The Batlord

How could you review that album and not mention the album cover. It's so atrociously awful that it's memorable for it's hideousness. Which makes it good, I guess, cause I'm sure I'll remember this band for a while, even if only for that abomination of a cover.

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Unknown Soldier

Hard rock with harmony and diversity.

Overview
Coming from a hard rock, R&B, psychedelic and proggy background it was always likely that when Stray put out their first album it was going to be something special. The London based band would primarily focus on the hard rock and progressive rock angles for their debut album, which would turn out to be be a highly diverse affair of various styles that encompassed all the influences of the band. They were fronted by dual guitarists and vocalists Del Bromham principal writer and Steven Gadd who together immediately had that great musical understanding in the studio. This understanding included their harmonic singing, something not usually associated with the type of music that the band were putting out, which all helped to give the band its very distinctive sound. Stray from the word go, seemed destined to achieve success as one of the key bands of the heavy music movement of the early 1970s, but maybe the diversity and style of their sound came at a time when listeners would be less receptive to this type of diversity and the band would largely pass the decade failing to make that vital commercial breakthrough. Like any great band, they would prove to be influential on future metal bands such as Diamond Head and Iron Maiden, two bands that made no secret of their love for the Stray sound of the early 1970s.

Del Bromham- Guitar/Vocals
Steve Gadd- Guitar/Vocals
Gary Giles- Bass
Ritchie Cole- Drums

Production- Hugh Murphy

Album
All in Your Mind- The album kicks off with the 9 minute sprawling gusto of "All in Your Mind" which highlights the band's harmonic singing and their at times intense sounding wah-wah guitar solos. In hindsight this sounds like one of the quintessential hard rock tracks of the decade. Iron Maiden would go on to cover this song as a B-side for one of their singles. Taking All the Good Things- One of the album's heavy rockers, highlighted by some great guitar mashing. Around the World in Eighty Days- An introduction to some of the softer dynamics of the band, with its Beatlesque feel. Time Machine- Time for the band to show some of their diversity with folky acoustic guitars and handclaps. Only What You can Make It- Kicking off with the almost now trademark thumping sound of the band, this is one of the heavier and best songs on the album and dig that harmonica at the close! Yesterday's Promises- Sultry sounding mid-album number. Move On- An almost jazzy/funk affair that sounds like its in permanent motion, the middle section of the song has echoes of the Doors classic "Light My Fire". In Reverse/Some Say- The 9 minute fuzzy rock jamming album closer, really highlighted by Ritchie Cole on drums before entering into its galloping final phase and shit this is what it's all about! (There is a remastered and greatly extended version of the album that I need to get hold of, with a lot of extra tracks, when I locate that I'll add them here)

Verdict
Due to its diversity, the album actually echoes the type of sound that Wishbone Ash-progressive rock, the Pink Fairies-psychedelic rock and Hawkwind-space rock were and would be putting out around this time, whilst still maintaining their hard rock credentials. Few bands at that time would've been so bold as to put out a debut album of contrasts like this and that is where the strength of this debut album lies. Despite its diversity, there is a cohesive feel to the whole thing as Stray were able to stamp their own sound across the album. At times the album is a rip-roaring harmonious affair, the next a softer moving affair, the next a jazzy infused affair and finally a high octane affair with that distinctive thumping sound typical of the band. Highly distinctive in its sound and feel, this album was well ahead of its time and in many ways it sounds like a quintessential album from its time. After this album, the band would go onto release another classic album the following year called Suicide and makes my top 10 for 1971 as well, before gradually moving into an ill-advised foray of unfocused proggy style rock (the excellent Saturday Morning Pictures being the exception here) which would characterize much of the rest of their work in the 1970s. This in turn would alienate much of their original and dedicated fanbase and the band would never capture the magic of their first two albums again.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

