greta Van Fleet for their hilariously terrible and cliched beyond belief "Anthem of the Peaceful Army". I honestly believe if there's any justice though that in years to come, this dire collection of Zep-xeroxed drudgery will be seen as a landmark album. In that it'll be seen as the point where the rock scene gave itself a kick up the backside, woke up and said "no, enough's enough, we're sick of hack bands who can only recycle and parrot out tired old 40 year old rock cliches without adding any sense of their own originality to it, from now on we demand that either you add something of your own essence to your music or you just be honest and become a covers band". Given the backlash that's started already, hopefully this is a sign that the demise of idea-free retro clone-rock as epitomised by GVF is nigh and that it'll be a good decade or so before we see their likes again.

Anyway, as per normal, there'll be ten albums a day on this thing starting today and running until New Year's Day. Also, in case you need reminding, full list of past winners (the SPR Hall of Fame if you will) below:

2017: Peter Perrett - "How The West Was Won"
2016: The Urban Voodoo Machine - "Hellbound Hymns"
2015: Danko Jones - "Fire Music"
2014: Electric River - "The Faith And The Patience"
2013: Hey! Hello! - "Hey! Hello!"
2012: The Bermondsey Joyriders - "Noise And Revolution"
2011: The Eureka Machines - "Champion The Underdog"

Ready then? 'Ere we go...

60. MINISTRY - "Amerikkkant"

It was perhaps inevitable that the advent of the Donald Trump era would see Al Jourgensen dig Ministry back out of storage for another bout of furious political polemic set to a crushing industrial soundscape. Although not quite in the same league as "Houses of the Mole" or "Rio Grande Blood" from the Bush era (and it was guilty of tailing off a bit towards the end), the ferocious likes of "Victims of a Clown" and "Wargasm" proved that Jourgensen still had plenty to say for himself in 2018.

59. GLEN MATLOCK - "Good To Go"

Hooking up with Earl Slick from Bowie's band and Slim Jim Phantom from the Stray Cats, "Good To Go" saw the former Pistols bassist put out a slick and full sounding mainstream rock album. Maybe a bit too straightforward and comfortable sounding for some but the likes of "Won't Put The Brakes On Me" and "Piece Of Work" were enjoyable slices of knockabout upbeat rock 'n' roll which passed the time nicely.

58. WALTER LURE & THE WALDOS - "Wacka Lacka Boom Bop A Lop Bam Boo" (Review here)

I s'pose the big problem as regards putting a new album out when you're Walter Lure is having a sparse but very high quality back catalogue and, if I'm honest, "Wacka Lacka..." wasn't quite up to the same high standard as the Heartbreakers' awesome "LAMF" and the Waldos' similarly peerless "Rent Party". However, it's still not a bad effort at all even if there's a little bit of filler in there with the likes of "Crazy Kids", "Where Were You On Our Wedding Day?" and a revisiting of the late Jerry Nolan's "Take A Chance With Me" making it well worth a listen.

57. TENPLUSONE - "Tenplusone" (Review here)

Hailing from South Wales, Tenplusone's debut album was a fast 'n' furious slice of Dirt Box Disco style glam-punk with plenty of spit 'n' sawdust attitude and some catchy tunes and hooks. Solid, rather than spectacular, the arrival of a second mini-album "Accept Nothing Question Everything" towards the end of the year saw a new political conscience creeping into the music and a swerve towards a more Stiff Little Fingers style approach marking these guys as ones to watch in 2019.

56. MOTHER FEATHER - "Constellation Baby" (Review here)

Second album from the New York glam rockers and a definite step forward from their promising but slightly inconsistent debut. At its best, "Constellation Baby" sounds like Shirley Manson and Kate Bush having a jam in the studio while Marc Bolan fixes a cup of tea in the kitchen next door and nods approvingly. They're maybe not quite there yet as far as top drawer tunes go but on this evidence, it's only a matter of time.

