Cranium Pie - Mechanisms Part Two. 2015 England

There are very few modern LPs that I am actively in the market for, but Mechanisms Part Two was one of them. I was very impressed with their debut, but their other albums have proven to be elusive. Primarily because this one in particular was never released on CD.

From that debut I initially wrote: Cranium Pie's debut album is like being dropped into some obscure studio in London circa 1970. Imagine Pink Floyd and Soft Machine at their peak and you have an idea of what we're dealing with here. They really nail the psychedelic progressive creativity of the era.

Which is the right Zagat styled review. I fleshed it out on a fresh listen 4 years ago solidifying my liking of the album. Mechanisms Part Two follows in the same footsteps. Because it's a double LP, it does tend to meander more at times. On occasion the album sounded more like San Franciscan's Mushroom than Cranium Pie. They also crossed that hipster line once or twice ("yea, we're super rad, we're totally 1970 England"). But anytime you're circling a playing field such as this, great things are bound to happen. The album peaks on Side 3 with one great track after another - Cranium Pie had successfully immersed themselves into the era they were trying to emulate, rather than imitating it.

Ownership: LP: 2015 Regal Crabomophone. 2xLP. Purple vinyl. Gatefold. Recent online acquisition (2022).

8/31/22 (new entry)

Fastway. 1983 England

Last year I wrote about Fastway's sophomore album All Fired Up!, a very fine hard rock effort. I spoke about the history of the band there, so I won't cover that again. Now I've happened upon the debut, which I was more familiar with in the past. Primarily the song 'Say What You Will', which received decent airplay real time. Overall though, this debut is the template for future releases. Pure Zeppelin-ish hard rock. Which is why I didn't go for it much back in the day. By 1983, bands like Metallica were showing up, and that's what I wanted out of heavy metal. And yes, the latter designation is where Fastway was placed back then, due to its Motorhead heritage. But it's not metal at all. This is pure unabated late 70s styled hard rock, which obviously I appreciate more now than in my youth. I enjoyed this more than All Fired Up!, and I'll probably only keep one. This will likely be the sole representative for my collection. A decision for another day.

Ownership: LP: 1983 Columbia. Single sleeve with lyric inner bag. I like the simplicity of the checkered race flag cover - says what it needs to say. Found for a $1 at an estate sale (same one as the Goedert that I wrote about yesterday). Not as common an album as one would think (in the wilds) as I'm sure it sold quite a bit of copy back in the day.

8/30/22 (new entry)

Ron Goedert - Breaking All the Rules. 1980 USA-Florida

Ron(n) Goedert's only solo album is completely out of time. In looking at the album cover, one would presume it's from 1974. And musically you might expect glam rock - New York Dolls, Bowie, etc... And who is Ron Goedert anyway? Not exactly a household name. Well... he was the lead singer for White Witch, a relatively obscure band that had a reasonably good two album run. And White Witch is your best clue as to what you're going to hear. Except far more focused and streamlined.

To my ears, Breaking All the Rules sounds a lot like Diamond Reo's Dirty Diamonds album. Same kind of glammy background, but nothing of the sort. Just pure kickass hard rock. And the guitar tone Jerry Runyan gets is absolutely delicious. Not every one of the 11 tracks here is a winner, but most of them are. Final track 'Squidd' is the highlight for me. Goedert for his part sounds quite histrionic - recalling some of the Italian prog bands, but also predicting the heavy metal norm. I appreciate the uniqueness. For whatever reason this major label album is pretty much unknown - even among deep diving hard rock collectors. The few reviews I found talked about its New Wave elements. I have no idea where that comes from. There's absolutely nothing 80s about this album. There's not a modern synthesizer to be heard. The keyboards of choice are Hammond organ, Hohner Clavinet, and Moog. Those tools just scream 80s synth-pop don't they? Breaking All the Rules is down in the gutter, greasy hard rock. Just as the cover suggests. For my tastes, a superb and surprising find.

