A FEW UNHERALDED GEMS FROM THE STRANGE AND SOMETIMES WONDERFUL 70s

Blackwell and Deccenium two very different bands from two very different countries do both share one major thing in common- they are not very well known even amongst the most elite of record collectors of 70s progressive/hard/psych rock yet they are two of the best albums ever recorded during that turbulent period of time which saw so much change occur during the 10 years the 1970s were around.
Blackwell came from Houston Texas which would seem an odd place for an art rock/progressive band like their sort to come out of and they were packaged in one of the year of 1970's least flattering album covers. Comprised of writers Johnny "Rabbit" Bundrick (keyboards) and Vocalist Glen Gibson along with Jimmy Smith (lead guitar), Terry Wilson (Bass), and Randy De Hart (Drums)
they were one of several bands around the 1970-1971 period to combine hard rock/progressive material with a later, more sombre British influenced popsike sound that made for an exciting mix of power and substance. Borrowing from an eclectic wide range of influences (how many bands can make you think of Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, The Bee Gees, attempts at a late westcoast rock sound, and Cream on the same record?) they were obviously a unique band, unlike any other and so it wasn't long before a record company (Atco) thought they could cash in on the band's mix of ready friendly pop art and underground hard progressive rock.




Unfortunately, Blackwell weren't on Atco proper, but
the only release on the short lived subsidiary Astro records. Perhaps someone heard the group's rather dark lyrical subject matter on songs such as "Dirty Story" and decided to give them the boot, or else it just was bad luck for the band, but a lack of any kind of promotion and the label's demise as soon as it came led the band to just release this one gem.
Based around the soaring, unearthly, and haunting vocals of Glenn Gibson and tight ensemble playing they could jam with heavy Hammond B3 action, but like European bands such as Asterix and my previous write up Leafhound (From England), this lot preferred to keep it to songs. Having mentioned both these bands Blackwell were both heavier and more poppsych oriented, but obviously full on into the underground vibes that were coming from across the pond where the music coming out was much more revolutionary than most American bands of that era. Clearly a beautiful, sad, and incessantly catchy song like "Something Real" or the amazing cleverness of "Heaven Or Worse" would have made for a great chart hit and just as clearly the band could be all out art rockers with late 60s psych roots still showing on the brilliant "Dear Mr. Jupiter," "Fake," and the sad ode to suicide written by their producer "Almost Gifted" should have made them huge, should have had them not just on Atco, but right up there with the cream on Atlantic. It just wasn't to be, unfortunately for Blackwell. They may have been too good to make it in the States, and certainly music of this sort would be pretty unwelcome with all the rednecks in the South. Worst of all, with Glenn Gibson out of the picture and Blackwell gone the group would first become the poor Southern rockers Bl**ntz and then the equally awful UK based Back Street Crawler/Crawler enjoying success and raves that Blackwell never had. Such is the music business. I've tried every album I could by with Bundrick on it hoping for the magic of Blackwell to come through, and there ain't none to be had of it. So it's best just to focus on this band as they were when they were young, hopeful, and fully Anglophiles in Blackwell. Gibson is clearly the band's major strength- his voice is unique and enigmatic as he flies above the inspired, tight, flawless ensemble playing of the group. The lyrics tend towards the fantasy side and a darker fantasy side I should add. "Dirty Story" is a great anthem for the combative and depressed with the following line:
"Promise Me One Certain Something That I Have Wished For All My Life/An Isolated Deep And Dark Grave Where I Can Spend One Peaceful Night"
This whole song is full of eerie lyrics and even eerier, freakier harmonies and music. Then there's the flip side with the celebratory, joyous, all out power pop brilliance of "Wonderful." This song is  one of the best on the album- a song with a hint of the Left Banke somewhere in the melodies of a mainly power chord driven pop ode to a day of perfect happiness. Blackwell had it all. There are no flaws to be found on this record and even when they delve into jazz/blues rock free form hysteria on "Long Long Ago" they never fail to impress. The going price is around $75 and up now. Buy this album at any price you find it at as this is a truly dynamic, creative record worth its weight in gold.



Decennium is a group I picked up for $40 at a great record store out in the wilds of Eastern PA who were a dutch quintet on the small Pandora label. I know nothing about them but the superb album cover and the amazing music contained within Song Of The Sad Times, which to my knowledge is their only release. Let me know if I'm wrong there.
Where I know I'm right on is that for twin guitar led melodic progressive/psychedelic rock this album is the epitome of what made for so much exciting music in Northern Europe and England during an amazing time of revolution. When I look back to the past decades I never witnessed in musical and social terms the most strangely lopsided, opposite image time was the 70s. On one hand in Europe/England a dream of a freer, more honest, more carefree approach to life and more music for the sake of really adventurous music was rampant, but in America all was falling apart trying to keep the struggling structure of better values and better music that had been the 60s from being something wiped off the face of that country. I'm talking all the rubbish that was on the radio. Disturbing mean spirited bullshit like "One Tin Soldier" and "Run Joey Run" or the equally pop throwaway hits by The Osmonds and their ilk were the order of the day. If you wanted quality pop the best you'd get would be a miraculous masterpiece like "Precious And Few" by Climax. Basically, it was a dormant world for chart hits that were good in the early 70s, but vibrant for underground bands trying to make a living in the lean mean world of rock 'n roll. You had bands with the whole backing behind them like Smoke Rise whose album The Survival Of Saint Joan put a whole double album together of  the masterful. There were bands like the previous rant on Blackwell. You had Styx and Boston polishing their skills then in probably a few underground bands waiting till their takeover and the ascent of pomp rock as we know it in the mid 70s. Decennium didn't have to worry about chart success or no chart success. They could freely make their music without big money tiny brained American record executives telling them what to take out, and what we have here is some of the most exciting and tuneful progressive rock ever recorded. An album of 7 fairly long tracks the music is full of a similar vibe to their countrymen Cargo or bands like Northwind (Scotland) and Wishbone Ash (England) who combined jamming cooking guitars with a little bit of rural/country rock in there. There's definitely a country element to Decennium, but not like you'd hear in the dreadful Band or in the deadpan homages to early C&W Americana in The Byrds, Burrito Brothers, or Poco. Rather, this is just a more laidback and softer progressive rock with enough energy and drive to save it from the "too mellow to get out of our rocking chairs while we pass the hash" sound of folkrock. "Oriental Weeping Woman" which begins the album is full of beautiful vocals, heavy clashing guitars, and magically skilled transitions from the difficultly dexterous to the straight on attack of epic rural prog at its best. The rest of the album follows a similar path with the accent clearly on excellent songs and harmonies with long time lengths leaving room for epic jams. The use of a Fender Rhodes electric piano may occasionally bring to mind Canterbury progressive for some, but it's worked into music in a much less obtrusive manner than say Hatfield and The North or National Health. This album is still completely unknown. I honestly don't know a thing about this band other than the sheer excellence of the music contained on this album and for me that's enough. Find yourself a copy at any risk and it will be more than enough for you too.

