Tangerine Dream - Nottingham Nov 8th 1976, Albert Hall. Germany

Arguably the most famous of Tangerine Dream's unreleased live concerts - at least up there with the Reims show in 1974. There was once a project dedicated to the compilation of these lost live concerts. The best of them, in terms of sound quality, were called Tangerine Trees. This was Volume 1. I now own a few shows from 1976 due to various archival releases in the last 20 years. But this one doesn't recall any I've heard prior, so the improvisation aspect was still very high. It's more aggressive than Stratosfear and less varied than the shows that made up Encore. Froese gets in some mean psychedelic guitar soloing, especially on Part 2. Interesting to read modern reviews poo poo his "guitar heroics", but for me that was always the secret ingredient to their greatness, along with the "big" Moog and mellotron. In any case, an excellent show that was easy to listen to for its entire 80 minute duration. BTW, the concert fades at the end while the band is still cookin'.

Ownership: CD: 2004 Castle (UK). It's been a long time since I yelped "oh my God" while at a store. This was sitting on a shelf in a thrift shop a couple of weeks ago. It was also on my want list - my real one, not the "oh cool, I haven't heard this in years" or the "always wanted to hear this" finds. While Bootleg Box Vol. 1 had been reissued (though my copy is the original Castle version that I purchased real time - probably with the messed up 1975 show), they never got around to reissuing Vol. 2, thus its high price today. However while researching this title, it looks like Cherry Red / Reactive have come to the rescue, and the box set will be issued again at the end of November (2022). The copy I found has some major outer box wear (the inner sleeves are mint), but the discs appear VG+ to NM (poster insert with history is also here). No issues with this first concert, and my CD player can be picky and cranky. And for $3, can't beat the price! I'll just keep this barring any problems with playback on the other shows.

9/30/22 (new entry)

Dungen - 4. 2008 Sweden

I went into hearing this album with some trepidation. I've been fond of Dungen almost from their beginning and held them as one of the best of the neo psych groups of the last 20+ years. A couple of months ago, their second album Stadsvandringar showed up as a random pick. And even though I had it as their lowest rated album, most assuredly a revisit would bring it up a notch. That didn't happen. In fact the opposite and I sold it. My fear at that point is that I had inflated the group in my mind. That they really weren't that special. Just another garden variety psych band that perhaps I was elevating due to a lack of similar bands during an era when more were needed.

Now Dungen 4 comes up. Here we go... And right away all my fears subsided. This is a completely different sound. One that I'm going to struggle to define. I listened to it 5 times in a row (!) and it resulted in a +1 rating. Keep in mind it was already rated very high. It reached the top echelon of 5 stars / Gnosis 13+. The music is highly melodic, the instrumentals are very psychedelic, the sound is analog perfect. Gustav Ejstes and Reine Fiske have multiple peak moments throughout. The songwriting is almost that of the mid to late 60s orchestrated pop era - a little bit tying in with the Japanese Shibuya-kei movement. The music texture is heavily influenced by the Swedish masters of the past like Parson Sound and Algarnas Tradgard, except it sounds nothing at all like them. This isn't avant garde in the least. There are not many albums that I need 5 listens to work out in my head and continue to enjoy each one better than the last. But Dungen 4 is one of them. Now I cannot wait to hear the other Dungen albums in my collection (most of them), as it's possible they too may enjoy a +1. Even those I've already written thoroughly about.

Ownership: CD: 2008 Kemado (USA). Digi-pak with recording details and a sales strip (like an obi). Purchased new upon release. You can get this practically for free these days. No reason not too. 

LP: 2016 Mexican Summer (USA). Single sleeve with picture inner bag. Of late, a bit of madness entered my brain, and I've been looking at potentially replacing CDs with LPs if the latter was offered to me cheap. And that happened here late last year (2021). But there's no way I'm parting with the CD (which made up the review above), and it remains my primary copy. Also, the LP doesn't offer anything extra. But I am glad to have picked this up. I'm usually good with both formats for records that rate this high. It remains unplayed however.

Hardly any photos of this album on Discogs. I should fix that, but I probably won't...

9/29/22 (new entry)