Ownership: LP: 1980 Polydor. Single sleeve. Recently found at an estate sale for $1. I seriously doubt many copies sold, though there are 4 pressings (just realized mine is not in Discogs - pressing plant 26 - so the photos you see here come from this copy as I needed to add the entry). It's not terribly expensive, but it's not one you usually see out in the wilds either. Check your local record store though. It's the kind if album that has slipped through the cracks. They'll probably have it priced at $5 or less, because they have no idea what it is. The album just received its first reissue from the French label Bad Reputation, so maybe its time has just arrived.

8/29/22 (new entry)

Epsilon - Move On. 1972 Germany

During the first few minutes of the opening track, I said to myself that Dieter Dierks must be involved. And sure enough, he's the engineer here. Though Epsilon plays a mostly straightforward hard rock, Dierks signature phasing is all over this - sounding like the Cosmic Couriers walked in on a Trapeze recording session. Other than that interesting tidbit, Epsilon really aren't the type of band we associate Krautrock with. Definitely a strong UK influence is brought forth. Not that there is a dearth of ideas, and there's definitely some interesting breaks and instrumental interludes. I wouldn't consider this the highlight of the early 70s German scene, but it's a good one for deep divers.

Ownership: LP: 1972 Bacillus (France). Gatefold. Purchased from the same local seller, though this one was closer in price to what you can find online. Didn't realize until I got home it was the French press. Which is OK with me. The photos you see are this copy as I added them to Discogs. What an absolutely bizarre cover. Looking all the world like a lounge act playing in a different dimension. One of a kind that's for sure. The music unfortunately didn't follow this creativity.

8/29/22 (new entry)

Euclid - Heavy Equipment. 1970 USA-New England

Following my post on The Damnation of Adam Blessing, comes Euclid's sole album Heavy Equipment. For many listeners, Euclid may be the best example of heavy psych going into hard rock. According to one of the band leader's, the engineer made the album sound weak compared to how they really were. Hard to imagine as this album is dirty, fuzzy, and greasy. It's a banger as the hipsters like to say. I wouldn't put it at the top of the list for songwriting, but for sheer American ballsiness, Heavy Equipment is in the big leagues.

There's a lot of data out there on the origins of the band, and where they played. Much of it conflicting. Essentially they started in Maine and worked their way down throughout New England. The album was recorded in Boston. Check out this post from 2009 and read the comment section for more info.     

Ownership: LP: 1970 Amsterdam / Flying Dutchman. Gatefold. This was the big catch from my fishing expedition at a local offline seller's house. I paid 2% of what it is currently selling for. Beautiful vinyl too, though the cover is closer to VG(+). No matter its value, as it's going nowhere. It has a new home for a long time. This is the first time for me to own this album in any format. No legit reissues here either, so the CDRWL tag goes up.

8/27/22 (new entry)

Earthstar - Atomkraft? Nein, Danke! 1981 USA-New York

I recently went on about Craig Wuest and his project Earthstar on the Humans Only album - one of the best personal discoveries of the last few years for me. He most certainly marched to his own drummer, though at times it's very apparent that Klaus Schulze was the field marshal. Earthstar recorded 4 albums, each very different from the other. Salterbarty Tales had an odd progressive rock meets New Age bent. French Skyline went all-in Berlin School, and Humans Only closed off the era with one of the most inventive electronic albums I've ever heard. But what of the 3rd, which is the subject of this post? This album also calls upon the Schulze influence, but in this case his more classically oriented works. Atomkraft? Nein, Danke! is a more somber and moody affair. More of a deep trance type listen with obvious chamber qualities such as piano and violin. This may not read very exciting, but in the hands of Wuest, the music comes to life in multiple ways. And as usual he brings along a lot of musicians to add variety and color. A true talent that is sadly forgotten today.

Ownership: LP: 1981 Sky. Single sleeve. Recent online acquisition (2022). First time for me to own. 

