Non-Prog Album Reviews

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Elf - Elf (1972)

Genres: Hard Rock, Boogie Rock, Blues Rock

Rating: 3.5/5

Hard rock is a staple of rock n’ roll, that much is recognized. From the progressive twiddling of Rush, to the more buttsy grooves of AC/DC, hard rock has cemented itself as a tour de force that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. Anyways, with all that said, it's a genre with a lot of start ups, and one such start up I was very surprised about was from the band Elf.

Now, I just had to hear this album no matter the quality because of its very goofy album cover. When I saw the genres on RYM, I knew what I probably was gonna get into, since a lot of hard rock mixed with boogie rock usually play on a bunch of boomer and gen X radio stations throughout America, but I still wanted to give it a shot because the album cover depicting a scrunched up little elf man was too good to pass up.

The music itself I think is just ok. Nothing too crazy. If you ever heard bands like Canned Heat or UFO then Elf’s music is kind of like that. Very bluesy hard rock songs with some boogie elements in between. The song lyrics are also kind of what you expect, with lyrics of manly men trying to hook up with ladies, or doing other manly stuff. Since I am not a manly man, and I am not really someone who gets the ladies (I am a prog rock fan, need I say less?), these lyrics don’t really appeal to me personally. In fact I’d say they’re the weakest element from the record. They’re not atrocious, but I think they're just too standard for them to be interesting. Even around in the early 70s, songs with this amount of masculine vibrato have been around for decades, so honestly even if I was born in the 50s or so I’d probably find the lyrics here to still be boring.

However, honestly the music isn’t the most interesting thing about this record. That actually has to go to the stellar vocals on it. While the lyrics aren’t the best, I think the singer does a great job at making them a bit more tolerable. Who’s that singer? Well, surprisingly, it's Ronnie James Dio! That’s right, before he was the main vocalist for Rainbow and his own eponymous band DIO, Ronnie was in this little known boogie rock group, singing songs like Hoochie Koochie Lady before he was making his Holy Divers or Stargazers.

Honestly, Dio’s vocals are iconic for a reason, and hearing him sing on here is a treat. I think he even had some hand with one of the tracks, because Never More, my personal favorite off this album, oozes a lot of charms that Dio would carry in his future musical ventures. More mystical sounding rhythm and grooves that go throughout the track, with Dio singing about Hell and holy fire...it's like a prototype of what Ronnie would be best known for in his songwriting.

So, while Elf may be just a really fine hard rock group, the fact they gave a start to such a legendary figure in rock n’ roll history makes them a bit more appreciated. Sure, you might not get the same music out of this band as you would with Rainbow, but not every start is gonna be a big break right off the bat. Look at some legendary singers like Björk. Björk’s first album that was released in 1977 did very badly, and only is known about now because she became an alternative pop icon within the 90s. Sometimes you gotta start small before going big, not everything is gonna be lightning in a bottle.

