Martin's picks: Sons of Freedom - Sons of Freedom, These Trails - These Trails, Grootna - Grootna, Last Crack Burning Time, DMZ - DMZ Pete's Picks: Gnidrolog-Lady Lake (1972) Black Bonzo-Black Bonzo (2004) Mangrove-Days of the Wicked (2016) Brutus-Wandering Blind (2016) England-Garden Shed (1977)
The entire reason I started watching this channel was for music recommendations so I love hearing about awesome obscure stuff. And not to mention you guys always make it entertaining with your knowledge and passion.
I just found and bought the first two Gnidrolog albums, for 13 bucks! I absolutely LOVED this show. The gift that keep on giving. thank you, Martin and Pete!
Love this kinda show once every so often fellas. NO disresprect at all but, as Pete said in the intro...SO many shows do result in...Priest, Boston, a Blackmore project, Maiden etc. Nice to shine a torch into the corners.
Thanks for the shout-out Martin! I loved having the opportunity to talk about my favorite Genesis song ("Cul-De-Sac") on the upcoming Genesis Duke episode of The Contrarians.
Amazing, in Martin’s first choice he mentions the vocalist Anna Rizzo - she’s an old friend of my girlfriend. (I’ve met here a couple of times - very nice person. ) Apparently she sang with Country Joe McDonald, Sly Stone and many others in the 70s. Also,, another member of the band, ‘Slim Chance’ (aka Austin DeLone) has been running an open mic here in Marin County, CA for many years.
Please do more of this. I love all the content on here as you know, but when I see that title I start salivating. No matter how much music I have and know I’m always on a never ending quest of expanding horizons and my thirst will never fully my quenched. I pride myself on my metal collection and other music from being all the far corners of the world and from the most little and obscure artists so any chance I have to learn bands and albums I don’t know my eyes light up. England, wow!! How did we not all know this band, crazy good. I have added it to the never shrinking physical grail list. !!! Please do more !!!
Really enjoyed that section on These Trails. Love how Martin knows so much he goes on a rabbit trail without even thinking about it. Especially love that "the second song's about picking bananas and mowing the lawn" LOL.
Dudes...I'm not gonna click on any video about Judas Priest, black Sabbath, Iron maiden or Deep Purple in any sort of hurry. I love all those bands, but is there really that much new to say about them after all this time? Well ok, yeah, probably, but still, you guys have covered them plenty of times. A video about obscurities is exactly what I'm here for. I want to discover new music, not just sit here and affirm how great made in Japan is for the millionth time.
@@Scandolo Same here, I drop hints every so often. I swear Pete mentioned during the last FF episode that he'd bring it back as an extended monthly series/once a month (which is fine) but that was last year...
I once thought that I knew a lot about Rock.watching Sea of Tranquili hass proved that I don't. Thank you for introducing me to so many amazing bands from the past, highlighting new bands and also to go back to music I'd left behind. This is a great channel.
Absolutely fantastic episode Martin and Pete! I'd like to see many more of these if/when possible. There were a few repeats, but I honestly didn't realize it until I searched Spotify and YT and saw I saved them to my ever growing listen to list.
Pleasantly surprised when Martin mentioned Sons of Freedom. I bought the CD back in '88 and I love it to death, but this is the first time I've come across another human being who was aware of their existence. A lot of repetition in the lyrics, but it doesn't matter. It's heavy as hell and the songs get lodged in your brain. Also, listening to Grootna right now and it sounds pretty good so far. Love the channel, too. Thanks Pete and Martin for all that you do! :D
Love the Sons of Freedom album! Heard them for the first time after Martin recommendation, have not heard this album, but love it. I can hear Gang of Four , Zeppelin & Stone Temple Pilots but that does not describe them. Totally original and catchy 👍
Yes Pete I remember you showing and talking about this "England" Garden shed" album.. they did a 2015 deluxe edition 2 disc set with lot of bonus tracks , trifold digipack it was also released on Vinyl..must have edition !
I'm a little late to the party on this one as it just appeared in my feed today. I just started listening to the England album this morning and I am totally getting a Yes vibe with this one. Love it. Thanks for the recommendations as usual. I will get to all of these as I am always game for hearing "new to me" albums.
i don't know why i should care about the weather in NY or Toronto when i live in the NW - but i do !......loads to check out. as always, MANY thanks you two...
Wow, I'm a fan of Jefferson Airplane but never heard of Grootna. Definitely need to check this out. And I'm really happy Pete mentioned Gnidrolog - Lady Lake, that's one of most favourite underground prog albums of all time for me. In addition to Gnidrolog, I want to mention these acts: 1. Kingdom Come - Journey (1973). Despite this being legendary, I think this counts as a obscure because this Arthur Brown project never got anywhere near as famous as other prog bands. Journey is a revolutionary album with that spacy electronic atmosphere and drum machine (in 1973!), ahead of its time for sure and now it gets more appreciation. Probably in my top10 greatest albums ever. 2. Fusioon - Minorisa (1975). Spanish symphonic prog, only three tracks on the album and all three are excellent, especially side-one with the epic Ebusus. 3. Night Sun - Mournin' (1972). Germany hard rock with the bits of prog. Kinda Deep Purple, but German. That's their only album and it's spectacular. Especially the song Got A Bone Of My Own. 4. Nekropsi - Sayı 2 (2006). It's not a very obscure one, it's probably quite a known band in Turkey, but internationally I would consider this obscure. Experimental rock with the flavour of 90s alternative, and some bits of prog, psychedelia and even jazz fusion at a few moments. Somehow they remind me of Mr. Bungle. 5. Saulės Laikrodis - Lauke ir Viduj (recorded 1983, released 1994). Now this one is definitely obscure. It's from my country Lithuania and it's probably the only fully progressive band in the history of Lithuanian music. Unfortunately, soviet regime banned their concerts due to "nihilism and subjectivism of the lyrics" (typical Soviet propaganda move) and they disbanded and didn't get to release their recorded album until Lithuania regained independence. Because of that, many Lithuanians also don't know this band. But the album is brilliant, consisting of four vocal songs on side one and instrumental four-part suite on side two, which is the best thing in album. Honorable mention: Company Caine - A Product of Broken Reality (1971). Australian band which fused blues rock and prog in their music. Symptoms is probably the greatest Australian song I've ever heard.
Great show. Martin had 3 picks that I am aware of. Grootna Last Crack and DMZ. Had Last Crack and DMZ on vinyl. And Pete 5 picks I am not aware of. So got listening to do and see if I can at some point get the albums. Thanks guys. Have a good Friday. TC🎶🎸🥁🎹🎤.
Thanks for this show guys!!! I listened to England and Grootna and really liked them. The Last Crack is one of the albums I have listened to many times through the years. Some that come to mind, Kino - Picture, Snail - S/T
Writing on the Wall - The Power of the Picts (1969). Three Man Army - A Third Of A Lifetime (1971). Armageddon - S/T (1975). Sacred Blade - Of the Sun + Moon (1986). Captain Beyond - Sufficiently Breathless (1973, I enjoy their S/T debut more but their second album doesn't get nearly enough love).
I think Captain Beyond consistently gets a lot of mentions, here & on other prog sites, they've kinda come out of the shadows I think. Three Man Army less so. Both were good bands (especially Captain Beyond)
If you like Three Man Army you might like their two albums Gun and Gunsight as the band Gun and later afterTMA they became Baker Gurvitz Army with Ginger. .
I picked up the These Trails vinyl reissue last time Martin talked about it. Didn’t even sample it. His love for that album is downright beautiful. This episode was fantastic, to me one of the best things SoT does is help us find these lost gems.
Like Martin said about hearing people talk about things you never heard, I enjoyed this episode way more than I though I would! Pete your review of Skanska Mord' Blues From the Tombs really opened my eyes to a lot of cool retro rock music coming from Scandanavia. Cheers, boys, great episode.
