Classic Rock Discussion thread, including Catfish's Top 20 Lists.

[berdie]

Disclaimer: I think Perry's voice is phenomenal.

If I think about the early Journey days...although they were musically gifted, I can't recall a single number that they did. Post Perry...very played music and lots of $$ made by the artists. I know I'm not a musician, but there should be some meeting of the minds that produces pop and entices to listen to the more "artistic" pieces.  I hate to sound mercenary, but pop and radio music produces $$. At most of the concerts I've gone to, the audiences want to hear the "favorites" not a jam session.

Journey sure isn't the only band that under went a metamorphosis from rock to pop. Think Fleetwood Mac, Chicago, Doobies. It kept them relevant in a very competitive industry. The only band that I can think of that went theother direction is the Beatles who started pop and went in a different direction. But if you have a big enough following...you can do what you want.

I got a chuckle out of the "casino" band reference because it's so darn true. I had the opportunity to see Journey several years ago. But I said to myself..."berdie...why would you pay $150 to see what is essentially a cover band?"

[catfish1957]

Great observations @berdie.  Styx was another in that host of bands that you mentioned. Hwever, they didn't pull it off near as well as say Fleetwood Mac.  What was special about them, was their artisitc turn to Tusk after Rumors.  They stayed true to their aim of mixing it up to great success.

One of the reasons I chose Departure this time for this review, was to make the point that this was the particular album that Journey perfectly thread the needle with their product that highlighted their pop transition, while still keeping their purist fans happy.

[catfish1957]

Classic Rock Album of the Day- The Who- The Who Sell Out- (1967)  *** 1/2

This Fascinating and semi-ground breaking LP that exemplifies and parallels the Beatle Mania Mod transition to psychadaelia.  This particular album is genius in that somewhat serves as a concept album of illustrating how music radio, even in the mid 1960's had infliltrated the music industry so badly, that Pete used the theme not only in art album, but how he beautifully manipulated the song transitions in a manner of AM radio at the time.  Ingenious, and just another example of how perfectly attuned Pete Townsend was with what would and not work on vinyl.  No this is not the greatness you would see in this band in another few years.   Think about it, the next 3 (4) efforts include Tommy, (Light House), Who's Next, and Quadrophenia. The period of the Who from 1969- 1973, was so prolific, that the many outtakes that didn;t make the cut, are now classics. 

Style wise, even though this may be their transitional album, the break from Mod was not as abrupt as with Sgt. Pepper/Magical Mystery Tour.  But that isn't a bad thing.  I am very thankful that their career path didn't mimic the Beatles, as soon they will be among the greats of hard rock.  The Beatles toyed a tad toward that direction, but Townsend obviously had to see the success of Sabbath and Purple, and realized that adding an edge to the sound would give them the best of both worlds.  And in the world of Rock bands born in the early 1960's, The Who pulled off the transition, better than anyone else.  Of course it's always been a mystery to me, that as out of this world i creativity that Townsend was, why he got writer's block in the mid 1970's.  Good albums of course, but he never was able to recreate that level of consisitency of late '60's, early '70's.   Maybe Moon's death?  Who knows.  Still, I would be amiss, if I did mention that this LP does have some un-evenness to it, keeping it from 4 star or higher status.  But it doesn't matter, the upcoming stuff will be stuff of legends.

Another part of the Who persona that I love, is this is a band, no matter how talented ( Think about it....  Townsend, Moon, Entwistle) never took theirselves so seriously, that they infused enough humor, satire, and tom foollery to not only keep the product great, it added an air of humanity that the fans could relate.  Versus the Beatles, who had gotten so large, that it created an aura of prenteniousness and over analysis.  While pencil necked crtics were trying to elevate Lennon and McCartney to prophet status, bands like The Who kept ball rolling and folks rocking well into the '70's and beyond.   

And last what is endearing and kind of sad about this album is the ending of The Who as Mods.  Their next effort Tommy is so different that it is unrecogniable against "Sell Out"  The cocoon to Butterfly move is rock history.  Yes, there are some signs the end is near, but the   fact that the Who totally abandoned the genre,  pretty much shows that Townsen was always hell bent on evolving.  Which kind of hurt the band by the late 1970's.  Pete Townsend feared any critical comments about stagnation.  In the overall standing of the greatness of the Who, I think it hurt them.

