1306. Black Sabbath / Sabotage. 1975. 4.5/5

Five albums into their career, and while Black Sabbath the band seemed to be going from strength to strength musically, off the stage they had come across some problems. They had played at the California Jam in January 1974 in front of 200,000 people, but had received barely a pittance as payment for the gig. Eventually they realised that the band, through manager Patrick Meehan, had been paid $US250,000 for their performance, but had only received $1,000 each as their share of the proceeds. This then led to more outrageous discoveries for the four bandmates, including that all of their property including their houses and cars were all owned by Meehan, and that they literally owned nothing themselves. This revelation saw the band decide to sack Meehan and hire Don Arden as their new manager, something that created a two year battle through the courts to not only try and sever their previous arrangement but also try and recoup lost royalties and payments. This album was written and recorded in the midst of this legal battle, with Meehan suing the band for unlawful dismissal. It was during this period that the band began to question if there was any point to recording albums and touring endlessly "just to pay the lawyers". All of this was obviously putting enormous strain and pressure on the band, and eventually inspired the title of the album “Sabotage” as they felt that these issues were creating a detrimental effect on trying to put together the album and tour.
In regards to the production of the album itself, it was co-produced by guitarist Tony Iommi and Mike Butcher. Iommi wrote in his autobiography about the time: “We produced “Sabotage” ourselves. The band disappeared most of the time so it was sort of left to me and the engineer. I got more and more involved with the production side of things, but it wasn’t like I would sit there and tell the other guys what to do, because they knew what to play, they put their parts to it. I just spent a lot more time in the studio because, when it came to doing the guitar bits or mixing, it would take longer and I’d be more into it than they were. I didn’t mind so much. I’d be there to the death”.
In the book “The Story of Black Sabbath: Wheels of Confusion”, Iommi again reflected, "We could've continued and gone on and on, getting more technical, using orchestras and everything else, which we didn't particularly want to. We took a look at ourselves, and we wanted to do a rock album – “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” wasn't a rock album, really”. And while both Iommi and drummer Bill Ward appeared to enjoy the recording sessions for the album, Ozzy Osbourne was obviously growing frustrated with how long Black Sabbath albums were taking to record, as quoted in his autobiography, "Sabotage took about four thousand years”.
Under all of this stress and strain, the band managed to find a way to get the album together, and to release their sixth album, the aforementioned “Sabotage”.

From the opening bars of the opening track, you can tell something is going on here with Black Sabbath. Because although they have had dozens of great songs up to this point of their career when they recorded “Sabotage”, and they had had songs with attitude and heavy riffs and amazing stylistic bass riffs through them – nothing quite prepares you for the opening of “Hole in the Sky”. Yes, that opening riff is a beauty, great tones from Iommi once again, and Geezer’s bassline immediately bounds to the front of the mix to hammer home that initial heavy interaction. But my word Bill Ward is hitting those drums and cymbals BLOODY HARD! He has done some remarkable things on previous albums, but this is a John Bonham styled attack on his instrument early on. The brilliance of the ‘go your own way’ style of guitar and bass during the chorus is amazingly composed and played. How do you come up with those two different riffing's and yet make it sound so awesome? The tempo holds together throughout the track, and Ward’s drum skin and cymbals must have had to have been replaced following the recording of the song. Anyone who doubted the direction this album was heading in knows full well at the conclusion of the first song.
And yet, even after all of these years, I question the decision to insert the 49 seconds of “Don’t Start (Too Late)” between the opening track and the one that is listed at number three on Side A of the album. The instrumental interlude, in the context of what has come and what is to follow, just doesn’t make any sense. Sure, let’s listen to Tony twiddle away on his guitar in a quite interlude that is nothing more than an interruption to the magnificence that is coming forth out of the speakers. It is not the first time the band has offered us these little nooks between tracks. Some work OK though the albums would be better off without them. Here on “Sabotage”, “Don’t Start (Too Late)” actually does sabotage what should have been a great abrupt ending to the opening track that then hit straight into what should have been the follow up track. That song, is “Symptom of the Universe”. And if they had done that, this album may well have been untouchable.
I still get the same feeling listening to the start of “Symptom of the Universe” as I did when I first heard it, all those years ago. That opening riff from Tony is so simple and yet so incredible. From the outset, it is what you expect that heavy metal is. And then the bass and drums join in to drive the power even further. But come on – that rolling drum solo from Bill Ward that comes in... have you ever tried to play that the same way Bill does? I suspect Bill was never able to play it the same way twice when it came to recording it either, but when you listen carefully to it, it is so incredibly unobtainable it just makes this song unique. It almost sounds out of time, and yet he pulls it back at the right moment to kick back into that hard hitting 2/4 time where, like he did on the opening track, he is hitting those damn things so hard. The drumming on this song once again highlights how important Bill Ward was on these early Black Sabbath albums. And then Ozzy chimes in, in that higher than high tone that sadly disqualified him from singing it in later years when he couldn’t reach those heights. In his autobiography, Iommi has this to say: “Sabotage has a couple of unusual tracks, like ‘Symptom of the Universe’. That has been described as the first progressive metal song, and I won’t disagree with that. It starts with an acoustic bit, then it goes into the up-tempo stuff to give it that dynamic, and it does have a lot of changes to it, including the jam at the end. That last bit was made up in the studio. We did the track and after that finished, we just started jamming. I started playing this riff, the others joined in, we kept it going and we ended up keeping it. Then I overdubbed it with acoustic guitar. A few things we’ve recorded came from jams like that. We’d just keep going on the thing and so the end of the song sometimes became longer than the song itself”. This is one of the great songs, to me one of five that I would suggest a person unfamiliar with this era of Sabbath has to listen to if they want to know what the band was like.
(War Pigs, Children of the Grave, After Forever, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Symptom of the Universe)
And then, to complete side one of the album we have “Megalomania”, perhaps and underrated song or a slightly forgotten song of this era of Sabbath. It doesn’t often get brought up in conversation, it rarely appears in best-of compilations, and it is a mystery as to why this occurs. The sprawling almost-ten minute journey is the true beginning of the journey to progressive metal. The 3 minute slow burn to open the track, with Ozzy’s sinister vocals along with piano and synth adding in underneath, then bursts forth with Iommi’s great riff and Ozzy’s vocals shattering into the highest echelons of his range, chanting and pontificating as the song grows into the powerful beast it becomes, with Geezer’s bass riffing under the chorus running up and down the fretboard, and Tony’s solo offering as surprising as it is brilliant. It is a wonderful track which really does showcase Ozzy’s vocals at their best. Iommi's final thoughts on the song in his autobiography were: “A lot of our songs tended to be long anyway. Like ‘Megalomania’: we carried on and on with that until we just faded it out. Some of those tracks were probably twice as long as you hear on the album, but we had to fade them out”.
Side 2 opens with “The Thrill of it All”, and Geezer lyrics are really throwing curveballs during this track. “Inclination of direction, walk the turned and twisted drift,
with the children of creation, futuristic dreams we sift
Clutching violently we whisper with a liquefying cry
Any identify the answers that are surely doomed to die”
One of the things that has always struck me about some of Ozzy’s vocals in this song is that they have a real Lennon/McCartney vibe about them, especially in the ‘oh yeah... OH YEAH!” part of the song. Ozzy has always professed to have loved The Beatles and while it was unlikely to be his intention that familiarity always strikes me here. This is followed by the mostly instrumental track “Supertzar”, that has the backing of an English choir to create the atmosphere that the band was looking for. Iommi commented in his autobiography: “I wrote ‘Supertzar’ at home with a Mellotron, to create choir sounds. I put heavy guitar to that and it really blended well. I thought, I’d love to try this in the studio, it would be great if we could use a real choir”.
The album’s only single release was “Am I Going Insane (Radio)”, probably the only track here that had any chance of getting airplay given the wonderful heaviness of the rest of the collected tracks. It’s a simple song with some synth thrown in that may help it sound a bit more commercial from what has come before it on the album. There is no outstanding drum fills of bass line, and Tony’s guitar for the most part is quite muted. Reportedly Ozzy was disappointed with both of these songs, and there is a certain amount of truth to the fact that they are completely different to the rest of the songs on the album.
The album concludes with “The Writ”, one of only a handful of Black Sabbath songs to feature lyrics composed by Ozzy, who typically relied on Geezer for lyrics. As will be obvious to those that knew of what was happening around the band at the time, the song was inspired by the frustrations Ozzy felt at the time over their court problems with their former manager. Ozzy noted in his autobiography: "I wrote most of the lyrics myself, which felt a bit like seeing a shrink. All the anger I felt towards Meehan came pouring out”. Thematically, "The Writ" and "Megalomania" are intertwined, according to Bill Ward, as they both deal with the same tensions arising from these ongoing legal troubles. “The Writ” is long tome venting the bands feelings about how their ordeal had been affecting them during this whole time, and interesting change from topics that the band had usually focused on in their songwriting. It is an openly sore wound that finishes off this album in the style that you would hope for an album that deserves its status as one of the band’s best.

