Okay, so Canada begat Montreal, who begat the Harrison brothers Jacques and Robert, who moved to Toronto and with Paul Cockburn and Terry Bramhall begat Dillinger, who put out two albums that were a kind of pumped up proggy Grand Funk Railroad and Chicago that had their moments but failed to make an impact. So Robert Harrison and Terry Bramhall left, and Jacques and Bruce – under the guidance of their manager Cliff Hunt – formed the not-so-coincidentally named The Hunt, moving further away from the weird prog elements and getting a little more Led Zeppelin in their sounds thanks to the pipes of new vocalist Brian Gagnon. With a new drummer and bassist also in tow, The Hunt definitely feels of a moment, that moment being late 70s AOR hard rock. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, just a different thing.

As I listened to acoustic guitars that open “I Was Only Dreaming” I was reminded of Triumph who had released their sophomore release Rock and Roll Machine the same year. But then that Cockburn guitar riff comes in and Brian Gagnon’s piercing voice hits and this goes full on Physical Graffiti. Excepting Harrison’s flute there are strong Zeppelin vibes, although there’s also just enough keyboards and oddness to set it apart. “A Song For A New Day” has some bouncy Thin Lizzy in its melody to complement the Presence era Zep guitar gallop. You would think this would reek more of a cash-in: besides being ostensibly named after their manager the music is way more slick, and for the first time there are zero covers, though you can argue these songs are thinly veiled covers of bigger bands and hits. Gagnon sounds fantastic, his voice blending highs like Geddy Lee at moments, and along with Cockburn has taken over the majority of the songwriting, with Harrison only contributing two songs.

Speaking of Cockburn, this would be his last hurrah with the band, but man is his presence felt on The Hunt. The guitar work is fantastic, and as much as I want to lament the loss of the extended prog, the hard rock direction really works. Doubling up with Gerry Mosby’s bass, the riff on “Little Miss Perfection” sounds huge. Likewise the drumming from Paul Kersey, who would stay on for the band’s trio of releases. Lot of Uriah Heep and Deep Purple on “I Want To Be King”, from the heavy organ and driving guitar riff. Cockburn’s solo is fantastic, and this definitely could have been a radio single if it was pushed at the time.

The prog comes back hard with Harrison’s “Faces”, and maybe this is why he left. It’s the closest track to the work in Dillinger, and his voice has a nice deep register that balances nicely against the Gagnon tracks. Another expressive Cockburn solo, and those harmonized gang vocals are terrific. But it’s at odds with the rest of the more streamlined rock of the record, and perhaps Harrison felt he was getting squeezed out. Case in point: the silly glammed up stadium rock of “Billy” which for my money is a complete throwaway track. “Sent” has more going for it, even though it’s another very much by-the-number AOR track popular at the time.

That leaves the other Harrison-penned track, “On Revient (Tout Le Temps)” and it’s great funky little departure from the rest of the album, recalling not so much Dillinger (although the funk was alive and well on Don’t Lie To The Band) but more groovy bands of the late 60s and early 70s. Love the chorus on this one, and again Harrison’s vocals are a great fit. Finally there’s “Sad Song” that has Gagnon taking on the guitar solo and Cockburn taking on bass duties. It’s a sweet, pretty ballad and a really nice way to wrap up The Hunt.

It would be three years before the band came back in a completely different configuration and a different sound, but I’m glad to have discovered this (thanks, Sea of Tranquility!) – there are some great songs that have been added to my rotation of 70s rock and prog, and though I’ll certainly miss Harrison and Cockburn’s contributions, I’m looking forward to diving into the next iteration in a few days.