Live In Texas: October 6, 1973

"This was professionaly recorded by Radio Bremen back in 1974 and the sound quality is excellent. One of the big differences between this release and their studio albums is the addition of the great Eddy Marron on guitar. He played with them for less then a year while at the same time playing for DZYAN and FREE SOUND. Yes he was a busy guy playing a lot of live dates, this is the only document we have of him playing with MISSUS BEASTLY. Eddy mentions in the liner notes that this band never took drugs, it was all about the music. I would describe the music on this recording as being Free Jazz and I have to say right away that I contemplated giving this album 5 stars that's how impressive it is.Things get started with the 27 1/2 minute "Free Clinic" which is definitely my favourite track on here. It sounds like vibes to open as other sounds come and go in this atmospheric intro.The guitar sounds are getting louder 4 1/2 minutes in until a minute later he's lighting it up. Nice bass and flute as well. The guitar stops after 8 1/2 minutes. Check out the bass after 10 1/2 minutes. Nice. Sax takes the lead 12 1/2 minutes in. Organ after 15 minutes and then it settles right down to an experimental section with sax and other sounds. The tempo picks up as we get a melody after 19 1/2 minutes, love the drumming here.The guitar is back after 22 1/2 minutes and he just starts to rip it up. Flute before 25 1/2 minutes as guitar backs off. Drums and percussion continue to impress. Bass takes over for flute then sax comes in to end it. What a ride that was."Green Girl" opens with sounds that come and go including vocal expressions. It all starts to come together to form a melody. Very cool. Sax takes the lead until it ends the way it opened. Brilliant ! "Steel's Electric" is an Eddy Marron composition. It's fairly laid back with the guitar the sole focus early. Light drums join in. Sax and flute help out around 4 minutes.The sax gets dissonant.The tempo picks up after 6 minutes with some good bass a minute later. Sax after 8 minutes returns. - ProgArchivesLimited numbered edition.

"After releasing two albums during 1978, Heart waited until February of 1980 to issue their fifth studio album. Bebe le Strange was their highest charting album to date, reaching number 5 on the Billboard Magazine album charts.It was their first album without lead guitarist Jeff Fisher, and he was missed. Nancy Wilson and Howard Leese were a competent guitar duo as their electric work together is very good. What was missed, though, was Fisher’s acoustic playing which was always a highlight of Heart’s music.The Wilson sisters moved front and center. They co-wrote all ten tracks. Songwriter Sue Ennis was back as the co-author of seven songs. She also contributed some guitar and piano work as well. These three women lyricists produced an album of more personal songs, continuing Heart’s transformation toward a female-dominated rock band.Bebe le Strange may not have yielded any big and memorable hits but it was a very solid release. It was also their last true all-rock album as they soon began moving in a more polished pop/rock direction.The title song was the first track and set the tone for what was to follow. It was a hard-rocking song with lyrics telling a story from a groupie’s perspective. It was followed by what may be the album’s strongest track, “Down On Me,” which is a nice and slow blues tune.There are a number of other very good tracks. “Even It Up,” the only single from the album to crack the American Top 40, is a female rock song about a woman who wants more effort from her male partner. “Rockin’ Heaven Down” is a powerful rocker and a fun-filled romp. “Strange Night” has a jam feel which is different from most of Heart's precisely constructed material. “Sweet Darlin’” is a nice ballad with another brilliant vocal by Ann Wilson.Bebe le Strange remains a very good if not one of their best albums. It may not be one of their essential albums but it is still a good listen thirty years after its initial release." - Blogcritics.orgRemastered edition with two bonus tracks.

"Riot has always been ahead of the curve, be it their powerful riff machine, or their unapologetic status as pioneers in the speed metal genre. I would like to take an opportunity to differ once again with the common viewpoint here, this is not “almost” Painkiller 2 years before; it is its doppelganger, at least in terms of kick ass aggressiveness and image. It is a more musical and complex answer to the thrash genre that it fathered; its spirit is that of a triumphant warrior cutting down its foes. While the heroic Painkiller soared through the sky putting fear into the hearts of his enemies, Thundersteel’s half-cyborg/half-tank body stood tall to face them on the ground.In 1988 metal was mostly known by its image, and if you judge these guys by that alone, they look like the bastard sons of Motley Crue and Judas Priest. But when Tony Moore blasts his high banshee voice into the microphone, he sounds like a crazed Viking Berserker ready to behead an army of frightened Romans. Mark Reale, the only remaining originator of this outfit, wields his guitar like a battle axe and challenges the likes of K.K. Downing, Dave Murray and Ross the Boss. Bobby Jarzombek, who is well known for his work with Rob Halford’s solo project, as well as several other bands, gives the performance of his life on here. Don Van Stavern keeps the bottom end solid and has a wicked bass intro in “Johnny’s Back”.There is never a dull moment on this album, from start to finish it grabs you by the throat and commands you to praise the Gods of Metal. Be it the fast as hell title track, which rivals anything Judas Priest has ever put out, or the more moderated Deep Purple riff monster “Sign of the Crimson Storm”, it screams metal. You’ve got an anthem of rebellion and non-conformity at warp speed like “Johnny’s Back” in the running, or the Manowar inspired heavy ballad “Bloodstreets”, which gives Heart of Steel a run for its money. “Fight or Fall” and “Flight of the Warrior” have memorable choruses and plenty of amazing lead work, all done by the original speed metal riff man Mark Reale, while “On Wings of Eagles” is a better produced version of something you might find on Kill Em’ All.We’ve got two highlights on this album, both of which are a good bit different than the lion’s share of speed driven songs on here. “Run for your life” is an upper mid-tempo crusher with tons of great lead guitar work, but it’s true charm is the chorus, which reminds me a bit of the high/low vocal interchanges that you hear on Dio’s early material. “Buried Alive (The Tell Tale Heart)” is actually a bit reminiscent of Crimson Glory’s work on Transcendence, which came out the same year that this did. You’ve got a rather odd spoken intro with a clean and somber guitar line, followed by some brilliant twin guitar soloing (all done by one guy, just the same way Tony Iommi did it). After 3 minutes of mind-blowing, we get a slow and evil sounding groove that grows into a brilliant homage to the NWOBHM, names like Iron Maiden and Angel Witch come to mind.In conclusion, this is a piece of metal history that demands to be listened to. If you are a power metal fan who lives for speed and melody, get your tight jeans wearing ass to the store right now. If you’re a holdover from the glory days of traditional metal and you don’t have it, get it now or risk having your credentials as a metal head questioned. If you love thrash with attitude, this gives the bands that carry that label a run for their money. Fans of Judas Priest, Manowar, Helloween, Running Wild, and Iron Maiden in particular will love this. There is a new power alive in the distance, carrying a fully charged plasma cannon, followed by an army of true metal warriors, and his name is “Thundersteel”." - Metal Archives

