The Sterling Cooke Force ~ USA ~ Pennsylvania

Full Force (1984)

Here's an album that I first discovered via their earlier 45, which I reported on at the beginning of this month. To quote: "From northeastern Pennsylvania. File Sterling Koch (real name) next to Uli Jon Roth as guys who had no intention of letting Hendrix's legacy become forgotten. A) side sounds like the first Electric Sun album, which gets you a gold star in my book*... ...This would be the debut recording for Koch, and it looks like he went on to form The Sterling Cooke Force and released two albums and one more single." 

That debut album finally arrived after the seller left it in his living room for a full week. No big deal, sounds like it was an honest mistake. 

The sound that Cooke put forth on that single is here as well. Full Force is a direct collision of The Michael Schenker Group, Electric Sun, Roth era Scorpions, and a more metalish Robin Trower. The ghost of Hendrix looms large here. Sure, he recycled half the riffs, but when they sound this great who cares? It's a mix and match of all your favorite hard rock psych guitarists all in one place. It's a possible route Hendrix himself could have taken, dragging the late 60s into the 80s. I doubt he would have (see my Junior Hanson review), but it's fun to fantasize. Personally I think the album is fantastic. 

* - that track is on this album as well, but I'm sure it's been rearranged.

Ownership: 1984 Ebony (LP)

This is my first album to own on the infamous Ebony, most known for signing up downstream and mediocre NWOBHM bands. Now that's their reputation, but I'd like to find out for myself some day.

I also obtained their second LP Force This. It's essentially hair metal and falls outside of my interest area.

4/20/24 (review)

The RH Factor ~ USA ~ Los Angeles, California

Cries of the Night (1988)

I've been sitting on this since last June (so says the price sticker anyway). Picked up locally for four bucks at the now defunct Independent Records. One of my best scores there (look it up on Discogs). There are a few RH Factors, this one stands for guitarist Robert Howell. Apparently a disciple of a one Frank Marino, though that connection is only apparent on 'Rock Me Baby', which is exactly the kind of cover tune Marino would do. The music could best be described as AOR metal, but I think I'll categorize it as hard rock all the same. The songwriting is really strong for this kind of thing, and the album remains engaging. Excellent guitar work as to be expected. Only B2 stuck out as something regrettable. There's even light proggy touches to be found here. Given its scarcity, I'm going to hang onto this one. Worth seeking out if you're curious (check out YouTube).

Ownership: 1988 Tem (LP). The colors are little more softer / realistic than this photoshop scan. 

No reissues as of 3/31/25.

4/19/24 (review / new entry)

Tiger B. Smith - Tiger Rock. 1972 Germany

And now you know the group and album. I met Holger Schmidt's son. Take away the afro and scraggly beard, and his son looks just like him. Holger passed away in 2016 and we talked about that some as well.

As for the music, it's one of those I discovered later in life after being disappointed with the lightweight We're the Tiger Bunch, which was a pretty easy score in the late 1980s (due to being released on Janus in America). As with Lily, Tiger B. Smith only looked like a glam band, but the music on Tiger Rock is no such thing. It's pure gritty hard rock, done Krautrock style. 'To Hell' is the highlight of the five tracks presented and features molten hot guitar and precision rhythms. 'Tiger Blues' closes in namesake fashion but still rocks the house. Overall a super hard rocker in the Silberbart, Hairy Chapter, Night Sun tradition.

Ownership: LP: 2008 CMV. Single sleeve with poster and postcard. There's a mistake on the label, as Side A should be listed as (this side) rather than (over).

This is copy #25 (I'm sure Holger Schmidt received all the early ones). To be honest, I thought he might even be sending me the original Vertigo (maybe they had multiples of them?). We didn't discuss it and it really doesn't matter to me. Whichever copy he sends will remain the treasure of the collection. And so it is this version that will remain with me to the end.

4/14/24 (new entry)

I have a story to tell

I've been sitting on this story for a little over a year. Now is the right time to tell it. It's one of those incredible coincidences and encounters that we sometimes get in life. It's too good not to share with you all, as it's very relevant to this blog.

