Dust – Hard Attack (1972)

Artist: Dust
Title: Hard Attack
Year: 1972
Format: LP
Label: Kama Sutra

Graced with a classic Frank Frazetta painting, New York power trio Dust’s second and last album Hard Attack only earns its epic cover art on a handful of heavy cuts, best being the killer “Suicide”, along with the monstrous epic “Learning to Die”, instrumental “Ivory”, and “All in All”. Otherwise, the remainder of the 1972 record is surprisingly mellow and not all that exciting.

Post-Dust, drummer Marc Bell moved on to Estus and Richard Hell & The Voidoids before settling with The Ramones, singer/guitarist Richie Wise became a successful producer, and bassist Kenny Aaronson joined Stories and then Derringer, eventually becoming a popular session and live touring musician in the ’80s along with being a member of the one-off HSAS (Hagar, Schon, Aaronson & Shrieve) semi-supergroup in 1984. (HellBentForLager RYM)

Track Listing

1. Pull Away/So Many Times
2. Walk In The Soft Rain
3. Thusly Spoken
4. Learning To Die
5. All In All
6. I Been Thinkin´
7. Ivory
8. How Many Horses
9. Suicide
10. Entrance
    

Dust – Dust (1971)

Artist: Dust
Title: Dust
Year: 1971
Format: LP
Label: Kama Sutra

First album by US Prog group Dust, which consisted of guitarist/vocalist Richie Wise, bassist Kenny Aaronson and drummer Marc Bell. They played ambitious self-penned material written by the guitarist, who displays some amazing guitar licks throughout the album.

The band had a “heavy” sound (for those days) and the compositions are dramatic and well developed, and in retrospect sound surprisingly fresh forty years later. This is one of those forgotten gems, which keep popping out as reissues and keeping the Prog fans happy. Warmly recommended! (Jazzis RYM)

Track Listing

1. Stone Woman
2. Chasin’ Ladies
3. Goin’ Easy
4. Love Me Hard
5. From A Dry Camel
6. Often Shadow Felt
7. Loose Goose
   

Attila – Attila (1970)

Artist: Attila
Title: Attila
Year: 1970
Format: LP
Label: Epic

I have always disliked the organ, but god damn does Billy make it sound good on this album. The heavy, distorted riffs are good enough, but that constant wah just pushes it over the edge making it sound just perfect. The uptight music snobs who get upset at the slightest bit of dissonance really have no business listening to this.

This WILL upset your mainstream music tastes. Unless you like Deep Purple In Rock AND Sir Lord Baltimore’s Kingdom Come (see November 2, 2010 post), you will not like this album, so don’t even bother. And anybody who compares this to Led Zeppelin doesn’t know the first thing about heavy rock. This has absolutely nothing to do with Jimmy Page or Robert Plant.

It’s influenced very directly by Jon Lord’s distorted riffs combined with Sir Lord Baltimore’s wild, bombastic vocals and lyrics and general chaos. SLB are quite obscure, but they’re fellow New Yorkers that Billy Joel was undoubtedly inspired by. There are even a couple moments that remind me of the early, hard-edged ELP; obviously since Billy must’ve only heard the debut by the time he recorded this album.

Anyway, this album is a treat for anybody who loves the sound of heavy wah riffs. “Tear This Castle Down” is the most catchy and instantly lodges itself into your head. “Holy Moses” is a close second due to that insane heavy wah riff repeated more prominently than most riffs on the rest of the album. “Wonder Woman” is the best example of the pompous, SLB-style vocals, which are on their own quite annoying, but they somehow fit perfectly with this unique, short-lived style of heavy rock. (Andrupchik RYM)

Track Listing

1. Wonder Woman
2. California Flash
3. Revenge Is Sweet
4. Amplifier Fire: Part I – Godzilla Part II – March Of The Huns
5. Rollin’ Home
6. Tear This Castle Down
7. Holy Moses
8. Brain Invasion
   

Modern Music Band – Modern Music Band (1972)

Artist: Modern Music Band
Title: Modern Music Band
Year: 1972
Format: LP
Label: Spark

Post courtesy of Beau Graham

The Modern Music Band were a Swedish Horn Rock Band that released one album in 1972. I discovered this album thanks to www.cdreissuewishlist.com there was review of the album posted in January.