Fun Fact:  Does the U.K. love their native band?  Today's album was the worst U.K. charting LP in the band's history.  No.13.  10 of their 12 studio LP's charted into their Top 10.

Side 1-
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Armenia City in the Sky- Rare out of band collaboration of Speedy Keen with Townsend.  Keen was a Thunderclap Newman member (hows that for a trivia question blast from the past).  Obviously this is  Townsend's first foray into out in out pscyadaelia.  To me, decent but feels a little to forced to be taken serious in the genre.  More experimental than from the chops.  4

Heinz Baked Beans- Satrical Ditty, that was interesting, at least in that time and reference.  12

Mary Anne and the Shaky Hand- Kind of a buzzard off tuned early like 1960's number that almost seems to diss the earlier styles-  7

Odorono- Some of the last bastions of the Who mod era.  Same metering, choral harmonies. 8

Tattoo- Light balladry that has to be included.  Not the best of their catalog in that regard- 10

Our Love Was- I consider this  their last shout out to Beatlemania.  Nicely melodically done, and some what I would call some innovative guitar at the time. Psyh guitar work at the end was a nice touch. 6

I Can See For Miles-  The by far, greatest tune on the LP.  This is the slap that gives listeners what they can expect the next 5 years.  Townsend's brain jarring guitar, and fablous percussion by the Loon?  Classic chaotic  Who at its best.  1

Side 2-
----------

Can't Reach You-  I see a lot of the melodic base in this one being incorporated in Tommy.  Nice choral Bolero like progressions screams '60's, but done so nicely that you can stealthly see the musical progression off that time tied mark.  3

Medac- Pointless filler  gibberish 13

Relax- Multi-phasic tune, that hits all the buttons.  Enough melodic psychadealia to keep it crisp, but not too much in dating it. Sleeper status for this LP  2

Silas Stingy- This level of story telling is kind of a precurssor to some of Tommy's lesser fodder. No thanks. 11

Sunrise- Mediocre Townsend ballad- 9

Rael- Even with this Cowsill's vibe, very innovative like airy song doesn't sound much like a Who effort.  Anyone else notice "The Sparks" Tommy redux?   5


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjcp42Q0Xgg

[catfish1957]

Classic Rock Album of the Day- Pearl Jam- Ten (1991) ***

Pearl Jam is a text book example of the sudden fame, them flame out story.  Early Pearl Jam was one of the progenitors of Seattle's Grunge scene with Nirvana. Rounding out the Seattle pioneers included Soundgarden and Alice in Chains.  But it was these first two that helped define what Grunge was, what it stood for, and how it was to progress. 

Nirvana  flamed out for the reasons of excess, including of course most sadly, Kurt Kobain's suicide.  Pearl Jam faded for drastically different reasons.  Their debut was very very good, as they took a more rocking edged sound to Alternative.  And I repeat this is a good album in any era, and how huge was it?  Try 13X platinum.  And from there to today, and yes they are still recording, the descent from grace has been a slow downward ride.  Here are sales of their 12 studio albums in chronological order....   13XP, 7XP, 5XP, 1XP, 1XP, Gold, Gold, Gold, Gold, Gold, Nothing, Nothing,  So what happened?  I have a few theories including first and most of all, that front man Eddie Vedder is extremely difficult to work with. In fact when you read the credits for the album he is listed as vocals and  "additional art".  How pretentious is that? I also think this may be something like "The Boston" syndrome, where a band ultimately shoots it's wad on a debut, and never finds those creative juices ever again.  And 3rd, by 2000, Grunge was dying under its own weight of silly imitiators.  That seems to happen with any new fad of musical genre. 

With all the negative, I still want to state that this album is def. worth a listen though.  And IMO as far as content, the best Grunge album ever made.  But sampling subsequent LP's I found that the band was either  rehashing old licks, or trying new stuff that came off as parody.  Thus, why I am shocked that they are still recording.

