Strawberry Path - When The Raven Has Come To The Earth (1971 japan hard rock with little prog influences - MP3 320K and APE lossless)

[ Hard Rock Series # 10 ]

This terrible band was an appalling sour mash of American Breed cod-psychedelia overlain with lashings of the kind of shrill spewdo operetta that would disgrace the grooves of Uriah Heep’s dopey SALISBURY LP twelve months hence.

Like most of the so-called heavy Japanese bands of the period, Strawberry Path was in actuality anything but. Generally, their catholic sound is eclectic and overwrought, with arrangements being of the everything-including-the-kitchen-sink variety.

Music freaks claim songs such as ‘Leave Me, Woman’, ‘Woman Called Yellow Z’ and ‘I Gotta See My Gypsy Woman’ as evidence of the band’s good intentions, but the band’s deft performances of such daft AOR drool as ‘Mary Jane On My Mind’ and Marmalade/Hollies soundalike ‘The Second Fate’ suggests their hearts were more naturally in this non-headspace.

The band was really a duo with help from occasional bassists Hisashi Eto and former Powerhouse bassist George Yanagi, the latter also contributing a lead vocal, as he did for the Shinki Chen solo LP.

Strawberry Path would eventually mutate into the equally poor Flied Egg (great band name, at least!). Drummer Hiro Tsunoda would thereafter throw in the towel completely, going for total sub-sub-Peters & Lee meltdown with his agonisingly bad solo LP MARY JANE, a 1977 barrel-scraper featuring all of his previous crimes against rock, plus an unashamed copy of Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway To Heaven’ done in a Danish Eurovision style. Although Strawberry Path’s original Philips LP sleeve names the record WHEN THE RAVEN HAS COME DOWN TO EARTH, it is occasionally listed under the Japanese title OHTORI GA CHIKYU NI YATTEKITAHI (review by Julian Cope).

This is an album that will appeal to garage fans, psych heads, mondo music lovers and acid freaks alike, merging as it does a variety of Western influences, ranging from Jimi Hendrix (check out Shigeru Narumo's hard psych guitar) to Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple.






Track List:
01.I Gotta See My Gypsy Woman
02.Woman Called Yellow "Z"
03.Second Fate
04.Five More Pennies
05.Maximum Speed Of Moji Bird
06.Leave Me Woman
07.Mary Janes On My Mind
08.Spherical Illusion
09.When The Raven Has Come To The Earth

Strawberry Path:
Shigeru Narumo – lead guitar, keyboards, vocals
Hiro Tsunoda – drums, vocals


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Propeller - Let Us Live Toghether (1971 german rare hard rock with boogie influences and Achim Reichel in guitar - FLAC)

[ Hard Rock Series # 15 ]

In 1973 German guitarist Achim Reichel took a break from his experimental works with A.R. & Machines to record a 'fun' project, a straightforward rock album, with some of his ex-bandmates from The Rattles and Wonderland Band, a couple of them went on to form Randy Pie.

This is great early 70's song oriented rock, with the tunes ranging from a kind of southern boogie to Beatle-ish pop.

The songs are top-notch, some are real catchy, the musicianship by all concerned is top level, and Mr. Reichel's guitar playing is awesome.

O.K. LA.:


Track List:
01. Oukie doukie woman
02. Kix
03. Let us live together
04. Sugar pudding
05. Mojo
06. Let it rock, let it roll
07. Right of love
08. O.K. LA.
09. Apache woman
10. Look into my eyes
11. Devil's Symphony - Bonus Track

Propeller:
*Herbert Hildebrandt - Guitar, Bass, Vocals
*Achim Reichel - Guitar, Bass, Vocals
*Dicky Tarrach - Drums

Guests:
*Peter Hesslein - Guitar
*Peter Wede - Piano, Organ


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Tiger B. Smith - We´re The Tiger Bunch (1974 - german hard rock and classic rock - MP3 320K and FLAC)

Tiger B Smith released 2 Albums in the early 70s. "Tiger Rock" and this one. Tiger Bunch is by far the better of the two.

The music at times reminded me of Classic era Uriah Heep and small touches of Motorhead.

Favourite tracks are "Help for a Blind Man" and "Disappointed Love".

The latter would have sounded great at a Large concert hall with an audience sing-along. "Little Miss Anna Sheffield" has some really amusing lyrics in it eg.

"She fell in love with a stranger, but God she's got an ugly face".I didnt find any weak tracks on this CD, and recently recorded on German Satellite a 10 Hour tribute to Kraut Rock.

It had a couple of vintage promos of TBS, and although it was a thrill, they can't mime to save their lives, and at the same time, looked lifeless. God knows what they were like in concert (by Paul Watson).