So... every year I attend our internal sales kickoff conference in Las Vegas (late Feb / early Mar timeframe). I'm not in sales per se, but I support them in my current role. The software company I work for is large, has very deep pockets, and really goes all out for this event. The last night of the conference involves a major shindig of some sort. Last year they rented out half a block of restaurants and venues including the Brooklyn Bowl, which was the original destination and we would spread out from there.

To get there from our resort hotel, they provide dozens of shuttle buses (there's close to 5,000 people at this event). Typically you would "meet up" with peers and friends and then ride over together. Being the random type of guy that I am, I just wandered over by myself and let's see what happens. I sat down next to a young man (heck - grandpa here is older than most of my peers these days), and started chatting. Turns out he's from Germany and is one of our sales reps there. As with anyone you have a common bond with, the conversation turns more lively as you learn about each other. Naturally we start with our jobs and the company we're with, and then it moves in various directions (family, food, drink, travel, culture, etc...). Our conversation carried pass the bus, the walk to the venue, and then inside the bowling alley. It's one of those finger food events, and we grab a space at the bar, get into some craft beers and food, and continue talking incessantly. Music had wandered in and out of the conversation, but I never expect anyone to know about what I write about here so I rarely broach the topic.

Eventually we start deep diving into music. He knows a lot. So I asked him if he knew what Krautrock was. I mean he's much younger (early to mid 30s) so this would be interesting to see. "Oh yes!" he proclaims. 

"My dad was in a Krautrock band". "Really? Did they record anything?"

"Definitely - they had two albums." "Whaaaat? This is crazy. What was their name?" "xxxx" (to be continued).

Then he offers: "I have many copies of the first album - I'll send one to you." And he did just that. I didn't even own a copy prior, making it that much more special.

After that I ended up bowling with him and the German team. Haha. All this happened because I didn't hang out in my comfort zone.

Tomorrow afternoon or Monday morning I will reveal that group and album.

To close the story, before this year's conference, I began to compose an email so that we could reconnect again. 

He is no longer with the company 😞 He's not even on LinkedIn, the only social media where my real name and photo exist. Overall, a most bizarre and fortuitous encounter.

Dewey Terry - Chief. 1972 USA-California

From the two dollar table and this might prove to be my unexpected new favorite discovery of the last record show (still plenty to go). Chief is a very eclectic album and much of it is not of interest to me. It's a mix of soul, jazz, blues, rock, and funk. Dewey Terry is from Los Angeles but this LP was released on the short-lived Tumbleweed label up the street in Denver, which is probably why I found it. Starts off in soul territory before moving into a rocker that reminded me of Jim Croce of all people. Things get much more interesting on 'Funky Old Town', before the album offers the two tracks that are insisting you pay attention (totalling close to 9 minutes). 'Suit for the Cat' (not credited on the back cover) is an excellent instrumental jazz rock piece featuring Terry on electric harpsichord. This is followed by the album's best cut 'Do On My Feet (What I Did in the Street)'. Featuring a killer funk groove with great guitar and Hammond organ, this track will get you on your feet alright. It's what the hipsters would call a banger. Side 2 picks up the same tune and leads into a commercial about a chicken farm - in Nashville, Tennessee! Que?  B2 and B4 are sleepy blues tracks. 'Sweet as Spring' is a very nice soft rocker with a sweet melody. And finally the album closer has a great rural rock mid section and solos that remind me of Culpeper's Orchard. So, as you can see, the album is all over the place and very inconsistent. But there's a lot of great here to be found. Combine that with being somewhat local to me - I'm keeping it for now.

Ownership: LP: 1972 Tumbleweed. Promo. Acquired at the Rocky Mountain Record Show (2024). This is some cover, I'll tell you that. It's meant to emulate a classroom notebook. Inside is notebook paper filled with recording details written in pencil. You need to be a member of Mensa to figure out where the LP is supposed to be stored. Surprising a record like this isn't worth hundreds of dollars. Guessing there's always been plenty of supply.