The focal points of the band are of course, is Vedder who sucks the spotlight like a Dyson on 'roids.  I also think highly of their guitaritst Mike McCready.  Though not flashy, his ability to fill the expanse , gives PJ a unique sound that sound markedly often not Grungey.  Even if abstract failure, I do have to give props to the band by keeping 3/4 members intact during their 30 year career.  In true Spinal Tap fashion, only the drummers have been changed (All still alive though)

Fun Fact:  Pearl Jam served as Neil Young's back up band in Young's 1995 album "Mirror Ball"

Track No.
--------------

1. Once- Starts with a Phil Collins like intro, that then rocks more like a 1970's / Grunge Blended effort.  Maybe this morphed effort helped differentiate themselves from Nirvanna, who took a more punk slanted approach.  Good intro to the band, and even better to come.  6

2. Evenflow- The crown jewel of the PJ catalog.  This is a top 5 staple of any Grunge fan, and deservedly so.  So well metered, delivered. and I really enjoy the sublimjnal like blues like guitar undertows that includes an almost Hendrix/SRV like style.  1


3. Alive-  What an excellent followup to Evenflow. Comes across as kind of a grunge ballad, but is much more heavier.  And despite disturbing content (incest) has that perfect level of hook, musicanship, and grunginess to make it a hit.  More McCready ax work helps too.  2

4. Why Go- You'd kind of swear that this was an '80's hair band number.  Before grunge, I have an idea that this was what most of the Grunge group was jamming to at the time.  As far as an add to the album?  Meidocre. 8

5. Black- Somewhat of a semi-sleeper.  Nothing hooked in this, but the most heartfelt aspects of the album.  Nothing particuarly outstanding, but hearing the entire band at half speed was an interesting approach that I liked  5

6. Jeremy- What is it with the darkness of early 1990's music?  NIN, Metallica, et. al.  I don't remember things being that dank and depressing back then, but a lot of the music sure was.  It was still an good way for Vedder and company to get their message across.  Which the left took and bended the narrative from suicide to school shootings.  Wasn't the first or last time our left wing enemies have jaded the message for their own benefit.  3

7. Oceans- Didn't say the album was perfect.  Honestly, this is awful  11

8. Porch- Another effort out of Grunge-isphere.  Outside some good guitar licks, nothing really much to report here. 7

9. Garden- CD seems to be tailing off into drivelous Vedder ramblings.  No content, No direction, Nope.  10

10. Deep- Latter CD surprise.  Interesting phrasing, bash-a-minute instrumentals, off-key leaning that sounds more like a touch of industrial infused mash.  Song has a real improv feel to almost jam mode, that comes across strongly.  4

11. Release- Eastern Morrison like feel sang in a Vedder mono-tome.  This is really like a Van Halen album.  2 or 3 great songs, surrounded by filler. 9


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-cRKgcTFfI

[catfish1957]

Classic Rock Album of the Day- Fleetwood Mac- Mirage (1982) *** 1/2

By 1982, the era of Fleetwood Mac's dominance and stranglehold on the radio had ended.  The 3 previous behemoths  had yielded 22M in sales, why today's album only 2M.  It could be speculated that Fleetwood Mac by design was a popular choice in the era in the disco age, but my theory on the drop off was the public's response to Tusk in '80.  I loved it, and thought it was some of the bands greatest work, though it was highly steeped in experimental stuff, self reflection, and likely the  most compartmentialized album in their career.  Listening to it, there was no doubt whether this was a McVie, a Buckingham, or a Nicks song.  There was that level of personalization, that significantly permetated the work.

IMO, at face value Mirage is almost as good, but not quite as the previous 3.  There are some great songs, but the level of consistency is maybe just slightly off.  Most markedly, it seem Lindsey Buckingham relinquished a slight amount of artistic control.  Which is understandable that as much as I loved Tusk, the general album public didn't.

For a try at content contrast sake, this is a pretty typical album in Fleetwood Mac terms.  The mix of artists is more equitable to say versus Tusk or Rumours.   Which is not a plus for me.   I have dissected Rumors and Tusk in a lot of detail in previous reviews, and as big as FM was, I don't think too much emphasis on the individual pluses and minuses adds much.  I do think C McVie's contributions were less impactful (one exception though) than in the past LP's, but that is just my take.  Plus, the almost pedistrian nature of M.Fleetwood/J. McVie's parts in this LP are so understated, you almost forget that they are there.

Fun Fact:  Last No. 1 LP for the band on the U.S. charts. 

