Earth Quake - 8.5 (1976 usa hard rock)

Most people seem to think that Greg Kihn was the mainstay of Matthew Kaufman's Beserkley Records. Kihn may have become the label's chief money maker, but the label was originally formed and financed by the band Earth Quake. Having recorded a pair of early-1970s albums for A&M, 1976's Kaufman and Glen Kolotkin produced "8.5" was the group's sophomore release for Beserkley. The album gets off to a roaring start with the heavy metal 'Finders Keepers'. Imagine Def Leppard had they come from California and you'll get a feel for this track. Unfortunately, tracks such as 'Little Cindy' and '' offer up a more conventional set of rockers. Powered by Doukas voice, most of the up tempo tracks are actually pretty good, but there isn't much in the way of originality or spark goin' on here. As for ballads such as 'And He Likes To Hurt You' and 'Girl Named Jesse James' ... well at least there aren't too many of 'em. Nice art noveau cover ... "8.5" track listing: (side 1) 1.) Finders Keepers (Johnson - Bowen) - 2.) Little Cindy (Gary Phillips) - 3.) And He Likes To Hurt You (D. Linde) - 4.) Savin' My Love (Robbie Dunbar - John Doukas - Gary Phillips) - (side 2) 1.) Girl Named Jesse James (Robbie Dunbar - John Doukas) - 2.) Motivate Me (Robbie Dunbar - John Doukas - Gary Phillips - Bimier) - 3.) Hit the Floor (Robbie Dunbar - John Doukas - Stan Miller) - 4.) Same Old Story (Robbie Dunbar - John Doukas) - 5.) Don't Want To Go Back (Robbie Dunbar - John Doukas - Gary Phillips) - 

From RYM (RDTEN1)

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The Rats - First Long Player (uk 1974 great hard rock)

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Sammy - Sammy (1974 hard rock, prog)

It's doubtful many folks have ever heard the British band Sammy - I certainly hadn't which was kind of surprising given the band's impressive pedigree. Drummer Mick Underwood was apparently the band's driving force, with the line up rounded out by a collection of rock veterans including ex-Audience horn and woodwinds player Keith Gemmell, ex-Billy J. Kramer keyboardist Mick Hodgekinson, former Ginhouse guitarist Geoff Sharkey, and ex-Roy Young Band bassist Paul Simmons. Signed by Philips, the band debuted with a 1972 45 'Goo Ger Woogie' b/w 'Big Lovin' Woman' (Philips catalog number 6006 227). While the single did little commercially, it attracted enough interest and attention for Philips management to green light an album. Co-produced by Louie Austin and Deep Purple's Jon Lord, 1973's "Sammy" offered up a competent, if slightly worn set of mid-1970s hard rock. Largely penned by Sharkey and Simmons, lyrically and musically there wasn't a lot of originality going on here (kind of like the album cover) - Gemmell's sax adding occasional jazz-influenced runs to the band's blues and rock oriented sound. As lead singer Sharkey wasn't bad; his raw raspy voice sounded surprisingly good on tracks like 'Give Me More', their unlikely cover of 'I Ain't Never Loved a Woman (The Way That I Love You)', and 'Get Into a New Thing'. Imagine uriah Heep-lite with the saxes, a little more boogie and variety ('Who Do You Really Love') and you'll be in the right aural neighborhood. The band was actually far more impressive on their isolated stabs at more-pop oriented material like 'Sioux-Eyed Lady' and 'Jo Anne'. Elsewhere the album spun off a UK single in the form of 'Sioux-Eyed Lady' b/w '70 Days' (Philips catalog number 6006 249). Brainless fun, it's actually not a bad effort, especially if you approach it with the right mindset. One LP and two 45s appears to cover the band's recording legacy. By the way, the British album release featured different cover art. 
From RYM (RDTEN1)
 

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Blitz - Oga Erutuf (1975 usa hard rock)

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Out of Darkness - Out of Darkness (1970 uk hard rock prog)

none too consistent, but very good overall, guitar driven bluesy prog hard rock, with Christian lyrics, and mixed with some softer rock. Grades - 1 A-, 3 B+'s, 2 B's, 3 B-'s, 2 C+'s, and a C. 
From RYM (tymeshifter)

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Hybride - Ça n'a pas d'importance (1978 fra hard prog hard rock)

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The Hamilton Face Band - The Hamilton Face Band (1969 usa Hard rock rock)

I was hoping to find one of RDTEN1's reviews for this album, perchance to reveal where they were from. All of my research has come up empty. But due to Zappa alumnus Underwood's inclusion, California wouldn't be an unreasonable guess. The music is a rather diverse collection of non-commercial rock. Some of it is semi-hard sounding, while a lot of the rest is difficult to classify. There does seem to be an element of self-indulgence here, though some of the mat'l has good period flavor. Grades - 3 B-'s, 3 C+'s, and 3 C's. From RYM (tymeshifter)
 