55. HEAVY DRAPES - "Crashing Like Stars"

Sadly the release of "Crashing Like Stars" was overshadowed by the untimely passing of Heavy Drapes frontman Garry Borland (aka Dee Liberate) earlier this year but he's left behind a sound legacy on this evidence with the Dollsy "I Wanna Be Maladjusted" and the ferocious "Number 1" and "Make Some Trouble" mixing well with the more subtle likes of  "Into The Blue" and "Nightrippin'". RIP and thanks for the memories.

54. THE CAVEMEN - "Nuke Earth" (Review here)

More ultra-ferocious scuzzed-up garage punk from New Zealand ex-pats the Cavemen, "Nuke Earth" is the sort of feral zero fucks given racket that would have Jack White screaming and running to the hills as fast as he could which is surely reason enough to check it out. Though I take no responsibility for any counselling sessions you may need to enrol for afterwards.

53. THE KUT - "Valley Of Thorns" (Review here)

One of the hardest gigging live bands on the circuit, "Valley Of Thorns" is a good summary of the Kut's progress so far. Although the Hole influence is fairly easy to spot, they take the template and comprehensively put their own stamp on it with the chantalong "I Want You Maniac" and the ferocious likes of "Badman" and "Alekhine's Gun" marking them out as definitely being a band to watch.

52. THE SPITFIRES - "Year Zero" (Review here)

Okay so there's a case for arguing that the premium opportunity for Watford's premier mod revivalists the Spitfires to make that big league breakthrough that some were tipping them for at the beginning has arguably passed now. However, although it's not quite up to the standard of their first two albums, "Year Zero" is still a strong effort with the band moving forwards to a more ska-based sound on some tracks and the political fury of "Frontline" and "The New Age" proving that they've still got plenty to say.

51. THE SKIDS - "Burning Cities"

Returning to the recording studio after a 37-year absence, the Skids' comeback album was a solid addition to their legacy with the driving "One Last Chance" and "Kaputt" showing that the fire was very much still there while "Desert Dust" saw the band's Boys' Own punk legacy brought up to date. Not quite all killer no filler but definitely a more than respectable effort from these veterans.

World of Sport Wrestling Series 1 - A Lookback

As I mentioned in the previous blog, I'm planning on revisiting some other subjects than Marvel and DC films in the months ahead on this blog (don't worry, the film reviews will kick back in soon enough as well). I've covered wrestling before in this blog and thought with series 1 of World of Sport having just finished on ITV, it'd be a good opportunity to have a look back at what worked, what didn't and where the show goes from here.

When WOS made it's comeback at the end of 2016, I have to admit to enjoying the pilot special and thought it had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, the series seemed to suffer quite a lot of setbacks in between that first episode and the first series proper starting with the show seeming to be forever delayed and bogged down with red tape. WWE launched their WWE UK division, seemingly worried about losing a potential market although after an impressive initial tournament, that too seems to have been lying in the doldrums for a while with only a handful of stars (Tyler Bate, Pete Dunne) being utilised. However, with a UK WWE show apparently now in the pipeline and a lot of stars moving between the two formats in the 18 month gap, it did mean that the roster starting series 1 had gone through quite a few changes with the likes of Dave Mastiff, El Ligero and Zack Gibson not returning for the series. However, with some canny new additions including Will Ospreay, Kay Lee Ray, Joe Hendry, Martin Kirby and Rampage Brown plus a solid foundation for the roster including Davey Boy Smith Jr, Grado, Viper and Sha Samuels and the introduction of Stu Bennett (aka Wade Barrett) and So Cal Val to replace the departed Jim Ross on commentary, the potential was definitely there.

I'm gonna say it straight off - to me the series was a bit of a disappointment. The wrestling itself was generally on the right side of watchable but it did seem a lot of the time like they were simply trying to see how many gimmick matches they could tick off in ten episodes. Ladder match? Tick. Loser leaves town? Tick. Submission? Tick. Handicap match? Tick. Mixed tag? Tick. By the time of the near-inexplicable Buzzer Battle Match in Week 9 which was almost Vince Russo-like in how convoluted it was (to wit: it starts off as a sort of Battle Bowl meets War Games minus the cage meets Survivor Series match with each team getting a random new member every few minutes and then turns into a battle royale once we're down to eight wrestlers who haven't been eliminated, it turns into a battle royale), you just found yourself thinking "Look, just cut the gimmicks and have some straight-up matches guys!" To make things worse, the big final Championship match in the last episode was just ridiculously overbooked with a totally unnecessary amount of run-ins, ref bumps etc that it just didn't feel like a decent pay-off for the previous ten weeks of emotional investment.

