ASTERIX-ASTERIX-

Released in 1970 this german outfit sets a few questionmarks straight.

A predecessor to what would become Lucifer´s friend, much of what is to become is found on this album. Asterix originally had an all German line-up featuring keyboard player Peter Hecht, lead guitarist Peter Hesslein, bassist Dieter Horns, singer Georg Mavros, and drummer Joachim “Addi” Rietenbach.  Together and apart they’d played in a host of ’60s German bands including The German Bonds, The Giants, The Rattles, and a number of anonymous studio entities. By the time they recorded their debut album, the band had become an international act with the addition of English and American lead singers.

The production is flawless with a modern touch and the songs are strong with great resemblence to early protometal albums. Great vocals and gifted guitar playing suits the album and no song really falls under the radar. Great job!!

The exciting album cover looks very similar to a female bodypart (at closer excamination )and this prohibited Asterix from releasing the album in the States with this cover.

Funky… 🙂

Whatabout the drummer, Joachim “Addi” Rietenbach??? Besides the great name there´s not much to pick up from this chap. Steady as a train with few bumps this is a solid performance but a bit dull. Avarage to say the least.

To sum things up, this is a good record and an optional tip to buy. Nothing revolutionary but all in all a good performance when you know what to expect on their next album under the name “Lucifer´s Friend”. The album cover just say “Fresh fruit anyone?” and I Think I´ll say yes to that….:-)

VINYLRATING/GRADE

5-OK!-WORTH EXPLORING-