Locomotive ~ England

Rudi's in Love / Never Set Me Free (1968)

Now this one is interesting. Still known as The Locomotive, this single was not included in the CD reissue below. And it's easy to understand why. It has little to do with their trademark sound. Rather this is Rocksteady music. Jamaican music, my friends. The horn charts and organ are well done. Not a bad 45, just the wrong group doing it.

Source: 1968 Bell promo (SP)

3/18/25 (review)

We Are Everything You See (1970)

Locomotive were an interesting band, with their sole album clearly released by Parlophone with big intentions for major acceptance in popular music circles. Many references can be tied to The Moody Blues and The Beatles, but with a contemporary 1970 sound, including horns and a heavy Hammond organ approach. And it just didn't happen for the starstruck band, who dissipated quickly afterward. There's really nothing wrong with the music here, it's definitely an album made up of psych / prog / pop songs geared for the hit parade. There's no artsy pretension or long flights of fancy here. Sure, there's the three part 'The Loves of Augustus Abbey' which is about as extreme as Sgt Peppers was, so it's still cuddly fun. In the end, since it's an album made up of structured songs, there's nothing extraordinary here - and nothing terrible either. All very well done, and certainly worth owning, but not enough to be a true cult classic for future generations. That would be reserved for guitarist's Norman Haines' decidedly more extreme album Den of Iniquity, which came about a year later. And that album also didn't sell squat in its day, but is more highly revered now.

Ownership: 2003 Eclectic (CD). Historical liner notes and six bonus tracks from singles. Though not including the one I have above.

2//04 (first acquired); 4//10; 10/10/15 (review)

10/10/15 (new entry)

MAX (Rodan) ~ USA ~ Los Angeles, California

Beyond Rodan (1970-1974 / 2024)

OK finally getting back on track here with some rarities. We have a beautiful new reissue to discuss today. I first had an opportunity to hear this uber rarity from top collector Heavy Rock way back in 2009. Here are my original notes:

Super horn rock album, that absolutely kills on most of the 12 short tracks. There are a couple of bluesy moves and at least one James Brown styled funker, but mostly this just rips from start to finish. The kind of album you wish all horn rockers were. Smoking guitar and great brass charts. The rhythm section never stops. California based group was actually known as MAX, and toured extensively with groups like Malo and Tower of Power. Album sports a fantastic drawing on the cover.

---

Now the story becomes clear. The original album itself is a pirate edition. It's not conclusive if the album was a tax dodge deal like the Guinness or Tiger Lily labels, or just an ambitious insider looking to profit. As such the original album is a hodge-podge of different eras of the band which explains the sound variations throughout. Now with this definitive (and gorgeous I might add) 2xLP set, you can hear the trajectory of MAX, though it's mostly spread across evenly (excepting Side A). Horn rock remains the primary genre, but they were progressive too in the same way as The Greatest Show On Earth or Brainchild. Jazz rock and finally hard funk can also be found in these grooves. The energy level remains high throughout. Beyond Rodan is a pleasant album to listen to. Despite being a double, I found myself engaged through its entirety. In fact I played both discs three times each before filing away.

---

After digesting the contents, I did have a couple of questions. I received an answer on the same day from founder David Cortopassi! Special thanks goes to Josh Cortopassi for the assistance.

1. There's a track on the original album called 'Pandora's Theme' that's not on this reissue. Was it just renamed or left off?

Scott Page had asked Joe Gottfried, owner of Sound City, to listen to the band rehearse (Scott's father, Bill Page, knew Joe Gottfried from playing with Lawrence Welk). Joe was impressed with MAX and offered to record us. First step was for me and Scott Williams to recorded several demos in order to decide what MAX would record at Sound City. Pandora's Theme was actually a piano solo I recorded at Sound City under the title "Of Aries For Scorpio". Other than that, I don't have a clue why it was renamed or even included on the bootlegged album. I had no input to the original Rodan album or the selection of songs on that album. As that cut didn't have horns, wasn't the same genre, and since time is limited on vinyl, it made sense to eliminate it.

2. There are five listed recording places in the liner notes. Do you happen to know the date of these - or at least the year? Even though the album was released in 1974, much of the music does sound more like 1970-71, which is consistent with the liner notes.

Quality differs from studio to studio and engineers have their own distinct sound or perception of what they record. My personal favorite recordings are those recorded at Sound City and Pacific Recorders. They capture what I consider that “classic” sound. In re-mastering them all, we did the best we could to closely reflect the album cuts as being recorded in a single studio.

I didn't keep track of the specific dates of the recordings, but the years by studio are as follows:
Sound City (1970 - 1971)
Pacific Recorders (1972)
Village Recorders (1973)
Columbia Records (1974)
ABC Dunhill (1974)

With that data in hand, here is your scorecard for when each track was recorded:

1970 - 1971: All of Side A; B2; B4; D3; C1
1972: B1; B3; D1; C5

1973: D4; C4

1974 (Columbia): D2; C3; C2

1974 (ABC Dunhill): D5

Ownership: 2024 Digital Cellars (2xLP) Gatefold. Liner notes inside the gate. They maintained the awesome artwork.

6/22/09 (review); 3/17/25 (update / new entry)

UMR update

OK just a quick note here. I had to clean out my tape drawer which lead to some common group retrospectives. I expect to get back to regular UMR fare for a little bit anyway. Have some LP rarities here I'd like to cover off on.

If itchin' to do some research, check out Obscurus Subterraneum Musica (aka CDRWL), which right now is deep diving into the UMR archives. Once that's complete, I have 100's of titles here to go through for the first time.

---2/26/25

Alrighty I'm caught up on the 2025 listens that instigated the new band pages. Plenty of journals to publish when they're ready. And many more band pages as I get to them. I've been picking up commodity CDs and cassettes for 50 cents each, which allows me to check out lesser albums by bands like Pink Floyd and Rush (as examples). These will lead me to consolidate my reviews onto one page.

So many albums to go through. My listening stacks are enormous (including online). Thank goodness I was able to retire so I can actually get to these projects. 

And we have a wonderful LP reissue to share hopefully in the next few days. It's one you may not know about, so stayed tuned for that.

Obscurus Subterraneum Musica is the newly renamed CD Reissue Wish List (same URL as before), and I'm adding new items on a nearly daily basis. Tons of albums to add. All will link back to reviews here on UMR. I'm catching up on that front before adding all the new-to-me titles. There are hundreds to go!

---2/21/25

As you may have noticed, I've switched the posts from individual albums to band pages. I'll be doing this real time, so it will be years before all the posts get converted. I'm in no hurry. This format allows me to continue to add reviews and move everything forward. It keeps the older reviews fresh and also presents a perspective as a timeline of thoughts and opinions. As such, the reviews will be presented from newest to oldest in terms of the review, not the album release date. Since some bands only have one album, UMR will essentially function as before in those cases. This is the same format I use for Under the Radar and the CDRWL. Both will now link back to UMR for reviews. I'm going be to removing the year tag as I wasn't getting anything out of that. And consolidating some of my music genres / styles.

Albums I own on a physical media format will show the album cover, while the others only contain narrative (and I'll identify the source).

Journals will continue, mostly for bands outside of my primary interest area. They're being released 10 reviews at a time per genre. Same with revisits of older posts. I'll just call them out on a list (10 at a time) rather than move forward if I have nothing new to add.

