Edited by Walter Hoeijmakers Ed Mundell discribes all time classics --10 of his favourite albums that inspired him to play guitar, make records with Monster Magnet and The Atomic Bitchwax. The Bitchwax' latest slab of 70's inspired guitar-frenzy is simply called "II" and is released through TeePee Records [www.teepeerecords.com] CAPTAIN BEYOND "Captain Beyond" The first Captain Beyond album is just an amazing record. It inspired me a lot in the making of The Atomic Bitchwax' first album and even some Monster Magnet tracks. We all ( ie -members of both Atomic Bitchwax and Monster Magnet) listen to that album very often. Everything about that record, especially the drumming and singin' is awesome. And...the guitar-playing...it's incredible. Even the second album, "Sufficiently Breathless" is cool --although the album is slightly different. Captain Beyond is also one of my favourite records of all time. I discovered the band about 10 years ago, and I can still listen to their first album over and over again. T-REX "The Slider" I like "The Slider" by T-Rex, I like it even more than "Electric Warrior", which is more popular. This record has such a cool electric feel to it, and a psych feel, too. It's a really, really moody record, and Marc Bolan's lyrics are simply brilliant. Sometimes when you listen to a record, and close your eyes, you can actually see the colours of the album cover. "The Slider" has this black and white gatefold cover, and the inside is orange...Well, everytime that I listen to a song from "The Slider", I see those colours...brightly. That's what an amazing album can do... Artwork is very important for an album. Take that Captain Beyond album for example..Everytime when I listen to that album, I see that blue-ish, kinda space thing --there's a 3-D version of the album cover, too. DEEP PURPLE "Come Taste The Band" Tommy Bolin is my favourite guitarist. He's fuckin' awesome. "Come Taste The Band"...nobody ever gives that album any credit while David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes sing their asses off. Ian Paice is always great. But it's Tommy Bolin's guitar work. And his sound... it's fuckin' smoking. The Tommy Bolin Archives have recently released 90 minutes of rehearsals for "Come Taste The Band" --awesome stuff to listen to. I think that "Burn" is a great album too... When I was young I also picked up some Rainbow stuff, but I never got into that band as much as Deep Purple. "Come Taste The Band" and "Burn" are the Deep Purple albums that really stand out for me --and the song "Stormbringer". FRANK MARINO "Strange Universe" I have seen Frank Marino play once, and he's just fuckin' amazing. "Strange Universe" is phenomenal...FUCKIN' PHENOMENAL! Everybody thought that he was toping' the Hendrix thing, but Frank Marino simply is a great and unique guitarplayer. The same goes for Robin Trower. Give Trower's "Bridge Of Sighs" a spin too: you'll get carried away, especially by "Day of the Eagle". ROLLING STONES "Beggar's banquet" I listened to "Beggars Banquet" four times in a row the other night...What can I say. This album smokes... I like the way Brain Jones plays slide on "No Expectations". It's a really simple slide-bar, but it makes me wanna pick-up a slide too. And that's what a stand out record does to me -It makes me wanna play, and try things. HAWKWIND "Space Ritual" There're several Hawkwind-albums that I like very much --"Space Ritual", "Do Re Mi..." and "In Search Of Space". Monster Magnet is heavily influenced by Hawkwind, but those influences don't really come out in The Atomic Bitchwax. Listen to Monster Magnet's "Dinosaur Vacuum" and you'll hear our Hawkwind influences --we even covered "Brainstorm". I love the bassplaying mostly on those Hawkwind records. Just listen to Lemmy... The guitar riffs are so simple, but...SO COOL. And the drums are spaced out too. It's the overall sound that I like the most --the rhythms, the audio generators etc etc... KYUSS "Welcome To Sky Valley" "Welcome To Sky Valley" just kills me. When I'm alone in my bunk while touring, I always love to listen to this record. It takes me to another place. We never toured with those guys, unfortunately. We only played some occasional festival-gigs. Kyuss recorded "...And The Circus Leaves Town", and they were supposed to open up for us (ie Monster Magnet) on a two month tour... Two weeks before the tour they broke up. It should have been great... GROUNDHOGS "Split" Groundhogs...Tony McPhee is a great guitarplayer.. And, "Split" is definitely my favourite Groundhogs album. The drums are amazing, and the way the guitars --distorted and clean are layered: phenomenal. And, the sound of those guitars --the only things McPhee's using are a Wah Wah pedal and, I guess, a Stratocaster. The song arrangements, the production, the use of recording technology: it's all top notch. There's also a BBC session that covers the "Split" era, only the songs are played like twice as fast. A cool record too... JIMI HENDRIX "Cry Of Love" I like Hendrix' later period --from "Electric Ladyland" on, like "Cry of Love" and "First Rays Of The Rising Sun". Hendrix invented riff-rock. Everything in riff rock can be traced back to Hendrix, and Black Sabbath. I also love "Band Of Gypsys"..It's such a great live album. The first two guitar players I actually noticed were Ted Nugent and Jimi Hendrix. That was when I was like 9 or 10. I hang out with a friend, and was going through my uncle's record collection..That's were I discovered Nugent's "Double Live Gonzo", and all the Hendrix'stuff. From that moment on (in my teens) I just wanted be like Hendrix and Nugent... I also liked Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention a lot when I was 15 (and I still do); albums like "200 Motels" which is mostly orchestrated --it has some rock elements too. And I like "We're Only In It For The Money". It's definitely one of my all time favourites. It's so bizarre --in every song he's just cutting on hippies so bad. I wore that record out, drove my parents crazy with that record when I was a kid. Still hear my parents screaming: "15 years old, and listening to Frank Zappa all the time, you're gonna be fucked up..." TED NUGENT "Ted Nugent" 1975-era Ted Nugent... I like the earlier Ted Nugent stuff, especially his work with the Amboy Dukes; albums like "Call of the Wild" and "Survival of the Fittest/Live" and "Tooth, Fang and Claw". And, I like Ted Nugent around 1975... In that year he had the perfect thing going: he had all his shit together and played like a Motorcity madman. With the Atomic Bitchwax we try to create a same kind of atmosphere as Ted Nugent had back in the ol'days. If we feel like doing something, we do it. Ted Nugent, Jimi Hendrix, Hawkwind; the songs they played live weren't the same every night, and that's the same with The Atomic Bitchwax. And sometimes when we start playing you can tell exactly what kind of records we were listening to that day, or the days before...(Just listen to Led Zeppelin bootlegs; you'll hear immediately what they were listening to). Songs will evolve and change --that's good for the audience to watch too. Whatever happens, happens... [ Back To Top ]