DIGGING WHAT NO OTHERS HAVE EVER DUG- A WORD OR TWO ON HYPE, MANIPULATION, AND A FEW SUGGESTIONS ABOUT RECORD BUYING

What's that old saying "The More Things Change The More They Stay The Same?" Well, that would only be partly true about record collecting, but it would have a grain of truth in that the good records stay good and the horrible ones, well most of them stay horrible. I began digging through the 99 cent bin at the Princeton Record Exchange and the racks of records at the Cranbury Bookworm back 23 years ago when I was only 12 years old. That was how it began. I would gradually go to the somewhat pricier records and then the really big stuff a bit later on. Around the 1992-1995 period I was between the ages of 16 and 19- an age when you really become aware of a lot of things in life. It was then that I started getting serious about rare and obscure records/bands/artists and it was very much trial and error. What I am alluding to now is that Paul Major and his then partner Mike Ascherman who is bad vibes incarnate had a very opposite take than my other mentor/teacher/record guru Bill Paquin and this would lead me down the road of the overhyped and the justly praised. The overrated and the amazingly underrated. Paul and I met when Mike and I met. The two were inseparable partners for awhile and we met each other at a record show at the Marriott Hotel in Forestall Village (referred to by myself and my mum as the "deserted village"). Paul became my first mail order contact. Paul was at that time the biggest record dealer in the States and he had everything. Now, what I want to get at is that Paul, bless him, was somebody who would turn me onto some of the most obnoxious garbage in the world and also concur with me about some of the best music. It's a double edged sword. On one hand you have something as dreadful as Morgen- now an album approaching a ludicrous price tag that was always for God Knows what reason held in really high regard by most. Not Bill. After my reaction to the album when Paul hyped it and I went for it Bill said right out that Saint Steven is the masterpiece on ABC/Probe and Morgen is not even psychedelic at all (which it of course isn't- just a bad macho whining nothing hard rock record). On the other hand, there's Saint Steven- an undeniable masterstroke and an album good enough to be considered one of the best ever. Bill and I still talk about it. That goes to show you how much something can stick in your mind as a warning against hype machines. Some of my favourite records don't go for much and some go for prices that would freak nearly anyone at how high they are. Oftentimes an album like Rain on Project 3 and the also superb Blackwell on Astro (the only album on the label to my knowledge) which for me are two of the best anywhere I'd get laughed at about and then they'd go on to be valuable. It figures. I was always saying that American records were gonna stay at the same value except the underrated ones and that imports were the big deal- mainly British and German. I was laughed at, called a novice, and the whole thing ended up with me the one who was right. I can laugh at those people. Any dealer who tells you still that a $400 American record is going to be worth a thousand in a year is living squarely in the past. I learned the hard way with a lot of things. There's still a lot of pain for losing gems like Dog That Bit People and Arcadium in the summer of 1995- I call it the summer of bad timing. I've smashed rare records. I've traded records I never should have traded. It still goes on and has to stop. I've bought back records I once thought were nothing records only to discover they are masterful. It took me ages to acquire a love for the heavy German bands of the 1970s and now that is some of my most favourite music. It takes a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of sticking it out.
  I discovered a bunch of European oddball imports in a store in far off Allentown PA called Double Decker this year and a lot really impressed me especially one called Song Of The Sad Times by a band called Decennium. I was sure I'd scored a monster with the quality of the music which is rural/country/jazzy tinged progressive rock with a few psych leanings and great vocals all through. On Ebay it sold for not much at all, but the great cover and small pressing still in my mind make it a monster. Don't be fooled by hype and price tags. I will agree that many high priced rarities are well worth it as I own them, but then I will have to also add to that one must be cautious.  There's a lot of great records that don't fetch more than the $25 to $40 range that beat most of the big enormously overpriced ones.
We now have the internet at our disposal- samples, youtube, and if you can get them downloads. Now nearly all record business is done through the internet. I can't say how much easier that's made things. I also can't say how miserably sad it is when you look at what it has done to the collecting world. There still are criminals on the net, but back in the old days there were more insane dealers than you could count on both hands 3 times. Anyone could print a list. I heard many horror stories and experienced my share, but I generally was given guidelines by Paul and Bill as to who not to deal with. That, though, is somewhat beside the point. What I want to bring up here is what the net has done to record stores. The internet and rising prices for rent have led to the almost complete destruction of the best and most economic way to find and buy rare vinyl- quality record shops. NYC used to be a mecca. There were great stores, wonderful places where you could find all kinds of things. Venus, It's Only Rock 'N Roll, Revolver, Midnight, later in years for me Second Coming, Shrine, Stooz. All those stores were so much fun. All of them are gone and in the case of Second Coming, Shrine, and Stooz they all went under within a year and a half. This isn't just happening in New York. The bad economy is making it harder for a lot of collectors like me to find things in stores when the shops keep on disappearing. Now it's the internet for nearly everything. It takes so much of the fun out. The computer by nature is impersonal, cold, technical. It has taken out the human element. The meeting and talking and bantering with friends in nice cozy shops full of quality LPS. All I can say about it is you just have to take it and try to accept that this way might be safer. I have bought most of my collection off the net, but not all. Still, it is both good and horrendous. I'm 35 now. I'm looking to slow buying records down to a halt for awhile because I buy too much, but now I could step into the position of someone who could educate willing record fiends. What you have to remember before anything else is that your own  taste comes first. You need to judge by what you like and not buy into peer pressure and hype. I was always someone who had my own way of looking at and listening to things. I don't care what people think of my taste because I know it's really good. I also have learned that you have to give things a chance, a few spins to know if its a good one or not. Unless it's absolutely great or absolutely unlistenable don't make your mind up the first time. Give it time and let it come to you if it isn't or play it more and more if you love it- which is advice I should listen to myself. It's been a long time since those early days of collecting when I hardly had anything to spend and I was making discoveries for really cheap. I would say that the 1988-1994 period was THE BEST for records. Everybody was dumping their vinyl and buying CDs. You could find anything. Now I just have to say that although they can take the fun out of it and make it more difficult not to spend a huge amount of money, they can't take away the quality of the music. And that's what it's down to. Quality and good music.
 That's what it always was and always will be- digging deep into great music and loving it. There's simply nothing else that can compare to the magic of the best music there is and I'd like to end with a big round of applause for all those who stick with it in the collecting world. Don't go too far, but it's definitely worth it.