Heck yeah, These Trails and The Search Party are great! A part two would be cool. I like those one and done UK prog bands that were on the Neon label in the early '70s i.e. Spring, Indian Summer, Tonton Macoute
Martin, have you heard a lot of Jane Siberry and Judee Sill? Very similar with even better songwriting: th-cam.com/video/7QgBoEtOip0/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/GHXteb6R-AY/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/J5CalHct6FA/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/rAToWdWVRj0/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/caxct3bPSrA/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/JK_piS-Q0Ls/w-d-xo.html
I love episodes like this. For reasons I won't go into, growing up I wasn't exposed to a lot of this kind of music (Halifax, NS - 40-top radio only), so I can find new cool bands that are new to me. Keep it up!
I love the short-lived Michael Schenker supergroup “Contraband” from 1991 featuring Travis Guns, Richard Black, Share Pedersen and Bobby Blotzer. Great hard rock album that is hard to find.
Great topic. Martin had some priceless quotes in there. Referencing Nick Drake and (pre-Lyres) Jeff Conolly, thought I never would hear on SoT. Please bring this back for a Part II. Three obscures that quickly come to mind (no particular order): 1) Bachdenkel - "Lemmings" (1973) a feast of guitar and drums 2) Mary Margaret O'Hara "Miss America" (1988) some of the most original female vocals of the last 40 years... 3) Ebeling Hughes "Transfigured Night" (1998) Floydian bliss
Popoff and Pardo are at it again and, oh, what a great show on their obscure loves. Not until Pete's honorable mention was there an album in my collection - and that Assault On Merryland is solely the result from an earlier SoT episode where Pete got my attention and an instant fondness for the album required the CD be tracked down and bought. Today, Martin's passion for These Trails drove an immediate tracking of a CD for purchase at an acceptable price and looking forward to its arrival. Martin has mentioned this somewhere before on an SoT episode but his passionate discussion today carried me forward along with my fondness for lots of music from Hawai'i. Can envision lots of listening and purchases from this. Please, gents, do a Part 2 of this if you have give more that you have a passion for the music. This was an outstanding episode in a long line of great Fridays At The Funhouse. And though the album cover shows are kinder to my wallet and budget, this was great fun. Thanks again to you both and looking forward to coming back to read all the comments soon. There ya go!
Swans - The Seer (epic, sonic, entrancing) Nomeansno - The Day Everything Became Nothing (thundering punk swing) Rhythm Pigs - Choke on This (cowboy punk jazz) Victims Family - Voltage and Violets (psycho punk jazz) Die Kreuzen - October File (Voivod worshipped this album)
Loved this one! I am going to be buying (if I can afford it) some of your suggestions. Mangrove sounds like classic rock. The Hawaiian music is so cool. And England -- WOW! Thanks so much! For me, the first FEVER TREE album is one of the greatest records of all-time. Love many songs from their subsequent three releases. Also THE BECKIES by Michael Brown of The Left Banke. And I really enjoy Herman's Hermits' Peter Noone's new wave band THE TREMBLERS. And although I'm not a "New Age" music guy, since Martin loves the off-the-beaten-path "These Trails," I will mention the duo Tingstad and Rumbel create some of the most gorgeous semi-classical songs ever -- on impeccable acoustic guitar and gentle woodwinds like English horn and ocarina. My favorite albums of theirs are "Woodlands" and "Paradise," but they have done a lot of equally superb releases. If you want peaceful gentle well-structured music that is not ambient crap -- in between your heavy metal listenings -- I heartily recommend these stellar musicians.
Here’s one out if the box. Resurrection Band’s (Rez Band) “Colours” from 1980. Yes, they are a born again Christian rock band, but this album has a solid steady bluesy hard rock groove. It also has shared male/female vocals. I was introduced to them by a friend who took me to see them at a church back in 1982 and they were awesome. Nothing like Stryper. Colours is pure classic hard rock 70’s style.
If you like "Colours", you should check out "Awaiting your reply" and "Rainbow's End" by Resurrection Band. There is some seriously heavy stuff there and not a poor song on either.
Correction to make: the immense Sons of Freedom... I alluded to hard drugs as part of their decline there. Wrong! Not sure how I got that in my head, but no hard drug use in Sons of Freedom. They took their career very seriously, and though it was in the scene at the time, they were not part of that. Makes me love them even more.
Just downloaded these and they're epic! Black Bonzo-Black Bonzo (2004) Mangrove-Days of the Wicked (2016) Brutus-Wandering Blind (2016) I'm ready for part 2!
Another great one: *Virgin* by Peruvian band Traffic Sound (1969). Very Anglo-sounding psych/early prog, quite similar to Traffic, beautifully produced.
Great vid. Looking forward to checking all of the bands out. Here’s a few of my favorite obscure bands. The first 2 I learned about a while back on one of your vids. Trigger and St. Paradise. Another one is Buckingham Nicks. Great album that showed the potential that Stevie and Lindsey brought to Fleetwood Mac. Freakshow was a semi super group that had the lead vocalist from Miss Crazy along with Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot & WASP), Tony Franklin (Blue Murder & The Firm) and Jeff Labar (Cinderella). Slave machine was a band from North Carolina that had a heavy Alice In Chains vibe.
Another great episode from Pete and Martin. Definitely will have to track these down. England did do another album called "The last of the jubblies". Well checking out it's on TH-cam.
Great episode fellas! Discovering buried treasure never gets old! Martin, if you like the Hawaiian slack key guitar music, you could do worse than pick up The Descendents film soundtrack. It's a fabulous introduction to the joys and beauty of Hawaiian melodies , both in the guitars and the voices. Cheers Geoffrey
1) Prism - Self Titled (1977) [Japanese Band] 2) David Sancious & Tone Dance Of The Age Of Enlightenment (1977) 3) Alphonso Johnson - Moonshadows (1976) 4) Caldera - Dreamer (1979) 5) Space Circus - Fantastic Arrival (1979)
@@ScottyKirk1 I bought it on cassette at Camelot Music in 1995. I had never heard of it. I bought it because it was 25 cents, and for another quarter, I picked up Sinister Funk House. The band immediately became a favorite of mine. The 2019 album is also fantastic, but Burning Time is still the best.
England - Garden Shed is a great album! And yes you have mentioned that (I remember it being some show with Steven Reid), that's how I found out about that Black Bonzo is one of my favorite bands... The debut is a cool throwback to Byron era Heep, but then they just go off. All 3 albums are fantastic and the late drummer is a real standout in my opinion. Will definitely go through everything else you mentioned, finding all of these new things is why I love this channel. Edit: Gnidrolog - Lady Lake is fantastic. Now I have some obscure recommendations of my own I'm gonna split these down the middle into a (mostly the latter day adventures of) nwobhm bands section and everything else. General: Pentagram (Tr) - Trail Blazer An obscure band from turkey, really cool thrash album. Asia - Armed To The Teeth A US band called Asia emerged in the late 70s, this is their 2nd album from 1980. They play a mix of nwobhm-ish heavy metal and progressive rock. The Plads - Domine Deus Cool punky metal from Iceland if I remember right. Very fun. Storm - s/t I would call this... pomp punk? Very cool fast paced punky rock with a female vocalist that reminds of Sweet at times. Novela - Miwakugeki Not so obscure in japan, but idk about in the west. My favorite japanese prog band, this debut is really heavy and they get more Symphonic later. Anything with the guitarist Teritsugu Hirayama is worth checking out. (Late) NWoBHM: Overdrive - Dishonest Words This is an album from 1992 (or so) that was only distributed by the band themselves and it's really cool nwobhm with clear Ritchie Blackmore inspirations. Blitzkrieg - Ten People often know their self titled track from metallica's cover, but these guys are fantastic all throughout the 90s, Ten being my favorite. Holocaust - Hypnosis of Birds Insanely creative and heavy album, I sometimes jokingly call this my favorite Voivod album. Stormtrooper - Pride Before A Fall This is an archival release that came out in 2016. If you ever wanted to know what Rush would have sounded like if they became heavier instead of poppier in the 80s, this is that. Shiva - Firedance The only album here that actually came out in the era of the nwobhm, really cool and creative HM with a prog touch to it.
