Back in the late nineties, I loved nothing more than walking into a music store and just flicking through the albums on the shelf – thousands of CDs lining every wall, covering every genre of music, and I probably knew most of what was in stock at Whangarei’s main music stores.

One of my favourites was a little shop called Tracks N Tapes; it occupied a store in the Regent, right about where the New World is now, and was next door to a custom sandwich shop that let you pick your own fillings. Tracks N Tapes didn’t have a test station to listen, but would just put the album on in the store. It was absolutely mortifying.

Anyway, one day I was in the shop and found this album – the cover art caught my eye, I knew that Machine Head was probably a reference to Deep Purple meaning it was probably rock or metal, and I was intrigued. But I didn’t want to have to play it in the store; what if it was really bad? So I just bought it. I’d never heard it before. I literally judged the book by its cover.

Fortunately it turned out to be really good; The More Things Change is one of my favourite albums of the nineties. My favourite track here is “Spine” with its distorted bass line and high speed chorus. Though I love the chunky (and lengthy) “Violate” as well.

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CLTM (Chris Listens To Music) is my attempt to listen to a new album every day; you can follow my efforts on Instagram here (and send recommendations), and if you like what I’m doing, support my efforts by shouting me a cuppa at Buy Me A Coffee.