Cactus "Cactus" 1970

The legendary Cactus. Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice from Vanilla Fudge, Jim McCarty from the Detroit Wheels, and Rusty Day who sang in the Amboy Dukes. This much hyped band deserves a whole lot of that hype, but I wanted to give my own reviews of Cactus' albums so that the uninitiated listener doesn't pick this up expecting wall-to-wall heavy Sabbath style riffage, only to be disappointed and give up on them altogether.
Cactus was formed by Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice after leaving Vanilla Fudge (check out the Boomerang review to see what became of another Fudge member). The plan was to have Jeff Beck play guitar with Cactus, but a car crash intervened, sidelining Beck and opening a slot for Jim McCarty (Beck did hook up with Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice in 1973 after the demise of Cactus to record Beck, Bogert & Appice, which among other gems has an insanely cool version of Superstition- which, btw, I heard Jeff Beck had a hand in writing with Stevie Wonder-if anyone knows the real story there let me know).

Cactus' self titled debut was released in 1970 and was a loud and boisterous American response to the heaviness that had come across the pond from Sabbath's first 2, Zep's first 2, Deep Purple In Rock, etc. This album, while lacking in the crushing riffage and gothic darkness of Sabbath, is a bold and vital piece of the emerging hard rock and metal to come. Most of the songs are heavy electrified boogie, but with Marshalls cranked to 11 and turbocharged beyond the confines of rhythm and blues. Starting out with a blazing, careening take on Parchman Farm (which many will remember was fuzzified not so long prior by the acid drenched Blue Cheer) we see immediately where this ride is headed; we see what, ultimately, is my favorite thing about Cactus: the balls-to-the-wall, no turning back, always on the edge of destruction approach. These guys are doing 120 mph in their '68 Shelby Mustang,headed for a cliff, Rusty's riding on the hood, Carmine's hangin' out the window, the wheels are starting to come off, and they don't care! Floor it, man!

After Parchman Farm they do slow it down though with My Lady From South of Detroit , which is an acoustic ballad. Things start to pick up again with the twangy somewhat goofy blues of Bro. Bill. They get back up to cruising speed with the Willie Dixon tune You Can't Judge a Book. It's a little deceptive in the beginning with the acoustic guitar on the first verse and lots of harmonica, but it is soon full on vintage Cactus - blistering Jim McCarty guitar over the maelstrom that swirls underneath created by Bogert and Appice. Let Me Swim is a boogie rocker with a good share of riffage and a smokin' vamp at the end. Oleo is another heavy boogie with a bit too much white boy harmonica, but rocking hard enough to make it not matter. Feel So Good is maybe the most full on riff-based and forward thinking rock song on the album, despite the obligatory 70's drum solo. No Need to Worry is a bit of a disappointment for me. It's a straightforward slow blues, which has the potential for greatness(think of Johnny Winter's Tribute to Muddy or Taste's Catfish Blues or Hendrix Hear My Train a Comin'), but this stays just that, a slow blues and fails to rise above that, unlike the other examples just mentioned. Don't get me wrong, it is still a well done blues song, but it doesn't make the cut when I'm making a compilation of Cactus tunes.

Even though it feels like these guys were simply out of control, hard partying, acid heads, this is the first formative statement from a first rate band of great musicians that knew how to push it to the very edge and still keep retain control like few others could. The next two albums, One Way or Another and Restrictions were still heavy on the blues, but with more riffing mixed into the fray.