This topic is my favorite yet…love discovering obscure gems. Some of my favorite obscurities… Mellow Candle…Swaddling Songs…great progressive folk rock with tremendous songs, musicianship and vocals…from the early 1970s. Autumn People…outstanding mid 70s progressive rock from Arizona I believe. Winterhawk…Revival…smoking early 80s hard rock with unbelievable guitar from Jordan Macarus. The Cyrkle…Neon…really good late 60s sunshine pop rock. Modest Attraction…Divine Luxury…mid 90s hard rock…any fan of heavy Sweet, Heep, and Purple will love this. Poobah…Let Me In…killer 70s hard rock. Truth and Janey…No Rest For The Wicked…great 70s hard rock with smoking guitar work.
Good list. I have Mellow Candle, The Cyrkle, Winterhawk, Poobah and Truth and Janey. I will have to check out Autumn People. You might enjoy Stonewalls Stoner from 1974 or May Blitz from 1970 if you have not already heard them.
Really enjoyed this episode! I’ve only heard two of these before (England and Gnidrolog), and I’m looking forward to checking out others. I’d definitely be interested in a part two!
My wheelhouse, got a load of these some of my favorites of the top of my head: Crack the Sky- Crack the Sky Crack the Sky-Animal Notes Crack the Sky-Safety in Numbers Crack the Sky-Live Sky- All classic prog for hard rock fans, very non-prog great lyrics Max Demian Band-Take it to the Max- Killer cut-out bin staple from '79. Great catchy rock/ hard rock with lyrics that don't take themselves too serious Face Dancer-This World- Essential pomp/ melodic rock/ hard rock. Great songs, great playing, creative ideas in a accessible package Russia-Russia- Terrible name especially now. Awesome record. Many of the same great attributes of Face Dancer. Touch of prog, pomp hard rock while still being accessible Tommy Hoehn- Losing you to SleepUndergound Power Pop genius. Includes greatest power pop song of all time. "Blow yourself Up" Collision-Collision- Too late to the party came out in 92, 80's metal. Great everything. Like Whitesnake '87 only better! Heaven's Basement- Filthy Empire- Killer hard rock from 2013. My favorite hard rock released after 2000. John Eddie- Who the hell is John Eddie?- Heartland, singer/ songwriter rock. Seger, Springsteen, Petty territory. Much more relatable to the common guy. Great. Law and Order-Guilty of Innocence- Lost in the shuffle of 80's metal on MCA. New York band with a southern rock feel. Z- Music for Pets and Shampoohorn- Like hard rock and metal but Frank Zappa to weird for ya. Try these, Dweezil and Ahmet with some other Zappa alums. More accesible Zappa.
Not sure about the obscure status of Crack The Sky but I'm sure lots have never heard them, great band. Besides the ones you listed also look for: Machine, Ostrich, Photoflamingo, The Sale, Tribes, World In Motion I, Ghost, From The Greenhouse, Dogs From Japan, Dog City, Cut, Crackology, The Beauty of Nothing, Between The Cracks, Crack Attic (The Best Of Crack The Sky). So many really good albums...I like "Forever Beach" from Face Dancer...From Tommy Hoehn I have Hailstone Holiday (whole thing is on Bandcamp)...Dweezil's got some very good albums like Live-In The Moment, Confessions, Go with What You Know & Via Zammata'. Zappa Plays Zappa is also worthy of owning
@@danneeson7056 Yeah, it's a great album. I remember finding it on a bargain rack back in the day for $2.99 or something. Had no idea who they were, but the album cover looked really cool. What a steal!
Defiantly do a part 2 this is great some obscure gems I would recommend if you like the experimental side of metal. Kong- mute poet vocalizer my favorite instrumental band of all time. Grotus- Brown Thought Industry - Mod Carves the pig or outer space is just a martini away.
I always look forward to these shows , once again a big thank you to everything The SOT gang put out. I wonder have you ever considered doing a show on the classic b sides bonus tracks etc I know they kind of end up on boxsets and as bonus tracks on CD album these days, but there were a great deal of tracks, by the likes of Maiden Priest etc that I often thought deserved a lot recognition than being just hidden away, cheers and once again thank you
The Gnidrolog and England albums are wondrous pieces of work. Robert Webb performed as England at the Fusion Progressive Rock Festival in 2019 with members of England and participating bands attending the weekend. It was a truly wonderful experience.
- Granicus: Granicus (1973) Amazing hard rock with a powerful vocalist from Cleveland, Ohio. Occasionally they move to prog (nice use of Mellotron on one cut) or heavy metal (vocalist would have fit well in a true metal band). They were on a major label, RCA but sank with the original LP a collector's item. - ID: Where Are We Going (1977) Great jamming guitar/Mellotron-dominated prog from this Maryland band. Recorded in 1975 but not released until 1977. - Brave New World: Impressions on Reading Aldous Huxley (1972) German swirl Vertigo rarity. Multi-national band including American jazz saxist Herb Gellar, Irish musician John O'Brien Docker, Swedish musician Lucas Lindholm, German drummer Dicky Tarrach and more all based in Hamburg. Pretty tripped out stuff, hard to describe and compare but definitely prog, psych and Krautrock. - Jasper Wrath: Jasper Wrath (1971) Great psych and prog from this band from Connecticut, Apparently the band received some regional success but pretty much unknown nationwide. - The Muffins: Manna/Mirage (1978) Canterbury, American style from this band from Silver Spring, MD (just outside DC). In the Soft Machine and Hatfield & the North vein. - Epidaurus: Earthly Paradise (1977) Great prog with tons of Mellotron from Germany although many listeners would have problems with the high-pitch female vocals, although she only appears on two cuts, the rest is instrumental.
Brave New World's "Malpais Corn Dance" is interesting...Form Epidaurus/Earthly Paradise I like "Andas" & "Mitternachstraum"...I've got 5 Muffins albums, my fave being Secret Signals 1...Jasper Wrath is actually from my neck of the woods & we had a local FM rock station that used to play their stuff on a regular basis (especially late at night). Love Jeff Cannata, his solo albums are interesting. If you haven't yet check out his work in Arc Angel (self-titled, Harlequins Of Light & Tamorok). Their debut is very AOR/radio-friendly, super catchy. Also Zoldar & Clark's self-titled record from 1977
@@wolf1977 Zoldar & Clark was actually Jasper Wrath but fell victim to a tax scam label Dellwood. Dellwood released this stuff without any of the band knowing, or that it was released under a different band name. Not a single member saw a single penny. These tax scam labels only lasted a couple of years, about 1976 to '78 and disappeared quickly once their shady practices were discovered.
Loved this episode!!!! Mangrove and Last Crack really peaked my interest. I'm already seeking to get those albums online. Great idea for a show, hope there is a part 2 in the works.
Yes. Definitely a part 2! I gotta check out that Grootna(I hella dig Marty Balin and I DO have that Bodacious DF album). I discovered Last Crack about a year or two ago from a YT guy that was talking about it, good jams. He talked about the band Scam Luiz as well. That Hawaiian album sounds VERY interesting... England and Gnidrolog both very good albums. I have a digital copy of that Surprise album. Great show!