I completely forgot to comment on that, but for your interest its actually meant to be what Leslie West of Mountain would look like in drag. Apparently the band found it very funny whilst Leslie West never shared the joke.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Overview
A German based band who were quickly cited as being early practicioners of blending both heavy metal and progressive rock together. I say heavy metal and not hard rock, because Lucifer's Friend were one of the few bands around at this time that weren't overly influenced by the blues and their influences seem far more focused on classical influences than a lot of their counterparts. In effect they followed on from the heavy organ and keyboard approach of bands such as Iron Butterfly, Spooky Tooth, Atomic Rooster and Deep Purple and laid down some real proto-metal groundwork. Lucifer's Friend would have a sound that featured heavy keyboard textures, often combined with very dark lyrics and their nearest musical contemporaries at the time were Uriah Heep whose debut album also came out the same year. In fact the link between the two bands would always be there, as Lucifer's Friends vocalist John Lawton would much later on, go onto become the vocalist for Uriah Heep. Lucifer's Friend were in essence a German pioneer band from Hamburg and they were fronted by British vocalist John Lawton. The members of band had met in Hamburg whilst in different bands and had decided to work together, first under the name of Asterix and then as Lucifer's Friend. After quickly bonding, the newly formed band went into the studio to put out their heavy and often complex organ driven sound, little did they know that they would record such a cult classic that is still revered today by listeners of heavy metal. Also the album cover was so distinctive with the short bald guy with what looks like a hook for a hand, next to the tall shifty looking one and standing in a pool of blood. The album cover most definitely suited the music.

John Lawton- Vocals
Peter Hesslein- Guitar
Dieter Horns- Bass
Peter Hecht- Keyboards
Joachim Rietenbach- Drums

Production- Herbert Hilderbrandt

Album
Ride the Sky- Starts off sounding amazingly like Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" not sure who copied who here, but then John Lawton kicks in and the song turns into a very competant rocker. Everybody's Clown- A fast moving track which is a true exercise in all the elements of the band working together. John Lawton on this track sounds similiar to a future Klaus Meine. Keep Goin- A real stand-out track full of heavy dense guitar and organ sections that produce an almost heavy plodding feel, before breaking into various musical sections. Toxic Shadows- A complex and lengthy composition of several minutes, as the band flex out and relax at the same time. Free Baby- A superb mid-album rocker, that is full of up and down shifts in sound and mood, again the band really flex out here. Baby You're a Liar- Organ driven and the song has some really truly crunching guitar moments. In the Time of Job When Mammon Was a Yippie- An eccentric interlude and a great song title. Lucifer's Friend- The album closer which again features their highly original song arrangements and power injection, along with some great Doors sounding organ throughout the song. An additional track on some copies of the album is the great but short instrumental Horla.

Verdict
One of those full throttle sounding albums, full of dense sounding guitars combined with an organ/keyboard overload if you like that kind of thing. The listener can't help but to be impressed with the technical playing of the band, all of which was highlighted by the superb singing of frontman John Lawton who really had a melodic wail. The similiarities with contemporary rivals Uriah Heep was most evident as well, from the organ driven sound to the style of the song compositions and then onto the vocal approach of vocalist John Lawton, who sounded and screamed similiar to Dave Byron of Uriah Heep. But that was where the similiarities ended, because from the word go Lucifer's Friend were far more compact and focused than Uriah Heep were at this stage. It's just a shame that they couldn't build off this superb debut and spent the rest of the 1970s, focusing either on dour sounding or overtly progressive rock releases, along with getting distracted by their fellow German Krautrock bands. Despite these future drawbacks, the band always excelled as expected in the instrumental department. Uriah Heep later stole the success that really should've been theirs but that's rock music for you! The band though, always kept a cult following and were always popular in their native Germany and helped set the stage for bands like the Scorpions a few years later.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Overview
For a lot of bands at this time their third album was often pivotal. It either meant that the band was already established commercially, because by their third album they often hit the height of their commercial appeal. Or on the other hand, a band's first two albums hadn't achieved the commercial success that had been expected and the pressure was often on the band to then produce that breakthrough on their third release. Free most definitely fell into the second category and melded their creative powers to finally achieve the commercial success that was expected. This had actually been achieved after quite a lot of inner-group tension that had plagued their previous album, where Paul Rodgers had tried to exert greater control over the band, but by Fire and Water a compromise had been reached and most of the band compositions were often jointly written, by both Paul Rodgers and bassist Andy Fraser. For the album, they took the heavy blues aspects of Tons of Sobs and the tunnelled melodic tunes from their sophomore set Free to write what was often seen as their most polished affair yet. They would also produce the album themselves, after having their first two albums produced by Guy Stevens and Chris Blackwell. The album was their big commercial breakthrough largely thanks to the single "All Right Now" one of the most famous hard rock tunes from the 1970s music scene. The album would clock in at just 35 minutes, which for such a seminal album might seem a bit on the short side compared to some of their rivals. The album cover is great as well and features a great shot of the band.