CD: 2023 Made in Germany. 5xCD set. Taken from vinyl. More details can be found on the Salterbarty Tales entry.

8/26/22 (first listen / review / new entry)

Def Leppard - On Through the Night. 1980 England

As mentioned very recently on the High 'N' Dry post, I tell my Def Leppard story on the Pyromania review. And that story revolves all around this album actually. I won't cover that again, but will say that I truly enjoyed this +1 revisit. On Through the Night is easily my favorite Def Leppard album, and really the only one that could legitimately be called heavy metal. They were for certain a charter member of the NWOBHM movement. They left that for a more radio friendly hard rock sound, a most lucrative decision. In the short run anyway. Had they the wherewithal, they could have challenged Iron Maiden as kings of the movement. And 42 years later one band is known as an 80s relic, the other are eternal stars. I'll let you guess where Def Leppard falls. But back to this album. So many great tracks, especially 'Rock Brigade', 'Hello America', 'Sorrow is a Woman', 'Wasted', and the almost proggy 'Overture'. This album and style is not the Def Leppard most Americans remember. But I most certainly do.

Ownership: LP: 1980 Mercury. Single sleeve missing the lyric inner. Paid retail at a store in Denver (2022), but it's proven to be elusive in the wilds. 

MC: 1986 Mercury. Garage sale pickup (2024).

1980; 8/26/22 (new entry)

The Damnation of Adam Blessing. 1969 USA-Ohio

The Damnation of Adam Blessing were one of the powerhouse groups coming out of the Cleveland scene in the late 60s. There were a ton of groups operating in steel country back then, but most didn't get past the 45 single stage. Though unfortunately today, the band is hardly known. Which is really too bad considering the strength of the material found on their debut. Highlights include the first 3 tracks, 'Strings and Things', and the last 3 songs. In particular 'Dreams' is stellar. Only the boogie 'You Don't Love Me' and the unnecessary 'Last Train to Clarksville' (Monkees of course) can be avoided.

There aren't a ton of albums going from psychedelic to hard rock, and The Damnation of Adam Blessing is a super example of doing just that.

Ownership: LP: 1970 United Artists. Single sleeve. Second pressing from one year later (orange label). Like with Medusa, I found two copies in a recent timespan - both considerably underpriced. One from the same store as Medusa, the other from our local offline seller friend. The latter had the better vinyl and the former the better cover. Exact same press, so I mixed and matched for the best copy. The other goes to the record show. This is the first time for me to hear and own the album in any format. Hmm... looks like this album hasn't ever been reissued legit. There is one on the always iffy Akarma label - and this one is reading dubious. Adding the CDRWL tag too.

8/26/22 (new entry)

Trapeze - Medusa. 1970 England

Trapeze's second album is a solid hard rock work, one step ahead of the more blues oriented competition. The band is most known for contributing Glenn Hughes to Deep Purple and Dave Holland to Judas Priest (later), though they had a nice career throughout the 70s. Guitarist Mel Galley found success with Whitesnake as well. Speaking of Judas Priest, one can hear their prototype on tracks like 'Jury' and 'Medusa'. Not a life changing album, but this is good meat and potatoes hard rock.

Ownership: LP: 1970 Threshold. Gatefold. Found not one, but two of these in the same store - both way under current market price. The other (slightly later dark label press) will be sold at the record show. I may have encountered this album in the past, but I'm considering this to be the first time I've heard it in full. This album is notorious for ring wear. My copy isn't too bad though, better than these Discogs' stock photos.