Side 1-
------------

Love in Store-  Chris McVie's one sterling contribution to the LP, and honestly the very best on the LP.  Beautiful pop song, that so magnificantly blends Buckinghan, McVie's and Nicks voice into a sultry mix of pop music gold.  Fantastic 1

Can't Go Back- Big drop off, and not one of Buckingham's least appealling pop songs. 10

That's Alright- C&W attempt by Nicks/band that falls far short.  It does have that appealing tone, but Country is not in their repitorie. 12

Book of Love-  Wow, I swore this song was on Tusk.  I have a FM playlist, and it seems to just augment perfectly.  Again, this is a rare add from Buckingham of a carryover from the Tusk style and effort, with slow rolling beats and incredible lyrical and instrumental fills.   Wish there had been a few more on this album.  On previous reviews, I have lamented how under appreciated, and under-rated Lindsey Buckingham was on guitar.  This one is a good example of that prowess. 2

Gypsy-  The biggest hit on the LP, and still not even in one of Stevie Nick's best 5 songs in Fleetwood Mac.  I am still torn, jaded, and mesmerized by her sexy voice. And yes, that works for me in her ranking standing on the album- 3

Only Over You-  The fact the same lady wrote and led Love in Store and this one on the same album is an utter mystery. I sure it was from the heart, but it just didn't connect for me.  9

Side 2-
--------------

Empire State- Very pop infused that sounds nothing like the band normally offers.  That broadway/Abba-ish vibe is okay, and kind of mid-point in song excellence.   I think I gave it a few extra points for pulling off the experimental aspects of this.  Especially say that failed effort around Country. 6

Straight Back- Nicks filler.  A rarity- 8

Hold Me- Anothter of the hits from the LP.  Nicely haromizations between the 3 main singers.  And a masterful hook line that taps the toes.  4

Oh Diane- Ohh geez..  A foray into a 50's play.  Nope.  11

Eyes of the World- Classical/pop infusion that does  a nice job of adding that aspect of music to the equation. 5

Wish You Were Here-  Album closes with typical C. McVie standard.  Chris didn't make many really bad songs, and this one while not in her upper tiers, it still isn't too bad.  7




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omuHVXepAhU

[catfish1957]

Classic Rock Album of the Day- AC-DC - Highway to Hell (1979) **** 1/2

I'll just say it.  Is this the most fun, rocking, and party-worthy band of all time? They are for me.  AC/DC is another one of those absolutely great bands who have a perfect read on the pulse of their fans.  Are they great lyricist?    Are they a highly balanced plethora of talent?     Though, granted, the Angus Young ax work is a magical touch of wizardry in the midst of 3 chord stand hard rock and roll, sans metal. I absolutely love the Bon Scott era too, as his ability to shrill and scream with this madness has that touch of a mysterious aura of classic rock at its best, the other guys are kind of journeyman status, good but unheralded.    Songwriting hook chops are right in the sweet spot of these guy's product too.

Highway to Hell is an utter iconic  staple of classic rock airplay.  This LP and High Voltage are almost both perfect rock and roll albums in the Scott era.  Little or no filler.   Like earlier, this is a band that gives their fan's their moneys worth.  What they lack in the pompous claim in artistry, is 1000% compensated by being the best at what they do.  And that is standard 3 chord 2X4 up against the head un-PC, and inappropriate fare, to all our vicarious rock and roll fantasies of excess.  And yeah, we love it.

In finale, one can not under-estimate what AC/DC has been in the world of rock and roll.  Back in the 1978-'82 era, when New Wave/Punk genre was flooding the airwaves, AC/DC pretty much stood alone as an alternative.  AOR was fading, but these boys held the mantle, and I am thankful for that.  And this wouldn't be a complete review, without acknowleding the coup the band pulled off by adding Mutt Lange's production into focus.  And this is another example where an extra production push that put this one is of classic status.  Lange did a great and almost impossible job of corralling the Garage Band charm, and channeling it into a hard rocking hook machine. And bonus points too, for tightening up the product, much in the way Ezrin did with Kiss.   That is why this LP makes a lot of "greatest Hard rock album" lists.

Fun Fact:  Un-fun.  Much like with the Who's Swan Song LP with "Who Are You", and "the not to be taken away" sad irony, this  album of this name was so sad since, within a year Bon Scott had died.  I like Brian Johnson as a replacement, but  Bon was really not replacable.