Moxy. 1976 Canada-Ontario

I had a good friend in college named Gary. He was your prototypical Odessa urban cowboy. 6 foot 4, thin as a rail, perfect male specimen in every way. But he was lost in this world. Despite looking like a model on a Marlboro billboard, he would bitch and moan to me constantly that he can't find girls to go out with. If the two of us would walk the mall together, the girls would put their eyes on him and practically stare at him, mesmerized they had just met someone from Hollywood. I would notice such things, and the girls made sure to divert their eyes from moi ('tis true, though I got the last laugh, for those who know my beautiful wife of 25 years). So it gives you an insight into the muddled mind of Grr (that's how he pronounced his name - Grr). As for music, since he was a good friend, he had to endure my tastes. At that time I was deep diving into prog, but also thrash metal, and a variety of underground rock. He primarily liked country (George Strait, that sort of thing) and rootsy rock like John Cougar Mellencamp. But he had a taste for hard rock. One day, while sitting in my apartment, Grr came over (as he often did, lived in the same complex in Lubbock) and we'd start chatting (about girls I'm sure) over my music. And then he blurts out of nowhere: "You know the best hard rock album ever is by a band called Moxy". Who??? Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in awhile. Some friend had played it for him, and that's how he knew about it. I never saw that album in college, and more or less forgot about them. Until some years ago, a cheap copy came about online and I nabbed it, recalling the story above. I didn't take the time to absorb it properly. This really is a great Canadian hard rock album, with a little bit more thought than your average bonehead band. Apparently Tommy Bolin was hanging out in the studio nearby, and provided some guidance and licks to the proceedings. The album starts off a bit slow, but once it finds its groove, it's a heavy rocker for sure. It's not a stretch to say that Moxy could have been Rush's second album, had they continued along the path of their debut. Another easy +1 listen. Looks like my self-fulfilled prophecies came true. Imagine that.

Ownership: LP: 1976 Mercury. Single sleeve. Online acquisition from 2014. This is getting to be a pretty tough score here in the States.

8/25/21 (LP 2.42); 9/26/22 (new entry)

Soft Machine - Softs. 1976 England

By 1976, Soft Machine - as one may have known them - were no more. Mike Ratledge was still hanging around but wasn't very involved. By this time you essentially had Nucleus calling themselves Soft Machine. And musically that holds true too. Soft Machine had gone from psych to prog (or Canterbury if you will) to jazz to jazz rock and now onto fusion. As with all the best albums in the latter genre, Softs gets a gold star due to the melodic songwriting versus any kind of showoffy chops display. The album is frontloaded with the best tracks like 'The Tale of Taliesin' and 'Ban-Ban Caliban'. John Etheridge's guitar is the highlight of the instrumental roster. I have friends that never cared much for Soft Machine, but like this album since it intersects with their interest in all things jazz fusion.

Ownership: CD: 1990 See For Miles. Jewel case with four pages of history. 

7//04 (first listen); 9/26/22 (review / new entry)

V.A. - Heroes and Villains: The Sound of Los Angeles 1965-1968. USA-California

I've had this 3 CD set in my car for the last couple of months as it features 90 (count 'em) songs from various groups. This is a theme release, and all the bands are from the Los Angeles area during the era listed. There's no common thread musically, other than they all grew up out of the garage and psych scenes. This is an incredibly well researched release and each of the 90 songs has a history to go with it. It's worth the price of admission just for the 80 page thick booklet!

Featured here are songs that you know by heart, some lesser known hits of the day, obscurities, serious expensive rarities, complete unknowns, and previously unreleased material. There's anything from folk rock to killer psych fuzz presented. One of those complete unknowns are The Royal Teens. The band apparently didn't have a decent copy, and so compiler and writer David Wells reached out to me (seeing we had it in our Unknown Vinyl blog) to inquire if I could record my copy for the release. Of course! And he was kind enough to comp me this copy for it. That's a great trade and I'm grateful to Mr. Wells for it. You'll note that the 2 songs from the 45 still don't sound great (even though it's NM), but that's the original recording - not much we can do about that, but Wells still did a great job with it. Because I was driving around when this was on, I didn't make a note of the highlights. But suffice to say there are some real gems in here, whether previously unknown or very rare. Along with tracks by The Monkees, Mamas & The Papas, Sonny and Cher, etc... Great mix of tunes.

Ownership: CD: 2022 Grapefruit. 3xCD with an 80 page booklet in a clamshell box. The CDs come in individual sleeves. An incredible package really.

9/24/22 (new entry)

Voivod - Dimension Hatross. 1988 Canada-Quebec

For my review of the prior Killing Technology I wrote: "It's still not my favorite type of thrash metal - and it is noisy. I think part of the issue I had was the date itself. 1987 is awfully late for this kind of post punky scratchy thrash with screamed vocals. I wanted some muscle in my music! Killing Technology is not heavy in my opinion. But it's definitely still thrash metal. Metallica was already on their 4th opus, and continuing to progress - at least technically. On close listen, Voivod is also technical, but it's lost in the barrage of sound. But I have to give Voivod credit - they just keep coming at you. This album is relentless in its riffing. There are no breathers here. They're going for broke for the entire 40 minutes. I hadn't really given this much thought before, but there are parallels here with the first Coroner album, another band that was a little late to the party, but improved exponentially in a short period of time. I could see this album growing in stature for me, now that I have my mind adjusted to the contents within. Gee, I really need to hear Dimension Hatross sometime..."

