TOE FAT/TWO SLRZ 1015 (-70) UK

  For background check post on the band's debute  https://monolover.blogspot.com/2013/04/toe-fat-2c-062-04374-70-french.html . After that Ken Hensley quit to form Uriah Heep and Lee Kerslake first went to National Head Band before joining Uriah Heep 1971. They were replaced by drummer Brian Glascock (later in Carmen and Captian Beyond) and guitarist Alan Kendall (later with BeeGees) for this second and last album as Toe Fat. "John Konas" credited as bassist in The Gods and Toe Fat was in fact Brian Glascock's brother John Glascock (later in Carmen, Chicken Shack and Jethro Tull).  Though one can hear here some connection with the band's earlier phases as The Gods and the first Toe Fat setting this comes out surprisingly different. I get a bluesy number in "There'll Be Changes" and a dreamy "Indian Summer", but the rest stone hard rock. All numbers penned by the band. Top performance with spendid guitars and Cliff Bennett doing apt hard rock vocals very far from his original Rebel Rousers  https://monolover.blogspot.com/2013/03/cliff-bennett-and-rebel-rousers-pmc.html . Maybe not all pioneer though there are parts that lifts it above prosaic. Like the ukulele intro to "Stick Heat" or the tempo changes in "Midnight Sun".  But to me the most remarkable is that Peter Green himself took part in the recordings (uncredited) and plays lead guitar on one track - "A New Way" - which starts cool and Albatross-like and then moves over to harder stuff. So even if not an absolute top-of-the-line rock album there are enough goodies to make it more than just something for label and genre collectors. Early seventies vinyl also in US (Rare Earth RS 525), Italy and France.  1995 UK 2xCD on BGO (BGOCD 278) as "Toe Fat I & II" came with the band's both albums. Premiere UK had label as shown here in a laminated flip/back cover.   (RÄZ*)  (ÖRHÄ*)