8/26/22 (new entry)

Mike Oldfield - Crises. 1983 England

I was on a Mike Oldfield kick in college, and this one was his newest album at the time, though Discovery may have just hit the shelves, can't remember. Back then I was looking for more and more underground prog rock, and Crises to me at that time was only half an album. Eventually I moved it out. In reacquiring the LP, I could almost argue the same thing - except the half I like best today are the 6 tracks (see ownership) that make up Side 1. In fact, in absorbing the album with 3 straight listens, I could be persuaded to add Crises to my X-Wave collection versus progressive rock. Of course Oldfield is considered prog rock royalty and he brought on many guests for this album, most from that world. I think the best track here is the ultra catchy 'Foreign Affair' followed closely by 'In High Places'. Concerning the latter, this is the type of setup that best highlights Jon Anderson's voice. And yes, the side longer does possess a strong progressive rock component. Overall, this resulted in my second +3 listen of the year (see Faithful Breath). It won't be long before I find Five Miles Out I'm sure...

Ownership: 1983 Virgin (Canada). Single sleeve. Recent thrift shop find (2022), along with the other Canadian prog pressings (that I'm sure got picked over before I got there - damn). But I think I lucked out on this one. We posed the following question yesterday on Discogs: "Is this the only original pressing (1983 Canada) of Crises to have 'Mistake' on it? We're not finding it elsewhere, beyond comps and the like." In my book, that would make this a sought after pressing. Either this is still an unknown fact (if it is even a fact), or no one cares. I would suggest the former. In any case, you can get still this pressing today for less than a ham sandwich. Also interesting to note that Crises was never released in the US on vinyl.

1984; 8/24/22 (new entry)

Altitude - Burning Love. 1980 USA-Colorado

Now here's a very interesting little record. As soon as I saw it I was intrigued. As long as it wasn't Heyseus Christo music, I knew it was money. The back cover is the total giveaway that this was the good stuff right here. As you can see they were from my current hometown of Colorado Springs. I wasn't here in 1980 (wish I was), but my image of Colorado back then would be the front cover. They look like a nightclub act playing either at the Broadmoor Hotel or the Little Bear Saloon in Evergreen (a wide range indeed). The music has elements of yacht rock, radio friendly AOR, folk, hard rock, 80s New Wave, and even prog if you can believe it. That guy in the blue leisure suit (as a friend observes "looks like he's a manager at a steakhouse in Iowa") actually possess quite a bit of talent. You'll hear him wailing on the electric guitar, playing mandolin, bass, and flute. The pretty lady on the front brings the keyboards (including synthesizer and organ) and they both sing. A1, A5, B1, B3, and B5 are your focus tracks. Any one of them could find themselves on a well researched compilation. The other tracks are more middle of the road, and seem to be crowd pleasers for the club drinking set. The closer 'Same Old Scene' is the prog number and it's quite accomplished all things considered. If evaluating the album, one really needs to place themselves in a Colorado that barely exists anymore - when smoky taverns ruled supreme, and your audience was a mix of ranchers, outdoorsmen, and oil workers. And a few hippies coming down from Boulder. It's not overly consistent and there isn't anything here that will blow you away. It's the essence of the American private press experience. I love finding records like this.

Ownership: LP: 1980 Cascade. Single sleeve. Thrift shop find (2022). This copy is still in shrink and is signed on the back by the two protagonists plus one of the sponsors. There was also a sealed copy which we will be selling at some point in the future. Hard to gauge a price. It's still relatively unknown. Hope to find more!

8/22/22 (new entry)

Dio - The Last in Line. 1984 USA

Pretty much everything I said about Holy Diver I could say about the group's sophomore effort The Last in Line. I had this rated slightly lower, and have now put them on equal footing again. This is meat and potatoes heavy metal. 'Egypt' even introduces some mild complexity. Want a perfect example of basic 80s metal to play for your friends and relatives? Here you go.

Ownership: LP: 1984 Warner Bros. Single sleeve. A familiar tale by now. Bought this when it came out, then ultimately tired of this kind of metal, and sold it off. Bought the CD many years later for the price of a pack of gum, and thought it better than I remembered. And then the original LP is offered back to me in perfect shape for dirt cheap. OK, I'll buy it again lol. From the same local dealer as the others. I'll probably sell it again at some point, but we'll give it some space in the near term.

