MOCK DUCK – TEST RECORD – 1968 (CAN) heavy psych

During the mid- to late '60s, Mock Duck emerged as one of the most popular rock bands on the burgeoning music scene of Vancouver, BC. They were one of a plethora of Canadian bands (alongside peers such as Spring, Papa Bear's Medicine Show, the Seeds of Time, and Hydroelectric Streetcar) who packed local psychedelic ballrooms such as the Village Bistro, Retinal Circus, and Big Mothers in emulation of the San Francisco and Seattle scenes to the south. Although they never made much of an impression outside their local region, they were good enough to support visiting names of the day like Fleetwood Mac, B.B. King, Country Joe & the Fish, and the Steve Miller Band.
Like a whole generation of youngsters, Joe Mock picked up the guitar in the early '60s, spurred on by rock & roll. By 1966 he was good enough to play live, and subsequently formed the first incarnation of Mock Duck with Steve Barrett (drums), Spense Sutton (vibes), Tom Hazelitt (bass), and David Sinclair (guitar). At the time they were calling themselves Joe Mock & No Commercial Potential and were chiefly enamored of folk-rock, particularly Bob Dylan. The band played at the Afterthought, a venue where Jefferson Airplane and Country Joe would sometimes perform. They eventually changed their name to Mock Duck when Sutton's girlfriend, unhappy with yet another band practice, appended a frustrated, four-letter epithet to bandleader Mock's surname.
By the beginning of 1967, the first lineup dissolved and a second version of the band was formed when drummer Glen Hendrickson witnessed Mock performing a solo set and approached him with the possibility of starting a new band. With the addition of bassist Lee Stevens, Mock Duck became a trio and began making the rounds of the local psychedelic scene, which was significant enough by this time to lure artists such as the Doors and Mad River from the States. The trio worked into the next year before Stevens was replaced by Rick Enns and Ross Barrett was brought in on saxophone, flute, and keyboards. They began recording at the nascent R&D Studios, releasing two singles in 1968. The second, "Do Re Mi," received substantial airplay at regional radio stations, although not enough to make any inroads in America. By the end of 1969, this version Mock Duck also dissipated, and Mock formed one more band under the moniker, moving into a psychedelic R&B realm before calling it quits in 1970.
A stellar archival collection uncovered by reissue label extraordinaire Gear Fab, Test Record brings together a group of terribly rare recordings from Canadian band Mock Duck, a deservedly popular draw on the Vancouver ballroom scene due to its arresting musical fusion. The original Test Record was actually just an acetate pressing made of the first five tracks off the Gear Fab CD, only 14 copies of which are know to exist. Those five tracks, along with two of the bonus tracks, were recorded live at the Village Bistro in Vancouver in late 1968. Four of the other bonus songs were off 1968 singles, and the final "Jazz Mock" is a nearly 20-minute jam from the same period.
Better than most, Mock Duck discovered a true nexus between early rock & roll, blues, and exploratory jazz, and they tied those strains into a really exciting amalgam that fit well into Vancouver's developing psychedelic scene . The music certainly has its drawbacks. Joe Mock is only an adequate vocalist, his nasally release (which probably better fit the Dylan slant of the original unit) doesn't create much of a spark at all and is almost devoid of the virtuosic intensity that the music requires. That is no more evident than on the band's cover of "Sitting on Top of the World," one of the few moments on the album when even the band sounds uninspired. The band turns tunes like the 13-minute "Home Mad Jam," the traditional "My Time," and the cool "Jazz Mock" into smoking free-rock with plenty of psychedelic ambience to satisfy the trippy mood of the era.
Rarely, however, is Mock Duck predictable, and their sound is all their own. A creative and individual band, they sound great even outside the context and milieu in which they existed. Although maybe not as inventive as likeminded peers such as Captain Beefheart, Spirit, and Traffic, they are nevertheless a dynamic footnote to the era.
1 Home Made Jam/Introduction 12:43
2 Ground Hog 4:58
3 Hurt on Me 2:47
4 Sitting on Top of the World 4:14
5 My Time 6:39
6 Fat Man 4:49
7 Crosscut Saw 3:45
8 Easter Dog 2:54
9 Funky Song 4:43
10 Do-Re-Mi 3:02
11 Playing Games 3:04

A stellar archival collection uncovered by reissue label extraordinaire Gear Fab, Test Record brings together a group of terribly rare recordings from Canadian band Mock Duck, a deservedly popular draw on the Vancouver ballroom scene due to its arresting musical fusion. The original Test Record was actually just an acetate pressing made of the first five tracks off the Gear Fab CD, only 14 copies of which are know to exist. Those five tracks, along with two of the bonus tracks, were recorded live at the Village Bistro in Vancouver in late 1968. Four of the other bonus songs were off 1968 singles, and the final "Jazz Mock" is a nearly 20-minute jam from the same period.
Better than most, Mock Duck discovered a true nexus between early rock & roll, blues, and exploratory jazz, and they tied those strains into a really exciting amalgam that fit well into Vancouver's developing psychedelic scene . The music certainly has its drawbacks. Joe Mock is only an adequate vocalist, his nasally release (which probably better fit the Dylan slant of the original unit) doesn't create much of a spark at all and is almost devoid of the virtuosic intensity that the music requires. That is no more evident than on the band's cover of "Sitting on Top of the World," one of the few moments on the album when even the band sounds uninspired. The band turns tunes like the 13-minute "Home Mad Jam," the traditional "My Time," and the cool "Jazz Mock" into smoking free-rock with plenty of psychedelic ambience to satisfy the trippy mood of the era.
Rarely, however, is Mock Duck predictable, and their sound is all their own. A creative and individual band, they sound great even outside the context and milieu in which they existed. Although maybe not as inventive as likeminded peers such as Captain Beefheart, Spirit, and Traffic, they are nevertheless a dynamic footnote to the era.

Highly recommended!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
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JEFF BECK GROUP - JEFF BECK GROUP – 1972 (UK) hard rock

Continuing with the same group lineup as on Rough and Ready, Jeff Beck Group was slagged off by critics for Steve Cropper's admittedly lazy production. However, several of the songs hold up masterfully, including the skronky "Ice Cream Cakes," the superlative redo of Don Nix's "Going Down," and the beautifully sad and wistful instrumental, "Definitely Maybe." Beware of early, poor-sounding versions.

Clive Chapman (bs)
Max Middleton (piano)
Cozy Powell (drms)
Bob Tench (vcls)
I know that this album is nowhere as good as the Rod Stewart period albums which gave Led Zeppelin a run for their money, but it is still a quality piece of work. While it's true that Jeff's guitar is used sparingly throughout this album, the record is credited to the Jeff Beck Group, so it is really an album concentrating on the whole ensemble who do a remarkable job on this album.

Highly recommended!
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DUST – DUST – 1971 (US) hard rock

The first album from Dust is interesting on many levels. The rhythm section featured drummer Marc Bell, who would later join New York punk rockers Richard Hell & the Voidoids, while bassist Kenny Aaronson would sign on with labelmate Stories on the group's third album, as Ian Lloyd moved from bass/vocals to complete frontman. The songwriting team of producer Kenny Kerner and singer/guitarist Richie Wise would go on to produce the third Stories album, making this Dust debut and its follow-up an important piece of the Stories puzzle. Wise's lead vocals on Dust were decent enough to complement his very competent guitar playing; Wise would eventually get hired as A&R man at Scotti Brothers Records. This record is not only the document of a record executive/producer as recording artist, but of musicians who would go on to do more substantial work in the industry. "Stone Woman," with its shimmering slide guitar work from Aaronson, would've fit perfectly on a Leslie West record. What Dust was all about is kind of difficult to get a handle on. A hard rock band for sure, and certainly spirited; the listener has to wonder if the group is successful when progressive, or if things might be better served by staying on the straight and narrow. "Chasin' Ladies" sports a real cool riff and pretty eerie vocal by Wise, while the one song contributed by Aaronson, "Loose Goose," becomes an endless jam. Wise emulates Greg Lake of ELP and, despite the good try, had Dust kept to the poppy influences all these musicians had in them, the group might have had a better chance at success. Kama Sutra, after all, had the Lovin' Spoonful and Sopwith Camel, artists who charted with pop music on the Top 40. For their image, Dust used a photo from the catacombs on the front cover and a camel in the desert on the back. It's an amalgam of hard rock and progressive sounds from co-producer Kerner, who would go on to produce hits for Gladys Knight and edit The Music Connection magazine. Interesting stuff worth hearing at least once.

Richie Wise (electric & acoustic guitars, vocals)
Marc Bell [aka Marky Ramone] (drums)
Kenny Aaronson (bass, steel- dobro- & bottleneck guitar)
1 Stone Woman 4:03
2 Chasin' Ladies 3:39
3 Goin' Easy 4:30
4 Love Me Hard 5:30
5 From a Dry Camel 9:52
6 Often Shadow Felt 5:12
7 Loose Goose 3:49

Great debut. For the album cover art, Dust used a photo from the catacombs on the front cover and a camel in the desert on the back following in the great tradition of metal. This album is an amalgam of hard rock and progressive sounds. No doubt, DUST was one of the pioneers in US Hard Rock/Classic Metal genre.