PETE FRENCH AND LEAFHOUND- THE MOST REAL QUALITY HARD ROCK BAND FROM ANYWHERE

For two years I've been in occasional touch with Pete French of Leafhound and he helped me through some hard times two years ago. Thanks Pete. I promised him a blog on Leafhound who reformed several years ago with Pete French the only original member and 3 young musicians stepping in for the rest of the group. This new, revitalized Leafhound released the poorly promoted, but astonishingly good Unleashed CD. If ever I needed proof this was something done from the heart and pure music of the soul not the cash register this confirmed my belief. Many bands who reform you wish would never have had that brilliant idea when they come out with a poorly conceived attempt at emulating the worst trends and trendiness sending rock to rot these days. Sometimes it works as in the case of Magnum who actually sounded a lot better than their albums before their early 90s split on Breath Of Life (2002) and Princess Alice And The Broken Arrow (2008), but usually we end up with crap put out by bands who think their already wholly stupid past makes them legendary- here I am talking about Amerikan garage/psych bands who think the world owes them a favour for their expensive and overrated record. However, it has bitten some really good bands too and none have made anything the quality of Leafhound. Unleashed may look like Heavy Metal, but it sounds straight out of the early 1970s tradition that sparked Leafhound's amazing Growers Of Mushroom.
Onto that album.. At a current value of 2500 to 3000 pounds Growers Of Mushroom is the most expensive British major label album and even before half the other highly prized masterpieces were going for huge $$$ it was already hugely expensive. Considering Decca did nothing to promote the band and released the album after they were history and Pete French had joined Atomic Rooster that's not surprising. I don't own the record. I own the Repertoire CD which has unusually good sound quality for that label and I'd like to find the album reissue to put up there with The Koobas, Pussy, and Kaleidoscope's Faintly Blowing for huge rarities beyond my price range.
So you'll probably want to know what makes Leafhound so special. It is several things. The tight ensemble playing isn't stiff and often goes into blazing leads and passionate riffing. The production is perfect for the heavy blues/prog rock sound that  they have. Also, it must be noted that Pete French's wailing vocals and intelligent lyrics, many of which are based on horror stories rather than the usual blues, are outstandingly good. The whole album just rocks and flows together in the way of the very best and most creative bands of that time. Self indulgent solos and overbearing "My Woman Done Left Me" lyrics are avoided for the entire album with instead the influences of Cream, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix weaving through brilliant song after brilliant song of dynamic hard rock. Like most British heavy rock/early metal bands Leafhound had their roots in the blues with French coming from The Brunning Hall Sunflower Blues Band and Stu and Derek Brooks were in the band who would become Leafhound Black Cat Bones. The Black Cat Bones record Barbed Wire Sandwich stuck too much to the blues base and with both the Brooks brothers and French in the band they would become Leafhound- a band who had grown tired of playing the blues. Like Cream or Free or Zeppelin the blues influence is taken into the stratosphere and blown up then reassembled. While Free would stick a bit more to blues and R&B Leafhound are closer to Hendrix or Sabbath or Led Zeppelin yet they had their own sound. In fact, there are no imitations of those aforementioned bands present here regardless of what you may hear about the album.
On a personal note, I can remember back to when I was just a young boy and I thought that I was seriously into heavy metal. It turned out my musical taste had no room for the kind of bullshit coming out under that banner and I was firmly a classic hard rocker. I still love the bands like Diamond Head who stuck to an earthy base to build their molten hard metallic foundation on. Diamond Head and Leafhound have some similarities to each other and so do Leafhound and UFO. UFO were my favourite band. Hands down. Going back to their music now it's amazing how good it still sounds. And I can't forget The Scorpions. For me, and I'm not just talking about hard rock I'm talking about ALL MUSIC, for Rock to be Solid Rock it has to have a warm, passionate, emotional basis for all it may add to that. The 90s were completely devoid of this and the new millennium hasn't been much better. In actuality, the rot set in with Iron Maiden who are the most appalling band ever produced along with Metallica and Megadeth, Slayer, et all. When I was 12/13 the nastiest kid in school was an Iron Maiden freak and I hated them. I would go through 3 periods of Maiden Mania and I don't know why but guess I figured out what crap it was when I started to notice how the guitars sounded like they were made of tin foil, Bruce Dickinson is always off key and can't sing a note, and the lyrics are right wing fanatic Neo Nazi bullshit. The last and final falling out with Iron Maiden left me lividly angry with them and I've not recovered from it. That's beside the point, though. The point is Uriah Heep may indulge in many influences, but they keep and have kept a steady groove going only going astray the scant few times they depart from that groove. Leafhound never miss a beat, and when it comes to groove nobody has the kind of riffs and tasty leads these guys have. Check out the opening track "Freelance Fiend" or the slow to bludgeoning epic hard bluesy progressive all out brilliance of "Work My Body." Pete French is a fantastic singer and he still has The Voice. His strong, powerful, emotion filled vocals are just what Leafhound needed to complete this package of tough and heavy brilliance which is from the soul and made out of love. These guys were passionate about their music. In fact, if you are lucky enough to track down Unleashed you'll find out they way still are.
One of the most interesting things is how Growers Of Mushroom and Unleashed sound more deep and meaningful than most of their peers back in the 70s and most of the nonsense around today. Whilst Warhorse vocalist Ashley Holt was an off-pitched screamer and so is Ian Gillan of Deep Purple who Warhorse came out of (original Purple bass player Nick Simper formed Warhorse), and Horse are a whole lot of posing and hot air (and Satanic gibberish), the mistakes of the 3 aforementioned bands don't affect Leafhound at all. This is the best. It really is an intense and powerful work and hopefully despite the promotional problems and the need to find a new label Pete French who still sounds and looks great will keep plugging along. Find Growers Of Mushroom and Unleashed. You will blow your mind.

