STEPSON-STEPSON-

This Pacific northwest outfit made a brief but powerful impact on the west coast Music industry of  The US in the beginning of the 70´s. This release from 1974 is their Calling card and sadly their only album. With past history in bands like Blue Mountain Eagle and Don and the Good Times, this raises the barr for exciting Music. Hanging around in L.A they had frequently a spot both at Whiskey A Go Go and Starwoods. They landed a record deal with ABC records but short after this release the band sadly dissolved.

With a fuzzed based approach towards Hard/blues/psych rock, this is a steady steamroller record with temporary production but a bit of time wearness up on the soundframe. Lead vocalist Jeff Hawks possesses a great voice and the guitars by Joey Newman is a pleasure to listen to, no funky pedal distractions, just pure volume fuzz!! The cover of The Byrds “It´s my Life” does seem to be a record Company necessity but I´ve Heard worse.

Whatabout the drummer, Len Fagan?? This great striking man both got the drive and timing that put your own abilities on the edge of approval. Maybe not the most technical genius but the impact together with the bass and the rest of the band is just..Fantastic. The hit ratio and Dynamics are up among the best I´ve Heard from this time period. This is a fellow who earned his reputation on the Highway touring hard….Just pure pleasure for my ears!! 🙂

If you you´re into Hard/blues/psych fuzzy rock with powerful vocal arrangements this is a forgotten plasticfantastic piece of Music treasure. Great copies and reissues are available out on the net and do yourself a favor and purchase a great rock record just for that blue Pacific feeling…Man do I want a Beer to go with this… 🙂

VINYLRATING/GRADE

-7-VERY GOOD!!-GAME,SET AND MATCH-

ROCKICKS-INSIDE-

This American outfit released their sole album in 1977 and this is a piece of work. After a sejour of other bands amongs them Rock Candy and The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, guitarist Brian Naughton, started up Rockit who later became Rockicks. The band ended up with a deal for the new label RSO records which included the Bee Gees and go figure, this was their only album and the road to obscurity laid straight ahead…..A mystery mismatch by the label for sure…

The production is flawless with great vocal overdubs and splendid guitar work with a descent rhythm section to back it up. Brian Naughton possesses a terrific voice that just fits right. The songs are strong with a direction towards Hard/biker/stoner/swamp rock. Not all that far from Black Oak Arkansas kind of Music back in the day. The processed guitar sound brings a bit of pop flavour hard rock taste in my mouth, not bad, but a bit to familiar. A Bit to American soundframe maybe. Never the less, impressive catalouge!! 🙂

Whatabout the drummer, Rick Altschuler?? This drummer just pass through the Eye of the needle. His drive and striking abilities are all fine but there are some hesitation about his Dynamics and timing skills. This is a powertrain drummer who enjoys full throttle playing and maybe a bit more personality wouldn´t hurt. Not bad but just above avarage is the grade here.

Domestic touring with the early version of Quit Riot brought Rockicks to be a household name in some parts in th US but the labels interest NOT to put it in for the band made the journey shortlived. To bad because this is a Heavy sounding album with great songs.

If you´re in for American late 70´s rock with great attitude and familiar soundframe this is a Winner! The style of Hard/biker/stoner/swamp rock Music suits this outfit perfectly and this is an odd one in the family for sure!! Great copies are out there for no Money at all so go on , use the plastics!!  🙂

VINYLRATING/GRADE

-6-GOOD!-WORTH BUYING-

RÅG I RYGGEN-RÅG I RYGGEN-

As one of the best on/off releases from the Swedish Progscene this album from 1975 has no other match of it´s kind. The Scandinavian Progscene has Little in common with the international meaning of Prog as in Progressive. In this context we are talking of earthbounded hippie´s playing hard/psych/folk rock with a social politic message in their lyrics, often about injustice and goverment corruption. Some of the bands from the 70´s do have a cultstatus today but there were a lot of crap too.

Råg i Ryggen would almost Count as a Hard/Heavy/prog/proto rock band with Heavy influences from Deep Purple and Uriah Heep. The lyrics are a bit coloured with social perspective but not as a main purpose for their Music. The production is flawless with great vocals and fuzzy guitars both in rhythm and the screaming solos. The bass playing from Björn Aggemyr just fits like a glove to all arrangements. This is good stuff!!

