Once again, anniversary articles are dictating my listening habits as I continue to expand my classic rock knowledge base. While I was kind of planning on getting this out before the 1973 article, things didn't quite work out, but I suppose it's not that big of a deal to have these reviews come out afterwards, as I didn't really talk about the two 1973 albums I review here. Ovreall, it's a bunch of classic stuff, as I've definitely been in the mood for it lately. Here's what I've been spinning for the past while!
After doing this iconic band's debut album last year, I knew I needed to follow up with their sophomore effort this year. Once again, the album is quite the mix of sounds, though I do think there is a stronger blues-rock core to it all, making me think of the Rolling Stones or Steppenwolf at times.
I think there's a little more energy on this album, overall. The opener "The Red and the Black" definitely sets the tone for some solid rock-and-roll style jamming, which carries on with "Hot Rails to Hell," and "Teen Archer." Even the more chilled tracks like "Wings Wetted Down" and "Mistress of the Salmon Salt" still retain some doomy power. In the middle is "7 Screaming Diz-Busters" where they mix it together into a jazz-fusion-styled jam that has them going back and forth between a bluesy groove and and a more uptempo chorus. And through it all, Buck Dharma is noodling his excellent guitar work from beginning to end.
While the songs are another hodge podge of ideas, and the lyrics are still very strange and esoteric, I do think this one is a bit better in the songwriting, even if they have a tendency to let the songs jam on a little too long at the end. However, I can imagine them being quite entertaining it see played live, as they have all kinds of spaces for the musicians to add extra touches and licks. Again, I don't know if I've really wrapped my head around this band yet, but I haven't given up.
Yup, I'm carrying on this journey as well. After binging their earlier albums last year, I'm starting to get a feel for how this band is. Compared to the last one, I think the band was eager to get back to their comfort zone of big hammond organs and tight vocal harmonies will retaining their streamlined songwriting.
At this point, the band is sounding very 70s. I don't know if it's a deliberate thing or just a consequence of the production, but this one really did feel like they were picking on some poppier ideas from the time. While the staples of the band are still here, Sweet Freedom doesn't really have much that the band hasn't done before, really. The vibes of Deep Purple, Vanilla Fudge, and early Styx come to mind again. "Circus" goes for a more chilled acoustic vibe, but otherwise, the album maintains a kind of mid-tempo groove, letting Ken Hensley get a lot of work out of his organs and David Byron sail over everything with his vocals. Some of the lyrics were rather weak, often repeating themselves, and the whole alphabet thing at the end of "Seven Stars" is very baffling.
It's not a bad album, per se, as the performances are good, but it's very standard for them. I did like parts of "Dreamer" and "Sweet Freedom," as they had some good energy. "Pilgrim" is a decent closer, with some epic moments and a nice jammy section in the middle, but the ending is a little tedious. Overall, they have some pretty good dynamics, building things up as they go, but I don't know if the payoffs are particularly strong, resulting in a very average album compared to what they've done before.
At this point, my listening of AC/DC is just filling in the gaps that I haven't gotten to yet. Of course, this one is another solid slab of blues rock that the band put out like clockwork, but I do think it shows a bit of a transition in their sound from the bluesier side into the anthemic hard rockers they're known as the world over.
The album does start a little slow, as the first few songs have some decent grooves, but not much more. However, once we get into "Riff Raff," "Sin City," and "What's Next to the Moon," the energy picks up and mostly carries through to the end of the album. Another thing is that they seem to have a better sense of dynamics on these songs than with their earlier albums, often starting with a low, brooding vibe before building up to some big riffs and choruses, clearly foreshadowing the huge hits that would show up on Highway to Hell and Back in Black. However, I don't know if think this album is quite up to that level of quality. It's a sign that their clearly building towards something, though perhaps it's more noticeable through the benefit of hindsight. Still, what we have is decent, as there is plenty of opportunities for Bon Scott to croon over some solid riffs, the new bassist Cliff Williams does a solid job keeping the rhythm down with Malcom and Phil, and Angus Young jams out his solos with his usual reckless abandon. As ever, it's a hard rock album that goes down easy, just like the rest of their catalog.
Yup, it's time for the next Anvil album. Once again, this is quite the step up from the last one, as it feels like they're embracing the 80s metal sound more and more. While they carry over their Judas Priest and Iron Maiden influences, I'm hearing a bit of Dio-era Black Sabbath in there as well, as well as maybe some of the early glam metal sound.
Right off, everyone is performing much better. The guitars are fierce and full of energetic solos, the drumming is pounding while still taking time for some solid fills, and Lips is really turning up his voice, channeling Halford many times across the album. The lyrics also pick up more of the classic metal tropes, including fantasy combat, freedom, and even some social commentary. Sure, there's still a few raunchy songs, but even those are driven by some interesting riffs. Two tracks definitely stood out the most: the title track, which has a nice doomy feel, and "Free as the Wind," which has a great metal gallop to boost its anthemic power.
However, I can tell that the band is maybe at a bit of a crossroads. Part of the songs do have a touch of the early pop metal sound, while still trying to retain the aggression of the NWOBHM style. 1983 was a unique year, not only featuring the success of bands like Quiet Riot and Def Leppard, but also kickstarting the extreme metal with the debuts of Metallica and Slayer. Anvil seems like it's kind of trying to stand on the cusp of the two styles, as if hedging their bets as to where things are going to in the future. Still, this album is definitely the best I've heard from them so far. They haven't quite reached the level of the likes of Judas Priest or Accept in terms of classic traditional metal, but they're getting quite close.
So that's a nice chunk of classic rock and metal. I know there are several new releases that have come out, but I haven't gotten to them yet, as this older stuff has been my focus lately. Still, I don't intend to be completely left behind, as I know some big names have made some big announcements. I don't know when I'll get around to them, but I assure you it's become quite the list already. Here's hoping I don't get too far behind! Until then, rock on! \m/
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