Lucifer's Friend - Banquet [1974 / 1994 Repertoire Records]
Lucifer's Friend - Banquet [1974 / 1994 Repertoire Records]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Artist: Lucifer's Friend
Album: Banquet
Released: 1974
1974 Vertigo Records/ 1994 Repertoire Records (IMS 7017)
Genre: Progressive Rock
Review :
-Lucifer's Friend is an often overlooked quintet from Germany. Their earlier releases are agressive and raw, not that unlike fellow countrymen Scorpions, Lonesome Crow or early offerings from Jane. Of the Scorpions, Jane, and LF, LF is the most progressive. The debut album, released in 1971, is somewhat influenced by the likes of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. The opening track bears a striking resemblence to "The Immigrant Song," also the opening track of Zep's third LP. The album features a heavy sound with some fairly strong performances turned in by guitarist Peter Hesslein and keyboardist Peter Hecht. This is raw "recorded live in your garage" style music but it does show a band trying to find itself. The next release, Where the Groupies Killed the Blues is a bit more experimental. There are a few acoustic numbers, some strange sounds, and some more accessible songs. The album lacks consistancy and is a throw-away if not for the opening track and "Hobo." Both are good tracks and make the album worth owning, but at cut-out prices :-) The third album, I'm Just a Rock 'n' Roll Singer, is an attempt to get more mainstream and commercial. It is also a complete mess. The title track is a radio ready song, full of energy, horns, and a straight 4 time signature. The rest of the album sounds disconnected and shows a band that has lost itself. Banquet, the fourth release is their masterpiece. It is comprised of two 10+ minute tracks, each surrounded with shorter more accessible songs. One of the long tracks, "Spanish Galleon," features excellent guitar, bass, and keyboard work with a highly integrated 30 piece orchestra. The effect is incredible and it remains on my top ten list of progressive tracks. The next release, Mind Exploding, is the most produced album by the original lineup. While nothing spectacular on the progressive scale, it is a nice rock album and on par with what bands like Uriah Heep ("Return to Fantasy," "Firefly") were doing at the time. Unfortunately for Lucifer's Friend, this release did not catch on and it was time for some major changes. Lawton left to sing for Uriah Heep. He was replaced by former Colosseum II front man Mike Starrs. The next release Good Time Warrior was in the same vein as mind exploding and was met with about the same reception. One more attempt for commercial success was Speak Me In, released in 1980. Lawton returned after the demise of Uriah Heep in 1981 and recorded one last Lucifer's Friend album Mean Machine, full of loud bombastic pre-metal material. For many Mean Machine was the fulmillment of a promise made a decade before. Like all the releases that preceeded it, it went largely unnoticed. A few club dates and a few months later saw the end of Lucifer's Friend. Lucifer's Friend and Where the Groupies Killed the Blues are both available on CD. Lucifer's Friend features five bonus tracks, one of them from I'm Just a Singer and one from Banquet. The other three are unreleased instrumentals and oddly enough are the three best tracks on the CD. If they had continued in that direction, maybe they would have enjoyed success. Lucifer's Friend is recommended and is a good starting point with the band.
-On Banquet, Lucifer's Friend finally pulled together the many different elements to their sound (prog, soul, jazz, hard rock) into one cohesive and totally distinctive style. This time out, the primary focus of the album is epic prog numbers with complex instrumentation that go through a variety of surprising and ambitious changes in their arrangements. The standout example is the opening track, "Spanish Galleon": this pirate-themed epic starts with a Latin-flavored rock groove, that is given further power by the addition of horns, segues into a lyrical, pirate-themed song section that climaxes with a rousing chorus, takes a left turn into an instrumental portion studded with jazzy solos, and then finishes with a stirring reprise of the song section. The other prog numbers continue in a similar vein, reaching heights of almost orchestral complexity, but working in enough hooks and solid songcraft into the compositions to keep the listener hooked. Another standout in this arena is "Sorrow," a keyboard-based epic that features a lovely midsection where a keyboard solo is accompanied by a lush string arrangement. Banquet also balances out these epics with a pair of shorter, poppier songs that still manage to show off the band's firepower and complexity in their tighter format; the best is "Dirty Old Town," the closing ballad that builds to a jazzy, horn-powered chorus. All in all, Banquet is a fine, underrated prog outing and is worthy of rediscovery by art-rock fanatics. It's an ideal introduction to the sound of Lucifer's Friend.
Track List:
1. Spanish Galleon (11:50)
2. Thus Spoke Oberon (6:44)
3. High Flying Lady-Goodbye (3:40)
4. Sorrow (11:36)
5. Dirty Old Town (4:46)
Line-Up:
John Lawton : Vocal
Peter Hesslein : Guitar,Percussion,Background Vocal
Peter Hecht : Piano,Organ-Moog,Synth
Dieter Horns : Bass,Background Vocal
Herbert Bornhold : Drums,Percussion,Background Vocal
Herb Geller : Soprano Sax
|