Whatabout the drummer, Peter Sandberg?? This fellow got a funky backbeat signature to his playing style with great striking abilities and clear as a bell hitting ratio. The technical skills are great with great flow that pushes this outfit foward. The great interaction with the Twin guitars is just like earcandy…Splendid!! Great things to bring home to the rehearsal room.

As this is the “Holy Grail” for many record collectors when it comes to Swedish prog you can imagine that the price tag for good copies are high and rightfully so. This is a true gem and unpresidented from the time period. As the vinyl is Rising as a Music media perhaps we can hope for some reissues later on??

If you´re into Hard/Heavy/prog/proto rock with that Swedish touch of native singing in some tunes this is a solid rockalbum. Be prepared to put up some serious cash for good copies but it could be Worth it as this is a great album.

VINYLRATING/GRADE

-6-GOOD!-WORTH BUYING-

CAIN-A POUND OF FLESH-

As a rooster in the henhouse, this album from 1975 stir things up when it comes to US Hard/blues/prog rock. Originated from Minnesota this band earned it´s colours with Heavy touring in Iowa, Milwaukee and of course their native state and it took a while for them to progress the excellent sound from their debut album as Cain.

The production is Contemporary with all great records from ´75 but with that personal seal of homegrown kickass material. The vocals by  the extraordinary flight alert siren Jiggs Lee impresses even me and you can hear the resemblence to an Young Ian Gillan. Fantastic!! The guitars by Lloyd Forsberg are smooth yet aggressive and not to exagerated together with a steady rollin bass playing by Dave Elmeer. But then again they been working for some years to perfect the material for this slap in the face album. Fresh meat is the best….. 🙂

Whatabout the drummer, Kevin Deremer? A funky style player with a great ear for timing and Dynamics evolves upon this album. The striking is perfect with fresh noticeable hitting ratio. The technical skills are over avarage but not in the front room. This is an enjoyable player with nice drive and integrity. Very Nice!!

You can have whatever opinion about the album cover but; the Picture tells you that this is not a lover´s saturday night shagmusic favorite. The great textframe with “8 Prime Cuts” just falls in my box of irony highlights. Splendid!!

This is one of the “Holy Grails” of obscure albums and as you could guess, hard to find and great copy´s are expensive. I see this as an investment, not only in an great album but also to spread the Word; Stop, Look and listen what you´ve missed!! Play it loud and just Enjoy!!

VINYLRATING/GRADE

-8-EXCELLENT-HEAD ON RIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES COLLISION WITH A FREIGHT TRAIN!

STRAY-STRAY-

As a Child of its time Stray began to head for the harder side of rock in the late 60´s and had a popular following in the beginning of the 70´s and were Mighty popular in Londons clubscene during this time.

This release from 1970 is a faboulus piece of Brittish proto/hard/psych rock which didn´t follow up the artistic triumph that this album represents, in sales figures and, one can only wonder why. This is as much a Heavy impact as ” Jerusalem” but maybe more of a matured album. The production has its flaws but the Dynamics together with the great songs and future sounding overdubs just brings,  not just head nodding to the table, but also a big smile on your face. Very impressive!!

Stray Always puts themselves high on obscure bands top list and rightfully so. This is just a textbook example that hard work not Always brings success, you need a good managing bit too.

Whatabout the drummer, Steve Crutchley?? This is an exciting man to listen to. While the first impression fails to deliver, a more intens spinaround on the turntable shows Another side. High technical skills with great striking abilities brings a shining light upon the performance. A hard drive with superb Dynamics, brings me over to a convincing mood.

If you´re in to Brittish Proto/hard/blues/psych rock from the beginning of the 70´s this is a rolemodel!! Everything is on this album with nice harmonys in the vocal department and great guitar slinging with thick bass to cover up the heaviness. Just splendid!!

Great reissues are out there for no or less Money and its my suggestion to buy one copy as soon as possible. Don´t wait to hear yourself say “why have I never Heard of this”??