For anyone who has not already done so, the podcast titled And Volume for All, hosted by the outrageously talented Quinn, did several episodes on the original iteration of Black Sabbath in season one of said podcast back at the end of 2022, including talking about the album “Sabotage”. I highly recommend that you listen to those if you love amazing podcasts and especially on heavy metal. It is the best music podcast on the planet, and if you aren’t listening, then start now. You can thank me later.
I actually came to Black Sabbath AFTER I had first discovered both Ozzy Osbourne and Dio, and worked my way backwards through the Dio helmed albums “Heaven and Hell” and “Mob Rules”. It wasn’t a deliberate thing, just all a part of my own journey in discovering heavy metal music, which if you are interested, I outline on bonus Patreon only episodes available on that platform. You can find the link in the show notes.
On that journey, “Sabotage” arrived. I don’t really remember in what order I originally heard the eight albums of the band's original formation, but they were all within several months of each other. And as most of you listening to this album would know, there is a wonderful mixture and changes of style and substance about the songs on each album. The way that this foursome continued to try and change the wheel as they moved from album to album, adding and subtracting to the pieces they composed, is what made them the innovators they were during the 1970’s. They weren’t afraid of composing in jam sessions and changing course within a song or a slew of songs. And that is no different here on “Sabotage”. You can feel the aggression that comes on songs such as “Hole in the Sky” and “Symptom of the Universe” and “The Writ”. You can sense the desire to try new things on songs such as “Supertzar”, and the freeforming way they came up with ideas such as on “Megalomania”. In what must have been the most difficult circumstances to try and get in a headspace to write and record an album with everything swirling around them – they came up with this album. The first side of the album in particular for me is immense, amazing, incredible. Those songs – ignoring the 49 seconds between the opening tracks – contains everything wonderful about this band, and for me certainly some of Bill Ward’s finest work.
I have had the album out for the past couple of weeks – indeed, as we have just seen a few weeks ago the final concert appearance of the original Black Sabbath, I have had all eight of those original albums out over the course of the past few weeks again. And they are all amazing. But listening more closely to “Sabotage” because of this podcast episode, it again has struck me just what an amazing album this is.
Changes of substance came over the next two releases, ones that sometimes create conversations over their content, and it remains obvious that tensions created over the issues that were faced here eventually contributed to the parting of this foursome. But on this particular album, everything was running at full steam, and creating some of their best material of all.

1282. Led Zeppelin / Physical Graffiti. 1975. 2.5/5

In 1973, Led Zeppelin released their fifth studio album, “Houses of the Holy”, an album that deviated from what had come before in their catalogue to include further improvisation and experimentation with the use of synthesisers and mellotron orchestration. The result of this was... worldwide acclaim... as if they hadn’t already become used to this kind of reception. The album topped charts worldwide, and the subsequent tour of North America in 1973 broke attendance records, including the one show record of over 56,000 people in Tampa Bay which outstripped the previous best held by The Beatles. Three sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City were filmed for a motion picture, which was released as “The Song Remains the Same” in 1976. On the back of all of this, the band decided to take a break from touring in 1974 and instead launched their own record label called Swan Song.
It wasn’t until the end of 1974 that the band reunited and began to look at writing songs for the follow up album. They returned to the site of the writing and recording of their fourth studio album, Headley Grange in Hampshire. It was during these sessions that Jimmy Page and John Bonham recorded an instrumental track that would eventually become the basis of the song “Kashmir”, one of the band best known songs. However, these sessions ground to a halt far quicker than expected, and the band left the premises. At the time the press reported that the abrupt end had come because of an illness to John Paul Jones. Eventually the truth came out, which was that Jones had become disillusioned with the group as a whole and touring in particular and was reevaluating whether he wanted to remain in the band. He told their manager that he was considering quitting, who then asked him to reconsider his decision and instead take another two months off in order to rest and come back with a clear head. There was no guarantee that this was going to happen, but come the start of the new year, Jones returned.
The four members of Led Zeppelin were back at Headley Grange in January and February 1974, where they recorded eight tracks. Lead singer Robert Plant in later interviews referred to these eight tracks as "the belters,". The reason that the band had returned to Headley Grange was because of the informal atmosphere that the property held for them, which allowed the group to improvise and develop material while they were recording. It was very much a group writing experience, with songs played and rehearsed together before sitting down and discussing the elements that could be improved or left out altogether. Drummer John Bonham became a driving force at the sessions, regularly suggesting ideas or the best ways in which a complicated arrangement could be played successfully. It led to a feeling during this time of the album being the concept of the whole group rather than a patchwork of individuals and their individual songs.
The eight songs composed and recorded here extended beyond the length of a conventional album, almost spanning three sides of an LP, which led to the band deciding that they would create a double album, rather than trying to edit out songs they had already written. To do this, they delved back to material that they had recorded during other albums that had not been used or released at that time. These were re-recorded for the new album, which stretched the release time out further. On top of this, despite hoping to release the album at the end of 1974, further delays meant that it finally saw the light of day in February of 1975, some 16 months after the iitial sessions had begun.What the music listening world wanted to know however, was whether the wait was going to be worth it?...

The album kicks off with the heavy thunder of 'Custard Pie', a statement opener that is packed with Jimmy Page riffing on guitar and those hard thumping Joh Bonham drums. Lyrically there’s plenty here that reminds you of a latter day Whitesnake attribution from David Coverdale with innuendo and double entendre gathering momentum. Page’s guitar solo is a beauty, while the requisite harmonica from Plant doesn’t disappoint. A great opening to the album. Further goodness comes in the form of “The Rover” which is the first of the older tracks, originally written as an acoustic track as early as 1970 and messed around with several times since then before landing here on “Physical Graffiti”. It has a great rhythm and guitar riff throughout, nicely driven by the bass underneath from John Paul Jones and Bonham’s driving drumming. Some overdubbing of guitars was done here, but it isn’t noticeable that it came from different album sessions than this one.
“In My Time of Dying” is a long blues extension, another of those traditional old blues songs that Led Zeppelin would borrow from and then from that make their own song out of it. Now while it was mostly done live in the studio, and is considered one of the defining tracks on the album, there are those people out there who would have a drawing problem with the length of the track. At just over 11 minutes in length it does test the patience of the casual listener. There are some good pieces within the framework of the song but it does draw out towards infinity in places.
“Houses of the Holy” kicks starts side two of the double album and was initially written and recorded for the previous album which carried the same name. Apparently, the reason it wasn’t used for that album was because of its similarity to other songs already crafted. It is a benefit to this album that it was available, as it is one of the better songs here. That same similar style is also prevalent on “Trampled Underfoot”, a song which John Paul Jones openly admits was inspired by Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition'. The clavinet gives the song a bouncy funky feel, with Bonham instrumental in rearranging the originally composed track to give a more upbeat style rather than the soul sound it first inhabited.
One of the most recognisable riffs in music history is follows with the epic and truly wonderful 'Kashmir'. Full of that eastern music direction that brings in the mellotron alongside the strings and brass sections and the basic attention grabbing rhythm of the band itself, this is a song that barely fails to deliver, a song that touches nerves and sends tingles down the spine listening to even, even today so many years on. It is arguably the band’s finest moment, combining everything they had brought to the table up to this point of their careers, and doubling down to create a song with such atmosphere and depth of feeling that it is hard to dismiss.
The second LP of this release probably does not live up to the excellence of the first LP. “In the Light” is very much the accomplishment of John Paul Jones. He takes the lead on the song, wrote most of it and plays some tremendous keyboards and synthesizer throughout. His influence was so great on the song that although Robert Plant wanted to play it live, Jones refused, saying he couldn't recreate the synth effects outside a studio environment. Interestingly, Jimmy Page has also stated that it is his favourite song from the album. It is another 8 minutes plus song on the album, and one that does split the fan base because of its tendency to overstay its welcome. The short instrumental 'Bron-Y-Aur' follows and is a standard acoustic workout for Page. “Down by the Seaside” was originally an acoustic track and was recorded for the fourth album but left off. It may have been considered too similar to 'Going To California' and would likely have received more recognition had it been included on that album. “Ten Years Gone” features a great vocal from Plant and multiple guitar tracks from Page. While the song barely gets out of second gear at any point of the track, it still has a creation of all four main instruments. Then comes “Night Flight” which was another track initially recorded at the sessions for the fourth album and also has the feel of that album. Once again, there is a noted similarity to songs that were performed on that album, which perhaps explains why it was left over until this album. The harder and more likely tempo returns with “The Wanton Song”, a song that has more similar tones that Led Zeppelin of the past have harped on, and with more in common with bands such as Deep Purple and Rainbow of that period.
Then... what the hell is “Boogie with Stu” doing on this album? For the life of me, if you wanted to add tracks and are using unused recording sessions from previous albums, surely there would be something better than this? Not only this, but it was also a jam session with former Rolling Stones keyboardist Ian Stewart, and based around the tune of a Richie Valens song “Ooh my Head” (which the band then failed to credit on the album, which once again saw the band in court).
"Black Country Woman” was recorded outside in Mick Jagger's garden, hence the talk of aeroplanes at the beginning and was initially recorded for inclusion on the “Houses of the Holy” album, but eventually found its way onto this album. And the album closes with 'Sick Again' which runs along a similar vein to the album opener, with slide guitar and changes in tempo that combines with the sometimes rampant drums and guitar that collide on their way out of the speakers. It comes across as an intermittent closure to the album, and one that is a topic of discussion amongst the bigger fan base.