1975's Warrior On The Edge Of Time finally sees a reissue courtesy of Esoteric Recordings.  This iconic album features the classic lineup of Dave Brock, Nik Turner, Lemmy, Simon House, Simon King, and Alan Powell.  The album was reissued on CD years ago and has been out of print for a couple of decades.  The band or their management never gave clear explanation at to why the album remained out of print.  One assumes a rights issue that remained unresolved.  This newly remastered version is transferred from the original analogue master tapes and features one bonus track - the b side "Motorhead".

First time on CD for this killer slice of kosmigroov.  Michael Naura is a jazz pianist who recorded for MPS and ECM in the 70s.  Call was originally released on MPS back in 1970.  MPS was a very eclectic label.  They touched on electric jazz rock, free jazz, straight up jazz and pure schlock.  It was a very hard label to pin down and there is a voluminous amount of releases on the label.  Collectors have finally focused on digging through the MPS catalogue and prices are starting to soar.  I recently picked up a vinyl copy of Call and it cost me a cool $100.  Ownership of the MPS catalog has bounced around a bit and now Edel is beginning a large reissue campaign.  We hope to cherry pick through the catalog and pick up titles we think would be of interest to our customers.The Michael Naura Quartett consisted of Michael Naura (Fender Rhodes), Wolfgang Schluter (vibes), Eberhard Weber (bass), and Joe Nay (drums).  If you like vibes Mr. Schluter is your guy - he's all over this album.  He seamlessly integrates with Naura's electric piano.  The rhythm section is amazing. Eberhard Weber's bass will rock your house and Nay is very creative.  All together the music has a phenomenal flow to it that will suck you in.  While it never crosses over into rock it perfectly captures that time period in the late 60s/early 70s when jazz musicians were beginning to experiment with electric instruments.I was never much of a vibes guy but Schluter's playing really grabbed my attention.  Add in the killer sounds of that Rhodes and you've won me over.  For the jazz converted this is a BUY OR DIE disc."“The new pieces have little in common with the bebop and cool jazz influences of the old Naura quintet.” So wrote journalist Siegfried Schmidt-Joos in his 1970 liner notes to pianist and bandleader Michael Naura’s album Call. Joos went on to say that Naura had assimilated “the contemporary sounds of free jazz and rock” as well as “the collective playing styles of the younger generation of musicians.” His first album in eight years definitely showed Naura in a new light. Two members of his old quintet, vibraphonist Wolfgang Schlüter and drummer Joe Nay were still in on it, and both had effortlessly mastered – as had Naura – the new rock and blues-oriented styles. With the addition of Eberhard Weber, a jazz-rock trendsetter had stepped into the band. “This musician from Swabia with the face of an old Botticelli angel,” as Nauradescribed the electric bassist, had a substantial impact on the new quartet’s sound. The pieces on this MPS recording are all written by Naura. Born in 1934, Naura broke off his journalism studies in Berlin to become a musician. Vibraphonist Schlüter was with him when Naura formed a band in the 1950’s. This first band was heavily influenced by pianist George Shearing’s style. Naura and Schlüter have continued to play together on into the new century. Drummer Joe Nay, who Naura prized as “the perfect incendiary”, died in 1990."

Reissue of killer German fusion that will appeal to fans of Weather Report, early RTF, Embryo and Kraan.  This was the band's second album and consists of a completely revamped lineup from the debut four years earlier.  The sound is very different as well - all the bluesy elements are gone.  Its quite jazzy and the production is much more polished thanks to Dieter Dierks.  Flute and sax figure as the lead instruments over a bed of funky keyboard sounds.   Comes with one bonus track.  Numbered limited edition.  Highly recommended.