Excellent show! If I have to mention only one (or two): "I Love You-s/t" (Geffen 1991). Love that album and band, sank without a trace. I would aslo mention "Catapult-s/t" (1974), the band was quite famous in the Netherlands and had a string of hits, but the album is kind of an obscure one. Cheers.
Great stuff gentlemen! One footnote: whilst these may be rare to purchase they can all be streamed to check them out first. My choice would be Kerbdog. An Irish band who only made two albums which sound nothing like each other but are both 5/5 for me.
Engaging and fun topic and great banter between Martin and Pete. I’m sure this has been mentioned before but the first 2 Happy the Man albums are excellent. Self-titled and Crafty Hands. Take care everyone.
Their live album is also great. I also like Death's Crown, 3rd Better Late & The Muse Awakens. Check out Kit Watkins' Labyrinth & the two Oblivion Sun albums (another Frank Wyatt project) plus Frank Wyatt & Friends/Zeitgeist
These Trails reminds me of the first time I discovered Comus. There's a naturally beautiful gloom that hangs over the entire album, without a pretentious bone in the body - like a Waiting for Godot vibe...
I've got the These Trails album on a 1999 vinyl reissue. Must admit I can't remember what it's like so I'll have to dig it out and play it. A record dealer recommended it to me back then, and all I can remember is playing it once and it not making much of an impression. Maybe I was using it as background music and it just washed over me. I have also been trying to get that England album for ages. I think Dave Brock once said it was a great album.
Pete mentioned that England album Garden Shed in his forgotten favourites series. I have listened to it on youtube but like you found it impossible to get a reasonably priced physical copy.
16:20 I would normally raise my eyebrows at "nothing else out there in the world sounds like this" but when Martin says it, I believe it. Will check it out!
Julians Treatment: "A Time Before This" Will T. Massey: "Self Titled" The Cables: "What Kind of World" Laughing Clowns: "Law of Nature" Prolapse: "The Italian Flag" Andy Pratt: "Resolution" True music fans never dismiss/disparage any genre. Because they know: music is music is music. Everything else is just scribbling in the margins.
GREAT show! I've checked out a few of these already and will be adding several to my want list. England is great. I wanted to like Gnidrolog (and liked the music quite a bit) but found the vocals really annoying. I can see why Martin was so excited about These Trails....definitely a unique and engaging sound. I'll pick up a reissue of that for sure. Martin - I see now why you like X so much...the blend of male/female vocals with a somewhat naive/unschooled quality! Two albums that you might dig: Dean Davis Company "Stone County Road" definitely has that wilted late hippie era vibe. The song "The Pirates Of Stone County Road" is *amazing*. Another one is Stan Hubbs "Crystal". A difficult to define album with close male/female harmonies that remind me of X (although the music is totally different). I found the Grootna album at an antique store recently. I came close to buying it, but the size of the band and the instrumentation made me think that it might be a disappointing 70's horn-rock thing. Plus I'm not a big fan of the Bodacious D.F. album. However, based on your description I'll definitely pick up Grootna the next time I visit that antique store (if it's still there!).
Excellent piano pop album : People, places and flings by Chuck Coleman Great power pop album : Author Unknown by Jason Falkner Good weird pop album : The Gospel by The Stranglers
I was surprised Dirk Steffens - the Seventh Step didn't make the grade. Great power trio from Germany. Hard Rock with huge riffs. Steffens ended up doing production work on several bands including multiple Accept releases
Good pick Dwain, but are you really surprised? (I know it's only a figure of speech). But... two random guys who aren't you had to pick a total of ten albums they thought they were obscure and they loved. I'd say there's easily a pool of more than 20 or even 30 or 40 albums out there they could have picked from! : )
@@MartinPopoff I know there's endless artists to chose from.....but I thought the production pedigree might make for a cool story. Sons of Freedom story : My friends went to Saskatoon to see Robert Plant --- I stayed in Regina to see Sons of Freedom at U of R.....still have no regrets, they were awesome as is that debut
Just listened to England, really wonderful stuff, I would describe this as early Genesis meets CSN&Y. Love this topic, the only downside is that it tells me of how much I missed.
Probably their best album, The Last of the Jubblies & Imperial Hotel are also worth checking out. You might like them even more than me if you get into the quirkier/more experimental stuff by say Gentle Giant
I'm really blown away by These Trails. When I think of Hawaii I instantly think of the cheesy lounge pop of Don Ho or music dominated by the ukulele and slide guitar. Not a single bit of ukulele or slide guitar to be found in These Trails. I can see how this is a super-rarity. I'm pretty sure the label Sinergia catered to tourists, and this particular one would likely scare away mainstream tourists due to its often unsettling vibe. So they probably knew they couldn't get that one to sell. Really nice combination of folk with ARP synthesizer, and occasional flute, with some prog leaning. This one is on my want list!
Martin's picks:
Sons of Freedom - Sons of Freedom,
These Trails - These Trails,
Grootna - Grootna,
Last Crack Burning Time,
DMZ - DMZ
Pete's Picks:
Gnidrolog-Lady Lake (1972)
Black Bonzo-Black Bonzo (2004)
Mangrove-Days of the Wicked (2016)
Brutus-Wandering Blind (2016)
England-Garden Shed (1977)
Tremendous PETE, the list is always super helpful. Thx again 👍💯
Thx for posting this
My best friend Gary, his brother was the guitarist for Sons Of Freedom. Don Harrison
Pretty obscure. I only know two of those: Last Crack and DMZ - I agree that both are great, so I will have to look at the others.
Thank you Pete for posting the list. Very helpful.
This shit is what we need. Obscure records lost in time. Great episode. Give us part 1 to 10. It’s real important to lift this music up. Yeah.
The entire reason I started watching this channel was for music recommendations so I love hearing about awesome obscure stuff. And not to mention you guys always make it entertaining with your knowledge and passion.
I just found and bought the first two Gnidrolog albums, for 13 bucks! I absolutely LOVED this show. The gift that keep on giving. thank you, Martin and Pete!
Love this kinda show once every so often fellas. NO disresprect at all but, as Pete said in the intro...SO many shows do result in...Priest, Boston, a Blackmore project, Maiden etc. Nice to shine a torch into the corners.
It can be, sometimes it reveals the grime and nasty spiders can scuttle out 🤣👍🏻 But yes it was a cool show
Pete I have been absolutely thrashing Garden Shed all day. Wow dude. What a find! This channel rules
This is why I follow this channel: to learn new things! That and just listening to these guys talk about the music I love
Thanks for the shout-out Martin! I loved having the opportunity to talk about my favorite Genesis song ("Cul-De-Sac") on the upcoming Genesis Duke episode of The Contrarians.
Took me hours to watch this, due to the many diversions over TH-cam, in order to listen to the suggestions. Thank you very much!
Amazing, in Martin’s first choice he mentions the vocalist Anna Rizzo - she’s an old friend of my girlfriend. (I’ve met here a couple of times - very nice person. ) Apparently she sang with Country Joe McDonald, Sly Stone and many others in the 70s. Also,, another member of the band, ‘Slim Chance’ (aka Austin DeLone) has been running an open mic here in Marin County, CA for many years.
Wow - thanks for this!
Please do more of this. I love all the content on here as you know, but when I see that title I start salivating. No matter how much music I have and know I’m always on a never ending quest of expanding horizons and my thirst will never fully my quenched. I pride myself on my metal collection and other music from being all the far corners of the world and from the most little and obscure artists so any chance I have to learn bands and albums I don’t know my eyes light up.
England, wow!! How did we not all know this band, crazy good. I have added it to the never shrinking physical grail list. !!!
Please do more !!!
Really enjoyed that section on These Trails. Love how Martin knows so much he goes on a rabbit trail without even thinking about it. Especially love that "the second song's about picking bananas and mowing the lawn" LOL.
