Sweet-Desolation Boulevard(U.S.)-Review

  Sweet are one of those bands that greatly influenced rock and roll but have somehow avoided totally becoming household names (at least in North America). Desolation Boulevard is their most well-known and beloved album by many, and contains numerous hits that would be covered by countless artists over the years. Let's take a look at a very influential album by a very influential band.

   First is "Ballroom Blitz". A classic rock radio staple, it is likely the band's most known song. I guess that years of constant radio play has worn down the appeal of this song for me, but I have never really understood why it gets so much airplay. Not a terrible song, but fairly basic in terms of structure lyrical content. Next up is "The Six Teens". A great song about adolescent love, the song has numerous elements that define the band's sound. Bright lead guitar, trading vocals between members, and some great backing vocals are characteristics that set Sweet apart from other 1970s rock bands. A great track, one of my favorites recorded by the band.

   The album continues with "No You Don't". Pretty heavy for the early 1970s, the influence on hair/glam metal that the band has had can clearly be heard in this track. Thunderous drumming is accompanied by a driving riff and anthemic backing vocals shouting the title of the track. A Who-like acoustic breakdown rounds out the track, building tension until the song kicks back in with the chorus yet again. "AC DC" is a pretty famous track by the band. About a woman that is cheating with another woman, the lyrical content can certainly be seen as edgy for the time. Musically, the song is a fairly basic blues-based rocker. Very sparse, but very catchy and pissed off, a fun addition to the album.

    "I Wanna Be Committed" is a strange song as the title would suggest. The lyrics concern the fragile psyche of someone cracking up, accompanied by machine-gun drumming and effect-covered backing vocals. Various other strange sound effects come into the song near the end, making the song even weirder. Not a favorite of mine, but an interesting sonic experiment. The influence of the band on KISS' Ace Frehley can be heard in this track very clearly. Frehely would go on to cover "Fox on the Run" on his 2009 album "Anomaly". "Sweet F.A." is a galloping heavy metal adventure. After a chugging instrumental introduction, lead vocalist Brian Connolly final comes in. You can clearly hear the influence of Connolly vocally speaking. Bands such as Motley Crue and Quiet Riot clearly got a lot from the band and Connolly, lyrically and musically speaking. The song is very epic, with a synthesizer solo, guitar solos, pounding drums, and near-constant heavy riffage. Easily one of the heaviest songs out in 1974, the band's influence on modern metal is downplayed in my opinion.

   Moving on, the band unleashes "Fox on the Run". A huge success for the band, I absolutely adore the track. A classic 1970s rock song, it combines glam with metal in a great synthesis. One would think the synthesizers cheapen the song, but I actually love the synth-lines that are played in the chorus. Bassist Steve Priest provides some great backing vocals as well, fleshing out the very full sounding song. The best song on the album, and much better than Ballroom Blitz in my humble opinion. "Set Me Free" is an insanely heavy song, some would say the blueprint for thrash metal. The main riff smashes through the song like a freight train, very powerful. Drummer Mick Tucker is a very underrated drummer in my opinion, and delivers some fantastic stick-pounding on this track. A great track from the band, and very influential on the development of rock music.

   "Into the Night" is another very heavy song. The verses are very raw and punchy, but the chorus is fairly slickly-produced and poppy.  Sweet could certainly make pop music when they wanted, and often their songs would switch from heavy rock to a pop chorus in an instant. Great playing from all members of the band, I especially like the progressive rock elements of the song. A fantastic song, and a very ambitious track in terms of musicality. The album closes with "Solid Gold Brass". A blues-tinged number, it is the most contemporary track by the band. I like the swagger and attitude of the song, but I have never been a huge fan of the band attempting more blues-influenced tracks. A decent song, but very stylistically different from the rest of the album.

  "Desolation Boulevard" is a great album. The U.S. version combines tracks from multiple Sweet albums, and is a compilation of sorts. Therefore, I believe the U.S. version is actually better, despite being butchered. In any case, a great album, and an essential listen for anyone with even a passing interest in 70s hard rock.

