Gandalf "Gandalf" 1968*****

I'm a huge fan of Gandalf. I know what you'll say: Aren't we all? Tolkien's Grey Wizard? The one that Ian McKellen brought to life so masterfully in the Lord Of The Rings/Hobbit hexalogy? Well, I agree that that Gandalf is a cool one (just look at him blow pipe smoke, below) but I meant the psychedelic rock band from New York. Not to be confused with Austrian prog rockers Gandalf, Finland's metal band Gandalf, UK's Gandalf's Fist or even that other psychedelic rock band from New York, Gandalf The Grey. Never heard of any of them? Well, none of them had much success - I wonder if it's the grey wizard's curse. Anyway, this particular band was led by guitarist Peter Sando and only made one album, which was to become one of the rarest albums even made by a major label (Capitol). It was released in 1968 with minimum promotion and most of the copies went unsold and were probably recycled. Then, someone must have actually heard it and word got out. Collectors started paying ridiculous prices for a copy - even now that it's been re-released countless times, an original on ebay costs $474.99 and it's a fairly used one, with a big "FREE" stamp on the front. The first authorised reissue on CD was in 1991, and that's almost how long this album's been with me. It's one of the few CD's I took with me when I moved from Delft to Brussels.

What's so special about it, you ask? The cover, for once. The MP3 generation may never realise its importance, but album cover design is a form of art and, for me, it's inseparable from the music. Here, the colour explosion and floral elements are very typical of 60's flower-power but the alien beauty and empty stare of the unsmiling face points to something dark and mystical. The music is also often eerily beautiful, melodic and richly orchestrated with strings, organ and harpsichord but never overtly sweet. Most of the songs are covers but, unusually for their time, there are no Beatles, Dylan or blues numbers. Instead, we get 3 songs by Tim Hardin and some crooner material that was definitively unhip at the time. The album opens with a great cover of Bing Crosby's "Golden Earrings" featuring psychedelic organ and guitar effects. The harpsichord lends some baroque flavor to Belafonte's "Scarlet Ribbons" while Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy" gets a dramatic, proto-prog reading - haunted organ and vocal capped by a loud, distorted guitar solo. Tim Hardin's "Hang On To A Dream" has known many covers (The Nice, Fleetwood Mac, Marianne Faithfull etc) but Gandalf's version is the best by far. It starts with a mysterious distant piano, funereal drums and soft vocals, which are later treated with reverb and echo for an otherworldly effect. The heavy and gothic organ solo amplifies that feel. The second Hardin song "Never Too Far" is by turns folk pop and heavy psych a la Iron Butterfly, while the third one "You Upset The Grace Of Living" is a folk rock ballad with intricate organ. "Me About You" and "Tiffany Rings" were written by studio songsmiths and, while still good, they're the weakest of the bunch, a couple of baroque folk ballads a la Left Banke. Sando's own compositions are much more interesting, laden as they are with psychedelic studio wizardry. Album closer "I Watch The Moon" starts off as a typical organ-dominated ballad but keeps gets heavier, ending up sounding like Vanilla Fudge. "Can You Travel In The Dark Alone" is the album's standout track, a mid-tempo psychedelic rocker with spaced-out fuzz guitar, every bit as vital as the best Electric Prunes. The lyrics are a nice piece of lysergic pop poetry, too: "You are lost in the ocean of your dreams and what is real/but the blue green surface only covers what you feel/and the lighthouse that you find casts a beam across your mind/ and there's your home/ but don't you ever wonder could you travel in the dark alone...". You'll notice how the individual track rating doesn't add up to the 5(*) I gave the album, but you just have to reward them for a great effort that was initially unjustly ignored. If you're interested in learning more about this band, including details of a 2nd album of outtakes released decades after the fact, try Peter Sando's official website.

