Fugs Golden Filth

Best known in the U.S. for their hard rock material, Golden Earring have been the most popular homegrown band in the Netherlands since the mid-'60s, when they were primarily a pop group. The group was founded by guitarist/vocalist George Kooymans and bassist/vocalist Rinus Gerritsen, then schoolboys, in 1961; several years and personnel shifts later, they had their first Dutch hit, "Please Go," and in 1968 hit the top of the Dutch charts for the first of many times with "Dong-Dong-Di-Ki-Di-Gi-Dong," a song that broadened their European appeal. By 1969, the rest of the lineup had stabilized, with lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Barry Hay and drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk.

British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH will release their 13th studio album, "Existence Is Futile", on October 22. Pieced together in isolation, at Grindstone Studios in Suffolk with studio guru Scott Atkins (DEVILMENT, BENEDICTION, VADER), the band's latest chef-d'oeuvre is a pitch-black, perverse and at times absurdly brutal and extreme masterpiece following a truly nihilistic concept: "The album is about existentialism, existential dread and fear of the unknown," frontman Dani Filth explains. "The concept wasn't created by the pandemic. We'd written it long before that began, but the pandemic is the tip of the cotton-bud as far as the way the world is headed, you know? I guess the title, 'Existence Is Futile', does sound a little morbid. But again, it's more about recognizing that truth and saying that everything is permitted because nothing really matters, which mimics the occultist Aleister Crowley's maxim. We all know we're going to die, so we might as well indulge life while we possess it. The final track on the album — 'Us, Dark, Invincible' — really drives that point home. Also, the artwork for this record was created by the Latvian visionary Arthur Berzinsh, who also dressed the last two albums, and that reeks of the exceedingly beautiful yet apocalyptic too."

For anyone in their mid-teens in the mid-5Os, and into music, it had to be rock'n'roll - American rock'n roll. There was no British equivalent to the sound. In the UK, it was Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, The Platters, Alan Freed, Radio Luxembourg, Voice Of America. If the right people get to know about this and hear the quality, this will sell and sell.

Masterpieces of classical music by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

This 1997 follow-up to The Naked Truth repeats the basic "live and acoustic" formula of that album, but it isn't the uninspired retread one might expect. Since the last album used most of the group's familiar numbers, this collection of songs digs deeper into the group's catalog to highlight some lesser-known gems that will delight Golden Earring fanatics. Two of the best examples are "Buddy Joe," a rousing adventure tale that translates perfectly to the acoustic setting, and "Bombay," a tune that takes an almost hoedown-style quality when stripped of its electric guitars. The set list also includes a few covers that appeared on Love Sweat, "Who Do You Love" and "This Wheel's on Fire."

This 1977 double-album opus represents Golden Earring's entry into the series of live albums that were so popular in the late '70s. At this point in its career, the band's live sound had a newfound sense of power, thanks to the addition of second guitarist Eelco Gelling. Indeed, classics like "Radar Love" and "She Flies on Strange Wings" benefit from a newfound complexity and energy that stems from the energetic guitar interplay between Gelling and George Kooymans. Golden Earring's new double-guitar sound also allows the group to overhaul some of its material in new and interesting ways.