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Missing Link - Nevergreen! (1972)

An unusual band from Munich, blending progressive rock and jazz fusion in a similar way to Pell Mell's blending of rock and classical, in fact there is much in common between these two bands, especially in the song style, though the album NEVERGREEN! is very varied, exploring a different genre with almost every track. Missing Link historically are pretty obscure, although Dieter Miekautsch did later join Missus Beastly and then go on to Embryo. These were one of the lesser known United Artists acts, based in Munich. Nevergreen! was recorded at the Dierks Studio in October 1972. On the seven tracks (plus two bonus tracks) a complex and varied musical style emerged. It included jazz sax riffing ("Sorcery"), some solo piano parts ("Song For Ann"), loud rock outbursts ("Kids Hunting") and matching acoustic guitars ("Spoiled Love"). However, the overall sound is quite jazzy, so the album will appeal most to fans of Embryo, Xhol, Ardo Dombec, Thirsty Moon, etc. Actually, Dieter Miekautsch joined Embryo (also Missus Beastley) after the group's demise in 1973. Drummer Holger Brandt later joined Sahara. The Missing Link album is quite good. (Crack In The Cosmic Egg/Cosmic Dreams At Play)

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Temple - Temple (1976)

I like this little album from what was apparently a sub-underground band. They are featured on the "Unknown Deutchland" series, I posted "Krautrock Archive Vol. 1" a while back. Keyboard player is Zeus B. Held, who garnered more attention as a producer later, doing some re-mixes of Gary Numan. The occasional female vocals are from Pauline Fund who is on the "Cozmic Corridors" CD. The male vocals are by "Poseidon". Two pretty frantic electric guitarists are on board, and of course bass and drums. The sound can get pretty cluttered at times, but the music is well done and seems passionately performed. Layers of synthesizers, guitars, percussion solos, distorted vocals, peaceful one track frantic the next, moody and aggressive, what's not to like here?

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Tetragon - Nature (1971)

An obscure band, Tetragon originated from Osnabrück in Northern Germany from the Brian Auger inspired Blues Limited. Later, after discovering The Nice, they changed their style and became the organ fronted trio Trikolon, ( I posted their album "Cluster" a couple weeks ago) and upon becoming a quartet by adding a guitarist they changed name to Tetragon! After having toured with their Dutch heroes Ekseption, it's not surprising that Tetragon moved to an ever-more complex classical rock with extensive use of rearranged Bach and other classical themes. The deliberate accent on their blues and psychedelic roots guaranteed a unique twist on the genre, though on their sole album Nature one can detect much of The Nice, Egg and Dutch progressive stylisms. An unknown classic. (The Crack In The Cosmic Egg)

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Black Sabbath - War Pigs

This great sounding bootleg was recorded in Paris, 12 December 1970, and features versions of some of their best early material.

1. Paranoid
2. Hand Of Doom
3. Iron Man
4. N.I.B.
5. Behind The Wall Of Sleep
6. War Pigs
7. Fairies Wear Boots
8. Black Sabbath

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Antrobus / The Flying Hat Band (1972 / 1974)

Occasionally I am going to rescue a post from the early days of the blog, back when there wasn't all that much traffic, and give some great albums another shot. I think this was one of the very first albums I posted, now it is at a higher bitrate (256) than the original post

ANTROBUS / THE FLYING HAT BAND (Buried Together) Split-CD: ANTROBUS were formed in early '71 when Britain's heavy progressive rock underground scene was in full flight. The band exsisted for only one year, and they had no real rehearsal place and that's hard to believe while listening to the nine tracks that were never officially released. They are playing at an amazingly high standard and had accomplished song-writing abilities. Like some of their comrades, they are using flute and organ but the songs are more focused on heavy riffs and bluesy vocals. A hard-driving rock approach was adopted but the ability to contrast their sound with classy melodic harmonies is apparent too. And when ANTROBUS were playing hard and heavy, they were just an awesome force. Mixed up with a few sound-effects and a lot of guitarwork, this band had created an effective creepy heavy ass-kickin' sound in their short lifetime. The sound quality isn't high fidelity, but good enough for an enjoyable listening and sometimes I wonder that these recordings are dated from the early 70's, due to their refreshing energy.

The second band on this split-CD is THE FLYING HAT BAND. This was the group where Glen Tipton played, before he left to join Judas Priest. TFHB existed only for a short time and the featured four songs are dated back to '74. The songs are also released here for the very first time, so that one can listen to some ferocious guitar leads and intense riffing. But this band doesn't sound like a Priest forerunner. "Lost Time" is fine acoustic bluesy song, with a slight Latino vibe, while "Reaching for the Stars" got a groovy rhythm-line and the album closes with excessive guitars in "Coming of the Lord". This powerful outfit wasn't around long enough to gain the respect that the energy and drive of their music demanded. They'd got the chance to record an album for a proposed LP on the WWA label and had entered a London studio where they began recording songs. But due to unknown resons, this album was never released. "Buried Together" comes with a very doomy cover-artwork (remember "Die Healing"?) and if you're discovering this disc somewhere then get it. My personal winners are the heavy ANTROBUS, but TFHB have also their highlights. This CD was released by the German re-issue label SPM International, who have also re-released such bands as Groundhogs, Janus, Bodkin, T2 and more, and the English label World Wide Records

Part 1 Part 2

OK that's it then. See you next week