Días De Blues - Días De Blues (Uruguay - Blues Rock, Heavy Psych - 1972)

Good group of Heavy Blues Rock, much to the Cream. After the break-up of Opus Alfa in 1972, the keyboard player returned to his job as sound engineer, the singer went solo and Bertolone, Barral and Graf Formed the Blues power trio days.
Live shows time immediately Began, endorsed by the excellent background reputations of the members.
Their music, an absolutely wild and raw mixture of drug-induced hyper electric blues with progressive socially concerned lyrics, was influenced by Cream, Led Zeppelin and Cactus.
Their only LP, recorded in Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the end of 1972, captures the roughness and vitality of their concerts like few groups ever managed to.

 

Original Cover

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Blind Faith - Blind Faith (UK - Blues Rock - 1969)

What to speak of a band that, even before officially announcing its formation, it was idolized by fans and press, surrounded by so great an expectation that their members, making fun of themselves, chose the name "Blind Faith" to name it?
After being part of the Yardbirds and present the music of black Americans for white British boys, recording one of the most important albums of the decade alongside Bluesbrakers John Mayall and take the rock to its limits with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker in Cream, Eric Clapton found himself at a crossroads: he could get in a band, form your own group or go solo. They were all possibilities.The Blind Faith came about almost by chance. In search of fun, Clapton invited his friend Steve Winwood, and together they began to take a few jams. Ginger Baker learned of the contract, and wanted to join the duo. The principle Clapton was against, it was of the opinion that the presence of Baker transformed what was to be a simple gathering of friends into something much bigger, but was overcome by the insistence of the drummer and Winwood. Tests drizzled long improvisations were emerging the first ideas for some original songs as well as the need for a bassist to complete the group. Rick Grech of Family, was offered and accepted immediately. Thus was born the Blind Faith, the first supergroup in rock history.

The news that the four were writing together soon leaked, causing a great expectation in the press and fans, who prophesied that soon Clapton, Winwood, Baker and Grech would record one of the best rock albums that would see the birth.Despite the hype, they were not wrong. The absolute belief that led the four to baptize the group as Blind Faith, materialized with the release of self-titled debut in July 1969. The album is spiked on two solid foundations: the beautiful "Can not Find My Way Home" and the anthology "Presence Of The Lord". The first is nothing less than the best record of Steve Winwood, one of the most beautiful voices that gave the world rock. About guitar Clapton, Winwood gives us a beautiful vocal line, alternating moments using your voice in a natural way the falsetto anthologies. The result is stupendous, justifying in its fullness the preconceptions about the group.

Already "Presence Of The Lord" is the talk of Clapton with one with which it was compared. Sung magnificently by Winwood, became one of the most iconic songs of guitarist, both for its beautiful letter and by soil filled with unforgettable wah-wah, where Clapton seems to show that, despite the advent of Jimi Hendrix, still possessed some tricks up his sleeve. 
In addition to "Can not Find My Way Home" and "Presence Of The Lord", four tracks complete the debut of Blind Faith. "Hard To Cry Today", the opening track, is a hard one as it was in the late sixties, and whose revenue is lost with time. "Well All Right" puts groove in the group's sound, with an end result that anticipated the ways that sunny trilharia Clapton on albums such as 461 Ocean Boulevard. The beautiful violin solo performed by Rick Grech on "Sea Of Joy" is another unforgettable moment, while the long "Do What You Like" brings individual solos of each member, especially Ginger Baker.

Besides music, Blind Faith brought another attraction. Its cover, where the daughter of Baker posed bare-chested and holding a plane beyond phallic, caused great controversy at the time, generating even banning the sale of the album in the United States, which led the label to release an exclusive version for the American market, with a photo of the group in place of the original cover.After the album's release, the group, surrounded by entrepreneurs, scheduled and held a U.S. tour. The pressure increased, commitments too, and when they saw the four were again living what he did not want to live when they met to play together. What a pleasure it was to be turned into endless obligations, and it took four to enact the end of the band.After almost forty years of its release, Blind Faith is still one of the highest points in the careers of Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker and Rick Grech. An album that is worth (re) discovered, along with live London Hyde Park in 1969, which came out in video and shows the presentation of the guys at the legendary English park.Much more than recommended, historical.

