Cockroaches and Creep Diets: A Beginner’s Guide to Alex Newport

Born on September 12th, 1970 in Wolverhampton, UK, guitarist/vocalist Alex Newport is responsible for some of the most unique and interesting heavy music of the 1990s and early 2000s.  Although his discography is far from vast, what it lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in quality, encompassing metal, hardcore, noise rock, industrial and beyond.  As a producer, mixer and engineer he went on to work with popular acts such as Death Cab For Cutie, At The Drive-In and The Mars Volta, but there was a time when Newport was an underground innovator, responsible for some of my favorite heavy music of all time.  So without further ado, let’s take a quick look at the discography of the man who convinced me to go on a creep diet and never look back…

RIP Clive Burr (1957 – 2013)

Clive Burr joined Iron Maiden in 1979 and went on to play drums on three of the best and most influential albums in the history of heavy metal: Iron Maiden, Killers and of course the godly Number of the Beast.  Burr left this mortal coil for the halls of Valhalla this week on March 12, 2013 after a lengthy battle with MS, and although he was ousted from Iron Maiden in 1982, he will forever be remembered as a legend of the NWOBHM and a seminal inspiration for heavy metal and hard rock drummers the world over.

I would say more, but the awesome might of the music below, for which Mr. Burr’s beats were the foundation, speaks for itself. So, let us not spend our days mourning this tragic loss to the music world, but instead celebrating the life of one of the architects of heavy metal.

Up the irons and eternal hails to Clive Burr.