***** for Golden Earrings, Hang On To A Dream, Can You Travel In The Dark Alone, Nature Boy

**** for Never Too Far, I Watch The Moon

*** for Scarlet Ribbons, You Upset The Grace Of Living, Tiffany Rings, Me About You

dEUS "Pocket Revolution"2005****

Like all the best Belgian rock bands, dEUS come from Flanders (Antwerp). Sorry Brussels, you're OK but you don't rock like your northern neighbors do! Maybe it's a language thing: English comes more naturally to the Flemish Dutch speakers while French speaking Walloons prefer to sing in their own language, which hardly lends itself to rock and roll. But the lingual division of this country is deeper than that and permeates all aspects of culture, to the point of making one wonder if a Belgian nation even exists at all. Hmmm...on second thought, better to avoid this discussion and return to dEUS. I've been aware of them from the beginning, some of their grungier early efforts found themselves in cassettes we exchanged with friends during the early 90's. But something about them struck me as too intellectual or experimental, so while I appreciated their albums, I was never completely won over by them. Thankfully they were always very good live, and I got to see them on many occasions when they visited Athens. I'll never forget their appearance at the Rockwave festival of '99: They were playing at dusk, next to a crane from the top of which fans were bungee jumping. While they played "Suds 'n' Soda" one bungee jumper froze on top of the crane and the band stopped the song and led the audience in chants of "Jump!". The moment he jumped the guitar player launched into an amazing solo, one of the highlights of one of the best rock festivals in Greece. Anyway, I have to admit that when "Pocket Revolution" came out in 2005, I already thought of dEUS as 90's indie, a thing of the past. But a friend did get their album and I duly borrowed and copied it. I've since bought the original CD (I don't present CD-R's here), so I guess I must like it. I'll tell you what: Critics will favor their more experimental 90's albums, but for me this is their best outing. If you want an analogy, imagine Radiohead following Kid A with The Bends: It's still an interesting mix of grunge, pop, free jazz, krautrock and everything in between, but the wild inspirations are streamlined into something more disciplined and accessible. It's at the same time more melodic, funkier and harder-rocking than its predecessors and totally devoid of experimental filler - every song stands by itself and is worthy of radio play. Opener "Bad Timing" is a great introduction: loud and distorted guitars, resounding bass and melodic vocals would make for a, typically dEUS, classic single. The actual lead single "7 Days 7 Weeks" shows how much the band has progressed: A bassline that reminds me of Can's Vitamin C provides the bedrock for a floating vocal every bit as luring as the latest multi-million selling Coldplay hit. "Stop-Start Nature" and "If You Don't Get What You Want" are throwbacks to their 90's sound, all grungy guitars and subterranean bass. "What We Talk About (When We Talk About Love)" has a repetitive slow chugging rhythm but the best part is all the different vocal styles employed here: Some verses are almost recited J.J.Cale-style, some sport soulful harmonies, and there are also some deeply buried female backing vocals. "Include Me Out" and "The Real Sugar" are a couple of beautiful jazzy ballads punctuated by Klaas Janzoons' violin. "Pocket Revolution" also starts off slowly, with a violin melody, whispering vocal and low bassline. Then it breaks into a loud chorus, giving me the impression of the Smashing Pumpkins gatecrashing a Massive Attack ballad. "Nightshopping" must be dEUS' funkiest song yet, like a theme song to a Blaxploitation James Bond movie made by an arty film school student. "Cold Sun Of Circumstance" and "Sun Ra" are a couple of loud art-punk pieces. Captain Beefheart meet Sonic Youth would be one (albeit insufficient) way to describe them. Emotive ballad "Nothing Really Ends" closes the album in the best manner: soaring violin, jazzy xylophone and piano, syrupy female backing vocals out of a 60's French pop hit. An honest, irony-free, love song from a band whose only flaw is that they too often write from the brain instead of the heart.

