NICKELODEON

Recorded during their return tour of Australia in 1971, Nickelodeon presents five tracks not featured on any other albums, and just one familiar song - their contemporary hit "Because I Love You". For the most part they are firmly in Zeppelin-style heavy blues rock mode, but with considerably less inventiveness than they displayed on Choice Cuts. "Future of our Nation" and "Evil Woman" are your typical early 70s heavy rockers consisting of basically a single simple riff played at plodding tempo - in the latter case, dragged out for a 20 minute jam, although the band at least come up with a few new ideas late in the improvisation. "When I've Got Your Soul" and "Fresh Air By The Ton" are basically extended blues jams, especially the latter. "Light A Fire Within Your Soul" breaks the mould of the album, being a much lighter mellower piece, but it's still basically three chords and one line of lyrics. "Because I Love You" suffers in comparison to the studio version basically due to the limitations of their equipment. Disappointing in comparison to the studio albums of the time, but still a mark of how far the band had progressed from their early days.