The review of the album is fairly accurate but let me add more details. The album consists of 9 songs 2 of them are Instrumentals 2 of them are sung in swedish by Ann Bengtsson she is the Female lead singer of the band. The other five tracks are sung by Ann and guitar player Stefan Sandberg in English.

They do a wicked different cover of Chicago’s Make Me Smile. Ann Bengtsson is the better singer of the two by far she has a great smooth sounding voice. The album also has some nice guitar and hammond organ playing along with some flute here and there.

Overall a very strong album and very consistent most of the songs have a smooth and i will use the word groovy atmosphere to them. If you are a fan of 1970′s Horn Rock i highly suggest you check this out.

This album along with Uncle Chapin-1971 (see January 25, 2011 post) is one of my favorite music discoveries of 2011. This album is extremely rare don’t waste your time looking for the vinyl also it is not blogged anywhere else. Enjoy! (Beau Graham)

Track Listing

1. Betjanten
2. Fortvivlan
3. Cabadello
4. Make Me Smile
5. Qz-4800
6. Klumpen
7. Man Of The Moon
8. Herbie
9. Granvisa
   

Rare Bird – Rare Bird (1969)

Artist: Rare Bird
Title: Rare Bird
Year: 1969
Format: LP
Label: Probe

1st album by excellent British Prog band Rare Bird, one of the most unusual and original outfits on the burgeoning scene of the late 1960s / early 1970s. Fronted by two keyboards players Graham Fields (organ) and David Kaffinetti (electric piano) the group also included bassist / vocalist Steve Gould and drummer Mark Ashton.

Purposely avoiding the sound of guitar, they created a wonderful balance between the two keyboards, exchanging licks and complimenting each other virtuously. Their material was also excellent, often with quirky rhythmic background but not eschewing beautiful ballads. The eponymous debut album is a beautiful showcase of daring innovation and excellent musical taste, rarely achieved by other groups and remains one of the most stunning debuts ever.

It includes the song “Sympathy”, one of the greatest and everlasting anthems of British Prog, which enjoyed enormous chart success all over the world in spite of its unusual sound. This is a true gem and an essential piece of music, which lost absolutely nothing of its initial impact. (Jazziz RYM)

Track Listing

1. Beautiful Scarlet
2. Sympathy
3. Nature’s Fruit
4. Bird On A Wing
5. God Of War
6. Iceberg
7. Times
8. You Went Away
9. Melanie
   

Faun – Faun (1968)

Artist: Faun
Title: Faun
Year: 1968
Format: LP
Label: Gre Gar

From San Francisco, Faun’s main claim to fame is the inclusion of Ross Valory and George Tickner who had previously been members of Frumious Bandersnatch. Tickner and Valory would go on to form Journey, while Valory would subsequently join the Steve Miller Band.

The Band consisted of James Trumbo (keyboards-vocals), George Tickner (guitar), Royal Martin (guitar), Don Banducci (vocals), Lynn Chatwin (vocals), and Ross Valory (bass) and originated in Mill Valley, San Francisco.

The album according to the liner notes “seems to trip backward and forward through time”… a unique blend of pop, jazz, 1930 swing and the classics”. tunes include “Looking For Sunshine”, “Velvet Pillows And Crystal Dreams” and “Follow Me”. (Jack Dominilla)

Track Listing

1. Yes I’m Really Lonely
2. Son Of A Literate Man
3. The Girl With The Lonely Eyes
4. Velvet Pillows And Crystal Dreams
5. Albert
6. We Hope You’re Feeling Better
7. Looking For Sunshine
8. I Asked My Mother
9. Better Dig What You Find
10. Wierd Rudy
11. Follow Me
    

Ivory – Ivory (1973)

Artist: Ivory
Title: Ivory
Year: 1973
Format: LP
Label: Playboy

Requested by Beau G.
Ivory consisted of Lance Gullickson (vocals), Jim Divisek (drums), Steve Pinkston (bass), Brian Whitcomb (keyboards), Paul Bass (keyboards) and Grant Gullickson (vocals).