Side 1-
-------------

Highway to Hell-  Outside Smoke on the Water, can you think of a more iconic hard rocking power chord intro?  Nuff said.  1



Girl's Got Rthym-  90% of AC/DC's stuff is shameless double entendre'  If you don't like it, and aren't rocking along with it?.....   check with the ABBA review I did a few weeks back.  2

Walk Over You-  Charm on this one, is this number has that look and feel of stuff they were doing 5 years earlier.  Standard bluesy hard in your face rock and roll.  8

Touch Too Much-  Nothing on this album is really what I call filler, but something has fall when this stuff is ranked.  9

Beating Around the Bush- Using that classic mid 30's "Baby Please Don't Go" classic blues licks.  Angus smokes the solo on this, among others.  5

Side 2-
------------

Shot Down in Flames-  The sleeper.  Band takes a great song and adds some PG-13 hilarious songwriting. Love the power chords....  Fantastic one that isn't the first or last time the topic of misunderstanding women comes into focus. 4

Get It Hot- Seems they were trying to emulate early 1970's Stones on this effort.  Decent, but not top tier, of what is a great album- 7

If You Want Blood- As great as this AC/DC classic is, I still consider it the 3rd best on the album. Sternum crunching, bad ass 4/4, 3 chords in your face #@$#@$@  3

Love Hungry Man- Unique, pseudo-balladry at its most subdued, at least on AC/DC's terms  Angus shreds it again, in what you are realizing is damned great and consistent LP 6

Night Prowler- Someone's got to finish 10th on a 10 song album.  Hard core blues that is excellent. It's off tangent status is maybe why I ranked it last.  But AC/DC's fans who are bigger blues enthusiast, might have this one in their top 2 or 3.  It's all in taste, when you try to review an album this good.  10


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CwIB6pQoPo

[catfish1957]

Classic Rock Album of the Day- Allman Brothers- Self Titled (1969) - ***

In honor of the recent death of Dicky Betts, I'd like to cover an LP of maybe what was the pinnacle of American Rock Blues Prowess.  Despite the widespread assumption that the Brits had cornered the market on resurrection of American Blues, this particular album shined as a example that the home grown stuff was as good or better than the Brit posers.   Sure Clapton, Page, Beck, Mayall were getting all the rock and roll press attention. Deservedly so.    But there were sure a few American examples too.  Big Brother, ZZ, among others had started forging a path that was as near impactful, and important to music history.   

Picking the apt Allman Bro.'s was a simple task.  Their debut contains the classical lineup with Both Allmans, Betts, Oaks, and Trucks.  It also has that blues rawness that is absent in the subsequent more successful LP's.  This is the blues bland white board slate, and no polish.  And none of the internal strife or personnel changes that altered the formula.  I am not really a big blues fan, but when I do want to hear it, I like the simplistic jammed approach than production values that water the stuff down.  The Allmans did a good job of paraphrasing their blues licks in a manner that they came off as plausible covers of the Delta.  Vs. Brits who seem to be more inclined to make rock songs with blues bones, tendons, and ligaments.   A whole different animal from viewpoint.

Fun Fact:  As impactful and great as the debut album was it was one of  worst charting in their career.  I have a feeling that the '70's purchases did give it an ongoing demand.

Side 1-
------------

Don't Want You - Spencer Davis remake that is really a little more rock sounding base, but there is no mistaking the fine Duane Allman-Betts blues dueling.  Which gives this LP in it's own right standing by that itself. And at face value, Greg's voice comes across more plausible as a blues practioner than his UK counterparts. 4

Not My Cross to Bare- More traditional and heartfelt.  I bet Clapton heard this one, and was sold on the Derek and D concept, just on this one alone.  3

Black Hearted Woman- One of my staples from the KAAY Beaker Street Days.  A staple of early southern blues rock that would gel as a genre as great bands like Skynrd, and others would appear. Hardest rocker, but enough of a bluez like splash give it enough oomph to say this is new stuff for us on the West side of the Atlantic.  The sloppy feel is endearing, on purpose, and gives it it's flair.  2


Trouble No More- Bro's do a nice cover of this Muddy Waters mainstay.  Still even this nice piece makes bottom tier status. 6

Side 2-
------------

Every Hungry Woman- Same meter and feel a bit as Whipping Post.  Not near as good though. 7

Dreams- Low flow, and rolling blues that the Brother take it back half a notch,  They addtioally  stick in some of that hammond back sound that was pretty typical in the 1960's.  If there is one knock on side 2, Duanne, and Gregg seem to be relying on a common and repetitive sound that doesn't break away enough from just one desired blues style.  5

Whipping Post- My favorite Allman Brothers song- Love the improv/ rough almost bar like jam that makes this a song of grit, heartfelt blues.  Song has that great double dueling guitar and organ sound that hallmarked this band's sound for albums to come.  Lot's of tries, but none of them ever came close to this magic. 1


