Hawkwind: Doremi Fasol Latido (1972)

It took forever to find a good copy of Doremi Fasol Latido, the third album from space rock pioneers Hawkwind for a price that wasn’t outrageous. The band’s third studio album – and the first to feature one Mr. Ian Fraser Kilmister on bass – marks the change of emphasis of their signature space rock sound from the “space” to the “rock” but I feel like the album gets a bit of short shrift since the live album that documents the touring cycle of the record might be one of the greatest live albums ever recorded. It’s definitely the place where I first heard most of these sings. But the studio effort has a lot going for it, so for me it’s still a part of the band’s essential discography.

ChrisJuly 8, 2022Leave a comment

Vinyl

Black Sabbath: Mob Rules (1981)

Despite being a massive Black Sabbath AND Dio fan, I’m here to sheepishly admit I rarely if ever listen to the albums the two made together. I usually stick to the first six album for both parties, but when I saw a great condition original pressing of Mob Rules at my shop I couldn’t pass it up and take a chance to dig deeper and see what works, what doesn’t, and how it compares to the discography I tend to stick to. Plus that album art…damn if this isn’t maybe one of the best covers in all of heavy metal.

ChrisJuly 6, 2022Leave a comment

Vinyl

ZZ Top: ZZ Top’s First Album (1971)

Day 20 of the #mayvinylchallenge asks for an unpopular album by a popular band. It’s crazy that as popular as ZZ Top, are there’s not a lot of talk about their debut, wonderfully titled ZZ Top’s First Album, as if they were certain there would be more. One listen to that singular guitar tone and I can understand why. There may not have been a huge hit on the album (their second, Rio Grande Mud, would kick off with “Francine” and “Just Got Paid”) but you can already hear that Gibbons’s tone is there, and the rough and tumble electric blues they would come to dominate for decades was fleshed out if not fully formed from a songwriting perspective from the get-go.

ChrisMay 22, 2022Leave a comment

Vinyl

Mainhorse: Mainhorse (1971)

Day 16 of the #mayvinylchallenge celebrates the halfway point of the endeavor and asks for a random pick from your collection. I shuffled through my recent acquisitions and came upon Mainhorse, whose sole eponymous album from 1971 begs a certain question: there are so many lost or forgotten bands out there, are all of these band lost gems, or is there a reason they’re buried? Is this really as good as a lot of the more successful and popular prog rock bands out there, or is it that I’ve heard the popular stuff so much that something relatively obscure sounds like a diamond? I think with Mainhorse the answer is a little of both.

ChrisMay 16, 2022May 16, 2022Leave a comment

Vinyl

Coven: Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls (1969)

Day 13 of the #mayvinylchanllenge asks for an album evoking the supernatural and the spooky. I’m sure I could have dug through a ton of metal albums that would conceivably fit the bill, but I wanted something that really evoked the spirit of the ask, and there’s no better album in my collection than the “mighty” Coven, whose 1969 album Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls desperately tries to be sinister and mysterious, but can’t help but be slightly silly, very charming, and a lot of fun to boot.

ChrisMay 13, 2022Leave a comment

Vinyl

Bob Dylan: Blood On The Tracks (1975)

Day 6 of the #mayvinylchallenge asks for records that go together, whether on a mixtape or just complement each other. This one may need a revisit down the road, because how do you talk about one of your favorite albums of all time, especially an album as acclaimed and steeped in mythology as Blood On The Tracks, the fifteenth album by Bob Dylan without resorting to cliché and hyperbole? What can you say that hasn’t already been said? Probably nothing, so rather than try I’ll make this one brief and talk about the impressions going through my mind as I take another listen to an album I’ll never get tired listening to.

ChrisMay 6, 2022Leave a comment

Consuming the Tangible

We are what we consume

Tag: classic rock

Hawkwind: Doremi Fasol Latido (1972)

Black Sabbath: Mob Rules (1981)

ZZ Top: ZZ Top’s First Album (1971)

Mainhorse: Mainhorse (1971)

Coven: Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls (1969)

Bob Dylan: Blood On The Tracks (1975)