My enjoyment of Led Zeppelin’s catalogue is still a work in progress. They were not a band I picked up on early, either pre-metal or post-metal eras of my music listening life. My parents didn’t listen to them, nor any of my parents friends that I can think of. By the latter days of high school, I certainly knew the band and their most well-known dozen songs, but the albums were very much a mystery to me. I bought the “Remasters” collection when it was released in 1990 and loved it – still do – but even then, I didn’t track back to find and buy or listen to their albums. “Remasters” was all I needed.
Eventually of course I could put it off no longer. If I was to continue to a music education that I hoped would give me the most well-rounded music life I could lead, I knew I had to master the Led Zeppelin discography. So, I slowly began to collect the albums on CD and listen to them and decide for myself whether they were for me or not. And overall, I have enjoyed their music and albums. Sure, for me, most of the albums have half great songs and half... less than that... but they still continue to grow on me the older I get.
My main memories of when I first listened to “Physical Graffiti” is that it was too long, and that some of the songs dragged on for far longer than was necessary. In the main, I’m sure this was why when I had listened to it at that time and then put it back on my shelves, that it didn’t seem to get chosen to come back out again very often. If at all. Indeed, it is quite possible that I have not played my copy of the album since that time, though I have heard it at other locations since. And having pulled it back off my shelves again a month ago in preparation for this album review episode, I would say it would be accurate that I have listened to it more in that past few weeks than I have for the rest of my life prior to that.
My opinion on the album now is pretty much the same as I thought when I first got the album. Why did it have to be a double album? To my ears at least, this could comfortably have been pared down to just enough songs to satisfy a single album release. Seriously, if you are going to trawl through songs you have already rejected for previous albums, you just don’t have enough new material worthwhile. There are songs here that aren’t up to the standard you would expect, and others that are fabulous. I know the band felt they had eight great tracks from their sessions in early 1974, and didn’t want to leave off any of them. And perhaps in including the older tracks we got some good songs we may never have done so without this eventual album. I’m no musician or songwriter, but as a music enthusiast there are songs here that could have done with some pruning and other that could have been lopped off altogether.
"Physical Graffiti" has been referred to as Led Zeppelin's best album in some quarters. For me, it doesn’t rate better than the five albums that came before this one. Maybe some of that is a close call. There are some obviously brilliant songs on this album, but another couple or so that don’t rate anywhere near the quality you’d expect. I’m sure long time Led Zeppelin fans are already throwing things at their listening devices. You just can’t please everyone all the time.

766. Alice Cooper / Welcome to My Nightmare. 1975. 4.5/5

The Alice Cooper band had had a great and growing success through the first half of the 1970’s decade, releasing seven studio albums in total over a period of just four years. The huge international success in particular of albums such as “Killer”, “School’s Out” and “Billion Dollar Babies”, as well as the shock horror value of the band's antics on stage during live shows, had given the Alice Cooper Band a reputation that might have sent conservative folks into a tizzy but had drawn in fans of a younger generation in droves.
By 1974, the band’s seventh album “Muscle of Love” had not matched the top-charting success of its predecessor “Billion Dollar Babies”, and while there had been tension at times within the band over the years, that tension now seemed to be evolving into constant disagreements. For various reasons, the members agreed to take what was expected to be a temporary hiatus, and the original Alice Cooper Band played their final show on the ‘Muscle of Love’ tour on April 8, 1974. "Everyone decided they needed a rest from one another", said manager Shep Gordon at the time. "A lot of pressure had built up, but it's nothing that can't be dealt with. Everybody still gets together and talks."
The fact that the band never reformed following this hiatus has several different explanations depending on who you talked to, though they all seem to align once they have been heard. Neal Smith has said in interviews since that the members wanted to take a year off to slow down and possibly do solo projects, and just never reunited. Alice Cooper himself, Vincent Furnier, claimed there was disagreement over how much money they should sink back into stage shows, which had become costly. Michael Bruce contended over time that Glen Buxton's issues with substance abuse, which at one time led him to pull a switchblade on the band's tour manager, likely hastened the breakup. The group’s breakup was made public in 1975, well after the release of “Welcome to My Nightmare”.
After the group had agreed to a sojourn, Alice had pushed forward to record a solo album. To avoid legal complications over ownership of the group name, Alice Cooper had by then become Vincent Furnier's new legal name. When asked about the prospect of moving forward under the name Alice Cooper as a solo entity rather than as a band, Alice had said "It got very basically down to the fact that we had drawn as much as we could out of each other. After ten years, we got pretty dry together." Manager Shep Gordon added, "What had started in a sense as a pipe-dream became an overwhelming burden."
Cooper intended the music on this new project to be more theatrical than the previous glam rock focused records. Shep Gordon had a clause in his contract that allowed the members of the Alice Cooper Band, should they wish, to do a soundtrack album for a different label other than Warner Brothers who they were contracted to. As a result, Shep Gordon and Alice Cooper went to Atlantic Records, a sister label to Warner Brothers, to begin work on the album.
The pulling together of the pieces for the writing and recording of the album came from shared acquaintances. Alice hired Bob Ezrin, who had produced the previous four Alice Cooper Band album, to collaborate and produce his new album. Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter, who had both contributed guitars to the “Billion Dollar Babies” album, were also drafted in. All three of these men had most recently been a part of Lou Reed’s album “Berlin” and had toured on that album alongside Prakash John on bass guitar and Pentti Glan on drums, who were also brought in to play on Alice’s new venture.
With the band in place, and with Ezrin and Wagner both helping to co-write the majority of the tracks with Alice, the stage was set – metaphorically speaking – for the album that would jump start a solo career that, fifty years after the release of this album, is still one of the most famous in music history. And the album that started it was “Welcome to My Nightmare”.
Because of the clause in the contract that stated specifically that members of almost-defunct Alice Cooper Band could do a soundtrack album for another label, it meant that the album had to be written as though it was the soundtrack to a movie or tv programme that was about to be produced. To create this album, Cooper and Ezrin decided that it would have to be a concept album, with a story involved that was a believable plot to create such a programme. The idea that they finally hit upon was about a boy named Steven, and the album would tell the story of his recurring nightmares, what they foreshadowed and how he dealt with them. And this is what they did. The end result did in fact eventuate into a TV called “Alice Cooper: The Nightmares”. In the TV special, Alice Cooper stars as Steven who is trapped in a nightmare he can't wake up from and tries to escape. Vincent Price also appears throughout the special, starring as the "Spirit of the Nightmare". The 66 minute long special included the “Welcome to My Nightmare” album played in full. But while the concept was necessary to have the album come to fruition, there is no need to know the storyline when listening to the album to enjoy it. Indeed, the songs hold their own without any need to question what the story being told is.

It opens with the terrific title track "Welcome to My Nightmare", a great creeping beginning which then explodes into action with wonderful menace from Alice. He runs the gamut of expressions and emotions through this first track, setting up the songs that are to follow. His low voice through the opening minute of the track is wonderful in augmenting the spookiness of the start. I never get tired of listening to this, and the additions of the horns through the song just enhances everything about it. It is a magnificent opening to the album, one that sets the scene for the album and the story that is to follow. "Devil's Food" is a great follow up, talking about the scary creature in Steven’s dream that scares him to the point of tears, which then as sung in the lyrics “I kiss the tears off from your chest, I felt the poison fright that's in your breath, I knew your precious life and I know your death, I squeeze the love out of your soul, All the perfect love that's in your soul, You're just another spirit on parole”. This is then followed by a terrific monologue from the master fright and horror, Vincent Price, all about setting the scene for the next track and monster of the show, “The Black Widow”. This is a perfectly creepy song, enhanced by Alice’s vocal throughout that sets up the scene wonderfully well. The lines as such fun and exacting, with “Our thoughts are hot and crazed, Our brains are webbed in haze, Of mindless senseless daze, The Black Widow, These things he says are true, We're all humanary stew, If we don't pledge allegiance to, The Black Widow”. Creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky, as was once sung as the theme song to a different TV show.
"Some Folks" is of a different variety than these opening songs, and actually does a great job of changing the mood and tempo of the album and story, with the old western saloon bar piano and the horns section dominating the song. And then comes what is arguably the piece de resistance of the album, and the song that probably gave Alice the impetus to create his own solo career away from the Alice Cooper Band. "Only Women Bleed" is a powerful and emotional song that deals with the issue of domestic violence and the suffering that women endure in abusive relationships. Despite its sensitive and dark subject matter, it reflects the physical and emotional pain that women experience, while also emphasizing their strength and resilience. The song itself builds in intensity to perfectly emphasise the lyrics Alice is singing at the time, before falling back into the gentle and emotional musical piece when coming to the fore with its empathetic portrayal of a difficult topic. It is one of Cooper's most successful ballads and arguably his greatest ever song. It is still an amazing performance.
And then what kicks off Side 2? Well, just one of Alice Cooper’s most brilliant and popular songs, the youth anthem "Department of Youth". It has been a song that the young and the young at heart have loved since this album was released, and continues to be as influential and popular as ever. And yes, it seems rather superfluous and perhaps ludicrous that whenever this song comes on, I still sing along at the top of my voice, along with Alice's spoken words towards the end of the song as it fades away. Though I assume the mention of Donny Osmond goes over a lot of kids heads in this day and age. Yes, my youth has left me a long time ago, but this song still stays close to my heart. And, I would assume, to all of Alice Cooper’s fans of many many generations. Following this comes “Cold Ethyl”, the next of Steven’s nightmares, and with lines like “One thing, no lie, Ethyl's frigid as an Eskimo Pie, She's cool in bed, And she ought to be...'cause Ethyl's dead” are still great to sing along to. It’s another excellently composed track musically, combining well with the anthemic qualities of the previous song.
The album turns a corner here, firstly with the retreating child like personality Steven feels he has fallen into in “Years Ago”, before the setup leads into the very rock opera slash musical styled “Steven”, which contains all of the angst, fright and confusion within the scale of the song that you would imagine the character would be suffering from in going through this trial by nightmare. Alice and Bob Ezrin have done a magnificent job in crafting this track, and it is one that always plays well when performed on stage. The lines from Steven and the ones he hears, those being “You've only lived a minute of your life, I must be dreaming, please stop screaming, Steven... Is someone calling me? No... Steven... I think I hear a voice--- it's outside the door! Steven! I hear my name!” are performed to perfection, and far better than I have uttered here. “The Awakening” is another quiet interlude that reveals what happens as Steven finally wakes up from his nightmares, and into the concluding track “Escape”, a reasonable track that lacks the intensity and drama of what has come before it, and though a conclusion to the story as such, lacks the punch that the end of the album deserved. It was actually written by another band, the Hollywood Stars, and Alice adapted it to be the concluding song here.