***** for The Real Sugar

**** for Bad Timing, 7 Days, 7 Weeks, Stop-Start Nature, What We Talk About (When We Talk About Love), Include Me Out, Pocket Revolution, Nightshopping, Nothing Really Ends

*** for Cold Sun Of Circumstance, If You Don't Get What You Want, Sun Ra

Neil Young "Chrome Dreams" 1974-1978(rec), 1992(reissue)****

I jumped at the chance to get this one, as it's probably rock's most famous bootleg (at least since the official release of Bob Dylan's "Royal Albert Hall" tapes and The Beach Boys' "Smile"). It contains studio demos in various stages of completion, mostly featuring his long time associates Crazy Horse. They were intended for inclusion in an aborted album called "Chrome Dreams" for which Young already had a cover (not this one) and whose release was announced for 1976. In the end, the demos were shelved and Young released another album called "American Stars 'n Bars". Few of these songs were included in this album but, just like "Smile",  most of them resurfaced in different form in future LP's "Comes a Time", "Rust Never Sleeps", "Hawks and Doves" and "Freedom". Various bootleg versions of Chrome Dreams have been around since 1977, this particular one surfacing in Italy around 1992. It's not the original bootleg (if that's not a contradiction in terms) as it contains a different track order, adds a few live recordings and replaces "Homegrown" with a '92 live recording of "Homefires". This unreleased song has been part of Young's repertory since the mid-70's, but for some reason (sound quality?) they chose a version that's separated by the rest by at least 15 years. It's often said that, had "Chrome Dreams" been released at its intended time, it would have constituted one of Young's best. This may very well be the case, although many of the songs here are presented in acoustic demo form. Which does not subtract any of the magic from masterpieces like "Powderfinger" and "Pocahontas", eventually included in the Rust Never Sleeps album. There's also a hard rockin' version of "Sedan Delivery" featuring Crazy Horse, as well as a rough live recording of "Ride My Llama".  "Will To Love" is an emotive ballad and "Captain Kennedy" an old-timey folk/country tune. They both resemble the final versions in American Stars 'n Bars and Hawks and Doves, respectively. "River Of Pride" is a typical Neil Young and Crazy Horse tune, with its country heart and sprawling hard rock guitar. "Too Far Gone" is a nice tune featuring Crazy Horse's Frank "Poncho" Sampedro on a vintage mandolin. "Star Of Bethlehem" and "Hold Back the Tears" are country ballads, the former featuring nice harmonica and backing vocals by Emmylou Harris and the latter an unidentified female vocalist. They were eventually re-recorded for American Stars 'n Bars, along with the ultimate Neil Young and Crazy Horse powerhouse "Like A Hurricane", presented here in an extensive live version: 11-and-a-half minutes of electric guitar heaven. "Look Out For My Love" and "Piece Of Mind" are two mid-tempo songs also featuring the Crazy Horse. "Homefires", the odd track out, is a solo acoustic song recorded live in 1992 in front of a quietly respectful audience. "Stringman" is a beautiful piano ballad. Amazingly, it had to wait for an official release until 1993 when it was revived for Young's "Unplugged" album. There's a reason that bootlegged "rare and unreleased" albums are usually not as good as they're supposed to be: If they really were that good, the artists would want us to hear them. But Neil Young is a bit strange that way, so he kept a perfectly good (even great) album on the shelf. Knowing him, he's probably got plans for it at some point but he's taking his time until he feels he can present these songs in the best manner. When he does, it'll really be something!