We´re the tiger bunch:


Track List:
01.She´s all rigth
02.Old man
03.Rock my soul
04.Anna Sheffield
05.Can´t you remember
06.Help for a blind man
07.Disappointed love
08.Inside my head
09.We´re the tiger bunch

Tiger B. Smith:
Holger Schmidt (vocal, guitar)
Karl-Heinz Traut (drums)
Klaus Meinhardt (bass)
Veit Marvos (keyboards)


[ Thank you LARRY for sending this post ]
CODE: 52419

Tiger B. Smith - Tiger Rock (1972 german heavy rock and heavy fuzzed blues - MP3 320K and FLAC)

Band founded in 1972 in Frankfurt. Holger Schmidt, guitarist and vocalist founded his first group Groove in 1965, then in 1968 the formation of Whiteface followed.

In 1969, he built the group Second Life, from which Tiger B. Smith finally emerged. It was followed by the solo Jon Bear Project in 1975, , then in 1984 he started as a singer and guitarist in the formation Tokyo, then in 2001 there was Reunion of Tiger B. Smith The real core of the group Holger Schmidt, Vocals, Guitar Klaus Meinhardt, Bass Karl-Heinz Traut, drums Remained from 1967 to 1975, with some brief interruptions.

Since the publication of its long-playing record We`re the Tiger Bunch, 1971 came on the market, Tiger B. Smith attracted some attention. While many local bands were adhering to Krautrock (german progressive rock), Tiger B. Smith were one of the few exceptions of the scene, playing a raw Hard Rock like Sir Lord Baltimore, Edgar Broughton, Buffalo, The Stooges, Black Sabbath and many others.

The group went on extended tours through Germany, was for concert tours to European countries committed to playing at festivals and concerts with groups denied as Deep Purple, Scorpions, UFO, Dr. Hook the Medicine Show Spencer Davis Group, Elkie Brooks, Susie Quattro, Nektar, Edgar Broughton… .

Positive reviews and the reaction of the audience confirm the musical skills. This statement was presented to the reference book Star Alphabet 1976, biographies and photographs of international stars Show removed.

To Hell:


Track List:
01.Tiger Rock
02.These Days
03.Everything I need
04.To Hell
05.Tiger Blues

Tiger B. Smith:
Holger Schmidt (vocal, guitar)
Karl-Heinz Traut (drums)
Klaus Meinhardt (bass)
Veit Marvos (keyboards)


[ Thank you LARRY for sending this post ]
CODE: 52392

Blackfeather - At The Mountains Of Madness (1971 australia hard rock progressive and psychedelic - 2010 new edition - MP3 320K and Wave audio format)

[ Hard Rock Series # 45 ]

Formed in Sydney in 1970 out of The Dave Miller Set, this was one of Australia's top early seventies acts.

"At The Mountains of Madness" is an offering where the emotive, the serene, and the heavy congregate to shape a maturity that hasn’t gone unnoticed to those steeped in the time’s underground.

In no way are they slouches when their goal is to caress the listener into mesmerizing bliss, nor are they laypersons in stirring a cauldron of hardness as the rampant, oddly sung title cut can testify.

Erupting from its ghostly beginning narration, vocalist Neale Johns explodes in a raucous Mr. Hyde routine, his voice a distorted, aggravated creature when compared to the normal Dr. Jeckyl/unruffled, unsoiled tone listeners will come to expect from him with the advent of “On This Day That I Die” and beyond.

“On This Day…” is a compelling little story the above “” caption is excerpted from, a slower number with a strange uneasy aura born from John Robinson’s strangely unclear, almost quivering solos and a marching piano backdrop.

Acoustics and alluring flute lead the swooning charge of “Seasons of Change Pt. 1”, and with its violin-supported chorus and exultant gait, it’s easy to see how the track charted.

“Mangos Theme Pt. 2” is a steadily paced, bass thumping instrumental that finally builds to a dynamic end, showcasing not only the soloing talents of Mr. Robinson and the unnamed violinist, but also the tightness the band as a whole can conjure.

Perhaps my fave track is “Long Legged Lovely”, a burly rocker with a slight veer of melancholy at times.

“The Rat (Suite)” is clipped into five sections, only two of which I can make heads or tails of. “Main Title” is a slow, punchy number with a memorable chorus and a pair of congruent, keening solos.

Much more bluesy is either “Trap” or “Spanish Blues”, sounding more like Black Cat Bones or Zephyr with a male Janis Joplin or Candy Evans singing and ends in a tumultuous clash of sound. Now it gets hazy, ‘cause apparently this near unending din masks (possibly) “Spanish Blues”, (but most definitely) “Blazwaonden” and “Finale”, the final three pieces of the puzzle.

While Blackfeather don’t evoke images of progressiveness or channel a pummeling resonance, they definitely have a provocative style and a sound memorable among the masses (review by Blackcatbone from rateyormusic.com).

Blackfeather:


Tracklisting:
01.At The Mountains Of Madness
02.On This day That I Die
03.Seasons Of Change Part 1
04.Mangos Theme Part 2
05.Long Legged Lovely
06.The Rat (Suite)

Blackfeather:
*Neale Johns: Vocals
*John Robinson: Guitars
*Robert Fortescue: Bass
*Alexander Kash: Drums


[ Thank you LARRY for sending this post ]
Originally published in Wednesday, June 03, 2009
CODE: 51690