Those who have followed my story through three and a half years of my previous podcast Music from a Lifetime will know my journey with Alice Cooper, both individually and the band. Having discovered and loved him from the mid-80's albums that marked his return to the industry, “Constrictor” and “Raise Your Fist and Yell”, I tried to find his other albums the best way I could to hear everything he had done. This album was the third of his albums I knew, because my mate who eventually became my brother-in-law, Peter, was a big fan of the album and owned it on vinyl and was the one I borrowed it off to tape my own copy onto cassette.
I am still amazed at this album, even listening to it a lot over the last week for this podcast episode. It still has the power that it must have glowed with on its release fifty years ago this week. That opening with the title track, Vincent Price and his interlude in “Devil’s Food”, “The Black Widow” and Alice’s snarling, the just amazing “Only Women Bleed” and “Department of Youth”, Further frightening clauses in “Cold Ethyl” and then that crashing mental anguish of “Steven”. It is just superb.
If I was going to be harsh in judgement, the end of the album doesn't quite maintain the excellence of the first two thirds of the album. Sure, those closing passages of “Years Ago”, “The Awakening” and “Escape” are a part of the story and therefore concept, but they are the songs I would include in those that are there for the album, but don't really hold up individually as well. Songs such as "Years Ago" and "Escape" are those that I especially feel sit in this category. "Steven" holds its own magnificently, with Alice again giving an amazing performance here, backed up by excellently written music that helps Alice convey every emotion felt through the lyrics. "The Awakening" would have been a better way to end the album in my opinion, allowing Steven to awake to blood on his hands and the song and album quietly coming to a close but "Escape" is what was chosen, and it just doesn't feel right, changing the whole tempo of the conclusion. I understand why it is this way, to represent the fact that Steven has escaped his nightmares by waking up and feeling lighter and happier because of it and looking to the future, but it changes the feel of the album for me by doing so. The fact that the song came from another band and that Alice adapted it here is a strange choice. It's not a huge deal from my perspective, but it has always been something that bugs me a little.
So I have had this on a consistent rotation again for the last week. It is still a great album. I bought a second-hand vinyl copy about 12 months ago where the true deeper sounds come out wonderfully, its just that it jumps a bit too often. A good clean will hopefully solve that a little, because it sounds better in that element than from CD or streaming.
This has been one of my favourite Alice Cooper albums since I first discovered the man/band, and it has four or five songs here that rank up alongside his best. While it may not be perfect, and may not be to everyone's taste, it is the kind of album that everyone should listen to at least once in their lifetime, for the interesting story it tells, and for the magnificent vocal performance from Alice himself.
In my ranking of the 29 albums released under both his name and his band’s name, this for me is #3 on that list. There are arguments that it could be higher, and I could understand those arguments. But sometimes we have favourites for a reason.
This album propelled Alice Cooper the solo artist into orbit and all but killed off the old band as a result. But that didn’t lead to peaches and cream from that point on, as market pressures and drugs of different varieties raise their head to make sure that mega stardom and success was not just a walk in the park going forward.

679. AC/DC / T.N.T. 1975. 4.5/5

Coming off a solid and satisfactory debut album, AC/DC return for their second opus, one that not only rates as one of the best ever Australian albums, but also as one of the best hard rock albums ever. T.N.T. is a literal hit factory, with great song followed by great song, and only a couple of moments during its 42 minutes that could be considered filler.

There would have to be very few people on the planet who could not at least cobble together a few words or hum the tune of the best known songs here. "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" is the biographical song of any band, and one that, perhaps ironically, managed to help get AC/DC to "the top". It sometimes goes unnoticed in this day and age, but the introduction of the bagpipes into a hard rock song, which actually enhances the middle bridge of the song, is quite an achievement. Less successful is Bon Scott mimed attempt to play them in the video clip of the song on the back of a flatbed truck going down Swanston Street in Melbourne. It is as popular today as it was when it was released. This is followed by the rocking beat of "Rock 'n' Roll Singer", which in a similar path to the opening track is a sort of biographical song about the path to becoming... well... a rock 'n' roll singer! By this stage of the album it is obvious that the band has got their ship in order, and know what formula they are going to follow - a solid pounding drum beat, supported by a rumbling bassline, with clear, crisp guitar riffs setting the foundations of each song, allowing Bon Scott to star on vocals and Angus Young to flail away when he feels the need to.
"The Jack" is the next song, with its simple drum and rhythm throughout the song, and its repeated chorus line making it a favourite among teenagers especially (I recall a school bus trip in high school where this album was played a lot, and this song got repeated playings joined by the chanting of the chorus by the entire population of the bus). Closing out the first side of the album is "Live Wire", which is one of my favourites. The somber opening of the bass and quiet guitar chords, then joined by the drums and eventually Bon's singing is just brilliant. The song builds wonderfully from the quiet into the pumping hard rock anthem. For me, it would be in my five best AC/DC songs. Extremely underrated.

Side Two opens up with the timeless anthem "T.N.T." which again does a marvellous job of getting the listener to join in singing the vocals. It's hard to resist singing the chorus at the top of your voice, no matter where you are when you are listening to it. "Rocker" could perhaps be classed as filler, if it wasn't for the energy shown by Bon Scott's vocals through the song. It almost feels like an on-stage jam between the band, with Bon coming up with lyrics just to fill the gaps. "Can I Sit Next To You, Girl" is a re-working of AC/DC's first ever single, back before Bon Scott was in the band. The original was sung by Dave Evans. It is patently clear that this is a much better version of the song, not only because Bon gives it a little bit more oomph than Evans, but because the band is sharper, cleaner and tighter.
"High Voltage" is a sister song to "T.N.T." and was inspired by the title of their first album. It was also the first single, released before this album came out, and as a result the single boosted the sale of High Voltage as many people thought that it was actually off that album. Good marketing and selling all round.
The final song on the album is "School Days', a cover of the Chuck Berry song. Now, while this may be an historically great song, and one can only assume that it was an influence on the band members in their youth, I feel it just muddies up the end of the album a little. "High Voltage" is really the best song to close with, letting it finish on a high. "School Days" doesn't tend to do that.

Despite a couple of moments that are a little lacklustre, this is a true classic album. It was the making of AC/DC and was followed by more great albums, a couple that even arguably match this. But for me, this is where it is all capture, in this bottle called T.N.T, the very best of everything this band can offer. The super rhythm section, the brilliant riffage from Angus and Malcolm Young, and the unique vocal capacity of Bon Scott. The complete package.

617. Rainbow / Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. 1975. 4/5

The realisation of what eventually became the band named Rainbow had its germination in a song called “Black Sheep of the Family” by a band called Quatermass, from their only album of the same name in 1970. This band had contained a drummer by the name of Mick Underwood, who had once shared the stage in a band called The Outlaws with Ritchie Blackmore. By 1974, Quatermass had been disbanded for three years, and Blackmore was plying his trade in the Mark III version of Deep Purple, and currently in the middle of writing sessions for their next album “Stormbringer”. The hiring of lead vocalist David Coverdale and bass guitarist Glenn Hughes had brought some new ideas and a changing direction to the band, something Blackmore was openly critical of at times. It was during this time that Blackmore suggested that the band cover as song that he had found enjoyable, called “Black Sheep of the Family” by Quatermass. Apparently, he pushed hard to have this included on the next album, but he had his request denied by the rest of the band. This stuck in Blackmore’s craw. On the tour to promote that album, Deep Purple once again had the band Elf as their support act, who had as their lead singer a rather unknown person called Ronnie James Dio. Blackmore was later quoted as saying that when he listened to Dio sing, he felt shivers down his spine. Blackmore still carried a desire to record his own interpretation of “Black Sheep of the Family”, and he decided to record it as a solo single. And what better talents to utilise on this particular recording than the voice of Ronnie Dio! Elf drummer Gary Driscoll was also drafted in, while other musicians who were mentioned as being involved in these sessions included Matthew Fisher on keyboards and Hugh McDowell from ELO who at the time was apparently giving Blackmore cello lessons. On Thursday, 12th December 1974, in a studio in Tampa Bay, Florida, Blackmore, Dio and Driscoll recorded two tracks: “Black Sheep of the Family” and also a newly written song for the B-side of the single called “Sixteenth Century Greensleeves”, that Blackmore had just completed and Dio had added lyrics to two days earlier.

These sessions went so well, that Blackmore decided that he wanted to flesh out this single and carry on to create a whole album. To do this, he not only retained Dio and Driscoll, but also asked Elf’s bass guitarist Craig Gruber and keyboardist Mickey Lee Soule to come on board for the recording. Elf guitarist Steve Edwards was, unfortunately for him, surplus to requirements. Blackmore and Dio had already been collaborating on songs before they reached the Musicland Studio in Munich in February 1975 for three weeks of recording, with the help of Deep Purple’s then producer Martin Birch. When the album was completed, and given the chemistry that had come together between he and Dio, Blackmore decided to resign from Deep Purple, playing his last show with the band in Paris in April 1975, with his departure officially announced on June 21, 1975. Less than two months later, the debut album from his new band was released, and album that bore his name in the same way as the band bore his name, “Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow”.

