Severin

The latest ‘Buzzjack Presents’ edition returns once more to the heavier side of the music scene, focusing this time on ‘90s Rock and era which required a huge amount of severe editing of choice cuts. Therefore, as ever, we’re treading the fine line between ballads and the extreme Metal category and trying to represent big hits and significant milestones. Pop Punk was also dealt short shrift as it’ll likely get its own set in time. The decade was a time of great upheaval and creativity in the genre, inspiring a marked shift in the styles and sounds within the scene, and long admired underground acts surged in popularity to crossover into the mainstream. Others crafted new musical furrows and created new sub-genres that still provoke strong debate among fans as to whether or not they really are ‘Metal’. By the end of the decade the scene was almost unrecognisable from that which existed in 1990. With that, let's go on a little journey... Disc One As 1990 dawned you could be forgiven for thinking the decade would continue to be business as usual and this first disc concentrates almost exclusively on the period of 1990-91. Metal and Rock enjoyed broad popular appeal and bands regularly had notable hits. Iron Maiden kicked of 1990 by scoring a UK #1 single and AC/DC dropped one of their most well known hits in Thunderstruck, with its famous intro. Guns n Roses were still making a reasonable claim to be the biggest Rock band in the world. But the combination of their Punk injected Glam, and the 1988 Penelope Spheeris documentary The Decline of Western Civilsation: The Metal Years, had struck the first heavy blow for the L.A. Metal scene that had dominated the latter part of the ‘80s. Between them they had shown the world how formulaic and out of touch with the kids, the scene had become. Those same kids were starting to look elsewhere for their kicks. Thrash Metal had been the most prominent alternative but bands like Slayer, Anthrax and Metallica had realised that they needed to find a new angle to survive. The rise of Grindcore and Death Metal had taken things much harder and faster then they were looking to go. At the end of the ‘80s Slayer had decided to slow things right down – it gave them a more menacing edge but the same trick played into Metallica’s more melodic strengths. They scored a big hit with Enter Sandman, followed up with a multi-million selling album and became global stars, and so began the debate over whether they were still Metal. New York’s Anthrax, who’d been born from the same melting pot that spawned Hip Hop teamed up with Chuck D and Flava Flav to cover Public Enemy’s Bring Tha Noize. They’d fused Metal and Hip Hop before but not so effectively. This interpretation was so influential it can be claimed to have inspired a generation of musicians. Meanwhile, a handful of bands like Jane’s Addiction, Faith No More and Red Hot Chili Peppers had been plugging away for a number of years with little mainstream recognition, but they were now being picked up on by MTV and college radio and they began to notch up minor hits and acclaimed albums. Further blurring the lines between what could now be defined as Rock music. Elsewhere, U2 had decamped to Germany and had a rethink after the poor reception to the excesses of the Rattle and Hum era, releasing The Fly toward the end of the year. Trent Reznor’s solo project Nine Inch Nails capitalised on the ground Ministry had broken when they welded Industrial to Metal. Head Like a Hole, from NIN’s debut album took him from the bedroom studio to MTV fame. Former Goth legends The Sisters of Mercy dropped their Vision Thing album and showed that they could ramp it up for the new decade by turning into the ‘Rock n Roll groove machine’ they always claimed to be. And, Pantera, the L.A. Glam Metal also rans, ditched their lead singer, cut their hair, switched spandex for baggy shorts and reinvented their sound, playing slower, harder and more aggressive becoming the foremost pioneers of the burgeoning Groove Metal sub-genre. All of this and we’re barely at 1992. Disc Two By November 1991 you needn’t have been looking very hard to see that the times were a-changing for the Rock and Metal scene. A swelling of new sounds was pushing up from the underground and the 1991 Reading Festival, Friday bill was a pointer of things to come. Low down on the bill, between Silverfish and Chapterhouse were a decent if unspectacular Seattle band with just the one album behind them. The album, Bleach had been well received but they were overshadowed by contemporaries like Mudhoney, Pixies or Sonic Youth. The 4th song in their set was a new unreleased song called Smells Like Teen Spirit. It was released in November that same year and would be the catalyst for a sea change in both Rock music and the entire music scene the world over. It became the de facto anthem for Generation X. The band went supernova and literally hundreds of bands, who’d been plugging away in the same scene, followed in their wake. Grunge’s had its own ‘Big 4’ Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains swiped the flag from L.A. and moved the capital to Seattle. Overnight, ‘Hair Metal’ was out of favoutr and began its painful decline. Behind the Seattle bands were many more - L7, Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, Stone Temple Pilots all became stars in the new ‘Alternative Rock’ era with bands like Rage Against the Machine building of the Rap/Rock crossover or Manic Street Preachers who saw themselves as kindred spirits to Nirvana, despite the musical divergence. Yet by 1994 things had turned again. The scene was built largely by the disaffected youth and many had grown up with personal problems of mental health. Add fame to the mix and it’s a recipe for disaster. The scene’s popularity had given a voice to many who were disenfranchised but it imploded following the death of Kurt Cobain and a desire for something else, perhaps something less introverted and more… fun. In the popular consciousness of the UK, Britpop took over the role for the more Indie inclined parts of the crowd. However, there were was once again a variety of styles emerging for those who liked things heavier. In 1994 within months of each other, Korn released the groundbreaking Blind, the ripples from which wouldn’t be felt above ground for a good few years and Green Day slipped out Basket Case, another whose influence would become obvious later. Nirvana’s drummer Dave Grohl created his polished Grunge-lite of Foo Fighters, Tool fused Prog Rock with Metal and Type O Negative added a dash of Black No.1 (as in the hair dye) to help create what has become known as Gothic Metal. Marilyn Manson created his trilogy of concept albums, the second part of which – Antichrist Superstar – turned him into conservative America’s worst nightmare and the by the 2000s the scapegoat for all the countries problems, which whatever he may be guilty of it isn’t that. Finally by the late ‘90s the effects of Korn’s debut were plain to see – Nu-Metal had arrived in the forms of Slipknot and Limp Bizkit becoming two of the biggest bands of the era. As the decade came to an end the two biggest genres in Rock would be Nu-Metal and Pop Punk One Two The Lot