Paul Rodgers- Vocals
Paul Kossoff- Guitar
Andy Fraser- Bass
Simon Kirke- Drums

Production- Free

Album
Fire and Water- The swaggering title track has Paul Rodgers sounding as soulful and dominant as ever, a real gem of a track. Oh I Wept- The type of heartfelt composition that the band did so well and another very strong track. Remember- A typical Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser penned track, just the sort of thing that they would excel with in Bad Company. Heavy Load- One of the showpiece tracks on the album and some amazing guitar work by Paul Kossoff. Mr.Big- Kicks of the B-side and is famous for being one of the best tracks that Paul Kossoff ever laid guitar down on, an amazing piece of work without a doubt. Don't Say You Love Me- I always felt that this was one soft track too many on the album, but is still well sung and penned. All Right Now- The most famous song by the band, it has that instantly recognizable feel about it and is kept fresh throughout with several changes in tempo. As a footnote I was never actually a huge fan of the song, I guess it just got so overplayed over the years that it ended up bothering me.

Verdict
A highly polished rock album full of well crafted songs that still stands the test of time. The band produced themselves on this album with some help from a young Roy Thomas Baker and the production sounds superb, with the singing and instrumentation tight-knit throughout. Amongst Free fans, this is often seen as their best album and indeed it is excellent, but on a personal level I slightly preferred the 'freer' sounding (excuse the pun) of their debut album Tons of Sobs. Around this time and for a brief period, Free shared the same table as Led Zeppelin in terms of popularity and were also at the top of the commercial pile. They were also headliners at the well known Isle of Wight festival, which usually attracted around 600,000 people every year! After this album the band were now under pressure to produce both a follow-up album and a single to match "All Right Now" which sadly they couldn't, as their follow-up album Highway and the single "The Stealer" both also released in 1970 both bellyflopped, to be honest it was one lifeless and boring album as well, effectively seeing their commercial aspirations coming to a premature end. They would of course though, come back with one more excellent album a few years later in Heartbreaker, before Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser would both go onto greater success in Bad Company.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Overview
Up until now all the albums and bands featured, have had heavy blues and psychedelic rock influences, and gradually they have taken those influences to their logical and heavy conclusions throughout 1969 and 1970. But it would be four guys from Birmingham that would reshape those blues and psychedelic tendencies, into a much darker vision that would go on to dominate metaldom as we know it. This darker vision would be based around even tighter guitar riffs, a throbbing rhythm section, morbid doom-laden visions, along with medieval and futuristic themes. The band truly found a hidden malevolence in the blues, that they then fully exploited and then glued the whole thing together with strong occult influences. Now some of these aspects that I've mentioned, had already been displayed by other bands and albums both featured and not featured on here so far, but Black Sabbath would be the first band to pull it all together in a complete morbid package. Their music would display the bleak industrial influences of their native Birmingham and demonstrate itself in all the aforementioned characteristics. But their signature sound would come through in Tonny Iommi's deceptively basic tuned-down guitar riffs and Ozzy Osbourne's trademark banshee shriek, along with Geezer Butler's throbbing bass so essential to the Sabbath sound and last but not least Bill Ward on the drum stool. Now anybody looking at this review, may well ask themselves why is this album only no.6 on my year listing? I'll explain that further on and it's with good reason! So with all the aspects of the band in place they went with producer Rodger Bain into the studio and in record quick time they cut this debut album which was a true group effort. Producer Rodger Bain would of course go on to become a pivotal metal producer of the early 1970s and produce further Black Sabbath material. Finally for any real 'aficionados' out there, check out the debut Coven album which came out the same year and just see how influential that was on this Sabbath album.