I just gave it a listen, too. It felt like I spent the day with Syd Barrett.
@@svsugvcarter You must need a drink...🤷♂️
One band that you mentioned in the past, Pete, as an obscure one, that I really enjoyed a lot, was the band "Toad."
Good band, I like Tomorrow Blue, Stop This Crime, Behind The Wheels & B.U.F.O.
Dudes...I'm not gonna click on any video about Judas Priest, black Sabbath, Iron maiden or Deep Purple in any sort of hurry. I love all those bands, but is there really that much new to say about them after all this time? Well ok, yeah, probably, but still, you guys have covered them plenty of times. A video about obscurities is exactly what I'm here for. I want to discover new music, not just sit here and affirm how great made in Japan is for the millionth time.
Well alrighty then.
Always appreciate the effort and enthusiasm you both put into your videos
yes, please a part 2!! this episode made me think of how much I am missing the forgotten favorites series!! ;)
Me too!
@@wolf1977 I was waiting for the monthly series of the forgotten favorites but sadly never happened. I understand Pete is quite busy though
@@Scandolo Same here, I drop hints every so often. I swear Pete mentioned during the last FF episode that he'd bring it back as an extended monthly series/once a month (which is fine) but that was last year...
I once thought that I knew a lot about Rock.watching Sea of Tranquili hass proved that I don't. Thank you for introducing me to so many amazing bands from the past, highlighting new bands and also to go back to music I'd left behind. This is a great channel.
Absolutely fantastic episode Martin and Pete! I'd like to see many more of these if/when possible. There were a few repeats, but I honestly didn't realize it until I searched Spotify and YT and saw I saved them to my ever growing listen to list.
Pleasantly surprised when Martin mentioned Sons of Freedom. I bought the CD back in '88 and I love it to death, but this is the first time I've come across another human being who was aware of their existence. A lot of repetition in the lyrics, but it doesn't matter. It's heavy as hell and the songs get lodged in your brain. Also, listening to Grootna right now and it sounds pretty good so far. Love the channel, too. Thanks Pete and Martin for all that you do! :D
Love the Sons of Freedom album! Heard them for the first time after Martin recommendation, have not heard this album, but love it. I can hear Gang of Four , Zeppelin & Stone Temple Pilots but that does not describe them. Totally original and catchy 👍
One of my fav episodes - would love a part 2!
SoT my favourite channel!!! Great content as always guys! Great haircut Pete 👌
Yes Pete I remember you showing and talking about this "England" Garden shed" album..
they did a 2015 deluxe edition 2 disc set with lot of bonus tracks , trifold digipack
it was also released on Vinyl..must have edition !
England also put out other albums not just one like they imply
I really like it when they post these kinds of videos. Always looking for new old music.
I'm a little late to the party on this one as it just appeared in my feed today. I just started listening to the England album this morning and I am totally getting a Yes vibe with this one. Love it.
Thanks for the recommendations as usual. I will get to all of these as I am always game for hearing "new to me" albums.
"Beyond The Crystal Sea" - Jimmy Hotz
"Akritas" - Akritas
"The First Seven Days" - Jan Hammer
i don't know why i should care about the weather in NY or Toronto when i live in the NW - but i do !......loads to check out. as always, MANY thanks you two...
This was just what I love, I have some homework to do now with these bands. I will be more than ready for part two .
Just listened to Sons of Freedom..I'm liking it!!!
Thank you for another great show. Always look up to see this episodes Friday mornings!
Wow, I'm a fan of Jefferson Airplane but never heard of Grootna. Definitely need to check this out. And I'm really happy Pete mentioned Gnidrolog - Lady Lake, that's one of most favourite underground prog albums of all time for me. In addition to Gnidrolog, I want to mention these acts:
1. Kingdom Come - Journey (1973). Despite this being legendary, I think this counts as a obscure because this Arthur Brown project never got anywhere near as famous as other prog bands. Journey is a revolutionary album with that spacy electronic atmosphere and drum machine (in 1973!), ahead of its time for sure and now it gets more appreciation. Probably in my top10 greatest albums ever.
2. Fusioon - Minorisa (1975). Spanish symphonic prog, only three tracks on the album and all three are excellent, especially side-one with the epic Ebusus.
3. Night Sun - Mournin' (1972). Germany hard rock with the bits of prog. Kinda Deep Purple, but German. That's their only album and it's spectacular. Especially the song Got A Bone Of My Own.
4. Nekropsi - Sayı 2 (2006). It's not a very obscure one, it's probably quite a known band in Turkey, but internationally I would consider this obscure. Experimental rock with the flavour of 90s alternative, and some bits of prog, psychedelia and even jazz fusion at a few moments. Somehow they remind me of Mr. Bungle.
5. Saulės Laikrodis - Lauke ir Viduj (recorded 1983, released 1994). Now this one is definitely obscure. It's from my country Lithuania and it's probably the only fully progressive band in the history of Lithuanian music. Unfortunately, soviet regime banned their concerts due to "nihilism and subjectivism of the lyrics" (typical Soviet propaganda move) and they disbanded and didn't get to release their recorded album until Lithuania regained independence. Because of that, many Lithuanians also don't know this band. But the album is brilliant, consisting of four vocal songs on side one and instrumental four-part suite on side two, which is the best thing in album.
Honorable mention:
Company Caine - A Product of Broken Reality (1971). Australian band which fused blues rock and prog in their music. Symptoms is probably the greatest Australian song I've ever heard.
Have originals of Kingdom Come Journey and Night Sun Mournin' on vinyl . Despite being obscure from Germany Night Sun had a Canadian release.
Great show. Martin had 3 picks that I am aware of. Grootna Last Crack and DMZ. Had Last Crack and DMZ on vinyl. And Pete 5 picks I am not aware of. So got listening to do and see if I can at some point get the albums. Thanks guys. Have a good Friday. TC🎶🎸🥁🎹🎤.
Terrific episode. Can't thank you guys enough for sharing your expertise and bringing to light these under-heard albums.
Thanks for this show guys!!! I listened to England and Grootna and really liked them. The Last Crack is one of the albums I have listened to many times through the years. Some that come to mind,
Kino - Picture, Snail - S/T
Kino's Picture is very good, Radio Voltaire less so but still not bad...Snail's self-titled album is also pretty good, good vocals & some solid songs
Writing on the Wall - The Power of the Picts (1969).
Three Man Army - A Third Of A Lifetime (1971).
Armageddon - S/T (1975).
Sacred Blade - Of the Sun + Moon (1986).
Captain Beyond - Sufficiently Breathless (1973, I enjoy their S/T debut more but their second album doesn't get nearly enough love).
I think Captain Beyond consistently gets a lot of mentions, here & on other prog sites, they've kinda come out of the shadows I think. Three Man Army less so. Both were good bands (especially Captain Beyond)
Yeah, Armageddon's record is one of the greatest records ever.
If you like Three Man Army you might like their two albums Gun and Gunsight as the band Gun and later afterTMA they became Baker Gurvitz Army with Ginger. .
I picked up the These Trails vinyl reissue last time Martin talked about it. Didn’t even sample it. His love for that album is downright beautiful. This episode was fantastic, to me one of the best things SoT does is help us find these lost gems.
Like Martin said about hearing people talk about things you never heard, I enjoyed this episode way more than I though I would! Pete your review of Skanska Mord' Blues From the Tombs really opened my eyes to a lot of cool retro rock music coming from Scandanavia. Cheers, boys, great episode.
Heck yeah, These Trails and The Search Party are great! A part two would be cool. I like those one and done UK prog bands that were on the Neon label in the early '70s i.e. Spring, Indian Summer, Tonton Macoute
Martin, I just listened to These Trails on Spotify: sounds creepy as can be! That's great! Great show. Can't wait for part 2. Cheers.
