The two hundred and fifty-eighth album: #258 T-Rex - The Slider
I'm not sure where to stand with The Slider. The first track, Metal Guru. fits the bill as a hard rock track that hits that feeling of being slightly inaccessible and taking a bit of work to get. Then there are tracks that just don't make an impression, including title track the Slider, while Spaceball Ricochet, which is more like a ballad, feels like it doesn't quite fit in with everything else. The album has some glam rock elements and plays with hard rock, but it feels like a mixed bag with some tracks hitting - like Metal Guru and Ballrooms of Mars respectively showing the hard rock and glam rock of the album - and others feeling a bit too toothless to fit the feel they were going for.
The ninety-third comic: #630 The K Chronicles
The K Chronicles take the form of a weekly, Sunday-style comic - not unlike Life In Hell. Written by an African-American artist, it covers a number of racial themes, current affairs and political humour included, which gives it quite a different viewpoint from what you'd often get in these, and it's a welcome one. It's obviously not one I've experienced, but there are bits that seem familiar and it manages to hit the right button, while maintaining the humour. Add to that the cases where the cartoon covers slice of life stuff, recognisable but coming out quite unique, and this became an accessible, as well as entertaining read that still has a large chunk of its archives online to read - even covering recent events when it feels it needs to be covered.