AS THE TIMES BEGAN TO CHANGE IN OLDE ENGLAND TOWN- TITUS GROAN AND THE GODS- TO SAMUEL A SON

The Gods are best remembered by rock historians as the band who became Uriah Heep (Ken Hensley, the leader, would go on to form Heep with Mick Box and David Byron of the band Spice whilst Gods drummer Lee Kerslake became a UH mainstay when he joined them on DEMONS AND WIZARDS all the way up until their 2008 release Wake The Sleeper and 2011's masterful Into The Wild), but traces of that later, heavier group would only appear very sporadically on the two albums The Gods recorded Genesis and the much superior To Samuel A Son. Most dealers/collectors seem to prefer Genesis, but I find the tracks off that album to be tamer, less fully realized, and the album has its high highs and low lows. Having said that, I've yet to own the original.....
In Koobas fashion (A band To Samuel A Son and my second choice Titus Groan resemble to a certain extent) To Samuel A Son was released after The Gods no longer existed. Throughout their career personnel changes had plagued the group with such luminaries as King Crimson/ELP bass man/voice Greg Lake and the Stones Mick Taylor early members who came and went, but after settling on Hensley as the leader (lead vocals/keyboards/guitars) with Joe Konas (Guitar/vocals), the late John Glasscock (bass player SUPREME and vocals), and Lee Kerslake (Drums/vocals) they would make their two albums and then rapidly disappear into the netherworld of collectors groups who didn't sell 5 copies at the time.
To Samuel A Son is a concept side of 9 songs and a non-concept side of "Stage Numbers" on Side Two although more likely the ambitious songwriting and dramatic vocals were a natural to Hensley and he was feeling restricted by The Gods' short song format. The concept of Side One is the birth, life, death, and rebirth through his son of the fictitious Samuel "Sammy" Jay and while that may sound ordinary much of the 9 songs are amazing. The beginning of the album isn't inviting- a plodding organ, sound effects, and then finally after that kicking into the first song the title track which manages to combine Zombies Oddesey And Oracle melodic richness with a deeper, more urgent progressive slant. We can call this majestic track "Progressive Pop-" a transition from the 1967/1968 British pop to the coming progressive sound of the early 70s. The vocals from Hensley are strong and appealing while the harmonies are staggeringly good. The rest of the side moves from childhood to marriage to growing old to the very sophisticated take on rebirth through the Son in "Autumn" which like the opener begins pretty lame and then gets great when the vocals and actual theme come in. You can overlook two poor yet very short intros when the rest of the side and the album are amazing. Highlights of the Conceptual side are the classy very British psychedelia of "Sticking Wings On Flies," the Koobas style rocking psych sound of "He's Growing" and "Lady Lady-" which may be the side's best track. There is a also the Beatles/Badfinger power pop sound which permeates through this entire album. Yes, my mates, Uriah Heep began as the Beatles proteges The Gods. "Penny Dear" and Side Two's brilliant "Mama I Need' are McCartney meets The Koobas while the McCartney and Lennon comparisons can't be avoided when describing some of the band's vocal arrangements which find them somewhere between the two. This isn't to say that To Samuel A Son is derivative, just to point to an influence not just on The Gods but on their Hatfield friends Octopus who'd deliver with Restless Night a one-off masterpiece I wish I'd kept.
Now, you're probably going to ask if To Samuel A Son and The Gods really are great enough to command the 400 and more pound value of the album/their work and whether they were capable of turning out a classic and not just an album that would get overshadowed by the masterful work of Uriah Heep. I can tell you right off that you play To Samuel A Son next to Very 'Eavy Very 'Umble and To Samuel wins hands down. Byron's voice wasn't quite all the way there yet as it would be on Salisbury and same for the songs, many of them ideas nicked from this record. The Gods could churn out song after song of transitional 60s into early 70s greatness far better than most bands were doing at the time as England was in the throes of major musical changes which saw quite a few masterpieces, but just as many duds (Spectrum's The Light Is Dark Enough, Samson's one off nightmare Are You Samson, Fire's laughable The Magic Shoemaker). The Gods no longer were afraid to spice up their arrangements both musical and vocal nor were they held down by pseudo soul moves which led many to call them a British Vanilla Fudge. Now they sound confident, melodic, upfront, strong, and with many highlights which combine superb vocal harmonies with a strong yet very down to earth lead voice. "Lovely Anita," the album's closer, is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard and though it may be from 1969 is full of the vibes of the Summer Of Love. It is a love song to end all love songs and I'm not one that's big on girls' names in song titles (Toto is a guilty pleasure thus so..) or lyrics. The Gods manage to surpass quite a few other bands here, and they also manage to avoid sounding pretentious which isn't easy when one side of your album is a 9 song mini-opera. Yes, you can hear echoes of Queen from time to time in their harmonies and it undoubtedly is the influence of The Beatles and Bee Gees on The Gods which can be pointed to as making them a trio of bands whose music would later take on a very mature shape in the songwriting of Freddie Mercury and cohorts. If you love The Bee Gees, Beatles, Koobas, and you like your Proto-Prog on the less pretentious more juicy song based side start here. To Samuel A Son is a Brilliant album and The Gods themselves are a band worthy of their revered place in the world of late 60s British Bands who didn't have the success they deserved so much at the time.
   By the time Titus Groan made their one self-titled album in 1970 Uriah Heep were up and running, Jethro Tull were astonishing friend and foe alike, Genesis were panhandling us some of the most boring music ever save for "The Knife," Traffic were branching out, Yes and King Crimson were reinventing British music, and progressive rock had indeed come into its own. Sounding a bit like King Crimson and Jethro Tull, Titus Groan belong to the category of bands like Czar, Raw Material, Bulldog Breed, and Aardvark all of whom differ, but all of which were playing heavy early prog with traces of British popsike. The 4 man band Titus Groan here offer us 5 long tracks and one of them a multipart suite, but passionate interplay between guitar and woodwinds, rich harmonies, and a raspy yet friendly lead voice render them a band who don't even come close to sounding pretentious. I remember when this album was common and not highly thought of, that is the US press (and typically my mint minus copy is a US press) and I still run into a lot of very skeptical reviews of Titus Groan's one record, but for the life of me I don't understand it. This is one of THE BEST and one of THE MOST IMPRESSIVE progressive albums ever made. I would say that it may top some of the huge monsters and is one in its own right. I can point to several reasons for this collection's spotless, magical vibe. First off the playing may be exuberant and virtuosic, but it does not interfere with the songs and the excellent melodies present in each track. Secondly there is a lot of room for pop melodic know how even in the heaviest tracks. Third and final to make this a classic Titus Groan doesn't sound like a band who take themselves way too seriously. There is a real feeling of fun and creativity on here that I would compare to the sense of joyfulness present on Aardvark's best songs and the peak moments of Czar where the music is exciting and at that same time not just a lot of pseudo philosophical nonsense. Progressive without pretentious is the way it should be and for proof of this listen to the track "Hall Of Bright Carvings." What is a long suite is actually melodic, soaring, harmonies surrounded  by a jam of intense joy and excitement. The saxes, guitars, bass, and drums all get a chance to really shine without an excess of overlong solos. The jam here is a structured one with a few free form/free flowing sections. I am reminded of the vast creativity prevalent in the best of the heavy leaning British Psych/European psych which has no equal in Amerika or very few equals in the States. I would put this album up there with the amazing 1st Mighty Baby album as one of the best ever, but like Mighty Baby who would go on to a dreadful 2nd album (the financially huge price tag'd musically worthless Jug Of Love) the other tracks recorded by Titus Groan which only made it to singles were unimpressive. Also, I can bring in Czar at this point as a band who made their album when times were changing fast and there weren't any really concrete trends that were prevalent for a band to be sucked into, thus when you either were progressive or more middle of the road that middle ground was unwisely taken both by Czar and Titus Groan. A British pressing of Titus Groan commands a huge sum now, but it would be good to point out that you get a gatefold with the UK release and its' on the Dawn label who gave us the also brilliant Pluto and Quicksand. Thankfully, the US press is on the Janus label and the sound quality is fantastic- better than any of the reissues. In the annals of heavy progressive rock with some of that popsike/Mod magic still left in there Titus Groan are one of the best. They deliver and they aren't music that will depress or bring you down. They avoid free jazz squealing, prog rock navel-gazing, and the delirious nothing of boogie band nowhere land. Both these albums by The Gods and Titus Groan reflect the era when British rock was nearing a peak of excitement and the heavy sounds of Europe were coming in full blast. You can't go wrong with these two. Do yourself a favor and find them. It may be a long search, but it will be a rewarding one at the end.