4/11/24 (new entry)

Hokr ~ Czech Republic

Starej Hokr Vol. 2. (2023)

Every few years we hear from the Czech Republic's finest prog band Hokr, and here we have a very interesting mix of archival and new material. I'll discuss that further below, but let's tackle the music first. Which I did over five listens on subsequent nights. Hokr has never been an easy listen, and this album is no different. 

For their last album I wrote: "...is a dense Van der Graaf Generator styled prog with the addition of sax and anguished vocals (in their native Czech). ...There are 8 tracks totaling 48 minutes, and everyone of them is challenging and complex. Yet easy on the ears with a certain melodicism. This is not the cold and calculating avant prog classroom exercise. No, this points to the early 70s masters of the style. I listened three times straight last night, and each listen revealed many new twists. Hokr are a full sounding five piece group, whose music will easily transcend time."

I think that covers this as well. That thick organ, tenor sax, complex charting, and impassioned vocals immediately recall the best of VDGG. Just the sound alone is very enticing. It's a varied album, which makes sense when you know how it was compiled, but it still comes across as a cohesive whole. Despite terms like "difficult" and "complex", the album actually flows nicely and is pleasurable throughout. That's a testament to the group's experience.

So what is this album anyway? The title means Old Hokr Vol. 2. Petr Cermak (friend and drummer of the band) tells me this was music they used to play from 1979 to 1985 (newly recorded though). OK, tell me more. Thank goodness for Achim, my long time friend and colleague from Germany, as he saved me time here. He dived deeper and offers this (translated by Google): 

"An email exchange with Petr and Pavel Cermak helped a lot to clear things up, and also helped clarify the band name. 'Hokr' was the band's neighbor's last name, i.e. the neighbor of the Cermak family, in whose house the group had started rehearsing in the fall of 1979. Since he was a bit strange (the neighbor), says Petr Cermak, and the band's music too, they named themselves after him. Back to "Starej Hokr Vol. 2". Starje is called old, so the album is roughly called 'The Old Hokr Part 2'. Here you can find music that Hokr composed, rehearsed and performed at secret concerts back then, especially in the first half of the 80s (they did not have an official performance permit from the Czechoslovak authorities). "Starej Hokr" is the sister album to "Hokrova Vila", which also contains such historical material from the band, but newly recorded in 2003-2004. “Starej Hokr” took a little longer, as the pieces were recorded between 2005 and 2023. This was probably also because Petr Cermak lived in the USA in 1986, while Pavel was active in the Czech Republic with Hokr, with a new drummer. Of course, original drummer Petr Cermak wanted to work on the skins for “Hokrova Vila” and “Starej Hokr”. ...Petr Cermak names Blue Effect (Modrý Efekt), Collegium Musicum, The Plastic People of the Universe, DG 307, Mikoláš Chadimas Extempore (later known as MCH Band), Vladimír Mišíks Etc…, SBB, Budka Suflera, Ossian and Omega as influencers at the time . The group's favorite band was probably King Crimson. From these sources of inspiration and a lot of their own, Hokr then formed their very own style, keyboard-heavy, a bit jazzy, slightly chamber rock and always nice and creaky, with very unique singing in the local language. Aku-Aku's colleagues, Dunaj, Domácí Kapela and Narajama later made similar music."

Thank you, Achim. Had no idea it was their neighbor's last name! And I also need to follow up on some of those reference groups. I know many and have written about them here, but there are some new names to me too.

Ownership: 2023 private (CD). Thick digipak with stapled booklet. 

4/7/24 (review)

Klid v Bezčasí (2017)

One of the better progressive rock discoveries of the last decade was Hokr, a band from Prague who released two albums of great invention. I have notes on each somewhere in this blog, for reference. So when I received notice that a 3rd album had just come out, I was ready to pull the trigger immediately. Ummm... one small problem. No one had it for sale. I mean no one. I put on the Discogs want list immediately, along with an ebay search. And waited. And waited. And waited. And finally that day arrived. Hokr managed to be for sale, even here in the United States. Hooray.