Ozzy Osbourne- Vocals,
Tony Iommi- Guitar
Geezer Butler- Bass
Bill Ward- Drums

Production- Rodger Bain

Album
Black Sabbath- From the doom-laden sound of falling rain and the morbid sound of church bells. Ozzy then sings "What is this that stands before me" basically asking the listener has he heard anything like this before, the answer was probably not! The song then churns through its doom-laden feel before speeding up. The song is without doubt one of the classics in all the Sabbath canon and is worth the entry ticket alone. The Wizard- Second track which is focused around some heavy percussion work, slide guitar by Iommi and harmonica by Ozzy, and is lyrically focussed around Gandalf and a local drug dealer the band knew, a stunning track. Behind the Wall of Sleep- A dense track heightened by some great playing. N.I.B- Starts off with a bass solo by Geezer Butler before kicking in with a trademark riff which dominates throughout. This is a song about Lucifer and another essential Sabbath classic. Side-B kicks off with Evil Woman (Don't You Play Your Games With Me)- A cover of a song put out by the band Crow and the obvious single from the album, strangely left of the US version of the album. Sleeping Village- A song typical of the later part of the album, which gives itself over to a series of lengthy jamming instrumentals. Warning- Another cover and this time it's a song from Aynsley Dunbar's Retaliation, this is 10 minutes of instrumental filler if ever I saw and heard one. Re-issues of the album usually feature Wicked World- Certainly better than either "Sleeping Village" and the "Warning" with some crunchy guitar bits to boot as well, to compliment Ozzy's Jethro Tull type singing here. It should be noted, that there are a couple of different variations on track selection on this album between the UK and US versions. I've reviewed the original UK version here.

Verdict
Simply put the Black Sabbath vision that would shape metal for years to come was born here on this album and most of the essential ingredients were laid down in just the first four songs. The A-side of songs are quite simply an amazing selection of Sabbath originals that have constantly stood the test of time and resonate with the dramatic riffs and sound of the band. BUT the album as a whole, is let down by the often unfocused and overly long filler tracks that form and dominate most of the B-Side. At this time jamming instrumentals were still the rage in rock music, but to pass the acid test they had to be done well and in the albums I've reviewed so far, bands like Grand Funk Railroad, High Tide, May Blitz and Lucifer's Friend etc were so much more accomplished than Black Sabbath at this type of thing and knew what they were doing. I would say that had the album finished after side-one, the album would have made the top 3 on my selection list, rather than a top 6 placing. But taking all that aside, this album is without doubt the true 'birth place' of heavy metal as we know it. Gradually of course throughout the 1970s and 1980s bit by bit, heavy metal would lose both its blues and psychedelic roots, and it would be down to future artists like Danzig who would help to bring the blues back into metal in the 1990s. Without doubt one of the most essential releases of the whole decade despite a dodgy B-side and needless to say music critics at the time loathed both the album and the band. The band would of course go onto even far greater musical heights within the same year, with the release of the seminal Paranoid album, which is of course is far higher up my list for 1970.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Time to turn up the volume motherfuckers!