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Zior - Zior (UK - Heavy Psych - 1971)

An obscure progressive/heavy rock group whose debut album has few memorable moments but has become quite collectable because of the label it's on. The vocals are poor, the composition's weak and the playing is ponderous. The pick of a poor batch are I Really Do, Za Za Za Zilda (also released as a 45), Love's Desire and Oh Mariya, but all four were in a similar, rather flat, heavy rock style.
The See For Miles album reissue includes five previously unreleased tracks from a second projected album which never saw daylight. The best of these was Strange Kind Of Magic, which had a good voodoo beat and some distorted guitar. Overall, they were stronger than the material on the original album. Cat's Eyes had some decent heavy rock guitar riffs. The CD featured three additional tracks to the album but I can only really recommend this to Zior and Black Sabbath fans.
Zior had their roots in Southend's early sixties R&B scene. Kevin Bonsor had previously been in a local R&B outfit, The Essex Five, and then classical/rock fusion outfit, Cardboard Orchestra. Pete Brewer had been in another Southend R&B band, The Night Riders. He and Bonsor were Zior's founding members recruiting Truba and Skeels (who'd once played in a London band called The Bum) via a 'Melody Maker' advert.
Zior did have a reputation as a wild live band. They were heavily into Black Magic and Satanic Mass etc. They recorded an album on the Beacon label, later in 1971, which was credited to Monument, though in fact it featured all four members of Zior.

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Luis Alberto Spinetta - Spinettalandia y sus Amigos (Argentina - Psychedelic Rock - 1971)

Luis Alberto Spinetta was an Argentine musician of high standing and well known in Latin America, revolutionized rock music in his country with "Almendra", played heavy blues rock with "Pescado Rabioso", with "Invisible" exploded his creativity with progressive rock and jazz.
Well, we will not see an album of him in these groups today, today we will review what was his first solo album, called at first for his album "Almendra", then "La búsqueda de la estrella" and "Spinettalandia y sus amigos". The story behind the release of Luis Alberto Spinetta's first solo album is a bit strange, and it shows clearly two different mentalities: the honest -even innocent- artist and his work, and the underhand and merely commercial company that releases and distributes that work. The aim of the artist, if there is something valuable in him in the first place, will be the hallucination and the beauty just for the sake of it, and justified in it, without any second intention.
On the other hand, the responsibility of those media (labels, companies, men in suits, CEO's, technocracy, commercial plausibility, numbers) should be reduced to a simple distribution and diffusion of the artist's work, nothing more, respecting the work as the artist conceived it and created it to be showed to public consideration.
On the late 1970 Spinetta disbanded his project Almendra, they recorded two albums for RCA Victor Argentina, the RCA (Argentine branch) said to Spinetta that the band still owed the company one album, according to a contract (contract which apparently was for three albums), Almendra didn't exist anymore in the early 1971, but they insisted, so Spinetta decided to record an album, exclusively to solve the contractual demand.
Is interesting how this story continued, cause for me, it shows two clear vital philosophies: the cold commercialism vs. the simple art.
Spinetta was back then involved in a loose project "that some day could come true" with guitarist Pappo, and drummer "Pomo" Lorenzo, it was a heavy psych power trio, "Agresivos", Pappo on guitar, Pomo on drums & Spinetta on bass and vocals; the RCA contract gap was the opportunity for "Agresivos" to crystallize their LP, so Luis penned a bunch of songs in a weekend, plus some Pappo's tracks that were added, and there the album was created, and they quickly recorded it, with the help of a friend: Miguel Abuelo, on tambourine, flute & backing vocals.
The album was presented to the RCA authorities, including 11 tracks, an artwork, and a title: "Spinettalandia y sus amigos", and it was not an Almendra album.
Actually Spinetta was pretty fed up with all this affair of the contract, debts etc, and decided to record something rare, experimental and acid that, in his own words "they (the RCA) couldn't sell to anybody".
The RCA declined the release of this stuff, the album was archived, and Spinetta, tired of Argentina, flew to Europe, that was March of 1971.While Spinetta was in Europe (April, May, June, July?) the RCA released the album suddenly, but in their own terms: they 'entitled it' "Almendra" unilaterally, and the cover showed a photograph of the Almendra's members, who didn't participate in the record at all, an absolute nonsense with commercial intentions, and especially, a clear example of the disrespect that the corporations showed for the rock musicians (and for the fans) back then in Argentina, selling a misleading and false product.The rest of the Almendra's ex-members, Rodolfo García, Emilio del Güercio & Edelmiro Molinari, along with a returned -and surprised- Spinetta took legal actions, the album was withdrawn from the record stores.
And that was, basically, the turbulent solo debut of Luis Alberto Spinetta... the record was reissued as "La búsqueda de la estrella", "Luis Alberto Spinetta" and, finally in the digital era, it was released on CD with the cover and title that Spinetta originally gave it: "Spinettalandia y sus amigos".
Listening to this album is, in part, like listening to the first Pappo's Blues, the Pappo's additions and presence are too imperative here to ignore them, especially on the hard rock cuts penned by him, "Castillo de piedra", and "Era de tontos".
Strangely, in the copy I own (a vintage tape of "La búsqueda de la estrella"), "Castillo de piedra" is credited as a Spinetta's song... Pappo would record it, as well, with different lyrics and arrangements on his second LP "Pappo's Blues 2", as "Tema I", months later.
This album, intended in the first place by Spinetta to be a simple contractual obligation (mixed with willingly experimental pleasure with friends), is divided among the hard rock, the psychedelia and a considerable acoustic element... the Spinetta's usually great lyrics are not so inspired here, though the rocks featured have a cool and groovy feel a la Black Sabbath of "Master of reality", sounding like some insane 1971's stoner rock.

