Armageddon - Armageddon (A&M 1975)
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Armageddon Tracklist
1. Buzzard (Pugh, Caldwell, Relf) 8:16
2. Silver Tightrope (Pugh, Caldwell, Relf) 8:23
3. Paths and Planes and Future Gains (Pugh, Caldwell, Relf) 4:30
4. Last Stand Before (Pugh, Caldwell, Relf, Cennamo) 8:23
5. Basking in the White of the Midnight Sun
(a) Warning Comin' On (Pugh, Caldwell, Relf) 1:02
(b) Basking in the White of the Midnight Sun (Pugh, Caldwell, Relf) 3:07
(c) Brother Ego (Pugh, Caldwell, Relf, Cennamo) 5:13
(d) Basking in the White of the Midnight Sun (Reprise) (Pugh, Caldwell, Relf) 2:02
Armageddon Lineup
Keith Relf: Vocals
Martin Pugh: Guitar
Louis Cennamo: Bass
Bobby Caldwell: Drums
When Bobby Caldwell left Captain Beyond during the recording of their second album, he could hardly have foreseen that not only would they become a legendary cult band, forty years on, but that the same would happen to his second band, Armageddon. The latter were a hard rock ensemble consisting of singer Keith Relf from the influential Yardbirds, as well as having been a co-founder of progressive rock band Renaissance, and drummer/somgwriter Caldwell from Johnny Winter, Captain Beyond and Rick Derringer. The lineup was completed by Martin Pugh from Steamhammer on guitar and Louis Cennamo, formerly of both Renaissance and Steamhammer, on bass.
Beginning with a much-copied busy guitar riff from Martin Pugh, followed by Bobby Caldwell's characteristic driving drums and Louis Cennamo's pounding bass sound. Keith Relf's singing is gravelly, but a bit buried in the mix. Nevertheless the pace never lets up. Relf and Caldwell's pedigree was well known before the formation of Armageddon, but Pugh and Cennamo are both excellent musicians, the guitarist Hendrix-inspired with a psychedelic blues feel and the bassist almost percussive in his technique. The only criticism of Buzzard being that the harmonica solo, a hangover from Relf's days with blues pioneers The Yardbirds, is unnecessary and made the album sound dated even in 1974. Silver Tightrope by contrast begins with a slow guitar and bass, while Relf's vocal is choir boy-like and has added harmonies. The track continues in an ethereal psychedelic mode, culminating in Caldwell's drumming and a piercing guitar solo from Pugh. At around the halfway point, Paths and Planes and Future Gains marks a return to the fast format of track one, but this time with an echo-y vocal which remains indistinct. Pugh's insistent guitar playing is constantly inspired and varied.
Penultimate track, Last Stand Before, settles in to a repetitive funk groove. This is no bland Chickenfoot funk, but more in the vein of Glenn Hughes. Indeed, Trapeze appear to be an influence on Armageddon throughout. Towards the end, the imaginative riffing is redolent of Caldwell's Captain Beyond, but it is marred by another harmonica passage. Closer Basking in the White of the Midnight Sun is the fastest track on the album and is again, due to the riff, similar in style to Captain Beyond. The introductory riff gives way to another equally fast one, before Relf's voice and Pugh's harmonic guitar. His solo is played between the channels with either his own or Relf's rhythm guitar to the right. At the risk of repeating myself, Relf's voice is not loud enough and there is more harmonica, this time not too much or out of place. Certainly the band end on a high point.
Armageddon received good reviews, established adequate radio airplay in the US and achieved reasonable sales, but split soon after; their demise is variously attributed to a lack of live performances, bad management decisions and drug use, but Keith Relf's tragic death by electrocution, from an incorrectly earthed guitar (14th May 1976), meant there was no going back. As a result, talented guitarist Martin Pugh, who had played on Rod Stewart's superb first solo album, seems to have retired from music. Bassist Louis Cennamo rejoined his early Renaissance bandmates, under the name Illusion (after the first Renaissance album), and drummer Bobby Caldwell briefly returned to Captain Beyond for the Dawn Explosion album and tour.
Armageddon is a flawed masterpiece and one can only wonder at what this band could have achieved had they remained together for a second album and proper tour.