PROG RELATED

While no sophomore slump haunted the band, comparisons to Rush certainly did however ROCK & ROLL MACHINE successfully sounds like a foray into their own world of bluesy hard rock with more idiosyncratic heavy riffing which would become the trademark sound of Gil Moore's songwriting contributions . Also debuting is the classic AOR ballad sound that would showcase Emmett's powerful vocal style on "Bringing It Home" and "New York City Streets - Part 1," a style that would yield them their biggest hits in the future. As with the debut, TRIUMPH also continued their dabbling into the progressive rock world as heard on the ambitious fusion frenzy of "City: War March / El Duende Agonizante / Minstrel's Lament" which would hijack a sampling from Gustav Holst's "The Planets" as well as display a superb Spanish classical guitar workout by Emmett. The beginning thunderous march actually brings Rush's progressive works to mind (think "La Villa Strangiato") as well as showcasing a percussive rhythm workout that would find a home on Dream Theater's "Images And Words" album a decade and a half down the road. Worth mentioning is the second part of "New York City" with its jazzy guitar segments and genre shifting restlessness.

Also of extreme importance is the fantastic title track finale which jumps back into the hard rock arena and pumps out the heaviest track on the album with one of the best heavy rock guitar solos the 70s had to offer displaying Emmett as not only a gifted vocalist but a bona fide virtuoso guitarist of the first degree. This track would remain a staple of live performances and remains one of the most memorable tracks of TRIUMPH's entire career. The only track that is a misstep to my ears is the ill-placed Joe Walsh cover "Rocky Mountain Way." While i absolutely adore the original and Walsh's music in general, there is something just so wrong when it's performed without his distinct vocals at the helm. TRIUMPH does a veritable job but it really seems like a fish out of water on this release. The only other gripe i have is that the beginning heavy guitar riff on "New York City Streets - Part 2" sounds too much like Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein." Other than these quibbles, TRIUMPH produced one of their best albums of the 70s. ROCK & ROLL MACHINE is an excellent collection of hard rock, power pop and prog related treats and not a bad place to check out what made them stand out. Be sure to track down the album with the original listing as it is the superior format as well as the intended one.

Although some tracks are weaker than others, the album as a whole runs smoothly without giving the listener a chance to catch their breath. Metallica classics such as 'Seek and Destroy', 'The Four Horsemen', 'Hit the Lights' and 'Whiplash' make this essential for all metal fans.

It won't be your favourite Metallica album, but your metal collection won't be complete without it.

Though recorded a couple of months after David Live, the concert featured a markedly tweaked lineup, which combined the soul experimentation of the Philly Dogs tour with an evocative torch song aesthetic and a brief return of the glam rock fire that Bowie was trying to work beyond. The end result is perhaps the most sonically interesting of Bowie's work from his soul experimentation phase, particularly since the concert takes place just after The Gouster was wrapped up but before it got reconfigured into the Young Americans album we now know and love - It's Gonna Be Me and John I'm Only Dancing (Again) are both present in the setlist, for instance.

As a revelation of how quickly Bowie was evolving even from month to month during this time period, it's priceless - but the CD digipack version is actually a very reasonably priced budget release. Highly recommended.

The combo effect of funk and metal has always proven to be a strong suit for Mr BH and there is plenty of both on this energetic release that provides ample amounts of head banging fury along with the expected avant-guitar solos while funk bass rules the roost for significant chunks of playing time and bandmate from Praxis in the form of Bootsy Collins even makes a cameo appearance on "Bird With A Hole In The Stomach" where he adds a monstrosity of a space bass solo at the end. An unusual feature for BH at this point anyway is the four part "Lurker At The Threshold" which is a dedication to H.P. Lovecraft. While it may sound like a prog behemoth in writing, all four tracks clock in under ten minutes and go through several BH styles such as slow and mellow melodic introducing features that slowly ratchet up the temp ladder with funk guitar, heavy distorted riffing and guitar solos.

The track "Droid Assembly" is worth mentioning as it has that classic detached groove that i could totally envision BH doing his famous dance to. The electronica based drum sound is followed by a series of angular avant-garde-isms that create a unifying factor of danceability while avant-prog guitars and bass lines flounder all over the place. The cutely named "Fizzy Lipton Drinks," a reference to the 1971 film "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory" starts out with an industrial metal type of groove but quickly becomes one of those riff and solo numbers but also jumps into an avant-parade of strange riffs, grooves and guitar squealing as if a pig were sacrificed in the making of this production. Unfortunately the track ends with an annoying bout with silence before a *hidden track* appears. I hate these but was a very nought-y thing to do in the early years of the millennium. After enduring a forced period of meditation we finally get a total funkified only affair with Bootsy Collins making a return and BH adding some counterpoint guitar licks which goes on for a few minutes allowing the two to really get down and dirty.