Listening to the album anytime beyond the point that the band dissolved when Blackmore returned to the reformed Mark II lineup of Deep Purple in 1983, there is an obvious and thoughtful progression in the music of the first three albums of the band, and then regression from the point Dio leaves as Ritchie chased his commercial success dream. And what is most obvious about this first album is that it is the stepping stones that led from the merged history of the band previous to this album, the Purple and Elf styles of music, to what became the first true marked stamp of the sound of Rainbow. In any conversation on the band’s first three albums, there will be a discussion on the quality of ALL of the tracks as written and performed, and how some of them feel so much more advanced and generally brilliant than some others that appear to be slightly generic and average. This all comes in the eye of the beholder, or in this case the ear of the... beholder. Certainly on this debut album, with four fifths of Elf being present in the recording if not the writing process, the sound of that band does creep in more often here than it would going forward, when only one of them would survive the ‘great purging’ of... five minutes after this album was completed.
This album was the start of a lot of things that proved to be the betterment of the heavy music genre. Firstly, it was the revitalisation of Blackmore's career, kickstarting his enthusiasm and disposing of his stagnancy, which not only went on to produce a magnificent Rainbow discography, but eventually provided the impetus for the second coming of the band that he had just quit. Secondly, it was the real beginning, after almost twenty years in the industry, of the defining years of one of the greatest ever vocalists, Ronnie James Dio. With Blackmore's influence, Dio finally found his niche and began to write and perform the songs that he was meant to produce. And finally, a band emerged, in the main because of Blackmore and Dio, that went on to influence generations of musicians who came after them, and the music that they subsequently created.
All that being said, this isn't the perfect album, caught as it is somewhere between the old and the new. There are several songs that seem to predict a future direction, of Blackmore’s eventual transformation into a folk-rock mandolin hero, playing songs of a medieval age with jesters and kings and jousting. “The Temple of the King” fits this description perfectly, settling into the Blackmore/Dio fantasy realm easily, but also in the acoustically and keys-based theme musically. The music is beautiful if not power and a guitar-based extravaganza as one may have expected. But my word Ronnie James Dio’s voice soars through this entire song. It is the second of the great slow melodic songs on this album, with Blackmore experimenting with strings throughout the song, and Dio's vocals driving it along in sheer beauty. Even in quieter songs, the power of Dio's voice is remarkable. This song gives Dio an opportunity to truly test and showcase his amazing vocal range in the softer song structure that the pair have offered here. Then you can also add “Sixteenth Century Greensleeves”, the song originally composed or the B-side of the single that started it all. It most definitely has that medieval feel throughout, though in a far heavier guitar-oriented way than “The Temple of the King”. Lyrically it is referencing maidens locked in towers, tyrants on the loose, drawbridges down, being cut to the ground, crossbows in the firelight, ‘Meet me when the sun is in the western sky, the fighting must begin before another someone dies’. The bassline on this song is superb, one that I’ve always suspected was played by Blackmore rather than Gruber, mainly because if this was the version recorded for the B-side then it surely had to have been Blackmore. This is still a great song, and when you listen to it now you can hear why Blackmore thought there might be something cooking here, and maybe I need to investigate it further. “Catch the Rainbow” proves again that you can do a slower, melodic tune and still retain the integrity of the songwriting. Dio's vocals soar here in a brilliant showcasing of his amazing range, while Blackmore's guitaring appears understated on the surface, but actually drives the emotional strings of the song. Pure genius. Dio was quoted in a 1975 radio interview on this song as saying: “Catch the Rainbow” is lyrically medieval in that it’s concerning a stable boy who makes it with a lady of the court. She sneaks off to sleep on his bed of straw every night and they think it’s all going to work but as we rudely find out, it never does and they kind of go their own way, but it’s a track that I think Ritchie and I are very proud of”.
There are tracks that have leanings to Deep Purple, not really a surprise but perhaps surprising that they don’t have ENOUGH of the Deep Purple sound to really push them to being greater songs. That is also perhaps a harsh critique because in hearing Ronnie James Dio singing instead of, say, Ian Gillan, that automatically disqualifies the song from being Deep Purple-ish. However, “Self Portrait” has all of the trademarks of a Deep Purple song. The beautiful bass and drum rhythm has the same wonderful style of Purple’s best moody songs. It is nothing like what Rainbow sounded like going forward, but here on this album it is a terrific listen, it has a swaying motion about it in the way Ronnie sings the song, and the rhythm attacks it. It may not be a brilliant track in the whole scheme of things, but it works here and is underrated. “Snake Charmer” is another of the block builders of the album, the song that fills its place to get you to the next point of destination. It is of a style that would come with a few songs over the course of the next two albums. It has a great bass riff from Gruber underneath Blackmore’s solo which acts as the best part of the song. It isn’t a song that anyone would suggest is a favourite. It is an enjoyable but average track.
Elsewhere, the Elf styled blues rock becomes noticeable, as much as anywhere in the song that started this whole business of, “Black Sheep of the Family”, with Driscoll's drumming incorporating all manner of tin cans and an overinvolvement throughout, along with Soule’s keyboards through the first half of the song. Dio’s vocals are good but retain a style that comes from those early Elf days, and Ritchie’s guitar solo takes up far less time than you would expect from a man who desperately wanted to put HIS mark on this song. One still wonders what fascinated Blackmore so much about this song. It's enjoyable enough, but the style doesn't really fit the songs that they wrote after the initial decision to record this as a single. “If You Don’t Like Rock and Roll” is the most Elf-like track on this album, especially in the offering of Soule’s rockabilly blues piano tinkling throughout the song. This could easily have come straight off Elf’s final studio album “Trying to Break the Sun”, which was released just two months before this album was released.
The bookends to the whole album both marvellously performed. “Man on the Silver Mountain” is the opening track to the album, one that has grown from this small seedling as it appears here to becoming the tall redwood that towers to the heights overlooking its heavy metal roots. Here at its beginning it may only be a slow-mid-tempo track, slightly ponderous in its walk, and yet the bones of the track are untouchable. Blackmore’s rhythm riff that is the basis of the track is just superb, with that excellent rhythm support from bass and drums, which then leads to his solo riff in the bridge to the chorus, before his triumphant guitar solo in the back half of the song. This structure cannot be faulted or broken, and when played live for the next 35 years by Rainbow itself, and Dio in his own band, and even now by any band strong enough to cover the track, it is enhanced with a touch of speed and a modern heavy tone. It remains a masterful track, one of the greatest ever Album 1, Side 1, Track 1’s of all time. And at the other end of the album, the closing track is “Still I’m Sad”, a cover version of the same by The Yardbirds. But – for a reason I am still unable to fathom – this version is played as an instrumental only. For the love of Dio, WHY?! You have the greatest voice in heavy metal history IN YOUR BAND, and you decide he isn’t going to sing this song? This version sounds absolutely awesome, but how on Earth is Dio not singing it? Anyway who has heard the band’s live album “On Stage” that was released two years after this has heard this song played live with Dio singing it – and it is just incredible. This is a massive own goal when it comes to the conclusion of the album. Great song, great version, just missing the great man on vocals.

Another gentle reminder with a slight tap on your head with a sledgehammer, if you have not yet checked out the very best heavy metal podcast on the internet – that being the fabulous ‘And Volume for All’, then I insist that you do so ALMOST immediately. Quinn’s amazing and fabulously in-depth deep dive into the life and career of Ronnie James Dio is a must listen for anyone, not even metal enthusiasts. His episodes that describe this era of Elf and Rainbow are outstanding, and if you want to really be entertained while finding out about this album, I highly recommend you do so once you have finished here. It is far more enlightening and informative and fun, believe me.
I had a great friend at high school in my friend group named Pete, but that we all called Wagon, a nickname that would take some time explaining, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. Now Wagon was a huge Ritchie Blackmore fan, the biggest I’ve known. He was often claiming the Blackmore wrote every great riff ever and that all other bands were just stealing them off him, and that guitarists like Brian May weren’t original, that they were just copying Ritchie. A lot of that was stuff that we allowed to pass over our heads, but he was the one who encouraged me to listen to Deep Purple and Rainbow, all for Ritchie Blackmore. So I do have him to thank for exposing me to both of those bands. With Rainbow, it was the Joe Lynn Turner albums that I heard first though, before I eventually got to hear the first three albums that had Dio as their lead vocalist.
This debut album for me has always been eclipsed by the two that followed. Like I mentioned here earlier, this album was like a stepping stone from the band members past bands in Deep Purple and Elf, to get to the next album “Rising” where things really began to come together. And mostly because of that this had been one in those latter years of high school and the all too short time at university that was not overly recognised by me in preference of those next two albums. I liked the album, but didn’t love it. And I could get a better version of “Man on the Silver Mountain” on Dio’s live EP “Intermission” anyway.
Over subsequent years those feelings changed, no doubt the more I listened to it. This happened a lot during the 1990’s, where the change in style of most of the bands I loved actually led me to going back and just listening to their albums of the 1970’s and 1980’s. And this album was very much a part of that time for me. And through this constant rotation of albums, I came to truly appreciate songs such as “Catch the Rainbow” and “The Temple of the King”, whereas prior to this I probably hadn’t. And as a result of this the whole track list flowed together much more enjoyably, and I found my love for its content. As I said at the top, this isn’t a perfect album, but it is certainly far far better than average.
I have had my copy out again this week, in the Metal Cavern as well as at work, and it has been a pleasure once again. Blackmore’s guitar is as terrific as always – but it is Ronnie’s vocals that soar, that become the starring attraction, where although they aren't the finished project here, they are well on their way to becoming the great vocal instrument that they became.
As I‘ve mentioned, better was to come, two albums that span time itself. But as a starting point, a place where the shooting stars of Blackmore and Dio first came together, it is a more than solid beginning.