***** for Captain Kennedy, Pocahontas, Like A Hurricane, Look Out For My Love

**** for Powderfinger, Will To Love, Sedan Delivery, River Of Pride, Too Far Gone, Star Of Bethlehem, Stringman

*** for Hold Back The Tears, Homefires, Ride My Llama, Peace Of Mind

Junoon "Parvaaz" 1999****

Like most people here, I'm still trying to recover from last Friday's events in Paris, where a handful of terrorists murdered about 130 people and injured hundreds more. People compare it with the 9/11 attacks 14 years ago, but this feels way closer to home. You see, however my mind knows better, for my heart New York is almost unreal, a place from the movies. Paris is a city that I know and love - I've visited it often and, if I happened to be there for the weekend, I'd probably also be inside the Bataclan theater watching Eagles Of Death Metal. According to the announcement of the Islamic State terrorists, in the face of Paris the killers have targeted our immoral way of life: To them, going out to restaurants, football games or -above all- rock concerts should be a crime punishable by death. It's beyond belief that such twisted minds exist. And yet, not only they do exist, but it turns out that the whole fiendish plan was probably conceived by people brought up in France itself. and who lived in the Brussels Molenbeek district only a few hundred meters from where I'm sitting now. So how can people living among us harbor such beliefs and such hate? Maybe there's a psychological explanation, a primeval urge to dominate through violence. One thing I know for certain is that it has nothing to do with religion. Sure, people have always found excuses for their worst crimes in the Holy Books: Once, Christians believed the Bible commanded them to burn "witches", heretics, Jews, gays or whoever was perceived to be the Other. We haven't progressed too far from that, I'm afraid. It's still way too easy to dehumanize people of a different religion, race or ethnicity, making them thus legitimate targets for hate. Friday's atrocities threaten to unleash a poisonous cloud of Islamophobia: France's Marine Le Pen asks to shut down all mosques in the country and The Netherlands' Geert Wilders wants us to declare the Quran illegal (and what about the millions of Qurans already circulating in Europe, Geert? Should we make a big bonfire and goose-step around it?). Donald Trump...O.K., Trump is completely nuts, he may be running for the Republican Party presidential nomination but nobody in his right mind takes him seriously. But the other two lead their countries' biggest or second-biggest parties. Hopefully, however grieving or confused, people won't take the bait. Remember, if you want to know what a muslim is like: He is you, your neighbor, your children - only born in another country or in a family with a different faith. Anyway, such thoughts drove me to present a record that comes from that other part of the world, a CD by a bunch of Pakistani rockers drawing inspiration from the ancient muslim Sufi tradition, a band who has striven for peace and understanding between different nations and faiths.

Junoon (جنون, a word meaning "Passion" in their native Urdu) is one of Pakistan's (and the Asian Continent's in general) most successful rock bands, yet relatively unknown to the rest of the world. I discovered them thanks to a little book (actually 1000+ pages thick) entitled Musichound World: The Essential Album Guide. It must be out of print now, as well as outdated since it stops somewhere around 1998-99. I bought it second-hand in a book fair and like to browse it from time to time, when I get bored with the same old stories from Western/Anglo pop. Anyway, it's where I read the story of Junoon and decided to seek out an album by them. Initially they were comprised by guitarist and main songwriter Salman Ahmad, vocalist Ali Azmat and keyboardist/bassist Nusrat Hussain. The latter was replaced by American Brian O'Connell, Ahmad's friend from his sojourn in New York during his early teens. Their music blended loud rock guitars with Eastern elements like the use of tablas, traditional Pakistani/Indian melodies and the muslim tradition of sufism. Their lyrics often draw inspiration from classical sufi poetry, while their vocals sound like a cross between Robert Plant and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. 

