The Gods are probably better known for including a few famous British rock stars as members — before those musicians went on to international recognition — than they are for the two albums they actually released. Two future Uriah Heep stalwarts, keyboardist/singer Ken Hensley and drummer Lee Kerslake, both played on those albums, and prior to the first Gods band album, both Mick Taylor and Greg Lake had passed through the lineup. The two Gods albums were undistinguished, keyboard-based rock that were midway between late-'60s British pop-psychedelia and early-'70s heavy progressive rock. They were less histrionic than Uriah Heep by a long shot, but nor were they very distinguished, settling into the second or third class of late-'60s British rock music.The Gods started in Hatfield, England in 1965 as a blues-based band including Hensley and future Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. Taylor left in 1967 to join John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, and the Gods disbanded for a few months before reforming, with only Hensley left from the first version. Greg Lake played in this lineup for a while, but quit before the Gods' debut album, Genesis was recorded in 1968; soon, of course, Lake would resurface in King Crimson and then Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Genesis didn't make much of an impact, nor did some non-LP singles, including a 1969 cover of "Hey Bulldog," quite possibly the only attempt at making that obscure Beatles' song into a hit. The Gods disbanded in early 1969, though a second album, To Samuel a Son, was posthumously released in 1970. Both Gods' albums have been reissued on CD by Repertoire, with the non-LP 45's added as bonus tracks.
The Gods' second album is, like their debut, Genesis, early keyboard-based progressive rock with a psychedelic hangover, vaguely tied into a concept about the experiences of the "Samuel" in the title track. It's more varied in tone than their first record, though, and more surprisingly, a little lighter in touch, though you can still hear some of the bluster of keyboardist Ken Hensley's subsequent group, Uriah Heep. It's a shortage of noteworthy songs, rather than shortcomings in the skills of the players themselves, that dooms this to second-division British psychedelia status. The title track is about the best of the lot, with its nice Mellotron-dominated bridge and distorted fluttering vocals and electronic keyboard tinkles. Psychedelia also lingers in the British observational feel of some of the lyrics, "He's Growing" even sounding a little influenced by Paul McCartney's piano-dominated story-songs, and "Yes I Cry" closer to Badfinger-styled pop than Uriah Heep. The dainty psychedelic popisms go a little over the top, however, in "Sticking Wings on Flies," opening with the lyric, "Sammy's gone to find a job sticking wings on flies, building clouds for thunderstorms, growing apple pies." The CD reissue on Repertoire adds a non-LP 1969 single, an instrumental cover of "Maria" (from West Side Story), as a bonus track.
Tracks
Title
Composer
Time
1 To Samuel a Son Hensley 3:29
2 Eight O'Clock in the Morning Kerslake 3:16
3 He's Growing Glascock, Konas 2:25
4 Sticking Wings on Flies Hensley, Konas 2:39
5 Lady Lady Hensley 3:18
6 Penny Dear Konas 2:34
7 Long Time, Sad Time, Bad Time Hensley 3:12
8 Five to Three Hensley, Konas 2:59
9 Autumn Hensley, Konas 3:12
10 Yes I Cry Konas 2:42
11 Groozy Robertson, Sugarman 3:41
12 Momma I Need Hensley, Konas 3:57
13 Candlelight Hensley 2:34
14 Lovely Anita Kerslake 3:32
15 Maria [*] Bernstein, Sondheim 3:58
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