Because of this new format, all obscurities will be included here rather than the old CDRWL. I've decided not to reimagine that blog. It will maintain its original function as a tracking device for new reissues and create awareness around obscurities that few know. The reviews will be here though, and I'll be sure to move older blog posts forward for a fresh perspective. Those without a CD reissue will earn the CDRWL label / tag, which exists here already.

With the above comment I have a backlog for dozens of new entries I'd been holding back. So you can expect a lot more activity on the blog. 

Van Halen (& related) ~ USA ~ Los Angeles, California

Van Halen (1978)

Since I was already diving into the Van Halen back catalog, I figured I'd relisten to the album I constantly refer to, and that would be the debut. Part of this review would also make a good summary. Van Halen is not only an extremely important album in my overall music listening development, but I would submit it had the same impact from a music industry perspective as well. There just wasn't anything like it in the commercial market at the time. Feb 1978 is the release date RYM attributes. So 7th grade, and about the nadir of my existence. About the only thing I can say positive about my 13th year is that this was the time when music became my most focused and important hobby, something that never wavered again, as I write this 47 years later. 

How was my reaction when I first heard Van Halen? It was too much for me. I wasn't quite ready for the heaviness presented. I know that sounds strange in retrospect, but we have to remember the era, and that I was also young with no foundation with metal (such as it was at the time). But I was becoming angrier by the day - being force bused to the housing projects will do that - and I quickly found that Van Halen was allowing me to purge some of that internal angst. Remember when I said on the Windchase review that my record collection was my psychologist? This was an early example. Eventually Van Halen became one of my favorite albums by the end of 1978.

I can only speak for FM radio in Dallas, but there were four tracks from Van Halen that they played constantly: 'Running with the Devil', 'You Really Got Me', 'Jamie's Cryin'', and 'Little Dreamer'. The first one listed opens the album as well and is quite the statement, though not near as heavy as the album will become. The Kinks track is about as definitive a cover as you will ever hear. It's a great example of taking something from the 60s and amping it up 10 times. Fortunately it became de rigeur to include the preceding instrumental 'Eruption', which was groundbreaking at the time. A perfect segue too. One could argue that 'Jamie's Cryin'' was the blueprint for the future of Van Halen, though it is a very well penned song. But for Van Halen the album, it's one of the lightweight tracks. 'Little Dreamer' is a more simple song, but I always enjoyed the primary riff. Over time that track fell off the radio playlists, and in its place was an improvement. The blistering 'Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love' which is a great representative of the album as a whole. To me it also indicated that audiences were craving more and more heavy and faster material. Today it's considered one of their best songs ever, even by fans of their later works.

'Ice Cream Man' introduces us to David Lee Roth's obsession with showtooney type tracks. While the premise doesn't fit the overall mood of the album, the instrumental sections absolutely do. Eddie Van Halen was possessed on this album, and probably was as angry as I was. All that early fame and fortune weakened his resolve quickly. The only dud track is 'Feel Your Love Tonight', which seems to have unanimous disapproval. It would have fit fine on subsequent albums but not here.

So that leaves us with the three best tracks that remain relatively unknown by those not familiar with this debut already. These were the three that I gravitated to without bias or influence, along with the aforementioned 'Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love'. 'Atomic Punk' is the next generation of Led Zeppelin's 'Immigrant Song'. "Nobody walks these streets at night like me, I'm the Atomic Punk!". How I loved this song at age 13. And that crazy guitar scratching moment Eddie does - sounds like something Amon Duul II would have come up with. And Roth's vocals are perfect here. 'I'm the One' inches towards the Broadway play but instead just jams hard, and Eddie goes crazy on the solos. Brother Alex and Michael Anthony showcase their rhythmic abilities as well.

Which leaves the album closer: 'On Fire'. This is the heaviest recorded track in Van Halen's career, and remains my all-time favorite from them. It's also heavy metal, which ushered me into that direction, and one wonders how many other angry young men heard the same thing I did. When Roth screams multiple times "Fire" midway through, he isn't playing around - he sounds serious, something that would have served him well later in his career. And Eddie unleashes his most angry solo as well. They were never to return to music like this. One wonders had they taken Van Halen II to the next level where would have Van Halen ended up? I'd suggest perhaps a little bit less sales, and a lot more artistic success. True music legends versus party boys that once were serious.

Brilliant album. Especially for its day.

Ownership: 

1978 Warner Bros. Japan (LP) original pressing. Acquired in 2014.

1978 Warner Bros. (LP). Acquired in 1978.

Warner Bros. (CD) Commodity pressing.

1978 Warner Bros. (8 track). Kind of goes with the format! Acquired in 2026.

1978; 1999; 3/10/25 (review)

Balance (1995)

If I had no idea Van Halen were around on OU812, you can rest assured I really would have been completely unaware of them by 1995. It's only recently I've taken notice of this album, and it isn't the music, but rather from a collector perspective. Of all albums, Balance received a domestic LP issue on Warner Bros. in an era when no one was buying vinyl. And I'm sure it was more expensive too. Hence today its rarity, which is how I learned about (or paid attention to) its existence. I have a cheapie cassette here, so how did it go? It actually starts off intriguing enough with 'The Seventh Seal'. Could it be that Van Halen have matured into a thoughtful hard rock band? Blahahahah. Helllll no. I can honestly say I'd never heard one track from this album. And they all sound about the same. Each song less inventive than the last. It's better than its predecessor, not exactly a ringing endorsement. 

Source: 1995 Warner Bros (MC)

3/9/25 (review)

OU812 (1988)

This is the first time I've heard this title. By 1988 I would not even have known Van Halen were still around. I was safely in the workforce and deep diving into the European underground. 5150 isn't so bad, so how does the follow up rate? Oh good grief, 'When It's Love' sucks. You'd think by '88 that schmaltzy scene had played out, but it was actually the opposite. Oh hey, I actually recognize 'Cabo Wabo'. Guess I have heard something from this album after all. It's not an awful song, though Hagar crows too much for my liking. Side 2 gets off to a better start. Much more energetic, calling on their early 80s past. 'Feels So Good', OK yea, another one I recognize. Guess they were sneaking these tracks in my subconscious while I wasn't paying attention. I don't like it, though the organ emulation is interesting. Overall this album earned the disdain I had previously tagged Diver Down with.

Source: 1988 Warner Bros (MC)

3/8/25 (review)

Diver Down (1982)

I had this title rated really low. April '82 is when it was released. Second half of my high school junior year. There's no way I ever gave it a chance. I had already walked back my appreciation of Van Halen a couple of years earlier. I wanted heavier material by '82. After some 43 years, let's give it a more objective listen. So it it really that bad? Not at all. What's intriguing are the instrumentals, many more than usual. 'Pretty Woman' is one of their trademark cover tunes, and the instrumental 'Intruder' is the perfect setup, and usually not included (like 'Eruption' was), which it should have been. My memory had it that Diver Down was much more lightweight than its predecessor. That's not true either, though it most certainly is more friendly. The Dixieland and Happy Cowboy moves are more puzzling than embarrassing. Overall it's a bit more experimental than prior, while not losing focus on their commercial sensibility. Will I keep it? Nooo, but once again, much better than my original assessment. Other than the debut, that's the case for all of them from the past.