So creppy like is it supposed to be I donno but it is
Martin, have you heard a lot of Jane Siberry and Judee Sill? Very similar with even better songwriting:
th-cam.com/video/7QgBoEtOip0/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/GHXteb6R-AY/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/J5CalHct6FA/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/rAToWdWVRj0/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/caxct3bPSrA/w-d-xo.html
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I love episodes like this. For reasons I won't go into, growing up I wasn't exposed to a lot of this kind of music (Halifax, NS - 40-top radio only), so I can find new cool bands that are new to me. Keep it up!
I love the short-lived Michael Schenker supergroup “Contraband” from 1991 featuring Travis Guns, Richard Black, Share Pedersen and Bobby Blotzer. Great hard rock album that is hard to find.
Great topic. Martin had some priceless quotes in there. Referencing Nick Drake and (pre-Lyres) Jeff Conolly, thought I never would hear on SoT. Please bring this back for a Part II. Three obscures that quickly come to mind (no particular order):
1) Bachdenkel - "Lemmings" (1973) a feast of guitar and drums
2) Mary Margaret O'Hara "Miss America" (1988) some of the most original female vocals of the last 40 years...
3) Ebeling Hughes "Transfigured Night" (1998) Floydian bliss
Popoff and Pardo are at it again and, oh, what a great show on their obscure loves. Not until Pete's honorable mention was there an album in my collection - and that Assault On Merryland is solely the result from an earlier SoT episode where Pete got my attention and an instant fondness for the album required the CD be tracked down and bought. Today, Martin's passion for These Trails drove an immediate tracking of a CD for purchase at an acceptable price and looking forward to its arrival. Martin has mentioned this somewhere before on an SoT episode but his passionate discussion today carried me forward along with my fondness for lots of music from Hawai'i. Can envision lots of listening and purchases from this. Please, gents, do a Part 2 of this if you have give more that you have a passion for the music. This was an outstanding episode in a long line of great Fridays At The Funhouse. And though the album cover shows are kinder to my wallet and budget, this was great fun. Thanks again to you both and looking forward to coming back to read all the comments soon. There ya go!
Yeah, definitely need a Part 2.
Garden Shed! Solid gold. Thank you Pete.
Swans - The Seer (epic, sonic, entrancing)
Nomeansno - The Day Everything Became Nothing (thundering punk swing)
Rhythm Pigs - Choke on This (cowboy punk jazz)
Victims Family - Voltage and Violets (psycho punk jazz)
Die Kreuzen - October File (Voivod worshipped this album)
Loved this one! I am going to be buying (if I can afford it) some of your suggestions. Mangrove sounds like classic rock. The Hawaiian music is so cool. And England -- WOW! Thanks so much! For me, the first FEVER TREE album is one of the greatest records of all-time. Love many songs from their subsequent three releases. Also THE BECKIES by Michael Brown of The Left Banke. And I really enjoy Herman's Hermits' Peter Noone's new wave band THE TREMBLERS.
And although I'm not a "New Age" music guy, since Martin loves the off-the-beaten-path "These Trails," I will mention the duo Tingstad and Rumbel create some of the most gorgeous semi-classical songs ever -- on impeccable acoustic guitar and gentle woodwinds like English horn and ocarina. My favorite albums of theirs are "Woodlands" and "Paradise," but they have done a lot of equally superb releases. If you want peaceful gentle well-structured music that is not ambient crap -- in between your heavy metal listenings -- I heartily recommend these stellar musicians.
Fantastic episode. Part 2 (and 3) please!
Enland's guitar player played with Tom Jones and Queen+Rodgers. The bassist played for Jeff Beck.
Here’s one out if the box. Resurrection Band’s (Rez Band) “Colours” from 1980. Yes, they are a born again Christian rock band, but this album has a solid steady bluesy hard rock groove. It also has shared male/female vocals. I was introduced to them by a friend who took me to see them at a church back in 1982 and they were awesome. Nothing like Stryper. Colours is pure classic hard rock 70’s style.
If you like "Colours", you should check out "Awaiting your reply" and "Rainbow's End" by Resurrection Band. There is some seriously heavy stuff there and not a poor song on either.
Correction to make: the immense Sons of Freedom... I alluded to hard drugs as part of their decline there. Wrong! Not sure how I got that in my head, but no hard drug use in Sons of Freedom. They took their career very seriously, and though it was in the scene at the time, they were not part of that. Makes me love them even more.
Just downloaded these and they're epic!
Black Bonzo-Black Bonzo (2004)
Mangrove-Days of the Wicked (2016)
Brutus-Wandering Blind (2016)
I'm ready for part 2!
Absolutely brilliant show guys! Please please please give us a part two 👍
I think there could easily be 50 parts (or more), there are SO MANY good/relatively unknown bands & albums. And that's just from the 70's...
There is so much amazing music (and art in general) that for many reasons didn't reach a wide audience. In most genres of art 99% of the attention.
Another great one: *Virgin* by Peruvian band Traffic Sound (1969). Very Anglo-sounding psych/early prog, quite similar to Traffic, beautifully produced.
Good band, Yellow Sea Years is a solid album
Great vid. Looking forward to checking all of the bands out. Here’s a few of my favorite obscure bands. The first 2 I learned about a while back on one of your vids. Trigger and St. Paradise.
Another one is Buckingham Nicks. Great album that showed the potential that Stevie and Lindsey brought to Fleetwood Mac.
Freakshow was a semi super group that had the lead vocalist from Miss Crazy along with Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot & WASP), Tony Franklin (Blue Murder & The Firm) and Jeff Labar (Cinderella).
Slave machine was a band from North Carolina that had a heavy Alice In Chains vibe.
Another great episode from Pete and Martin. Definitely will have to track these down. England did do another album called "The last of the jubblies". Well checking out it's on TH-cam.
Great episode fellas! Discovering buried treasure never gets old! Martin, if you like the Hawaiian slack key guitar music, you could do worse than pick up The Descendents film soundtrack. It's a fabulous introduction to the joys and beauty of Hawaiian melodies , both in the guitars and the voices. Cheers Geoffrey
Great episode as always!
Already loving the These Trails album!
Lots of interesting stuff to check out, thanks to both of you! Definitely want to see a part two
1) Prism - Self Titled (1977) [Japanese Band]
2) David Sancious & Tone Dance Of The Age Of Enlightenment (1977)
3) Alphonso Johnson - Moonshadows (1976)
4) Caldera - Dreamer (1979)
5) Space Circus - Fantastic Arrival (1979)
would love to see more parts to this. that Assault On Merryland album sounds fascinating
Martin's praise of Last Crack made me happy. Burning Time is truly one of the greatest albums ever made.
I only found that band by accident and I was blown away by how good that album is! Essential for any fan of great hard rock.
@@ScottyKirk1 I bought it on cassette at Camelot Music in 1995. I had never heard of it. I bought it because it was 25 cents, and for another quarter, I picked up Sinister Funk House. The band immediately became a favorite of mine. The 2019 album is also fantastic, but Burning Time is still the best.
@@MrDaledark That crazy cover! Ha 😂 Great stuff. The reissue has some live tracks that show this band is for real.
England - Garden Shed is a great album! And yes you have mentioned that (I remember it being some show with Steven Reid), that's how I found out about that
Black Bonzo is one of my favorite bands... The debut is a cool throwback to Byron era Heep, but then they just go off. All 3 albums are fantastic and the late drummer is a real standout in my opinion.
Will definitely go through everything else you mentioned, finding all of these new things is why I love this channel.
Edit: Gnidrolog - Lady Lake is fantastic.
Now I have some obscure recommendations of my own
I'm gonna split these down the middle into a (mostly the latter day adventures of) nwobhm bands section and everything else.