Drugovich is scheduled to be racing for Cadillac on that weekend so they may refuse to release him. Aston's other in-house drivers - Stoffel Van Doorne will be racing in France F2 driver Jak Crawford doesn't have a superlicense F1 Academy driver Tina Hausmann also doesn't have a superlicense Ambassador Jess Hawkins also doesn't have a superlicense That will leave them looking elsewhere for a stand in. Mercedes drivers Frederik Vesti (racing with Drugovich that day) or Valterri Bottas Perez? Would be ironic but unlikely Vettel has repeatedly stated he's not interested in a comeback Bottas does seem the obvious candidate IF Drugovich is blocked

Seems they've finally become the '80s Power Metal band they've been desperate to for the last few years.

Doesn't get much better than the Banshees for me. A stronger sets of quality singles for the decade is hard to find. The Boss of course was brilliant but not a singles artist at all, despite Born in the USA boasting some solid hits Kate too is pretty much an album artist but there's some brilliant singles and she's untouchable to be honest. Big love for The Stranglers too - a band far too often overlooked in their prime, due to their contemporaries being Punk's biggest names, and their later work has many gems to find if you care to look.

Great choice. A classic and arguably the first true Goth record. Would've been hard not to give that the full marks from me.

Feels weird to me to think of Bauhaus as a one hit wonder, as they were so loved by all of my mates back in the day and had quite a few hits compared to a lot of stuff we were listening to then. What track would you have picked for them?

