PIRANA II

Pirana ultimately were remembered as no more than Santana copyists. Appearing in the film of Sunbury 1972 (over-hyped as Australia's answer to Woodstock) performing a note-for-note cover of Santana's Woodstock showstopper "Soul Sacrifice" didn't help, and neither did this second album. They eschew the cheesy pop influences that were present on parts of their first album, but also most of their songwriting ability, and pretty much any musical influence other than Santana. "Here It Comes Again" is the only really memorable song here, with a great Latin groove, memorable hooks, and some great soloing from both organ and guitar. Elsewhere they rely a lot on groove and soloing to cover up for their lack of songwriting effort, and in the few places where they bothered to write vocal parts, you almost wish they hadn't (eg "Thinking Of You").