28 de diciembre de 2009

The Guess Who (1970)– American Woman

While the Guess Who did have several hits in America, they were superstars in their home country of Canada during the 1960s and early '70s. The band grew out of vocalist/guitarist Chad Allan (born Allan Kobel) and guitarist Randy Bachman's Winnipeg-based group Chad Allan and the Expressions, originally known as first the Silvertones and then the Reflections. The remainder of the lineup featured bassist Jim Kale, pianist Bob Ashley, and drummer Garry Peterson. The Expressions recorded a cover of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates' "Shakin' All Over" in 1965, which became a surprise hit in Canada and reached the U.S. Top 40. When the Expressions recorded an entire album of the same name, its record company, Quality, listed their name as "Guess Who?" on the jacket, hoping to fool record buyers into thinking that the British Invasion-influenced music was actually by a more famous group in disguise. Ashley had been replaced by keyboardist/vocalist Burton Cummings, who became lead vocalist when Allan departed in 1966. The Guess Who embarked on an unsuccessful tour of England and returned home to record commercials and appear on the television program Let's Go, hosted by Chad Allan. However, further American success eluded the Guess Who until the 1969 Top Ten hit "These Eyes"; the recording session for the accompanying album, Wheatfield Soul, was paid for by producer Jack Richardson, who mortgaged his house to do so. Canned Wheat Packed by the Guess Who produced three Top 40 singles later that year. In 1970, the Guess Who released the cuttingly sarcastic riff-rocker "American Woman," which, given its anti-American putdowns, ironically became their only U.S. chart-topper. The album of the same name became their first U.S. Top Ten and first gold album, and the group performed for President and Mrs. Nixon and Prince Charles at the White House. (Pat Nixon requested that "American Woman" be dropped from the set list.)

Trouble was brewing on the horizon, though. Guitarist Bachman, having recently converted to Mormonism, took issue with the band's typical rock & roll lifestyle, leading to clashes with Cummings. Finding the atmosphere unbearable, Bachman left the group in July 1970 and formed Brave Belt with Chad Allan, which later evolved into Bachman-Turner Overdrive. His place in the Guess Who was taken by Kurt Winter and Greg Leskiw, and the title track from their next album, "Share the Land," climbed into the Top Ten later that year, and several more singles charted afterwards. The group returned to the Top Ten one last time in 1974 with the novelty single "Clap for the Wolfman," featuring dialogue by deejay Wolfman Jack. Burdened by shifting personnel and loss of direction, Cummings broke up the band in 1975 and tried a solo career. The lineup from the Guess Who's glory years reunited in 1983, and a version of the group with constantly shifting musicians (occasionally original members) continues to tour.
[@Allmusic]


Tracklist:

1. American Woman
2. No Time
3. Talisman
4. No Sugar Tonight /New Mother Nature
5. 969 (The Oldest Man)
6. When Friend's Fall Out
7. 8:15
8. Proper Stranger
9. Humpty's Blues/American Woman (Epilogue)
10. Got To Find Another Way



Line-Up:

Burton Cummings – vocals, guitar, piano, organ, flute, keyboards
Randy Bachman – guitar, tambourine, vocals
Jim Kale – bass, vocals
Garry Peterson – drums, percussion, vocals


DESCARGA



The Guess Who's most successful LP, reaching number nine in America (and charting for more than a year), has held up well and was as close to a defining album-length statement as the original group ever made. It's easy to forget that until "American Woman," the Guess Who's hits had been confined to softer, ballad-style numbers -- that song (which originated as a spontaneous on-stage jam) highlighted by Randy Bachman's highly articulated fuzz-tone guitar, a relentless beat, and Burton Cummings moving into Robert Plant territory on the lead vocal, transformed their image. As an album opener, it was a natural, but the slow acoustic blues intro by Bachman heralded a brace of surprises in store for the listener. The presence of the melodic but highly electric hit version of "No Time" (which the band had cut earlier in a more ragged rendition) made the first ten minutes a hard rock one-two punch, but the group then veers into progressive rock territory with "Talisman." Side two was where the original album was weakest, though it started well enough with "969 (The Oldest Man)." "When Friends Fall Out," a remake of an early Canadian release by the group, attempted a heavy sound that just isn't sustainable, and "8:15" was a similar space filler, but "Proper Stranger" falls into good hard rock groove. In August of 2000, Buddha Records issued a remastered version of this album with a bonus track from a subsequent session, "Got to Find Another Way." Ironically, American Woman was the final testament of the original Guess Who -- guitarist/singer Randy Bachman quit soon after the tour behind this album; the group did endure and even thrive (as did Bachman), but American Woman represented something of an ending as well as a triumph.
[@Allmusic]


Renaissance (1969)- Renaissance

There were two groups under the banner of RENAISSANCE. The first group included Keith and Jane RELF (vocals) and came from the YARDBIRDS ashes. The second and better known incarnation produced some of the best music that I have ever heard. Annie HASLAM's five octave range fit perfectly with the classical/orchestral rock (lot of piano playing & full symphony orchestra backup) created by the other members. The quick description I usually give is they are sort of like the old MOODY BLUES with a an incredible female vocalist. The soprano voice of Annie and the piano virtuosity of John TOUT allied to the beauty and refreshing melodies, the refinement of the arrangements gave their music its magnificent splendour.

My favorite RENAISSANCE albums are "Ashes Are Burning" and "Turn of the Cards". I also recommend "Novella", "Scheherezade and Other Stories" and "A Song for All Seasons" are must haves. I would add "Live At Carneige Hall" and "King Biscuit Hour Parts 1 and 2" as their 'prime' material. Plenty to fill a day with class, power and ethereal delights. The best introduction to the band would be the "Tales of 1001 Nights" compilation, which together contain of the band's best material from 72 through 80. Also the very first album from '69 is essential. After 1979, the band moved towards a more pop direction, like many other bands did in the late 70's.
[@Progarchives]


Studio Album, released in 1969

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Kings And Queens (10:55)
2. Innocence (7:05)
3. Island (5:57)
4. Wanderer (4:00)
5. Bullet (11:24)


Line-up / Musicians

- Keith Relf / vocals, guitar, harmonica
- Jim McCarty / percussion, vocals
- John Hawken / piano, harspichord
- Louis Cennamo / bass guitar
- Jane Relf / vocals, percussion



DESCARGA


Contraseña: sam1957


In my opinion, this is the best Renaissance album ever. The classical arrangements made by John Hawken and Louis Cemmano are really impressive. The album is perfect to the start to the end. Considering the year (1969), the sound is very progressive and ambitions, comparing to the other major progressive bands such as Genesis and Yes, that are starting and doing a proto progressive sound. The first songs, Kings and Queens, a lenghty tracks that starts with a stunning piano introduction by John Hawken. It sounds like Classical music. Then, the whole song has lots of variations and good arrangements, sometimes very rock ´n roll, sometimes very classical, very progressive at all. The second, Innocence, is a beautiful song, with very good keyboards and vocals. The third, Island, is a sweet tune, with Jane´s vocals (I LOVE her voice), the style is close to the Innocence´s style. The fourth, Wanderer, is superb. It is a very beautiful tune based on the harpsichord and has Jane at her best. The last one is Bullet, another lenghty track, with vocals by Keith, is more rock ´n roll at the beginning. The song includes a good harmonica solo by Keith and a incredible bass arrangement is the end, this one unfortunately can´t be heard will if you don´t have a good equipment and a good record (I don´t know if the CD version is well remastered or not, because in some CD´s the bass almost disappears). Although the line-up is completely different from the classic Renaissance albums, this is as good as the others (in my opinion, is the best), as Jane sings so well as Annie, and I personally think that the musicians of the first line-up are slightly better than the others.
[@Progarchives]


Litmus (2004)- You Are Here

Litmus are Space Ritual wannabees, their heads firmly focussed on those heady days when Hawkwind toured their masterpiece, introducing Calvert, Stacia and Spacerock to an appreciative audience eager to expand their horizons. With this as their muse, Litmus have brought a modern slant with a very heavy sound based on synchronised guitar & bass riffs producing a massive wall-of-sound. Lovers of early heavy metal should appreciate the effect, but it comes at the expense of clarity in detail, particularly of the keyboards which often get swamped - Hammond and Mellotron are both present but you sometimes have to really concentrate to hear them properly.

