Also Check This Out........
This is an extra album from the same year that I've chosen, that either just missed the final cut, I think could be of interest, or even from a different genre that could be of interest or influence on the hard rock/heavy metal genre.
Granicus Granicus 1973 (RCA)
Hard Rock
The Granicus debut is long forgotten gem of an album, from a Cleveland quintet (that’s Cleveland Ohio btw and not Cleveland in the UK) and it turned out to be one of the most energetic hard rock releases of 1973, and also got missed off my 1973 list……which is why it’s featuring here! The album comes across as a revved up Led Zeppelin and with a strong really edgy overall nervous sound. Just listening to the album opener “You’re in America” pledges the band’s credentials firmly on the listener! The band with all their nervous energy, truly give us a heavy workout that embraces their core psychedelic and even progressive tendencies, which are all wrapped up in the hard rock genre and they do this by going straight for the jugular most of the time! The band despite being off the leash, still manage to stay in middle of the road territory as it were and never get weird on us like the Flower Travellin’ Band for example! The album is not all about energy either and the band do the softer side of things equally well, as can be heard on the delightful instrumental “Twilight” and the opening section of “Prayer” before it enters expected Granicus territory, and this lighter melodic tone can be noticed on a few of the songs. Now for me to rate an album so highly the playing needs to be good as well and “Nightmare” from that perspective is probably the best. There are a number of albums in this journal so far and especially those of American bands, that had slipped through the net of success back in the early 1970s and this was certainly one of those albums and not to be missed. Just after one studio album, this outfit decided to call it quits and according to a couple of websites, the band had put together material for a second release, which of course never happened. The band got back together in 2010 but after 37 years I’m guessing nobody remembers them!