The incipient incarnation of
Atomic Rooster -- alongside
Vincent Crane (organ/vocals),
Nick Graham (vocals/bass), as well as
Carl Palmer (drums) -- was together but long plenty to document its debut,
Atomic Roooster (1970) -- (note: the extra
O is intentional). Prior to the last-minute improver of
Graham -- the solely bassist
Atomic Rooster always had -- the band emerged from the remnants of the as well as thus of late defunct
Crazy World of Arthur Brown. The cloth was primarily courtesy of
Crane as well as consisted of heavier sides. His versatility is evident throughout the impressive array of styles ranging from the folk-inspired pastoral "Winter" to the bluesy horn organization heard on "Broken Wings." This straight contrasts driving rockers such equally the album's edgy opener, "Friday 13th," or the aggressive "S.L.Y." "Decline as well as Fall" is a jazz-infused number boasting roughly special if non incendiary instrumental interaction, virtually notably from
Crane as well as
Palmer. Lyrically,
Crane reveals his penchant for nighttime imagery, including the fatalistic "What is the betoken of going on?" chorus that runs through the aforementioned "Winter" or the sexually snide "And So to Bed." Support was bolstered past times potent alive appearances, positive word-of-mouth, as well as a few pregnant BBC Radio sessions -- all of which resulted inwards
Atomic Roooster making a respectable showing at number 49 on the UK LP charts. By the fourth dimension the platter was picked upwards past times Elektra Records inwards North America, the personnel had already changed alongside
John Cann (guitar/vocals) replacing
Graham. In an interesting move, they decided that
Cann should likewise overdub guitar parts to "S.L.Y." as well as "Before Tomorrow," equally good equally render a novel song to "Friday 13th." The transformation didn't goal there, either, equally the master copy running club was likewise significantly altered. Parties interested inwards hearing both should locate the 2004 reissue, equally the supplementary selections characteristic the U.S. of A. version(s), addition a duad of uniformly fantabulous selections broadcast on BBC Radio -- "Friday 13th" as well as "Seven Lonely Streets" (aka "Seven Streets") from
Atomic Rooster's follow-up LP,
Death Walks Behind You (1970). Of farther historical complaint is that the live-in-the-studio BBC recordings were documented less than a calendar week earlier the divergence of
Palmer, effectively ending the showtime lineup.
Tracks Listing 1. Fri The Thirteenth (3:33)
2. And So To Bed (4:13)
3. Broken Wings (5:48)
4. Before Tomorrow (instrumental) (5:53)
5. Banstead (3:36)
6. S.L.Y. (4:39)
7. Winter (7:01)
8. Decline And Fall (5:50)
Bonus rail on CD:
9. Play The Game (4:48)
Line-up / Musicians - Vincent Crane / Hammond organ, piano, vocals
- Nick Graham / Pb vocals, bass, acoustic guitar, flute
- Carl Palmer / drums, percussion
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