In fact, the Loser Leaves Town storyline between Adam Maxted and Nathan Cruz was pretty much a textbook example of the bookers rushing storylines needlessly. The pair were a tag team for the first 4-5 episodes until Cruz turned on Maxted after they lost in the final of the tag team championship tournament. The next week (!) the pair faced off in a Loser Leaves Town match with Cruz leaving and being "out of the company" only to return two weeks later in the Buzzer Battle clusterfumble to cost Maxted the match. If the bookers knew this storyline would have to be rushed through so quickly then they just shouldn't have gone with it and tried to string it out a bit more. As it was, it felt like something WCW would have done in their dying days and that really isn't what you want to be aiming for...

It's a shame because the continual reliance on gimmick matches to me came at the expense of decent character development which also hurt a lot of the top-of-the-card guys. With the exceptions of Smith and Bennett from WWE and Grado and, for those who remember the British Boot Camp series, Kay Lee and Rampage from TNA (plus the odd guest appearance from the likes of Doug Williams and Moose, who appeared as a babyface helping Sysum the week that TNA chose to give him his long overdue heel turn - talk about bad timing!), a lot of the names would probably have been unknown to those who don't keep a close eye on the UK wrestling scene and therefore needed their characters to be drawn out to make the audience care for them which WOS by and large just didn't do which is pretty much tantamount to shooting yourself in the foot when it comes to your promotion being successful.

A case in point is the company's top babyface Justin Sysum. Given how hard they pushed the guy (and make no mistake he's a decent wrestler), you'd have thought they'd have devoted some time to a couple of promo videos or interviews to build up his story, explain his motivation and give us a reason to cheer from him. Instead, he was essentially portrayed as "that bloke who wears a centurion's robe to the ring and keeps getting messed about by Rampage".

Speaking of Rampage, I thought he was booked pretty poorly as well. Since when did not giving your champion any mic time seem like a sensible booking policy? Yes, I know WWE did this with Brock Lesnar last year. He had Paul Heyman as his mouthpiece. Although Sha Samuels did a reasonably good job as being Rampage's mouthpiece, the dynamic of him being Rampage's goon (who lost more matches than he won) rather than an out and out manager in the Heyman/Cornette/Heenan style which meant that his bragging just didn't have the same effect it would've done. The thing is that, as anyone who saw him on TNA's British Boot Camp will know, Rampage is actually competent enough on the mic to be able to cut his own promos so why they took this approach with him is baffling as it felt as if it completely stunted his character.

To be brutally honest, I don't think the three-person commentary team worked very well either. Alex Shane was generally a decent play-by-play guy in the Mike Tenay/'80s Vince McMahon mould but it often felt like his two colour commentators So Cal Val and Stu Bennett just kept getting in each others' way. Both are decent commentators in their own right but a two-person booth would have just worked a bit better here and made things feel a bit less cluttered in my opinion.

And yet...and yet, I do get the impression that given a bit of time to iron out the kinks that WOS does have potential. They've got a very good roster with the likes of Smith, Ospreay, Rampage, Sysum, Samuels, Robbie X, Joe Hendry, Martin Kirby, Kip Sabian, Nathan Cruz, BT Gunn, Kay Lee Ray, Viper, Liam Slater and Gabriel Kidd on board and when the wrestlers were allowed to kick loose without the gimmicks getting in the way (Smith and Ospreay had a great match in the first episode, the feud between Kirby and Hendry was never less than entertaining, Grado was always fun to watch and the cruiserweights like Slater, Kidd and X put on some entertaining aerial battles (though rather like WWE and TNA, they could do with getting away from the whole mindset of treating these guys as an acrobat sideshow and simply having them fight the same people week after week or, even worse, just having them all get crushed by the giant Crater).