Highly recommended!
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DUST – HARD ATTACK – 1972 (US) hard rock

Hard Attack by Dust is an improvement over the acceptable performance of the self-titled debut from the year before. The team of producer Kenny Kerner and vocalist/guitarist/producer Richie Wise do just what the title suggests, bringing a harder attack to songs like "Pull Away/So Many Times" and "Ivory," the latter an instrumental with emphasis on guitar riffs and cymbal work. It's an all-out assault from the trio and pretty interesting, though the album as a whole works better when Thog's Fred Singer adds piano and organ. "How Many Horses" benefits from keyboard presence, and brings the group back to the Leslie West/Mountain flavors so obvious on the group's 1971 debut. That song definitely sounds like Dust was intent on remaking the Jack Bruce/Mountain classic "Theme From an Imaginary Western," one of that group's highlights. That the quieter moments, the elegant "Walk in the Soft Rain" and "How Many Horses," work better than the brutally hard "Suicide" hints at the adult contemporary leanings of Kerner and Wise. That they would merge this group with their labelmates in the band Stories for 1973's Traveling Underground is more evidence of what musical style they were more comfortable with. Unlike the commercial happy style of Stories, this album is obsessed with death -- perhaps a marketing tool to the hard rock audience with that theme running through the disc. It's no secret why Stories lead singer Ian Lloyd ended up on Scotti Brothers Records in 1979 and 1980: Producer Wise, the lead singer of Dust, was A&R man at that label. The two Dust albums provide evidence that there were some music business execs who actually had talent. The wonderful Frank Frazetta artwork on the front of the album also shows good taste. Frazetta did many a cover drawing for Creepy and Eerie magazines. It's a well-known fact that Gene Simmons from Kiss came from the world of fanzines and fantasy, and it should be no surprise that Wise and Kerner went on to produce the debut from Kiss in 1974 on Neil Bogart's Casablanca imprint. They also did the follow-up, Hotter Than Hell. You see, Bogart was VP of Kama Sutra's Buddah imprint as far back as 1967, and these Dust albums are truly the prototype to what became Kiss, at least in terms of sound. How could it not be so? The two men who made the first Kiss albums made these two albums a couple of years before Simmons and crew made their debut. All Music Guide writer Greg Prato calls Kiss (their debut album) "one of hard rock's all-time classic studio recordings." It was a product of the people who made Dust. Interesting that Buddah hasn't considered combining the first two Dust and third Stories album on a double CD to show the roots of Kiss; it would certainly be a neat marketing ploy. There's a pretty 19-second bonus 11th song/tenth track entitled "Entrance," which concludes the dark poetry of the Hard Attack album, an album that is one of the forgotten soldiers in rock history.

Richie Wise (electric & acoustic guitars, vocals)
Marc Bell [aka Marky Ramone] (drums)
Kenny Aaronson (bass, steel- dobro- & bottleneck guitar)
1 Pull Away - So Many Times 5:02
2 Walk in the Soft Rain 4:25
3 Thusly Spoken 4:27
4 Learning to Die 6:26
5 All in All 4:06
6 I Been Thinkin´ 2:12
7 Ivory 2:42
8 How Many Horses 4:27
9 Suicide/ Entanco 5:10

This would be their 2nd and final LP. I would have had them right there with BOC as the one of the greatest hard rock bands in the history of the US if they continued on. What a shame!!!

Highly recommended!
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KOSSOF KIRKE TETSU RABBIT – KOSSOF KIRKE TETSU RABBIT – 1972 (UK) hard rock/heavy blues

Unsurprisingly, this quartet sounds uncannily like Free and its English descendant Bad Company. Drummer Simon Kirke was in both bands. Guitarist Paul Kossoff, bassist Tetsu Yamauchi, and keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick were in Free, although the latter two appeared only in the band's ragged, final days. The problem with this side project, besides the unexceptional music, is that Paul Rodgers was a vastly better singer than Kirke or Bundrick. This album would be a fine addition for Free and Bad Company completists, but few others.

Paul Kossoff (guitar)
Simon Kirke (drums, vocals)
Tetsu Yamauchi (bass)
John "Rabbit" Bundrick (keyboards, vocals)
1 Blue Grass 5:21
2 Sammy's Alright 4:05
3 Anna 3:39
4 Just for the Box 3:30
5 Hold On 5:21
6 Fool's Life 4:27
7 Yellow House 3:23
8 Dying Fire 4:29
9 I'm on the Run 4:33
10 Colours 4:46

Highly recommended!
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JEFF BECK GROUP – ROUGH AND READY – 1971 (UK) hard rock/heavy blues

Recouping after a car crash and faced with the loss of Rod Stewart and Ron Wood, Jeff Beck redefined what the Jeff Beck Group was about, deciding to tone down the bluesy bombast, adding keyboardist Max Middleton for a jazz edge, then having Bob Tench sing to give it an overblown early-'70s AOR edge. As expected, these two sides are in conflict and Tench can be a little overbearing, but there are moments here that bring out the best in Beck. Namely, these are the times when the group ventures into extended, funk-inflected, reflective jazzy instrumental sections. These are the moments that point the way toward the success of Blow by Blow, yet this remains an unabashed rock record of its time, and it falls prey to many of its era's excesses, particularly lack of focus. Still, there are moments that are as fine as anything Beck played here.

Clive Chapman (bs)
Max Middleton (piano)
Cozy Powell (drms)
Bob Tench (vcls)
1 Got the Feeling 4:38
2 Situation 5:04
3 Short Business 2:30
4 Max's Tune 8:25
5 I've Been Used 3:38
6 New Ways Train Train 5:50
7 Jody 6:06

Highly recommended!
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MONTROSE – MONTROSE – 1973 (US) hard rock

The '70s gave us a slew of classic hard rock albums -- the likes of which may never be equaled -- and though it hasn't had the lasting influence of, say, Boston's or Ted Nugent's first albums, Montrose's eponymous debut proved equally influential and important in its day. Released in 1973, the record also introduced a young Sammy Hagar to the world, but the explosive aggression of Ronnie Montrose's biting guitar left no doubt as to why it was his name gracing the cover. A rock-solid rhythm section featuring drummer Denny Carmassi and bassist Bill Church certainly didn't hurt, either, and unstoppable anthems such as "Rock the Nation" and "Good Rockin' Tonight" would lay the ground rules for an entire generation of late-'70s California bands, most notably Van Halen. Admittedly, tracks like "Make It Last" and "I Don't Want It" sound rather dated by today's sonic standards (no thanks to their ultra-silly lyrics), but no amount of time can dim the sheer euphoria of "Bad Motor Scooter," the adolescent nastiness of "Rock Candy," and the simply gargantuan main riff of the phenomenal "Space Station #5." A welcome addition to any respectable '70s hard rock collection.

Ronnie Montrose (guitar, vocals)
Bill Church (bass)
Denny Carmassi (drums)
Sammy Hagar (vocals)
1 Rock the Nation 2:57
2 Bad Motor Scooter 3:43
3 Space Station #5 5:17
4 I Don't Want It 3:02
5 Good Rockin' Tonight 2:57
6 Rock Candy 5:17
7 One Thing On My Mind 3:40
8 Make It Last 5:29

This album seems to be lost in history's shuffle, especially when other American hard rock bands like Grand Funk Railroad and Aerosmith were gaining more exposure. But, this should not be denied. 'Montrose' is a great hard rock album by a band that was just as pioneering, if not more, than their contemporaries. Ronnie Montrose is a talented and even virtuoso guitarist that had a vision. And it was to make hard rock. This album also shows that Sammy Hagar could've been cooler if he didn't celebrate his little playful excesses to a point of stupidity that even the biggest morons start to not wanna dig. You know, when he was in his future band. This is simply just a good driving, diamond hard release that was really quite influential, but seemingly unoticed in it's time, and even now. It contains awesome tracks like 'Rock The Nation', 'Bad Motor Scooter', 'Space Station #5' which is definitely the best track, 'Good Rockin' Tonight' and the classic 'Rock Candy'. Bill Church and Denny Carmassi proove themselves to be a really solid and underrated rythym section as well.