Here we go again, another album that is about half excellent, half dreadful. Starts out promising enough with a heavy organ rocker that wouldn’t be out of place on a Uriah Heep album.

This then leads into three full plain old woman-done-me-wrong rock songs (hey ashram!!! i think that’s a wrong assessment, i think only one is a “woman-done-me-wrong song”, and i think it’s the fifth song, kinda like a “woman-done-me-prog song”) that are… well… they’re terrible. No redeeming value whatsoever, no matter how you try to rationalize it.

So of course, from there on out it’s prog rock heaven (you got that right ashram, kinda like their version of “Theme From An Imaginary Western”). Get out the organ, Moog and piano and let’s play us some complicated ELP style music shall we? Heck, some of the riffs even recall the Italian interpretation of the English famous trio (think Alphataurus, L’Uovo Colombo here).

And so it goes throughout Side two, complete with an Indian bit with sitar, tablas and the works. Sigh. Any chance there’s a full archive of this style sitting in a vault somewhere? (ashram RYM)

Track Listing

1. Morning Song
2. Prime Example
3. Take It Easy
4. Where Do We Go From Here
5. Arrow Beach
6. Bringing Me Down
7. Bear Phaze
8. Theme For An Imaginary Western
9. I Want To Tell You
10. Time After Time
    

Clouds – Above Our Heads (1969)

Artist: Clouds
Title: Above Our Heads
Year: 1969
Format: LP
Label: Deram

Post courtesy of Tobias J.

This album is in some ways the most problematic of the three released by Clouds. It is indisputably the best example of the musicianship, yet it contains the least of the composition and excellent song-writing which defines the other two releases, The Clouds Scrapbook and Watercolour Days.

In fact, each snapshot you get of this group seems to show something different, organic changes abound. From the striking invention and jazziness of 1-2-3, through the mixture of songs and creativity of The Clouds Scrapbook, followed by the muso concert phase which contains Up Above our Heads, to the uncut diamond that is Watercolour Days. Each phase shows aspects of a group that are difficult to pin down by trite phrases or neat labels.

Imagine me opens the album, careering along a dizzy path of improvisation and a decent song too, a blistering organ ends proceedings, topped off by a spine-chilling vocal rall from Ellis. This is how the band must have sounded ‘live’ circa 1969-70.

Sing Sing Sing is the old jazz-swing classic, complete with instrumental solos from all three musicians, stand-out piano and organ underlines Ritchie’s reputation as one of the great keyboard players of the era, while Hughes’ drumming bristles with technical excellence and Ellis gives value for money in bass invention and solid support for his two virtuoso sidekicks.
Take me to your Leader yet again reveals the schism between group and song-writing.

This is effectively a non-song, an excuse to show off jazz sensibilities, and the band, with the always-excellent David Palmer’s help, pull off the performance well. Just that worry over content. Carpenter is something of the same ilk, a slightly-better ‘song’, but essentially, a platform for musicians rather than a statement of any real substance. One of several tracks lifted from The Clouds Scrapbook for inclusion here.

Old Man is the Ellis song, previously-heard on the first album. Neat and well-presented, but artistic content is again at issue here. Though on the first album it lent something in blues credibility to offset against the more mainstream offerings, it seems unnecessary here, with all that surrounds it.

Surely a chance missed to record something different for posterity?
Big Noise from Winettka, along with Sing Sing Sing, somewhat defines the character of this album, and perhaps the group at this point, a Rock version of Swing’s most emblematic numbers.

This one is put together well, excellent harmonies and re-writing of melody, but the central point, the drumsticks playing on the bass guitar, while no doubt excellent in concert, doesn’t carry the same weight on record. Perhaps that’s why the gimmicky effects were introduced?