General:
Pentagram (Tr) - Trail Blazer
An obscure band from turkey, really cool thrash album.
Asia - Armed To The Teeth
A US band called Asia emerged in the late 70s, this is their 2nd album from 1980. They play a mix of nwobhm-ish heavy metal and progressive rock.
The Plads - Domine Deus
Cool punky metal from Iceland if I remember right. Very fun.
Storm - s/t
I would call this... pomp punk? Very cool fast paced punky rock with a female vocalist that reminds of Sweet at times.
Novela - Miwakugeki
Not so obscure in japan, but idk about in the west. My favorite japanese prog band, this debut is really heavy and they get more Symphonic later. Anything with the guitarist Teritsugu Hirayama is worth checking out.
(Late) NWoBHM:
Overdrive - Dishonest Words
This is an album from 1992 (or so) that was only distributed by the band themselves and it's really cool nwobhm with clear Ritchie Blackmore inspirations.
Blitzkrieg - Ten
People often know their self titled track from metallica's cover, but these guys are fantastic all throughout the 90s, Ten being my favorite.
Holocaust - Hypnosis of Birds
Insanely creative and heavy album, I sometimes jokingly call this my favorite Voivod album.
Stormtrooper - Pride Before A Fall
This is an archival release that came out in 2016. If you ever wanted to know what Rush would have sounded like if they became heavier instead of poppier in the 80s, this is that.
Shiva - Firedance
The only album here that actually came out in the era of the nwobhm, really cool and creative HM with a prog touch to it.
Black Bonzo's a good one. As you said all 3 albums are very good
.... Currently I'm jamming on a obscure album..... Damn the machine
This topic is my favorite yet…love discovering obscure gems.
Some of my favorite obscurities…
Mellow Candle…Swaddling Songs…great progressive folk rock with tremendous songs, musicianship and vocals…from the early 1970s.
Autumn People…outstanding mid 70s progressive rock from Arizona I believe.
Winterhawk…Revival…smoking early 80s hard rock with unbelievable guitar from Jordan Macarus.
The Cyrkle…Neon…really good late 60s sunshine pop rock.
Modest Attraction…Divine Luxury…mid 90s hard rock…any fan of heavy Sweet, Heep, and Purple will love this.
Poobah…Let Me In…killer 70s hard rock.
Truth and Janey…No Rest For The Wicked…great 70s hard rock with smoking guitar work.
Good list. I have Mellow Candle, The Cyrkle, Winterhawk, Poobah and Truth and Janey. I will have to check out Autumn People. You might enjoy Stonewalls Stoner from 1974 or May Blitz from 1970 if you have not already heard them.
The England album is on Itunes. Just bought it. Thank you!!!
Really enjoyed this episode! I’ve only heard two of these before (England and Gnidrolog), and I’m looking forward to checking out others. I’d definitely be interested in a part two!
Big Yes on another episode. From this one I grabbed copies of England and Gnidrolog. Very cool additions to my stash of albums.
My wheelhouse, got a load of these some of my favorites of the top of my head:
Crack the Sky- Crack the Sky
Crack the Sky-Animal Notes
Crack the Sky-Safety in Numbers
Crack the Sky-Live Sky- All classic prog for hard rock fans, very non-prog great lyrics
Max Demian Band-Take it to the Max- Killer cut-out bin staple from '79. Great catchy rock/ hard rock with lyrics that don't take themselves too serious
Face Dancer-This World- Essential pomp/ melodic rock/ hard rock. Great songs, great playing, creative ideas in a accessible package
Russia-Russia- Terrible name especially now. Awesome record. Many of the same great attributes of Face Dancer. Touch of prog, pomp hard rock while still being accessible
Tommy Hoehn- Losing you to SleepUndergound Power Pop genius. Includes greatest power pop song of all time. "Blow yourself Up"
Collision-Collision- Too late to the party came out in 92, 80's metal. Great everything. Like Whitesnake '87 only better!
Heaven's Basement- Filthy Empire- Killer hard rock from 2013. My favorite hard rock released after 2000.
John Eddie- Who the hell is John Eddie?- Heartland, singer/ songwriter rock. Seger, Springsteen, Petty territory. Much more relatable to the common guy. Great.
Law and Order-Guilty of Innocence- Lost in the shuffle of 80's metal on MCA. New York band with a southern rock feel.
Z- Music for Pets and Shampoohorn- Like hard rock and metal but Frank Zappa to weird for ya. Try these, Dweezil and Ahmet with some other Zappa alums. More accesible Zappa.
Awesome.
Not sure about the obscure status of Crack The Sky but I'm sure lots have never heard them, great band. Besides the ones you listed also look for: Machine, Ostrich, Photoflamingo, The Sale, Tribes, World In Motion I, Ghost, From The Greenhouse, Dogs From Japan, Dog City, Cut, Crackology, The Beauty of Nothing, Between The Cracks, Crack Attic (The Best Of Crack The Sky). So many really good albums...I like "Forever Beach" from Face Dancer...From Tommy Hoehn I have Hailstone Holiday (whole thing is on Bandcamp)...Dweezil's got some very good albums like Live-In The Moment, Confessions, Go with What You Know & Via Zammata'. Zappa Plays Zappa is also worthy of owning
@@wolf1977 Yeah, I'm a CTS nut. I got 'em all except for Dogs from Japan.
That DMZ album is a classic. I have it on vinyl,totaly awesome.
Would love a part 2…appreciate the
great recommendations
Wow! Lady of the light. Black Bonzo. Great Pete! Another new band for me. 👍
Really like those hidden gems. Very informative. Thanks guys.
There's a couple of really cool ones I forgot to mention:
Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons - Screaming Targets
Black Pearl - Black Pearl
Love that first Black Pearl album with Mr. Soul Satisfaction.
@@danneeson7056 Yeah, it's a great album. I remember finding it on a bargain rack back in the day for $2.99 or something. Had no idea who they were, but the album cover looked really cool. What a steal!
Defiantly do a part 2 this is great
some obscure gems I would recommend if you like the experimental side of metal.
Kong- mute poet vocalizer my favorite instrumental band of all time.
Grotus- Brown
Thought Industry - Mod Carves the pig or outer space is just a martini away.
I always look forward to these shows , once again a big thank you to everything The SOT gang put out. I wonder have you ever considered doing a show on the classic b sides bonus tracks etc I know they kind of end up on boxsets and as bonus tracks on CD album these days, but there were a great deal of tracks, by the likes of Maiden Priest etc that I often thought deserved a lot recognition than being just hidden away, cheers and once again thank you
The Gnidrolog and England albums are wondrous pieces of work. Robert Webb performed as England at the Fusion Progressive Rock Festival in 2019 with members of England and participating bands attending the weekend. It was a truly wonderful experience.
Damn Pete! Black Bonzo is absolutely stunning. You'd swear it was released in '73. I hear a touch of Brainticket on the keys too.
- Granicus: Granicus (1973)
Amazing hard rock with a powerful vocalist from Cleveland, Ohio. Occasionally they move to prog (nice use of Mellotron on one cut) or heavy metal (vocalist would have fit well in a true metal band). They were on a major label, RCA but sank with the original LP a collector's item.
- ID: Where Are We Going (1977)
Great jamming guitar/Mellotron-dominated prog from this Maryland band. Recorded in 1975 but not released until 1977.
- Brave New World: Impressions on Reading Aldous Huxley (1972)
German swirl Vertigo rarity. Multi-national band including American jazz saxist Herb Gellar, Irish musician John O'Brien Docker, Swedish musician Lucas Lindholm, German drummer Dicky Tarrach and more all based in Hamburg. Pretty tripped out stuff, hard to describe and compare but definitely prog, psych and Krautrock.
- Jasper Wrath: Jasper Wrath (1971)
Great psych and prog from this band from Connecticut, Apparently the band received some regional success but pretty much unknown nationwide.
