Click to Purchase Jedi Summer
On Friday 22nd July, John Boden will release a new novella through Post Mortem Press titled Jedi Summer. It is a coming of age tale set way back in 1983; a time when I was actually only four years old. I am a huge fan of John’s work, not only with Shock Totem but also his own writing which I have always been very fond of. John is one of those writers with a rare ability of being able to bring you to the brink of tears with his stories, but also he has the knack of leaving you wondering what the hell you just read; case in point here would be his short tale Dominos - a tale of macabre, haunting horror, wonderfully illustrated by Yannick Bouchard that was marketed as a sort of childrens book!…but, believe me, Dominos is so far removed from a children’s book that even a quick skim through its pages could leave you scarred for a very long time.
I have come across John’s work in other places such as Lamplight magazine. His beautifully written Possessed by a Broken Window broke my heart and yet I ended up re-reading it several times. It is a haunting tale of loss that resonated strongly with me having lost my mother to cancer many years ago.
To say that I am expecting great things from Jedi Summer is an understatement. I know that John is a huge fan of rock music (as am I), so I thought that I’d take a look back at some of the great rock albums released back in 1983 (the year in which Jedi Summer is set) and give you my top 5. Here we go.
5. KILL ‘EM ALL - Metallica. The bare-bones production, catchy songs played at lightening speed meant that Metallica were a force to be reckoned with. Not my favourite album by them, I’ll admit, but even today songs like SEEK AND DESTROY are still featured in the bands live shows and go down like a storm. The band would go onto do great things with RIDE THE LIGHTENING and personal favourite MASTER OF PUPPETS, but KILL ‘EM ALL is still seen as a thrash classic by many.
4. FRONTIERS - Journey. Featuring the silky-smooth tones of vocalist Steve Perry and some excellent guitar work from Neal Schon, FRONTIERS features some of the smoothest and catchiest AOR you are ever likely to hear. Songs like FAITHFULLY, SEPARATE WAYS and SEND HER MY LOVE had stadiums throughout America in soft rock heaven. A great album and one of the bands very best.
3. SHOUT AT THE DEVIL - Motley Crue. Let’s face it, the band look ridiculous on the front cover, but that doesn’t matter, because it is what is on the inside that counts. The Crue’s glam metal masterpiece backed up all the bravado that came with the band. SHOUT AT THE DEVIL, LOOKS THAT KILL were rock anthems, but it was personal favourite BASTARD that really stood out for me. People will always have a love/hate relationship with Motley Crue, but there is no denying, their songs are catchy as hell.
2. PIECE OF MIND - Iron Maiden. No classic rock album list would be complete without a contribution from heavy metal icons Iron Maiden. PIECE OF MIND is a classic in every sense. From the dynamic guitars of Murray and Smith, the galloping base lines of Steve Harris and the air-raid like vocals of Bruce Dickinson, PIECE OF MIND is a classic. Opening with the excellent WHERE EAGLES DARE, the album doesn’t let up until the final moments of TO TAME A LAND. REVELATIONS and THE TROOPER are classic Maiden, but I can’t help but love singing along to the gem SUN AND STEEL. Great stuff!
1. PYROMANIA - Def Leppard. Speak to many Def Leppard fans and most will hail HYSTERIA as their favourite record by the band. Not for me. PYROMANIA is a work of sheer brilliance. Containing live favourites ROCK ROCK (TILL YOU DROP), PHOTOGRAPH, FOOLIN…the list goes on. STAGEFRIGHT and DIE HARD THE HUNTER are personal faves, but in all honesty there isn’t a bad song on it. Slickly produced and mixed, PYROMANIA made everybody stand up and take notice of Def Leppard. These guys weren’t really a traditional rock band, they had huge ambition, melody and a cool pop-sensibility that assisted them as they began to take the world by storm with this huge selling rock masterpiece.
So, there you have it. 1983 was a great year for rock. A coming of age tale set around this time will no doubt bring back many great memories and in the more than capable hands of John Boden you can expect a great book. For those about to read, we salute you.
Rock on.
Adrian Shotbolt.