Rating-9/10
   

UFO: Seven Deadly Review

  Seven Deadly is the 21st studio album (20th if you don't include the EP "Ain't Misbehavin). One would think that the band would be entering the twilight of their career, resulting a less than stellar album. But, is Seven Deadly like a fine wine? Does the band get better with age? Or, is it time to put the aging UFO (founded in 1968) out to pasture. Let's take a look.

    The album begins with the muscular left-hook of "Fight Night". Singer Phil Mogg's voice is immediately ragged and aged, but to no detriment. The whiskey-growl in his voice really suits the character of the band's later period songs, mostly about loose women, drinking, and other manly pursuits. The song concerns Mexican organized fighting, continuing Mogg's exploration of the land "south of the border". Guitarist Vinnie Moore provides some chunky and heavy riffage, and veteran drummer Andy Parker can still pound the sticks with great ferocity. A great track, very muscular and hard-hitting. "Wonderland" is a song that has puzzled many listeners. Mogg sings of looking for a "monkey" repeatedly throughout the song. What that monkey is, is anyone's guess. In any case, a great track, with some superb vocals and a very catchy chorus.

   The album continues with "Mojo Town". Like many of the band's latter songs, the track is very heavy on the blues. Basically blues-metal (if you feel that is a real genre of music), the song is very heavy. Mogg's raspy voice still sounds amazing, different in character from the early days, but still very hearty-sounding and pleasing. Great vocals are rounded out by some killer lead guitar from Vinnie Moore, every bit as good as "wunderkind" Michael Schenker. A great track. "Angel Station" was a little bit of a sleeper track for me. Not a bad song by any means, but it sounds like an outtake from the somewhat standard-sounding UFO "Monkey Puzzle" album of 2006. The solo is great however, and Mogg's vocals do please, just somewhat slow and lacking the edge and grit of tracks 1-3.

   Next up is "Year of the Gun". A great road song, it easily fits into the loose biker theme that exists throughout this album. Very soulful and bluesy, it fits in very well with the character of this album. The main riff is infectious, a stand-out track on this very good album. "The Last Stone Rider" reminds me of the sound of UFO's 1992 album "High Stakes and Dangerous Men", but recorded much better. Very rootsy sounding, the track certainly has fire and brimstone. Moore is great at mixing the blues with heavy riffing, and this song is not exception. The sixty-three year (at time of recording) Mogg is as feisty and fiery as ever, and I love the part of the track when he sings "fire me up", a great addition to the track. 

   "Steal Yourself" features some great vocal tricks by Mogg. No longer capable of hitting the high notes, he uses a howl-like technique to somewhat mimic those notes, and it really adds an interesting character to the track.  Pretty bluesy and raw-sounding, a decent addition to the album. However, I found the chorus lyrics a little repetitive and Moore's guitars a bit too busy for such a simplistic song. Not a stand-out track, but a decent tune. "Burn Your House Down" is one of the best tracks on the album. Almost a ballad, it seems to tell the tale of a vengeful lover seeking revenge on their former flame. Very brooding and atmospheric, proof that UFO still have plenty of life left in them. A great solo rounds out a very strong track, one that I feel should have been the lead-single from the album.

   "The Fear" is my pick for the best track on the album. Continuing the blues-fest that is Seven Deadly, a crunchy blues riff is backed up by some nice harmonica work, backing vocals, and some of the coolest lyrics ever put to paper. Mogg is a great elder statesman of rock and roll, and this track proves that this a role that suits him quite well. Anyone doubting the quality of UFO's post-Schenker work need only listen to this track to affirm that they are still one of the best British rock bands in existence, even with a combined total age of over 200 years. Last up is "Waving Good Bye". In my opinion, easily the worst track on the album. While I like guitarist/keyboardist Paul Raymond's organ work, the song feels somewhat like filler, very dull considering the bluesy bravado of most of the tracks.

  The LP and deluxe CD contain two bonus tracks. "Other Men's Wives" is a fairly basic heavy-blues based track about violently attacking men that mess with other men's wives. While the lyrics are very enjoyable and gruesome, the music bores somewhat. Lastly, "Bag o' Blues" is an attempt at making a retro-sounding bar-room piano moaner. Mogg is accompanied by just a piano, a very sparse track. Totally different from anything UFO have attempted in the past, an interesting curiosity in their long discography.