THE ELEPHANT'S ALARM CLOCK is yet another excellent album in the early BH years when he was only getting started releasing multiple albums per year. While many tout this one as one of his absolute best, i find it a little repetitive at times and doesn't come close to the mind blowing diverse elements and avant-grooviness of album's like "Monsters And Robots." After all, "normal" is for mere bands that didn't obtain their strange and otherworldly powers in chicken coops. This album is nonetheless a great introductory work to BH's overall early works and a mandatory edition for those more into his less adventurous and more in tune with melodies and established rock and metal elements in music. It's certainly an excellent album even if it doesn't rank high in my own personal world but one thing IS for sure and that is that it is indeed a captivating listen throughout its entirety.

Well. This single has in the Side 1 a song from the "Asia" album called "Only Time Will Tell", composed by John Wetton and Geoff Downes. It is really a Ballad with very good arrangements, particularly with very good guitar arrangements and playing by Steve Howe.This song was successful and had some radio playing in some radio stations in my city. It even was used in a TV ad some time later. It is really a more Pop Rock song with very few Prog Rock influences. That was a thing which made some Prog Rock fans "hate" this band. It wasn't my case.

In the Side 2, there is "Ride Easy", composed by John Wetton and Steve Howe. It is another Pop Rock song from this band with some Prog Rock influences. Maybe the most Prog Rock influences in this band came from Howe's songwriting contributions and guitar playing. Before the band played this song in concert, Wetton introduced the song to the audiences, with him saying that this song was one of his favorites and that it was one of the first songs that Howe and him wrote for the band. I don't know why this song was finally destined to be in the Side 2 of this single. It is a very good song.

If I remember well I bought the "Asia" album on LP in mid June 1982... thirty five years ago. It still brings good memories to me.

Every song is memorable, unique and fresh, nothing like something that is heard before or after. Later I have listened to other albums of MK I, and albums of Mk II, had opportunity to see Mk II live on "Just Testing" tour, and Mk IV on "Twin Barrels Burning" tour, but "Argus" stayed most loved and listened to. Other albums of Mk I are also great, so are "There's the Rub" and "No smoke without fire" of Mk II, each of it containing great songs, epics and concert favorites, but "Argus" was successful in making the album with most progressive parts, some of them thematically connected, which other albums lacked of, as a collection of unrelated songs.

First side is generally of life and love themes, while most of second side is of war oriented songs. The best A side song is "Time was" with beautiful acoustic intro, moving into hard rocking body where guitarists showed their pyrotechnic capabilities.

B side starts softly with one guitar playing rhythm, the other playing theme, accompanied with melodic bass line, all three building atmosphere of waiting for something to happened, raising a sound level slowly, and it really does, turning into most memorable guitar riff of all Wishbone Ash songs. And when lyrics comes, with "in the fire, the king will come", you are conquered and you surrender unconditionally. Song also has nice quite gentle intermission, that once again leads into famous guitar riff, moving to effective end. After "King will come", there comes beautiful ballad "Leaf and stream", some kind of contemplative thoughts of dreams and world beyond reality. And then again, return to warriors thematic, with two connected songs, first telling about the urge to fight for freedom, and second about a need to laying down the arms, cause in war no one wins and everybody lose. "Warrior" has interesting structure, starting with calm two verses melody, changing into strong, several times in a row repeated refrain, each time with differently played in-between connection, while "Throw down the sword", the only song with keyboard support, has beautiful twin guitars intro, leading into strong ballad, finishing with great guitars soloing, each guitar simultaneously leading its own solo, merging into one at the end. Excellent!

The album is produced by Derek Lawrence, who did a great job (he also produced their previous two albums, and later "No smoke without fire"), and engineered by Martin Birch (who later worked with Deep Purple, and especially with Iron Maiden where that recognizable twin-lead guitar sound can be heard). The cover art is on the same lane with music, with famous Argus guardian watching over.