Riff Density 6
Riff Caliber 8
Post Blues Factor 4
Groove Factor 10
Dig It 7

Randy Holden "Population II" 1970

Randy Holden is one of the great unsung guitar heroes of Rock. A true devotee of the guitar, to him it was all about the music. He spent the first part of the 60's playing in surf band Fender IV and 60's psychedelic bands Sons of Adam and The Other Half. His most high profile gig was replacing Leigh Stephens on guitar in the legendary Blue Cheer. He played with Blue Cheer for roughly a year, although he only recorded on half of their severely disappointing 3rd album "New! Improved! Blue Cheer" before quitting the band. It seems he decided to leave the band partly because he was getting screwed by the label and/or management and partly because the rest of the band was more interested in serious partying than creating music together. The "New! Improved!" album clearly shows a lack of the musical fire and direction that made the first to albums, Vincebus Eruptum and Outsideinside, rock and roll classics. The lone exception being Randy's composition Fruit and Icebergs , which he re-did on Population II to devastating effect.
Leaving Blue Cheer in 1969, Randy ventured out on his own. Armed with 20 new Sunn amps and drummer Chris Lockheed, he rented an opera house and recorded the underground heavy rock classic Population II. This is a dark, heavy, brooding record that was ahead of it's time conceptually. This is proto doom metal with lots of overdubbed guitar parts. Mostly slow Sabbathy dark rock full of Randy's tasteful, gutsy yet restrained lead guitar. This record is all about the guitar. The guitars are up front in the mix over the drums and the vocals, but not so much that it ruins the record. Randy's got a great tough mid-rangey tone with his wall of Sunn amps and the mix is kind of cool because it feels like you're straining to hear his tortured vocals over the Guitar-zilla that is destroying history right in front of us. In fact the first song is entitled, what else but Guitar Song. Kicking the record off with a series of slow stoned guitar breaks, the first lyrics we hear are "I love the sound of a guitar playin'." Right on Randy! This song sets the tone for the album: Randy's vaguely Hendrix-like half spoken vocals, heavy duty rhythm guitar riffage and swaggering, wobbly, sustain-to-infinty soloing. The vocals definitely just serve as an excuse for rocking. The second song is the aformentioned "Fruit and Icebergs", an evil Sabbathy tritone-blues dirge complete with a spacey theremin-esque whammy bar guitar. Sandwiched between Fruit and Icebergs Parts 1 and 2 is Between Time which is probably the most accessible song on the record. It's a straight ahead rocker that picks up the pace a little.... just a little. It's only flaw is that it's way too short. Nebula did a genius cover of this song on their To the Center album. Then the Fruit and Icebergs monster from space is back for a brief violent reprise that leads us to the 2 final and best songs of the whole trip. Blue My Mind fades in with guitar chaos that you later find out was lifted from the end of the song and then goes into some serious lower mid tempo rock. Killer arena sized guitar fills and soloing on this one with the usual minimal lyrical content, build up to the chaotic multiple lead guitar ending. The album closer, Keeper of My Flame, has probably the fastest tempo of the whole album (which still is just a driving medium tempo). Tribal tom tom/bluesy war cry-guitar, heavy riffing verse and chorus lead up to a breakdown where the guitar solo starts. Just when it's about to really start rocking everything stops...another tribal war cry, then the kicking of the ass by guitar ensues over a Tales of Brave Ulysses groove that goes on for several minutes. Then when you think it's over out comes a half time, yes half time, version of the verse riff for more Sunn pyrotechnics. Sadly, the record label at the time failed to grasp the vision of the record and refused to release it. Then Randy's equipment manager joined in the screwing and sold off his gear and left Randy guitarless and bankrupt. For the romantic rock and roll idealist that he was, this was too much and he disappeared from the music world until the 90's. Somehow bootleg copies of the album were released, which is how it's underground cult status has spread. Hopefully at this point Randy is getting his due. I've heard people say they don't like this album because it's "too simple" or boring. Maybe to some. The riffs are not really complex and the tempos are all on the slow side, so it can seem kind of rudimentary, but there is no denying the high rocking factor here. The riffs kill (and are much heavier and forward-thinking than a lot of other stuff in 1969) and the soloing, while not full of lightning fast runs, is gutsy, well-hung arena rock guitar playing full of genius licks that you wish you had thought of. Compare this with Fruit and Icebergs from "New!Improved!" and you see that this is miles ahead. Much heavier guitar sound, more mature playing. Population II is firmly planted in the 70's, leaving behind the 60's, unafraid to be heavy throughout; without the need to try and make something work in the pop world. No need for the lightweight major key chorus or song. This probably why the record company shelved it. Where's the single? In an interview with Randy Holden that I read, he said in 1990 he listened to Population II for the first time since doing it and said "It's almost like quicksand, in a sense. It pulls you into it....but it's difficult to get back out." So true. It's great intriguing piece of work that really is unlike anything else. It's a tough album to find but well worth it. Check out a song at the Randy Holden myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/randyholdenpopulation.