It's been May so naturally a bit of an overdose on Goth this past month May Update Top 40 Plays - May 01 Fields of the Nephilim 102 02 The Sisters of Mercy 77 03 Christian Death 76 04 Creaming Jesus 61 05 Siouxsie & the Banshees 61 06 The Southern Death Cult 58 07 Birdeatsbaby 53 08 Suede 52 09 Play Dead 50 10 Nine Inch Nails 49 11 Shadow Project 49 12 The march Violets 47 13 El Moono 46 14 Bauhaus 45 15 The Mission 42 16 The Merry Thoughts 38 17 Killing Joke 34 18 Cwfen 30 19 Ghost 30 20 Garbage 29 21 Nova Twins 29 22 The Specials 23 23 Eville 21 24 Toy Parlour 20 25 Green Day 16 26 The Cult 16 27 AC/DC 15 28 Skunk Anansie 13 29 Panic Shack 12 30 Rosetta Stone 12 31 The Psychedelic Furs 11 32 Arctic Monkeys 10 33 Carne 10 34 Dog Race 9 35 Manis Street Preachers 9 36 Nosferatu 9 37 Projector 9 38 Arcade Fire 9 39 Band of Skulls 8 40 Delilah Bon 8 2025 to Date Artists Scrobbled 1,597 (+145) Rank/Previous Position/Artist/Plays/Change 01 (01) Lambrini Girls 175 (+7) 02 (02) Manic Street Preachers 161 (+9) 03 (03) R.E.M. 145 (+1) 04 (04) Poppy 138 (-) 05 (48) Fields of the Nephilim 132 (+102) 06 (05) Dana Dentata 126 (-) 07 (32) Creaming Jesus 103 (+61) 08 (06) Chappell Roan 100 (+2) 09 (08) HotWax 94 (+8) 10 (07) Taylor Swift 92 (-) 11 (NE) The Sisters of Mercy 91 12 (NE) Christian Death 84 13 (09) Dumfun 84 (-) 14 (NE) Siouxsie & the Banshees 83 15 (10) Heartworms 82 (+2) 16 (12) The Horrors 79 (+6) 17 (14) Delilah Bon 78 (+8) 18 (30) Killing Joke 78 (+34) 19 (13) Mimi Barks 73 (+2) 20 (16) Peter Gabriel 73 (-) 21 (16) Eminem 71 (+3) 22 (27) Nova Twins 71 (+23) 23 (15) The Clash 70 (-) 24 (NE) Suede 68 25 (17) Curve 62 (-) 26 (38) Eville 59 (+21) 27 (23) Projector 58 (+9) 28 (NE) The Southern Death Cult 55 29 (24) Witch Fever 57 (+8) 30 (18) Beyoncé 56 (-) 31 (NE) Birdeatsbaby 55 32 (NE) Nine Inch Nails 55 33 (21) SNAYX 54 (+3) 34 (NE) Bauhaus 53 35 (20) David Bowie 53 (+2) 36 (19) Echo & the Bunnymen 53 (+1) 37 (NE) Garbage 52 38 (NE) The Mission 52 39 (NE) Ghost 51 40 (NE) Play Dead 51 41 (22) Jar of Blind Flies 50 (-) 42 (NE) Shadow Project 50 43 (25) Heilung 48 44 (26) Ministry 48 45 (NE) The March Violets 48 46 (28) Billie Eilish 46 (-) 47 (41) Crimson Veil 46 (+5) 48 (NE) Cwfen 46 49 (NE) El Moono 46 50 (50) Green Day 46 (+16) OUT THIS MONTH Lady Gaga 46 (+5) Mudhoney 45 (-) Britney Spears 44 (+1) The Smiths 42 (-) Betty Boo 40 (-) Joan Jett and the Blackhearts 40 (-) Charli XCX 37 (-) Doechii 37 (+6) Oasis 37 (+2) The Beatles 37 (-) Slung 37 (+6) Viagra Boys 37 (+5) Cassyette 36 (+1) Bambie Thug 34 (-) Bruce Springsteen 31 (+1) Girls Aloud 30 (-) FORMER TOP 40 ACTS Halsey 33 (+3) Knife Bride 31 (+3) Sick Joy 30 (+1) Rihanna 29 (+4) Du Blonde 29 (-) Fleetwood Mac 28 (-) Kid Kapichi 28 (-) Siiickbrain 27 (-) The Rolling Stones 26 (-) Elvis Presley 24 (+2) Harpy 20 (-) Heriot 19 (-) SONS 17 (-)

One of those in there is an all time absolute favourite song of mine.

Whilst I don't think Piper will end up playing The Doctor for anything more than a handful of episodes I don't feel, once again, RTD has fluffed an open goal. If the logic behind the ending stems from the 'visit old faces' line there were two golden opportunities to hit it out of the park. Paul McGann would be popular with old and new fans and is on record saying he'd love to. Or bring back the 'Fugitive Doctor' where you give her a run and either address or ignore the Timeless Child. Either would win many hearts and minds gar better I feel

Rolling Stones by a mile. Do like a few others though.

Yeah the rumours had been online for some but i figured it was nonsense as it just seems to stupid to be true.

Ncuti Gatwa is basically Colin Baker without the cancellation at the end. Decent actor, working his own take on the character, in a time where the show is proving divisive with audiences, with poor scripts and a limited number of episodes in his tenure. Thankfully RTD has left it open ended enough that Piper can be passed of as a temporary glitch if the decision seems unpopular.