And that day finally arrived. Are there many differences to the above? Not as much as I had expected, but yes there are. They're still pretty noisy, but the sound is easier to dissect and digest. The vocals are becoming more softened and melodic. And the music is even more complex. They're still not that heavy - certainly nowhere near where a lot of bands were in 1988, which is clearly emerging as the prog year 1973 of heavy metal. I always wondered where Thought Industry got any of their ideas, their debut album being so unique. But one can hear some similarities here. The Milwaukee band Realm also comes to mind with the use of electronics. I love these make-it-up-as-you-go-along albums. I'm beginning to realize that metal had more of these albums than even progressive rock when it comes to sheer inventiveness.

---

In addition to the above, the CD I have includes a full show from Montreal called Spectrum '88 - A Flawless Structure? While normally a live show by a metal band doesn't pique my interest much, I was most curious how Voivod would sound minus the studio dressing. It's most interesting to hear these compositions in raw sound, but in general the music held its own. Sounding more like a progressive Motorhead at this point. Also fun to hear the band bantering with the audience in "street French". Very enjoyable on the whole and worth owning with the studio album.

Ownership: CD: 2017 Noise (Europe). 2xCD + 1 DVD. Triple fold out digi-pak with complete liner notes, a full concert, photos, and a DVD filled with more shows and outtakes. I haven't seen or heard the DVD yet - for another day. It's not easy these days to get me to buy a new CD online unless I find it at a thrift shop. But this one is a no brainer. What a great overall package. It's also likely to prevent me from paying retail at a record store for the original LP, though I could always luck out and find it - I'd keep both then. 

9/24/22 (new entry)

Algarnas Tradgard - Delayed. 1974 Sweden (archival)

It was at the 1995 ProgFest that a good friend from Florida and I were talking with someone - can't remember who now - that informed us that Algarnas Tradgard had a second album in the tank that had never been released. And it would be coming out soon. A few minutes later my friend deadpanned to me: "Did you hear that? A second Algarnas Tradgard? That gives me a whole new reason to live." Which got a belly laugh out of me, and I still use that phrase on occasion. But I could certainly see his point. Well it wasn't imminent, but finally in 2001 that story held true. I bought the CD as fast as I could upon release. Thought it was great, but different than the debut, filed, and...

..20+ years later I'm hearing it for the second (and 3rd) time. I didn't remember anything about my initial encounter. Yet another reminder that I might just have too many albums here. Because records like this need to be more known before I exit this mortal coil. I enjoyed a full +1 listen last night, something that happens rarely anymore but is always a pleasant surprise when it does. And as I mentioned before, there's very little to tie this with the debut, excepting maybe the haunting closer 'My Childhood Trees'. Otherwise it fits the overused - but underutilized - tag of "psych prog". Very few bands in 1974 were still heavily influenced by the psychedelic movement, but Algarnas Tradgard did not let it go, especially notable in the guitar work. At this point the band are very much in the same boat as Group 1850, except far more together and professional. Unfortunately they couldn't keep the band going past this, like so many other groups of its ilk. The mid to late 70s were a completely different beast, one that didn't have a place for Algarnas Tradgard. Too bad they never reformed, as they seemed like the type of band who could have picked up where they left off, as if the last 20 to 40 years never happened.

Ownership: CD: 2001 Silence. Acquisition story above. Jewel case release with a way too short history. Disappointing from that perspective (be sure to obtain the Subliminal Sounds 2xLP of their debut for a much better historical perspective). If you somehow missed out on this release before, don't fret, there's still plenty of inventory to be found on the cheap. Don't go looking for the LP though, as it doesn't exist.

1//02; 9/23/22 (new entry)

Dr. Aftershave - In the Diving Bell. 1980 Germany (archival)

In The Diving Bell is essentially Missus Beastly's final album. Dr. Aftershave was a moniker they'd used in the past, as the album known as Dr. Aftershave and the Mixed Pickles was actually the name of the band and For Missus Beastly the title. But of course no one sees it that way, it was just a legal matter.

Musically it's easy to consider In the Diving Bell as a continuation of where the band was at with Space Guerrilla. They're only a trio here, so the music is not quite as diverse as before. Especially notable is the absence of woodwinds. Mostly it's Burkard Schmidl's keyboards that lead the way, with a superb rhythm section driving the music forward. He plays a mixture of piano, period synths, and analog electric keyboards. At the beginning of the album I wasn't convinced the band had much left in the creativity tank, sounding like any number of 1980 fusion bands out there. But once the lengthy 'Resurrection Agents' gets going, the magic of Missus Beastly steps up with it, and the perception changes. The album was intended to be released real time, so the sound quality is that of a final product. Overall a very fine effort straddling the border of very good to excellent. Knowing how Missus Beastly has grown on me in the past, I figure this album will also grow in stature with time.

Ownership: CD: 2017 Garden of Delights. Recent online acquisition (2022). Not sure why I waited so long to obtain other than information about it is scarce. Usual great job from GoD with complete historical liner notes, excellent sound, and plenty of photos.