  "Seven Deadly" is a very good album, easily their best since 1995's "Walk On Water". While the direction of the band has shifted towards a more blues-based sound, I believe that it really works for them at this point of their career. Any fan of the band should definitely check out this album. 

Rating-8.5/10

Trapeze; Medusa Review

 

   Trapeze is a band that have been relatively ignored in the classic rock lexicon. Known more for being Glen Hughes’ pre-Deep Purple band than anything else, very few seem to sing the praises of this West Midlands band. But for those who explore this short-lived band, you will lots to love about their soulful brand of English hard rock. Let’s take a look at what is arguably their most beloved album.

    “Black Cloud” is one of the band’s better known tracks. Immediately apparent is comparisons to Humble Pie and Steve Marriott. While this is certainly true to an extent, I find Hughes’ vocals to be a little smoother, more innocent and less weathered than the often gruff Marriott. In any case, “Black Cloud” is a great song, and much more uplifting than the title sounds. Trapeze were down to a trio at this point after two members left after their debut album earlier in 1970. One would think that this is a bad thing, but Trapeze cut out all the filler and provide a very clean guitar, drum, and bass sound. “Jury” starts off with a gentle acoustic guitar introduction with Hughes’ magnificent and angelic vocals accompanying the acoustic. The song then kicks into a Judas Priest-like riff that was certainly incredibly heavy upon its 1970 release. Hughes’ bass work is great on the track, proving again that is certainly one of the most underrated bassists in rock history, very bouncy and funky. A killer riff kicks in half-way through the song, and the influence the band had on Priest is immediately apparent, the song sounds like it could be off “Sad Wings of Destiny” or various other early Priest albums. A great track, you can actually hear Hughes’ voice go out at one point.

  “Your Love is Alright” takes us back into funk/r and b territory. A funk-rock guitar and bass riff provides the backbone to the song, and what an infectious riff it is. My favorite part of the song is drummer Dave Holland, who provides a great deal of suspension and tension throughout the song, not really kicking in the drums until half-way through the song. Holland would actually go on and play with Judas Priest during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Sadly departed guitarist/singer Mel Galley also proves to be a great guitarist, providing slinky riffs throughout the track. A good song. “Touch My Life” deals with Hughes’ favorite topic, burning desire for a member of the fairer sex. A bluesy riff repeats all through the track, very Humble Pie-esque. I find the riff a little repetitive, and wish the song had a little more to it. Not one of my favorite tracks, despite very strong vocals.

   “Seafull” brings us back into progressive rock territory. Gentle guitar chords are accompanied by soft and jazzy drums and stellar vocals that remind of contemporaries King Crimson. But the song diverges into blues-territory, showing that the bad often effortlessly merged blues, progressive rock, metal, and soul/r and b. Hughes has sang in a diverse range of bands, and has proved to be a great front man at whatever genre he has attempted. Despite being a little too long, I really enjoy Seafull, a great chill-out song to lay back to and take a load off (you know what I’m talking about…). “Makes You Wanna Cry” reminds me of the direction that Hughes would take with Deep Purple when he joined in 1973. Another funky tune, the song has a great groove, but could certainly benefit from a rhythm guitar player. The dual vocals of Hughes and Galley sound very good, but not as magical as the Hughes/Coverdale combo that would produce the classic MK. III Purple albums. I like the short guitar interlude/solo that happens before the song kicks back in, you think the song is over, then….boom…the riffs get heavier. A pretty good track, the mot Purple-like on the album.

    The album closes with the title track. “Medusa” is another progressive/acoustic-tinged song at first. But the song again heads into a heavy blues-rock riff after about a minute. Hughes sounds amazing, probably his best vocal on the album. Great drumming and a smoking riff round out a great track. The solo is quite good also, and Galley is certainly underrated as well as the rest of the band, a very great talent who unfortunately met his end from cancer in 2008. A great track to close a great album.
“Medusa” is a great album. If you can find a copy (ebay prices are getting higher), you owe it to yourself to pick up this lost classic. Sadly, Hughes would leave the band just a few short years after this album. The band did produce studio material throughout the 1970s, but it was certainly not of the same caliber without the mighty Hughes on the mic. A very underrated gem of an album.