Now that I have secured the CD, which Hokr can I expect? The reality is that their two albums are very different from each other, but both great. The 2004 debut is a keyboard based progressive similar to Collegium Musicum but updated Elephant9 style. The other (Zahřáté Brzdy Optimismu from 2012) is a dense Van der Graaf Generator styled prog with the addition of sax and anguished vocals (in their native Czech). And the answer is? Klid v Bezčasí is very much like the latter. There are eight tracks totaling 48 minutes, and everyone of them is challenging and complex. Yet easy on the ears with a certain melodicism. This is not the cold and calculating avant prog classroom exercise. No, this points to the early 70s masters of the style. I listened three times straight last night, and each listen revealed many new twists. Hokr are a full sounding five piece group, whose music will easily transcend time. They are 3 for 3 in my book. Well worth seeking out.

Ownership: 2017 private (CD). Tri-fold thick digi-pak, with a booklet attached containing lyrics and original photography. 

5/7/21 (review)

Zahřáté Brzdy Optimismu (2012)

It's been eight years since Hokr's last album, and in between they released an album under the name Poco Loco. Zahřáté Brzdy Optimismu is closer in sound to Poco Loco than the last Hokr. The vocals have an anguished guttural quality similar to Peter Hammill (except sung in Czech), and the dense complex compositions recall the early 70s albums by Van der Graaf Generator. Sax, fuzz bass, and amplified organ lead the instrumental side of the band. This a fairly unique album overall. Perhaps only Garden Wall of Italy has a similar compositional style. Remove the metal guitars and add sax, and you have about the closest cousin you can spot. And they are distant cousins. Very distant. Highly recommended for the adventurous progressive rock listener.

Ownership: 2012 Ears & Wind (CD)

5/18/13 (review)

Hokrova Vila (2004)

At its core, Hokr are an organ based trio (whose history goes back as far as 1981) that seems to be the spiritual successor to Collegium Musicum, but put through the Elephant9 hyper amplified grinder. Additional guests on cello, tenor sax, and guitar augment their sound greatly. Though primarily an instrumental album, the Czech vocals are delivered in an impassioned narrative like a cross between Pholas Dactylus, Devil Doll, and Deus Ex Machina (at the higher registers). The cello gives them a slight Anekdoten feel. This is the best album from the Czech Republic since the heyday of The MCH Band, who they share some similarities with especially on the tracks with sax (minus the guitar of MCH of course). 'Mouse in a Trance' is a certified monster quality track! Hokr evolved into the also creative Poco Loco, a group I need to spend more time with obviously. Don't miss this one!

Ownership: 2011 private (CD)

4/28/11 (review)

4/28/11 (new entry) 

Malady - Ainavihantaa. 2021 Finland

Ainavihantaa is Malady's 3rd album and is a continuation of their foray into the waters of retro progressive rock. Some quotes from my notes of their prior two releases:

"One of the common complaints I often hear regarding the "retro prog" movement is that the various bands that attempt it either 1) use new instrumentation to emulate old sounds or 2) use newer production techniques, even if the instrumentation is authentic. I have no such qualms, but for those where 1) and 2) are a problem, then Malady is the remedy for your... (cough) malady. Hammond organ, flute, loud acid guitar, woody bass, vocals in Finnish... you know the drill by now.  This is an album that sounds like it was recorded and released in 1973. If groups with names like Tasavallan Presidentti, Kalevala, Nimbus, and Fantasia get your heart started, well then, do I have an album for you..." (OK, that was the whole review lol. But it applies here...)

"As I stated on the notes for that debut, Malady is a band that have truly captured the sound and essence of the early 1970s. And they are defiantly Finnish at that, so the country's own progressive rock heritage is brought to the fore. Like their ancestors, Malady are not in a hurry to prove a point, but rather they invite you into their world, with strange shapes, dynamics, and colors."

Remember what I said on the latest Agusa album about putting on a pair of your favorite jeans? That's Malady. Whereas Agusa takes me to new heights, Malady feels comfortable. Like watching an old episode of Rockford Files rather than something more challenging, even if it's based in old school principles (say... Bosch for example). The question then becomes how many pair of comfy jeans do I need to own? That's going to be a debate coming in the not so distant future. We'll have to review this one with a more critical ear. For now... I'm good.

Ownership: CD: 2021 Svart. Jewel case with lyrics and band photo.