Source: 1982 Warner Bros (MC)

3/8/25 (review)

David Lee Roth - Eat 'em and Smile (1986) 

For Roth's follow-up Skyscraper I stated: "Hey - not bad at all. Better than what same era Van Halen were up to... ...Roth sounds like Roth and to me that means he's always "hot for teacher". Having Steve Vai on board was a stroke of genius. Vai gets a fat paycheck and Roth earns credibility while still acting out his macho bad boy routine. Good hard rock on the whole, though nothing revelatory." A fair assessment of this full length debut too (there's an EP prior). Perhaps Vai's own solo style is more on display than prior. A Van Halen with Stevie instead of Eddie wouldn't be an unfair conclusion. Roth was out there earning his paycheck, gotta give him that. Good stuff, just nothing I need to own at this point. 

Source: 1986 Warner Bros. (MC). Also have a sealed LP that I will be selling now.

1/30/25 (review)

5150 (1986)

Better than I remembered hard rock with Sammy taking over. Side 1 is the better of the two. A little too poppy at times, but not an embarrassment.

Source: 1986 Warner Bros (LP)

7/29/24 (review)

David Lee Roth - Skyscraper (1988) 

Hey - not bad at all. Better than what same era Van Halen were up to I believe. And do I hear organ on that first track? Didn't expect that. Roth sounds like Roth and to me that means he's always "hot for teacher". Having Steve Vai on board was a stroke of genius. Vai gets a fat paycheck and Roth earns credibility while still acting out his macho bad boy routine. Good hard rock on the whole, though nothing revelatory. The conclusion? The premise was accurate - reselling it for a profit.

Source: 1988 Warner Bros.

10/21/23 (review)

 

Van Halen II (1979)

As I stated on Def Leppard's High 'N' Dry: "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." Replace summer of 1981 with spring of 1979, and High 'N' Dry with Van Halen II and you have the exact same scenario. I was 14 and the testosterone was really starting to cook.

One of these days I'm going to write about Van Halen's debut, which I consider one of the greatest hard rock albums of all time. Unfortunately for us who enjoyed the band's heavier material, they more or less abandoned that for more radio friendly fare (the exception being parts of their 4th album Fair Warning). For whatever reason Van Halen didn't embrace 'Atomic Punk', 'Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love', 'I'm the One' and 'On Fire' - but rather they followed the path of  'Jamie's Cryin'' and 'Ice Cream Man'.

Van Halen II's drop is more precipitous than Def Leppard's, at least from a heaviness perspective. 'Dance the Night Away' and 'Beautiful Girls' was the sound of the new Van Halen. There are a couple of notable exceptions: 'Outta Love Again', and in particular, 'Light Up The Sky' bring the hard rock goods. Even the one / two punch of 'Spanish Fly' and 'DOA' are emasculated. Hardly 'Eruption' and 'You Really Got Me'. 

Nostalgia plays a big role in me keeping this (for now). As noted above, I bought it new in 1979 having fallen hard for their debut. In playing it last night, I knew every note of the album though I don't think I've heard it in over 40 years.

Ownership: 1979 Warner Bros (LP). Picture innersleeve. Acquired in 1979. Reacquired in 2022.

1979; 9/5/22 (review)

Fair Warning (1981)

I spoke some of my history with Van Halen on the Women and Children First album. Though I never bought that album real time, I did splurge for Fair Warning upon release. And that's because they were playing the heaviest songs on the radio. And those would be 'Mean Street' and 'Unchained', both I would consider at the top of the heap for Van Halen. A nice return to form, recalling their massive debut. At the time, I wasn't so enamored with the rest, looking for more heavy material. In reacquiring this title, I found myself enjoying the whole thing. Most assuredly their second best album.

Ownership (LP): 1981 Warner Bros. Acquired in 1981; Reacquired in 2022.

1981; 4/28/22 (review)

Women and Children First (1980) 

Good ol' Van 'Alen. Ask me what the best hard rock album ever is, and I may very well say it's Van Halen's debut. What a mind blowing release that album was when it was released (and still is). That's a tale for another day. They dropped significantly on VH II, which I purchased and sold. So when the 3rd album came out, I just recorded it off the radio. And that was my copy for a few years, deciding not to buy the album. In reflection, that was the right move. However, I can afford to be more lenient now - and the album is exactly as I remember it. And well I should, since it gets constant airplay. I would argue that Women and Children First is a distinct improvement on II, but a far cry from the debut. Solid muscle hard rock, and the band hadn't lost their way just yet. They were still a "man's band", inching ever closer to winning over the ladies. 

Former ownership (LP): 1980 Warner Bros. Acquired in 2022. Downsized in 2026.

1980; 1/31/22 (review)

9/5/22 (new entry)

Triumph ~ Canada ~ Toronto, Ontario

  

Allied Forces (1981)

OK, now we're getting to the heart of the matter. I would say their four albums from 1977 to 1981 are where I'm going to have the memory synapses firing off. I owned all four on LP, most purchased real time or shortly thereafter. As noted at the beginning of this post, I hadn't heard the debut prior though I thought I had. Looks like Allied Forces was released in September, so this would be the beginning of my junior year of high school. The tail end of my interest in this kind of commercial hard rock. Per their protocol, they start with a rather mundane try for a radio hit. Next is 'Magic Power'  which has more than a slight resemblance to Rush, a parallel one can make throughout their respective careers. Then the title track gets us to where we want to be with Triumph: Barn burning hard rock with a few more ideas than your garden variety bonehead act. Then back to boogie rock, which is always dull. Their proggy heritage comes out again on 'Fight the Good Fight', another Rush-like number, with a killer mid song riff. They continue to keep their brain switched on with 'Ordinary Man'. The album closes as it starts, a hedge bet to keep the label execs happy. 

Source: 1981 RCA (LP)

3/8/25 (review)

Never Surrender (1983)

On my review for their 1976 debut, I proposed that I might be in for a Triumph renaissance. Even their 1987 album Surveillance had me looking upwards (though not enough to keep, mind). This one I thought would grab a nostalgia pull since it was released at the second half of my senior year of high school, a bit late where such occurrences might happen. So did it? Sort of. Like with Rush, Triumph had started to become toothless as the 80s rolled on. They didn't go synth pop like their Canadian contemporaries, and stayed with power pop rock. Their prog heritage does show up here and there, but not enough for me to stick in a tape drawer. Still, I'm rating this higher than I had prior. 

Source: 1983 RCA (MC)

1/30/25 (review)

Surveillance (1987)

Keeping with my promise below, I'm starting my retrospective of Triumph. Eleven years from their debut, and after many years of radio success, what could Triumph possibly offer at this late date? Def Leppard apparently. Naw, it's better than that band's later works but it's essentially the same kind of juiced up commercial hard rock. Kind of a last hurrah from Canada's other finest trio (Rush being the other of course...). By 1987, Triumph were irrelevant, but at least they gave it a respectful try.

Source: 1987 MCA (LP)

10/14/24 (review)
 

Triumph (1976)

Triumph's debut is one of those odd albums where the beginning of each side is the dud track, and each song thereafter is better than the last. Somewhere along the line I thought I'd heard this debut back in the day but I hadn't. This album was never released in the US. Some of the songs were via the Rock & Roll Machine compilation (which I did hear), but not the album itself.