Junoon gradually became very popular and equally controversial, because of their outspoken stance against political corruption, Pakistan's nuclear program and the arms race between their country and India. Their constant urging to the government to spend more in health and education instead of weapons led to their music getting temporarily exiled from radio and TV as well as a ban on live performances in the county's interior. "Parvaaz" is their sixth, and probably most famous, album. It was recorded at the historic Abbey Road studios in London and released internationally by EMI Records, to great acclaim.The lyrics are mostly based on the work of 17th-18th Century sufi poet Bulleh Sah. The music seems to finally achieve that elusive synthesis of the East and West, earthly and spiritual, rock and traditional. Western analogues can be found in Led Zeppelin and Pearl Jam - not coincidentally since Eddie Vedder, along with Jeff Buckley, has studied Fateh Ali Khan's vocal mannerisms and incorporated them in his music style. The other rock element is Ahmad's intricate guitar work. He avoids rock riffs and instead focuses on producing expressive solos that often remind me of Carlos Santana. The vocals, melodies and percussive instruments express the band's Eastern/mystical side. The album opens with lead single "Bulleya", a mystical poem put to a beautiful mid-tempo melody with soaring vocals. "Pyar Bina" and "Sanwal" have a new wave vibe that reminds me of early U2, the latter song also characterized by an insistent bass line, tribal drums and Santana-like guitar solos."Mitti" and "Ghoom" are a couple of ballads with emotive vocals, mostly acoustic percussion and electric guitar solos. They remind me of Pearl Jam's calmer moments. "Sajna" is a bluesy mid-tempo rocker with a catchy chorus while "Rondé Naina" and "Ab to Jaag" are closer to Bollywood. "Aleph" is a slow lament with Floydian guitar which provides the perfect album closer. Only -at least in my copy- it's followed by a second, longer, version of "Bulleya". Although I was hesitant at first, and still unconvinced after the first listen, Junoon have won me over with "Parvaaz". Highly recommended to anyone interested in Asian rock, or just in a less prejudiced view of the muslim part of the world.

***** for Bulleya, Sanwal, Sajna

**** for Pyar Bina, Mitti, Ghoom, Bulleya (Reprise)

*** for Rondé Naina, Ab to Jaag, Aleph

Bauhaus "Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape" 1982****

Friday the 13th once again, folks. I've decided to make a tradition out of it and present a relevant album every time. On previous occasions I did The Cramps and Fuzztones, whose camp Halloween-ish antics fit the description. But if you want to see something really scary, take a look at Peter Murphy's skeletal frame in the clip below: He's no harmless Halloween trick-or-treater, he looks like a deranged malnourished psychopath. Which reminds me of my first contact with Bauhaus: On my first year in the University, another student lent me some of his LP's as an introduction to post punk/new wave. Those included, if I remember correctly, The Sound's "From the Lion's Mouth", Nick Cave's "Kicking Against the Pricks", "Enter The Sisters" by The Sisters Of Mercy and Bauhaus' "Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape". Great choices, all. He told me that Bauhaus were his first rock concert and that he felt both exhilarated and scared shitless, a 15-year old alone among intimidating older punks and goths, watching this frightfully intense band. I laughed at his description, but listening to this live album again (for the first time after 20 years) I get it: These may not all be as good as the studio versions, but you can't beat them for passion and intensity. The band's sound is punkier and more aggressive than in the studio while Murphy goes for the maximum theatrical effect, leering and screaming rather than trying to sing correctly. I can only imagine what it'd be like to witness these performances in person. The tracklist is strong, compiling their best songs at the time (they had only released 2 album until then, so there wasn't much to choose from) with a few rarities like "Rose Garden Funeral Of Sores". It goes "Virgin mary was tired/So tired/Tired of listening to gossip/Gossip and complaints/They came from next door...From all sorts of/Untidy whores". It's a John Cale cover, but nobody utters "untidy whores" better than Peter Murphy. It's the album's second song, after the punky opener "In the Flat Field" with its rolling drums and screaming guitar. "Dancing" sports an amazing bassline and howling saxophone that conjures images of a disco taken over by werewolves - at least to those of us who are familiar with werewolf movies. "The Man With X-Ray Eyes" is slow and very theatrical. I'm sure it was great live, but on record it doesn't translate as well. "Bela Lugosi's Dead" is the song that best defines Bauhaus (and Goth): The spooky effects, menacing bass, otherworldly vocals and those lyrics... It goes on for 10 minutes without ever losing its ferocity.  "The Spy In The Cab" and the slower "Hollow Hills" also stress the horror element but stand up less well. Then it's back to the werewolf disco with the bass-driven "Kick In The Eye" and "In Fear Of Fear". "Stigmata Martyr" is another passionate performance of a quintessential Bauhaus song with dramatic vocals and buzzsaw guitars. The original album ended with a relentlessly paced "Dark Entries" followed by a few words to the sound engineer: "press the eject and give me the tape". The CD version continues with 5 extra live tracks from the same period. The recording is a bit sub-par, but versions of the underrated "Terror Couple Kill Colonel" and "Of Lillies And Remains" are welcome. "Double Dare", "In The Flat Field" and "Hair Of The Dog" are rather messy and so is a version of the Velvets' "Waiting For The Man" with Nico on guest vocals. Messy or not, a duet like that deserves to be heard. Well, time to sign off and get ready to watch a classic horror movies marathon with my girl. I leave you with a few verses from Bela Lugosi: 