So what does the future hold for WOS? Well, the fact that in the last few weeks of its run it went from a 5:30 prime time Saturday teatime slot to being buried in the 3:30 mid-afternoon slot doesn't bode well but with a tour being announced for next spring, I hope that it's a sign that ITV are prepared to give it another chance. The first series may have been far from perfect but the series deserves a chance to develop a bit and find its own niche. Not least because if the UK televised wrestling scene is left solely with WWE's Brit promotion it's gonna make things just a bit boring (although the news that Progress have been given their own cable show is definitely an interesting development). We shall see...

All quiet on the blogging front...

So you may have noticed that it's gone a bit quiet on here recently. The Marvel and DC reviewing kind of fell to the side a bit for two reasons. Firstly, as you may or may not be aware, I work in medical education and after the quiet bit of the year (ie summer), it's suddenly all gone a bit manic again. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy my job (and if past experience has taught me anything, it's that I'm fortunate to be doing a job I enjoy) but when you've been going 900 mph sorting things out at the office all day, it sometimes gets to the point that when you get home you just want to watch something nice and simple that doesn't require a lot of concentration. Which kind of rules out a big two-hour action movie. Secondly, I s'pose I kind of hit the wall a bit with the project and went into brain overload mode where it just felt like I needed to take a week off...which then turned into two weeks...which then turned into three weeks and so on and so forth.

I am planning to get the reviews going again in the near future starting with "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" - ideally I'm hoping to add a few new things to the blog as well. I've done a few posts on here about wrestling and music and I'd like to make those regular features - like I say, the big problem is just finding the time to do all this along with working a regular job as well without things completely taking over my life.

So all I ask is just be patient with me - hopefully the blog entries should start coming in again in the weeks ahead and we can get back to where we were (who knows, there might be something going up here tomorrow although it won't be a film review). Cheers.

Andy

DC Saturdays #21 - Road To Perdition (2002)

As we mentioned on last week's blog, in the years around the millennium, a series of critically slaughtered movies (notably the two Joel Schumacher Batman films and "Steel") had left the film arm of DC pretty much broken and it would be a long time before any further film tie-ins occurred for any of the group's main characters. However, before the DC universe returned properly with 2004's "Catwoman" (a film so bad it's a wonder it didn't send the company back under for another seven years but more on that when we come to it), we did get a few "are they or aren't they?" films from DC spin-offs. Next week we'll be looking at "The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen" which didn't start out as a DC title but joined the franchise around the time the movie came out which makes it just about worthy of qualification in my opinion. Before that though came two other titles, 2005's "A History of Violence" and 2002's "Road To Perdition", both based on titles from DC offshoot Paradox and both very different from the rest of the DC canon.

We won't be covering the art house film "A History Of Violence" on this blog because the writers weren't actually even aware of the comic book's existence when the film was written (they based it on the novel that came afterwards) meaning it's not really a straight tie-in as such but "Road To Perdition" is pretty much directly based on the comic mini-series of the same name and so just to say qualifies here. When it was released in 2002, this tale of a fugitive Irish mafia hitman and his son on the run from the mob was widely acclaimed and even saw Tom Hanks add yet another "Best Actor" Oscar to his extensive collection. Let's see how it's held up in the intervening 16 years...

The film is set in 1931, the height of the Depression, in Illinois and is based around the story of gangster Michael Sullivan (Hanks) who works as a hitman for his adoptive father John Rooney (Paul Newman) along with his stepbrother and Rooney's biological son Connor (a pre-Bond Daniel Craig). The film opens with Sullivan, his wife Annie and their two sons Michael Jr and Peter attending the wake of McGovern, one of Rooney's associates. However, McGovern's brother Finn uses his speech to make some pointed remarks about John causing Michael and Connor to cut him short and escort him to his ride home. Afterwards, John advises his boys to go and see Finn the next night to discuss his grievances.