Even if I had heard it, my tastes have changed to really appreciating this type of hard rock. The inauspicious openers are party rockin' bar n' roll. No thanks. After that though, you'll hear influences such as Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix (Frank Marino probably). But perhaps most relevant is fellow Toronto heroes Rush. By the end of each side, Triumph shows a proggy heritage, with both 'Street Fighter' and 'The Blinding Light Show' being the highlights. Plenty of synthesizer on here too. It's time for me to revisit all of the Triumph works. I suspect my viewpoint will be far more favorable than it was in the 80s.

Ownership: 1976 Attic (LP). Blue label original. 

6/7/24 (review)

6/8/24 (new entry)

Helstar ~ USA ~ Houston, Texas

Burning Star (1984)

Helstar were one of the classic metal bands that I got into about 13 years after their debut. Coming from nearby Houston, I probably should have shown more Texas pride and picked this up upon release. But funds were short in my early days of college, and I didn't read anything that stated they were that much more original than any of the other bands emerging during that era. In hearing this album for only the second time, I can understand that sentiment from the metal journalists of the day. However vocalist James Rivera (known here as Bill Lionel) could scream with the best of them, and his unique approach definitely adds points. The guitar tones and production aren't particularly heavy, even for the era, but the riffs and solos are inventive. And they do manage to throw a few ideas in per song. One could argue that Fates Warning simply took Burning Star as a blueprint and upped the ante on the complexity for their breakout The Spectre Within release. Early classic metal like this still has a place in the collection.

Ownership: 1984 Music for Nations (LP). Different artwork than the US release. Acquired in 2024.

First copy: 2005 Century Media (CD). Acquired in 2014.

10/19/14; 12/23/24 (review)

Nosferatu (1989)

Helstar's 4th album is considered by many to be their masterpiece. Not sure I disagree, though I'm not all that intimate with the band's body of work. There's a compact progressive thrash component here mixed in with the power metal sounds of Helloween for example. No question, though, that James Rivera has one of the all-time great voices for heavy metal.

Ownership: 1996 Metal Blade (CD). With full lyrics and a million "special thanks". Acquired in 1997.

1997; 4/19/20 (review)

Remnants of War (1986)

Remnants of War is  Helstar's second album. And is precisely the type of 80s metal I love - it's raw, heavy, inventive, a little messy, and extremely engaging. And... yes, progressive too as there's quite a bit of riff and tempo variety within each track. To my ears, Remnants of War sounds like a heavier version of Fates Warning's The Spectre Within, an album that remains one of my favorite metal albums ever. And James Rivera's soaring vocals even recalls John Arch at times. The relistenability factor is very high for recordings such as this.

Ownership: 1986 Combat (LP). Acquired in 2020.

First copy: 1999 Century Media (CD). Acquired in 2016.

12/4/16 (review)

Also own: A Distant Thunder

12/4/16 (new entry)

Mandragora ~ England

Earthdance (1992) 

You can read my thoughts about Mandragora in the reviews below. I don't have too much to say beyond that. To summarize, Mandragora are one of my favorite bands from the original UK Festival Psych scene. They had a unique disparate approach though their sound is largely familiar. Earthdance is their 4th album (counting their debut cassette), and is closer to the previous Head First than the follow up Temple Ball. Mostly it's the eclecticism that makes me think that. This is the kind of album you just hit play and let 'er ride. Good music from a good era. This is a title I first bought on LP and switched to CD quickly. Today they're worth about the same.

Ownership: 1992 Mystic Stones (CD). Acquired in 1992.

1992; 1/20/25 (review)

Phil Thornton with Mandragora - While the Green Man Sleeps (1993)

--- 9/29/09

Phil Thornton is the main man behind Mandragora and they were one of the great UK festival psych bands. And while this goes under the Phil Thornton name, most of Mandragora is on it, and it sounds like a Mandragora album to be honest. Or perhaps a more electronica version of the band, something the group eventually moved to anyway on their 1998 opus Pollen. This particular release reminds me a bit of Ship of Fools actually, given the relaxed nature and flow of the music. 

--- 10/7/22

As noted already in a couple of places, I'm quite fond of Mandragora, who I felt added a bit more than your garden variety space rock and UK festival act. And this listen resulted in a +1 as well. I didn't mention this above, but While the Green Man Sleeps is a mixed release. The first two tracks are from a concert in Scotland circa 1987. And for whatever reason they included 'Xylem' from Earthdance which is superfluous. The remaining three tracks are newer recordings and apply more to my initial review. The final track 'Rainbow Chant' is nearly 25 minutes, and is worth the price of admission alone.

Ownership: 1993 Mystic Stones (CD). Acquired in 1994.

1994; 9/29/09 (review); 1//10; 10/7/22 (update)

Head First (1991)

There was a time - in the early days of the UK Festival Psych movement - that Mandragora were one of the bigger names of the scene. Perhaps only second to Ozric Tentacles in name recognition. But by the end of the 90s, the band more or less died like most of the genre. And are now largely forgotten. Which is really too bad.

Head First is Mandragora's second proper album, and possibly their first fully realized one. It's disparate in style, but unmistakably Festival Psych. For example 'Pendulum & the Pit' is a solid hard rock number, not too far removed from a late era Hawkwind sound (the aforementioned were Mandragora's idols). 'Talking to God (Pt 2)' is one of the more wacky pieces here, very psychedelic with phasing, warbled voices, and wicked fuzz guitar. 'Raga' goes out East for the obligatory Indian psych trip. Both 'Yesterday's Tomorrow' and the title track offer the best representation of the album as a whole, and includes all of which they bring forth here. 'Grooving in the Dog House' gives us a glimpse to their sound at the end of the decade - more electronica and less rock influenced.

Overall a very solid entry into the English late 80s / early 90s psychedelic underground. I've owned this CD since it first came out, and it only gets better with age.

Ownership: 1991 Resonance (CD). Acquired in 1991.

1991; 1/1/19 (review)

Temple Ball (1994)

For my money, Mandragora were one of the top UK festival / space rock bands of the 1980s and 90s, perhaps only bested by Ozric Tentacles and Omnia Opera (though really obscure bands like Crow and Blim were just as outstanding, but those are more recent discoveries for me).

Mandragora's trajectory was a bit different, however. On album at least, they started with hard rock, moving ever slow slowly to space rock, then onto ethnic tinged electronic rock, some techno, etc... I like all of their albums, but it was on Temple Ball that the band finally unleashed their ferocious guitar fronted space rock style. Like many of the bands of their era, Mandragora mixed in recorded TV and radio bits to add to the ominous atmosphere, before launching into another intense jam.

The banger (hipster talk) here is 'Talking to God (Part IV)', but other great pieces include 'Zarg', 'Inside the Crystal Circle', 'Rainbow Warrior', and the title track. The album claims to be recorded live "in the Crystal Feb '94", but I don't think it's an actual concert. If it was, then it's been completely edited like a studio album and there's no audience noise. I prefer it this way myself.

This is definitely the best album on the space rock specialist Mystic Stones label, and sadly, very close to the label's last release.

Ownership: 1994 Mystic Stones (CD). Acquired in 1995.