Highly recommended!
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RAM JAM – RAM JAM – 1977 (US) south rock/hard rock

Though it may seem like ordinary 1970s hard rock, this album is interesting for a few reasons. The first is that it was produced by Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz, the producers behind a string of classic bubblegum hits like "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" and "Chewy, Chewy." The other reason is that the group leader Bill Bartlett was formerly a member of the Lemon Pipers, a psychedelic bubblegum group who scored a hit with "Green Tambourine" (which was produced by Kasenetz and Katz). All three men put behind their bubblegum past on this album of hard-driving rock & roll. Ram Jam is best known for its hit single, "Black Betty"; this electrifying update of a Huddie Ledbetter blues tune layers on plenty of searing electric guitar riffs and a steady 4/4 drum beat that turns the song into a strange but exhilarating blend of heavy metal and disco. None of the other tunes on Ram Jam surpass the bracing standard set by "Black Betty," but there are some other worthwhile moments for hard rock fanatics; "Keep Your Hands on the Wheel" is a stomping, driving-themed rocker in the vein of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and "Overloaded" is a swinging rocker built on a taut bassline and a catchy, cowbell-driven chorus. The album also features "Too Bad on Your Birthday," a mid-tempo rocker with a sing-along chorus that was later revived by Joan Jett. The one real downside here is that it suffers from a samey production style that makes the songs run together on first listen. Despite this problem, all the songs on Ram Jam presents a sturdy blend of guitar fireworks and pop hooks that any hardcore fan of 1970s hard rock will enjoy.

Bill Bartlett (guitar)
Howie Blauvelt (bass)
Myke Scavone (vocals)
Pete Charles (drums)
1 Black Betty
2 Let It All Out
3 Keep Your Hands on the Wheel
4 Right on the Money
5 All for the Love of Rock and Roll
6 404
7 High Steppin'
8 Overloaded
9 Hey Boogie Woman
10 Too Bad on Your Birthday

Fairly decent slab of hard rock with a real southern influence. A real half and half kind of affair.

Highly recommended!
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RAM JAM – PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG RAM – 1978 (US) hard rock

After scoring a major hit with "Black Betty" in 1977, Ram Jam returned in 1978 with another punchy set of hard rock tunes. Though Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram failed to produce any hit singles like "Black Betty," it actually improves on their previous album by managing to broaden the group's sound without cutting back on the hard rock firepower that got them noticed. For instance, songs like "The Kid Next Door" and "Please Please (Please Me)" add keyboard textures that flesh out the group's sound without distracting from their guitar-driven attack. Ram Jam also makes an interesting departure from their trademark twin-guitar rock sound on the dramatic power ballad "Turnpike": this lost-love lament alternates a hard-rocking chorus with moody piano-driven verses to create an surprisingly ornate blend of AOR melodicism and hard rock bombast. However, the majority of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram is devoted to straightforward guitar rock; "Wanna Find Love" and "Saturday Night" blend pop hooks and metal riffs as effectively as anything on Ram Jam. Other tunes up the ante by presenting a frenetic level of energy that borders on punk rock: "Just Like Me" and "Hurricane Ride" both toss out slashing guitar riffs over double-time rhythms to create songs that sound like the Ramones gone metal crazy. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram further benefits from short, tight song structures that keep things from getting too excessive (the ambitious "Turnpike" is the only song that runs over 4 and a half minutes). All in all, this is a fine hard rock outing that is worthy of its cult reputation and a treat for anyone who likes hard-driving 1970s rock music.

Bill Bartlett (guitar)
Howie Blauvelt (bass)
Myke Scavone (vocals)
Pete Charles (drums)
Jimmy Santoro (guitar)
1 Gone Wild 3:25
2 Pretty Poison 4:34
3 The Kid Next Door 3:26
4 Turnpike 5:45
5 Wanna Find Love 3:47
6 Just Like Me 4:16
7 Hurricane Ride 4:06
8 Saturday Night 3:35
9 Runaway Runaway 4:52
10 Please, Please, Please (Please Me) 2:58

Doing a much appreciated 180 degree turn from the repetitive blues boogie of their debut, Ram Jam strictly kick out the jams with steel-toe boots on this little known but highly regarded gem. Non-stop jams aplenty as there's not a weak link here, but if I had to pick just one fav per side I'd go with punky "Just Like Me" and funky "Pretty Poison". Truly a national buried treasure of '70s hard rock.

Highly recommended!
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PEZBAND – THIRTY SECONDS OVER SCHAUMBURG – 1978 (US) hard rock

Hailing from the same state as Cheap Trick (Illinois), the Pezband was a mostly fine, occasionally wonderful, power pop band that specialized in hook-filled hard rock with sweet multi-part harmonies. Led by the strong, blues-inflected singing of Mimi (a guy) Betinis and the rampaging Jeff Beck-influenced guitar playing of Tommy Gawenda, the Pezzers' first LP (released in 1977) was not as hard and heavy as Cheap Trick, nor did it exhibit the berserk panache of their fellow Illinoisans. But that all changed with their second LP, Laughing in the Dark, which contained a high quotient of good-to-great songs, excellent production by Jesse Hood Jackson, and a wonderful lack of smugness and calculation that was slowly infiltrating every power pop band in America. A huge public reaction, however, was not forthcoming. The band had its supporters (like most of the editorial staff of Trouser Press), but power pop/hard rock from Illinois was dominated by Cheap Trick, and everybody else had to find a place in the pecking order. For bands like the Pezband, that meant far less coverage than they deserved. There was also another issue: the band didn't deliver another record as good as Laughing, nor could they recapture the excitement and messy mania of their live show (forever preserved on an excellent pair of EPs, Too Old, Too Soon and Thirty Seconds Over Schaumburg) in the studio. Hence, the rest of their recorded output is serviceable, but only hints at what the band was truly capable of doing. It's too bad, because they were such unpretentious, likable guys. By the early '80s, the Pezband had virtually vanished from the music scene, but in 1994 a Chicago-based independent label released some outtakes and other previously unreleased material.

Mimi Betinis (guitar, vocals)
Mick Rain (drums, vocals)
John Pazdan (guitar, piano, bass, vocals)
Mike Gorman (bass, vocals)
Cliff Johnson (vocals)
Dan Wade (guitar)
Tom Gawenda (guitar)
Wes Davis (vocals)
1 Blue Wind
2 Stroll On
3 I'm Not Talking
4 I'm Leaving
5 Crash and Burn
6 Close Your Eyes

The title is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Chicago suburb from whence they came. The music is loud, ferocious, and wonderful. Tommy Gawenda is a little out of control here (too many multi-chorus solos), but after all is said and done, this record proves what a great live band the Pezband was. Extra points for a rippin' version of Jeff Beck's "Blue Wind" and its neat segue into the Yardbirds' "Stroll On”

Highly recommended!
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MARIAH – MARIAH – 1976 (US) hard rock

Melodious hard-rock with hammond, reminds Legs Diamond.

V.J. Comforte – vocals
Len Fogertly – guitar
Ed Burek – bass
Waine DiVarko – drums
Mark Ayers – keyboard
01 Hey Mama
02 Rock And Roll Band
03 Mystic Lady
04 Reunion
05 Asleep At The Wheel
06 Broadway
07 Nomad Man
08 Feel It
09 I Was Born

Highly recommended!
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HELLHOUND RECORDS

Hellhound Records was a German record label during the late 80s and 90s, self-described as "The Heaviest Label On Earth". They became known for putting out doom metal, with artists such as Saint Vitus and The Obsessed. In the early 90s Hellhound signed a number of Maryland doom bands such as Internal Void, Iron Man, Revelation,Wretched and Unorthodox. They quickly became a prominent label in the doom metal genre. Some of the Hellhound releases were distributed in the US by Noise Records and Noise began pressing some of the later releases after Hellhound's demise. Noise released a compilation entitled Pure Noise which featured a number of Hellhound bands along with many Noise bands as well. Many Hellhound releases are being repressed by current labels, such as Southern Lord Records and Japan's Leaf Hound Records.