3//14; 7/29/19; 8/22/22 (new entry)

Dio - Holy Diver. 1983 USA

I still remember the buzz on Dio's debut Holy Diver before its original release. There was a genuine sense of excitement given that Dio was of heavy metal royalty coming off a successful stint with Black Sabbath (not to mention Rainbow of course). Dio himself was going on and on about how Vivian Campbell was basically the next Randy Rhoads. And backed up by hard rock veterans like Jimmy Bain and Vinny Appice, there seemed to be no chance of a failed effort. So I bought the LP the first day it hit the shelves. I liked it. I didn't love it - nope - but I did enjoy it. It just didn't knock my socks off. It really didn't move the needle forward in the innovation category. Just a solid set of mid tempo metal anthems, a bit more tight and contemporary than Sabbath or Rainbow, but nonetheless the influences were similar. Eventually I moved the LP out and hadn't thought about the album in 20 years probably (as evidenced by my omission of a rating here until now). Time has passed, and nostalgia has kicked in. $5 will net one a new (original pressing) CD, so why not revisit? With rose colored glasses on of course. The result? Pretty much what I remember. Except I get more of a time and place kicker from it now. Solid early 80s metal from one of the captains of the industry. Every home should own one.

Ownership: LP: 1983 Warner Bros. Single sleeve with picture inner. Purchased from a local offline dealer (2022) for a bargain of a price (same guy as High 'N' Dry and many others to be announced). This replaces the commodity CD mentioned in the review above.

5/20/14 (RYM); 8/21/22 (new entry with LP acquisition)

The Muffins - Manna/Mirage. 1978 USA-Maryland

Here's what I said about my thoughts on The Muffins from the Open City review: "For my tastes, The Muffins are an entirely frustrating band. Their best work IMO is the archival material pre-1978, which is heavily influenced by the Canterbury movement, and is mostly represented on the fantastic Chronometers CD that came out some 17 years after the fact. The Muffins proper debut, Manna/Mirage, is an album of contrasts mixing lucidly composed, highly melodic, jazz rock tracks - with some of the most annoying tuneless/structureless improvisations ever put to vinyl. In effect, The Muffins moved from Soft Machine II to Henry Cow's In Praise of Learning."

Like with Def Leppard's High 'N' Dry, I had no intention of buying this again. See ownership section as to how this came about. Whatever the case, time for a fresh evaluation. It was about a decade ago I sold off the CD and declared I was done with Manna/Mirage. But I've never heard it on vinyl. Even though the CD sounds way better, I for whatever reason found myself enjoying this more on the umpteenth reevaluation. Nothing has really changed in my mind though - the Canterbury sections are great, the tuneless improvisations are irritating. But there's just a lot more of the former than the latter, and I'm not sure why I'm realizing that more now than prior. The Muffins are not the most swinging Canterbury group, and they tend to be a bit stilted in their overall performance. But there's a lot of great here too. I heard enough this time to hold onto it. For now.

Ownership: LP: 1978 Random Radar. Single sleeve. Purchased from a local store (2022). The odd thing here is this store had it for over a year. It was priced fairly, definitely under online retail. Had I been interested in the record, I would have paid their original price. But I wasn't, and it was too much to "invest in". Eventually they gave up - no one in Colorado Springs wants this record apparently - and slashed it 50%. Well now it's a steal. I'll just resell it then for a hefty margin. Oops, guess I'm keeping it after all... BTW, this copy is close to mint and it's still quite noisy. Not the best pressing.

6//09; 8/21/22

Def Leppard - High 'N' Dry. 1981 England

I spoke about my history with Def Leppard in the Pyromania CD review. In that overview I said this about the album in today's post: "One year later, during the summer of 1981, out came High 'N' Dry which I purchased on the spot. Had you asked me on Day 1 what I thought of the album, I would have told you it was great. But I knew it wasn't. Over the next year, my interest in the album had started to wane. As did my interest in the group in general. I was looking for heavier material, and more bands were cropping up to offer just that."