Theta Wave (Inductor) stands out because it doesn't become swamped by the big riff. It also features a multi-rhythmic base with perhaps three different time signatures in simultaneous use. And it works surprisingly well, building with a hypnotic repeated vocal phrase to a very satisfying conclusion. The 'feature' song - Stone Oscillator (Static Ritual) - is a slow ponderous song that for me is a little over-extended at 21 minutes as it takes far too long to achieve anything worthwhile. This monster track has a superb central section featuring another repeated vocal motif ["this could become the centre of our world"], and it ends in fine Eloy-style with repeated guitar arpeggiuos and spacey effects. Great stuff!

Overall, You Are Here is an excellent example of classic Spacerock and an essential purchase for all lovers of the genre. All tracks are song-based, the unexceptional lyrics are of the 'cosmic explorer' variety which clearly is a necessity! My main gripe is with the mushy production, and an overblown mastering which causes the sound to blow-out as soon as the wick is turned up. I must just mention Andy Thompson's excellent use of the Mellotron, especially accompanying acoustic guitars in the wonderful interlude that is the title song. These guys have the right stuff alright, and I can't wait for the next instalment.
[@Progarchives]


Studio Album, released in 2004

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Infinity Drive (6:24)
2. Dreams Of Space (8:29)
3. You Are Here (3:07)
4. Sonic Light (4:19)
5. Rays Of Sonic Light (1:01)
6. (Theta Wave) Inductor (10:12)
7. There (2:53)
8. I Can't Be Sane (2:48)
9. Chime (1:45)
10. Stone Oscillator (Static Ritual) (21:04)


Line-up / Musicians

- Matt / audio generator, gong
- Andy / Hammond, Mellotron, Minimoog, Moog Taurus, Jupiter 8
- Simon / electric and acoustic guitars, vocals, audio generator, Novadrive
- Marek / drums, percussion, vocals
- Anton / audio generator, programming, Moog Taurus, devices
- Martin / bass, vocals, acoustic guitar, wave station



DESCARGA

Litmus (2007)- Planetfall

I was really looking forward to this release. Space rock with mellotron is a combination i can't get enough of.Andy Thompson the man behind the web-site Planetmellotron is the synth,moog and mellotron player.The music on this disc i would describe as very HAWKWIND sounding with more of a metal edge.The synths are firing off all over the place,and the vocals are almost yelling over the soundscape.Unfortunately this wasn't a good listen for me,as the sounds i mentioned seemed to be relentless for over 76 minutes.I did like the guitar a lot but i couldn't even hear the mellotron except for at the start of one song.I was pleasantly surprised to see that Andy Thompson gave a little review of this album on his site.He mentioned that 15 minutes of this album should have been chopped off, and during the mixing of this record they mixed the mellotron and moog either too low or completely out.Andy says this happened "while i wasn't looking." By the way he has since left the band.Too bad about that and the mixing.By the way he gives this record 3 out of 5 stars as well. The highlight for me is the song "Expanding Universe".This is the song where you can actually hear the mellotron to open with some great sounding guitar which has a lower sounding tone.Even the vocals seem better on this track.It shifts up a gear after 3 minutes to a nice and heavy sound.Check out the guitar 12 1/2 minutes in.Nice.I'm sure HAWKWIND fans will eat this up,and it is a good record,but compared to THE FIRST BAND FROM OUTERSPACE and other psychedelic bands (too many to mention) this was a let down.
[@Progarchives]


Studio Album, released in 2007

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Destroy The Mothership (3:31)
2. The Tempest (3:07)
3. Lost Stations (5:11)
4. Under The Sign (15:02)
5. Planetfall (2:36)
6. Psychic Projection (4:44)
7. Singularity (5:02)
8. Helios (4:05)
9. Expanding Universe (17:05)
10. The Machine Age (4:42)
11. Far Beyond (8:01)
12. Planetfall / SETI (3:19)


Line-up / Musicians

- Anton / synthesis, devices, magic hands
- Fiddler / guitar, vocals
- Marek / drums, vocals
- Martin / bass, vocals
- Andy Thompson / Mellotron, synthesizers, gong



DESCARGA


Litmus (2009)- Aurora

Back in the 1970s HAWKWIND set the template for powerhouse Spacerock and now Litmus have brought it up to date for the 21st century. Not a tribute band as such, but at times sailing dangerously close with material that would not have sounded out of place at a Lemmy-era Hawkwind gig - a heady cocktail of piledriver riffs that splatter your senses to the four winds, a cornucopia of cosmic noise to enhance the 'trip' into other worlds, and searing lead guitar runs the Captain can only dream of. A veritable sonic attack, that has appeared at Hawkfests and often gigged with SPACE RITUAL in a mind-bending audio-visual extravaganza.

Martin Bass and Simon Guitar formed the band in 1999, initially recording demos as a threesome with drummer Ben. Andy Thompson [he of Planet Mellotron website fame] soon joined as principal keysman at live gigs. By the time the band's debut CD 'You Are Here' was recorded and released on their own label, the band had expanded with Anton augmenting Andy on synths and 'audio generator', and Andy's brother Matt also on audio generator, the line-up completed by Marek who replaced Ben as drummer.

As I write, the band's second album has been completed and is scheduled to be released on 30th April. The album was recorded as a five piece [Martin, Andy, Anton, Marek and Fiddler on guitar], but Andy has now left the group. Martin maintains a fairly regular on-line diary, which is accessible from the band's website, as is a MySpace page that holds some excellent audio tracks for streaming.
[@Progarchives]


Studio Album, released in 2009

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Beyond The Sun (11:41)
2. In The Burning Light (7:27)
3. Eos (5:16)
4. Miles Away (5:50)
5. Stars (4:04)
6. Kings Of Infinite Space (8:37)
7. Ma:55On Rift (10:13)
8. Red Skies (12:21)


Line-up / Musicians

- Anton / swooshes, bleeps, twiddly noises
- Fiddler / guitar, vocals
- Marek / drums, vocals
- Martin / bass, vocals
- Oli / keyboards, synths


DESCARGA



Muscular English space rock outfit Litmus' third full-length offering expands on the Hawkwind-meets-My Bloody Valentine template set by 2007's excellent Planetfall. More streamlined and compact than its predecessor, Aurora features eight tracks relentlessly stacked with thick slabs of guitar and Mellotron that relegate the vocals to second seed, resulting in a syrupy mix of punk rock brutality and shoegaze melody. The band's penchant for dressing up each tune in a power pop dinner jacket with a heavy metal overcoat is an effective one, allowing the hooks to sink in ("Beyond the Sun," "Ma:55°N Rift," and "Red Skies" are all over ten minutes long) early enough to sustain the entire track. If Aurora suffers from anything, it's the dependence on the ubiquitous laser sweep (a grand but limited effect), which is used as punctuation with the subtlety of a carnival barker. Hard-hitting 21st century space rock may not be as fashionable as its myriad siblings progressive, stoner, ambient, and doom metal, but Litmus make a strong argument for its ascension.
[@Allmusic]

