HOODOO MAN

Very shocked to see this recording only receiving a paltry 3 stars. I've read numerous posts that claim this is far more of a hard rock experiment than anything truly progressive, and to these statements I merely shake my head in dismay. Hoodoo Man is an intense, potent ride, drenched in enough heavy guitar and spiralling organ to make the casual listener dizzy. The wildly inaapropriate cover, the overt political commentary in the tracks, the rough and immediate vocals from drummer Bernd Noske all combine to craft an album that is as jazzy as it is heavy. I've seldom heard a band that employed the organ as aptly and effortlessly as Birth Control, especially on their first three releases. I love both the self-titled debut and Operation, but for me Hoodoo Man is the terminus in a specific vein of prog experimentation. After Hoodoo the band would branch off into hard rock, adventurous and pseudo-successful symphonic prog and stadium rock, but they would never again achieve the astonishing musical heights achieved on this album. 5 stars easily.