91) Black Grape It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah

My mum mentioned that the guys from Inspiral Carpets were on Celebrity Gogglebox, phoned her back a few days later to say it’s Shaun and Bez from Happy Mondays but fair play for remembering the Inspirals.

Years earlier as the Mondays were crashing, I was reading stories of Shaun Ryder scooping up methadone and pouring it through a pair of tights in an airport as he had smashed the glass bottle, Not sure if that’s true but clearly, he had issues and I thought we won’t be hearing from him again, shame.

I was wrong, I accept that’s a recurring theme.

Three years later he returned with a new band and released a single called Reverend Black Grape a harmonica kicks it off. It was raw and exciting, and they followed it up with In The Name Of The Father which was just as good. The album debuted at number one, and rightly so.

After the shambles of the Mondays last album, Ryder was back on form. Kelly’s Heroes is just a celebration and Ryder had returned with an upbeat party album. Special mention to Kermit who rapped on each song and Danny Saber who co-wrote many of the tracks.

Nothing matches the standard of Reverend but there is not a duff track on the album with A Big Day in the North and Shake Well Before Opening also standing out, but they are all worth your time.

Rock guitar, dance, and rap. They sadly fizzled out quickly but fair play to Ryder it was a Lazarus style comeback, and he is still going strong to this day.

8/10

GIVE IT A STREAM: Reverend Black Grape