Rating-9/10

Scorpions-Lonesome Crow

    Lonesome Crow was released in 1972 and is the first studio album by the German metal megastars. Often overlooked in favour of later studio efforts, the album is certainly a curiosity in the band's long discography. Let's see if Lonesome Crow is a lost classic or better left in the dustbin of musical history.

   The album begins with the psychedelic "I'm Goin' Mad". Immediately striking is the lead guitar of soon-to-be UFO hotshot Michael Schenker. Schenker delivers some blistering leads, especially amazing given the fact that Schenker was about 16 years old during the recording of the album. The song consists mostly of chanting and shouting over a jazzy bass/drum rhythm and leads from Schenker. An interesting sonic experiment, but very different from the sound that the Scorpions would forge later in the decade. "It All Depends" is another late-60's-tinged tune, sounding very much like Cream as well as other late 1960's British blues/psych acts. A very "jammy" song, the lyrics and singing are pretty sparse compared to the very lengthy jam sections of the song. Not a bad song, but far too scattered and jam-like to be considered a song proper.

  The album continues with "Leave Me". The raw vocal power of Klaus Meine becomes immediately apparent, a voice that can bellow like almost no other. Former bassist Lothar Heimberg delivers some pretty bouncy bass-lines as well, a very underrated talent on the four-string. Schenker is of course a highlight, and his leads will certainly please any fan of hard rock on this track. "In Search of the Peace of Mind" is an interesting track. It begins with a mellow acoustic introduction, accompanied by Heimberg's complex and rubbery bass. Meine sings a delicate psychedelic melody over the instruments, before Schenker's leads puncture the track. The song sounds like a bit of a cacophony, as each instrument seems to be vying for the control of the track in terms of loudness. Not a huge fan of the production on the track, but a decent song. The outro section of the song is quite trippy though, a nice highlight and a heavy closer to a pretty mellow song.

   "Inheritance" is a fairly spaced-out track, like the rest of the album. The bass work is incredible, very intricate and slippery. Thundering drums remind of Black Sabbath, and clearly the baddest band from Birmingham had a influence on the young boys from Hanover. Very jazzy and jammy at the same time, the reflects the air of "space-rock" that permeated European rock bands during the early 1970s. The operatic vocals are quite haunting, and are a true highlight of this very unusual song. Like most early songs by the band, it often break into a jam, but with Schenker on the leads and Heimberg on the bass you really could do worse in terms of listening to a band jam. "Action" is a bizarre song, even for this album.  The first half of the song is a fairly jazz-pop song, much in the vein of The Guess Who or other quasi-jazz rock bands. Half-way, the song shifts into a blues song.

   The album closes with the title track. "Lonesome Crow" is certainly an oddball of a Scorpions song. The track begins with song horror movie-like sound effects, very creepy. A fairly heavy riff does come in, with Klaus Meine wailing over some crunchy Schenker leads. Immensely busy bass-lines give Schenker a run for his money, with Heimber being one of the most talented rock bassists of recent memory in terms of producing amazingly complex lines. Drummer Wolfgang Dziony also delivers a stellar performance, a very capable drummer. The song closes with a lengthy jazz-rock jam, with some truly ethereal sounds produced on the guitar by Schenker. A great close to a strange album.

  "Lonesome Crow" is the most progressive album by the band. At times jazzy, often spacy, and nearly devoid of anything resembling a pop song, the album will certainly turn off fans of 1980' Scorpions and song such as Wind of Change and Rock You Like a Hurricane. But for fans of 1970's space-rock, early metal, and progressive rock will certainly find something to like about this odd album. Never dull sonically speaking, the album may lack a "hit", but it is an interesting and trippy ride. Pick it up, if you have an adventurous mind.

Rating-7.5/10