Unbeknownst to Sullivan however, Michael Jr stows away in the back of his car as he and Connor are driving to their rendezvous. The previous night, Michael Jr and Peter had been discussing what their dad's job actually was and the former decides to find out. When the car reaches the brewery where the meeting is taking place, Michael Jr sneaks up to the door and watches the discussion through the crack in the middle.

However, the conversation breaks down and Connor's temper gets the better of him and he shoots Finn with Michael gunning down McGovern's two hitmen before they can draw their guns. Escaping from the brewery the pair find Michael Jr and swear him to secrecy.

The next day, Connor and Michael are summoned before Rooney's board with the former being made to apologise, much to his anger, by John. Afterwards, he takes Michael to one side and apologises properly before asking him to visit a speakeasy to conduct some business for him that night. Meanwhile, Michael Jr, still upset over the previous night's events, ends up getting into a fight at school and is kept back to do detention.

Sullivan heads to the speakeasy and hands the note to its owner Calvino. When Calvino suddenly draws his gun, he realises he's been set up and quickly dispatches the speakeasy owner and his henchman. Getting back in his car he floors it home, arriving at the same time as Michael Jr arrives home from school but they're too late - Connor has been to the house and shot Annie and Peter dead. Realising that they're wanted men, the pair go on the run.

Driving through the night to Chicago, Sullivan visits Frank Nitti, a conduit between Rooney and Al Capone and asks him if the Chicago mob boss is looking for men at the moment. Unfortunately Nitti is aware of what's happened back in Rock Island and is unable to help him. After Michael leaves, we see Nitti speaking to John and Connor in the back room and the trio reluctantly agree to put a hit out on Sullivan.

The hitman they recruit is Harlen Maguire (Jude Law), a crime scene photographer by day who lives a double life as a mercenary by night. Not realising he's in trouble, Sullivan opts to head to a town called Perdition on the coast (hence the film name) to leave Michael Jr to live with Annie's sister Sarah. He calls her after Annie's funeral but unbeknown to him, Maguire has infiltrated the ceremony and manages to trace the call by dialling the operator.

Maguire catches up with Sullivan a few hours later at a diner on the highway. The pair initially make conversation but, realising something's up, Sullivan escapes through the toilet window, slashing Maguire's tyres on the way out to stop him chasing them.

Angry that his old associates are still trying to kill him, Sullivan comes up with a scheme to get back at Rooney by holding up a series of banks (using Michael Jr as his getaway driver) and forcibly withdrawing the mob's assets from each one with the intention of using the money as a trade-off to get them to reveal where Connor is hiding so he can go round and finish his business by killing him. Does his plan succeed? Ah-ah, only so many spoilers I'm giving for this one...

"Road To Perdition" is a bit of a funny one - certainly it's very unlike pretty much anything else we'll cover in this blog. Critically acclaimed at the time, it's since become a bit of a Marmite film with some claiming it lives up to the hype and others writing it off as a disappointment. Me? I thought it was decent enough. Hanks, Law, Craig and Newman are all as good as you'd expect here and the plot is certainly gripping enough with a few unexpected twists and turns thrown in. The only slight problem is it sometimes feels as though the characters aren't as clearly defined as you want them to be and the interaction sequences feel a little stunted in places, especially between the Sullivans. But while it's not quite an all-time classic it's still an enjoyable big screen epic to waste a couple of hours to and I'd certainly give it a moderate recommendation.

The film did well enough at the box office and, ever so slowly, DC films started to crawl out of the woodwork once again culminating with 2005's "Batman Begins" which properly announced their return to the silver screen. However, as we'll see from the next set of reviews, unfortunately we've got a few misfires to deal with between now and then...