Discography
001 Eddie Dixon "Relentless" 7"
002 Jingo De Lunch "Axe To Grind"
003 Scarlet "Red Alert"
004 God BC "God BC"
005 St. Vitus V
006 Toxic Reasons "Anything For Money"
007 Lazy Cowgirls "How It Looks, How It Is"
008 The Obsessed The Obsessed
009 Count Raven Storm Warning
010 St. Vitus Live
011 Hyste'riah GBC "Snakeworld"
012 Angelus "Kneel Down And Pray"
013 Pigmy Love Circus "Drink Free Forever!"
014 v/a "What The Hell"
015 The Obsessed Lunar Womb
016 Pigmy Love Circus "When Clowns Become Kings"
017 St. Vitus C.O.D.
018 Internal Void Standing On The Sun
019 Count Raven High On Infinity
020 Revelation Never Comes Silence
021 Unorthodox Asylum
022 Iron Man Black Night
023 Lost Breed The Evil In You And Me
024 Wretched Life Out There
025 Buzzard "Churp!!!"
026 Count Raven Destruction Of The Void
027 Year Zero Nihil's Flame
028 Vortex Of Insanity Social Decay
029 The Obsessed The Church Within
030 Unorthodox Balance Of Power
031 Wretched Psychosomatic Medicine
032 v/a "Hellhound Compilation"
033 Lost Breed Save Yourself
034 Iron Man The Passage
035 St. Vitus Die Healing
036 Revelation ... Yet So Far
037 Blood Farmers Blood Farmers
038 Year Zero Creation
039 Hundred Years "Hundred Years"
040 It Is I "Evolve"
041 Wretched Center Of The Universe
042 Count Raven Messiah Of Confusion

REVELATION – NEVER COMES SILENCE – 1993 (US) doom metal

REVELATION began creating their DARK, HEAVY sounds back in May of 1986. Comprised of John Brenner - guitar/vocals, Andy Kremer - bass, and Steve Branagan - drums, they released the demo "Face Reality". Shortly afterwards, Andy left and the lineup consisted of John and Steve with John performing the bass duties. Revelation's sound and style became more defined and the demos "Terminal Destiny", and "Images of Darkness" were released. The demos received mass acclaim in the underground network. In February of 1988, Bert Hall Jr. joined as bassist and made the line-up complete. REVELATION proceeded to record their fourth demo, "Illusion of Progress", which added a new dimension to their style and gained them label interest.
REVELATION appeared on the Doom Metal sampler "Dark Passages" which led to a recording deal with Rise Above Records (owned by Lee Dorrian, of Cathedral/Napalm Death fame). "Salvations Answer", their first full-length recording, was recorded in June of 1990 and released on Rise Above in early 1991. "Salvations Answer" received critical acclaim in magazines and the metal circuit alike. Shortly after their first release, instead of sitting idle, the band decided to record its fifth demo, "The Unbearable Vision". The demo sold out and gained them immense fanzine coverage. Later that year, Bert Hall Jr. left the band and was replaced by Josh Hart. Upon playing many shows locally, including a cable television appearance, REVELATION felt it was time to record again.
"Never Comes Silence" was recorded in early 1992 containing 9 songs totalling 70 minutes of music, including the eighteen minute epic title track. Upon receiving different label offers, REVELATION decided to sign with Hellhound Records in the summer of 1992. Their second full-length recording was released in early 1993 and it also gained them critical acclaim.
Unfortunately, shortly after the second release, long-time guitarist/vocalist John Brenner decided to leave the group. Faithful friend and fan of the group, Dennis Cornelius, was recruited as John's replacement. Josh Hart also departed the group, but Dennis and Steve vowed to keep REVELATION alive. The two recorded a promotional demo in February of 1994 entitled "Mourning Son", which continued interest in the band from their fans and record label. Jim Hunter came on board in the Spring of 1994 as permanent bassist, and the three began preparing for their third full-length recording adventure. "...Yet So Far" was recorded in Nov./Dec. 1994 and was released by Hellhound Records in early 1995. The songs highlighted the bands continued progression and received positive reactions from critics and fans alike, including a 4/5 K rating in Kerrang and a position as 3rd best album of the month for March 1995 in Metal Hammer (Germany). The album's release was followed by European tours with Saint Vitus in March and Solitude Aeturnus in May of 1995. The band followed the tours with local shows and began writing new material. After a brief split with Dennis in March of 1996, the band reunited and recorded a new demo in December of 1996 entitled "Frozen Masque". The band would search for a new record label that would not come.
A long hiatus ensued, and the band reunited for the first Stoner Hands of Doom Festival in August of 1999. The band was excited about playing together again and discussed writing material for a new album. The opportunity would not present itself until 2002 when the band was invited to headline the first Doom Shall Rise festival in Germany. The show, which was held in February 2003, also featured many of the great doom bands of Europe and sold out quickly. Revelation also was part of a short tour that followed the festival with Mirror of Deception and Reverend Bizarre.
As the band prepares material for a new album, The Miskatonic Foundation released "Frozen Masque" in October 2003. The CD features the "Frozen Masque" and "Mourning Son" demos as well as 2 live recordings, photos, and lyrics. Revelation looks forward to recording their fourth full-length album and performing together again. The style of REVELATION combines the crushing heaviness of Black Sabbath and Trouble with the experimental nature of Rush and Voivod, mixed with other various personal influences, to create their own unique metal sound.

Dennis Cornelius (guitar, vocals)
John Brenner (guitar, bass, vocals)
Steve Branagan (drums)
Josh Hart (bass)
1 Against Nature 6:48
2 Ashes 7:50
3 The Unbearable Vision 5:40
4 Frustrations 3:33
5 One Last Step 6:56
6 Spectre 8:09
7 Wounds Which Never Heal 7:37
8 Unreal 4:56
9 Never Comes Silence (Parts 1-4) 18:22

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! MONSTER!!!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download links
http://link-protector.com/319455/
http://link-protector.com/319457/

REVELATION – …YET SO FAR – 1995 (US) hard rock/heavy progressive

Dennis Cornelius (guitar, vocals)
Steve Branagan (drums)
Jim Hunter (bass)
1 Soul Barer 6:36
2 Eternal Search 6:15
3 Little Faith 5:18
4 Grasping the Nettle 4:32
5 Morning Sun 6:33
6 Fallen 6:04
7 Alone 8:05
8 Natural Steps 4:35
9 ...Yet so Far 8:39

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! MONSTER!!!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download links
http://link-protector.com/319453/
http://link-protector.com/319459/

WRETCHED – LIFE OUT THERE – 1993 (US) vintage hard rock

Wretched was one of the core members of the 90's DC doom fraternity that also featured bands such as The Obsessed, Internal Void, Revelation, and Unorthodox, a close-knit group of bands with much in common (a penchant for all things doomy, some shared membership, and several all on Hellhound Records at the time). The band has been an on-again, off-again prospect for the last decade or so. As of August 2005 they had announced they were done, but under a year later (June 2006) a new lineup (below) was back in action.

Dave Sherman - vocals (Earthride, Spirit Caravan)
Jeff Parsons - guitars (Indestroy, Unorthodox)
John Koutsioukis - bass (Unorthodox)
Gus Basilika - drums (Indestroy, Iron Man, Life Beyond)
1 Endless Morning
2 Verbal Suicide
3 The One I Seek
4 Standing Down
5 Unknown Soul
6 No Stopping
7 Living in Dread
8 See Your Face
9 Life Out There
10 The Fight


HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download link
http://link-protector.com/319452/

WRETCHED – PSYCHOSOMATIC MEDICINE – 1994 (US) vintage hard rock

Dave Sherman - vocals (Earthride, Spirit Caravan)
Jeff Parsons - guitars (Indestroy, Unorthodox)
John Koutsioukis - bass (Unorthodox)
Gus Basilika - drums (Indestroy, Iron Man, Life Beyond)
1 Golden Child 3:53
2 Blind Commitment 6:54
3 Peace Run 4:43
4 Still Life 5:00
5 Define Why 7:53
6 What Will Become 5:58
7 Watch and See 4:53


HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download link
http://link-protector.com/319451/

WRETCHED – CENTER OF UNIVERSE – 1995 (US) vintage hard rock

Wretched was one of many Maryland doom bands to be picked up by Hellhound Records in the early 90s. The band put out three albums on Hellhound before disbanding. Singer Dave Sherman would go on to play bass in Spirit Caravan and sing in Earthride.

Dave Sherman - vocals (Earthride, Spirit Caravan)
Jeff Parsons - guitars (Indestroy, Unorthodox)
John Koutsioukis - bass (Unorthodox)
Mike Phillips - drums
1 Loosing World
2 Realm of Freedom
3 Center of the Universe
4 Unveiled
5 Suspended Animation
6 Kingpin
7 Doom Jesus
8 Day in Day Out
9 Snakebite

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download link
http://link-protector.com/319450/

YEAR ZERO (ex CATHEDRAL) – NIHIL’S FLAME – 1993 (UK) vintage hard rock

Gritty garage metal with a touch of doom from this forgotten band from the Hellhound stable. The band rocks, but the songs themselves are bit samey and lifeless. Apart from featuring Mark Griffiths (who has done better work both before and after his appearance here), there isn't much noteworthy about this band.

