ONE LIVE BADGER

I was digging through my old LP's of which I have, (no kidding) Thousands, and came across ONE LIVE BADGER and decided to give it a spin. The first thing I realized was that this was not a prog band but more a bar band or a backyard party jam band... there is nothing prog about this album except for Tony kaye and his long organ solos and the Roger Dean artwork. Produced by Jon Anderson of YES and engineered by the great Martin Rushent, I suppose there were high hopes for this LIVE debut album.

I somewhat enjoyed the first track Wheel of Fortune as I would enjoy a Blood sweat & tears track... It has that David Clayton Thomas feel going on with the vocals and this Brian Parrish was a pretty cool guitarist that could light it up when neccessary, but somewhat cliche in his approach... Bar band, but a fairly good one!

I also enjoyed the second track that had an Ian Hunter/Bowie feel to the vocals, and the refrain (Smile on my face) sounded just like the Grateful dead. The lead guitar on this track is the high point of the record and so are Tony Kayes organ solos. (every song on the album has one of each). Track 3, Wind of change, is about cliche as a Budweiser at a ballgame.

Track 4, The River, is a blues cum jam track that bored me to tears.

The album falls apart after that and dives headlong into a religious gospel type vibe that is very reminiscent of BS&T's again, (Here comes the devil!). This album is only a keeper for it's collectible factor on ATCO SD7022 Released in 1973, and also for Roger dean art completists. Praise the lord and pass the potato chips... I have the gatefold.