THE DEATH OF HEAVY METAL FROM THE PEN OF A VETERAN ROCK AND ROLL LOVER

This could be my most controversial post, but it had to be said and had to be written. Before we go on let's get one thing clear- I'm still very much anti Tipper Gore and her PMRC bullshit back in the 80s, but that said all that fuss happened in that dim and distant time when Heavy Metal was still mainly just a louder more strident version of hard rock and roll. Yes, back in the Golden Age of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal there was much good music that was mistakenly thrown under that banner or which simply stated is a harder, meaner, more in-your-face hard rock. I'm talking about bands like Diamond Head, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Praying Mantis (I'm not a big fan, but some songs are great melodic rock when they're less doom-ladened) Def Leppard, Dokken, UFO, Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath and the like. Good solid rock and roll. Now I bring you the sad, disturbing, and horrible news:
Heavy Metal is dead. Rest In Peace. It wasn't natural causes either it's best described as intentional long rot turning to a quick homicide by clueless ignorant teenagers who form a large quotient of the buying public.
To go back some 23/22 years I was at the age of 12 and 13 a metalhead protege. However, it wouldn't last long with the kids at school or other older friends because I would not go to the dark side- the right wing fanatic sick and disgusting pro-war pro-violence pro-death side of what was just starting to appear in the late 80s. My staple diet was loud AOR and hard rock and now it still is. Having bands like Warrant and Whitesnake in the top 10 constantly I thought the truly evil side of this music was nothing to fear and would die out. Many good times were had listening to Diamond Head and UFO. Truth be told UFO saved me from going completely insane with the abuse I encountered in school and the huge amount of stress I suffered from it. They are Gods and for me UFO, Angel, Diamond Head, and the other great melodic metal/hard rock/pomp rock bands this is what the music is all about. Disturbingly looking back all those years now I can look at what took place around 91/92 when hate metal and grunge were entering the mainstream and the "kill and destroy and plunder everything" philosophy lead to the worst crap ever recorded and the worst bunch of kids ever to have the displeasure of my knowing. I had become a hippy by this point indulging in psychedelia and with long hair- I'd left metal behind completely if this is what was going to be considered "Heavy Metal." There were really bad bands back in the 80s, but it is these hate-preaching bands of the 90s era like Tool, Avenged Sevenfold, Hammerfall, Deicide (more on that disgusting lot later), Korn and the like who are the ones who have survived. Now there is another even more evil generation and Hate Rock has entered the mainstream clogging up all new and used CD and record stores that carry "Heavy Metal" and of course they still call it that. Bands as disgusting as Hatebreed, Anal Cunt, Anal Vomit (you can tell how imaginative these arseholes are), In Flames, Deicide (whose leader murders animals and is proud of that), Emperor, Cannibal Corpse (actually this is a still popular 90s death/dark/speed metal band), Slayer (another holdover,), gay bashing hole-headed Sebastian Bach, and an even longer list are fully in the mainstream and it is the messages of hate, war, death, and murder which are filling up the ears of stupid pissed-off-for-no-good-reason loser kids while their lazy parents do nothing but feed into the negativity of their children. Heavy Metal is indeed dead and the above bands and many others can be thanked for that. If I go to a store to find a band like Leverage, Treat, Dreamtide, the back catalog of Stratovarius, or any number of brilliant melodic hard rockers or even mainstream acts like Europe or Whitesnake's new releases there is no luck. Why you may ask? Music that preaches love, standing up and fighting for what you believe in, saving the environment, and respect for other people is not going to sell. I could see this sad and evil rot setting in in the 80s, but I never dreamed that it would become this bad. As a musician, artist, and a lover of rock and roll I find this really beyond frustrating it's worse than that it's painful. And I won't say it's hard to believe. Ask yourself the question why Saxon and Iron Maiden are two of the few old metal acts still popular and I will answer it with the following lines from Saxon. I am quoting Saxon's rather overzealous towards human conflict Biff Byford here from a song all the way back in 1982 "Power And The Glory:"
"My friends lay around me their bodies all tattered and torn/but mine is not to reason why mine is just to do or die/to the Power And The Glory". And just when I'm thinking that Biff either had no brain he is so twisted or just was naive/not thinking in the same song he says:
"The General says we'll win the war just sacrifice 10,000 more"
Go over to Afghanistan and get blown up by an IED and see how much glory you find in that.
This song and both Saxon and Iron Maiden's endless hate, death, and war promoting rubbish are considered anthemic and patriotic. The world is going straight to Hell and these bands are loving it.
So you could ask how do we bring back real Heavy Metal and Hard Rock and stop this viciousness and hate driven non-music and I don't know if I could answer. If I had to say a quick response I'd say gather a movement of people like myself and complain to CD/Record Stores (I'm saying CD before Record as most of this is bought by kids on CDS or downloaded), to parents I'd say step up and keep your kids away from violent video games and the perils of the internet (incidentally this was suggested in an interview by Judas Priest's Glen Tipton and I fully agree), you could write angry emails to music publications, or you could get your own music together and fight that way.
The internet has an awful lot to do with the rot and destruction of teen culture and teenagers period. Any kid regardless of age with the internet can access hate rock, death metal, and can go to blog sites suggesting that kids kill their parents, can make bombs, and can kill other kids, and harm people. This leads to a viciousness where the parents are not stepping up while their children are into serious harm  and their minds are rotting away with the click of a button. Like how the world ends in many songs from the bygone era of the 80s like "Future World" by Pretty Maids or "Blind Men And Fools" by anti-war metallers Tytan/Kal Swan. The likes of Kal Swan's Lion and Bad Moon Rising are extremely rare and if Lion who stood up for a lot of good things and were basically a macho yet love and passion fueled band are even available on CD you won't find them. Blame the kids for their stupidity, but a lot of blame when it comes to the web can rest with inefficient lazy parents.
This is so sad. That's what it boils down to more than anything else is a real sadness and disillusionment within me. I still play what many would consider Heavy Metal guitar licks and I love heavy music of all kinds to balance with my lighter stuff, but as it was for poet and WW1 veteran Robert Graves I will say to metal having any credibility left "Goodbye To All That." I can't and never could listen to such evil messages and inept wet noodle delirium and to see it go straight into the mainstream and homes all across Amerika and other countries too is too much to bear. I began my journey knowing good music from bad and I know even better now. Except now the question isn't just a question of music it's a question of moral justice. These bands have to be punished and punished severely, but we all know that in the wrong way that will only increase the sales of these bastards. I have not any hope left for Heavy Metal as a music form. It's dead and it's gone. From the dying embers there are still bands and musicians out there trying to keep it alive and working really really hard to make great music. I'm talking Treat. I'm talking Magnum, I'm talking Europe. I'm talking Pete French reviving a band that many had no hope for ever hearing music as great as theirs again and revitalizing it with a new line up and same classic hard rock of his great band Leafhound. What can it take to bring these great musicians the success they deserve? Revolution. Why have Stratovarius never gone anywhere in Amerika and only in Japan and their native Finland even with the release of a landmark new album this year? Because my mates people are incredibly stupid. Stratovarius, a Finnish melodic symphonic metal band, have been around in one form or another since 1990 or even 1989. They currently have one of the most amazing guitar players in the world and have rebounded from the uninteresting Polaris album to their new one which is brilliant (type in Stratovarius New Album 2011 as the title is escaping me now). Uriah Heep have just released Into The Wild- a true Heavy Metal masterstroke that is one of their best ever in their over 40 year career. The music that I love, that all real musicians love is still being made, but while Saxon and Iron Maiden and Slayer and Megadeth/Metallica remain huge UFO, Uriah Heep, Stratovarius, are cult bands at best. It's a dreadful situation. Lyrics that deal in a proper manner with dark subjects and don't encourage horrific acts have been around longer than you'd think- even longer than Black Sabbath. Sabbath brought a lot of things to people's attention, but bless them not just for that, but for being the one huge selling band along with former frontman extraordinaire Ozzy Osbourne's best work who still can sell huge quantities of their music and draw fans from all over the world. If at best 3 bands (Sabbath, Zeppelin, and the massive and even more massively great back catalog of Queen) are still alive and doing great and we have Kiss to keep us company on a cold night whether Gene Simmons tongue gets in the way or not a horrible analogy can be drawn to an army of soldiers fighting for all things good finding themselves outflanked by an evil Proto Fascist army of Hate. As veteran rocker Ian Lloyd and I said when we met each other in January the world is ending. And as for heavy metal- if you're not convinced by these passionate words of a one-time huge follower yet let me say it again- Heavy Metal is Dead. Rest in Peace I wish it would, but these slanted/twisted fools are trying to claim that Hate Rock is really Heavy Metal and it is very much alive. If it's down to them to make the judgement it never was and never will be alive. I rest my case. It's really sad, but there are the facts behind the death of a once very vibrant music form.