Russ McAteer - vocals
Mark Griffiths - guitars (Blackstar, Cathedral)
Murray Geddes - bass
Mike Unsworth - drums
1 Prefall (Intro) 0:33
2 Planetfall 3:33
3 Headache Station 3:16
4 Harsh Believing 4:33
5 Civilisation Dreaming 1:41
6 Wishing Horse 6:04
7 Year Zero 2:28
8 Evergreen (The Fool's Throne) 6:38
9 Shining Violent 2:39
10 Invention of God 3:57
11 An Eternal Dawn 5:40

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download link
http://link-protector.com/319449/

YEAR ZERO (ex CATHEDRAL) – CREATION – 1995 (UK) heavy metal/stoner rock

Russ McAteer - vocals
Mark Griffiths - guitars (Blackstar, Cathedral)
Murray Geddes - bass
Mike Unsworth - drums
1 Solar Creation 6:14
2 Inches Deep 4:28
3 The Savage Wound 3:42
4 Zeal For War 6:42
5 Mirror Spirit 6:06
6 Kingdom Pain 4:48
7 Mainline Inertia 6:19
8 Delirium Bound 4:14
9 Chaos Cage 5:44

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download link
http://link-protector.com/319448/

NATURE AND ORGANISATION – BEAUTY REAPS THE BLOOD OF SOLITUDE – 1994 (UK) psychedelic dark folk

Nature and Organisation is a solo project by Michael Cashmore known for his work with David Tibet's Current 93 and Nurse With Wound. Both of these bands in their own way evoke a dark surrealism, a dadaesque gothic feeling of disturbance and romantic decay. Current 93 have often used folk music to portray this most notably on their album 'Thunder Perfect Mind' which is referenced here on one track. Nature and Organisation carry on this doomed quality, a forlorn romance and evocation of the lost and afraid. The album commences with a terrifying post-industrial soundscape that has rarely been matched except by Nurse With Wound themselves or the first album by Techno Animal. On the surface the imagery on the cover seems to reveal little, perhaps hinting at darker realms but closer inspection shows Christian icons in sufferance and the lyrics talk about belief in god. The inside cover imagery (shown right) relates to mystical roscrucianism and so a daunting premise is established in the listener. After the harshness of the first track we are treated to a perfect, defining cover version of Willow's Song from The Wicker Man soundtrack with vocals by Rose McDowall. This song is the best version of may found outside the film itself and for many justifies the purchase alone. The next track is a lonesome folk track of guitar and violin with spoken whispered vocals that survey some kind of post apocalyptic landscape and declare an undefined faith that god still walks the land. In 'My Black Diary' a shared dream state is explored with a good synthesizer pad suspended over guitar and gentle chimes. The album links together often quite lovely folk music with subtle but unsettling electronics. The vocals are not traditional in any sense, half spoken, half whispered in either David Tibet's higher voice or Cashmore's deep baritone. 'Beauty Destroyed' literally shreds the calmer romanticism and disturbs the flow, no doubt intentionally. It forces the listener to concentrate with orchestra, power drills and crashing planes seeming to meet. From here we move into the delicate black beauty of 'Skeletontongueworld' which is twisted with it's talk of a dark 'wickerfingered' god. Two short instrumentals of bassoon and violin lead into the epic last track 'Bonewhiteglory' which returns to the apocalyptic folk sound here talking about the return of a goddess. The lyrics of the songs are perhaps deliberately obtuse and intensely personal to the magical experiences of the writer The album is by turns on different listens beautiful, unsettling, reassuring and disturbing. It is not an easy album, in its way it is confrontational and demands the listen give intense dedication to it. Certainly those people with experience of magic seem to find it relevant but there is much here for the adventurous folk listener if they are prepared to let the lyrics wash over them. It is excellently played, wonderfully written and achieves the purpose it set out to, however to recommend it would perhaps miss the point. It is an album the listener must chose and find themselves. For some it may leave them unable to sleep, for others it will be revelation, the title of the album harks to beauty overcoming darkness and perhaps the last female spoken vocal of the album sums it up best 'how lovely, how sad'.

Michael Cashmore - guitars, mandolin, glockenspiel, keyboards, percussion, sounds
David Tibet – vocals
Douglas P. - vocals on track 5, e-bow on track 7
Rose McDowall – vocals
Steven Stapleton - sheep ventilator guitar
Benet Walsh – violin
Sally Wood - violin, keyboards
Mairéad Sheerin – cello
Lisa Oliver – flute
Amanda Jayne Edge – flute
Jason Burton – bassoon
1 Introduction 2:54
2 Wicker Man Song 4:33
3 Blood of Solitude I 1:17
4 Bloodstreamruns 4:38
5 My Black Diary 5:26
6 Tears for an Eastern Girl 5:41
7 Beauty Destroyed 1:34
8 Skeletontonguedworld 3:01
9 Obsession Flowers as Torture 1:51
10 Blood of Solitude II 1:52
11 Bonewhiteglory 9:46

For me it's a little mellower than Current 93, more meditative, more peaceful. It doesn't capture quite the same granduer, nor does it possess that deeply powerful, uplifting quality that the very best C93 albums do, but it could make you cry nonetheless. Naturally, I prefer the vocal tracks with David, who neither shrieks nor growls, but sings quietly and spiritually. He does, however stick to familiar lyrical territory and utilize imagery C93 heads will certainly appreciate. Even without David, the other pieces are lovely and never fail to keep me interested. Cashmore's guitar playing is really impressive too, almost reminiscent of John Renbourn in some places(namely that bit of "Obsession Flowers as Torture" before it goes industrial [terrific song title, BTW]). The best moments here can't quite compete with the dizzying heights of Thunder Perfect Mind or Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre, but there's magic here, beautiful, sad, and glorious. If you are at all interested in apocalyptic folk (or really music in general) this is an essential recording.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! MONSTER!!!
Rip from CD 256@ (front cover)
Download link
http://link-protector.com/319440/

THE CRUSHERS – GLORY OF THE DAY – 2002 (RUSSIA) psychedelic rock/garage revival

The Crushers is a Garage Beat band from Moscow, Russia

Pavel Petrov - guitar, vocal
Oleg Peskov – drums
Vadim Markov – bass
Pavel Prianchikov – keyboards
01 glory of the day
02 a darkling thrush
03 the different one
04 mirrors
05 closer
06 something to forget
07 bonita
08 love song
09 fake impression
10 don't say that i'm wrong
11 wake up
12 once upon a time
13 runing snowmen
14 toad like beauty
15 new way
16 ann & jane
17 la la la
18 we are getting to the end

Great influences and great fuzz nice musics keep touch!!!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download links
http://link-protector.com/319441/
http://link-protector.com/319442/

BERTRAND BURGALAT – MEETS A.S DRAGON – 2003 (FRA) space rock/ psychedelic rock

Burgalat is well-known for his cool, breezy 1960s-style pop sound, something he has lent to his production work with Air, April March, A.S Dragon, Dalcan, Jad Wio, Mick Harvey, Louis Philippe and the French writer Michel Houellebecq. His musical influences include the "ye-ye" sound of French pop made famous by France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Brigitte Fontaine, as well as the singers Jacques Dutronc and Serge Gainsbourg, as well as the 'folk-music of the Ruhr' created by Kraftwerk. Reputed to possess one of the most acute ears in the business, 'BB' (a nickname he shares with Brigitte Bardot) also draws inspiration from 20th century French classical composers such as Maurice Ravel, Francis Poulenc and Olivier Messiaen, and was greatly influenced by the writings of cult French journalist-cum-pop visionary Yves Adrien.
At the age of 25, he produced the Laibach's album Let It Be, which is an entire cover of The Beatles' album of the same name.
His own releases, The Ssssound of Mmmusic (2000) and Portrait-robot (2005) fuse subtle electronica, psychedelia, soaring backing choruses and string sections with wry lyrics (some of them written by Philippe Katerine, April March and Alfreda Benge, Robert Wyatt's long-time companion), and finely-crafted melodies. Burgalat is also expert at using discords and dissonances in his harmonies, some of which bear more relation to avant-garde classical music than to pop. On his album, Bertrand Burgalat Meets A.S. Dragon (2001), Burgalat places his crooning style directly in contrast with A.S Dragon's hard-groove rock/jam-band sensibility.
On this live album Bertrand teams up with the french band AS Dragon. They deliver songs on a more rockym, psychedelic way, while still remaining as suave as a lounge lizard. Normally we do not like Live albums – this one makes sense!

Bertrand Burgalat - vocals, piano, electric piano, organ
Michael Garcon - organ, synthesizer
Peter Von Poehl - guitar, background vocals
Count Indigo - vocals
Toby Dammit - tambourine
Fred Jimenez - bass guitar, background vocals
Herve Bouetard - drums, background vocals
1 Follow Me 4:01
2 Alsthom 5:32
3 Ma recontre 4:14
4 Kim 7:13
5 Gris métal 3:57
6 O.K. Skorpios 4:20
7 Aux cyclades électronique 4:45
8 Sugar 5:44
9 Jalousies et tomettes 4:35
10 A.S Dragon 3:13
11 The Tears of a Clown 7:02

Great & groovy guitar psychedelic rock music.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download links
http://link-protector.com/319443/
http://link-protector.com/319444/

YARDBIRDS – BIRDLAND – 2003 (UK) blues rock

When this came out in 2003, it marked the first studio release by the Yardbirds in 35 years. In that time, of course, the personnel had changed quite a bit. Even those inclined to get excited by reunions of great bands should know right off that it includes just two original members, drummer Jim McCarty and rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja (though Jeff Beck plays guest guitar on one number, "My Blind Life"). Rounded out by three "new" members (including bassist John Idan, whose lead singing sounds fairly close to original Yardbirds vocalist Keith Relf in style and tone), the record also features guest lead guitar cameos by Jeff Baxter, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Brian May, with Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls singing lead on "For Your Love." The instinct is to make cruel, sardonic jokes about how the absence of Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and (for the most part) Jeff Beck doesn't matter, as guitarists were always the weak links in the Yardbirds anyway. Yes, the non-presence of these fabled guitar heroes, as well as Relf (who died in 1976), does mean that this can't be compared in any way to the group's classic 1960s output, even if it's billed to the Yardbirds' name. For all that, however, this is a lot better than you'd expect, and certainly far more respectable than most reunion/comeback efforts by decimated lineups of classic outfits. The production is straight-ahead without the usual sellouts to modern technology, putting the sleek guitar work to the fore. Half the record has remakes of old Yardbirds staples like "For Your Love," "Shapes of Things," and "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago," but they're not done badly, though you feel as though you're listening to a really good Yardbirds tribute band rather than the real deal. The original material, though not as good as those old Yardbirds tunes, actually sounds -- whether as a result of conscious or unconscious effort -- in the Yardbirds style, with plenty of irregular tempos, minor-keyed melodies, metaphysically questing lyrics, and Gregorian vocals (as on the Relf tribute "An Original Man (A Song for Keith)").