The number is probably included here because of the concert popularity of the bass-drums novelty. To be fair, when seen on the video ‘live’ from Beat club (included here on Prog-archives), the technique is something of a tour-de-force by Hughes and Ellis, but has to be seen as much as heard.

In the Mine is, with the possible exception of Imagine Me, perhaps the only full-blown new song included on the album. That familiar melodic grandeur and serious tone once again pervades proceedings, with a beautiful 5/4 interlude which would have sounded quite breath-taking were it not for its shaky moments in performance.

As an ideas band, Clouds were second to none, only the studio time and experience was needed to complete the circle, but it never happened, and this has to be a cause for great regret.

As if to underscore that point, the album closes with Waiter there’s something in my Soup, from the first album, but a slightly-different mix or pressing, giving more dynamics at some points (and some strange noises at others!).

As mentioned before, the song-drama is a wonderful piece of invention, with sometimes-fragmented edges not quite coming off, but the reward is in some of sections where it is nothing less than classic in its timeless quality, suggesting something far more serious than mere Rock music. David Palmer has once again to be commended for his part in this production with his fine and thoughtful orchestrations.

Up Above Our Heads is an excellent album, albeit containing that familiar and frustrating mix of brilliance and sloppiness so prevalent to Clouds. It also contains the strains of the tension between songs and group music, though in the case of this album, the group has won – the opposite perhaps of the first album, which puzzled the Clouds audience at the time.

Perhaps this album was to appease those disgruntled fans of the ‘live’ band. If so, it was a mistake, as the album remains the lesser-known of the three, something of an obscurity, though apparently a CD release is on the horizon. (alex985 RYM)

Track Listing

1. Imagine Me
2. Sing, Sing, Sing
3. Take Me To Your Leader
4. Carpenter
5. Old Man
6. Big Noise From Winnetka
7. In the Mine
8. Walter, There’s Something In My Soup
   

Uncle Chapin – Uncle Chapin (1971)

Artist: Uncle Chapin
Title: Uncle Chapin
Year: 1971
Format: LP
Label: Polydor

Uncle Chapin were a Jazz/Rock group from New York and consisted of Mike Mattia – (trumpet-flugelhorn-piano-percussion), Carl Shickler (trombone-flute-guitar), Donny Olson (bass-lead vocals), John Briganti (drums), Angelo Ficara (guitar-acoustic guitar-lead vocals), James Rosolino (trumpet-lead vocals), Paul Mergingoff (piano-organ-lead vocals) and Ed Covi (alto, tenor, baritone, soprano saxes-flute.)

“Breaks, Funk, Jazz, and more Breaks. This nicely textured, self-titled release by the jazz rock band Uncle Chapin, is a worthy addition for people looking to find something different in something that should be familiar.

The release is riddled with horn, drum, and rhythm solos that show off the band’s Jazz and Funk influence. Tracks worth checking out include “Do It”, for its drum and horn solo and it’s musical arrangements midway through the track, and “If You Quit Me”, for it’s tempo change from the meat of the track into the solo section, which has got a really cool down-tempo breakdown.” (Amazon)

Track Listing

1. Wrong From Right
2. Do It
3. Time Is Wastin’ Away
4. Lo And Behold
5. Changes
6. If You Quit Me
7. You Must Help Yourself
   

Colosseum – The Grass Is Greener (1970)

Artist: Colosseum
Title: The Grass Is Greener
Year: 1970
Format: LP
Label: Dunhill

The American release of “Valentyne Suite” is unexpectedly much more interesting than the british. The cover’s lettering and photo are a little weaker but musically the album is stronger with the addition of some lovely vocal tracks recorded at the same time the album came out in England. (antonbildern RYM)

Track Listing

1. Jumping Off The Sun
2. Lost Angeles
3. Elegy
4. Butty’s Blues
5. Rope Ladder To The Moon
6. Bolero
7. The Machine Demands A Sacrifice
8. The Grass Is Greener