Best track: Never More

Worst track: N/A

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Dapper~Blueberries Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: November 06 2021 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 373	Post Options Post Reply Quote Dapper~Blueberries Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: February 10 2025 at 09:23
	Elf - Elf (1972) Genres: Hard Rock, Boogie Rock, Blues Rock Rating: 3.5/5 Hard rock is a staple of rock n’ roll, that much is recognized. From the progressive twiddling of Rush, to the more buttsy grooves of AC/DC, hard rock has cemented itself as a tour de force that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. Anyways, with all that said, it's a genre with a lot of start ups, and one such start up I was very surprised about was from the band Elf. Now, I just had to hear this album no matter the quality because of its very goofy album cover. When I saw the genres on RYM, I knew what I probably was gonna get into, since a lot of hard rock mixed with boogie rock usually play on a bunch of boomer and gen X radio stations throughout America, but I still wanted to give it a shot because the album cover depicting a scrunched up little elf man was too good to pass up. The music itself I think is just ok. Nothing too crazy. If you ever heard bands like Canned Heat or UFO then Elf’s music is kind of like that. Very bluesy hard rock songs with some boogie elements in between. The song lyrics are also kind of what you expect, with lyrics of manly men trying to hook up with ladies, or doing other manly stuff. Since I am not a manly man, and I am not really someone who gets the ladies (I am a prog rock fan, need I say less?), these lyrics don’t really appeal to me personally. In fact I’d say they’re the weakest element from the record. They’re not atrocious, but I think they're just too standard for them to be interesting. Even around in the early 70s, songs with this amount of masculine vibrato have been around for decades, so honestly even if I was born in the 50s or so I’d probably find the lyrics here to still be boring. However, honestly the music isn’t the most interesting thing about this record. That actually has to go to the stellar vocals on it. While the lyrics aren’t the best, I think the singer does a great job at making them a bit more tolerable. Who’s that singer? Well, surprisingly, it's Ronnie James Dio! That’s right, before he was the main vocalist for Rainbow and his own eponymous band DIO, Ronnie was in this little known boogie rock group, singing songs like Hoochie Koochie Lady before he was making his Holy Divers or Stargazers. Honestly, Dio’s vocals are iconic for a reason, and hearing him sing on here is a treat. I think he even had some hand with one of the tracks, because Never More, my personal favorite off this album, oozes a lot of charms that Dio would carry in his future musical ventures. More mystical sounding rhythm and grooves that go throughout the track, with Dio singing about Hell and holy fire...it's like a prototype of what Ronnie would be best known for in his songwriting. So, while Elf may be just a really fine hard rock group, the fact they gave a start to such a legendary figure in rock n’ roll history makes them a bit more appreciated. Sure, you might not get the same music out of this band as you would with Rainbow, but not every start is gonna be a big break right off the bat. Look at some legendary singers like Björk. Björk’s first album that was released in 1977 did very badly, and only is known about now because she became an alternative pop icon within the 90s. Sometimes you gotta start small before going big, not everything is gonna be lightning in a bottle. Best track: Never More Worst track: N/A
	D~B

Dapper~Blueberries Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: November 06 2021 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 373	Post Options Post Reply Quote Dapper~Blueberries Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 15 hours 8 minutes ago at 09:56
	Johannes Brahms - A German Requiem (1962) Genres: Romanticism, Requiem, Choral Technically speaking, according to RYM, this record is a triple LP, though if it were released today it’d probably just be a double. In fact re-releases that do come in vinyl format are doubles and not triples. I guess the art of making vinyl records wasn't too understood by this point in the 60s still so companies thought that hour long recordings should be triples and not doubles for whatever reason. Or perhaps vinyl formats were a lot smaller. I don’t know, I am a music geek not a music production geek. Anyways, A German Requiem, or more accurately Ein Deutsches Requiem, was a piece made by Johannes Brahms and was composed between 1865 to 1868. It’s his longest work, being an hour and 9 minutes long, with most of the parts of the suite ranging from 10 minutes plus, except for movements 3 and 4; Herr, lehre doch mich, and Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen. There are a lot of different versions of this piece out there, but I am looking at the 1962 recording…mostly because it's the only recording I have heard. Honestly this piece is really good. As a more casual fan of classical, this score has quite a lot to love. It feels very emotional, dramatic, beautiful, and even a little haunting in certain cases. I think the recording done by The Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus does a great job showcasing that, with their lively choirs and beautiful flow through the piece’s instrumentation. However, I am sort of not a big fan of the last two movements, all things considered. They’re not bad by any means, but they feel like they just drag a bit too long for me. Since I haven’t really listened to any other recording of this classical piece, I don’t quite have a basis, but it does seem like Brahms was weirdly trying to extend those movements in a less than natural flow, which makes me get a bit of an off kilter ending to it all. Though, to offset this, I really enjoy the production on this album. I don’t quite know if it is because I am listening to this album on streaming and that’s why this album sounds really solid in its mixing, but for early 1960s standards this is very stellar! I can see myself buying this during that time period, putting it on, and being blown away by how good it sounds. For its worth, A German Requiem is a pretty great classical piece in my opinion, and the 1962 recording of it is equally as solid. There are a lot of great classical pieces out there, and I think that Johannes Brahms did manage to create one of them. Would I say it's the best? No, not by a long shot. But I certainly don’t think it's bad by any means. A fairly strong recommendation from me. Best track: Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras Worst tracks: Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende Statt, Selig sind die Toten
	D~B

presdoug Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: January 24 2010 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 8737	Post Options Post Reply Quote presdoug Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 14 hours 15 minutes ago at 10:49
	^It took me a while to warm to A German Requiem by Brahms, but now, I have, and have recordings with Toscanini, Walter, and Haitink which I like. As for the Klemperer, I have not heard it, but I bet you have a winner there! I will search for that version....