Overview
All Music describes Sir Lord Baltimore as 'America's first bona fide heavy metal band' a label which would pass unnoticed for many a year. In fact the band only gained the recognition that they deserved in the 1990s, with the then emerging stoner rock movement, prompting critics in some music circles to refer to them as the 'Godfathers of Stoner Rock'. Sir Lord Baltimore themselves, were a Brooklyn based three piece power-trio in the vein of fellow American acts Blue Cheer and Grand Funk Railroad, but unlike their peers who had built-up their reputations on fearsome self-assured live performances, Sir Lord Baltimore as a young live band were far from being self-assured in a live environment, a fact that sadly proved to be their early undoing as far as reputations went. In 1970 they had opened up for both Black Sabbath and Humble Pie on their US Tours and had performed under par. It has often been documented that the band had real problems early on in their career, harnessing their awesome raw power in a live environment. Luckily, they didn't a problem in harnessing that power in a studio environment and a lot of that is down to producer Mike Appel and especially mixer Eddie Kramer. Their debut album is a mixture of fast paced R&B taking a cue from MC5 here and their Detroit sound, highly distorted guitars and bass, along with heavy Jimi Hendrix psyche angle. Like Texas based band Bloodrock, the band's vocalist John Garner performed his vocal duties from the drum stool a real rarity at that time, this is especially interesting giving the amount of howling that vocalist John Garner made along with his drum duties. As stated earlier on this thread, critics on both sides of the Atlantic often blasted this kind of music, but in Sir Lord Baltimore's case critics just didn't know what to make of them, as they were just so ahead of their time. Aong with the previous years High Tide album Sea Shanties, this is an obscure classic that needs listening to.

John Garner- Drums/Vocals
Louis Dambra-Guitar
Gary Justin-Bass

Production- Mike Appel

Album
Master Heartache- Starts off with an awesome bassline, before moving into a very Jimi Hendrix style song both in sound and mood. Hard Rain Fallin- A typical cut by the band, full of their fearsome playing and savagery.....just sit back and enjoy the show. Lady of Fire- Spoofy sounding track, but it really has plenty of proto-metal aspects kicking around the song. Lake Isle of Innersfree- The album oddity with its proggy title and its almost Baroque feel and harpiscord, it could've been recorded by any number of non-heavy bands around that time. Pumped Up- Back onto the distorted and bludgeoning hard rock with "Pumped Up". I guess anybody listening by now, either really digs these proto-stoner sounding guitars or doesn't. Kingdom Come- Side two kicks off with the 6 minute title track and this is errrrrrr heavy metal circa 1970. This is pure head pounding stuff and boy this is one heavy number, my favourite track on the album. I Got a Woman- Not exactly filler but nothing special either. Hell Hound- Competant track again full of great vocals and playing. Helium Head (I Got Love)- Simply blistering at times, with its crazy pace, blazing guitars, high distortion and without doubt another album favourite, a must listen to track. Ain't Got Hung on You- The album started on a manic high and finishes on one as well.


Verdict
This is an album of sheer unbridled aggression (the band didn't do finesse) pounding instruments, fantastic playing, heavy distortion and man those heavy basslines seriously kicked butt too! All the elements and wildness that today's music listener would expect to find in a proto-metal album are here and they're here in real abundance. The music probably stands as the heaviest song for song that has been reviewed so far and the instrumentation is totally manic at times, and John Garner's wholesome voice puts some real muscle to the proceedings as well. Apart from the actual music, there are the song titles to take into consideration as well. I mean with song titles like "Helium Head" "Hell Hound" and "Lady of Fire" these were Judas Priest and NWOBHM song titles about several years too early! and chuck in the AC/DC sounding title "I Got a Woman" and the future generic metal sounding "Pumped Up" and we're well away in the song title department as well. The biggest question that arises with this band, is had they had the business acumen and focus of rivals Black Sabbath who emerged at the same time and shared a number of musical traits with this band. There is a distinct possibliity that people could be speaking about Sir Lord Baltimore in the same breath as the mighty Sabbath. Whilst Sabbath went from strength to strength almost from the word go, Sir Lord Baltimore would sink into virtual obscurity after their second album flopped (it was expected to do well) and Mercury dropped them from the label. The band just drifted along until their final demise later on in the decade. As mentioned earlier, it wasn't until the 1990s that they were re-discovered and the band gained the privileged 'cult status' label. I first heard heard this album several years ago and it got me all hot and excited listening to it back then, it still raises my temperature even today knowing that something so heavy existed back in 1970.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Blistering solos and glass shattering shrieks!