1995; 11/17/11 (review); 7/6/22

Also own: Over the Moon; Pollen

11/17/11 (new entry)

The Chris Hinze Combination ~ Netherlands

Despite what it may look like below, I have a few Hinze albums in the collection. I just haven't written anything meaningful for any of them. We'll get there eventually.

Here is my summary from 7/18/09: Dutch flautist Chris Hinze was far more than just your usual jazz flute player. Especially on Mission Suite where he combines jazz and progressive rock very effectively. Stoned Flute and Live at Montreux are more steeped in the jazz tradition, but aren't standard by any means. Who Can See the Shadow of the Sun is a bit looser than the others during this period, and will appeal most to those into "out" jazz. Sister Slick is probably Hinze's heaviest album, with Philip Catherine on guitar, and is a good representation of the harder edged fusion style. His later 70s work strayed towards fuzak. Interesting to note that his other album from the early Seventies, 1972's Virgin Sacrifice, has been reissued on CD. I'm sure it earned a CD imprint (on his own label) since it foreshadowed his future work as a new age artist. It's very different from his other albums during the early 70s.

Stoned Flute (1970)

I've had this LP for well over 20 years but I think it's only the second time for me to hear it. I had such high hopes for this when I first obtained it. That most awesome title and the fact that I was already an established Hinze fan. But this falls to the free jazz side of the equation. It's not unpleasant at all, with plenty of standup bass and piano along with Hinze's flute. Everyone once in awhile they'll catch a groove and you begin to think there might be something here to grasp onto. But then it falls apart per protocol. Lot of folks I know into this scene, but I'm just not one of them.

Former ownership: 1970 CBS (LP). Gatefold

3/3/03 (acquired); 1/7/25 (review)

Charlie Mariano with the Chris Combination (1973)

Straight up jazz session with American WWII veteran saxophonist Mariano joining forces with the Chris Hinze Combination from the Netherlands. This CD is a reissue of Charlie Mariano With The Chris Hinze Combination with the 18+ minute "bonus" title track improvisation thrown in the middle. Mariano himself was just taking baby steps into the European underground (see Osmosis for some American subversiveness) with jazz flutist Hinze's outfit. He was later to embark into an enlightening journey with Krautrock legends Embryo, and participate on some of their finest works shortly thereafter. 'Traditional South Indian (Carnatic) Kirtanam' is exactly the type of music he performed later with the underground Embryo. A real Hepcat, man.

Former ownership: CD: 1995 Black Lion (Germany) as Blue Stone. Booklet has original liner notes.

7/08/03 (acquired); 12/10/15 (review); 4/23/24

Other albums I own and need to review: Live at Montreux; Virgin Sacrifice; Mission Suite; Sister Slick

12/10/15 (new entry)

Styx ~ USA ~ Chicago, Illinois

Styx was my first contemporary favorite band when I started collecting LPs instead of 45s. This would be 1977 and I was 12. No surprise that I gravitated to progressive rock (it would be another few years before I even knew what that term meant), and it was 'Castle Walls' (from The Grand Illusion) that initially drew me in. Along with 'Suite Madame Blue' from Equinox, this wonderful composition demonstrated that Styx could have been a successful progressive rock band had they tried. But why do that when they ultimately became megastars doing what they did best - marrying commercial FM radio hits with some sophistication. Styx are very much Chicago (the city) in their approach - brash, in your face, and as subtle as a train wreck. With added street smarts. They played both sides of the rock radio commercial fence and won most fans over. Today, Styx are one of those bands that creates handwringing from the modern critic. Aren't they just too cheesy? All that is endemic to late 70s and early 80s AOR? They don't get a pass like Steely Dan does. To be fair, I do think experiencing their albums from the era does help in this case. I was just coming of age myself, so music like this is more part of my DNA than an objective viewpoint all these years later. While obscurities such as Alpha Centauri, Gideon, etc... continue to roll in, and I (and others) heap much praise, they really aren't so much different from a musical approach. But superstardom has a way of bringing out the naysayers. And I too can be just that person when groups like REO Speedwagon and Journey find themselves on my turntable. Yuck - how could have anyone liked that I ask? While I personally think Styx is a cut above, not all who hear them agree.

Paradise Theatre (1981)

As noted in the summary, Styx were my favorite band in 1977 and 1978. By 1981 I was hiding from them, disassociating myself from my early fandom. Their prior album Cornerstone (1979) was a disaster with no redeemable qualities whatsoever. Not only that but by 1981 I was an early adopter of heavy metal having loaded up on Judas Priest and the Scorpions albums, plus getting on board with the new generation like Iron Maiden and Saxon. Such is the trajectory of the anger filled teenager going from age 12 to age 16. As would be the case throughout my life, when I first embraced Styx they weren't very popular with my school mates. By the time I was a sophomore in high school, they were extremely popular in the same way that Journey and Foreigner were. And Paradise Theatre was that album that propelled them to the highest ranks of respect among that crowd. Being the contrarian I was, my reflexive response was to hate it. So take that you soft-bellied weenies! About seven years ago I grabbed the CD for dirt cheap and made an objective go, but I wasn't impressed. Now I've found the LP for a buck, let's try it one more time. These past seven years has allowed me to ditch a lot of my prior bias' and embrace albums and styles of music that I once scoffed at. If you've noticed my latest motif, an album review without a cover means I didn't keep it. There's your clue. Even after all this time, my 2018 analysis was correct. The songwriting just isn't there. They have hits from this album like 'Too Much Time on My Hands', 'Snowblind', and 'The Best of Times' but they're just bad reminders to me of the sad state of radio in the early 80s. I do like that Styx boldly went forward with a concept album when doing such a thing was considered nerdy at best, and nerdy was not cool in those days. And I also like that the concept was about a glorious time (1920s) in their breeding ground of Chicago. So yea, certainly better than Cornerstone (not much is worse) but not even close to earning shelf space. (ED: Until I lucked into finding the Nautilus LP a month later, so I'm keeping it lol).

Ownership: 1982 Nautilus / A&M (LP). Gatefold. Acquired in 2025.

1981; 2/12/18; 2/23/25 (review)
 

Styx II (1973)

As noted on in the summary, Styx were my favorite contemporary act as a 12 year old. Going into my first year as an teenager, they also represented the first band I began to deep dive on. I believe Styx II was the second full length for me to own.

About 18 years ago I wrote the following (after acquiring the CD comp): "Styx II, the album famous for spawning ‘Lady’, starts to show the band tighten up their sound and composition structure. The first three tracks are awesome (including ‘Lady’) and features one of their best “pure prog” tunes with the eight minute 'A Day'. They don't sustain the momentum though. Each early Styx album has at least one hideous woofer, where they try to show that they can play old style 50’s rock and roll, and Styx II is no exception. The band were too diverse for their own good in the early years. ‘Lady’ didn’t become a hit until 1975 just after the release of their 5th album Equinox. From there they skyrocketed into the mainstream."

Yea, exactly that. Typical unfocused early Styx release. But it does include John Curulewski's greatest contribution to the group which would be 'A Day', a wonderful drifty melancholic proggy number. 'Lady' is a beautiful song, and the A&R guys missed the boat originally. That track would also predict their future. In the end, not really a great work overall, and arguably the worst of their original quartet of albums.