VINYLRATING/GRADE

-7-VERY GOOD!!-GAME,SET AND MATCH-

OZ-FIRE IN THE BRAIN-

As the great year of 1983 evolved some of the best hard/heavy/ rock records ever, there were a few under the radar albums that only later, would become recognized as true hard gold nuggets of its genre.This outfit origins from Finland but relocated to Sweden during this release.

A true contender of the most iconic album of the early years of Scandinavian hard/heavy/psych/prog rock, together with both Heavy Load and Mercyful Fate, this one´s a winner with it´s broad and fantastic production with excellent songs and  that magic touch of heavy/hard rock, with a terrific seasoning, and a bit of Psych and prog ingredient. A true rock record all to the Finnish line.. 🙂

The vocals by Ape De Martini just blends terrific together with the twin guitar overdubs in a great distuned and agressive serious way of playing. The songs got a big influence by UK heavy /hard rock school but the personal impact saves the day in a wonderful way. This is something to refer to later in life but, you must spin this record a few times on the turntable to appreciate it´s grand light on the heavy/hard rock path of history. Standout tunes in my book would be “Fire in the Brain” “Fortune” and “Gambler”. Familiar tracks but nothing you can place in time nor space..Just Awesome timeless tunes.. 🙂

Whatabout the drummer, Mark Ruffneck (aka Pekka Mark)?? This is a selfthought powertrain with no what so ever dynamics. The striking is like a boxing game and the impact is furious with great determination and superb drive. In my opinion this is how a Hard/heavy metal drummer should deliver his persona!! I Love it!! The technical side of things maybe not send shivers down your spine but thats not case here, so I would let that pass with no further notice… 🙂

This a must have piece of Hard/heavy/psych/prog album and it while give you a terrific time of great resemblence towards later acts of the genre. A coll thing is that this is one of  those albums you can listen to in quit and peace and at  Heavyrock beerfueled gathering at full blast volume. Few albums can match that and just to know that the album cover contains one of Hard rocks best kept secrets, the bloody fist of a burning skull belonging to the mysterious Bathory front man Thomas Forsberg (RIP)….is JUST plain cool… 🙂

VINYLRATING/GRADE

-7-VERY GOOD!- GAME,SET AND MATCH-

THE THIRD POWER-BELIEVE-

As a prominent band on the local scene in Detroit Michigan USA this Power trio outfit released their only album in 1970. Heavy psych/prog/hard influences brings this album out of the shadows. Guitarist Drew Abott and bass player Jem Tragal shared the vocals and perhaps this the best benefit of this odd ball album. As the vocals sometimes reminds me about softhearted ballads they push the Music to limits in some of the tunes and this creates a confused impression.  is it intentional? I just wonder if they realized that this would create a collision in styles.

The production is flawless with a bit of tired downmix of the drums and bass with a strange distortion added. It doesn´t help the overall impression but with the odd choice of songs you don´t really care. There are no songs that stands out but at same time you just can´t Believe some of the  compositions. The lack of a thread to follow is eminent but also the strengh of the record. A Very peculiar album..

Whatabout the drummer, Jim Craig?? This is a splendid drummer with the responsibility for the great drive and Dynamics on this album. Great technical abilities with impressive strike timing. A pure joy for anyone´s ears. To bad that the production suffers from a poor drumssound. Much to bad….

This is one of those strange albums you never thought you would encounter. A boiling mix of sweet harmonys and raw riff guitar playing at the same time, marvelous!!

If you´re in to Heavy psych/prog/hard rock Music from a certain Point of view, this one´s for you. Great reissues are out there for a descent price and a Word of advise is: If you got any hesitations, just listen ahead Before purchase because this is one of the most weird albums I´ve ever Heard. In a positive way!! 🙂

VINYLRATING/GRADE

-5-OK!-WORTH EXPLORING-

ROBIN TROWER-BRIDGE OF SIGHS-

Sometimes when the feeeling of stagnation is upon you, the only way out is to look forward and perhaps progress from your present position. Not everybody achieves this but for Robin Trower this is  very much the truth. Most recognizable from Procul Harum Mr. Trower left the outfit after the album” Broken Barricades” and started up his solo career.