Among the folk-ish tracks, "Ni cuenta te das" it's a fine exercise in the vein of "Led Zeppelin III", same as the acoustic instrumental "Tema de Pedro", the lucid "La búsqueda de la estrella", or the vehement and lysergically beautiful "Dame, dame pan" (give me, give me bread).
The psych-folk and nightmare-like "Vamos al bosque" is possibly the climax of the LP, track which is spiritually linked to the dyonisiac journey "Estrella".
This LP, with its multiple titles, issues and album covers, it's like a wild testament from the Argentine rock 70s' scene, mixing in a same bag, musicians whose own environmental deficiencies extracted, surely by force, a huge potential in creativity ideas and poetry, and a local industry, idiotic, flat, mediocre, old, pathetic, commercial and horrible, which was surely obstacle for the pure development of the spirit, obstacle that created muscle and hardened carcasses.
Today, Luis Alberto Spinetta is not that post-adolescent that the RCA fucked anymore, he's a sort of national symbol in Argentina, a nationwide bard decorated by the authorities, sort of Borges of the rock music, the Sony-BMG CEO's are younger than him today, and wouldn't dare to modify a comma of his albums, now you tell me who won.

Original Cover

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Dzjenghis Khan - Hey You! (USA - Heavy Psych - 2009)

Lots of fuzz , muddy bass  and a sound that reminds you of late 60s psychedelic bluesrock power. The name of the bass-player  "Binksebus Eruptum" gives a acurate discription of what to expect.
If you are a fan of Blue Cheer ,  give it a spinn!

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El Reloj - La Esencia Es La Misma (Argentina - Heavy Prog - 1983)

Such a weak and isolated album in the El Reloj discography, barely 31 minutes of prog rock, quite old-fashioned for 1983, and with some "80s" device added to the sound. This third album was a comeback for this band after long years, devised by guitarist & main man Willy Gardi, and featuring a new line up, although listening to "La esencia es la misma" I realize that their 70s' stuff was quite better.

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El Reloj - El Reloj II (Argentina - Heavy Prog - 1976)

The second album of this Argentine band, El Reloj, succinctly entitled "El Reloj II", is pretty less interesting than the self-titled debut; the songs are less inspired, with many progressive-jazzy moments, and again very good musicianship.
Nonetheless being a good-quality work, the songwriting gets too abstruse, and everything seems to turn around the progressive instrumental passages and the excesses of virtuoso.
Even so there is time for some real good song, among these 10 cuts that make up "El Reloj II", such the 11-minute "La ciudad desconocida" (the unknown city), fine track, though dark, like the whole album.
"Harto y confundido" is another enjoyable track, with more of the jazzy vibe that dominates the record, and lyrics about the psychologic and the obscure, but little more actually.
Admittedly "El Reloj II" is quite a pompous album, but is a nocturnal pomposity, arcane, full of a heavy prog/jazz and istrumental tracks that are mostly dissatisfying. Good quality, complex and overall dark, though not really focusing on a real good songwriting: so might be described this "El Reloj II", the album cover and its intriguing and night-time feel keep some appeal.