547. Scorpions / In Trance. 1975. 3.5/5

The progress of German band Scorpions had been a slow burn since the first iteration of the band under that name back in 1965, through to the recording of their debut album in 1972 called “Lonesome Crow”. Listening to that album now, or anytime after the 1980’s in fact, is like trying to search out how the band could have gone from the sound they produced in that post-1960's era to what the band became in the MTV era of the 1980’s. On the back of the album, they toured Europe and the UK, and in particular as support to the British hard rock band UFO, who were also trying to find their niche in the music market. So impressed were the band with the Scorpions young guitar prodigy Michael Schenker that they asked him to join their band. Having consulted with older brother Rudolph, who encouraged him to further his career, Michael left Scorpions for UFO. A fusing of two bands, Scorpions and Dawn Red, saw the coming together of Uli Jon Roth (guitars), Francis Buchholz (bass) and Jürgen Rosenthal (drums) with Rudolph Schenker and Klaus Meine, and with it a change in the dynamic of the writing teams. Scorpions split into two camps, with Rudolf and vocalist Klaus Meine on one side and Uli Jon Roth on the other. Their sophomore album “Fly to the Rainbow” saw these new writing partnerships put together for the first time and showed the creative forces that were available, and the meshing of both brought together a different sound from the debut album and yet one that still felt fragmented, not yet ‘a band’.
For the follow up album, another change was forced upon the band. Drummer Jurgen Rosenthal left the band because he was drafted into the Army. He was replaced by Rudy Lenners, another fellow German, and by the time the band entered the studio they were in a much better place. Having toured together now on the back of “Fly to the Rainbow”, they felt like a band and were comfortable within themselves moving forward. The other move that proved to be an important one not only for this album but for those moving forward was the appointment of Dieter Dierks as producer. His influence, not only on this album but for the next decade was an enorous part of the rising success the band experienced.
As such, everything was set up for Scorpions to truly find their feet with their third studio album, and album that with the firm base of the band and its new producer, would be released in September 1975 under the name “In Trance”.

The album kicks off with one of the band’s most interesting songs, “Dark Lady”. It is a typically offbeat Uli Jon Roth track, incorporating his amazing guitaring style that doesn’t seem to stick to the road, it is always looking for off ramps to explore. It is a first for the band with both Uli and Klaus sharing lead vocals. You have Uli on the verses and Klaus screaming on the chorus, shrieking to the heavens. Ui’s solo pieces are just as entertaining. It’s a truly unique song, one that challenges everything that the band has done to this point, and opens the album in an infectious way. To then move from the outwardly raucous beginning to the title track that follows is something that probably shouldn’t work. The quiet almost acoustic opening passage of “In Trance” is a complete opposite to what has come from the opening, and yet, here for the first time, Scorpions make it work, and indeed make it an absolute classic. Not a power ballad per se but with tidings towards that direction, “In Trace” highlights what the writing core of Schenker and Meine produces, a melodic and harmonic track both musically and vocally. The harmony vocals from Klaus in the chorus are spectacular, and the addition of the keys that complements and in no way overpower the beauty of the song are sublime. The power comes from the song, not any singular piece or part of the composition. Scorpions would become one of the greatest composers and writers of power ballads through the years, and while this song doesn’t really classify under that banner it showcases everything great that would be utilised in those songs in the future. As the benchmark, it radiates its aura here. “Life’s Like a River” is another softer rock track that is highlighted by the terrific rhythm of Francis’s basslines and Lenners’ drumbeat, which give the song its deep meaningful sound all the way though. Uli’s solo and Klaus’s manoeuvring vocals highlight the change in tone through the song. This is interesting as it has co-writing credits for Uli and Rudolph, but also Dieter Dierks’s wife Corina Fortmann.
“Top of the Bill” immediately comes in with that wonderful Schenker rhythm guitar riff, the type that he writes so well, that are immediately invoke a reaction that requires air guitar and a mimicking with your voice. While it may sound simple, it is the perfect structure for a Scorpions song, with Burchholtz’s bass running alongside. Klaus sings to the ceiling on this track, telling the story of the rock and roll life, trying to be top of the bill, and the vocal harmonies are superb and add to the dynamic. And Uli plays out the back half of the song in his uniquely fluid style of solo that ends the track on a high. Still a great song in the Scorpions catalogue. This then sweeps back into another slower less energetic tune as per earlier in the album with “Living and Dying”. It is a brooding moody track that sludges through the mire to complete the first side of the album.
Side 2 opens with another killer track, “Robot Man”. Here we are treated to a song that sounds nothing like what has come before it, the guitars and drums drive us out of the blocks at pace, the combination of Schenker’s fast guitar work and Klaus’s vocals picks up the energy and pace from the outset. Klaus and Rudolph showcasing the other side of their writing partnership, the ability to produce a high octane track that pushes the bands boundaries. Then we have the other side of Uli’s writing with the ballad “Evening Wind”, an atmospheric opening heavy on the bass, and back to a morbidly slow pace where everything seems drawn out, Klaus’s vocals and Uli’s guitar solo included. It’s a very blues based song that does brings thoughts of Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin in places. As it fades out, we have the introduction of “Sun in My hand”, which does have a bassline and guitar riff sound that is derivative of other bands of the era, one that is basically repeated through the course of the track while Uli squeals and solos his guitar over the top. The lead vocal is also provided by Uli, which brings the song down in both energy and inspiration. Again, the question can be asked that if you have Klaus Meine in your band, why do you need anyone else providing lead vocals on any track? These two Uli penned tracks are the longest on the album as well, and they do both tend to overstay their welcome. The second of the Roth and Schenker songs is “Longing for Fire”, which is fine, but it just isn’t an inspiring sound like the songs on side one of the album. Francis’s bass is very high in the mix here and sounds good, and Uli’s solo to play out the song again is a highlight. But there is a modicum of averageness about the songs as a whole. And the album then closes out with another Uli track, this time an instrumental titled “Night Lights”. It’s a pretty song, almost a singular playoff between lead guitar and bass guitar. It is that slow, mid-tempo track with dreamlike qualities, almost enough to send you off to sleep by. Is that the way you want a Scorpions album to finish? Given down the track they almost always ended with the ballad, perhaps it is one and the same.

For all those playing at home, you will have heard on the very recent episode I did on Scorpions second live album “World Wide Live” that it was my true introduction to the band, and that everything that I discovered came after that. When it came to the 1970’s albums, including “In Trance”, that was quite a few years after that fact. I had happily sat with the 1980’s second phase of the band’s career albums for quite some time, and not really given those early albums much thought at all, until I then got another album that I have reviewed on this podcast all the way back in January, episode number 6 of this season, called “A Tribute to the Scorpions”, which had a wide range of Scorpions songs covered by other bands, some well known, others not so much. And, what I discovered on that album was not only new bands I needed to check out, but some great songs that I only had a minor grasp on. And it was at this point that I decided that I needed to invest in those first five studio albums, along with the first live album, from the band, and see what I had missed along the way.
“In Trance” is an interesting fulcrum for this lineup of the band, of the Uli Jon Roth years. Michael Schenker had been in the band for the debut album and was a heavy influence in the writing. On “Fly to the Rainbow” he had moved on to UFO, but in agreeing to let him go he had had to help with writing that album, which meant Uli only had one writing credit on that album, even though his guitaring was noticeably different and a major part of the sound of that album. Here on “In Trance”, we have the first teu album of this line up, with Schenker and Meiene writing together on one hand, and most Uli Jon Roth on his own on the other. And this created the different pathways that helped create the uniqueness of this band. Both writing teams produced both genres of tracks – the hard rock to heavy songs and the slower to ballad songs – but they did it in their own way. “Dark Lady” and “Robot Man” for instance, which open up either side of the album, are similar in pace and heaviness, but are different because of the different writers. The same can be said in comparing “Sun in My Hand” and “Living and Dying”. This is where the band moved on this album, and it can be argued that it is more authentic as a result.
Having had the album out again, for the first time in a while, over the last few days, I find that there are songs that stand out more than others. I question – as I almost always do – the decision to have fast paced energetic songs immediately followed by softer quieter and slower tracks, and then back again. Some albums are good enough structurally to be able to handle these changes without by default losing focus. Others are not. Having the momentum of the album drained or constantly changed may be something that some people enjoy. For me it is often an album killer. There is some truth in that for me with “In Trance”, but I must say that I can overlook that when it comes to this album. I’d prefer it structured another way, but that is not how the bad wanted it to be, and when it comes to the Scorpions I will allow it. Perhaps it is just because I don’t listen to this album as much as I do others, you know, those from the 1980’s that I mostly grew up with. With “In Trance”, when I DO put it on to listen to it, I let it flow as it is put out there.
This is an album that the Scorpions fans who are bigger fans of the 1970’s decade Uli Jon Roth years love to a fault. And I can understand why. It has all of those qualities that make it one of their best of that era. It also has some of their best songs of the era, “Dark Lady” and “In Trance” and the brilliant “Top of the Bill”. It is, remarkably, now 50 years old, and that in itself is something to ponder, to consider how an album of this type has weathered over the massive changes in the music world since its conception. As it turns out, it has weathered pretty well.