9/21/22 (new entry)

Brian Auger's Oblivion Express - Straight Ahead. 1974 England

Straight Ahead is the 5th album from Brian Auger's jazz funk fusion group Oblivion Express. It's a solid follow up to their breakout album Closer To It, and musically very similar. This was not by accident as the album was clearly patterned after it, and its primary purpose was to have an album to tour the States with. Straight Ahead catches a groove early and never quits. Auger leads the way with organ, electric piano, and vocals. The latter is not something he's known for, but I quite like his vocal style myself. Smooth and expressive. Better than some of the professional vocalists he'd used on other albums. Hard to pick a favorite here, but I'll go with Wes Montgomery's 'Bumpin on Sunset', which interestingly enough I have a promo 45 single of. Excellent album overall.

Ownership: CD: 2006 Fuel 2000 (USA). Purchased near the time of release. Excellent reissue with full historical liner notes and one bonus track. The latter is the title track recorded live up the road in Denver, appropriate since the album's existence was to play live in the US. 

2008; 7/24/13; 9/20/22 (new entry)

Room - Pre-Flight. 1970 England

My scratch off notes from 12 years ago said: Room are yet another band from the 1970 era with female vocals, and a jazzy/bluesy/psych sound that was all the rage at the time (Affinity, Goliath, Catapilla, Frumpy, etc...). And I love everyone one of them. Room is no different, though they added a little mini-orchestra to spruce things up. Great stuff.

Honestly there just isn't that much to add. This time I heard more Sandrose in their sound (and Room were 2 years prior). Goliath might be the closest overall. Side 1 has more of a blues angle while all of side 2 is hard edged prog. An excellent album throughout, but it does require the listener to take in the time and place aspect. A charter member of my Post Psychedelic, Proto Progressive with Female Vocals list.

Ownership: CD: 1994 Si-Wan (Korea). Standard jewel case release with liner notes in Korean. Purchased new near the time of issue. There's never been a worthy LP reissue and Esoteric did put this out on CD in 2008, but I'm not sure how thorough it is. I'll probably just stick with this, as originals are a real fortune and always have been. Doubt very many copies sold originally. If a great reissue comes along I'll reconsider then.

3//95; 3/11/10 (new entry); 10//12; 9/17/22 (update)

Jane - Live at Home. 1976 Germany

With a name like Live at Home, one might presume this to be a bunch of guys in their jammies - recording an album in their living room. With the smell of cigarettes and beer cans strewn all over the place. But alas, "Home" means Jane's home, as in Hannover, Germany. Specifically one Friday the 13th as luck would have it. August, 1976. About 30% of the concert features loyal renditions of studio versions, while the rest is new material (at least on album). And even within that 30% there are certainly enough variations and improvisations to appreciate.

Here are the tracks previously released in the studio: 'Daytime'; 'Hangman' (from Together); 'Out in the Rain' (from Here We Are); and the title tracks to both Lady and Fire, Water, Earth & Air. Jane III is strangely missing, though that album is more hard rock in nature than this version of the group, which had leaned more towards Pink Floyd as noted below.

The new-to-album tracks are: 'All My Friends', 'Rest of My Life', 'Expectation', 'River', 'Another Way', 'Hightime for Crusaders', and 'Windows'. The latter a full side improvisation along the lines of mid 70s Pink Floyd (or perhaps more to the point - Pulsar at the time of Pollen) and foreshadows their upcoming Between Heaven and Hell release. Without doing a side by side listen, I believe all the above tracks are unique to this release and haven't been renamed ('Expectation' did show up on a Brain live comp from Essen a year later). 'Rest of My Life' is copyrighted 1973, but it's not on Here We Are, nor does it appear to be a single. All the others are quoted to be from 1976. 

For many, this is the best Jane album, capturing the band in full improvisational mode. It certainly is in the discussion. 

Ownership: LP: 1976 Brain. 2xLP gatefold. Online acquisition (2015) and it was my introduction to the album. I find the cover odd. I've been to Germany plenty of times, but never to Hannover. All the same, I'm fairly confident it doesn't look like Arizona...

2/8/15; 9/16/22 (new entry)

Arti + Mestieri - Giro di Valzer per Domani. 1975 Italy

Giro di Valzer per Domani is the second release from Art + Mestieri and is a slight improvement on Tilt. You won't get too far into an album by this group without noticing Furio Chirco's busy drum style, and that's one of the positive trademarks here as well. Other distinguishing factors include Giovanni Vigliar's violin, and Beppe Crovella's songwriting. This isn't the bombastic Italian prog we associate the scene with, but rather shorter vignette's are presented that are highly melodic. There are 15 tracks here, and all of them are well composed, and easy on the ears. There's a jazz rock underpinning but mostly this still belongs to the progressive rock genre.

Ownership: LP: 1975 Cramps. Gatefold with lyric inner bag. Interesting that the random number generator chose two albums in two days that I purchased at the Mad Platter in Springfield, Missouri (1989). As I said on the Dreamlab entry, I still have many from that buy.