FINAL RATING: 🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫 (7/10)

CURRENT DC FILM TABLE

1. Batman Returns (1992) (9/10)
2. Batman (1989) (8/10)
3. Superman (1978) (8/10)
4. Superman 2 (1980) (8/10)
5. Batman (1966) (8/10)
6. Road To Perdition (2002) (7/10)
7. Batman Forever (1995) (6/10)
8. Superman 3 (1983) (5/10)
9. Swamp Thing (1982) (5/10)
10. The New Wonder Woman (1975) (5/10)
11. Superman and the Mole Men (1951) (5/10)
12. The Flash 2 - Revenge Of The Trickster (1991) (4/10)
13. The Flash 3 - Deadly Nightshade (1991) (4/10)
14. Wonder Woman Returns (1977) (4/10)
15. The Flash (1990) (4/10)
16. Wonder Woman (1974) (3/10)
17. Batman & Robin (1997) (2/10)
18. The Return of Swamp Thing (1989) (2/10)
19. Superman 4 - The Quest For Peace (1987) (2/10)
20. Justice League of America (1997) (2/10)
21. Supergirl (1984) (2/10)
22. Steel (1997) (2/10)

NEXT WEEK: Back to the "proper" superhero films with the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen...

(Delayed) Marvel Mondays #41 - Punisher: War Zone (2008)

QUICK NOTE: Apologies for falling a bit behind with this blog again - due to being away on holiday I just haven't really been at home for long enough to watch a film and write the review up. I'm currently doing a catch-up job with both DC Saturday and Marvel Monday so expect to see a few updates in the next few days as we get ourselves back up to speed. Starting right about.....now.

"Punisher: War Zone" represents the third and final Punisher film to date and is probably one of the most notorious Marvel commercial flops of the last decade, making less than a third of its budget back. Made in conjunction with Lionsgate, it was meant to launch the "Marvel Knights" series of darker more adult-oriented films but the idea was quickly abandoned although I s'pose you could argue its spirit lives on via the blood and guts approach of the Marvel Hells Kitchen serials (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and most recently the new Punisher series itself).

The genesis of the film was an awkward one - it originally started life as a sequel to the 2004 Punisher film starring Thomas Jane but the production quickly got bogged down in difficulties leading Jane to walk out on the series and the film to turn into a reboot. British actor Ray Stevenson would sign on for the title role with another Brit, Dominic West from "The Wire", playing his nemesis Billy "Jigsaw" Russotti. As with both of the other two Punisher films, despite getting mediocre reviews, there are a group of die-hards who swear by it so let's see how it bears up...

The film is set five years after the first Punisher film (although Castle's backstory is rewritten here to make it more consistent with the comic books - his family was killed in a botched Mafia hit in Central Park and since then he's been on the road for extremely bloody vengeance). It opens with veteran Mafia don Cesare discussing a potential smuggling deal with one of his henchmen Billy "The Beaut" Russotti who wants to use his warehouse facilities to help a group of Russian mafiosi smuggle a chemical weapon into New York.

Cesare refuses to back Russotti who leaves the house in a huff with his men just as the host and his guests are settling down to dinner. However, their meal is rudely interrupted by Frank Castle - cue the blood and guts. I should point out by the way that this film ratchets up the violence even further than the 2004 one did and is most definitely not for the squeamish. Unfortunately therein lies its main problem - lord knows I've seen enough violent Marvel stuff in recent years but there comes a point where you can over-saturate it to the point where it stops being entertaining and crosses over into just being downright depressing and "War Zone" just blunders over that line without any subtlety whatsoever. Shame.

We find out that Castle has an agreement with the local cops who are happy to let him wreak his vengeance on the criminal fraternity as it makes their lives easier. One of the two cops who've been staking out the house, Saffiotti, tips him off about Russotti heading for the docks before punching himself in the nose to make it look to his partner Soap as if he's been ambushed by the Punisher.

Russotti and his goons, Ink, Pittsy and Donatelli, head for a bottle plant at the docks where they reach an agreement to do the deal with the Russians given that everyone else in their familia has now been shot. We also find out they've got a group of drug-addled parkour-obsessed goons led by the dreadlocked McGinty who work as their underlings. However, when Castle arrives, it's time for the villains to scram - Ink and Pittsy escape while McGinty and his crew do a runner across the rooftops. However, Russotti and Donatelli are left inside with Castle shooting the latter and the former being knocked into a glass crusher which Frank switches on before walking away. However, upon hiding behind Donatelli's body he realises that Donatelli was an undercover FBI agent trailing Russotti's gang.