Riff Density 8
Riff Caliber 8
Post Blues Factor 10
Groove Factor 7
Dig It 8

Point Blank "Second Season" 1977

This is an addendum to the review of the Point Blank self titled first album. Second Season is just another heapin' helping of hearty down home heavy bluesified southern rock , still very much in the ZZ Top vein. An edgier, brighter mix for this one, but otherwise the winning formula remains the same.
Uncle Ned, Tatooed Lady, and Nasty Notions are the hardest rockers(solidly in the territory of the heaviest ZZ Top) of the bunch and they probably should have opened the album with them. These 3 are packed with solid riffage from front to back. Uncle Ned breaks into a wicked double time section with a mean proto-metal guitar breakdown leading to wicked trading of Les Paul theatrics by Rusty Burns and Kim Davis. Tatooed Lady rolls along like beer drinkin' hell raiser looking for love, again with solos from both guitar slingers. Nasty Notions is a funky struttin' song with more twin lead action.
Rock and Roll Hideaway is a little on the happier boogie side of things, but still manages to rock. Not as heavy on the killer riffage though. Part Time Lover and Back in the Alley are both really cool, groovy minor blues tunes. More in the straight ahead blues category, but very cool with sweet soloing on both.
The 2 songs I usually skip are Stars and Scars and Beautiful Loser, which are both basically country songs. Not necessary parts of the album as far as I'm concerned. The album closer is Waiting for a Change, which is a melancholy minor key southern rock ballad.
Lose the couple of not-so-cool songs, and combine this with the first Point Blank album and you've got 70+ minutes of top notch southern rock that is heavier and contains more long-haired loud rockin' than most Skynyrd or Molly Hatchet and definitely lays waste to the likes of the Outlaws or .38 Special.
Granted by '76 and '77 some hard rock norms had been established, but aside from the first few ZZ Top records, southern rock, musically, often didn't live up to the biker and skull image that it had/has. Point Blank managed to deliver on that promise of darker, heavier, southern fried 70's metal. It's really surprising that they weren't a lot bigger.

Riff Density 7
Riff Caliber 10
Post Blues Factor 8
Groove Factor 9
Dig It 10

Point Blank Self Titled 1976

Point Blank was 5 hard rockin', cowboy hat wearin' Texas boys that weren't afraid to crank it up. Their self-titled debut was released in 1976 and was produced by Bill Ham, the man who brought us ZZ Top 6 years earlier.* Rusty Burns, one of the Point Blank guitar players, was supposedly Billy Gibbons' guitar tech. Obviously they were well steeped in the ZZ Top vibe, and it shows in the music. This album sounds like a cross between the early ZZ Top albums and the more rocking side of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

"Free Man"


The record opens with "Free Man," a slow, dirty, sharp nine chord tune about the boys in blue. Wicked slide guitar in the beginning before it bursts into a slammin' double time twin guitar assault. These guys are pissed about the cops hassling them because of their long hair. With barely a breath, we're into "Moving," a driving ZZ Top/"Down Brownie" groove with cool harmony vocals and a killer modulation chorus and guitar break. Smokin' guitar solo. Like ZZ Top's "Down Brownie," the only flaw is that it is far too short.

"Wandering" starts out as a galloping twin guitar lead metalish trip that suddenly puts on the brakes and becomes a melancholy southern rock ballad, then jumps back to a gallop for dualing guitars. Next up is "Bad Bees", a straight ahead shuffle, a la "Chevrolet." "That's the Law" is sort of a Trapeze/Humble Pie trip given the southern rock treatment. It's got a great insrumental section with smokin' guitar action in the middle. "Lone Star Fool" brings us back from Skynyrd territory to the slow, tough, strutting blues riffage that we started out with.