CD: 2007 Strange Days. Papersleeve edition.

5/22/89 (first listen); 3/20/07; 12/5/17; 9/16/22 (review/new entry)

Los Jaivas. 1975 Chile

For many years I thought this album was all about the final track and the rest wasn't to be bothered with. Not sure how I missed all the great music here, but walked away with a +1 listen last night. Certainly Los Jaivas by this point in their career had toned down their rhetoric, and moved more towards the indigenous sounds of the region. Panpipes are definitely present and some of the music does recall walking European capitals and watching men in traditional garb looking for spare change. But it's far more than that, especially on 'Guajira Cósmica' and 'La Conquistada' which both recall Italian prog at their most pastoral. Similar to fellow countrymen Los Blops perhaps. And yes, that does get us to the finale 'Tarka y Ocarina' which is indeed a whopper - a track for the ages. The opening third recalls Ash Ra Tempel's debut with its thunderous drumming and ripping heavy psychedelic guitar - quite a jarring sound in this setting. The remainder is like a piano concerto gone mad, and certainly ELP or any number of their Italian equivalents like Metamorfosi or Triade come to mind. Overall a fantastic work, one of Chile's best from this era. And it should be noted they were in exile in Argentina during this period, escaping the recent Pinochet dictatorship.

Ownership: LP: 1975 EMI (Argentina). Beautiful gatefold. Acquired this from a reliable Argentina based mail order dealer (1996). It's been a long time since I looked at the value of this record, but it's skyrocketed, worth 7 times what I had it noted for (even though there are many original pressings from different countries). Good to know, though I'm not selling it.

1996 (first listen); 9/15/22 (review/new entry)

Mythos - Dreamlab. 1975 Germany

Even though I've owned Dreamlab the longest, it's the Mythos album I'm the least familiar with. It's much more cosmic than the heavy Krautrock of the debut or the weird hybrid of prog and hard rock that the follow up Strange Guys brings. Lots of echo flute, mellotron, synthesizers, and some rock rhythms define this excellent work. Kaske fortunately keeps his mouth zipped for most of this, though his voice isn't as offensive as usual here. I slightly prefer Side 2 as it's a bit more dynamic. Overall, Dreamlab very much fits the vibe of the Cosmic Courier movement, which was close to shutting down shop by the time this was released.

Ownership: LP: 1975 Kosmiche Musik. Single sleeve. Acquired in 1989 at the Mad Platter in Springfield, Missouri while passing through on the way to Chicago from Dallas. They also had this album on the Italian PDU label with a different cover, and I kept it for many years but eventually let it go. I bought a lot of records on this buy, my biggest score outside the state of Texas up to that point. I still have many of them. The store shut down long ago.

5/22/89 (first listen); 9/15/22 (review / new entry)

Ohr Musik. 1997 England

I first discovered Ohr Musik via their second album, the obscure CD Friction Burns, a brilliant retro Krautrock album, maybe the best of its kind. Their debut was part of the Prescription Drug series, albums that were limited to 99 copies, but mysteriously 100's have shown up on the market, many with the same number. But this was at the height of Sun Dial / Acme studios deception practices, including most infamously the Psi-Fi albums. I've covered that topic so many times, I feel like the bar drunk going on about 9/11 and COVID conspiracies... so I won't talk about it here again. See comments for details on who is behind the music. 

Ohr Musik has done a fantastic job of revisiting the early 70s Berlin vibe. In particular, I hear Harmonia's debut, and they capture that mystical early Cluster vibe (think Cluster II). This one doesn't rave up in the manner of Ash Ra Tempel or Guru Guru. This is for the chill out Krautrock crowd. Clearly the band is self-conscious of what they're doing (the moniker alone says that), and the opening words of the insert say: "Imagine, if you will, that it is 1973. In a Berlin basement, close by the shadow of the wall..." Yep - they pretty much nailed that atmosphere!

Ownership: LP: 1997 Prescription. Single sleeve with insert. Copy 79 (presumably). Purchased online in 2004. Probably the repress (haha). My copy is different than the photos you see here from Discogs. The front has the same design but is yellow/green in color (different color than their back cover to the right which is lime green). The back is blank. And the label has a handwritten OM (in black marker - not red) instead of Ohr Musik. No one in Germany was sloppy like this in the early 70s. Quite the opposite. Oh well - the music holds up, so I'm keeping it. No reissues exist (theoretically). Because you know - they "destroyed the tapes right after". Sure they did.

9//04; 9/14/22 (new entry)

The U.S. Air Force Band Rock Group ~ USA ~ Washington D.C.