The bats have left the bell tower

The victims have been bled

Red velvet lines the black box

Bela Lugosi's dead (Undead undead undead)

The virginal brides file past his tomb

Strewn with time's dead flowers

Bereft in deathly bloom

Alone in a darkened room

The count

Bela Lugosi's dead

Undead undead undead

***** for Bela Lugosi Is Dead, Kick In The Eye 

**** for In The Flat Field, Rose Garden Funeral Of Sores, Dancing,  In Fear Of Fear, Stigmata Martyr, Dark Entries, Terror Couple Kill Colonel   

*** for The Spy In The Cab, Hollow Hills, In The Flat Field (2nd version), Of Lillies And Remains, Waiting For The Man

** for The Man With X-Ray Eyes,  Double Dare, Hair Of The Dog 

Vangelis & The New American Orchestra "Blade Runner" 1982****

Citizen Kane my ass! Blade Runner is the best movie ever produced in the history of the medium! It renewed film noir and science fiction and stands as an unsurpassed landmark in both genres. And its influence stretches beyond film to other visual arts, design, advertising and literature: the Cyberpunk movement was SF's reaction to the unprecedented mix of high tech and low life, the twin reality of the gleaming Tyrell Corporation towers and crumbling Los Angeles ghettos. And although it didn't stick very close to Philip K. Dick's original story, its version of the future shared the writer's pessimism: No leisurely living thanks to the machines, at least not for everyone: While the rich enjoy the fruits of android slave labor, the bulk of humanity scrapes a living under the domination of huge corporations and police oppression. Murderous as these replicas are, you can't help but sympathize with them in their quest for...meaning? freedom? revenge? I suppose it's different things for each one. The film's music was no less revolutionary in its mix of jazz noir, electronic and symphonic music. Composer Vangelis Papathanasiou (known outside his native Greece just by his first name) was a veteran of the Greek pop scene, starting with his invention of the popular Yanka dance craze in the early 60's. He shot to international fame after his collaboration with Demis Roussos in the prog-pop Aphrodite's Child and had since become a pioneer of proto-electronic music. His music for the film "Chariots Of Fire" had already won him an Oscar and he deserved another one for "Blade Runner", but fell victim to the Academy's contempt for Science Fiction. Sounds improbable that an iconic film like Blade Runner would go on to win 0 (zero) Academy Awards, but there you have it. Despite the obvious appeal of the film's music, there was no official soundtrack release until 1994 - which is how this album comes to the picture. Entitled "Blade Runner - Orchestral Adaptation Of Music Composed For The Motion Picture Soundtrack", it's a recreation of some of Vangelis' original music from the film. For many years it served as O.S.T. for us fans and I must admit that, although I clearly heard that it wasn't exactly the same to the film, I hadn't realized it was a completely different recording until very recently (that is, until I pulled it out for a review). Which doesn't render it useless at all. It still displays that revolutionary mix of jazz and electronic music and it still conjures up scenes from the movie - which is a secondary but important function of film soundtracks. The opening "Love Theme" is an orchestral piece with late-night sax, romantic but thankfully not as corny as would be expected by its title. "Main Title" is another mellow tune featuring an orchestra, synthesizers and subtle acoustic elements like small bells. The next song entitled "One More Kiss, Dear" is the album's only vocal track and sounds like a 30's jazz tune, only it's not an original one. It was composed by Vangelis for the film but you wouldn't be able to tell the difference just by listening to it. "Memories Of Green" is an older Vangelis piece included in his "See You Later" album, a delicate piano tune with an orchestral backdrop. "End Title" and "End Title (Reprise)" are big electronic synthesizer music. Pretty much of their time, yet classic all the same. "Blade Runner Blues" is a melancholic jazz piece with a lonely sax playing over atmospheric synths and "Farewell" is another mellow orchestral/electronic mix, with a slightly oriental flavor. It may not be the best track in the album, but it always moves me because in the film it accompanies android Roy Batty's unforgettable farewell speech: "All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die"