"Distance" is a good old southern rock ballad that builds from the sad quiet beginning to the tear-jerker guitar solo and angst ridden last chorus. I just wish they had gotten a little heavier in the end, but it's still cool. The album closes with what seems like the radio single, but stick with it and you'll be rewarded with some good riffage and guitar battling.

This is a good album in it's entirety with some seriously rocking stuff. Great guitar sounds throughout, good Molly Hatchett-esque vocals from John O'Daniels, and some burnin' guitar riffs. It starts off very ZZ Top-ish(can't go wrong there- at least not until the 80's anyway), but ultimately ends up being a solid, well done, heavier and harder-than-most, Southern Rock record.



*Just a little side note about Bill Ham. I was told a story about the recording of ZZ Top's first record by the engineer. Apperently Bill Ham was adamantly opposed to the idea of overdubbing additional guitar parts and wanted the whole record to be recorded live. Billy Gibbons had other ideas. So after the basic tracks of the first song were laid down, Bill Ham was sent to get barbecue for everyone. The restaurant he was sent to was a good distance away, ensuring that he would be gone for about an hour, during which time Billy Gibbons laid down a slide guitar track and a couple of other parts on the song. When Bill got back with the barbecue, they played it for him without telling him what they had done, and he was blown away, thus giving Billy Gibbons the freedom to make some of the best records of all time.

Riff Density 9
Riff Caliber 10
Post Blues Factor 9
Groove Factor 9
Dig It 10

Buffalo "Volcanic Rock/Only Want You For Your Body"

Buffalo was a heavy riff-laden rock band from Sydney, Australia. Rockin hard before Angus and Bon started boogiein', they put out 5 albums from 1972-1977, "Volcanic Rock"(1973) & "Only Want You For Your Body"(1974) being their 2nd and 3rd respectively. These 2 records have a reputation for being 2 holy grails of obscure 70's heavy rock and unlike some, fully live up to that reputation. Packed full of serious early 70's heaviness, there are no ballads and no lightweight poppy songs at all. Unlike many records from the 70's where you might get 4 or 5 rockers out of it, this is 2 full albums of great rock and roll.

"Volcanic Rock"(love the name) consists of only 5 songs, but 3 of those are over 7 minutes. The 1st song, "Sunrise," opens with an intro that sounds very much like Atomic Bitchwax's "Liquor Queen" that says you're in for a killer ride. Then in come Dave Tice's cool rough vocals, oddly enough reminding me of Dave Wyndorf in Monster Magnet(even more so on "Only Want You For Your Body" ). Next Up, "Freedom" is a long slowly building smolderer with lengthy guitar soloing. It's definitely one of my favorites of both of these albums. After dirty bluesy "Til My Death", "The Prophet"(about Moses) is another slowly building rocker that starts with a cool repetitive riff that evolves and morphs and gets heavier and darker as we get closer to the end, never to return. The album closes with "Shylock"(think Shakespeare), which gives us a couple minutes of spacey guitar noodling over hypnotic drums and bass. Then our dreamstate is abruptly shattered by an evil intruding Sabbthesque guitar that opens the door for the next 6 minutes of heavy rockin'.

"Volcanic Rock" has a very live feel, with mostly just 1 guitar track throughout. It feels like they played it all live in the studio with very few overdubs. Good guitar tones and the bass player, Peter Wells and drummer Jimmy Economou are just killing it, especially behind the guitar solos. Great sprawling expansive record.