Vanilla Fudge (1969)- Near the Beginning

Near the Beginning is an excellent title for this self-produced Vanilla Fudge recording. The fourth of five albums recorded during 1967, 1968, and 1969, the band themselves worked to get closer to what made them very special. What made them special was their treatment of other people's material. Reworking Junior Walker's 1965 hit is interesting, especially with engineers like Tony Bongiovi and Eddie Kramer to throw ideas at. Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood went Top 30 with "Some Velvet Morning," and that is more in line with the Fudge's debut than re-assembling Motown again. The problem with "Shotgun" is that it is pretty much the same tempo, with their big sound and added intensity being the difference. "Some Velvet Morning," on the other hand, is more Black Sabbath than Ozzie and crew covering Crow's "Evil Woman." The performance dangles in mid-air, the vocals deliver eeriness, the stuff Deep Purple jumped on a year after Vanilla Fudge made Great Britain stand at attention, and the sound is quintessential Fudge. "Some Velvet Morning" makes for a very great album track, but as "near" to the beginning as these guys got, without production they just don't get back to the chart action garnered by the sublime "Take Me for a Little While" and the immortal "You Keep Me Hanging On." Carmine Appice's "Where Is the Happiness" is a band learning how to write in public. There is no doubt how talented all these fellows were, but "Where Is the Happiness" sounds like an extension of "Some Velvet Morning" and breaks no new ground. Twenty-three minutes and 23 seconds of a live track, "Break Song" was written by the bandmembers and recorded at the Shrine in Los Angeles. It certainly works better than Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes' Survival of the Fittest Live a year after this was released, but not by much. Overly self-indulgent, there is yet again another drum solo from the period on record. Putting up with drum solos in concert is bad enough, but with Ted Nugent and Vanilla Fudge making a point to show off their musicianship, it became tiresome. Why blame Iron Butterfly when the real fault is no one listened to the 45 rpm version of "In a Gadda Da Vida"? By forgetting that Vanilla Fudge was a singles band, the whole reason the audience was buying tickets gets lost in the expressive nature of young artists dealing with fame and the record industry. "Good Good Livin'," a previously unreleased long version written by all four members of the group, is heaviness they would explore with Adrian Barber on the Rock & Roll album, and unfortunately expand upon with their reunion in 1984, continuing to drift away from their beginnings. The single version of "Shotgun" is included on the extended CD, as is the 45 rpm "People" written by Vinny Martell, Carmine Appice, Tim Bogert, and Mark Stein. An interesting transitional record with some high points, and worth adding to your collection.
[@Allmusic]


Tracklist:

1. "Shotgun" (Autry DeWalt, pka Jr. Walker)
2. "Some Velvet Morning" (Lee Hazlewood)
3. "Where Is Happiness" (Carmine Appice)
4. "Break Song" (live version) (Carmine Appice/Tim Bogert/Vince Martell/Mark Stein)
5. "Good Good Lovin'" (unedited version)* (Carmine Appice/Tim Bogert/Vince Martell/Mark Stein)
6. "Shotgun" (single version)* (Autry DeWalt, pka Jr. Walker)
7. "People" (single)* (Carmine Appice/Tim Bogert/Vince Martell/Mark Stein)


Line-Up:

Carmine Appice - drums, vocals
Tim Bogert - bass, vocals
Vince Martell - guitar, vocals
Mark Stein - lead vocals, keyboards


DESCARGA


Vanilla Fudge (1968)- Renaissance

What made Vanilla Fudge so intriguing was how they and producer Shadow Morton mutated hit songs by stretching the tempo to slow motion so exquisite that even an overexposed song by the Supremes sounded new on the radio. The formula worked fine on covers, but despite their collective talent, the material they composed on Renaissance feels more like psychedelic meeting progressive and has less of that commercial magic. Renaissance is a concept album, produced and directed by Shadow Morton, the man who brought you the Shangri-Las and who produced the second album for the New York Dolls. With a long poem by Carl DeAngelis on the back cover and an amazing construction of a Mount Rushmore-type set of statues of the band members on the front, sculpted in the stars away from Earth, the band moved into an arena yearned for by Iron Butterfly and Rare Earth: respectability. Carmine Appice's "Faceless People" is the band's standard sound on an unfamiliar tune. While it is highly listenable, not the tedious chore lesser music in lesser hands becomes, Top 40 could hardly respond to an epic like that or "The Sky Cried When I Was a Boy." This is the punk version of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and there should have been a bigger market for it on FM radio. Singer Mark Stein and Tim Bogert compose a prototype that bands like Uriah Heep should have embraced. Calvin Schenkel's "The Spell That Comes After" offers more than the band's originals, though Vince Martell's fuzz guitar on "The Sky Cried" meeting the superb vocals suspended somewhere above it all makes for a nice musical sandwich; their name far more appropriate than the trendy-for-the-time vibe Vanilla Fudge suggests. Martell's "Thoughts" is eerily cosmic and spaced -- his creativity seemed kept in check by the band, which is a pity; his early 1980 demos without the group evidence that his contributions were essential, despite the fame Bogert and Appice would find. Renaissance is a solid, albeit typical, release from this innovative group. Sundazed has re-released Renaissance with three additional tracks. The cover of Donovan's "Season of the Witch" does more with those two famous chords than most. It is a highlight and proves that covers should have been evenly matched with the originals on these early discs. That's what got them the audience in the first place, and reinvention is what they did best.
[@Allmusic]


Tracklist:

1. "The Sky Cried / When I Was A Boy" (Mark Stein/Tim Bogert)
2. "Thoughts" (Vince Martell)
3. "Paradise" (Mark Stein/Carmine Appice)
4. "That's What Makes A Man" (Mark Stein)
5. "The Spell That Comes After" (Essra Mohawk)
6. "Faceless People" (Carmine Appice)
7. "Season of the Witch" (Donovan Leitch; interpolating "We Never Learn" by Essra Mohawk)
8. "All In Your Mind" (Appice/Bogert/Martell/Stein)
9. "The Look of Love" (Burt Bacharach/Hal David)
10. "Where Is My Mind" (Mark Stein)

Line-Up:

Carmine Appice - drums, vocals
Tim Bogert - bass, vocals
Vince Martell - guitar, vocals
Mark Stein - lead vocals, keyboards