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH7JQxOxEQg

[catfish1957]

Classic Rock Album of the Day- Deep Purple- Shades of Deep Purple- (1968) ** 1/2

Been having a good time lately reviewing and listening to bands who whisked through the breakthroughs and rapid fire changes of what constituted the transition of rock between 1964 and say about 1969.  There is no doubt that 100% pivoted on what the Beatles were doing.  But in retrospect, the way rock changed in those 5 years was breathtakingly rapid.  Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, The Who, and Led Zeppelin are maybe the some of the best examples of great bands that worked the formula to perfection.  None replicated the impact of the Beatles, but all 4 took an idea, ran with it, in a different way, and almost made genres upon themselves. 

Deep Purple, of course is centered around the great guitarist Richie Blackmore.  Blackmore did a fantastic job circumventing line up changes, that resulted in just enough of an incremental sound changes to keep the fans guessing, and in some cases, the music fresh.  In their debut album, and few subsequent, I think you will find both crtics and fans liking the original lineup, just for that classic sound.  A line up with Blackmore, Paice,  and Lord is the backbone of that heavy sound.  Their debut album is sorely missing a flailing screaming front man singer who seemed in this music era was needed to complete the rock and roll persona and experience.  That is why I believe this why Rod Evan's tenure was so short.  And neeless to say his foray into Captain Beyond was a disaster and it underscored his shortcomings a vocalist.

In Deep Purple terms, this is a substandard LP, but one has to be fascinated in hearing the progeny of the thought processes that even in their infancy can be plucked out of bits and pieces of this album.  In the department of adapting to the psychadaelia theming that all their peers were invoking, Purple was pretty much failing on that account.  Purple were great hard rockers.  Not a great band playing like an Iron Butterfly clone.   That is why about a 1/3 of this LP is filler, but one can't discount Hush, and "And the Address" as glimpses of what is to become.  Plus the fact that Blackmore had to rely on three staple covers to fill vinyl is not a good look.  They did the covers well, but others did them better.  Well maybe not Hush, and they pretty much cut that one out as their own. 

Fun Fact:  Yes' Rick Wakeman picked this LP as the greatest British LP ever made.   No idea why. 


Side 1-
-------------

And the Address-  Fine instrumental, and we get spared Rod Evans for a bit.  Has kind of psychadaelia MC5/Blue Cheer touch to it, but putting Lord, Paice, and Blackmore in a focused like jam session was a winner-  2

Hush-  As I mentioned it is a cover, but one that pretty much is associated with them instead of the originals.  Does anyone even remember Joe South?  Yes, this one's Purple's, just as much as All Along the Watchtower's is Hendrix'.   Song incorporates some psychadaelia, a prologue like heavy feel too, and enough hook to make it chart worthy.  In retrospect, if Hush hadn't charted, would we had even seen a second Deep Purple album.  Not so sure.  1

One More Rainy Day-  Very dated '60's effort that misses the mark. Song sounds like a slightly edgy Monkey's tune. 7

Prelude: Happiness/I'm So Glad- Kind of a Mix of Cream's, Ulysses, and mash up of Iron Butterfly, and the slightest tinge of King Crimson.  Even seems to have a hint of prog......   Prog?  Naw............    6

Side 2-
--------------

Mandrake Root- Kind of draws from that Sookie Sookie Steppenwolf melodic line, and with the same level of hard rocking late '60's flair.   Well played, and enough turns and innovation to make it a winner on this LP.  4

Help- Bizarre cover of the Beatle's classic.  Extra oddity points for picking one from early Beatles catalog.  A crooning sappy ballad of this upbeat number is worse than strange.  Bet Blackmore wanted this one back for a second opinion. 8

Love Help Me- Solid standard rocker, that really doesn't sound or come across as a Deep Purple.  Sure seems the band was struggling with what sound they wanted to go with.  Even this song, as uneven as it is, does have some redeeming moments with that quaint '60's vibe in what almost seems to be a schizophrenic LP. 5

Hey Joe-  I love this song, whoever sings it, and......of course Hendrix did it best.  I do like how Purple liluminated some strange but off beat angles to it though.  Spanish theming,sans Spaghetti Western like.....ramming right into the famous melodic line.  Nice.  3


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3sqPIGGwHg