FROM THE LAND OF ICE WARM MUSIC- ACHE PICTURES FROM CYCLUS 7 AND ELONKORJUU

I've always had a fascination with Northern Europe. I've had many dreams about it and tried to visualize sitting in front of a fireplace in Denmark or Sweden or Finland in winter with warm friends and a warm fire glowing. Some of the most outstanding music in the world has come not just from Western Northern European countries like Germany and Holland, but also from Sweden, Denmark, and Finland with also a few classics from Norway (mostly bad, but the first 3 Titanic albums are unbeatable. Also check out the AOR band Da Vinci who I may write up in the near future).
Ache And Finland's Elonkorjuu (the translation is Harvest) are among the very best. In fact, I'd go all out and say that Ache's 1976 masterpiece Pictures From Cyclus 7 may be the most brilliant progressive album ever to be recorded by a band from Northern Europe.
Ache had some successes early on with their single "Shadow Of A Gypsy" lifted off their 2nd album Green Man and you got to give credit where credit is due psychedelic heaviness never got more ambitious than their debut De Homine Urbano (The Urban Man) where just 2 sidelong tracks one vocal one instrumental graced the album. By Pictures... only two original members were in the band- driving force keyboard player/harmony vocalist Peter Mellin and guitarist Finn Olafsson. Joining them for this ambitious concept album were Stig Kreutzfeldt (Lead vocals, percussion), Johnnie Gellett (Lead vocals, percussion, guitar), Steen Toft Andersen (bass) and Gert Smedegaard (drums). So a 6 piece band now from what was formerly a four piece and a completely different sound.
Pictures From Cyclus 7 is a pretty dark and impenetrable concept album, but it is here that all similarities with their earlier work end. Instead of long psychedelic guitar and organ solos the sound is a heavy yet very melodic progressive rock/pop with lyrics from Bo Lillesoe and a dark moody vibe full of expressionistic imagery and some pretty creepy moments that manage to not dissuade from the highly melodic lush music on this brilliant album. The English vocals are sung really well with harmonies and smooth softly sung leads a very impressive feature. The music can at times bring to mind Procol Harum, Yes, and a bit of Lonesome Crow Scorpions (although that's more the vocal chants in "Still Hungry (Vampire Song"), and some of the best German bands of the early to mid 70s era. You also may detect a little of Genesis and Uriah Heep. However, having said that the sound here is unique. I bought this album in a trade with record guru Bill Paquin (still my friend after 20 years) 13 years ago and it never left my collection. I haven't found anything comparable to it. So I suppose now I should mention some of the songs...
The Cyclus 7 Introduction: A beautiful melodic pop/progressive crossover with upbeat rhythmic structures and sweetly sung vocals. Picture Yes if they went completely pop or Denmark's The Floor if they lasted into the progressive era. This is the perfect way to begin an album. The music comes off as unpretentious and without any contriving. It's pure, natural, and says "Come On In And Have A Listen" pretty much literally,
Roses (Registering)- I still don't know what this song is supposed to really say. It's very dark sounding in comparison to the introduction with more mellow vocals and some strong Yes-alike harmonies. The guitar takes on a heavy fuzz/phased sound which Finn will use for the entire album. A wonderful progressive epic this song builds and builds and goes through subtle changes with no problem. Ache master prog rock here.
For Still Hungry (Vampire Song) I have a strange tale to relate here. This album came to me in 1998 and I instantly associated the lyrics about waste, destruction, pollution, and decay with an evil looking man who looked just like Dick Cheney! Little did I know that the master of pollution, sickness, evil, and disease would be this stupid country's vice president! This is by far the darkest, creepiest song on the album and doesn't spare you from a lot of disturbing imagery and Gothic overtones. It stays melodic, very melodic, but is very unsettling. It is about a Vampire who carries a sack full of waste and poison to destroy the earth. The theme is destruction and pollution leading into What Can We Do which is about killing the vampire. Here Ache are back to their upbeat and melodic sound with a very European vibe. It's a brilliant little two part suite within a concept as its tied to "Still Hungry"
Still Registering is a soft folksy melodic ballad very short and with beautiful vocals.
Side Two all flows together like one big symphony whilst avoiding any of the hideously pretentious trappings of overblown symphonic prog which this mostly certainly is not. Symphonic yes, progressive yes, overblown not one bit. The lyrics go into a dark mode for the whole of Side Two and the energetic, but very laidback playing and strong urgency make for a brilliant experience. Ache (pronounced like the word "ASH" by the way and short for the river in Hell called Acheron) were now a band without long solos and similarities to late 60s British psychedelic rock of the more out there kind. They had become a truly progressive/psychedelic/pop crossover with atmospheric songs, strong melodies, and beautiful vocals. If you like your progressive rock with lots of atmosphere and a bit on the dark side, but you also crave harmonious