Indeed - all but the last came up in conversation that night, I put the last because even some that think of themselves as Queen fans don't know some of this earlier stuff which was excellent and as good as the later stuff everyone knows.JR8 wrote:Shadow Gallery – Interesting, never heard of them before. Quite a collection of styles, from ‘post prog’, outright metal (Iron Maiden etc) to verging on doomy thrash.
That was a recommendation for RATM, something I like that I thought he might like. It's a Prog-Metal concept album with some pretty well thought-out Dystopian themes and lyrics.
Dixie Dregs – Promising venue. Blimey getting off towards Blue-grass. The biggest surprise was the lead Steve Morse [!] who went on from them to be lead guitar in Deep Purple, and the line-up I saw in SG a few years back no less...
This was the start of the Dixie Dregs, a Fusion band that had strong influences from Bluegrass, Rock, Celtic, Prog Rock, Country and Jazz. Gentle Giant and Kansas, and things like Mahavishnu Orchestra influences are easy to hear.
They went on to become The Dregs and do only one or two Country and/or Bluegrassy-songs on subsequent albums and became more Fusion and what can only be described as their own sound, full of mixes of odd- and even time signatures and uber musicianship.
This is more indicative of their early sound, and what got me hooked on them:
("used as the theme tune for BBC Radio 1's Friday Rock Show"):
Mention of Gentle Giant warrants a sample, utterly brilliant and an acquired taste, hardly accessible, not for the faint of heart, where does one begin.....
Hot Tuna – interesting (again), only heard that as a surf brand of clothing. But in this case a spin-off from Jefferson Airplane. Knowing that I can see how they evolved that sound.
Tuna were/are a key part of the San Francisco sound, and Jorma Kaukonen is a master at fingerpick guitar style old time Blues, Jack Casady is highly regarded amongst bass players.
The Naz – Again never heard of them. Reminds me somewhat of bands like The Yardbrirds... [their 2nd link more ‘psych’... like it
I think that is what they were aiming for*.
The goofy looking guy is Todd Rundgren, before he went on his own; he's probably the only one who went on to become famous.
The Nazz were a Garage band from Philadelphia, hence Todd's later association with acts like Hall and Oates as their producer. I believe The Nazz are on the first Nuggets compilation of Garage / Psychedelic Rock bands.
*On Todd's Fatihful album, one side is dedicated to influences, and he covers those influences' songs, including Happenings Ten Years Time Ago, a Yardbirds song. Most of the covers are remarkably well done, including this:
Kansas – Almost like Focus in the intro -> The Mamas and the Papas.
Queen/Ogre Fight – Don’t know if I’ve heard this before. The bands inherent talent really shines though [guitar, vocals, slightly unorthodox composition etc, all comes together, in a functional and refreshing way].
I like to remind Queen fans, the ones that for some reason like what I consider awful songs like Fat Bottomed Girls or Bicycle or Another Bites The Dust or We Are The Champions, (all cringe-worthy for me but I get it they are anthem-atic and suited to a crowd chant kind of context), that they started out as a Hard Rock band, and they did Hard Rock very well, that is but one such example, this is another and more popular:
Queen/Nevermore. Again don’t know this. By god FM could sing... what a voice.
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Wow, fascinating compilation there, and I don’t think I’ve heard a single one of those tracks before! The surprise there is that I thought I knew Queen reasonably well, but it shows me that I don't...
Another one in the same vein
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