Chris Dreja (vocals, guitar)
ohn Idan (vocals, bass)
Billy Boy Miskimmin (harmonica, percussion)
1 I'm Not Talking 2:45
2 Crying Out for Love 4:37
3 The Nazz Are Blue 3:12
4 For Your Love 3:21
5 Please Don't Tell Me 'Bout the News 3:59
6 Train Kept a Rollin' 3:38
7 Mr. Saboteur 4:55
8 Shapes of Things 2:38
9 My Blind Life Dreja 3:33
10 Over, Under, Sideways, Down 3:16
11 Mr. You're a Better Man Than I 3:24
12 Mystery of Being 4:07
13 Dream Within a Dream 4:44
14 Happenings Ten Years Time Ago 3:23

After 35 years the remaining members of The Yardbirds (Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty) finally made a new album. Let's face it: Birdland is an O.K. album, with some new stuff and older songs. Yardbirds-classics like "Over Under Sideways Down", "For Your Love" and the brilliant "Shape Of Things" can be heard here. It sounds almost similar as the originals from The Sixties. The guitarplaying is great, but that can hardly surprise anyone: The Yardbirds always were a home for great guitarists like Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. And Jeff Beck of course: he is also playing now on this record. Steve Vai and Slash are the other contributing Guitarheroes. Having said this, to me the music lacks some driving urgency. If it only could sound a bit more filthier and less polished next time(?), I think it would be more satisfying.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download links
http://link-protector.com/319445/
http://link-protector.com/319447/

THE EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND – SING BROTHER SING – 1970 (UK) heavy psych

Sing Brother Sing almost equals the psychedelic cohesiveness and insouciant air of the Edgar Broughton Band's debut album, but, even without doing so, it still stands as their second strongest release. All the songs on Sing Brother Sing wallow in a hippie-ish, kick-backed experimental blues-rock style, extenuated to perfection by Broughton's resonant grumble and vocal staunchness, and surrounded by chem lab mixtures of guitar and bass. The group's peculiar instrumental outputs give odd tracks such as "There's No Vibrations but Wait," "Momma's Reward," and the two parts of "Psychopath" progressive rock-type tendencies with a homemade wit, which would be the band's most daunting characteristic outside of Edgar Broughton's singing. Although the Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa comparisons are unavoidable, the rest of Sing Brother Sing's facets and odd instrumental avenues emit a distinctness that remains the whole album through. The quaint but humorous English air that encircles "Officer Dan" and "Old Gopher" reflects Broughton's adept satirical approach, maybe without him even knowing it. Held together with elements of jazz, rock, and blues, the music on Sing Brother Sing is captivating because of its raw integrity, and in its refusal to adhere to structure, formula, or to travel a beaten path.

EDGAR BROUGHTON vcls, gtr
STEVE BROUGHTON vcls, drms, perc, piano
ARTHUR GRANT bs, gtr, vcls
1 There's No Vibrations but Wait! 4:12
2 The Moth: A) the Moth B) People C) Peter 5:14
3 Momma's Reward (Keep Them Freaks A-Rollin') 3:04
4 Refugee 3:39
5 Officer Dan 1:38
6 Old Gopher 3:53
7 Aphrodite 4:05
8 Granma 2:27
9 Psychopath: A) the Psychopath B) Is for Butterflies 6:51
10 It's Falling Away 5:30

Great early 70's heavy psych with some bizarre lyrics.

Highly recommended!
Rip from CD 256@ (cover included)
Download links
http://link-protector.com/295998/
http://link-protector.com/295999/

THE EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND – THE EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND – 1971 (UK) heavy psych

The most conventional of the Edgar Broughton Band's first (and best) three albums, 1971's Edgar Broughton Band finds the group dispensing with the no-holds-barred mania and theatricality responsible for such classics as "Out Demons Out," "Up Yours," and "Apache Drop Out" and concentrating instead on more musical endeavors. It's an approach that arguably captures the band at their very best at the same time as revealing them at their ugliest. The two-part epic "For Dr. Spock" conjures images of Gong, as it drifts closer to space rock than the Edgar Broughton Band had hitherto ventured, while "House of Turnabout" certainly restates the group's free-freak credentials with its rumbling percussion and scything guitars, a second cousin to the roars that punctuated Wasa Wasa and Sing Brother Sing. The heart of Edgar Broughton Band, however, lies elsewhere. The lilting chant "Thinking About You," with its spectral reminders of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero," is certainly one of their most rancorous concoctions, while "Evening Over Rooftops" rides an acoustic guitar as pretty as its flowery lyric, but you know there's something rotten squirming just below the surface, even if you can never quite put your finger on it. The pure pop backing vocals, all "sha-la-la" and "doo-be-doo-be-doo," of course, only add to your unease. And, as that is merely the opening number, you can guess what you're in for over the rest of the album long before you actually get it.

EDGAR BROUGHTON vcls, gtr
STEVE BROUGHTON vcls, drms, perc, piano
ARTHUR GRANT bs, gtr, vcls
VICTOR UNITT vcls, gtr, hrmnca, piano
1 Evening Over Rooftops 4:57
2 The Birth 3:20
3 Piece of My Own 2:46
4 a) Poppy 2:13
b) Don't Even Know Which Day It Is 4:19
5 House of Turnabout 3:06
6 Madhatter 6:12
7 a+b) Getting Hard Into What Is a Woman For? 7:27
8 Thinking of You 2:04
9 a+b) For Doctor Spock, Parts 1 & 2 3:43
Additional Tracks
10 Hotel Room 4:04
11 Call Me a Liar 4:26
12 Someone 3:45
13 Mr. Cosby 2:08

A nice slice of early-70's heavy funk. Musically, if you're a fan of recordings such as: James Gang Rides Again, Led Zeppelin II, early Grand Funk or the like, you will enjoy this. Lyrically, politics and a need for social justice run through all these songs (just look at the somewhat shocking album cover closely). It's hard to pick favorite tracks here as the album is pretty cohesive (though 'Evening Over Rooftops' is moving, 'Poppy' is thoughtful, 'The Birth' & 'Don't Even Know Which Day It Is' rock hard, 'Madhatter' is trippy and 'Getting Hard' is bluesy) and I enjoy the recording in its entirety.

Highly recommended!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download links
http://link-protector.com/299385/
http://link-protector.com/299386/

THE EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND – INSIDE OUT – 1972 (UK) heavy psych

‘In Side Out’ was The Edgar Broughton Band’s fourth album and was the follow up to their magnificent eponymous ‘Meat’ album released in 1971. It was my first introduction to this incredible band and I have to admit, that I bought the LP, purely because of the wonderful, multi-fold cover, designed in a similar fashion to a ‘Chinese wallet’ - it presents you with two gatefolds for the price of one! The outer cover portrays a stark black and white, ‘grim up north’ scene of a world-weary, ex-con resting a reassuring hand on the shoulder of a flat-capped androgynous child. The pair are observed from a footpath by working class figures set against a brutal retaining wall. The sky is replaced by dark foreboding, horizontal, airbrushed bands, that give the scene a surreal, claustrophobic edge. The image is enhanced by the Chinese wallet design, for opened one way, the figures stand at the corner of the uncompromising wall. Opened the other way, the figures appear at the front of a long, daunting corridor. The inside again has two aspects – in one, the band are depicted in sepia tinted pictures on ‘home turf’ against a wet city-scape of flyovers and everydayness. Folded the other way, our ‘hairy heroes’ are pictured in pastoral settings, a sharp contrast to their previous setting. It is these contrasts that are the key to ‘In Side Out’.