Ownership: 

1973 Wooden Nickel (LP). Acquired in 1978.

2005 Hip-O Select - The Complete Wooden Nickel Recordings (2xCD). See Man of Miracles at the bottom of this post. 

1978; 5//05 (notes); 11/12/23 (review)

The Grand Illusion (1977)

So here is where I started with Styx. I love the opening 'The Grand Illusion' which I think is the perfect blend of who Styx really were at this point: AOR, Hard Rock, Progressive Rock. In that order. Tommy Shaw really comes into his own with 'Fooling Yourself' and 'Man in the Wilderness', the latter featuring a killer guitar break. Shaw adds a touch of folksiness to most of his tunes, another lever for the band to pull on. Other than the proggy 'Castle Walls', my other favorite track was (and is) 'Miss America'. This tune is quite possibly James Young's finest hard rock composition. While I gravitated towards prog at an early age, I also had some pent up anger for a lot of reasons, and 'Miss America' helped me through some early aggression. As strange as this may sound, it was Styx that introduced me to the hard rock, and ultimately, heavy metal genres. Both still favorite styles of mine today, though the anger element is long gone from me. I appreciate the energy and tone they both bring.

That leaves the throwaway 'Superstars', the only track on the album I have no memory of despite hearing it hundreds of times. And then comes their blockbuster 'Come Sail Away'. It is an absolutely beautiful track. Had it been only three minutes - perfect timing for the radio - then I would have loved it. But that annoying chorus, which never stops, drives me batty. Why they felt it so necessary to carry that on for so long is a great mystery to me.

Ownership: 

1977 A&M (LP). Lyric insert and poster. Acquired in 1977.

A&M (CD) 90s press. Acquired in 2005.

1977 A&M (8-track). Yea, man. Acquired in 2026.

1977; 7//05; 11/6/23 (review)

Styx (1972)

I think to fully appreciate Styx's debut, one has to immerse themselves into the era from which they came. As I've mentioned a few times prior, while England and Europe had full blown progressive rock scenes operating in the early 70s, America's labels didn't support it. Couldn't see the commercial value. Album rock was an English thing. Singles are where it's at! This mindset prevailed despite massive sales going to English bands thriving in that market. It isn't like progressive rock didn't exist on these shores, it's that they were four to five years behind the curve. There were meager attempts (commercially speaking that is) by awesome groups that remain unfairly obscure such as Ram, Polyphony, and Sanctuary. But they were few and far between. The mid to late 70s saw the grassroots prog movement here finally explode - to strictly local and regional audiences. Essentially the major labels missed the boat. Something they were careful not to replicate as the States were the leader in future musical endeavors, the various styles of heavy metal in particular comes to mind.

So back to Styx. Their debut was a fish out of water. A prog rock record released by an American band. Now it didn't help that Styx weren't really all that progressive to begin with. It's 1972, so you're up against Yes' Close to the Edge and Genesis' Foxtrot as but two examples of hundreds. Styx is miles less interesting than that. What Styx really did was predict the regional nature of such music here in America. They couldn't be more Chicago-born even if they tried. Most folks were likely to discover Styx's debut after the fact, long after they were megastars. And in that scenario, they also fail, because this is a long way from their patented professional AOR / prog formula. Styx's debut is music for the local club set, not the arena.

With all of that in mind, were it a private press, or even a major label one-off flop, the album would have more underground fans. It's definitely charming. The lengthy opener 'Movement for a Common Man' has a lot of quality jams and songwriting. Besides, I heartily agree with the old codgers in 'Street Collage' lol. 'Best Thing' was their big bet on a hit. It's a really good song, but too heavy and dirty for 1972 pop rock. It's definitely an album rock cut. 'Quick is the Beat of My Heart' is another quality hard rock track. There's nothing weak on this debut, though it was hardly a bold statement going mightily forward. It sounds hedged primarily because Styx were never truly an all-out prog band. They were a Chicago bar band who extended their skills way beyond their peers. And it ultimately paid off.

Ownership:

1972 Wooden Nickel (LP). Acquired in 1985.

2005 Hip-O Select - The Complete Wooden Nickel Recordings (2xCD). See Man of Miracles at the bottom of this post.

1978; 1985; 5//05; 7/19/22 (review)

Equinox (1975)

One of the earliest albums I ever owned, I pretty much have this album memorized. It was one of my favorites when I was 13, a couple of years after its release. The album's two openers 'Light Up' and 'Lorelei' were FM radio staples in the late 70s. Both feature punchy synths and hard rocking guitars, the new formula for Styx once they joined the A&M record label stable. The only two tracks I don't recall are the last couple of cuts on the A side. I should remember 'Mother Dear' though, as it's an excellent organ driven proggy number. Perhaps a look back to their earliest albums. 'Lonely Child', yea OK, it's pretty forgettable. All of side 2 kicks ass. 'Midnight Ride' is patented James Young hard rock, with some ripping solos, and I've always appreciated his rough n' ready vocals. 'Born For Adventure' is another heavy prog oriented number, with some great bass work, and we used to go wild as kids when they phased the vocals towards the end. But it's closer 'Suite Madame Blue' that wins the blue ribbon, and is arguably the greatest progressive rock composition in Styx's career. The bit where the synthesizer melts down and the heavy guitar riff comes in and then they start singing "America" in harmony sends chills up one's spine. Equinox is part of my DNA by now, so no chance for objectivity here.

Ownership: 1975 A&M (LP). Lyric inner. Acquired in 1978.

1978; 7//05; 12/18/12; 12/27/21 (review)

Crystal Ball (1976)

I've owned this album in one form or another since 1978, when I was just starting to get into record collecting as an early teen. Styx was my first "favorite band" and even had a belt buckle of their emblem. Hey, I was a kid. Wish I still had it, I'm sure it's worth quite a bit today. Maybe I would even wear it! Yea, and my wife would kill me, so scratch that. In any case, Crystal Ball was never one of my favorites by the band and I hear it weaker than the two it sits between. But JY's hard rocking opener 'Put Me On' and Dennis DeYoung's slick 'Jennifer' provide some highlights. Crystal Ball is, of course, Tommy Shaw's debut with the band and he wrote the title track. It's a signature tune, and foreshadowed his excellent songwriting abilities for future albums. Side 2 kind of wheezes out even though it has progressive rock ambition. Regardless, Crystal Ball has aged well for me.

Ownership: 1976 A&M (LP). Lyric inner. Acquired in 1978.

1978; 7//05; 10/14/21 (review)

Return to Paradise (1997) 

This is a double live album that heralds the return of Styx to south Chicago. It features four out of five of the key protagonists, with only John Panozzo missing (who had recently passed away). This is one of those live albums that prove the band know how to play the songs they wrote. And nothing else. No improvisation, alternate arrangements, or different energy levels. Essentially one is hearing a play list. There are a couple of newer tracks thrown in, but given they aren't anything special, it's hardly a reason to buy it. Not for me.

