For more background check earlier post on their second LP "Medusa". On this third the band core remained the same - guitarist Mel Galley (later in Whitesnake) and drummer Dave Holland (who would go on to Judas Priest) plus Glenn Hughes, recruited to Deep Purple soon after this. With those personnel transfers in mind you could see this band as a cradle for some of the hard rock that happened in the late seventies and eighties. Admittedly one of many, but significant nevertheless. Style-wise the 1970 "Medusa" was years ahead of its time, but as caught on relatively "primitive" equipment it came out nearer and more touching than any later state-of-the-art recording. This has a lot in common. A blend of ballads and raw rock, all cuts self-penned and the audio smashing indeed bringing me in. There was an impressive guest list, among others counting Jimmy Hastings (Caravan, Soft Machine), Rod Argent (Zombies, Argent) and B.J. Cole (who played with about everyone - Procol Harum, Humble Pie, Elton John, Uriah Heep and Cat Stevens just to name a few). It's all so very well performed by band and guests and proficiently produced by Neil Slaven. I prefer the rawer cuts - "Keeping Time" with its flexible B.J. Cole steel guitar, the intrusive funk-progish "Back To The Bone" and the stone hard "Feelin´ So Much Better Now". As a whole maybe not all up there with "Medusa", but a very good listen. On the right equipment and volume I can feel the bass and drums hitting my gut and guitars scratching the skin. Among the most natural I've heard from any rock album. Issued and/or reissued on vinyl and CD pretty much all over the world through the years, also as US 8-track. US and Canadian first on same label and no. as UK. EU 2020 2xCD on Purple Records (PURPLE 024T) came with seventeen bonus tracks - three studio, five from a radio concert and nine live in Huston. Premiere UK had label as shown here in a thin glossy cover with "blue box" inner. (DÄRR*)
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