DESCARGA

Vanilla Fudge (1968)- The Beat Goes On


The expanded CD release of this second Vanilla Fudge album is much more accessible than the original vinyl version because of the inclusion of a number of cover tunes, most notably Beatles songs. The revealing liner notes that Sundazed project manager Tim Livingston adds to the reissues of these Atco albums helps put this influential band in a better light. The Beat Goes On is a difficult record, especially after the explosion that was their debut. The single from their previous album, Vanilla Fudge, originally charted in the Top 100 in the U.S. in 1967. (Britain was more hip to the group.) They finally hit in America in the summer of 1968, but had already begun to influence Deep Purple and the Rotary Connection, among others. The problem with this project is that they failed to influence themselves. Bassist Tim Bogert notes that "The Beat Goes On was the album that killed the band," while guitarist Vinny Martell adds "we had already started our second album when Shadow (Morton) had this other concept idea for The Beat Goes On." Morton had produced the Shangri Las, not the Beatles, and this creative effort was by a group with only two hit singles arriving on the scene around the time of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Morton set before the boys a daunting task which needed much, much better execution. Renaissance, which they were recording simultaneous with this, at least included a Donovan tune, "Season of the Witch." The exotic wandering would have been better served by a reworking of "Strawberry Fields Forever" across a side of the disc instead of the keyboard notes which reference the tune. Even a killer guitar version of "The Beat Goes On" would have been more exciting than "18th Century Variations on a Theme by Mozart" or noodlings that can't decide if they are "Chatanooga Choo Choo" or "Theme to the Match Game." For a group of impressionable young kids out of high school, as referenced in the liners, this must've been extremely rough. The expanded CD has jam session versions of Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog" and the Beatles' "I Feel Fine," "She Loves You," "Day Tripper," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," and "You Can't Do That." Any of these extended à la "Eleanor Rigby" from their debut would be more desirable than the interview-type questions about sex; the Beatles' interest in "Indian meditation" (sitar enters here, and how would the VF know?); audio newsclips of John F. Kennedy, Hitler, and others, all a very strong argument against artistic control for some producers. Exploring the initial ideas that brought them fame was what was expected of Vanilla Fudge. What would you rather hear, readings from The Bible or the single from January 1968, "The Look of Love" b/w "Where Is My Mind"? Thankfully, Sundazed has included the Bacharach/David tune and two additional Mark Stein titles, "All in Your Mind" and the aforementioned B side, "Where Is My Mind," on the expanded Renaissance album, the real follow-up to the Vanilla Fudge debut. Historically important, listening to this archive piece is truly a labor of love, with the emphasis on labor.
[@Allmusic]


Studio Album, released in 1968

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Sketch (3:01)
Phase 1:
2. Intro: The Beat Goes On (1:59)
3. Variations On A Theme By Mozart: (6:59)
Divertimento No. 13 IN F Major
Old Black Joe (Traditional)
Don't Fence Me In
12th Street Rag
In The Mood
Hound Dog
I Want To Hold Your Hand / I Feel Fine /
Day Tripper / She Loves You
Phase 2:
4. The Beat Goes On (1:38)
5. Beethoven: Fur Elise/Moonlight Sonata (6:37)
6. The Beat Goes On (1:07)
7. The Beast Goes On (1:03)
Phase 3:
8. Voices In Time (8:17)
Phase 4:
9. The Beat Goes On (1:05)
10. Merchant: (9:52)
The Game Is Over: Vince
The Game Is Over: Tim
The Game Is Over: Carmine
The Game Is Over: Mark
11. The Beat Goes On (2:23)


Line-up / Musicians

- Vince Martell / guitar, lead vocals
- Bill Pascali / organ, keyboards
- Carmine Appice / drums
- Tim Bogart / bass


DESCARGA


Abstract Truth (1970)- Silver Trees

Abstract Truth (they shunned the prefix of "the" because they didn't want to sound dogmatic) was the brainchild of one Kenneth Edward Henson (dubbed Ken E Henson by David Marks).

The band Abstract Truth existed only for a very short time, but it was a time of super-creativity. They exploded on to the Durban music scene early in 1969, released 2 studio albums during 1970 (as well as a compilation in the same year!) and, after numerous line-up changes, imploded in 1971.

Henson had been the guitarist in a band called the Leeman Ltd, which had formed in Durban in 1965. In 1966 he and the enigmatic Ramsay MacKay got together with ex-Navarones members Colin Pratley and Nic Martens to create Freedom's Children, arguably South Africa's greatest rock band. Clive Calder, who signed Abstract Truth to EMI in 1970, said recently that Freedom's Children in his opinion "was then and probably still is today (over 30 years later) the only SA rock group that, given the right circumstances in the right geographical location, could have become an internationally successful rock band just by being themselves and doing what they did."

Henson was involved in the early single releases by Freedom's Children, which were unbelievably credited to "Fleadom's Children" because the government of the time considered the word "Freedom" as unacceptable! Henson then left Freedom's Children to join The Bats for a six-week sojourn.

In 1969 Henson and sax-player Sean Bergin were in a jazz group called The Sounds. Henson says, "In February 1969 I was approached by the owner of a local hotel. He had heard that I played the sitar and asked if I could get together an exotic/Eastern-sounding outfit to back a belly dancer in the hotel's disco/pub." The pub was called "Totum" and was situated at the Palm Beach Hotel in Durban's Gillespie Street.

Robbie Pavid, who had played drums for The Mods in 1967, remembers: "[The club owner] wanted a backing band for a belly dance act that would attract customers to his cocktail hour. Ken got hold of Brian Gibson who would play bass, formerly from the British group the 004's, Sean Bergin who would play flute and sax, myself on percussion, who was with the band The Third Eye, and Ken on lead guitar and sitar. I was playing in The Third Eye at the same time as Abstract Truth (whose gig at "Totum" was a 5 to 7 cocktail hour gig) and would then rush off to The Third Eye gig.... ahh, what you can do when you are young!!!!
[@Progarchives]


Studio Album, released in 1970

Songs / Tracks Listing

Pollution (Henson)
All The Same (Wolfaardt)
Original Man (Wolfaardt)
Silver Trees (Measroch/Dickman)
In A Space (Henson/Bergin)
Moving Away (Measroch)
Two (Henson)
Blue Wednesday Speaks (Measroch)
It's Alright With Me (Wolfaardt)


Line-up / Musicians

Ken E Henson: Guitar, vocals
Peter Measroch: Piano, organ, flute, harpsichord, vocals
George Wolfaardt: Bass, flute, drums, vocals
Sean Bergin: Flute, saxophone


DESCARGA


24 de diciembre de 2009

Foghat (1980)- Tight Shoes

When Foghat founder Lonesome Dave Peverett (lead vocals and guitar) started his career with Savoy Brown in the late '60s, there was still something progressive about young Brits tackling American blues, R&B, and even some rockabilly, but as the musician entered his third decade of recording, artistic compromises and commercial success had watered-down the entire genre of blues-based hard rock, thanks largely to bands like his own. Although Foghat had released a string of very successful recordings, the group's final two releases of the '70s, Stone Blue and Boogie Motel, both suffered from declining (although still substantial) sales. Peverett's response to the suddenly suspect viability of his group's arena rock sound was to take his songwriting in a more modern (if not quite fitting) direction on Tight Shoes. New wave and punk had emerged out of the U.K. in the late '70s, largely in response to the somewhat formulaic and self-aggrandizing hard rock that had somehow overtaken the entire non-disco musical landscape. Although listeners might cringe while trying to imagine a musical amalgam somewhere between "Slow Ride" and "Watching the Detectives," assessing Foghat's attempt at eclecticism isn't quite as simple as it may appear. The group's musicianship and studio finesse keep tracks like the single "Stranger in My Home Town" and "Baby Can I Change Your Mind" from becoming awkward attempts at timeliness. Instead, Foghat successfully incorporates stripped-down sonics and simpler, almost pop arrangements into Tight Shoes, making it more than a hopeless grasp at musical relevance, making it worthwhile.
[@Allmusic]


Tracklist

1. Stranger in My Home Town (4:24)
2. Loose Ends (4:38)
3. Full Time Lover (4:30)
4. Dead End Street (5:00)
5. Be My Woman (5:57)
6. No Hard Feelings (6:15)
7. Baby I Can Change Your Mind (3:51)
8. Too Late the Hero (5:01)


Line-Up:

Dave Peverett - rhythm guitar, vocals
Rod Price - lead guitar, slide guitar
Craig MacGregor - bass
Roger Earl - drums