Mach One (1976)

When you live in a military town like Colorado Springs, then you'll notice at the thrift shops that we get an overabundance of records from the Armed Forces (RT had a ton of these). Most of them are what they call "transcription" records - that is albums that have been released but pressed specially for those in the field, without a cover. They feature one side each of known artists and albums. Many of these are collectible, though most are unknown, and I have a few of these LPs in my future inventory stack. The other type of record are what were used as "recruiting" albums. These are usually albums made by members of whatever branch of military is doing the recruiting. Since The Springs is the home of a large Army and Air Force base, not to mention the Air Force Academy itself, then that's what we see more of than the Navy or Marines. Of these original recording albums, most are from the time of Gomer Pyle or before and are not of interest to me. But they did carry the practice into the 70s. The best one I've heard to date - by far - is Mach One.

The cover is an indication that this isn't a garden variety military record. Specifically it's a blend of hard hitting horn rock and jazz funk. The songs are a mix of original and cover tunes. The musicianship is top notch and these guys and gals could have hit the touring circuit. Perhaps they did - but not commercially. Some fantastic fuzz guitar, organ, and synthesizer along with killer horn charts, tight rhythms, and great male / female vocals. For 1976 they're running a few years outside the boundary of the style they're playing, sounding more like 1972. Which is a good thing...

Ownership: 1976 U.S. Air Force Recruiting Service (LP)

8/23/20 (first listen); 9/14/22 (review / new entry)

2022 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 1 - Complete

R.E.O. Speedwagon. 1973 Epic (1971) (LP). Orange label. I was talking with Purple Peak Jeff recently and he was telling me how much he likes the first two albums from REO. This at a time when I've formally declared 'Keep on Loving You' *the worst song of all time*. But we all know that there's a huge difference between 1971 and 1980, especially in cash driven America. OK, I'll give it a shot then! And PPJ is right - it's much better. Definitely music of the Midwest, coming from the University of Illinois area. I like the way guitarist Gary Richrath jams on the rhythm guitar almost in a proto-metal way. 'Gypsy's Woman's Passion', 'Sophisticated Lady', and the 10 minute plus 'Dead at Last' are the highlights. Unfortunately REO brings a lot of boogie to the table. I never could get into this aspect of bar rock, complete with honkytonk piano. We all have different filters, and PPJ has always shown more tolerance to it. Very good on the whole but not enough to keep. (Sep)

George Harrison - Wonderwall Music. 1968 Apple (LP). A late straggler from the RT collection. Soundtrack from a rather bizarre film, the album is noteworthy due to its mix of East and West, with an emphasis on the former. As straight listening it's rather dull but has its moments. An old colleague used to love this album, but he really loved the film more. I can appreciate the associative thinking regarding that. (Sep)

The Kudzu Band - Chittlin' Circuit. 1976 De Vine (LP). Ran across this at a thrift shop. Never heard of this Georgia based band before so I picked it up. When checking for condition, it sounded pretty cool so I went for a full listen. Not bad at all. Definitely southern rock - slightly heavy - with additional synthesizers and flute. A little bit of boogie rock too. Not going to keep it, but worth hearing for sure. (Sep)

Max Webster - A Million Vacations. 1979 Anthem (LP). As noted on the Mutiny Up My Sleeve post, I picked up one more Max Webster at the thrift shop and this was it. Very similar but perhaps a -1 off. Just a little too much pop and not enough invention. I don't see this as a grower like the other one. (Aug) 

King Harvest - Dancing in the Moonlight. 1972 Perception (LP). Real oddball here. I'm likely to buy anything on the Perception label, as they're uniformly collectible. King Harvest are a French based band made up of American expats. The music is a mix of styles, but mostly soft rock. However the cover implies biker psych rock. Weird. Worth hearing but not going to keep. (Jun)

Head East - Flat as a Pancake. 1975 Pyramid (LP). Thrift shop find. Not in the best shape unfortunately. However I bought it because it has become increasingly impossible to find and expensive. This was Head East's debut, and was released privately in the St. Louis area. 'Never Been Any Reason' became a big local hit, so A&M signed them up and released the album to a much larger audience. Head East were something of a household name in the late 1970s and early 80s. The album starts off great with the hard rocking 'Jefftown Creek'. But mostly this is boogie and bar rock, the kind of music they played on Wet T-Shirt night. Not bad at all, but not really my thing. (Jun)

*Supertramp - Breakfast in America. 1979 A&M (LP). Now here's an album I never thought I'd reconcile with. To me it was the epitome of the type of music I didn't care for in the late 70s. Annoying in fact. I bought this copy primarily for resale (even as a mass commodity, this album gets a quick 15 every time). But I'm holding onto it for now. Seems every track here was a hit at the time. And the closer 'Child of Vision' is actually proggy. I'll be damned. (May)