"Only Want You For Your Body" is a different beast. Also great, but a much more compact focused record. Much shorter songs, more uptempo rockers, less jammy. There are also doubled rhythm guitars and doubled vocals. Not as dark and heavy as "Volcanic Rock", but chock-full-o-riffs and smokin jams nonetheless. The studio they recorded in must have just gotten the new(at the time) Eventide Instant Phaser because everything gets a little phaser action at some point during the record; drums, vocals, entire mix, etc. Drummer is once again slamming. Highlights include: midtempo head-nodder "I'm Coming On" -even in the shorter song format, they don't shy away from long guitar soloing. "Dune Messiah" -rolling, loping sci fi tune about Frank Herbert's "Dune". The hard shuffling "What's Going On" with the psychedelic ending. "King's Cross Ladies" and "United Nations": both very similar uptempo palm mute Montrose style jams. And yes, the old Instant Phaser is pulled out again for the "United Nations" guitar solo.

Don't know much about these guys, but looking at the picture of them from "Only Want You.." they seemed like some wacky dudes. Dave Tice is wearing a vaguely S & M-ish pair of leather pants and suspenders brandishing a whip with an evil grin on his face. A couple of them are sporting proto-mullets, looking a couple of years ahead of their time. But the most classic thing is John Baxter(guitar) and Economou(drummer) both have their pants rolled up to their knees so you can see the full glory of their wicked platform boots. They're not messin' around.

If you can find these albums, check them out. They definitely rock.

Riff Density 8
Riff Caliber 8
Post Blues Factor 9
Groove Factor 8
Dig It 9

Boomerang 1971

After Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice left Vanilla Fudge to form Cactus, singer/organist Mark Stein disbanded the Fudge and founded Boomerang with James Galluzi on drums, Jo Casmir on bass and helping with the vocal duties, and Ricky Ramirez, who supposedly was 15 or 16 years old at the time (what the...?!), on guitar. They only released 1 album, although rumor has it that a second was recorded, before calling it quits. Yet another crying shame because the potential here was phenomenal!
This lone self titled album consists of only 7 songs, 3 of which are absolute monsters. I'll start with those first. Juke It, Cynthia Fever, and The Peddler are slammin' world class hard rock; on par anything the other heavies of the day were putting out. Not an inkling of sounding dated or too beholden to the 60's. This was full on modern Rock. Juke It is a slowish pummeling guitar/organ groove with a bridge/middle section that has a mean, mean guitar riff that just brings a sneer to your face. This leads to some greasy guitar soloing slinking around overdriven Hammond organ.
Cynthia Fever has a Deep Purple kind of Maybe I'm a Leo funk to it. Stein and Casmir trade off delivering soulful vocals and then more greasy wah guitar soloing over nasty Hammond.
The Peddler is also a slowish, hard groovin' tune driven by the dual assault of guitar and Hammond riffing. About halfway through it breaks into a heavy shuffle for trading of smokin' solos between guitar and Hammond B3 over a slamming drum/bass groove.
The sounds on this album are great. Killer guitar tone, wonderfully overdriven organ, growling bass, hard rocking drums complete with an urgent effective mix.
The rest of the record, while well written and performed, is lighter weight songs that don't rise to the same heights of masterful riffery. The Fisherman is an Allman Bros. country-ish rock tune. Hard Times brings out the acoustic guitars for some 70's Top 40 rock, and Brother's Coming Home is a piano-driven ballad, complete with strings. It does build to a kind of cool symphonic Queen interlude in the middle. Mockingbird is a blues shuffle with Stein and Casmir again trading vocal duties, occasionally breaking into harmony.
The big 3 tunes on this record make it all worth it to me. Yes, they are that good. Whenever I make a compilation of wicked 70's rock, one of these songs always makes it into the mix. I really find it hard to believe that Ricky Ramirez, who sank back into obscurity after Boomerang, was really only 15 or 16 years old, based on the maturity,tastefulness and just sheer rockingness of the guitar playing. The bass playing and drumming are equally cool. What happened to those guys? I don't know, but this band of unkowns along with the Vanilla Fudge's Mark Stein comstituted a formidable crew. Much moreso than many other bands that had more lasting careers.
And the score is:

Riff Density 4 (less than half the album consists of heavy riffage)
Riff Caliber 9 (the riffage and general rocking involved that is present is world class)
Post Blues Factor 8
Groove Factor 10
Dig It 10 (10 for the big 3 songs mentioned above. If I'm considering the album as a whole, I would give it maybe a 6)

Leaf Hound "Growers of Mushroom" 1971

Ah yes, the fabled Leaf Hound. Many have spoken of this mythical record in the most glowing terms. But is all the hype true? Only you can decide that, but I am going to add my 2 cents to the debate.