DESCARGA

Foghat (1979)- Boogie Motel

After toying with a more commercial sound on Stone Blue, Foghat decided to continue in the same vein on their next album. The resulting album, Boogie Motel, brought the group some commercial success but also unfortunately found them straying even further from their trademark sound. The album's success was primarily derived from "Third Time Lucky (First Time I Was a Fool)," a power ballad that became a hit single. It's lightweight stuff, especially by the standard of past Foghat hits, but it benefits from a strong melody and a tight arrangement that boasts some soaring slide-guitar leads. Sadly, it's the one really good track on the album. The big problem with Boogie Motel is its production downplays guitars in favor of an overall radio-friendly slickness. It's the wrong strategy, because it makes a once-ferocious band sound positively toothless: "Somebody's Been Sleepin' in My Bed" loses the dynamic power inherent in its arrangement due to the blunted sound of the guitars and drums, and the title track's slick arrangement (complete with horn arrangement) and radio-friendly mix make it sound pleasant instead of ferocious. Boogie Motel also suffers from uninspired material that downplays the band's classic boogie rock style for a more middle-of-the-road radio rock approach: The worst example is "Comin' Down With Love," which suffers from painfully sappy love lyrics and a dull soul-pop arrangement that strangely feels like an attempt to emulate the sound of Boz Scaggs. All in all, Boogie Motel is a dull, disappointing album that lacks the guitar firepower and rootsy charm that define the best Foghat albums. Even the most devoted Foghat fanatics may want to think twice before picking this disc up.
[@Allmusic]


Tracklist

1. "Somebody's Been Sleepin' in My Bed" (Bond, Johnson, Perry) – 3:50)
2. "Third Time Lucky (First Time I Was a Fool)" – 4:12
3. "Comin' Down with Love" – 5:23
4. "Paradise Alley" – 5:37
5. "Boogie Motel" (Peverett, Price) – 7:20
6. "Love in Motion" – 4:30
7. "Nervous Release" – 5:53


Line-Up:

Dave Peverett - rhythm guitar, vocals
Rod Price - lead guitar, slide guitar
Craig MacGregor - bass
Roger Earl - drums


DESCARGA


pass: bigze

Foghat (1978)- Stone Blue

After racking up huge sales with Live, Foghat found themselves forced to choose between staying a hard rock cult group or trying to expand their success and become a full-on commercial phenomenon. They decided to experiment with adding a commercial edge to their sound and hired producing wiz Eddie Kramer (knob-twiddler for Jimi Hendrix and Kiss) to help them find the right balance between guitar power and studio gloss. Sadly, the resulting album, Stone Blue, is only intermittently successful because it never finds the right balance to make this compromise work. A good example is the title track: It has all the energy of a classic Foghat track and adds in some nice vocal harmonies, but it lacks the thick, bass-heavy bottom end and the bluesy edge that fuelled the band's best songs. This sonic schizophrenia goes even further on faceless songs like "High on Love" and "Easy Money," which sound like they could have been cut by any 1970s AOR band. Despite these moments of stylistic confusion, Foghat's old strengths manage to shine through on occasion: "It Hurts Me Too" is an impressive blues cover that features a searing vocal performance from Lonesome Dave Peverett, and "Chevrolet" successfully marries boogie rock riffs to a slick studio sound. However, the lack of a consistent overall direction keeps Stone Blue from being the success it could have been. In the end, it offers enough solid tracks to please the hardcore Foghat fan but casual listeners would better off checking out Fool for the City or Live for a better, more consistent idea of the group's strengths.
[@Allmusic]


Tracklist

1. Stone Blue
2. Sweet Home Chicago
3. Easy Money
4. Midnight Madness
5. It Hurts Me Too
6. High On Love
7. Chevrolet
8. Stay With Me


Line-Up:

Dave Peverett - rhythm guitar, vocals
Rod Price - lead guitar, slide guitar
Craig MacGregor - bass
Roger Earl - drums


DESCARGA


Foghat (1977)- Live

Although they had scored some success on the album charts (Fool for the City being their biggest success), Foghat had always won the majority of their fans through their high-intensity live shows. Thus, when live albums became a salable rock music commodity in the wake of megahits like Kiss Alive and Frampton Comes Alive, it was only natural that Foghat would release a live recording. Live wisely restricts the running time to a single album (two album's worth of Foghat's boogie rock, no matter how energetic, would probably have been too much), resulting in a tight set that flows effortlessly and showcases the group's strengths in the best possible light. Everything is delivered with an energy and intensity that would be impossible to capture in a studio: good examples are "Honey Hush," a frantic hard rock blitz delivered at twice the speed of the studio version, and "Home in My Hand," a stomping anthem whose live version adds an a cappella break that allows the group to show off some impressive vocal harmonies as they get the crowd fired up. Elsewhere, the group transforms hits like "Slow Ride" and "I Just Wanna Make Love to You" into guitar-fueled epics that allow the group to show off its mastery of hard rock's sonic pyrotechnics. The end result is one of Foghat's finest albums because it cherry picks all the highlights of the band's catalog to that point and captures the band in its most natural and comfortable setting (i.e., in front of a group of adoring fans). These qualities make Live a gem of 1970s hard rock and a necessity for anyone who wants to understand the appeal of Foghat.
[@Allmusic]


Tracklist

1. "Fool for the City" - 5:31
2. "Home in My Hand" - 4:56
3. "I Just Want to Make Love to You" - 8:36
4. "Road Fever" - 5:29
5. "Honey Hush" - 5:38
6. "Slow Ride" - 8:21


Line-Up:

Dave Peverett - rhythm guitar, vocals
Rod Price - lead guitar, slide guitar
Craig MacGregor - bass
Roger Earl - drums


DESCARGA

Foghat (1976)- Night Shift

After hitting it big in the arena rock sweepstakes with Fool for the City, Foghat continued along the same lines on 1976's Night Shift. This time, ex-Edgar Winter sideman Dan Hartman took the producer's chair. The result is a well-produced and solid hard rock album that nonetheless feels disappointing because it lacks the consistently high levels of energy and inspiration that marked its predecessor. This time, the hard rocking highlights included the title track, a powerhouse tune built on a strong combination of an ascending guitar riff and rumbling bassline, and "Drivin' Wheel," an automobile-themed slab of boogie rock that glides along on a stomping, cymbal-accented beat and plenty of fat power chords. Night Shift also boasts one of the group's best ballads in "I'll Be Standing By," an emotional number that boasts a heart-tugging vocal performance from Lonesome Dave Peverett and a skillful arrangement that plays off soaring electric guitar riffs against a lush string arrangement. Elsewhere, the material is energetic but hit-or-miss in terms of its quality: "Drivin' Wheel" is a fun but repetitive rocker that lacks any surprises in its rather monotone arrangement, and "Hot Shot Love" is an uninspired attempt at creating a radio-friendly midtempo tune. The end result is an album that offers enough highlights to please Foghat's hardcore audience but is too inconsistent to keep the casual listener interested. As a result, neophyte Foghat enthusiasts should probably sample Night Shift's highlights on a compilation before deciding whether or not to pick it up.
[@Allmusic]


Tracklist

1. "Drivin' Wheel"- 5:11 / 4:30
2. "Don't Run Me Down"- 6:32
3. "Burnin' the Midnight Oil"- 5:38
4. "Night Shift"- 5:32
5. "Hot Shot Love"- 4:00
6. "Take Me to the River"- 4:40 / 3:22
7. "I'll Be Standing By"- 5:53