vocals and strong melodies then look no further. For the sheer adventurousness and close attention to detail alone nothing can touch this album. It has gone up in value, yet remained obscure and one can only speculate how things may have worked out for Ache had they continued in this direction and not dismantled their career with a native tongue (Danish) folkrock album two years later. Ache have a website now and they seem to be one of those sad cases of heroes in their own country and virtually unknown outside of collectors circles in the rest of the world. This album won't be cheap, but it will cost you a lot less than the overrated rubbish of bands like Old Man And The Sea from Sweden and I honestly prefer this album to the good but derivative Hurdy Gurdy from Denmark. Along with The Floor's 1967 popsike masterwork 1st Floor Pictures From Cyclus 7 by Ache is a masterpiece, about the best progressive album in the world certainly the best from Denmark.
Finland's an interesting country. It is mostly uninhabitable, very cut off from the rest of the world, has a very difficult language, and yet it produces great athletes (for ice hockey at least) and some amazing music. Stratovarius, a Finnish band from recent years, have combined symphonic progressive with melodic heavy metal to startling effect over the years and I wonder if they heard Elonkorjuu, a band whose name is Finnish for "Harvest" and who recorded just one insanely expensive record in 1972 for Finnish EMI Parlophone.
Harvest Time, this brilliant band's one album, was reissued quite some years back with horrible sound quality, but more recently Shaddocks the pricey German label reissued the album with surprisingly good sound quality for a label whose sound is usually mediocre.
Guitar and a druggy, detached, trippy progressive vibe with much classical influence dominate the band's one classic, brilliant album, and you can hear a bit of the most symphonic of Ritchie Blackmore's playing in much of the solos and riffs on this album. Am I hinting at something? Yeah, I am. Deep Purple had 4 great musicians in the band. They also had a shit vocalist in Ian Gillan and hardly any good songs. Later on this kind of metal mediocrity would reach a new low with Yngwie Malmsteen's blatantly poor imitations of the masterful Blackmore. I have always tried to just tune Gillan and the bad songs out and focus on Ritchie, but I can't. So I'd say that Deep Purple aside from the few classics they produced (namely "Black Knight," "Child In Time," "Highway Star," and a few other bits of Machine Head) during the MK II era were much better with David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes on Burn- an exceptional melodic hard rock record. If Elonkorjuu can be compared to English bands of their era however Jethro Tull would probably be more apt than Deep Purple, but in a unique way they don't sound influenced by anybody.
Comprised of two guitarists/multi instrumentalists, bass, drums, and vocals, and with lyrics written by Esko Saarinen Elonkorjuu base all their music around classical influences bringing to mind the amazing Swedish group Rag I Ryggen. However, keyboards and flute just add some nice touches here while guitars lead the barrage. Not to say this is as heavy as you may have been led to believe it is. Elonkorjuu are definitely a heavy progressive band and not a heavy hard rock band in the straight sense of that word. You can hear the odd trace of Sabbath, but the resigned, slow, and gloomy sound here is too European to really bring British or American bands into the description. The vocals are obviously struggling with English, and sometimes Heikki Lajunen struggles to sing, but you got to give them full marks for trying really hard. The playing of Jukka Serenius and Ilkka Poijarvi on guitars is flawless and also Eero Rantasila and Veli-Pekka Pessi are a brilliant young rhythm section. The songs themselves are very strange and all try to make big statements about all the things that really matter including taking swipes at hunters and war mongering/war in general. This album was made from love. That is what makes it a masterpiece in the end I would say. This is a band who believe in their music and their message. They don't come on with any false pretentious and attempts to sound like whoever was in the charts somewhere else. They're Finnish and that's how you will perceive them. They are here to take you on a trip with them into Finland and into your mind. If you like heavy music that also can offer a retreat from overbearing bombast then look no further. While at times the songs seem to lack structure and even abandon it that only makes this album more unique and special. It has a warm sound that makes you think the musicians who created it are very loving people. Also, the classical influences in the playing are astonishing. Virtuosity is the word for the guitars as they frequently quote from the classics and yet even then there is no pretension here. I would recommend and say even that you have to find the expensive Shaddoks reissue of this album. The songwriting is a little uneven, but the amount of love in the music and the brilliant playing make it essential for any collection. One can only wonder how great this band were in concert where they could jam.
These two are two of the most impressive and enjoyable albums ever made. Find them and treasure them and remember that love is what should drive everything, especially music.