EDGAR BROUGHTON vcls, gtr
STEVE BROUGHTON vcls, drms, perc, piano
ARTHUR GRANT bs, gtr, vcls
VICTOR UNITT vcls, gtr, hrmnca, piano
1 Medley 3:41
a. Get Out of Bed
b. There's Nobody There
c. Side by Side
2 Sister Angela 0:40
3 I Got Mad 3:38
4 They Took It Away 2:26
5 Homes Fit to Heroes 4:18
6 Gone Blue 3:12
7 Chilly Morning Momma 4:32
8 The Rake 2:40
9 Totin' This Guitar 1:36
10 Double Agent 2:52
11 It's Not You 11:10
12 Rock 'n' Roll 2:55
13 Out Demond Out 4:48
14 Apache Drop Out 3:12
15 Freedom 3:14
16 Up Yours!

He opening track (or should that be 4 tracks?) sets the mood nicely and the album just gets better as it goes on. On the re-issue sleeve notes, Edgar tells how John Lennon commended him on "Homes Fit For Heroes" having overheard it while it was being mixed at the Abbey Road studios, which I guess must have pretty much blown him away!

Highly recommended!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download links
http://link-protector.com/299387/
http://link-protector.com/299388/

THE EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND – OORA – 1973 (UK) heavy psych

place on a similar era Neil Young album, and some mystical mantras, such as Roccococooler, which is trippy without going overboard - more a stream of consciousness. But for all it's diversity, Oora is a brilliant album for its sheer feel-good factor - it's a record for all seasons. What is music? It inspires you. It creates moods and feelings. This album does this perfectly, evoking in the listener a wide range of emotions, from the punch-the-air power chords of 'Things On My Mind' (which is guaranteed to have you singing along by the end), to the unimaginable, quiet understatement of 'Green Lights'(on a par with Neil Young's 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart', surely). There's something for everyone here - and if you have a wide taste in music, then you should love it. Although the music speaks for itself, this works equally well as a time capsule of 70's creativity, with the use of backed effects to create added atmosphere reminiscent of Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side Of The Moon' opus. But despite the occasionally sorrowful lyrics (for anyone who has ever lost anyone, 'Rock N' Roller' provides "Dark nights, golden lights/Hand in hand together/Sweet breath, fetid death/Nothing lasts forever", with unbearable poignancy), the album has a great sense of humour running through it and underpinning many of the songs, deriding the hippy culture and its inertia which actually gave the Broughtons their break ("You tried to change the world, but you got up far too late/They'd all gone back to bed before you reached the garden gate" - 'Oh!You Crazy Boy'), and blending social comment - slum clearances sung about on 'Eviction' and the dolly- bird models of the day on 'Pretty'. So why should you buy this album? Well apart from its rather impressive cover (the original vinyl on Harvest Records came in a printed plastic bag), if you are looking for an album which you can listen to on a joyously hot summer's day, and feel great to, or something to slide into your CD player in the depths of despair, and feel comforted - then this is the album. Quirky and original, you'll never hear anything quite like this on one disc. Distinctly English, without being as gleefully parochial as The Kinks, its appeal is universal.

EDGAR BROUGHTON vcls, gtr
STEVE BROUGHTON vcls, drms, perc, piano
ARTHUR GRANT bs, gtr, vcls
VICTOR UNITT vcls, gtr, hrmnca, piano
1 Hurricane Man/Rock N' Roller
2 Roccococooler
3 Eviction
4 Oh You Crazy Boy!
5 Things on My Mind
6 Exhibits from a New Museum/Green Lights
7 Face from a Window/Pretty/Hi-Jack Boogie/Slow Down
8 Capers
9 Sweet Fallen Angels

It depends on my personal mood, if this mixture of freaky Zappaism and quite accessible rock music can satisfy me. "Hurricane Man" or "Green Lights" are secret classics, like a few of the other tracks here, too.

Highly recommended!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download link
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GOBLIN – SUSPIRIA – 1977 (IT) progressive rock

This stunning soundtrack from 1977 is the favorite of many a Goblin fan because it represents their sound carried to its most powerful and intense extremes. Suspiria was another score for their cinematic alter ego, director Dario Argento, and backed up the story of a girl who enrolls in a German dance academy only to discover it is a cover for a powerful coven of witches. The music is just as scary as the film itself, blending wailing electric guitar, whooping synthesizers, and screaming wordless cries into a spooky, bombastic sound that manages to be terrifying even without the benefit of the film's gruesome images. Suspiria has long been popular with heavy metal fans because it sports a hard-rocking edge equal in intensity to the scariest works of Black Sabbath or King Diamond: the title theme slowly builds a spooky riff on bells, acoustic guitar, and synthesizer until it erupts into a hard-rocking mid-section where nimble synthesizer solos spar with ghostly cries of "Witch! Witch!," and "Sighs" mixes panting, wordless vocals with an array of furious power chords to create an unbearably high level of suspense. Even when the score downplays the gothic rock theatrics on subtler tracks like "Black Forest" and "Blind Concert," the group's members still manage to create an intensely creepy atmosphere. The end result is an album that is guaranteed to please Goblin fans and is highly likely to appeal to fans of gothic and heavy metal sounds. [Collector's note: the 1997 CD reissue of Suspiria sports four bonus tracks, consisting of three alternate version of "Suspiria" and a slightly different version of "Markos."]

Massimo Morante (guitar, vocals)
Claudio Simonetti (keyboards)
Fabio Pignatelli (bass)
Walter Martino (drums, percussion)

1 Suspiria 6:01
2 Witch 3:12
3 Opening to the Sighs 0:32
4 Sighs 5:16
5 Markos 4:05
6 Black Forest 6:06
7 Blind Concert 6:16
8 Death Valzer 1:51
9 Suspiria (Celesta and Bells) 1:34
10 Markos (alternate version) 4:10
11 Suspiria (Daemonia Remix) 5:50

Completely mindblowing prog rock soundtrack to a 1977 Dario Argento film by the same name. Regarded as Goblin's finest soundtrack album, I really can't disagree. The music is very sinister, appropriate with this kind of music with strange synth and sound effects, and the occasional cut with Mellotron. To me, I really thought this one totally blows Profondo Rosso right out of the water (I felt Profondo Rosso was simply the sound of a band getting started in the field of soundtracks, and the orchestral cuts that ended that album was so out of place because it wasn't by Goblin, but Giorgio Gaslini, the original composer for that film that Argento ended up unhappy with, but Profondo Rosso is still good, especially the Goblin tracks, but nothing like Suspiria). I have to say "Death Valzer" is the only cut I can live without, cheesy piano waltz, it really sucks to high heaven, but the rest of the album is so good that you can forget that piece of crap. Besides this cut was meant for the movie, I only wished it wasn't included on the album. Other than that, it truly is a classic and a must-have!

If the story weren't so blatantly ridiculous, subtle as an elephant sitting in the middle of a dining room and overdone, SUSPIRIA might as well be another by-the-numbers horror movie with carefully placed shocks and a final revelation where the Final Girl either emerges triumphant from her ordeal or succumbs to her fate.
For a movie categorized as Italian Giallo, there is actually very little extreme scenes of gore as in other films of this genre. If anything, Dario Argento art directs this movie within an inch of its life, to a point where it actually succeeds to separate itself from its horror roots and begins to open itself to a perverse fairy tale. The first fifteen minutes of the movie are one of the most tense moments of mounting horror I have seen in a while (despite the horrible dialogue and the bad dubbing, courtesy of what seems to be the norm of Italian movies of the period). Its setup, consisting of Jessica Harper's character, Susie Bannion, arriving at the school of dance that she is to attend in the middle of a storm. (Why she doesn't take the "storm" as a signal that maybe this might not be the ideal place for her is anyone's guess.) A girl, Pat Hingle, runs out screaming into the night and winds up at the neighboring dorm where a friend takes her in, but soon later she meets a grisly fate in a fantastic sequence that has become a classic all its own.
What's shocking is not the absolute terror that reaches this early pitch in SUSPIRIA (compressing the horror which happens in PSYCHO by half an hour and setting the stage to the events which follow even when in retrospect they make little sense): it's the way it's set up. Instead of going for dark, moody colors or the more modern technique of filtering a sickly green or sepia or blue color to enhance elements of dread, instead of utilizing a dark-ambient theme with the occasional crashing violin, Argento decides to flood the scene in an orgy of color, rapid editing, and its unsettling, feverish Goblin score reminiscent of "Tubular Bells" with more primeval howls and drums, which escalate until they're practically reverberating all over the film. This is stunning, beautiful horror, a fable gone to the extreme perverse, technique over substance taken to its maximum level. SUSPIRIA is, quite simply, one of the best horror films ever made, and despite its age, it does not show it and proves that the oldest tricks in the book still work perfectly well. Watch it and enjoy, for this is a masterpiece.