Not even sure what to think. It was all over the place and they offed the wrong Rani (possibly). Some of it was pretty good. A lot was downright stupid but it felt like it rescued itself from disaster when Jodie arrived and the goodbye to Belinda. Then it followed up with a reveal that felt both self indulgent and desperate. I really hate this decision in ways that if I expressed them honestly, I'd probably be banned for language. RTD should not be allowed near the show ever again.

Coming Soon ...

Almost 60 years old. The 1966 single Paint it Black by the Stones.

I've sent one in. Hope I've understood the criteria correctly (might be a bit well known)

COTA is great. I doubt anyone would want that dropped. Vegas I'm on the fence about. Hideously ugly location and a boring layout that has produced one entertaining race through extreme conditions and one so-so race last year. If there must be three US races I'd have COTA, and any two from, Laguna Seca, Watkins Glen, Elkhart Lake or Indianapolis infield section in preference to what we have.

It wouldn't be changing the cars just for one track. Hungary, Jeddha, Barcelona, Singapore, Miami, Suzuka, Imola all have problems delivering overtaking. You would improve the racing across the board. As for Monaco, most fans don't hate it though. This poll from last year illustrates that, where it received more votes than a number of supposedly better tracks - https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/vote-choose-your-favourite-f1-race-of-the-2024-season.2uDNoYf45F8umlgablaULv One of the problems the sport is trying to deal with is you have a lot of new viewers onboard (which is great) because of initiatives like DTS, (which is not so great), and there is a disparity to between what the two audiences appreciate in the sport. For many Monaco is a unique challenge and the number of overtakes doesn't determine the interest levels. For others, unless there is overtaking, it isn't worth watching, even though the majority of overtakes these days are DRS assisted and require very little skill. Among fans DRS has long been reviled - https://www.racefans.net/2021/04/03/10-years-of-drs-should-f1-wean-itself-off-push-button-passes/ Imola's track record for overtakes is only marginally better than Monaco's and it has been one of the most welcome returns to the calendar. Hungary is often just as processional. Fix the cars and you fix Monaco. And they're looking at that anyway - https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-already-has-a-2026-monaco-passing-fix-it-could-deploy/ It will always be the toughest for overtaking, of course, but that's not the challenge of the circuit and the tightness of the walls is why it still remains more popular among fans than nearly every other street circuit, that provides neither jeopardy, extreme precision or much overtaking.

For reference the above overtaking stats are from the F1 Overtaking database site and these are the criteria - 'I don't include overtakes on the first lap (or on standing starts after a red flag) as it would misrepresent the total figure for race and also be a nightmare to calculate. The focus is on on-track overtakes for position so I don't include overtakes made while someone is in the pits, when someone has spun or is off track, when someone has a severe reliability problem, lapping and unlapping or through team orders.' It could be argued that Sunday's Monaco race had two overtakes as Bortoleto can claim to have completed the pass on Antonelli before his accident.

To be honest overtaking should never be easy in F1 and if anyone's watching F1 just for the overtakes, they're watching the wrong category of motorsport. I don't have the stats for Sunday's race but last years Indy 500 had 596 on track passes and if you don't like ovals the road course race average in Indy is 150 passes. Monaco though has never been primarily about overtaking and will always be among the harder tracks to pass on but it used to happen so much more and the circuit has barely changed to any major degree. Making the cars smaller alone won't solve all the problems but it's the first obvious step. Weight, downforce and traction are also part of the issue but the size does make a difference. The comparison below shows how large the cars have become just since the '80s. Seeing the 2021 Red Bull up close reveals just how much of a monster it is! Here is the number of on-track passes for the 10 year period of '84-'93 (not via a pit stop or retirement) which covers the turbo and V10 eras 1984 Monaco 22 1985 Monaco 22 1986 Monaco 21 1987 Monaco 16 1988 Monaco 11 1989 Monaco 20 1990 Monaco 11 1991 Monaco 9 1992 Monaco 7 1993 Monaco 31 Total - 170 (average 17) Now compare the last 10 - effectively the hybrid era. 2015 Monaco 10 2016 Monaco 14 2017 Monaco 3 2018 Monaco 4 2019 Monaco 2 2021 Monaco 0 2022 Monaco 13 2023 Monaco 22 2024 Monaco 4 2025 Monaco 1 Total - 73 (average 7) The hybrid engine has necessitated a larger chassis to accommodate the bigger engine and the consequence is cars that are too large for many circuits and for good racing. Thankfully next year sees a step in the right direction.

