Saturday, October 13, 2007

Hit a few more bumps, but I think I have my shit together

Let's hope so anyway. It took long enough!!




Back to the tuneage.


Up first in a line of stuff that will hopefully please many of you, is yet another in a line of albums by the UK prog-rock band Babe Ruth. This is Kid's Stuff, from 1976 and while not as strong as their early albums like First Base, still manages not to disappoint completely. Shorter songs, more pop direction and a general lack of adventure dogs this one a bit, but this band had talent and they maintained it until the end.

And yet another in a long line of IF lps I've posted over the last year or so. This one is 1975's Tea Break Over...Back On Your "Eads. If you enjoyed the recently posted "Not Just Another Bunch of Pretty Faces" then this one won't disappoint.
This album from 1970 is one of my new favorites. Created by one Sixto Rodriguez, a man with a huge myth, who was extremely popular outside the U.S. (Australia for one) this album was a kiss off of sorts to a girl. Consider the era it was released in as you listen and you'll have no trouble figuring out why an album with this kind of sentiment wasn't doing big business at the retail counter. Love, peace and harmony are just the tip of what you AREN'T going to find in these grooves.
What you will find however is some very good rock, often hard rock with some biting lyrics and some very good songs. Give it a try!!
And finally for today, When the Raven Has Come to the Earth, a 1971 LP by the mysterious Strawberry Path. I gotta say it is one of the most visually unstimulating album covers I've had the pleasure of laying my corneas on. But this is a great smoking Japanese hard rock band with a singer who mildly resembles Tony Ashton, a keyboardist who ripped a page out of the Jon Lord playbook and a guitarist who hits on any number of early 70s rock axeslingers but still manages to make it sound fresh and yes, the man rips mightily song after song. Great fuzzed out rhythms and sharp stinging lead work are top shelf. Overall very good blues based early 70s hard rock with some mild prog touches.
And there is more to come, and now that I have things a bit more under control I will do my best to update more regularly (for awhile at least--until the roadblock appears!!). And keep the requests comin'. I'll see what I can do.