Power of Zeus "The Gospel According to Zeus" 1970***

There's some similarity between this band and my previous presentation: just as The Baroques got picked up by Chicago's Chess label, Power Of Zeus (PoZ) were signed to Detroit's Motown. Both important labels, but not a good fit for them: Chess specialized in blues rather than psychedelia, while Motown was rightfully nicknamed Hitsville U.S.A. for having released a seemingly neverending string of pop-soul smashes, but had no experience with hard rock whatsoever. Now this is Detroit circa '69-'70 we're talking about, some of the heaviest bands of the era were operating in that area: Iggy & The Stooges, MC5, Grand Funk, Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent's Amboy Dukes, Frijid Pink, SRC, The Up, The Frost... imagine how difficult it'd be for PoZ to stand out against such fierce competition. I can't posibly know what they sounded like live, but their LP is relatively tame in comparison with the abovenamed bands, and I suspect the reason is Motown's in-house producers and engineers. Used as they must have been to producing pop hits, I can imagine them freaking out with the loudness and distortion levels emitted by these hard rockers, and trying to tone it down. Remember, Motown was pretty conservative musically - even acclaimed masterpiece What's Going On was initially strongly opposed for breaking the mold, despite Marvin Gaye being one of the label's best selling artists. They also forced the band to change name: they were previously known in the live circuit as Gangrene, a pretty aggressive moniker to say the least. "Power of Zeus" seemed to convey the message that this is a heavy rock band without being offensive. A poem was printed on the back cover (also on the CD inner side) that somehow justified the name change. On the plus side (for some), it is probably thanks to Motown that most songs remain short and punchy: Most of them last between 2 and 4 minutes, the golden standard of commercial radio at the time. Opener "It Couldn't Be Me" would have made for a great single with its guitar/hammond interplay reminiscent of Deep Purple or Atomic Rooster, while "In The Night"'s vocal harmonies give this otherwise heavy tune a West Coast psychedelic aura. This is even more evident on "Green Grass & Clover" with its calm melody and romantic harpsichord. "I Lost My Love" is the first song that bares similarity to Motown's soul sound: at times the vocals even remind me of The Four Tops. It's a very short and rhythmic tune, with killer bass and drums that remind me of Vanilla Fudge. Too bad it only lasts for 2'12''. "The Death Trip" closes Side A  of the vinyl, but if you have it on CD as I do, it just makes for an overlong (8-minute) interlude whose slow and heavy groove disrupts the flow of the record. Not impressed with it. You need an Ozzy on vocals and an Iommi on guitar to make that schtick work. "No Time" is a Zeppelin/Sabbath-like heavy rocker while "Uncertain Destination" is a more 60's psychedelia-type of tune. "Realization" starts off with a groovy beat, cool riffs and organ. Monster solo, too. The vocal harmonies I'm not a fan of, they're one of the weaker traits of PoZ. Lead single "Hard Working Man" is a too-short hard rocker with a nice riff and strong lead vocal, while the CD closes with a longer track called "The Sorcerer of Isis". It is loose and psychedelic, with great guitar solos and drum & bass breaks that get often sampled by hip hop artists. Not many songs can claim to having won the hearts of stoners and rappers alike, but here you have one. At its time, The Gospel According to Zeus failed to find an audience - maybe because of Motown's inexperience with handling rock bands or just because of the awesome competition it had e.g. English hard rock albums released that year include Deep Purple's In Rock, Black Sabbath's Black Sabbath and Paranoid, Led Zeppelin's III, and Uriah Heep's Very 'eavy...Very 'umble. Locally, the competetion included The Stooges' Fun house, MC5's Back In The USA and Grand Funk Railroad's Closer to Home. Just like The Baroques did, PoZ disbanded soon after the release of their sole album, with only singer-guitarist Joe Periano staying in the business for a while, as producer or session guitarist for other Motown acts. Today their fame is rehabilitated, and although they remain a cult band, they're highly regarded -possibly even overrated- by DJs and collectors, with original copies of The Gospel...LP commanding prices upwards of $100. Some time ago, it was even presented on MOJO Magazine's monthly "Buried Treasure" column. But, in my opinion, this is just an interesting album. Certainly worth listening to if you're into early hard rock, but hardly the lost classic it's made out to be.

**** for It Couldn't Be Me, In The Night, No Time, I Lost My Love, The Sorcerer Of Isis (The Ritual Of The Mole)

*** for Green Grass & Clover, Uncertain Destination, Realization, Hard Working Man

** for The Death Trip