***** for Memories Of Green, End Title

**** for Love Theme, Main Title, One More Kiss Dear, Blade Runner Blues, End Title (Reprise)

*** for Farewell

Geordie "Can You Do It?" 1973-1975(orig) 1999(comp)***

A Geordie is a person from the Tyneside region of North East England, best known for its coalmines and its inhabitants' distinctive olde English accent. These Geordies must have been very proud of their origin, as not only they've taken their name from it, but one of them also poses on the album cover wearing a Newcastle Utd shirt and holding a Newcastle Brown Ale beer on his hand (Newcastle-Upon-Tyne being, of course, the Tyneside's principal city). I think it's future AC/DC singer Brian Johnson, but it's impossible to be sure because he doesn't wear his usual hat. Now that I realise it, I've never seen him without his famous flat cap. These days he probably only takes it off in the shower or something. Now, Geordie could be called a hard rock band, if only in the wide sense. There are guitars and Johnson's screaming vocals have just a hint of metal at this point, but the music is pretty basic boogie rock'n'roll stuff. It'd actually be more accurate to describe them as blue-collar glam rockers a la Slade or Sweet rather than a metal band. The first two songs on this CD, "Can You Do It" and "All Because Of You" from their 1973 debut, were both Top-20 hits. The former is somewhat close to AC/DC, while the latter is more teenybopper material. "Black Cat Woman" balances between hard rock and parody. "House Of The Rising Sun" from their second effort is among the better versions I've heard of this often covered song, "Electric Lady" and "Natural Born Looser" are a couple of heavy rockers and "Geordie Stomp" stoopid-but-fun glam boogie. "I Cried Today" is a pitiful attempt at reggae while "We're All Right Now" and "Francis Was A Rocker" seem to want to combine T-Rex and Status Quo. "Going to the City", "Rock 'n' Roll Fever" and "You Do This to Me" are pure Chuck Berry-ish rock'n'roll and the set closes with hard rocker "Ten Feet Tall", a taste of the future when Brian Johnson would join AC/DC as Bon Scott's replacement..

**** for Can You Do It, All Because of You, House of the Rising Sun, Natural Born Loser

*** for Black Cat Woman, Electric Lady, Geordie Stomp, Francis Was a Rocker, Going to the City, Rock 'n' Roll Fever, You Do This to Me, Ten Feet Tall

** for I Cried Today, We're All right Now

Box Of Frogs "Box Of Frogs/Strange Land" (1984****/1986***)

