QUATERMASS

I picked up a the Harvest Collectors edition of the LP decades ago for the exorbitant price of $20, probably partly because I was already on a binge and not thinking rationally, but also this group, whom I had never heard of, was on the Harvest label. The cover even gave the look of a BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST compilation, and I thought it was cool that the group utilized string arrangements.

I was quite unprepared for the aural onslaught from this power trio, a bluesy, organ dominated, crunching attack. I can't even imagine how they would fit a guitar into this wall of sound. This group has little to do with other KB trios, and more in keeping with DEEP PURPLE, but utterly amateurish in almost every aspect, from the vocals that wail atonally to the intractiale instrumentation. It's like a live recording in the studio by a band getting together for, oh, maybe the 3rd time. Even the production is sadly muffled and static.

Quatermass would appear to have been a pretty early signing on the label, and at the forefront of this type of rock configuration, which nets them half a star, which I dock for the lack of actual songs here. Instead we find massed quarter songs desperately calling out to be cobbled together, smoothed out, and ultimately still dispensed with. Old vinyl copy in good condition, anyone?