Line-Up:

Dave Peverett - rhythm guitar, vocals
Rod Price - lead guitar, slide guitar
Craig MacGregor - bass
Roger Earl - drums


DESCARGA

Foghat (1975)- Fool For The City

After building a solid core audience through relentless touring and a string of hard-rocking albums, Foghat finally hit the big time in 1975 with Fool for the City. It still stands out as the best album in the group's catalog because it matched their road-tested abilities as hard rockers to a consistent set of tunes that were both well-crafted and ambitious. The tone for the album is set by its title track: This hard-rocking gem not only pairs riff-driven verses with an effective shout-along chorus, but also throws in a few surprising moments where the guitars are taken out of the mix completely and Nick Jameson's bass is allowed to take the lead in a funky breakdown. Fool for the City also produced an enduring rock radio favorite in "Slow Ride," a stomping rock tune that transcends the inherent clichés of its "love is like a car ride" lyrics with a furious performance from the band and a clever arrangement that works in well-timed automotive sound effects during the verses and plays up the band's ability to work an R&B-styled groove into their hard-rocking sound (again, note the thumping bassline from Jameson). Further radio play was earned with "Take It or Leave It," an acoustic-based ballad that worked synthesizers into its subtle yet carefully layered arrangement to become one of the group's finest slow numbers. The album's other songs don't stand like the aforementioned selections, but they all flow together nicely thanks to a consistently inspired performance from the band and clever little arrangement frills that keep the group's boogie-oriented rock fresh (example: the witty spoken word bit at the end of "Drive Me Home"). All in all, Fool for the City is both Foghat's finest achievement in the studio and one of the high points of 1970s hard rock.
[@Allmusic]


Tracklist

1. "Fool for the City" (Peverett) – 4:32 / 3:29
2. "My Babe" (Hatfield/Medley) – 4:36
3. "Slow Ride" (Peverett) – 8:13 (Extended Version)
4. "Terraplane Blues" (Robert Johnson) – 5:44
5. "Save Your Loving (For Me)"(Price/Peverett) – 3:31
6. "Drive Me Home" (Peverett) – 3:54
7. "Take It or Leave It" (Jameson/Peverett)– 4:59


Line-Up:

Dave Peverett - rhythm guitar, vocals
Rod Price - lead guitar, slide guitar
Nick Jameson - bass
Roger Earl - drums


DESCARGA

Foghat (1974)- Rock'n'Roll Outlaws

After establishing a new level of credibility on record with 1974's Energized, Foghat cranked out another album of boogie rock before the year ended. The result, Rock and Roll Outlaws, is not as consistently inspired as its predecessor but remains a worthwhile listen for the group's fans. This time out, the group settles for a more straight-forward boogie sound that downplays the experiments that spiced up Energized. As a result, the songs are often solid but uninspiring: "Trouble in My Way" has some pleasant acoustic guitar work but feels like a throwaway tune while the title track cruises along in an amiable fashion but never catches fire the way a song with a title like "Rock and Roll Outlaw" should. However, when the band is firing on all four cylinders, Rock and Roll Outlaws is a joy: "Eight Days on the Road" is a hard-charging tune about the touring life that became a live favorite, and the good-time raver "Chateau Lafitte '59 Boogie" is one of the most exhilarating rockers in the Foghat catalog. "Blue Spruce Woman" is another crafty rocker, benefiting from a witty lyric about a nature-loving woman and some of the gutsiest guitar riffs on the album. It should also be noted that these high points are given an additional shot in the arm by Nick Jameson's sympathetic production, which manages to bring out a sharpness of detail in the sound without cutting back on its heaviness. Overall, Rock and Roll Outlaws probably has limited appeal to the casual listener but offers enough energetic boogie rock to make it worthwhile for anyone into Foghat.
[@Allmusic]


Tracklist

1. "Eight Days On the Road" - 6:08
2. "Hate to See You Go" - 4:39
3. "Dreamer" - 6:39
4. "Trouble In My Way" - 3:32
5. "Rock and Roll Outlaw" - 3:53
6. "Shirley Jean" - 3:46
7. "Blue Spruce Woman" - 4:08
8. "Chateau Lafitte '59 Boogie" - 6:17


Line-Up:

Dave Peverett - rhythm guitar, vocals
Rod Price - lead guitar, slide guitar
Tony Stevens - bass
Roger Earl - drums

DESCARGA

Foghat (1974)- Energized

The third album proved to be the charm for Foghat. On Energized, their fusion of blues song structures and heavy metal energy comes into sharp focus. The group storms out of the gate with the opening track, "Honey Hush"; this inspired reworking of a blues classic moves like a locomotive about to run off the rails and dazzles the listener with a barrage of furious, metallic guitar riffs. Another sharp rocker along these lines is "Wild Cherry," a lascivious tribute to a gorgeous woman that is fuelled by a double-time beat from Roger Earl and some killer twin-guitar riffing from Dave Peverett and Rod Price. Elsewhere, the group keeps things interesting by experimenting with their formula: an inspired cover of the Buddy Holly chestnut "That'll Be the Day" successfully recasts it as a bluesy vamp complete with saucy horn arrangements, and "Step Outside" mixes funk-styled instrumental breakdowns and a bassline that would be at home on a James Brown record into its hard rock song structure to create an effective funk-rock hybrid. Energized also produced an enduring classic for the band with "Home in My Hand," an autobiographical tale about living a life dominated by wanderlust. It provided a fitting anthem for a band that toured incessantly and quickly became a beloved part of the Foghat's live set. The one real downside of Energized is that the band gets so carried away sometimes that they let their songs go on a little too long. The notable example here is set-closer "Nothin' I Won't Do," an amiable blues shuffle that is inflated to an unwieldy seven minutes by a few too many guitar solos. However, the album rises above these occasional dips into excess thanks to solid songs and inspired performance from the band. In short, Energized is a solid listen for anyone who gets nostalgic about 1970s arena rock, and a must-have for Foghat fans.
[@Allmusic]


Tracklist

1. "Honey Hush" - 4:21
2. "Step Outside" - 6:18
3. "Golden Arrow" - 4:03
4. "Home in My Hand" - 5:13
5. "Wild Cherry" - 5:27
6. "That'll Be the Day" - 2:53
7. "Fly by Night" - 4:47
8. "Nothin' I Won't Do" - 6:57


Line-Up:

Dave Peverett - rhythm guitar, vocals
Rod Price - lead guitar, slide guitar
Tony Stevens - bass
Roger Earl - drums


DESCARGA

Foghat (1973)- Rock And Roll

Foghat's second album finds the group working its way towards the fusion of blues and hard rock that would make them an arena rock favorite. They were not yet the stadium kings they would soon become, but Rock and Roll benefits from a muscular production that gives the band a muscular sound worthy of their impressive live act. A good example is the powerful album opener "Ride, Ride, Ride": Lonesome Dave Peverett wails over a boogie beat fortified by rumbling power chords as gospel-style backup vocalists cheer him on at the chorus. "Road Fever" is another choice rocker, a song about the rock & roll touring life (a recurrent Foghat song subject) that spices up its fuzz guitar rock with a rubbery bassline and a attractive but non-intrusive horn section. However, not everything on Rock and Roll is as inspired as these two tracks: songs like "Feel So Bad" and "She's Gone" succumb to cliché boogie-rock lyrics that are as dull as their titles and plodding song structures that lack hooks and inventive arrangements. Despite this occasional lack of inspiration, the band manages to pull off a few surprises here and there that show they were looking forward: "Helping Hand" crossbreeds the band's boogie sound with acoustic country-rock touches to create a tune that sounds like the Eagles on steroids, and the power ballad "It's Too Late" succeeds despite its cliché lost-love lyrics, thanks to a sharp arrangement that shows off the sharp guitar interplay between Peverett and Rod Price. All in all, Rock and Roll lacks the consistent material to win over casual rock fans, but any Foghat enthusiast will find plenty to enjoy on this disc.
[@Allmusic]


