MP3: The Almighty - Jesus Loves You...But I Don't

The Almighty were a Scottish hardrock/metal band who formed in 1988. The band was put together by singer and guitarist Ricky Warwick after he had left his previous position as rhythym guitarist for New Model Army, and the rest of the band were the beautifully named Tantrum on guitar, the improbably named Floyd London on bass, and the awfully named Stump Monroe on drums. I'm not making this crap up folks. Their debut album Blood, Fire And Love came out in 1989, and soon the band had gained a pretty large live following, big enough to justify the release of Blood, Fire and Live the following year. The release of 1993's Powertrippin' would see a major step towards the mainstream for the band, featuring as it did their most commercial song, and today's mp3, Jesus Loves You...But I Don't. A massive Metallica-esque anthem, it was shockingly not released a single, which is insanity, because even though its a bit cheesey, it's so fantastically well written that even now I really really like it.

The more punkish Crank album came out in 1994, and was followed by Just Add Life in 1996. By now some of the band's momentum had been lost, with their sound being stuck slightly in the past, and they disbanded later that year. However the band reformed with a slightly different lineup for a rather fantastic self titled comeback album in 2000, which is well worth seeking out, and unbeknownst (now that's a great word) to me, they released a followup, Psycho-Narco in 2001. The band split again soon after, and since then Warwick has released two solo albums, 2003's Tattoos & Alibis and 2005's Love Many Trust Few. Since then band have played some shows for charity but as yet I don't know whether they're planning on recording anything.

The Almighty were often accused of leaving their early punk roots behind in order to pursue a more fashionable (well, for 1990) metal direction that they weren't quite as good at. By the time they returned to their punk sound their time in the limelight was up, but I think this track proves that often when they did do metal they did it pretty darn well. So come on folks, shed those pretentions, cover that emo haircut with an Eddie bandanna and let's headbang. Don't be scared, it's natural.

More Almighty info at their official site, this fansite, Wikipedia or allmusic.

Download: The Almighty - Jesus Loves You...But I Don't - MP3 4.12mb