The songs are positioned on sides A and B in a way that first is more rockier, while the second is more progressive. The only complaint that I have is that maybe songs on B side should have been slightly different ordered. I think that "King will come" must be placed right before the "Warrior", to make great three songs story of war and peace. "Leaf and stream" somehow calms down the continuity of most progressive part of album, and my opinion is that this song should have been first on side B. Luckily, on CD player is easy to enter wished song order, so everyone can make his own (mine is 1-2-3-5-4-6-7).

I got two versions of LP (one gate-folded, one just sleeve), and 1991 MCA CD reissue with B-side bonus track "No easy road", but that song is somehow out of context here, it just doesn't fit. Maybe the best choice is to find 2002 MCA remaster with whole three tracks rare live 1972 EP "Live in Memphis" as a bonus, with excellent 17 minutes performance of "Phoenix" epic from first album. There is also 2007 2CD Universal remaster, with aforementioned B-side track and unfortunately only partial live EP (without "Jail bait") on first disc, but with various live performances from "Argus" time on second disc.

In recent times, the second fraction of group, Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash made excellent studio re-recording of complete "Argus" named "Argus through the looking glass" (2008) placing song "Blowin' free" as the last on disc (eventually it was supposed to be so in 1972, but LP format was a limited factor), followed by complete live version "Argus 'then again' live" (2008) by Andy Powell's fraction of band, and again by complete live performance by Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash on "The Life Begins tour" 2CD (2011). So we have four versions of "Argus" so far, two studio, two live, as a sign how much that album means to its creators (and to 'Ashers').

Regarding the first rockier album side, a kind of inappropriate place of "Leaf and stream" song on excellent more progressive B side, a fact that this is primarily a progressive rock archive, and that I am very fond of Wishbone Ash's music, bright shining four stars is something that I stand for.

Experimental music expanded after "Kaleidoscalp" and much furr-thurr into the wEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIrd and wild musical west as guitars gallop, bass lines bounce, percussive drumbeats detonate and riffs raucously reverberate around a series of sensational sonic possibilities

It's just WEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIRRRDDD i say! Funk guitars mix it up with metal. Flamenco prances where it doesn't belong. DJ electronic percussion beats get all dope in the most inappropriate ways while strange new hitherto possibilities

come

across

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freakin

WEEiiiirrr D D D

! 1 ! ! ! 2w19 ! ! 1 ! !1 ! !

everYthing CANbhrd hear

there are nursery rhymes: 3 blind mice (1ST track] there is traditional metal chords and riffs [evREEwear) there is funk and soul there is

Basically this is a brilliant excogitation of many elements of music intermingled and forced against their will to perform unthinkable acts together that should be illegal in many states and provinces around the globe but the laws simply haven't kept up with the perverted masterminds of musical prowess who insist on forcing different musical genres to get it on in the most unorthodox procedures and in the process create a vortex into unthinkable alternate realities

OMG! Love it i do but not his best, but excellent non the incest (INBRED MOUNTAIN woo hoo ˙©?´

oh and BANJOS occur?.. yes they occur in strange fashion . sTRANge inDEEd inDID in.Idoh4

While the band would grow musically and become both notable for their catchy hard rock bordering on heavy metal melodies as well as for their AOR radio with Rik Emmett's high pitched vocals creating a distinct mark on the world of hard rock, on IN THE BEGINNING they sound very much like a 70s hard rock band. The album kicks off with a bluesy hard rocker that sounds a bit like a hard Alice Cooper bluesy shuffle with a party all night Kiss attitude. Yeah, the lyrics on this one weren't too developed at this point and are a little focused on teenage obsessions such as partying all night! Love! Easy living! And of course rock 'n roll. Many of the tracks sound like they could have fit right in on Rush's debut release and the influence is undeniable and understandably so given time and place however TRIUMPH-isms do exist like Emmett's signature guitar solos sounding nothing like Alex Lifeson's and their riffing while similar is still all their own. "Let Me Get Next To You" however is a little too close to early Rush territory for its own good sounding like "Finding My Way."

"Don't Take My Life" sounds a bit like "I'm 18" from Alice Cooper and simultaneously a bit like "All Along The Watchtower" by Hendrix showing a couple more influences in the mix. The most interesting track that deviates from the blues and hard rock queue is the near nine minute closer "Blinding Light Show / Moonchild" which sounds completely different from the other tracks. It begins with a hard rock Celtic type of jig but completely shifts gears and becomes a spacey Pink Floyd sounding acoustic arpeggio run and really sounds like something off of "The Wall" a full three years before that album was released! It has a rock chorus but evolves into a beautiful classical guitar sequence that gets quite accomplished thus the type of track that often gets them in progressive rock related territory.