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Five Man Electrical Band - Sweet Paradise (rock hard rock can 1973)

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3/3 - 3/3 (japan 1975 psych hard rock)

Consistently fantastic power trio hard rock with strong Hendrix influences, recorded 1974. Bonus disc is live mat'l, recorded 2 years later, in 1976~7, and features some modern style garage/punk. Never mind the out-of-print vinyl reissue (I have a sealed copy if you want one), this CD is the way to go, with bonus tracks on the album reissue disc, plus the whole live bonus disc. Grades for both discs combined - 1 A, 4 A-'s, 9 B+'s, 6 B's, and 4 B-'s, nothing even mediocre on the whole package! These guys wail, and if you're into that heavy early 70's sound, you owe it to yourself to check this one out. From RYM (tymeshifter)

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Steeplechase - Lady Bright (1970 us hard rock)

Enjoyable, soulful 70's rock album, reminded me of my favorite unknown 70's band Gypsy. The booklet has absolutely no info on the band, it does not even list the bandmembers. Nice guitar organ interplay, sometimes even sounding like Santana on a couple of tunes. Not a must-have, but will definitely get some replay on my cd player. 
From RYM (jimslim11)

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Strider - Misunderstood (1974 uk hard rock)

Pure hardrock with keyboards and a very good vocalist. Other stuff than their first output. 
From RYM (warpigcat)

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Strawberry Path - When the Raven Has Come to the Earth(71 jap heavy psych/H.rock)

As the awesome fuuzy, bluesy pump of "Gotta See My Gypsy Woman" gets grooving, you'll feel like you're in old school heavy heaven. And this Japanese band certainly had their hearts in the right place when it comes to this kind of old school heavy ambling about. "Woman Called Yellow" and "Five More Pennies" are great, with plenty of power and energy, the latter bringing a slightly less cranked out MC5 to mind, and the same goes for "Leave Me Woman," which is superchanged R&B that just makes you shake whether you want to or not. But as much as I hate to pigeonhole bands on the basis of national origin, Strawberry Path did do the typical Japanese deal, and included a couple of ludicrously sappy numbers as well. But just as quickly the get back to business. There's even a "Moby Dick" style drum solo workout called "Spherical Illusion." Damn good record. And if you're motivated enough to find it, I'd also grab Blues Creation's second album, and Ranmadou's 1971 album to get a nice picture of early Japanese heavy stuff. From RYM (cirithungol)

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Rock Island - Rock Island (1970 us hard rock)

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Moonstone - Moonstone (1977 us hard rock)

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Privilege - Privilege (1973 us hard rock)

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Murahachibu - Live + 1(jap hard rock garage 1973)

Why are there no reviews for this band? I own an album of theirs called 'Live' from 1973 and it is wonderful. The rhythm guitar riffs have a definite Keith Richards influence. The drumming is really strong and 'on the money'. If you enjoy the sound of a real, nonproduced, basic, infectious drum kit then this is the album for you. There are copies of Chuck Berry-type songs and stuff like that. Some of it puts me in mind of The Stooges. Of course the singing is all in Japanese but with music this good, who cares? I would recommend this to anyone who likes good basic no-nonsense real music. From RYM (xvgi)

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Oz Knozz - Ruff Mix (1975 us great hard rock)

One of the better US private press progressive (alliteration allegation) rock albums from the 1970s. Coming from Houston, but having that amateurish production, vocal style (Id's "Where Are We Going" leaped to mind) and overall approach of any US 1970s group from anywhere. Like most bands of the era, the idea was to throw out a few different styles to see if something would stick. Of course the theory was a major label would hear their private album by chance and want to sign them up for a 5 album contract so they could open for Led Zeppelin or Foghat's next US tour. What separates Oz Knozz from the others, is a strong compositional component, with plenty of original ideas and superb instrumentation (especially the guitar work). My favorite track though, has to be the groovy and infectious horn rocker, which sounds as dated as the movement itself and easily could have been from 1969. The fact these guys tried that in 1975 is the equivalent of Genesis releasing a "Foxtrot" like album in 1982. Which explains why Oz Knozz disappeared practically without a trace. Love it. From RYM (ashratom)

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California Earthquake - Reformation (us 71 psych hard rock)

From RYM ()

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Spontaneous Combustion - Triad 1972(superb hard rock-prog)

 

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Zior - Zior ...Plus (1971 uk hard rock)

Own this for the bonus tracks. Album to be reviewed when I get to it in my vinyl. This is decent, prog flavored hard rock with a bar-band sound, and featuring some funky blues mat'l and gruffy vocals. The 8 bonus cuts included here are all good, and consitent with the stuff on the album. All 8 are taken from their second LP. My grades for these are - 3 B+'s, 3 B's, and 2 B-'s. Comes with a fold-out cover card. From RYM (tymeshifter)

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