495. AC/DC / High Voltage [Australian Release]. 1975. 4/5

The path from the initial formation of the band AC/DC, through to the writing, recording and release of their debut album, was as big and interesting journey as was the case for all bands of all eras. In the case of this band, in Australia at least, the story has become a blueprint for how aspiring young bands want to set themselves up for their future. Blueprints are often difficult to follow.
The band came together In November 1973 in Sydney, through several other bands forming and breaking up. Malcolm Young and bass guitarist Larry Van Kriedt had just played together and decided they wanted to continue working together. Malcolm’s younger brother Angus then came on board as well. They then found a drummer in Colin Burgess, who had worked with well known Australian band the Masters Apprentices, and the group was completed by the addition of vocalist Dave Evans. In searching for a name of the band, legend tells us that Malcolm and Angus came up with the band's name after their sister Margaret pointed out the symbol "AC/DC" on the AC adapter of her sewing machine. It was to be a prophetic decision.
AC/DC's first official gig was at Chequers nightclub in Sydney on 31 December 1973. As was a popular notion at the time, for about 18 months most members of the band dressed in some form of glam or satin outfit. Angus, being the youngest and looking for a stage presence to outweigh his more docile usual nature, tried various costumes including Zorro, a gorilla, and Superman. Their set list during this time involved cover versions of songs by the Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, the Beatles and other popular blues artists, while also throwing in original songs when they cropped up. After many attempts at a stage presence in pantomime, Angus first wore his soon-to-be iconic school-uniform stage outfit in April 1974 at Victoria Park, Sydney, an idea that apparently was their sister Margaret's.
The band did a recording session in January 1974 at EMI Studios in Sydney, with George Young and Harry Vanda as the producers. George of course is Malcolm and Angus’s older brother, and both were former members of the Easybeats. Several songs were recorded, including "Can I Sit Next to You, Girl", "Rockin' in the Parlour" and an early version of "Rock 'n' Roll Singer". Following this, the band signed with Albert Productions in June 1974, which led to "Can I Sit Next to You, Girl", backed with "Rockin' in the Parlour", taken from the January session, being released on 22 July 1974 as the band's first single. The song reached the top 50 on Australia's Kent Music Report singles chart.
Despite this, there were many changes still going on in the band members. A week after the January recording session, Burgess was fired due to intoxication. Subsequently, Van Kriedt was replaced, and his recorded bass lines for the January session were re-recorded by George Young. Their replacements, Neil Smith on bass guitar and Noel Taylor on drums, lasted six weeks, replaced in turn by Rob Bailey and Peter Clack, respectively.
AC/DC had developed a strong live reputation by mid-1974, which resulted in a supporting slot on Lou Reed's national tour in August. It was during that tour that Malcolm switched to rhythm guitar, leaving Angus on lead guitar – the roles the two guitarists played from then on. At this stage the band was still persisting with a glam rock image, but the end of 1974 Malcolm and Angus had decided they needed to change their direction and pursue a more pub rock sound. It was also around this time that they decided that Dave Evans was no longer suitable as the frontman of the band. This situation was solved by befriending of Bon Scott, formerly of the bands The Valentines and Fraternity. With an audition performed to make it official, Evans was sacked and Bon named as his replacement. Bon’s first gig as lead singer was at that doyen of concert places, the Masonic Hall at Brighton-le-Sands south of Sydney on 5 October 1974, before heading into Albert Studios just a month later to record their debut studio album, titled “High Voltage”.

AC/DC recorded their first studio album, High Voltage, in November 1974, with Vanda & Young producing at Albert Studios in Sydney. During the recording, Bailey and Clack were still members of the band, but Clack played on only one track, with session drummer Tony Currenti providing the drums for the rest. George Young, as had been the case with the earlier recordings, handled some bass parts and later rerecorded others. The recording sessions lasted ten days and were based on instrumentals written by the Young brothers, with lyrics added by Scott. Following the recording sessions, the band relocated to Melbourne where both Bailey and Clack were dismissed. Paul Matters briefly took over bass duties before also being dismissed and replaced temporarily by George or Malcolm for live performances. On drums, Ron Carpenter and Russell Coleman had short tenures before Phil Rudd from the band Buster Brown joined, and when bass guitarist Mark Evans was enlisted in March 1975 it established the line-up that lasted for the next two years.
While the songs on High Voltage showcase a wider influence and perhaps more in the direction of the sound they were trying to move away from than the riff-based hard rock sound that followed this release, the structure of the songs in regards to wriitng can definitely be heard here in their infancy. In an interview with VH1 in 2014, Angus is quoted as such: "I think the '60s was a great time for music, especially for rock and roll. It was the era of the Beatles, of the Stones, and then later on the Who and Led Zeppelin. But at one point in the '70s it just kind of became... mellow. When Malcolm put the band together, it was obvious what was missing at the time: another great rock band. So it was basically a reaction to that, because the music at that point had just turned into that soft, melodic kind of period, and that seemed to be all over the world. For us, it was a pretty easy choice, especially because Malcolm and myself – we’re two guitarists – so from the get-go, it was going to be a guitar band."
From the outset, despite the fact that AC/DC is the garage band Aussie pub rock gods, it is Bon Scott that more than anything plants his influence all over this album. The re-recorded and slightly more innovative cover version of the original “Baby, Please Don’t Go” from Big Joe Williams leads off the album, and brings the energy and high tempo to the album from the start. This song was performed live by the band on the influential ABC music programme ‘Countdown’, with Bon Scott decked out as a blonde schoolgirl. You can still find this on YouTube if you have never seen it, but it was this performance that gave AC/DC a platform that showcased them to the nation rather than the bounds of the Sydney city limits.
"She's Got Balls" (apparently written about Scott's ex-wife Irene) was the first song that Scott and the Young brothers put together, and it is immersed in the sound that the band was trying to strive for. The solid guitars and bass tracking each other, and the steady clomp of the drums driving the song along, and Bon singing his diatribe over the top. As soon as the song begins, you know the era it comes from and who is behind the music. From the opening track that hits you with the pace and fun, back into this serious architecture based on blues but pushing hard at the pub rock scene, the album opens with two tracks that have stood the test of time since its release.
“Little Lover” draws itself back into the cocoon of the blues-based rock that the members of the band had grown up with, moving along at the pace of a slug sludging its way up the concrete path. Bon holds court with his captivating vocal, telling his story in his own way in his own time, and doing so as the band holds back on anything too extravagant. The band wrote several of these types of songs for their early albums, and not all of them worked as well as this one does. It’s creeper, musically and as a hook into the song. “Stick Around” sticks to the tried and tested (beyond this album) method of the solid guitar riff rhythm that AC/DC made famous. It’s the perfect example of how the band created this from their first album, making a song structure that was to survive their entire career. A good solid track that identified where the band was heading.
Another song on the album that is a real creeper is “Soul Stripper”, a song that establishes a blueprint for several songs to come later in the AC/DC catalogue. The opening of the track has the rhythm of guitar, bass and drums locked in as it would for the next 50 years and counting, with Angus’s lead guitar softly building over the opening two minutes into the track, perfectly subtle and yet building in power. Bon’s vocals come in from a softer tone before they build to the chorus and following verse. Then comes the Angus solo break that doesn’t break out to extreme levels, but instead is a well thought-out and played piece that doesn’t repeat itself, entwined as the song flows out to its natural conclusion in the same manner as it introduced the song. This apparently came from an unrecorded song called “Sunset Strip” by Malcolm and Evans, and its style may be familiar to anyone who knows later tracks such as “Live Wire” and “Squealer”. The follow up “You Ain’t Got a Hold on Me” follows similar lines to the previous song, the easy rhythm of the track, Bon’s mellow vocal lines following the lovely bass line of the track, while the solo from Angus again is understated compared to what came later on, but suits the track’s style perfectly.
"Love Song" apparently evolved from an unrecorded song called "Fell in Love" which was written by Malcolm and Dave Evans. However, Bon rewrote the lyrics for this version for the album. It’s a rather maudlin song both lyrically and musically and does feel a little out of place on the album. However, "Love Song" was released as the album's first single (under the title "Love Song (Oh Jene)") and was backed with "Baby, Please Don't Go". Not surprisingly, the radio stations who received this single to play all preferred the B side to the A side, and it was “Baby Please Don’t Go” that got the airplay, and not “Love Song”. The album then concludes with the upbeat and blues rock based “Show Business”, a song that mirrors the stock songs that filled the spaces of the hit maker songs on the following several albums. It’s a serviceable and enjoyable song, but doesn’t offer anything extraordinary in its composition, something AC/DC was about to produce in spades.

Like most teenagers growing up in Australia, I was exposed to AC/DC on a number of fronts. The singles were on the radio, the albums were around at different people’s places, and they were played in the school yard by the kids whose fathers were fans of the band. It was an all encompassing thing. If you are Australian and growing up in Australia, you knew who AC/DC were. So I was the same. I knew songs, but not albums. And it wasn’t until the late 1980’s that I actually owned an AC/DC album, and from there began to build my copies of their discography.
The problem with this debut album is that it was only ever released in Australia and New Zealand and since the end of the 1980’s the only version that is readily available to buy is the international version, which in fact is a hybrid of this album and their next album “TNT”. Then a portion of the other tracks were released on the “Jailbreak ‘75” LP. But two of the songs, “Stick Around” and “Love Song”, can only be found on the “Backtrack” compilation that was released years later. It’s a mishmash, and makes it very difficult for someone like me, who wants everything in order and as it was released, to actually make that happen. And for me, the essence of this album has been lost because of record company policies and politics. The international version of this album should not exist, just this album and then “TNT”. The same with the international version of the band’s third release “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” which for some reason does not have “Jailbreak” on it. And yet, that is the only version that is readily available. Idiots!
Anyway... let’s move on. So, I have a copy of this album, but it is a cheap version that does the job rather than adorn my collection with pride. And when I got it, which was some time after I had collected all of the other album released to that point in time, I found it to be a novelty. Because though it showcases the real roots of AC/DC, and gives us a glimpse into the window back in time when they were just starting out, it is different from what followed, even just a few short months later. There are different sides of the band that didn’t appear from this album on as the band refined their sound and began to blast it out of the speakers. And that is lost in a way by the unavailability of this album in the modern day. It takes away the progression that this album shows occurred between this and the next album. And, although others will say that the majority of these songs have been made available in other formats... that just isn’t the same as listening to THIS album.
I think this is a terrific debut for the band. Yes, there are lots of albums come from this point on that would be considered better, but it doesn’t overshadow the importance of this album. The playfulness of “Baby Please Don’t Go”, the change in moods of “She’s Got Balls” and “Little Lover”, and the songs that show the potential that the band exuded here that came to fruition going forward, songs like “Soul Stripper” and “You Ain’t Got a Hold on Me”. All of this bathes in the sound the band began with, a mix of glam rock and blues rock, the rhythm section that became the best in hard rock history, the man with the voice at the front, and the guy in the school uniform throwing out solos that electrified a generation.
Of the 17 studio albums the band has released – the AUSTRALIAN releases too I might add – for me this ranks at #9. I’ve had it on over the last week or so, a dozen times in total, and it still entertains and delights. For those of you who have missed out on this important album, it's time to track it down and give it a listen. Turn the stereo up to 11 if you like. It’s worth it. And it's a great place to remind you of the wonderful career it started.