Source: 1997 CMC (CD)

3/4/21 (review)

Cyclorama (2003) 

I've been long curious what Styx sounded like after Kilroy, but never took the chance on buying one of their new CDs. So the thrift shop is perfect for just this kind of album. Based on the contents of Cyclorama, it's a good thing I hesitated. Sometimes you wonder why they even bother with new albums. They should just do the Oldies Tour thing and hang it up. The magic of songwriting is gone. In Styx's case, the personnel is mostly gone too. Styx without Dennis DeYoung is already stating it's a different band. Drummer John Panozzo and original guitarist John Curulewski are long RIP. Bassist Chuck Panozzo has had serious health issues for many years, and only does cameo's for the band. Original guitarist James Young is still on board, and he was the hard rocker of the bunch, but unfortunately he takes a backseat role on Cyclorama. That leaves Curulewski's 1976 replacement Tommy Shaw as the de facto leader of Styx. And it pretty much sounds like a Shaw solo album with guests. Mostly this is boring folk rock or ridiculous ass-kissing AOR music (there's even a song with a title similar), without any decent hooks. The latter was irrelevant by 2003 anyway. There are a couple of good tracks, namely 'These Are the Times', and if you hang in to the end, 'One With Everything'. This last track shows Styx in full-on progressive mode, even more so than their classic 70s albums. More of that would have resulted in a late era classic. In the end, I can only rate the album as a disappointment. It should have been much better really, as they had the freedom to do what they wanted.

Source:  2003 CMC (CD)

3/3/21 (review)

 

Man of Miracles (1974)

Man of Miracles is the 4th album from south Chicago's favorite sons Styx. Objectively speaking, one could make a strong argument that this was Styx's weakest album of the 70s save the awful Cornerstone that closed off the decade.

Despite featuring a cover and title that indicates a prog rock extravaganza, Man of Miracles shows Styx splintering into two entirely different groups. The two guitarists - James Young and John Curulewski - appear to be moving Styx into a good times boogie rock club circuit band. This is evident by the two opening tracks 'Rock & Roll Feeling' and 'Havin' a Ball'. Later on Young bonks the 'A Man Like Me' and the whole band double dribbles the cover song 'Lies'. It's only later we see Young redeem himself with his trademark hard rocking 'Southern Woman', a blueprint for what was to come from him.

Oddly it's the much-maligned Dennis DeYoung that holds Man of Miracles together and saves it from a complete disaster. 'Golden Lark' is a beautiful ballad, one of his best, and among the album's highlights. 'A Song for Suzanne' promises similar, though DeYoung always had this gnawing habit of injecting a Broadway play type mentality into his songs. 'Evil Eyes' and 'Christopher, Mr. Christopher', while not highlights, are certainly well penned tracks. This all leads to the title track, and the one place Styx seems to be operating as a cohesive unit. Co-written by Young and DeYoung, 'Man of Miracles' demonstrates the best of Styx - James Young's heavy rock nature juxtaposed against DeYoung's full onslaught of proggy keyboards. It was an indication of what was to follow, and Styx were to become a force thereafter. If it weren't for the belated two-years-in-the-can hit 'Lady' suddenly thrust upon the FM radio airwaves, one could easily see Man of Miracles as Styx's swan song. But they caught a break and never looked back. Great things were to come for the boys from South Chicago.

Ownership: 

1974 Wooden Nickel (LP). Acquired in 1978.

2005 Hip-O Select - The Complete Wooden Nickel Recordings (2xCD). Encapsulates their four album run on RCA's Wooden Nickel imprint. Comes with liner notes and full album details.

1978; 5//05; 4/3/19 (review)

Also own: The Serpent is Rising; Pieces of Eight; Brave New World

4/3/19 (new entry)

Antonio Carlos Jobim ~ Brazil

Wave (1967)

Classic Bossa Nova album with soothing acoustic guitar, flute, strings, trombone, etc... Some would even call this easy listening music, but there's far more at play than that would imply. It's easy on the ears that's for sure. If only Astrud Gilberto was singing, but nonetheless, an excellent example of its kind.

Former ownership: 1967 A&M / CTI (LP). Green photo gatefold original (Monarch press, not in Discogs today). Most of the covers have a red photo. Acquired in 2025.

2/4/25 (new review)
 

Tide (1970)

Nice Half-Speed Master version of Jobim's 1970 instrumental Bossa Nova album. It's for sure cocktail / saccharine but it definitely soothes the nerves. And Jobim is the author of Brazil's most famous song 'The Girl From Ipanema', which makes its presence here as well. My Bossa Nova collection is still pretty light, so a keeper for now.

Ownership: 1983 A&M (LP). Gatefold. Beautiful reissue with superb sound. Part of A&M's Quiex series. Acquired in 2021.

1/13/21 (review)

12/10/21 (new entry)

Titan ‎~ USA ~ Brooklyn, New York

Titan (2006)

Titan is an interesting band. They released only three albums with the middle one being the piece de resistance. They closed off their career with a sincere attempt to capture the stoner audience, much to my disappointment. In reading other's reviews, many feel the second one is also stoner, but I say no way. But what about the debut? On paper it looks like a home run. Three long tracks, and they're all titled in German. No one calls this a stoner album but rather a retro Krautrock masterpiece. Unfortunately it lacks the compositional drive and varied instrumentation of Raining Sun. Mostly this is long form cosmic jamming, of the kind the Japanese usually peddle. Acid Mothers Temple and their ilk. It's not as nauseous as those bands can be, as I wouldn't claim it be a non-stop barrage of guitar noise. Seems one of these long tracks would serve well on an album, but not all three doing the same thing. And with a record collection of real deal early 70s cosmic Krautrock at my disposal, this one become superfluous.

3/28/07 (first listen); 2/21/25 (review)

Former ownership: 2006 Paradigms (CD)

Sweet Dreams (2010)

The album prior to this, The Raining Sun Of Light... is, in my estimation, one of the greatest modern interpretations of progressive Krautrock one can find in the market (see below). Brilliant in every way, I was very excited to obtain the follow up upon release. And was disappointed. In listening to it for the time since last night, I settled in on a -1 (in this case I rated it too high to begin with). But musically it's still quite good, I'm just not fond of the production and tones. It's as if they felt the need to "stoner it up", which was entirely unnecessary.

Former ownership: 2010 Relapse (CD)

2010 (first listen); 11/20/23 (review)

   

A Raining Sun Of Light & Love, For You & You & You... (2007) 

I remember being tipped to this band back when it first came out 11 years ago. I was as skeptical as ever. A Brooklyn based "stoner" band allegedly playing in the Krautrock style. Sorry, heard that one before fellas. And what one would usually get in that scenario is bonehead chords of fuzz, a on-his-6th whiskey vocalist, 4/4 pounding drums, and hopefully some cartoon art of dragsters, pinball machines, and disproportionate top heavy females with lots of tattoos. Yea, we're hipsters from Brooklyn! Nya-nya. In any case, enough recs came my way that I reluctantly pulled the trigger...

...And I became a Brooklyn stoner hipster on the spot.

After a few listens in 2007, I filed it away with a high grade, and haven't revisited since. Here we are, and I somewhat dreaded it. I probably was just in the mood for it or something like that. Tastes change and evolve over the years right?

I like it even better now. If for nothing else on the album, it's hard to imagine anyone who is into the early 70s proto prog sound not to be absolutely floored by 'Annals of the Former World'. It is absolute perfection in every sense of the word. It constantly changes, has haunting vocals, is heavy as all get out, has some absolutely incredible Hammond organ, is trippy in the best Krautrock style, and the guitar solos are sublime. Maybe the best track I've ever heard from modern times that encapsulates all that was great about 1971. The closest comparison to my ears is Nektar's Journey to the Centre of the Eye... sped up and then cranked to 11.