Tracklist

1. "Ride, Ride, Ride" - 4:24
2. "Feel So Bad" - 5:09
3. "Long Way To Go" - 5:07
4. "It's Too Late" - 3:52
5. "What A Shame" - 3:57
6. "Helpin' Hand" - 4:41
7. "Road Fever" - 4:22
8. "She's Gone" - 3:12
9. "Couldn't Make Her Stay" - 1:57


Line-Up:

Dave Peverett - rhythm guitar, vocals
Rod Price - lead guitar, slide guitar
Tony Stevens - bass
Roger Earl - drums


DESCARGA

Foghat (1972)- Foghat

Foghat specialized in a simple, hard-rocking blues-rock, releasing a series of best-selling albums in the mid-'70s. While the group never deviated from their basic boogie, they retained a large audience until 1978, selling out concerts across America and earning several gold or platinum albums. Once punk and disco came along, the band's audience dipped dramatically.

With its straight-ahead, three-chord romps, the band's sound was American in origin, yet the members were all natives of England. Guitarist/vocalist "Lonesome" Dave Peverett, bassist Tony Stevens, and drummer Roger Earl were members of the British blues band Savoy Brown, who all left the group in the early '70s. Upon their departure, they formed Foghat with guitarist Rod Price. Foghat moved to the United States, signing a record contract with Bearsville Records, a new label run by Albert Grossman. Their first album, Foghat, was released in the summer of 1972 and it became an album rock hit; a cover of Willie Dixon's "I Just Want to Make Love to You" even made it to the lower regions of the singles charts. For their next album, the group didn't change their formula at all -- in fact, they didn't even change the title of the album. Like the first record, the second was called Foghat; it was distinguished by a picture of a rock and a roll on the front cover. Foghat's second album was their first gold record, and it established them as a popular arena rock act. Their next six albums -- Energized (1974), Rock and Roll Outlaws (1974), Fool for the City (1975), Night Shift (1976), Foghat Live (1977), Stone Blue (1978) -- all were best-sellers and all went at least gold. "Slow Ride," taken from Fool for the City, was their biggest single, peaking at number 20. Foghat Live was their biggest album, selling over two million copies. After 1975, the band went through a series of bass players; Price left the band in 1981 and was replaced by Erik Cartwright.

In the early '80s, Foghat's commercial fortunes declined rapidly, with their last album, 1983's Zig-Zag Walk, barely making the album charts. The group broke up shortly afterward with Peverett retiring from the road. The remaining members of the band (Roger Earl, Erik Cartwright and Craig MacGregor) continued playing together as the Kneetremblers and after some line-up changes decided to revert to the Foghat name. The band toured throughout the decade and into the early 1990's. Perhaps growing tired of early retirement, Lonesome Dave formed his own version of Foghat in 1990 and hit the road. After healing their rift, the original Foghat (Peverett,Price, Stevens and Earl) reformed in 1993 and toured for years, releasing Return of the Boogie Men in 1994 and Road Cases in 1998. The original band broke apart for good with Peverett's passing due to cancer on February 7, 2000. After some time spent mourning, the band soldiered on with a new line-up (adding Charlie Huhn on vocals) and after two years of touring released Family Joules in 2002. Foghat toured for the next few years and regularly issued documents of their live act: The Official Bootleg DVD, Volume 1 in 2004 and Foghat Live II in 2007.
[@Allmusic]


TrackList

1. "I Just Want to Make Love to You" (Dixon) - 4:21
2. "Trouble Trouble" (Dave Peverett) - 3:20
3. "Leavin' Again (Again!)" (Peverett, Tony Stevens) - 3:36
4. "Fool's Hall of Fame" (Peverett) - 2:58
5. "Sara Lee" (Peverett, Rod Price) - 4:36
6. "Highway (Killing Me)" (Peverett, Price) - 3:51
7. "Maybellene" - 3:33 (Berry)
8. "A Hole to Hide In" (Peverett, Price, Roger Earl) - 4:06
9. "Gotta Get to Know You" (Deadric Malone, Andre Williams) - 7:44


Line-Up:

Dave Peverett - rhythm guitar, vocals
Rod Price - lead guitar, slide guitar
Tony Stevens - bass
Roger Earl - drums


DESCARGA


Breaking away from Savoy Brown to form this band, the members of Foghat knew from the start what sort of record they wanted to make. With heavy emphasis on the hard boogie, Foghat got down to work with the help of Dave Edmunds and crafted a hard rock gem. Covering Chuck Berry's "Maybellene," they goosed the beat up until it was almost a precursor of the heavy metal yet to come. Interspersing covers with original material, they immediately found a place for themselves in the rock world.
[@Allmusic]

20 de diciembre de 2009

Acid King - III (2005)

Observers looking to critique Acid King's slothful work rate -- which has yielded but three full albums and a few singles over an 11-year lifespan -- would do well to consider how befitting it is to their similarly sluggish brand of doom metal. Let's face it, the overarching influence of Black Sabbath isn't going anywhere fast (get it?), and neither is Acid King's fixation with it, obviously, since they'd managed to both predate and outlive the movement's brief, late-'90s moment in the sun by the time of their third album's release, in 2005. No, the special thing about original founding duo Lori S. (guitars/vocals) and Joey Osbourne (drums) -- here joined by veteran bassist Guy Pinhas (of Goatsnake and Obsessed fame) and producer (and San Francisco neighbor) Billy Anderson -- is being perfectly content in the knowledge that their evolutionary growth, in the immortal words of This Is Spinal Tap, can't even be charted. In other words, doom is where they wanna be, as demonstrated by familiar sounding new offerings such as "Into the Ground," the exceedingly obvious "Heavy Load" (yeah, no sh*t!), and the 12-minute, acid-sludge centerpiece "War of the Mind." Solid doom anthems all, they only rarely make way for anything remotely brief (like, say, the uniquely sub-four-minute "Bad Vision") or remotely energetic (like the Harley-lifestyle-praising "2 Wheel Nation"), on their grinding path towards additional standout "Sunshine and Sorrow," which sends us home on a particularly hypnotic swirl of layered guitars. And that's as it should be, really -- at least in the time-warp universe inhabited by Acid King and their willing disciples.
[@Allmusic]



1. "2 Wheel Nation" – 5:23
2. "Heavy Load" – 7:10
3. "Bad Vision" – 3:52
4. "War of the Mind" – 11:57
5. "Into the Ground" – 4:32
6. "On to Everafter" – 6:19
7. "Sunshine and Sorrow" – 7:19


Line-Up:

Lori S. – Vocals, Guitar
Guy Pinhas – Bass
Joey Osbourne – Drums


DESCARGA

Acid King - Busse Woods (1999)