The late 60's London blues scene is where it all began. It was a bubbling cauldron of blues that would become the new rock. Cream and Hendrix. Free, Zeppelin and Jeff Beck. And right in the middle of it all, a band called Black Cat Bones that boasted at one time or another as members, Paul Kossoff and Simon Kirke, who later started Free, and Rod Price who became a member of Foghat. Black Cat Bones alums Peter French, Stuart and Derek Brooks, Mick Halls, and Keith Young formed Leaf Hound. Peter French later replaced Rusty Day as the singer for the American rock behemoth Cactus(on the 'Ot and Sweaty album), and also later sang with Atomic Rooster. The lone Black Cat Bones recording, Barbed Wire Sandwich, is a hard and heavy blues romp. Sticking closely to blues forms, like Free's first, Tons of Sobs, it was also looking to the future, with some heavy electric guitar riffing, especially on songs like Chaffeur and Save My Love, which believe it or not always makes me think of the nasty gut punch riffs of Church of Misery. It is not, however, fully realized heavy rock. Like I said, it is very much a straight ahead blues record in form.

Man, check out dude's wicked vest!
"Freelance Fiend"

Leaf Hound Growers of Mushroom takes the next step. It has moved beyond the standard blues format into solid riff rock, albeit for only about half the album. The opener, the brutal Freelance Fiend, is worth the price of admission on it's own. It's a tough swaggering tune based on a wicked driving riff. The heaviness is then ramped down for Sad Road to the Sea, which brings in the acoustic guitars for a Zeppelin meets May Blitz kind of vibe. Drowned My Life in Fear steps it back up with a very cool Dazed and Confused-like blues. The album continues it's pattern of alternating heavy for not-so-heavy with Work My Body, which is a bit like the somewhat funky Free self titled 2nd album. Clean guitars, mellow groove, soulful vocals, building to a couple of rockin' guitar solo workouts. It doesn't quite have the Stax soul funk that is more present with Free, though. Again bringing to mind May Blitz. Then we're back to Riffland with the smokin' Stray, which, by the way, was covered by Unida. Great riffage on this one. A little too short though.

With a Minute to Go unpacks the acoustic guitars again for an uplifting, light gospel rock song with a pretty cool minor key Zeppelinesque guitar/vocal vamp at the end. The title track, Growers of Mushroom, sounds quite dated compared to the rest of the album. It's a very 60's hippy-ish trip.
Stagnant Pool ratchets the rock back up. Killer riffage once again. If only they could sustain this level of Rock throughout. Sawdust Caesar goes back to the funky Free territory, even sounding a little Trapeze-like, yet lighter.
Bonus tracks on the Repertoire reissue that I have are It's Going to Get Better, which is another gospel rock piano/organ driven song, and Hip Shaker, that starts of with a slammin' riff but then turns into just a straight ahead boogie blues.

As I said, about half the album is a hard rockin' kick to the groin. The rest is good quality welterweight rock. Freelance Fiend, Drowned My Life in Fear, Stray and Stagnant Pool make the whole thing worth checking out. They are completely riff based and if you can get past the pretty thin, piercing mix, are pure rock goodness. The album was recorded in 11 hours according to the liner notes and it does kind of sound like it. With a better mix, this would have been a much more powerful record. It's too bad they didn't stick around for a followup effort. Given the prevailing vibe of the times around them, I think they would have pounded out some harder heavier tunage the second time around.
Here's my rating:


Riff Density-5
Riff Caliber -10 (though somewhat few and far between, the riffs that are present slay)
Post-Blues Factor - 8
Groove Factor - 7
Dig it Factor - 6