Skydog were a band from the Atlanta area, and their sole album is a serious collector's rarity, custom pressed for family and friends. The music could be summarized as long form jamming, with plenty of compositional and tonal shifts, giving it a mild progressive rock flavor. Being from the south, Skydog naturally will draw comparisons to The Allman Brothers, and that's not entirely off the mark, especially when one considers the Allman's jazz background. However Skydog really do not have "southern tendencies", that is to say there are no country or folk influences here. Mostly the album falls in the hard rock category, with a blues base, something akin to South Carolina's J Teal Band. The production leaves much to be desired, but fortunately what does come through loud and clear is the awesome lead guitar, who solos wildly over the frantic rhythm guitar and superb drumming. The vocals are of the early 70s American soulful bluesy variety, giving off a whiff of lounge music, though the music is far different. Highlights include the opener 'Luck in Your Life' and the superb 'Ali Sahd', which despite its name, does not have a Middle Eastern feel. A very fine discovery for fans of arcane American hard rock.
Personal collection
CD: 2001 Red Lounge (Germany)
Germany is an odd place for this CD to be reissued (especially from a relatively unknown label), but it's definitely 100% legit. Comes in a wonderful hard bound 3 part digi-book with new artwork. There are full liners from the leader of the group. The band is clearly denoted as Skydog in these liners, though the original LP has it as Sky-Dog throughout. Apparently the CD has "cleaned" up the sound, which tells me the original LP must be really quite bad. The generic cover gives the game away on its custom provenance. Originals are incredibly scarce. There are 4 bonus tracks on the CD, which are in worse condition than the album itself, but still listenable and worthy of bonus track status.
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