Iron Butterfly-Iron Butterfly-Review

    Released in 1968, "Heavy" is the debut album by American rockers Iron Butterfly. Certainly not a metal band proper, the band was still very influential on hard rock and metal music in general, despite being obviously more akin to psychedelic bands of the era. Is "Heavy" a classic of early hard-rock? Or should you stay away? Let's take a trip....

   Iron Butterfly were always a very keyboard-heavy band, and Heavy is no exception. Opener "Possession" contains a very cheap "Farfisa" sounding organ, up in the front of the mix, dominating the song. Recently-deceased bassist "Jerry Penrod" provides the true highlight of the song. Penrod's bass sound is very full and throbbing, rock bass at its best. Unlike many other psychedelic bands, Iron Butterfly kept their instrumental sections fairly short as well, avoiding bloated songs full of inflated egos. Nice, simple, and to the point. The slightly rockabilly "Unconscious Power" contains infectious guitar and keyboards for the verse, and the bass sound is simply flooring, fantastic bass playing. Cryptic psychedelic lyrics are totally goofy and vague, but the song seems to be about transcending the regular (probably using some kind of chemical agent). Next up is the bluesy "Get Out Of My Life, Woman". Piggy-backing off the success of "Cream" many bands began to play "Psychedelic Blues" during the middle of the psychedelic era. Not a bad song, but fairly sleep-inducing, really just a standard-sounding blues rocker.

   "Gentle As May Seem" reminds of other psychedelic bands such as The Electric Prunes. Tambourines are in full effect here, along with gyrating bass, organs, and near-constant guitar leads. Quite a racket, it is somewhat unrefined, raw but sloppy-sounding. "You Can't Win" is the most metal-like song on the album. Very Cream-like again, a heavy blues riff dominates the song. The chorus reminds more of the Doors, with Doug Ingle adopting a very deep and bluesy voice atop gentle jangly guitars and tight and precise bass. A simple, but effective song. The oddly titled "So-Lo" is the most poppy song on the album. Like The Zombies, it features baroque-like keyboards, rubbery bass, and harmonies. I prefer the band to rock harder than this, as they never really made a great pop band, slightly forced. Certainly not "Heavy". "Look For The Sun" shows the massive impact of the Doors on the American musical landscape. Very San Franciso-sounding, it instantly reminds of both the Doors (in terms of organs) and Joe Cocker as well. I like the gruff chorus vocals, but organs become a distraction as this point, taking away from the heaviness of the album. "Fields Of Sun" is a hippie classic. Darryl DeLoach and Doug Ingle sound great together, very heavy vocally, somewhat reminiscent of Steppenwolf.  Bass playing is as always top-notch, but guitars get lost in the mix. Keyboards are largely quiet during this song, aside from some piano. Very raw and garage-like, it is a fairly valuable artifact from a lost era.

   "Stamped Ideas" is the oddest song on the album. It reminds me of The Grateful Dead the most, with a slice of Blood Sweat and Tears. Horns detract my attention, but the chorus is fairly catchy, and the country-psych guitar leads are interesting and unique. Not bad, but easily the worst song on the album. The heaviest song on the album, and the first signs of metal from Iron Butterfly comes next. "Iron Butterfly Theme" contains very distorted guitars, trippy vocals and keys, and jazzy drumming. I really like this song, and it proves that this band certainly did have an influence on heavier music to come.

   "Heavy" is largely ignored by hard-rockers in favor of their second album, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. I can understand why. The songs really don't showcase the heavy psychedelic music that the band would later adopt. But there are brilliant moments on this album, and fans of psychedelic music could do worse than this album. For metal-heads, you can get your kicks probably somewhere much heavier than Heavy. 

Rating-7/10