401. UFO / Force It. 1975. 4/5

There would be very people out there who would argue that UFO as a band did not find its true calling until the arrival of Michael Schenker, not only as lead guitarist for the band, but also for contributions to composing the material for the band. The first two albums by the band are of a different era, a different style altogether from what was to come starting with their third album “Phenomenon”. A lot of things began to click with that album. The combinations in the group became tighter, the writing took shape, and the music began to draw away from the 1960’s psychedelia that had come from their earliest works into a more hard rock focused direction. On the back of songs such as “Doctor Doctor” and “Rock Bottom”, UFO’s live shows also began to take off, with a focus on the unbridled talent of lead guitarist Michael Schenker, which began to capture the fans attention. The band had brought in guitarist Pual Chapman to fill out the live sound, though by the end of the tour he had left to form his own group Lone Star.
Moving into the follow up album, the band had momentum on their side. The experience of playing together on the road had the effect of bringing the band closer together, and also of fostering new ideas and of ways to utilise the talents of the band in the best way possible. They harboured a desire like many bands of the day to break into the US market, and to do that they had to find the style that would not only push the band’s growing hard rock sound but funnel that into something those fans wanted to hear. Finding a true combination between the one guitar hard rock riffing of Schenker along with the adding of keys onto the album to give it the kind of melody that also drew outsiders towards the album was a balancing act that required not only great musicianship but the steady hand of a solid producer. Enter Leo Lyons, bass guitarist for the band Ten Years After, who knew a thing or two about producing and writing albums that made the charts in the UK and the US. With his guiding hand on the wheel, UFO entered the studio to complete work on their fourth studio album, titled “Force It”.

The great misnomer about looking back at this album from 50 years in the future is that, for all intents and purposes, it doesn’t come across as what the modern music listeners would categorise as hard rock. In much the same way as the previous album “Phenomenon” is a mixture of material that when performed live becomes a lot heavier than it is on the album itself, “Force It” certainly has its moments where it showcases those hard hitting drums from Andy Parker and hard riffing from bass guitarist Peter Way and guitarist Michael Schenker, and Phil Mogg extends his vocals into something that offers us a glimpse at the power he possesses, it doesn’t maintain that through every song on the album. In fact, it is mostly reserved for just a few songs, while the others fall back into a category that resides as rock or maybe even soft rock at times. Now this categorisation does not make the music or the album as a whole less enjoyable, but it is good to have that knowledge before you dive right in and think you are going to get a hard rock experience on a level of Deep Purple or AC/DC for the same era. That isn’t necessarily the case.
It opens up beautifully with the legendary “Let It Roll”, that opening note held while the bass and guitar riff comes in underneath, anticipating Mogg’s vocal arrival. Parker’s drumming is outstanding from the outset, setting the scene for another of his excellent album performances, while Way’s bass guitar holds together beautifully with Schenker’s guitars, especially through the middle of the track, where Schenker is dualling up his lead and rhythm in great syncopation. Phil Mogg is a terrific vocalist make no mistake, but when Parker, Way and Schenker are left to their own devices as they are here in the middle of the opening track it is pure magic. This is followed by “Shoot Shoot” which steps back a touch on the faster hard rock style and settles more into the mid-tempo, discussing the protagonist's liaison with a femme fatale, mixed with metaphor and innuendo throughout. Mogg takes the lead with his vocal on this track, while Schenker’s riff promotes the dalliance with his subtle changes throughout the song. It’s another of UFO’s best. “High Flyer” changes tone completely from the opening two tracks, the acoustically based ballad with harmony vocals and melodic guitar along with the introduction of background keys to emphasise the right portions of the song and solo. The lyrics tell the simple story, the second verse beginning with “Turn to summer goes so fast, Seems I’ll never see you, One weekend and a photograph, Oh all my boyish dreams”. It is performed beautifully, and heaven knows you can’t have an album of this era without a song like this on it. In the context of the album, it does what I fear most songs like this do, which is drain the momentum of the album at its point of contact. It sounds beautiful, but is this what you want from UFO? If it is, then you are in luck.
The mood and riffs ramp up again on “Love Lost Love”. It actually has a ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ feel about the stop start guitar riff and vocal melody on the track. Side one then concludes with “Out in the Street”, which starts with the soft laden keys synth riff overlaid by Schenker’s guitar riff and the duelled harmony vocals from Phil Mogg. It’s a mix of both the hard rock guitar riffing and that softly spoken keys, changing throughout the song where the mood requires it. The middle has Schenker dominating not only with a great solo but then a heavy riff as Mogg sings through the bridge. It is one of UFO’s best known and most beloved tracks, and does offer everything that is great about the band in one song.
Side two opens with another classic in “Mother Mary”, the hard riffing template that the band became known for heard here in all its glory as Schenker takes centre stage with guitar, and Andy Parker’s hard hitting drums again at the forefront. It’s interesting how Parker is forced to take a back seat when the band plays its softer more introverted material, but when Schenker’s guitar takes over, his drumming follows in waves. Parker in particular shines when the hard to heavy songs come up, and he must have been particularly pleased when this partnership began. They do combine brilliantly here again on this song, along with Way’s bass guitar. The solo through the middle and as the outro to the song again showcases all three in perfect harmony. “Too Much of Nothing” follows this, and actually channels the pop rock songs of the late 1960’s, in particular the similarity in places to the song “Somebody to Love” which was popularised by Jefferson Airplane - there is a distinct comparison that can be drawn. This harks back to the band's roots to a degree but in a far modern sounding way (in 1975), and it works well as a result. “Dance Your Life Away” is, for wont of a better term, a typical UFO filler track on the album, one that holds itself in the gaps of those songs that are the heavy hitters on the albums, and gets you from one to the next. It is significant because it comes and goes without even noticing, the role of songs on good albums.
The destination it gets you to is “This Kid’s”, typically wonderful UFO to the ears. The opening Schenker riff dominates as Mogg’s vocals dive in, flaunting the story of the two youths stuck in a rut, knowing they need to escape but probably knowing they aren’t going to do that. There’s lovely keyboard flurry that supports the guitar into the chorus, before delving into a hard blues in the middle of the track. The addition of the piano keys here differentiates the tone of the opening of the song, and it feels like an unusual direction to head in, and an unexpected one. The song segues into the hyphenated title “Between the Walls”, the instrumental track that takes up the last 2.5 minutes of the track, again in a completely different style from the first two thirds of the song. But this is true beautiful Schenker, with Way’s wonderful bassline underneath complementing it perfectly, that flows out to conclude the album in style and grace.

My journey with UFO began with the discovery of the Michael Schenker Group, and then in my university days through an album called The Michael Schenker Anthology which I found one lunchtime while browsing through my favourite second hand record store in Wollongong at the time, Illawarra Books and Records. That album had highlights from Schenker’s career with Scorpions, UFO and his own band, and all three soon became very big favourites of mine. It also led to me buying the UFO live album “Strangers in the Night” from the same store not long after, and this forced me to go back and discover the rest of the UFO catalogue, at least those that featured the guitaring of Michael Schenker.
I first heard this album through one of my best mates Peter who has now been my brother-in-law for the last 32 and some years. He had both this album and the follow up “No Heavy Petting”, both of which I borrowed from him to tape onto one cassette, which was played often from that point onwards.
My evolving music tastes at the time I discovered this and the other UFO albums was probably a really good melting pot in which to find and listen to these albums. What you might consider traditional heavy metal was mixing with thrash metal and hair metal and all other variations possible at that time, and I was enjoying the lot of them. So even though other bands were bigger for me at the time and I listened to far more often, this was still great. But it probably became most enjoyable from the mid-to-late 1990’s onwards, when those initial band that I had loved adored were either slipping off the face of the earth or struggling to find their way in the music world they found themselves, and I began to go back to bands like Scorpions, MSG and UFO for what they offered in those times, music that combined guitar and bass and drums with vocals that harmonised.
“Force It”, with the album cover filled with kitchen taps in a play on the word ‘faucet’, still has so much to enjoy all these years later. Songs such as “Let It Roll”, “Shoot Shoot”, “Out in the Streets”, “Mother Mary” and “This Kid’s” are still as enjoyable today as ever, with the combination of Parker, Way and Schenker sounding just as fabulous as they did. And the added keyboards from Chick Churchill on this album, who performed the same role for Ten Years After, showcased how the music could sound with these added elements, and also the fact that with Schenker playing all the guitars that everything could mix together really well. What the band probably needed for their live shows was an extra two members to play the keyboards and play rhythm guitar. Or, perhaps, someone who could switch between both. Now there’s a novel idea... maybe the band could take that on in the future... great idea Bill.
I just recently bought the remastered 2021 3LP vinyl of this album, which has a complete live concert on the other two vinyls as the bonus, and playing it this week on my turntable in the Metal Cavern has been a wonderful experience all over again. The musicianship on this album continues to astound me, and you can actually hear the improvement in every aspect of the band that was taking place. In the UFO discography, of all of their studio albums this would rank as either #2 or #3 for me, depending on which album I listened to on the day. It is still terrific 50 years on... but there was more and possibly better yet to come.