ATOMIC ROOOSTER

The first Atomic Rooster album sees the Graham/Crane/Palmer lineup as a band in search of an identity. No longer content to be the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, the band don't quite manage to stake out their own territory, producing an album with a sound much like any other Hammond-heavy power trio at the start of the 1970s. Friday the 13th is a perfectly dramatic and exciting opener, but after that the songs all tend to blend together for me and lose their identity. Graham's vocals are also simply not up to belting out the material either, and are something of a weak point on the album. Altogether, a three star debut.