This album was released in 1974 and almost everywhere it´s a top noticed recording from the 70´s. This recording is almost free from all time wearness and the production is one of the best of 1974. The guitar is perfectly harmonized together with the rest of the band and the vocals are like smooth honey to your ears….Wonderful!! This is a Power trio with great overdubs and the songs are fantastic. No one falls under the radar and I just wonder why this album never reached the top notch chartlists back in the day. A true riddle but to our favor an obscure treasure. The sound of the album is an Albert King drenched piece of work with the ghost of Jimi Hendrix hovering above…the more you listen the more stuck you get.. a rare gift on an album. Faboulus!! 🙂

Whatabout the drummer, Reg Isidore?? The weakness of this album is this cautious  drummer. The technical department and the striking abilities are all fine but the lack of drive and initiative to push forward brings down the grade to only an avarage performance. This could have been a much more harddriven affair with a more potent drummer. Sorry…

This album though is a must have in anybodys rock record Collection. A suitable piece for everyday listening as much as a guitardriven party with similar mind friends.

Great copies are out there for no or less Money. Do yourself a favor and visit a vinylfair and you certainly will find a great copy and the day will be saved, or maybe even the next few month´s…:-)

VINYLRATING/GRADE

-7-VERY GOOD!!-GAME,SET AND MATCH-

SALEM MASS-WITCH BURNING-

Sometimes, when all things around you seems to be just normal and nothing exciting is under way, why not put on a sinister prog/hard/psych rock record to spice up your day?

Released 1971 this outfit originated from Idaho USA and had a popular following in the northwest of the US and Canada. Thriving organ sound with multipal vocal sheering this album knocks you of your feet and really put the perspective on the other side of things.

The producing is timetypical with the vocals above Everything else and the minimoog in the front row. The time wearness is obvious but this becomes secondary do to the drive and faboulus organsections/solo´s. The resemblence to Deep Purple, The Doors and Uriah Heep is not intentional but eminent due to the timeperiod but this becomes more of a softer approach towards the Heavy side of prog. Always a fresh input to a rock rotten brain.. 🙂

Whatabout the drummer, Steve Towery?? This a cautios fellow with great Dynamics and durable striking abilities. The production doesn´t favor the drums on this album and maybe a pitty because there are some sections with great or should I say brilliant playing. This is a MiniMoog album and fan´s of this excellent instrument should get their dosage plenty overrun by this record. The song´s are great and strong and you could pick up a trick or two by listening carefully. A Great Company!!

If you´re into Prog/hard/psych rock from this timeperiod this is a must have headshaker. For the rest of us musiclover´s this is an exciting album to discover and an odd one too. 🙂

VINYLRATING/GRADE

-5-OK!-WORTH EXPLORING-

TOO MUCH-TOO MUCH-

This Japanse outfit released this Prog/Hard/Blues/psych album in 1971 and one thing is perfectly clear; The Japs had something cooking back in the day. Originated from the city of Kobe the influences from western Music is obvious and maybe more difinitive UK Music input is very strong. This doesn´t mean it´s a Copycat band. The personal drive and strong songs are awesome and this is a topnotch Japanse rock album.  A Very Good job!!

The production is very good, a lack of time wearness with a great interaction between vocalist Juni Rush and guitarist Tstomu Ogawa. The latter got a great resemblence towards Tony Iommi and in this outfit it just fits like a glove. Great overdubs that could have been recorded yesterday as many of the stoner bands are lookin for this kind of time warp sound.Splendid!! 🙂 The band only released this album and then dismantled for whatever reason. Vocalist Juni Rush had a brief career as a soloartist but faded away in missuse of drugs and alcohol.

Whatabout the drummer, Hideya Kobayashi?? This is a sleepwalker behind the kit and he´s never really get his things together. A boring effort and the striking is just avarage and the technical inspiration just doesn´t appear anywhere. Watching sailboats matchrace is a more funny duty than trying to Catch something up from this fellow. Boring.

Despite the poor drumming and some awful ballads, this album stands out as one of the more obscure records from 1971. If you´re into Prog/hard/blues/psych rock out of the ordinary but with excellent crafmanship into the songs this one´s hard to beat. Prices are high even for reissues and that only confirms that this one´s got the attention it deserves. If you don´t appriciate the album you will get your Money back..:-)

VINYLRATING/GRADE

-6-GOOD!-WORTH BUYING-