Box of Frogs. 1984 Epic (LP). Much was made of this release when it came out. Ex-Yardbirds guys playing classic rock and roll. Rock critics have always been annoyingly conservative when it comes to new music. Politically they are uber liberal and musically the exact opposite. It makes no sense. Prog rock, for example, is the ultimate thorn in the side of a rock critic. It wasn't until only a few years ago they hesitantly suggested that Rush wasn't so bad after all. Maybe. And the rising heavy metal tide was not welcomed either. Not at all. They would roll their eyes and effeminately state "music for neanderthal macho men". Right to my face in fact. Thanks. The Rolling Stones - now THAT is what rock music is "supposed to be". Period, and it's not debatable. Box of Frogs were the darling of these "analysts". Back to the basics. But the production was all 80s. "See, we keep up too" they'd claim. All of that to say, Box of Frogs isn't a bad album and I can appreciate what they're doing here. They have plenty of guest guitarists (speaking of the Stones...), and that's where the album shines. But the songwriting is really dull and predictable. An average album in aggregate. (Apr)

*Ten Wheel Drive - Construction #1. 1969 Polydor (LP). One could make an argument that New Jersey's Ten Wheel Drive are proto to this list! It's a mix of hard rock, horn rock, jazz, blues, etc.. Not too much progressive, but worthy of inclusion for that list. (Apr)

*Good Rats - Tasty Seconds (Cover of Night). 1996 Uncle Rat (CD). Thrift shop find (Apr). Apparently this was Good Rats' comeback album after a 15 year hiatus. Similar in construct to the Good Rats I know from the 70s, except it's far more muscled up and less reliant on boogie rock. Borderline heavy metal, this packs some meaty hard rock guitar and boozed up vocals. The band is completely revived here, and the energy level is infectious. Features an all star cast of Long Island's most known hard rock and metal figures. Nothing groundbreaking here, but there really wasn't much like this in the mid 90s. Kind of reminds me of the obscure Californian hard rock band Kai Kln. This CD is a "limited edition" and appears to have been released privately to an ever shrinking fan base.

Good Rats - Ratcity in Blue. 1998 Uncle Rat (1976) (CD). Thrift shop find (Mar). I've mentioned my college dorm room floor in the past. Our Resident Hall Monitor, the same gentleman who turned me onto early Genesis, was from Long Island, New York. Not a common background for Texas Tech sitting as it does in hardcore West Texas. Like most college listeners, his tastes in music were very eclectic, and one of his favorite bands were local heroes (to him) Good Rats. I heard them as humdrum hard and boogie rock myself. This is not one of the titles he had, or that I borrowed I should say, but it's pretty much humdrum hard and boogie rock. Ah well. There's is some decent guitar work, and I would qualify the album as good overall. Nothing more, nothing less. No more room for albums such as this. Though credit to the title which is a fun sendup of the Gershwin classic.

*Demon - The Plague. 1983 Atlantic (LP). Demon are most known as one of the original NWOBHM bands. I haven't heard their first two albums (I did eventually), but that's obviously where the metal component must exist. Because on their next two, including The Plague, there's some light hard rock guitar and a lot of synthesizers. Funny I was just reminiscing about Saga's World's Apart and The Plague pretty much follows the same model. It's more obviously progressive, and has a bit more of a hard rock component. However it's not as punchy and catchy as Saga were in those days, and that's most likely why The Plague was the only original American release Demon were to ever achieve. Besides, having a moniker and emblem such as Demon did the band no favors, as anyone would expect metal here, and then not receive it. Personally this album comes at a good time for me, perfectly capturing an era that I'm currently reliving. And how about that cover? Talk about predictive! (Feb)

The Doors - Other Voices. 1973 Elektra (1971) (LP). Picked up in trade late last year. I've been wanting hear these post Morrison Doors albums for some time. A college chum played me Full Circle way back then, but I recall little about it. Based on what I'm reading, I can pass on a revisit. And that's primarily because Other Voices, which is supposed to be better, isn't really all that good either. The easy out here would be to just state it's The Doors without Jim Morrison, so how could it be good anyway? Well... plenty of bands have survived tragedy only to improve from there. I could very easily see this album being the next Doors release after LA Woman. It's not like Morrison would go "Gee guys, I'm not so keen on 'I'm Horny, I'm Stoned'". Now he'd for certain sing it better than Ray or Robby, but the song still stinks. I do like 'Ships w/ Sails' and 'Hang On To Your Life', but not enough to keep. Too bad, as this is a very fine glossy German gatefold. Speaking of which, this copy isn't in Discogs. It's on Elektra (instead of Exulta), but it doesn't have a label code. In fact, the label looks exactly like the Exulta release with a different moniker. According to the history of the Elektra label and label codes in Germany, that would place this release between 1973 and 1975. I don't care enough to add it though. Unless it doesn't sell at the next record show... (it did) (Jan)

* - Keeping for the collection

Cloven Hoof. 1984 England

Cloven Hoof's debut is my kind of NWOBHM. One of those quirky all-over-the-place releases that seemingly have no rhyme or reason. All within the confines of late 70s hard rock and early 80s metal. This was an era of great invention, but strictly in the underground. Somewhat like Legend in that way. Cloven Hoof were about 2 years too late to capture the audience they needed. By 1984, thrash was the name of the game, and antiquated pseudo proggy heavy bands were being pushed to the sidelines. Had I discovered this real time, most assuredly I would have considered this one of the greatest metal albums in my collection. 38 years later, I finally heard it. Never too late. Looking for the interesting side of the NWOBHM movement? Listen to Cloven Hoof.