I don't really know why but it does seem that Monaco has become the sole focus point for the issue of overtaking, as if the ability to pass cars on the track is the only metric for enjoying a race. There are several other circuits were overtaking is very difficult too - Suzuka and Jeddha being obvious examples, and often the ones that do happen are uninspiring DRS moves that bring no excitement. It's true Monaco is trickier to pass on than those but also true that nobody is clamouring to have Suzuka removed, even after the very processional race we had this year. Monaco really should be looked at from a broader perspective as one of the sport's to extreme circuits - Monza has the speed ramped up to the max whilst Monaco is the ultimate challenge in precision and driver skill, so much that the three practice sessions and qualifying are often more entertaining than some races. It seems from repeated polling that the majority of dedicated (as opposed to casual) fans want the circuit to remain on the calendar, not just of its rich history and tradition but for its unique challenge. If that specific criteria is not want you want from F1, well there are 23 other races with something else to offer. Personally, I'd take Monaco over Miami any day. Can the 'show' be improved without diminishing the sporting challenge? I think yes. First they should re-instate Monaco to the full 200 miles. The length was shortened as older cars couldn't complete the distance in two hours. That is and has been achievable with modern cars for years. It would increase the strategic element of tyres without forcing a mandatory extra stop that the teams will just find a way to work around. It would also give a greater challenge to the drivers because as the race goes on the potential for fatigue induced errors or mechanical issues would increase. More importantly, and this applies really to nearly all of the circuits, is that the cars are to big, too cumbersome, too heavy and too stable. Making them shorter and thinner will automatically make create more space on track and create more passing opportunities. Alongside a reduction in weight, you can make the cars more nimble, again allowing for more agility. Combined this with the right tyre options and you have a lighter, faster car that can exploit gaps better, the natural extension of which is better racing. None of these changes should impact on safety however. There's no reason a special lower downforce option couldn't be applied (perhaps to street tracks across the board). Not to take it away entirely but just to give the cars a little less traction. Given the lower speeds at Monaco this doesn't coming with any significant safety risk either but returns the emphasis again to driver ability and can be achieve by just using skinnier wings. Monaco needs to stay but needs the right tweeks to the cars, more than to the circuit. You only had to witness Lando's joy at winning there to see how much the drivers love the challenge and how important it is. TL/DR - Monaco is a unique circuit unlike any other on the calendar that remains popular with a large section of fans. There are plenty of other races if you prefer a different type of challenge to the drivers. Should it be removed? No. Can the racing be improved? Yes.

Rule change didn't work. The solution remains the same as it has been for year. Make the cars smaller and with less downforce.

Always watch this as your always guaranteed excitement and brilliant racing, which is a great contrast to Monaco (although I still love that race). Be nice to see O'Ward or McLaughlin win it.

So we got 25 minutes of The Twilight Zone (It's a Good Life) via Wandavision followed by 20 minutes of one big exposition dump and the whole thing felt like a flat mess just to bring back a bit part player from the classic era whose 1980s revival was underwhelming in the first place. Panjabi was indeed brilliant as The Rani and the two leads continue to perform admirably yet without seeing the finale it's impossible to know if this episode has any meaning. We'll see next week but RTD is not great at sticking the landing in finales. Nice ham gag though.

You do realise that the people who knew who would be charged are not the same people who booked the tour, right? Promoters especially and venues are often lead by the temptation of big sales and don't do their due diligence on the legal aspect behind an individual (Exactly the same thing happened with Ronnie Radkey about a year ago). It's no business of the authorities what he arranges. They're not there to advise him on his personal plans, only to hold him account for his actions when he is available to detain, if need be. Frankly, if a venue is going to risk booking an artist who has a potential legal case hanging over their heads, it;s a risk thay take and they should be aware of it before doing so. Additionally, if a punter decides to buy a ticket for someone under that cloud, then sure you can argue that the promoter or venue is to blame but it's all there in the terms and conditions to cover them, although I do understand most people will buy tickets in good faith, even if that is naive with an individual like Brown. Maybe Brown and his manager should have thought about all of this before he decided to start arranging a tour. I