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El Reloj - El Reloj (Argentina - Heavy Prog - 1975)

The self-titled, debut album of  this band from Buenos Aires, Argentina: El Reloj, features a 70s hard rock, with echoes of Deep Purple especially; and also certain progressive rock touches, and Black Sabbath specks intertwined in its aural recipe; nonetheless the personality of the band is stronger than its influences, staying quite far from the cheap mimicry.
El Reloj were a quintet: Osvaldo Zabala on rhythm guitar, Eduardo Frezza on vocals and bass, Luis Valenti on keyboards, Juan 'Locomotora' Espósito on drums (later in Boxer and the Pappo's band), and the late Willy Gardi on the lead guitar; the musicianship is a bit 'pretentious' for the hard rock standards, though very good of course, and the songs are compelling enough: "Obertura/El viejo Serafín", "Hijo del sol y de la tierra", the great "Alguien más en quien confiar" (featuring a long organ intro), or the long "Blues del atardecer", all these are more than good cuts of  mid 70s heavy rock, always with an indistinctly melancholic mood, and overall showcasing shifting tempos, sometimes a little abstruse, borderline (or decidedly) progressive.
"Blues del atardecer", which ends in a long drums' solo, flows into the last track: "Haciendo blues y jazz", a bit less interesting than the rest of the album and, as its title says, hard rock with a bluesy and jazzy savour.
In spite of the rather weak vocals of Eduardo Frezza, "El Reloj" is a robust album of 70s hard rock, indisputably good in songwriting and musicianship.
The CD editions come enhanced with 4 bonus tracks: two alt. versions of songs included on the original vinyl, and two tracks more, that belong to an old single: "El mandato/Vuelve el día a reinar".

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Pentagram - Livin' In A Ram's Head/When The Screams Come (USA - Traditional Doom Metal - 1979)

Bobby Liebling is a living legend, fame eluded him in the 70s with the first incarnation of Pentagram. Liebling and company made ​​devil's music, with influences such Black Sabbath and The Stooges; amalgamated have made ​​possible the birth of Doom Metal. Those first years were very hard for the group: They were rejected by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of Kiss, lost a recording contract with the producer of Blue Öyster Cult (all this bizarre personality Bobby), in short, must be many anecdotes that have not yet been told about the history of one of the most overlooked bands in time.

The early Pentagram threw their leader, after this, Liebling joined with drummer Joe Hasselvander and then they were joined by members of a band called Death Row, they would be Victor Griffin and Lee Abney. They, then without Lee Abney, would take the cult album for fans of Doom, black cover with purple letters with the name of the band.
The Doom is present here with the first single true Doom Metal, the most emblematic songs of the band, such as Livin 'in a Ram's Head and When The Screams Come.

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Pinnacle - Assasin (UK - Heavy Prog - 1974)

Actually, more of a prog rock album with some hard rock leanings. The keyboards (Farfisa organ and moog) pretty much carry this one. The vocals are a bit on the weak side, but musically it’s fairly strong for a low-budget prog album. Would have definitely been better had they had a Hammond (and better production), it would have set these songs to “kill,” not merely “stun.” Skip’em and stick with the main album tracks.

These guys where certainly onto a fairly early metal sound somewhat similar to early Judas Priest and Deep Purple, although I'm pretty sure this bands real biggest influence was the mighty Hawkwind.

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Bulbous Creation - You Won't Remember Dying (USA - Heavy Psych - 1970)

Talk about Bulbous Creation is the same as talk about a great finding. A relic found in the middle of the limbo and rescued by a small label called Rockadelic. It’s estimated that You Won't Remember Dying had been recorded between the late sixties and early seventies. However, the produced material remained shelved. It just got released in 1994.

It’s very hard to find more information about the band. It’s speculated that they are from Kansas, United States. Just it... Not even the names of the members are known. It includes the record cover. The sinister picture was drawn by Rockadelic.

Too bad this album wasn’t released with the dignity that Bulbous Creation deserved, because the band showed great skills and deserved a professional sound quality.

Those guys play a dense Hard Rock pulled to the Heavy Psych. With a very dark atmosphere, it’s possible to see a little of Black Sabbath in their early days. The lyrics are also heavy, covering topics such as Vietnam War, heroin and Satanism. Still, some moments are lighter, with smooth Blues passages.

Apparently there are two vocalists, the first one with a more severe and sober tone and the second one with an acute and nasal voice. I enjoy more the first one. The second one exaggerates in certain screams and screeches your brain.

From the peaceful Stormy Monday's Blues, trough the tenebrous Heavy Psych from Satan, You Won't Remember Dying is a treat, a disc that unfortunately was hidden for a long time among dusty tapes and old recordings. But, around 25 years later, it had the deserved attention.

Better late than never, is not what they say?


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