This leads Castle to have a crisis of confidence and initially he visits Donatelli's widow and daughter to try and pay them some financial compensation but they give him short shrift and turn him down. Crestfallen, Frank tells his associates Microchip (his tech nerd helper) and Carlos (a former crim who's now crossed over to the good guys' side) that he's getting out of the vengeance game for good and leaving town. However, when they tell him that Russotti survived and is likely to come after the Donatelli family, he realises he's got a job to do to protect them.

Russotti, meanwhile, has been busy planning revenge. Although he survived, the resulting surgery has left him so badly disfigured that his face has several stitch lines in it leading him to take the new name Jigsaw. His first move is to re-recruit Ink and Pittsy and bust his cannibalistic brother Loony Bin Jim out of the local asylum (where he eats the guard who's been tormenting him's kidneys - yuck) and head to the Donatelli household to look for the money he believes the agent stole from him.

Meanwhile back at the police station, Donatelli's old FBI partner Budiansky has turned up and requested to be assigned to the Punisher Task Force. Which, as we find out, only consists of Soap who we saw on the raid earlier. The Punisher himself, meanwhile, is off tracking down Jigsaw's gang one by one starting with McGinty. When he hears news from the cops that the parkour gang have just robbed a convenience store, he promptly heads to the rooftops, blows two of them up with a missile before kneecapping McGinty. Once he's got the information he needs off him, he pushes him off the rooftop to be impaled on some railings...ouch!

Budiansky and Soap have also been alerted to the robbery and the former gets into a fight with Castle and eventually apprehends him. Castle warns them that Jigsaw and his gang have headed over to the Donatelli residence. A police car is duly dispatched there but Jim quickly offs both of the officers when they enter the house. Realising something's up, Budiansky heads over there himself but is quickly apprehended by Jigsaw when he threatens to shoot the two hostages. Leaving Ink and Pittsy to guard the prisoners, Jigsaw and Jim go to search the house. However, Castle persuades Soap (who's been trailing him for a few years and has gained a grudging respect for him through his case) to let him go and breaks into the house, punching Ink so hard that he caves his skull in before blowing Pittsy's head off with a shotgun and escaping with the Donatellis. Budiansky radios the other cops who promptly turn up and arrest Jigsaw and Jim.

However, the Russotti brothers manage to negotiate a deal with the FBI to gain diplomatic immunity by grassing up the Bulat brothers, who they were due to do a deal with over the chemical weapon meaning that when Jigsaw and Jim turn up to seal the deal, the Rooskies quickly find themselves cuffed and carted off in a helicopter.

Now freed and with their money returned to them, the Russottis decide to finish the job by getting vengeance on Castle. They manage to locate his hideout midway down a subway tunnel leading to Jim kidnapping the Donatellis again as well as critically injuring Carlos with an axe while Jigsaw heads to Microchip's house and kidnaps him as well as killing his vegetative mother. Castle returns to his lair to find Carlos bleeding to death there and agrees to put him out of his misery.

The Russottis hole up in an abandoned hotel and recruit a motley collection of hood thugs, Yakuza and Irish gangsters to protect them. Realising he has no-one else to turn to, Castle goes back to Budiansky and Soap and strikes a deal with them to help him. They approach the remainder of the Russian gangsters who Jigsaw was initially doing a deal with and strike a deal whereby they attack in the ground floor leaving Castle clear to enter the building further up. After the expected bloodshed, Castle takes on Loony Bin Jim and beats him up to the extent that he goes scurrying off back to Jigsaw.

Jigsaw and Castle have their big confrontation in the hotel's penthouse suite with Jim holding a gun to the Donatellis' heads and Jigsaw doing the same to Micro forcing Frank to choose. Instead though, Frank shoots Jim dead leading Jigsaw to do the same to Micro. Castle and Jigsaw then have their big climactic (well not that climactic to be honest) fight which ends with Jigsaw being impaled on a metal rod and thrown on a fire. Afterwards, Castle returns the Donatellis to Budiansky to keep them safe and heads off for a drink with Soap, stopping only to blow the head off a mugger who threatens the cop en route. The end.