Overview
Deep Purple's fourth album In Rock, would prove to be the first studio album of the new revamped Deep Purple Mk.II line-up. Out had gone vocalist Rod Evans and bassist Nick Simper (who had stuck around for their Concerto album) and in came Ian Gillan-Vocals and Roger Glover-Bass to form what would be the seminal Deep Purple Mk.II line up. The aforementioned live Concerto and Group Orchestra recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in London with the help of the Philharmonic Orchestra and composed by Jon Lord, had been a self-indulgent exercise by the band to demonstrate their overblown pseudo-classical leanings in a live environment. But now back in the studio, they would continue from the conclusion of their third studio album the eponymous Deep Purple (which of course featured at no.10 on my 1969 list for those reading) This continuation of the heavy theme that Deep Purple had been leaning towards on this album, would be dramatic to say the least. Band leaders Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord, now took the band by the scruff of the neck and in vocalist Ian Gillan with a voice that would be the envy of the rock world, the sky was the limit for the band. On In Rock they would lay down the future blueprint for the Deep Purple sound and this would be the album, that would launch the band into the major league of heavy rock along with British counterparts Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. In Rock was just so important in the development of heavy music and ranks as an essential listen to any music fan. The album cover of the five heads of the band members in place of the American President's heads, has to be one hard rocks best and most prestigious album covers ever.

Ian Gillan- Vocals
Ritchie Blackmore- Guitar
Roger Glover- Bass
Jon Lord- Keyboards/Organ
Ian Paice- Drums

Production- Deep Purple

Album
Speed King- The band just drop their trousers here with a blistering Ritchie Blackmore intro, before moving into a quieter Jon Lord organ piece and then Ian Gillan opens up full throttle! The song then shifts through differing tempos at mind numbing speed, accompanied by Gillan's bursts. One of the band's most revered tracks. Bloodsucker- The speed drops here, but Ian Gillan's voice drops superbly into the groove that is being laid down by his band members, highlighted by the organ of Jon Lord and Ian Gillan's vocals again. Child in Time- An amazing song that runs over 10 minutes and a great band effort, especially Ritchmore's guitar midway through the song. This is a song that would fully display Ian Gillan at his very best, starting off with sublime mellow parts built around power, before building up into mid-range cries, back to mellow singing again, before finally culminating into his famous glass shattering shriek! Flight of the Rat- Straight up hard rock with searing power chords and at 8 minutes may seem overly long for some. The song though, does have some great soloing on show from both Jon Lord and Ian Paice and is typical of the album. Into the Fire-One of the band's slower songs and features some slow paced guitar soloing as well, was often a concert favourite. Living Wreck- Great song about a failed romance, that has some great instrumental crying out moments at several moments within the song. Hard Livin' Man- Initially the poorest song on the album, but is then saved by some great instrumental displays that make up much of the song and ends up being a great album closer, the band often freaked out in concerts playing this song. Some versions of the album featured Black Night, which was the single that came out just before the album, very melodic and with a strong eye on commercialism here but a great addition to the album.

Verdict
A sublime album and a highly revved up affair throughout, with hardly a poor song in sight. It would be this album that would finally cement Deep Purple in heavy music history and would usher them in with the likes of Sir Lord Baltimore, as a band that could unleash a level of power that had been mostly unseen before. The Mk.I line-up had offered us a taste of these things to come, but with the arrival of Ian Gillan and Roger Glover they unleashed a power that would simply blast much of the competition away. Just listening to Ian Gillan perform on the first three songs that make-up side one of the album really justifies this claim. With this album, Deep Purple finally established themselves as the most important organ/keyboards heavy band around and only one other album in their complete studio discography Machine Head would better this album a few years later. Most importantly for the band, the album was their huge commercial breakthrough and ushered in a new period in their creativity, that would make Deep Purple a name on most people's lips for the rest of the decade. Basically this is essential listening, as the band here has now completely made their heavy organ sound their own. Not only was this the album that cemented Ian Gillan into the annals of rock history, but it also launched Ritchie Blackmore right up there to share the same pedastal as Jimmy Page, as one of the most revered guitarists in the history of rock music.

__________________
Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Musicfanatic

More. More! MORE! Louder! FASTER!

Plankton

Great journal Unknown. The only thing missing (for me anyway) would be a couple Ytube vids of each artist. I'm lazy like that.

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