Ownership: LP: 1984 Neat. Single sleeve with lyric inner. One more from my local seller friend. This will be the last one I cover until the next round of new arrival LPs. I still have a few Anthem's and Axewitch's, and hopefully a bunch of new acquisitions from him by then too.

9/13/22 (new entry)

Witchfinder General - Death Penalty. 1982 England

Witchfinder General's debut is one of the oddities of the NWOBHM movement. While most bands took the Judas Priest footprint and merged it with the energy of punk, Witchfinder General found their inspiration in Black Sabbath. And they pretty much nail it. Sabbath were still an active concern, but this isn't emulated after the Dio fronted group, but rather a lookback to the Ozzy days. It's relatively straightforward but has better songwriting than the last 2 with Osbourne, recalling Sabotage without the proggy elements. What's great about Death Penalty is that each track features breaks which contain at least 2 or more riffs. A classic of its kind, Witchfinder General ironically were ahead of their time while looking backwards to obtain their sound.

Ownership: LP: 1982 Heavy Metal Records. Single sleeve. Clear vinyl. Acquired at a record store in Kansas City while there for a buddy's wedding (1993).

This Heavy Metal Records is not to be confused with Heavy Metal Worldwide, which was also operating out of the UK at this time. The cover is really silly and should not be taken seriously. On a positive note it features Joanne Latham, a very well known "glamour model" in her day - and she certainly does capture the imagination. However in today's cancel culture world, the album most assuredly has already been declared "encouraging violence against women". If you're interested in owning it, get your copy now, because they will likely be banned for sale in the next decade. Don't believe me? You watch. Discogs has already banned the selling of certain albums for less offenses.

9/9/93; 9/13/22 (new entry)

Eloy - Planets. 1981 Germany

By 1981, Eloy's sound could be only be considered BIG. Wide open expansive music with fantastic bass and synthesizer chords. They'd been more or less working towards this album since 1976's Dawn, and had perfected the formula by the time of Planets. While the earlier Eloy albums such as Inside possessed both tricky time shifts and long solos, Planets is none of those things. But it's not plodding like Pink Floyd either. Overall a very pleasing music, strong on melody, and has a good groove. The type of sounds that you could draw new fans in given its lack of dissonance or avant garde techniques.

Ownership: LP: 1982 Heavy Metal Worldwide (UK). Textured single sleeve with lyric inner. Fortunately without the cut corner like the Discogs version shown here. For whatever reason, even though I owned most of the Eloy albums by the time I left college in 1987, I never picked up Planets. In fact, I don't recall seeing it. I had the others on the label by then: Time To Turn, Performance, and Metromania. It wasn't until 2014 that I finally purchased the LP (and heard for the first time) - but it was the original German gatefold release with a different cover. I wanted the Rodney Matthews version and finally acquired this copy online in 2020. I had both up until yesterday, thinking the German copy was in better condition (the cover certainly was) - but no, it turns out this was the better vinyl. So that one is now in the record show box. The HMW releases feature beautiful fantasy covers. The name of the label doesn't match the music of Eloy - not even close - and I'm sure that created confusion for fans of both. The label only lasted 5 years and their roster was a mix of metal and prog.

2//14; 9/10/22 (new entry)

L.S. Bearforce ~ Germany

L.S. Bearforce (1983)

---3/8/10

As anachronistic as they come. 1983 was the last year anyone would expect an early 1970s style free form jam session, like early Guru Guru and, perhaps more pointedly, the 1974 Uli Trepte / Guru Guru album. But Lotus Schmidt (the L.S. reference) apparently was a huge fan of albums like UFO and Hinten and convinced the Guru Guru guys (Mani and Uli) to go in with him on the album. Perhaps released 20 years ahead of its time, as it would now be hailed as a retro classic today. Features both Mani Neumeier on drums and Edgar Hoffman (Embryo) on woodwinds and violin. It was even recorded by the original Ohr producer Julius Schittenhelm. 

---9/9/22

Last night's listen confirmed those findings. I did drop the rating -1, even though I've owned the album now for 30 years. Which still means excellent - rather than exemplary. Part of that rating was my enthusiasm of having our very own Krautrock from my era. This sound was extinct in its day, though it later made a comeback. This really could have been an early Guru Guru album. A fine work that still needs discovery.

No reissues as of 3/30/25.

Ownership: 1983 Up Art (LP). White vinyl. Comes with a four page insert with Lotus Schmidt explaining himself in the liners (lol). Also contains full recording details.

1992 (first listen); 3/8/10 (review); 9/9/22 (update / new entry)