I had really no intention of buying this album again, but when a mintish copy was offered very cheaply, the decision was made easy for me. I'm not sure I've heard this album since the 80s decade closed off, but I recognized most of it by memory. That's how much I used to play records back then. I had less to do in general - and not very many albums to listen to. Hearing this again raised the rating +2, but it's pure nostalgia for me. I don't think I can objectively push this album on anybody. Def Leppard were clearly shedding whatever metal roots they had and going for a more radio friendly hard rock sound. And they were good at it. Some tracks are still part of American culture's 80s obsession, especially 'Bringin' On the Heartbreak' and 'You Got Me Runnin''. There are a couple of hidden gems in here, both close off the sides: 'Switch 625' and 'No No No'. My original assessment as a teenager was spot on. But I have room for it in the collection now.

Ownership: LP: 1981 Vertigo (Germany). Single sleeve with picture inner. Got this dirt cheap directly from a local "offline" seller, that I'm certainly going to be buying a lot from going forward (or I hope to anyway...). I'll be referencing him quite a bit. I also bought a lot from him a few months ago.

8/21/22 (new entry)

Max Webster - Mutiny Up My Sleeve. 1978 Canada-Ontario

Interesting that I just listened to Rush's debut, when Max Webster's Mutiny Up My Sleeve showed up at the front of the LP listening box. In the US many of us associate Max Webster with Rush because they were usually the opening band. Until now I hadn't really understood the connection beyond both were from Toronto. But after hearing Rush's opening move it does make sense. I hear Mutiny Up My Sleeve as a possible route that Rush themselves would have taken had John Rutsey remained in the band. It's a solid mix of hard rock, boogie, AOR, and yes, even some proggy bits. I hear some Saga in these grooves as well. There's some really strong and mildly complex compositions on this album, much more than I expected. Great melodies too. Some of the good times rock n' roll and straight rock segments take it down a notch.

Ownership: LP: 1978 Anthem. Single sleeve with lyric inner. There are 3 Canadian pressings with different label layouts. Mine is as shown. Interesting to note that all the lyrics have been translated into French, which you'd expect more from a Quebec based group. I picked this up a few weeks ago (2022) at a thrift shop.

8/20/22 (new entry)

Stromboli. 1987 Czech Republic

I've owned this album in continuous fashion for over 30 years, and it's been categorized in just about every genre I collect. Is it prog? psych? jazz fusion? X-wave? The answer is yes. 

There were a lot of unique bands operating in the Czech Republic prior to - and after - the fall of Communism. By the late 80s the Authorities had pretty much given up, and then the Velvet Revolution finished them off. And this unusual sociological blend lead to a music scene that had no peer before or since. Other groups such as The MCH Band, Prazsky Vyber, Dunaj, Aku Aku, and Uz Jsme Doma were trailblazing a path that defies typecasting. I'm not sure how one can copy music like this. It's its own thing as they say. Of these, Stromboli's sprawling double album may be the best representative, even though the competition is fierce. There are heavy psych guitar solos juxtaposed against female New Wave styled vocals. Complex proggy structures sits inside jazz fusion numbers. Vocals are in Czech, and I wouldn't want it any other way. This is the next generation of the greats like Flamengo and Jazz Q. Curious? Listen for yourself. You'll be surprised at how fast the hour and a half goes by.

Ownership: CD: 1995 Bonton. 2xCD with photos and notes in Czech. It's a straight reissue as all of these features were part of the LP. I'm glad they stuck with a double CD rather than try to trim off 10 minutes here and there. As noted above, the first copy I owned was sent to me in 1990 - along with many other Eastern European albums - by a long time friend in Florida who I still keep up with on occasion. As I will often state, albums from that part of the world were meant to be on CD. No matter what version you would like, the album remains easily obtainable in both formats, as it was repressed many times.

12//14; 8/19/22 (new entry)