- The Muffins: Manna/Mirage (1978)
Canterbury, American style from this band from Silver Spring, MD (just outside DC). In the Soft Machine and Hatfield & the North vein.
- Epidaurus: Earthly Paradise (1977)
Great prog with tons of Mellotron from Germany although many listeners would have problems with the high-pitch female vocals, although she only appears on two cuts, the rest is instrumental.
Brave New World's "Malpais Corn Dance" is interesting...Form Epidaurus/Earthly Paradise I like "Andas" & "Mitternachstraum"...I've got 5 Muffins albums, my fave being Secret Signals 1...Jasper Wrath is actually from my neck of the woods & we had a local FM rock station that used to play their stuff on a regular basis (especially late at night). Love Jeff Cannata, his solo albums are interesting. If you haven't yet check out his work in Arc Angel (self-titled, Harlequins Of Light & Tamorok). Their debut is very AOR/radio-friendly, super catchy. Also Zoldar & Clark's self-titled record from 1977
@@wolf1977 Zoldar & Clark was actually Jasper Wrath but fell victim to a tax scam label Dellwood. Dellwood released this stuff without any of the band knowing, or that it was released under a different band name. Not a single member saw a single penny. These tax scam labels only lasted a couple of years, about 1976 to '78 and disappeared quickly once their shady practices were discovered.
@@Miler97487 Yeah I think I read that somewhere a while back, at least it rings a bell that Z&C are Jasper Wrath...
Lots of interesting albums to explore . Thank you for the recommendations !
Loved this episode!!!! Mangrove and Last Crack really peaked my interest. I'm already seeking to get those albums online. Great idea for a show, hope there is a part 2 in the works.
Yes. Definitely a part 2! I gotta check out that Grootna(I hella dig Marty Balin and I DO have that Bodacious DF album). I discovered Last Crack about a year or two ago from a YT guy that was talking about it, good jams. He talked about the band Scam Luiz as well. That Hawaiian album sounds VERY interesting... England and Gnidrolog both very good albums. I have a digital copy of that Surprise album. Great show!
Excellent show! If I have to mention only one (or two): "I Love You-s/t" (Geffen 1991). Love that album and band, sank without a trace. I would aslo mention "Catapult-s/t" (1974), the band was quite famous in the Netherlands and had a string of hits, but the album is kind of an obscure one. Cheers.
Great stuff gentlemen! One footnote: whilst these may be rare to purchase they can all be streamed to check them out first.
My choice would be Kerbdog. An Irish band who only made two albums which sound nothing like each other but are both 5/5 for me.
Engaging and fun topic and great banter between Martin and Pete. I’m sure this has been mentioned before but the first 2 Happy the Man albums are excellent. Self-titled and Crafty Hands. Take care everyone.
Their live album is also great. I also like Death's Crown, 3rd Better Late & The Muse Awakens. Check out Kit Watkins' Labyrinth & the two Oblivion Sun albums (another Frank Wyatt project) plus Frank Wyatt & Friends/Zeitgeist
These Trails reminds me of the first time I discovered Comus. There's a naturally beautiful gloom that hangs over the entire album, without a pretentious bone in the body - like a Waiting for Godot vibe...
Comus are great.
Armageddon - Armageddon; Axis - It's a Circus World; Griffin - Flight of the Griffin; Moe. - The Conch
Great show! I only knew Last Crack and DMZ! I was floored by Grootna, SOF, Brutus and Mangrove! Thank you guys!
Loved seeing Last Crack’s Burning Time mentioned! In my heart of hearts, that is my favorite album of all time!
I've got the These Trails album on a 1999 vinyl reissue. Must admit I can't remember what it's like so I'll have to dig it out and play it. A record dealer recommended it to me back then, and all I can remember is playing it once and it not making much of an impression. Maybe I was using it as background music and it just washed over me. I have also been trying to get that England album for ages. I think Dave Brock once said it was a great album.
Pete mentioned that England album Garden Shed in his forgotten favourites series. I have listened to it on youtube but like you found it impossible to get a reasonably priced physical copy.
16:20 I would normally raise my eyebrows at "nothing else out there in the world sounds like this" but when Martin says it, I believe it. Will check it out!
Julians Treatment: "A Time Before This"
Will T. Massey: "Self Titled"
The Cables: "What Kind of World"
Laughing Clowns: "Law of Nature"
Prolapse: "The Italian Flag"
Andy Pratt: "Resolution"
True music fans never dismiss/disparage any genre. Because they know: music is music is music. Everything else is just scribbling in the margins.
GREAT show! I've checked out a few of these already and will be adding several to my want list. England is great. I wanted to like Gnidrolog (and liked the music quite a bit) but found the vocals really annoying. I can see why Martin was so excited about These Trails....definitely a unique and engaging sound. I'll pick up a reissue of that for sure.
Martin - I see now why you like X so much...the blend of male/female vocals with a somewhat naive/unschooled quality! Two albums that you might dig: Dean Davis Company "Stone County Road" definitely has that wilted late hippie era vibe. The song "The Pirates Of Stone County Road" is *amazing*. Another one is Stan Hubbs "Crystal". A difficult to define album with close male/female harmonies that remind me of X (although the music is totally different).
I found the Grootna album at an antique store recently. I came close to buying it, but the size of the band and the instrumentation made me think that it might be a disappointing 70's horn-rock thing. Plus I'm not a big fan of the Bodacious D.F. album. However, based on your description I'll definitely pick up Grootna the next time I visit that antique store (if it's still there!).
Yes, please for another. I've bought two albums out of this.
Excellent piano pop album : People, places and flings by Chuck Coleman
Great power pop album : Author Unknown by Jason Falkner
Good weird pop album : The Gospel by The Stranglers
I was surprised Dirk Steffens - the Seventh Step didn't make the grade. Great power trio from Germany. Hard Rock with huge riffs. Steffens ended up doing production work on several bands including multiple Accept releases
I have that one too, like a mellower Mahogany Rush (with better vocals). Good album
Good pick Dwain, but are you really surprised? (I know it's only a figure of speech). But... two random guys who aren't you had to pick a total of ten albums they thought they were obscure and they loved. I'd say there's easily a pool of more than 20 or even 30 or 40 albums out there they could have picked from! : )
@@MartinPopoff I know there's endless artists to chose from.....but I thought the production pedigree might make for a cool story.
Sons of Freedom story : My friends went to Saskatoon to see Robert Plant --- I stayed in Regina to see Sons of Freedom at U of R.....still have no regrets, they were awesome as is that debut
Just listened to England, really wonderful stuff, I would describe this as early Genesis meets CSN&Y. Love this topic, the only downside is that it tells me of how much I missed.
Probably their best album, The Last of the Jubblies & Imperial Hotel are also worth checking out. You might like them even more than me if you get into the quirkier/more experimental stuff by say Gentle Giant
Please Pete and Martin do a part 2! By the way, I just bought that Surprise CD on eBay for $40. Good stuff.
I'm really blown away by These Trails. When I think of Hawaii I instantly think of the cheesy lounge pop of Don Ho or music dominated by the ukulele and slide guitar. Not a single bit of ukulele or slide guitar to be found in These Trails. I can see how this is a super-rarity. I'm pretty sure the label Sinergia catered to tourists, and this particular one would likely scare away mainstream tourists due to its often unsettling vibe. So they probably knew they couldn't get that one to sell. Really nice combination of folk with ARP synthesizer, and occasional flute, with some prog leaning. This one is on my want list!
You made my day. We need to make the pilgrimage to Rusty's house.
Bought the Sons of Freedom LP 32 years ago. Love it to this day. First heard them on "Brave New Waves".
I have England "Garden Shed". Excellent Mellotron album. Very well written.