SPERRMULL and ELECTRIC SANDWICH- GREEN BRAIN'S BEST 2

I haven't yet mentioned any bands from Europe on my blog that I can think of. In fact I'm nearly sure I haven't. Well, funny thing is I listen to just as many bands from Germany and Northern Europe in general as anywhere else and I more than acquired the taste for German Rock with many favourites and a real admiration for the music that country turned out in the 70s. It all would go way downhill and become intolerable come the metal era, but even there are a few bright spots of melodic hard rock.
But let's get to the point. I DO NOT use the term "Krautrock" I find it appalling and disgusting. What if I were to use the term "Yankrock" for all Amerikan bands??? See My point.
On to the music.
Brain is probably Germany's most collectable label for it's early to mid releases on the "Green Brain Label." Distributed by the already impressive Metronome Brain like British labels Vertigo, Deram, and Regal Zonophone was meant as an outlet for progressive exciting new talent.
Aside from Gash and the rather odd signing of the overblown Dutch progsters Light Brain was a pretty consistent label.
The ultra rare and collectible one-off releases by the Lower Rhine band Sperrmull and the Bonn based Electric Sandwich are two of the most impressive, adventurous, and revolutionary albums ever made from any band anywhere. They, like it seems all German 70s bands, have been thrown into the category of which I will not use the despicable name.
Sperrmull like Electric Sandwich are a quartet playing a distinctly Teutonic brand of psychedelic heaviness that bears also certain resemblances to British groups of that same early era. They were a talented band who built their unique and often humourous songs around a joyful, spirited mix of heavy keyboards and bashing fuzz toned guitars. I would say of the two bands here Sperrmull are more of a rock 'n roll band at heart than the very psychedelic Electric Sandwich who borrow more from the Amerikan Westcoast and blues-rock of bands like Cream.
Opening track here "Me And My Girlfriend" is  based around a rollicking Mandolin riff and good upbeat jaunty vocals. The lyrics seem to deal with his girlfriend going from serving an inedible meal to a great one:
"Oh How Wonderful She Cooks The Meal/It Tastes So Bad But We Didn't Feel/But For Me And My Girlfriend..."
"Oh The Wine And Beer Is Fine/Better Is Her Meal But I Don't Mind/But For Me And My Girlfriend..."
Wery Vunny (Sorry!)
This track makes you want to dance. It has a liberating air that just makes you feel good and forget about your hangups.
The rest of the album is quite different. I don't like Pink Floyd. I in fact don't find hardly any of their music enjoyable, exciting, or of any interest at all. Sometimes the track "No Freak Out" is compared to Floyd. I have to disagree. Whilst Pink F. (draw your own conclusion) is all depression and bitching and moaning "No Freak Out" is again a joyful though very bent psychedelic heavy metal rock track with druggy echoed vocals, spacey floating organ, inventive rhythms, and some exhilarating wild ass guitar solos. I do admit that there are two Floyd albums I can dig- Their first Piper At The Gates Of Dawn and the excellent Meddle. This track if like any Floyd song is like something updated from Piper At The Gates Of Dawn perhaps "Astronome Domine".
It makes me think of what the Pink Floyd may have sounded like had they not taken themselves too seriously, but I don't hear much of them in this song or this album.
Sperrmull are a rock band- a hard rock band with psychedelic and progressive sensibilities. I would much more think of Australia's Masters Apprentices or Sheffield England's Shape Of The Rain only changed into a German brew of that same guitar based wizardry when describing Sperrmull.
For an album produced  by the band under the pseudonym "Chazadu" this is a pretty remarkable recording. Every track is a winner so onto the end of Side One. "Rising Up" is a marching song. It is driven by jumping pumping rhythms, a happy sounding vocal, and more brilliant studio effects and soaring guitar and organ battles. For Germany's best look no further than this. I wish Eloy could have churned out something this exciting rather than show us flashes of brilliance on their first 3 albums and then a steady slide towards mediocrity. The liveliness of the performances and compositions here is more exciting than almost anything to come out of Amerika in the 70s. There is a distinct, strong German vibe that is both exotic and exciting.
Side Two is 3 more straightforward hard rockin' tracks with the 9 minute "Right Now" combining all sides of Sperrmull's music brilliantly. The psychedelic edge is not lost, but here it is more raucous rock and roll. "Right Now" doesn't drag once. Like the also amazing Lonesome Crow by the seminal German rockers The Scorpions this album was made for love of music and personal discovery- not money or fame or showing off. However, both closing tracks "Land Of The Rocking Sun" and "Pat Casey" would have made excellent singles and have an appeal to them that crosses and cuts through any country's borders. This album has me feeling good when I hear it. I would go right out and say it's one of the most impressive albums in my collection and the best on Brain along with....
Electric Sandwich.
This one's a little harder to describe. Electric Sandwich were, together with the above Sperrmull, one of Brain's earliest signings. Their music is rather dark and bluesy with definite influences from both Cream and more surprisingly The Doors. There is no Manzarek alike organ riffing yet the gloomy, stalking, creepy vibe of Jim Morrison and CO. comes through nearly every track except the opening instrumental brain blaster "China." "China" is a really amazing jam. The effects help create an inviting sound that has any guitar freak or psychedelic rock fan glued to every second of the track.
The rest of the album beginning with "Devil's Dream" is much more built around Eric Clapton influenced guitars, both heavy and laidback at the same time rhythmic structures, and a sound that is both spooky and comforting which in and of itself is very unusual. I've always wondered what Jim Morrison would have sounded like had he survived and continued with music. Somehow the vocals on this album may answer that question for me, save for the fact that the vocal range is much better here and that Electric Sandwich are for all intents and purposes immersed in a kind of Teutonic rebelliousness. Every track is very strong on here with much brilliant playing, some interesting passages for Saxophone and bluesy harmonica, and lots of atmospherics. I am reminded of the British band Titus Groan at times or also British band Raw Material, but with the bluesy psychedelic sound of guitar and ever changing rhythms prevailing Cream is the best point of reference. Electric Sandwich are a band you have to let come to you. Unlike Sperrmull you can't dance to this. It's more sit down and take a trip without the perils or stupidity of dropping acid. I would say that if to make an album's worth of strong material and a very dark and impenetrable sound was the aim of these guys they more than succeeded. This album is together with Sperrmull and Curly Curve the best of the very collectable Green Brain recordings. You may just have to lay back and let this one come and warm itself to you more than the Sperrmull record, but I love the sounds here and aside from "Archie's Blues" the lyrics are of a surprisingly high standard. Electric Sandwich is one of the most expensive German albums especially for one that used to be overlooked. If you can find this it will blow your mind. And that's a fact. You won't find a better psychedelic heavy record from anywhere else in Europe that also leans towards the California sound of the 60s and the Cream inspired blues.
Both these albums dispel the fact that Germany is a questionable country for music. Think of what they went through to get here! I leave you to think about how much love and dedication to making great music and excitement happen that went into the music Germany gave us. I also suggest you remember who landed The Beatles with their first taste of success... Enough Said.