I know I seem to say this after every Punisher film but good lord that was grim. I see what Lionsgate were trying to do here but as I said earlier, by upping the ultraviolence quota at the expense of the plot, it makes "War Zone" a real slog to get through. Eventually the nonstop bloodshed stops being cool and just becomes boring and depressing and it really makes the latter stages of this film difficult going. Not even because of how violent it is, just because you end up thinking "oh...more people getting their heads blown off by shotguns. Right. Sigh...here we go again..." To be honest, while none of the three Punisher films are exactly classics, I would say that this one just to say takes the award for being the worst of the three. It's not especially terrible but it's depressing and dull enough to be below average, that's for sure.

As we mentioned earlier, "War Zone" bombed horrifically at the box office and the Punisher promptly returned in-house to the MCU, first appearing as a character in season 2 of "Daredevil" before being given his own series. Although still incredibly bleak, it did at least mark a step up from the movies with Jon Bernthal portraying the role well and enough of a plot to back up the carnage. Similarly, although the Marvel Knights series died a death here, the general premise of a series of darker and more adult-themed Marvel visual material did eventually come to fruition with the Hells Kitchen serials on Marvel. And, funnily enough, we will be seeing Ray Stevenson again on Marvel Mondays in a very different role as Falstag in the Thor films. As for "War Zone" though - I guess hardcore gorehounds may find something to watch here but a combination of a thin plot, below-par acting and overdoing the bloodshed to the level that it just becomes repetitive mean that this one can be safely skipped.

FINAL RATING: 💀💀💀💀 (4/10)

CURRENT MARVEL FILM TABLE

1. Iron Man (2008) (10/10)
2. Spiderman 2 (2004) (9/10)
3. Spiderman (2002) (9/10)
4. X-Men 2 (2002) (8/10)
5. Men In Black (1997) (8/10)
6. X-Men (2000) (8/10)
7. The Incredible Hulk (2008) (7/10)
8. Blade 2 (2001) (7/10)
9. Blade (1998) (7/10)
10. The Incredible Hulk Returns (1988) (6/10)
11. Spiderman 3 (2007) (6/10)
12. Fantastic Four - Rise Of The Silver Surfer (6/10)
13. The Trial Of The Incredible Hulk (1989) (6/10)
14. The Punisher (2004) (6/10)
15. Conan The Barbarian (1982) (6/10)
16. Elektra (2005) (6/10)
17. Conan The Destroyer (1984) (6/10)
18. X-Men: Last Stand (2006) (6/10)
19. Blade Trinity (2004) (6/10)
20. Men In Black 2 (2000) (6/10)
21. The Incredible Hulk (1977) (5/10)
22. The Fantastic Four (2005) (5/10)
23. Doctor Mordrid (1992) (5/10)
24. The Punisher (1989) (5/10)
25. Doctor Strange (1978) (5/10)
26. Nick Fury: Agent Of SHIELD (1998) (4/10)
27. The Fantastic Four (1994) (4/10)
28. Punisher: War Zone (2008) (4/10)
29. Hulk (2003) (4/10)
30. Red Sonja (1985) (4/10)
31. Captain America 2: Death Too Soon (1979) (4/10)
32. Spiderman (1977) (4/10)
33. Ghost Rider (2007) (3/10)
34. Bride of the Incredible Hulk (1978) (3/10)
35. The Death Of The Incredible Hulk (1990) (3/10)
36. Man-Thing (2005) (3/10)
37. Return of the Incredible Hulk (1978) (3/10)
38. Spiderman: The Dragon's Challenge (1979) (3/10)
39. Howard The Duck (1986) (2/10)
40. Captain America (1990) (2/10)
41. Captain America (1979) (2/10)
42. Generation X (1996) (2/10)
43. Spiderman Strikes Back (1978) (2/10)
44. Daredevil (2003) (2/10)

NEXT WEEK: The X-Men series continues to go down the tubes quality-wise with Wolverine Origins...