Highly recommended!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)

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GOBLIN – BUIO OMEGA – 1979 (IT) progressive rock

Absolutely perfect soundtrack to the gory necrophiliac shocker from Joe D'Amato. This is one of our all time favorites. Hauntingly beautiful piano/guitar melodies and prog-rock madness, Goblin-style! First complete issue of the whole soundtrack. Some tracks also appear on Contamination as they were used temporarily by the Director, but left in the score. Essential.

Massimo Morante (guitar, vocals)
Claudio Simonetti (keyboards)
Fabio Pignatelli (bass)
Walter Martino (drums, percussion)
1 Buio Omega (Main Titles) 2:52
2 Quiet Drops 4:31
3 Strive After Dark 2:30
4 Pillage 2:20
5 Rush 4:13
6 Keen 4:02
7 Ghost Vest 2:56
8 Bikini Island 4:02
9 Buio Omega (Suite 1) 2:56
10 Quiet Drops (Film Version) 3:48
11 Strive After Dark (Suite) 3:00
12 Buio Omega (Alternate Version) 1:40
13 Strive After Dark (Alternate Version) 3:00
14 Buio Omega (Synth Effect-Alternate Takes Suite) 2:23
15 Buio Omega Theme (Reprise) 3:30

Buio Omega was the first horror movie they scored after Dawn of the Dead, from three years previous. The music is more spartan than typical Goblin fare (though not as dull as the music from Patrick), but still good, and the spookiness that was completely lacking from the last two soundtracks reviewed here is back on this one. This album contains the track “Quiet Drops,” later magnificently covered by Morte Macabre (members of Anekdoten and Landberk) on their great Symphonic Holocaust album. The original versions here are very understated compared to that track. There are a couple of funk pieces, a couple of synth-only tracks, and several group compositions that build up the kind of mood that Goblin were known for. Overall this is quite a decent Goblin album, but it does lack the intensity and creativity of their best work.

Murder, mayhem and mutilation…shown in all its pride and glory! Buio Omega a.k.a Buried Alive a.k.a Beyond the Darkness is a finger-licking and ultra-gory sleazefest. D'Amato's film certainly is a landmark in the Italian shlock/sick cinema as it contains some of the grossest and explicit nauseating sequences ever shot on film. The young and introvert Frank cannot live without his recently deceased girlfriend Anna, so he digs up her corpse, embalms her and keeps her around his mansion. After this, he descents further into madness and starts to kill girls randomly and his freaky housekeeper Iris assists him. Now, Frank is pretty messed up in the head but Iris is just downright insane!! She makes a hobby out of dismembering dead bodies and she breastfeeds the 22-year-old Frank! The first half hour may seem a little lame and low on bloodshed but, as soon as the gore kicks in, it doesn't stop till the end credits role and it becomes more and more repulsive by the minute! D'Amato servers a disturbingly realistic embalming-process along with some detailed torturing scenes, dissections and gruesome butchering! Of course, like it should in Italian's nastiest, there are a lot of perversely orientated undertones present such as necrophilia, cannibalism and even a variant on the ‘Oedipus'-theme!
Joe d'Amato never was world's most brilliant director. That's okay, since he never claimed to be and he always clearly mentioned his influences. He's more like a businessman with more adult films on his repertoire…The horror films he made are vicious but technically weak, all together! Nonetheless, Buio Omega is an exception! Unlike his other horror films, Buried Alive has tension, a great soundtrack, a constant morbid atmosphere and even a bit of surprisingly good acting! Cinzia Monreale, who plays the dead love-interest Anna, became more famous after starring in Fulci's masterpiece the Beyond and the creepy aunt Iris also starred in a few delightful `babes behind bars' flicks. The circle of fans that likes this kind of films is rather small…but they're very devoted. For them, Buio Omega is a must see!

Highly recommended!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download link
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CLIVE JOHN (ex MAN) - YOU ALWAYS KNOW WHERE YOU STANT WITH A BUZZARD – 1975 (UK) progressive rock

In the liner notes to a CD reissue of his solo 1975 album, even Clive John himself concedes that "I had no continuity of musical direction," adding, "I was trying out different things all the time." On You Always Know Where You Stand With a Buzzard, those things include lumpen blues-rock ("Visitin' the Duke"), slightly Quicksilver Messenger Service-Grateful Dead-Frank Zappa-influenced squiggly guitar lines ("Overflow," "Swansea Town"), an impenetrably absurdist spoken word track ("Ferret Interview"), and Zappa-influenced vocal fusion rock ("Hold Your Ferret Aloft"). The remnants of his Man days are heard in occasional careening guitar and keyboard lines. Like many solo albums from members of mid-level bands such as Man, it has a "getting all of these ideas I've built up out of my system" air. And like many solo albums of that ilk, it was unfortunately pretty forgettable, the weirder items lined up uncomfortably against a mix of more standard-issue mid-'70s British album rock and singer/songwriterisms. It's never a good sign, for instance, when a song starts with the lyric "I ride up to London, just to see what I can see"
1 Out of My Tree 5:21
2 Brand 'X' 3:45
3 Summer Song 5:24
4 Swansea Town 3:48
5 Visitin' the Duke 6:02
6 Love to You 6:19
7 Overflow 5:08
8 Bust Again 4:37
9 Ferret Interview 1:38

A solo effort by John who is much better remembered as a member of Man and Home. He's assisted on this album by Martin Ace, Dave Charles, Tommy Riley and Phil Ryan.

Highly recommended!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download link
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MAN – TWO OZS OF PLASTIC WITH A HOLE IN THE MIDDLE – 1969 (UK) space rock/progressive rock

This release sees Man rely less on the Hammond and harmonized vocals, and more on hard-driven guitar. Its compositional ambitions are perhaps a bit greater -- it opens with "Prelude" and "The Storm," an extended jam that became ever longer and even more free form over the years as a concert favorite. "It Is as It Must Be" circles around the monster groove of a two-chord guitar vamp, while "Spunk Rock" struts over a jagged floor of overdriven guitar and yelped vocals. If nothing else, both the song and the album can be said to live up to their names.

Micky Jones (vocals, guitar)
Deke Leonard (vocals, guitar, 1968-72, 1973-76)
Terry Williams (drums, 1969-76)
Clive John (keyboards, 1968-72, 1972-73)
Martin Ace (guitar, 1969-72, 1975-76)
1 (i) Prelude (ii) The Storm 12:18
2 It is As it Must Be 8:27
3 Spunk Box 5:45
4 My Name Is Jesus Smith 4:03
5 Parchment and Candles 1:51
6 Brother Arnold's Red and White Striped Tent 5:04

Man seems to be a band that was always changing styles. They seem to mostly stick with a hard rock guitar sound on this album, sort of British hard rock blues meets West Coast psychedelic guitar rock. They still make a few detours though, which is a good thing in adding a little variety to the riffs. The opening epic "Prelude/The Storm" does a pretty decent space rock style with piano and other sonic textures. "My Name Is Jesus Smith" is kinda silly, but the band sounds strong on the country-rock styling.
Although the band had always done a good job of handling vocal harmonies, the lead vocals on the hard rock material I thought left a lot to be desired, sounding weak and dated. It's admirable though that the band had a do-it-yourself attitude about their music (despite areas of weakness) and fan-base. This seems a bit similar to contemporaries Hawkwind, whose hard rock/space rock style seems a relevant comparison to this album.

Highly recommended!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download link
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MAN – DO YOU LIKE IT HERE NOW ARE YOU SETTING IN? – 1971 (UK) space rock/progressive rock

Long a fan favorite, Man's fourth studio album was recorded in 1971 during a harried one-week studio session that found the group having to write nearly the entire album, barring the tight and rocking "Angel Easy" and the group's multi-part masterwork "Many Are Called but Few Get Up." Frankly, the album sounds like a record that was largely jammed in the studio; the eight-minute-plus jams that close each side, "We're Only Children" and "Love Your Life," are particularly tiresome, good instrumental and lyrical ideas stretched well past their breaking points. However, besides the superior "Angel Easy" and "Many Are Called but Few Get Up," the album does include the rather wonderful "All Good Clean Fun," a showcase for pianist Clive John and lead guitarist Deke Leonard that has a delightful prog pop playfulness akin to some of Genesis' more lighthearted early moments or the daffiness of the later band Hatfield & the North. The album may be only half good, but that half is among Man's very best work.

Micky Jones (vocals, guitar)
Deke Leonard (vocals, guitar, 1968-72, 1973-76)
Terry Williams (drums, 1969-76)
Clive John (keyboards, 1968-72, 1972-73)
Martin Ace (guitar, 1969-72, 1975-76)

1 Angel Easy 4:57
2 All Good Clean Fun 4:31
3 We're Only Children
4 Many Are Called But Few Get Up 7:22
5 Manillo 5:26
6 Love Your Life

Driving drums, swirling guitars and powerful vocals, all songs in the 5 minute range with improvisational parts strongly influenced by their connections with US West Coast group Quicksilver Messenger Service. A band with humour, joy to play and staying power.

Highly recommended!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download link
http://link-protector.com/295972/