Black Sabbath was a major influence on a lot of the bands who recorded for Man's Ruin in the late '90s, and Acid King certainly doesn't escape the influence of early Sabbath on Busse Woods. This isn't to say that Acid King is a Sabbath clone -- far from it. True, Lori S.' singing owes a debt to Ozzy Osbourne, and her slow, forceful, brutal guitar riffs recall Tony Iommi's contributions to Sabbath. But the Bay Area band's heavy metal/stoner rock tends to communicate a looser, more jam-minded outlook than the music of Sabbath, and there are other direct or indirect influences one could cite as well, such as Robin Trower, Jimi Hendrix, and Hawkwind. Sabbath tends to get right to the point, whereas Lori S. enjoys stretching out when it's appropriate. Even though Acid King's brand of metal has often been described as stoner rock, one needn't be a stoner or use drugs to appreciate such metallic grooves as "39 Lashes," "Drive Fast, Take Chances," and "Electric Machine." Even if you consider yourself a teetotaler, Busse Woods is an exhilarating dose of metal.
[@Allmusic]


1. "Electric Machine" – 6:25
2. "Silent Circle" – 7:30
3. "Drive Fast, Take Chances" – 8:32
4. "39 Lashes" (Andrew Lloyd Webber; Tim Rice) – 6:24
5. "Carve the 5" – 9:27
6. "Busse Woods" – 7:36
7. "Motorhead" (Hawkwind) – 4:42
8. "Not Fragile" (BTO) – 6:04


Line-Up:

Lori S. – Vocals, Guitar
Brian Hill – Bass
Joey Osbourne – Drums


DESCARGA
01 - 02


Acid King - Zoroaster (1996)

San Francisco's stoner rock band Acid King formed in 1993. Singer/guitarist Lori Crover, bassist Peter Lucas and drummer Joey Osbourne started playing local shows that year with likeminded bands such as the Melvins, Hawkwind and the Obsessed. The group released their self-titled debut EP the following year on Sympathy For the Record Industry, which they followed with the 1995 full-length Zoroaster. While touring to support the album, Lucas quit the band and was replaced by Dan Southwick, also a member of Altamont, the side project of Melvins drummer (as well as Lori's husband) Dale Crover. Acid King returned in 1997 with the Down With The Crown EP, which was released on Frank Kozik's Man's Ruin label. The following year Southwick returned to Altamont and Acid King found a new bassist in Brian Hill; the new lineup released Busse Woods in 1999.
[@Allmusic]


1. "Evil Satan" – 7:55
2. "If I Burn" – 3:43
3. "One Ninety-Six" – 4:22
4. "Vertigate #1" – 3:47
5. "Tank" – 3:53
6. "Dry Run" – 4:16
7. "Fruit Cup" – 2:00
8. "Queen of Sickness" – 5:15
9. "Reload" – 3:22
10. "Vertigate #2" – 2:33


Line-Up:

Lori S. – Vocals, Guitar
Peter Lucas – Bass, backing vocals
Joey Osbourne – Drums


DESCARGA


Typically slow and suffocating, Zoroaster is a fine example Acid King's blacker-than-Sabbath doom. After working the West Coast stoner rock underground and releasing their debut EP, Lori S. and her band dropped this, their first full-length disc on Sympathy for the Record Industry in 1995. While Zoroaster is a fine listen, Acid King were still developing their brand of sludgy excess, and the tongue-in-cheek satanic grind might lack some their later work's commitment to the almighty riff. Singer/guitarist Lori S. gives fine performances throughout, but some comparatively traditional arrangements and faster tempos give an undesired luminescence to this disc that the band surpasses with the complete darkness featured on later works. Standout tracks like "Evil Satan" have enough low-down, barely decipherable, devil-riffing to make Ozzy blush, revealing a deep musical connection with all things unholy. New listeners might be advised to pick up later efforts that display the group in complete command of their form, but Acid King enthusiasts will instantly get it, and delight in Zoroaster's primitive conceptual guts.
[@Allmusic]


Loan (2009)- Hontziria

La banda bilbaína Loan comenzó su andadura a principios de 2005. Se forman como trío, y a la hora de definir sus temas (en general largos y con intensidades distintas) se decantan por el rock sucio, directo y denso para las partes más salvajes, mientras que la influencia más oscura y psicodélica se hace notar en los momentos de más calma. Influenciados por grupos como Unsane, Black Sabbath, Neurosis, Electric Wizard o Dut. En 2006 ve la luz su maketa «Hautsa». En el 2007 editan su primer disco largo «Kobazuloan Saiakerak» , grabado y mezclado por Xanpe (Pi L. T, Evolver, Zein, Txuma Murugarren…). A dia de hoy continuan con sus actuacion en directo presentando su segundo disco «Hontziria», grabado y mezclado por Karlos Osinaga (Lisabö).
[@Last.fm]


1.Formol Egoeran
2.Niagara
3.Primateen Erasoak Darrai
4.Zapi Gorridun Armada (Red Ribbon)
5.Hontziria
6.Lur Santua, Lur Odoltsua


DESCARGA

Jethro Tull - Live Buenos Aires [2007][Soundboard][2CD]


2007-04-20 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
(soundboard recording)

CD1:

01 - Some day the sun won't shine for you
02 - band presentation
03 - Living in the past
04 - Ann Marie presentation
05 - Pastime with good company (Henry VIII)
06 - Jack in the green
07 - The donkey and the drum
08 - Thick as a brick
09 - Bourée (Bach)
10 - Sweet dreams
11 - Bluegrass in the backwood (Trad)
12 - Runty (Calhoun)
13 - Beside myself

CD2:

01 - Steal (Barre)
02 - Aqualung
03 - America (Bernstein)
04 - My God
05 - Budapest
06 - presentation & encore
07 - Locomotive Breath


DESCARGA 01
DESCARGA 02
DESCARGA 03


19 de diciembre de 2009

Spooky Tooth - The Mirror (1974)

After the departure of co-lead vocalist Mike Harrison, it seemed that the already-declining Spooky Tooth had suffered a creative deathblow. Fortunately, replacement Mike Patto brought new life to the aging rock outfit on The Mirror. The accomplishments of this, the group's final offering, pales in comparison to their masterpiece, Spooky Two, but there are still some fine moments. A careful examination of the credits might explain the cool musicality of the 1974 Island release. Guitarist Mick Jones (of Foreigner fame) is listed along with vocalist/keyboardist Gary Wright as co-producer. Jones' ascension within the band proves to be a blessing. The Wright-penned power ballads ("Kyle," "The Mirror") and Jones/Patto rockers ("Fantasy Satisfier," "The Hoofer") benefit from substantial production and songwriting skills. Elements of pop and gospel/R&B are all combined into a seamless rock delivery on The Mirror, giving the record a depth that is rare in the Spooky Tooth catalog.
[@Allmusic]


1. "Fantasy Satisfier" 4:37 (Mick Jones, Gary Wright)
2. "Two Time Love" 3:30 (Mick Jones, Mike Patto, Gary Wright)
3. "Kyle" 3:36 (Gary Wright, W Elliott, B Purvis)
4. "Women and Gold" 3:36 (Gary Wright)
5. "Higher circles" 5:23 (Gary Wright)
6. "Hell or high water" 5:07 (Mike Patto, Gary Wright)
7. "I'm alive" 4:12 (Gary Wright, T Wright)
8. "The Mirror" 5:21 (Mick Jones, Mike Patto, Gary Wright)
9. "The Hoofer" 3:57 (Mike Patto, Gary Wright)


Line-Up:

Gary Wright - Vocals, piano, clavinet, organ and moog synthesizer
Mick Jones - Guitars, percussion and backing vocals
Mike Patto - Vocals, electric piano, drums and percussion, clavinet and organ
Mike Kellie - Drums and percussion
Bryson Graham - Drums
Val Burke - Bass Guitar, lead and backing vocals


DESCARGA

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