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FIRST BASEBabe RuthHeavy Prog3.73 | 179 ratings |
From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website
Tom Ozric
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Prog Reviewer |
'First Base' is a stormer of an album. Not fully complex like a lot of prog we know and love,
but equally as effective. When I got this LP a while back, I was naturally drawn to the
Roger Dean artwork, and not knowing anything of the band, took a chance. 'Wells Fargo'
rocks, can't put it any other way, and vocalist Jennie Haan belts out her lines like a female
version of Ozzy Osbourne !! Great opener. 'The Runaways' is a softer, more symphonic
sounding piece that is beautiful - a personal favourite. Next up we get a cover version of
Frank Zappa's instrumental 'King Kong' (haven't heard the original, though) with some
great electric-piano work and guitaring. Side 2 starts with 'Black Dog', another cover song
(penned by Jesse Winchester), and the longest track on the album. It starts out quietly
and gradually builds into a hard-edged jammy track with excellent guitar runs. 'The
Mexican' seems to be a big hit although I've never heard it on the radio here in Australia,
maybe I was too young...I was 1 when the album came out. Anyway, awesome song it is,
great riff with e-piano and guitar, cool drumming, castanets and Jennie's superb vocals. It
interpolates 'Per Qualche Dollaro in Piu', a famous Morricone composition, which fits into
the song as if it was meant to be - just listen to the MP3 here. Last song on the
album, 'Joker', starts out with more of that tinkly electric-piano and is generally hard-
rocking with some strong vocal duels between Jennie and guitarist Alan Shacklock. Clearly,
in prog terms, this album doesn't break any new ground, but it is an excellent addition to
any music collection, whatever genre.
Tom Ozric |
4/5 |
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