I remember seeing the original Box Of Frogs LP in the shops and passing it by immediately because of the album cover and ridiculous band name. Apparently there's a British expression I hadn't heard before: mad as a box of frogs, which certainly sounds like a crazy idea. Why would anyone fill a box with frogs? But, by all accounts, the band seems to predate the expression. I searched and searched the language sites on the internet (you may argue that I've too much time on my hands, but once my curiosity is aroused I can't leave a question unanswered). Nobody has heard the expression before the 2000's. So probably the expression means crazy like that band was for choosing such a ridiculous name. It turned out to be a bad idea, even more so because Box Of Frogs were actually famous in the 60's with the name The Yardbirds. Yes, I'm talking about the group that nurtured Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Singer Keith Relf had regrettably died only a few years before (electrocuted by his own guitar) so the rest of the band (Chris Dreja, Paul Samwell-Smith and Jim McCarty) added the very good singer John Fiddler (former Medicine Head) and reformed the band under a new name. This CD gathers both of their albums. The eponymous debut featured guest guitarists Jeff Beck and Rory Gallagher, ensuring some top-notch playing, while all the songs are original group compositions. The style is rootsy hard rock but the synthetic 80's production neutered their sound somewhat, making it sound like any other record of the period. So I guess the question is: can you still listen to 80's mainstream rock? How cool are you with the sounds of Foreigner, Aerosmith, Status Quo and ZZ Top from that era? Well, if you can get past the dated production values, there's much to like in BoF's debut. Opener "Back Where I Started" is the perfect introduction, a rolling boogie with great bluesy vocal and harmonica, smoking guitar courtesy of Jeff Beck and backing vocals reminiscent of The Yardbirds' heyday. It was the band's biggest hit, cracking the Top Ten in the U.S. and getting exposure on MTV. "Harder" is a commercial hard rocker with Ray Majors on guitar (Fiddler's former bandmate in British Lions). "Another Wasted Day" is an excellent mid-tempo boogie with an understated vocal that reminds me of Mark Knopfler. "Love Inside You" is mid-tempo FM rock. "Two Steps Ahead" and "Poor Boy" are bluesy hard rock a la Bad Company with stellar guitar work by Jeff Beck. Rory Gallagher takes over guitar duties for the hard rock "The Edge" and ballad "Into The Dark", where he also contributes slide guitar and sitar - talk about East meets West! "Just A Boy Again" has a folkier Americana sound, like a hybrid between Tom Petty and Fleetwood Mac. Different but also nice. The second BoF album has a bigger sonic variety but is generally considered to be inferior despite the impressive guest list. Too many songs are generic 80's hard rock, e.g. "Get It While You Can" (sung by guest Graham Parker) or synth-driven "You Mix Me Up" with misjudged female backing vocals. "House On Fire" seems to copy the plastic boogie of Eliminator-era ZZ Top while "Asylum" is almost metallic, with heavy guitar riffs by former Yardbirds alumnus Jimmy Page. Guest vocalist Roger Chapman (ex-Family) delivers excellent performances on the emotive ballad "Strange Land" and a throat-shredding reworking of Yardbirds' 1965 hit "Heart Full Of Soul" also featuring the song's writer Graham Gouldman and Rory Gallagher on smokin' lead guitar. Rory's electric sitar is the highlight of the strange electronic ballad "Hanging From The Wreckage". Ian Dury's punk sneer saves "Average" from mediocrity. The song is an otherwise average combination of hard rock and new wave, despite some nice solos by Genesis' guitarist Steve Hackett who also plays on the melodic FM-rock "Trouble". This compilation also adds single-only "Nine Lives", another Foreigner-style commercial rocker with Bowie associate Earl Slick on lead guitar. Far from being the sum of its parts, "Strange Land" seemed to make up for its lack of inspiration with a parade of guest musicians. BoF did not tour or even play live often, which may be the reason for their decline. They never made another record but in 2003 Dreja, Samwell-Smith and McCarty reformed The Yardbirds, under their own name, this time. They released a CD but mostly functioned as a touring band. I saw them in Greece and their performance was workmanlike and quite enjoyable. They've been on the road since then, although I believe that drummer Jim McCarty is the sole original member left.

**** for Back Where I Started, Another Wasted Day, The Edge, Two Steps Ahead, Poor Boy, Average, Heart Full Of Soul

*** for Harder, Love Inside You, Into The dark, Just A Boy Again, Get It While You Can, House On Fire, Asylum, Strange Land, Trouble

** for You Mix Me Up, Hanging From The Wreckage, Nine Lives