WARHORSE

Originally released on Vertigo Records, the self-titled LP Warhorse comes housed in beautiful gatefold sleeves pressed on 180-Gram virgin vinyl. Akarma Records, a subsidiary of Comet Records, is the label responsible for this fine reproduction of this sleeper pre- progressive album. Once you hear it you will realize it sounds like today's prog-metal in some ways.

Nick Simper, formerly of Deep Purple, broke away from the rock legends and started a band of his own. I have to be honest; I am probably like many folks I am sure in that I had never heard of this spin-off group, and it came as a real revelation after giving the records a spin how good they were. It came as no surprise, however, that their sound is similar to the group that Simper had just left, although the subject matter is much darker.

I liked the way Ashley Holt was pushed right out in front of their sound, kind of sitting on the very edge of Ged Peck's crunching guitar parts, not unlike Ian Gillan was for DP, and he sounds a bit like him as well. Frank Wilson plays the Hammond with enthusiasm to give their overall sound a bluesy funky progressive flair that I found very appealing as well.

This is very good music, surprisingly so because of the fact that many spin-off groups fail miserably, and then again others make musical history, albeit very few. I do not think their impact was realized fully when this was recorded. This two LP set is a real keeper; it maintains a firm uniformity that stays with and makes you want to listen to it again wondering what you could have missed the first time around.

For collectors this makes for a real treasure trove of goodies that is hard to resist, the added bonus and live tracks give you another two sides of music that was previously unavailable.