While not completely finding their own distinct sound quite yet, IN THE BEGINNING is a well performed debut that is a pleasure to listen to. Emmett had some of the best vocals in the world of hard rock and AOR and TRIUMPH sort of was a much more sophisticated version of Journey rather than a mere Rush clone at least after the first couple albums. On this one they do sound a lot like early Rush but that's not a bad thing for me since i happen to love the early Rush albums before they blossomed into prog behemoths. While TRIUMPH albums have traditionally suffered poor production values and neglected due to the fact that despite finding some success never really hit the big time either but the new remastered releases sound excellent like they were made for modern day consumption. Even if 70s hard rock isn't your thing, i highly recommend the closing track for prog heads however if you do fancy bluesy heavy rock from that era, TRIUMPH's first album is quite the pleasant listening experience.

3.5 rounded down

'R.O.Q Bozo 1' (2:35) begins with dissonant jangly guitars and then bursts into heavy metal riffing but remains dissonant and has a jangly distortion. From the din a sizzling guitar solo erupts but quickly becomes suffocated by more jangly angular guitar riffs. Enter the thrash riffing and then it changes up again. Guitar, bass and drums are smokin' hot

'R.O.Q Bozo 2' (3:13) sort of runs into first track but has a mid paced tempo with staccato grungy riffs but picks up steam. Remains somewhat dissonant and down tuned. Very alternative metal feeling. Picks up intensity at end

'R.O.Q Bozo 3' (2:50) starts off more thrashy but then subdues into a quiet murky passage with jangly licks and atmospheric accouterments. Metal riffing returns along with strange off-kilter guitar licks that are sorta in their own world. The progressive time sigs are off the hook

'R.O.Q Bozo 4' (3:47) begins with more heavy riffing but is joined by some energetic guitar sliding action which offers a strange counterpoint. The slides become guitar solos and the jangly riffs seem even more dissonant, down tuned and alienating. After a quieting down it becomes some sort of nursery rhyme type of riffing for a short while and then erupts back into heavy riffs, guitar slides and more loud cacophonous outbursts

'R.O.Q Bozo 5' (3:46) basically continues but offers an energetic outburst of riffing before slowing down and letting fuzzy guitar distortion do some 'talking.' This one is all over the place but is sort of a call and response between intense metal riffing sessions with slower jangly echo chamber segments accompanied by very freaky guitar licks

'R.O.Q Bozo 6' (4:16) changes abruptly with a subtle funk element but quickly becomes overpowered by dissonant heavy guitar riifs, pyroclastic eruptive guitar solos and a bass and drum fast enough to melt fingers. Angular rhythms and filthy distortion meander all over the place ratcheting up the intensity and the musical tension is thick. Also included are reverb freak outs and all kinds of whizzing up and down the scales in both the riffing and solos like there's no tomorrow and some weird circus rhythms towards the end

'R.O.Q Bozo 7' (3:59) is a more 'normal' type of track at first with a recognizable melody but the dissonant squad overpower it quickly and then all kinds of forces fight each other for domination. It just gets weirder and weirder as guitar solos, different riffs, tempos, dynamics and everything vie for ultimate control. It changes up often and any structure has been replaced by utter chaos. It's literally an orgy of different sounds

'Ramp Ahead' (7:00) is the only track with a different title and likewise is the only track with a totally different feel. After the frenzy that was the 'R.O.Q' train that ended in a total cluster [%*!#] of unhinged musical offerings, this one is a nice little 'normal' type of alternative metal track with a recurring melody that is created from distorted guitar riffs, bass and drum at a slow to medium tempo. The distortion is heavy as each note reverberates into the future creating a wall of sound effect but somehow it all balances out. After a slower beginning it gets heavier and more thrashy but the melody remains locked into the riff changes and carried on even within the solo and lick action. The track remains 'stable' throughout its 7 minute run and is the perfect sanity recalibrater after the intensity of what preceded

Yay! This is my favorite PIKE of 2017 so far. It is highly energetic, experimental and unrelenting in its delivery of A+++ weirdo instrumental metal. It has all the adventurous experimental elements i love about BH but also has a sense of control in that every element is carefully crafted and doesn't feel random at all (well, ok it does sometimes :) The melodic elements and the chaotic dissonance are always hanging on a tightrope together and the tension is unnerving. This is a fine example of BH's musical maestrohood and yet another testament to his otherworldly powers he derives from space chickens. Another golden egg has been laid!