'Hashishin Ohel' is largely a continuation of the above, with a bit of a noisy ending, but overall is brilliant in its own right. 'Obelisk Orbit Overdrive' is a bit more tedious, but certainly not a poor track, just in comparison with what came before it, one would have hoped for a bit more clarity and editing.

The album ends in a very interesting fashion, with 'Aufruf der Pilz'. As its title hints at, this is a pure play Krautrock attempt. Now I would imagine the gut reaction here, especially for hipsters, is to go right for the Neu! comparison. I don't think so. Actually to me it sounds like the Ashra power trio years of 1979 to 1980 - especially on the archival tapes where the guitars are decidedly more psychedelic. An excellent rendition and very melodic to boot.

These guys were plugged in perfectly at the time. I have two others in the collection from them (before and after), but I don't recall those being quite at this level. And then they sadly disappeared.

Ownership: 2007 Tee Pee (CD). Acquired in 2007.

4/20/07; 6/6/18 (review)

6/6/18 (new entry)

Roadmaster ~ USA ~ Indianapolis, Indiana

Fortress (1980) 

The on-a-budget Hipgnosis styled front cover indicates that this final album might bring a bit more artistic acumen to the proceedings. Though to hedge their bet, they still had to have the requisite smiling band photo on the back, though more subdued than prior. All of Side 1 proves they have no intention of doing anything but trying to write a hit song. I feel bad for them, because they just weren't any good at it. I'm sure Mercury realized they had a loser in their ranks and had to cut bait quickly. Seems they gave Roadmaster more artistic freedom for the flip side so B1 and B2 are very good hard-edged AOR tunes. B4 even has a Mercury alum Permanent Waves era Rush feel. In the end, the album is no better or worse than Hey World. What a lost opportunity for the guys from Indianapolis. They could have been legends as they had the right sound and the financial backing. Instead they are $5 record store bin specials with patrons asking "who were Roadmaster?"

Source: 1980 Mercury (LP) 

2/11/25 (review)

Hey World (1979)

As I mentioned on my review for Sweet Music, Roadmaster's ultimate goal (I'm sure) was to get signed to a major label, something they accomplished with that album. They had the right sound for the era, and one could easily see them challenging the likes of Styx and REO Speedwagon. Mercury seemed to be "all in" with the group from Indianapolis, going so far as to put their logo on the label itself, not even the Scorpions got that treatment! For whatever reason in the late 70s, front or back covers needed to show the band members happy and smiling. No more pensive, menacing, or arty covers from the earlier part of the decade. We see this same phenomena in the soul / disco world too. Anger was out, good times partying was in. Since Roadmaster was all about making the big time, I'm sure they were willing participants in the cover of Hey World. Which today signals a lame album awaits the listener. And there's some truth in judging a book by its cover. The album starts off promising enough with a strong synthesizer presence recalling Styx or even Starcastle. But what becomes apparent quickly is they had the right sound but no songwriting skills to back it up. They try for hooks but they're not memorable and they become a slog to hear after a while. Their proggy side finally comes out on B3 and B4, and there's some mellotron throughout the album. It seems this is where Roadmaster was most comfortable, but never allowed themselves to branch out in fear of losing their corporate status. And I'd guess Mercury felt the same way. They already had Rush to endure, and that was one prog band too many for the executives. If only they knew how history would turn out.

Source: 1979 Mercury (LP)

2/3/25 (review)

Sweet Music (1978)

I find Sweet Music to be more cohesive than the scattered debut. By 1978, the Midwest pomp sound was well defined, and Roadmaster clearly signed up for their shot at the big time. Proggy Mini-Moog synthesizers and mellotron are offset by the hard guitars, with the higher pitched vocals going all-in for the radio charts. Most of the songs are in line with the familiar late 70s FM radio fare. The reference band that becomes clearer on each subsequent listen is most assuredly Styx. A1 and all of side B demonstrate this and prove that Roadmaster had a few good ideas up their sleeve, but without ever leaving a chance to possibly land a hit song. A5 is a disco track, but it's the good kind. A2 is the obligatory JY styled hard rocker. I'm not fond of the boogie rock on A3 but otherwise every song here satisfies on some level. Shooting Star is another reference group. They were professionals through and through, and getting signed to a major label was I'm sure their ultimate goal, which they achieved (this was the album that got them signed to Mercury for a three album run).

AOR music, like the kind Roadmaster peddle, has been fashionable in the collector circuit for many years now. Roadmaster is a bullseye for the type of sound being sought after. So why are they so cheap then? Likely they sold an excellent amount of copy, even as a small label release. You don't see them in the wilds much (at least out here in the west), but there's plenty of inventory online. If you dig that 1977 to 1980 American FM pomp / AOR sound, this album is for certain one to obtain. I consider this the best of their quartet of albums.

Ownership: 1978 Mercury (LP). Acquired in 2025.

First copy: 1978 Village (LP). Acquired in 2023.  

4/9/23 (review)

Roadmaster (1976)

Roadmaster were a band from Indianapolis who managed to put out four albums from 1976 to 1980. There's no question that the group had FM radio on their mind when recording these tunes, and I can guess that they were probably quite popular within the regional club circuit. The opening two tracks here are the kind of AOR I think many of us would have been glad to hear during the era - and there's some great melodies, guitar, and synthesizer work at play here. 'AM-PM' is the obligatory blues track that doesn't inspire. 'Who Can Sing Like Fat Boy Do', despite the borderline PC police title, is a nice hard rock track and refreshingly a bit odd. And sure there are throwaways here that are really quite atrocious - and they all have titles that give the game away (hint: They contain the words 'Baby' and 'Love'. Yea, it was 1976 after all). But in aggregate not a bad way to spend 40 minutes, and if you're a "local AOR" collector, then this one goes into the must-have column. (2025 update: I'd like one more go at this. I'm sure I'll find the original vinyl at some point in the wilds).

---4/6/26

And that prophesy from one year ago has come to fruition. Found one in the wilds for pennies. Just about every album that looks like Roadmaster, and is on some small label, is worth at least 50 bucks. Not Roadmaster. Sub $10 every single one of them. Which tells us they sold boatloads in their day. They really did have the perfect sound for the mid 70s. Why, then, were they not the next Boston or Styx? As noted in the subsequent reviews above, they didn't have the songs. Music talent? Yes. That 70's sound? Oh yea, for sure. Hooks? Nope. If there was a band that should have "hedged" - like many 70s private releases did - it was Roadmaster. One side for a proggy suite, or a blistering hard rock attempt, and the rest try for a radio hit song. We'll never know if Roadmaster had the chops for prog, since they never once showed that side of the band (at least all-in prog). But I'm betting they did, as noted in the reviews above. Maybe they have some dusty old tapes with just that - would make for a killer archival release.

So my conclusion for this debut? My initial review captured perfectly what I'm hearing seven years later. Some good material offset by bilge. I'll keep Sweet Music as my representative for Roadmaster.

Source: 1976 Village (LP)

1/1/19 (review); 4/6/26 (update)

1/1/19 (new entry)