4/4/24 (new entry)

The Mars Volta - Amputechture. 2006 USA-Texas

The headline: Artificial Intelligence Creates First Prog Rock Record

In a related story, when I was in high school in the early 80s I had a good music friend who came up with the concept of "random notes and metrics" using a pair of dice against a matrix of notes and scales. He's involved in a few albums, so he'll remain nameless to protect the guilty. I don't know if he invented that concept, but one wonders if The Mars Volta didn't come up with a similar philosophy using an online random number generator.

For Frances the Mute I joked "Until now I didn't realize one could get 4 hours of music onto a single disc." And further offered "It's like Led Zeppelin playing the music of Thinking Plague."

Amputechture follows Frances the Mute and largely maintains the patterns above. I'm not really quite sure what to do with these albums. I find them fascinating but not necessarily enjoyable. I can't even imagine playing these songs live - they're not even really songs. It would seem they would need music stands and written charts. It's almost the logical extreme of prog rock. The band must've asked themselves "What if we take Tales from Topographic Oceans... to the next level?" The whole thing seems random and made up as it goes. Which in of itself is not a bad concept, and these guys do on rare occasion catch a groove. Once again, I feel like they're talented hard rockers gone completely off the rails. They're creating an endgame for something that doesn't need it. 

Maybe one day these albums will make some kind of sense. Perhaps listening to only one song over and over would help. And then put the CD away for another day. Sounds like a reasonable retirement activity.

Ownership: CD: 2006 Universal / Gold Standard Laboratories. Jewel case with lyrical booklet and bizarre WPA era artwork. I bought this when it came out, but no recollection of where. This is like a $5 CD, so if you're looking for value per notes created, tough to beat mathematically speaking.

2006; 4/4/24 (new entry)

Agusa - Prima Materia. 2023 Sweden

I find it fascinating on how we sometimes as listeners connect with albums. I currently have almost 200 albums in my collection that I rate 5 stars on RYM or 13 or above on Gnosis. They - appropriately enough - reflect a very small percentage of my overall listening experience. But those that make this list are very special to me for obvious reasons. Almost all of these go back to my formative years of deep diving into the vast world of underground music, with an occasional nod to a more well known album. It is very unusual for a newer album to transcend into this rarified territory. There are many reasons for this, mostly associative emotion - that which represents a time and place in one's life. When you're almost 60, the emotional aspect of the individual has (usually) stabilized. Those zenith moments are much fewer and far between. Much of this is familiarity and experience. In life it's the "been there, done that" factor. In music, we tend to recognize familiar patterns. Some are as comfortable as putting on your favorite pair of jeans. Others become tedious after close to 50 years of the same ol', same ol'.

I bring all of this up here on this review, as Prima Materia is (as I'm sure you've guessed by now) one of those rare albums. Even though Agusa have been around since 2014, and I own all of their studio albums plus one live outing, the group continues to evolve in the same manner as I have. And every single trigger and button got pushed for me, for a magical first time listen (and immediate subsequent listens). Perhaps this wouldn't have been such a great revelation for me 20 or even 10 years ago. But where my mental state is today, Prima Materia represents my personal soundtrack.

If you already know Agusa, then Prima Materia isn't really that much different than anything else they've released to date. Their stock and trade is that of the Swedish folk melody contrasted with the beautiful melodicism and instrumental progressive rock of a Camel (as but one example), or more close to home, Flasket Brinner. Flute is front and center to their sound, along with vintage keyboards and a delicious fuzz guitar tone. In addition to their normal approach, I picked up a distinct Brazilian bossa nova sound for this outing. It's the perfect complement to their recipe. This may come as a surprise if you weren't already aware of Sweden's long time fascination with Latin jazz.

As with any album that transcends the highest tier, words alone cannot express my adulation for such a beautiful piece of music. It's another kind of emotional language - one that if we all mastered, there would be world peace.

Ownership: CD: 2023 Kommun 2. As I stated for their last album: "Simple digipak. I think they want everyone to buy the LP instead...". Ya know, I might just do that, as irrational as that may sound since I'm downsizing like crazy over here.

3/31/24 (new entry)