![]() ![]() Introducing elements of funk ‘Chicken Wolf’ is indicative of the bands desire to experiment. Overall, At Your Birthday Party evidences a band coming of age and finding their own signature sound. It finds all the needles in the red and foot firmly on the distortion pedal and proves itself to be something of a speaker-melter. Informed by the Vietnam war the band’s third studio outing was an angry affair and it got off to an explosive start with the bombastic ‘Don’t Cry’. Released in March 1969 At Your Birthday Party found change in the Steppenwolf camp with ex-Sparrows bassist Nick St. Steppenwolf fans are divided between this album and the debut as to which is the best but The Second just shades it by the quality of songs. Also included as a bonus track is the single version of ‘Spiritual Fantasy’ which, along with the excellent remastering, makes this disc the definite version of The Second. The Second ’s greatest triumph was the album’s B-side which, after ‘Magic Carpet Ride, connected all the tracks into one long musical suite and played tight-but-loose, it’s a hypnotic suite into which to lose yourself. The album’s only single, ‘Magic Carpet Ride’, was a massive hit (reaching number three on the Billboard chart), however, the extended album version trumps the mono single cut (available here as a bonus track). This time around the original tracks are just as strong as the covers, perhaps even more so, with ‘Don’t Step On The Grass, Sam’ evidencing both a lyrical and musical development. Normal service is resumed for the harmonica-heavy ‘Tighten Up Your Wig’ and the Eastern-flavoured ‘Spiritual Fantasy’ which find Kay’s throaty rasp taking centre stage. He doesn’t have the same kind of panache as John Kay but the strength of the song carries it over the line. Opening with another Mars Bonfire number (‘Faster Than The Speed Of Life’) The Second fairly races out of the blocks but, rather strangely, features the vocals of drummer Jerry Edmonton. More expansive than its predecessor this record incorporated elements of hard rock, psychedelia and blues. Released barely nine months after their debut album, Steppenwolf’s sophomore effort (imaginatively titled The Second ) showed a great development. Perfectly capturing that moment when the hippy dream turned into a bad acid nightmare, Steppenwolf remains one of the era’s key releases. The success of this album is often credited to its association with counter-cultural film Easy Rider and while it didn’t do any harm Steppenwolf had already made inroads into American consciousness. However, the slower tracks (‘Take What You Need’, ‘The Pusher’) end up sounding flat and one-dimensional. Guitar based tracks like ‘Born To Be Wild’ and ‘Everybody’s Next One’ sound far more urgent and direct. Seven bonus tracks are added, mono versions from single releases, and they sound markedly different from the versions that appeared on Steppenwolf. Vocalist John Kay proved himself the band’s main lyricist, and while he’s still honing his craft he shows a promise that would blossom on future releases. Of the original cuts ‘Your Wall’s Too High’ and ‘The Ostrich’ stand apart along with the appropriation of every cool move Chuck Berry made on the racy ‘Berry Rides Again’. It was this last track, the third single from Steppenwolf, that finally broke the band and although it’s been covered by a multitude of artists, this version remains the best. In fact, the best tracks on this debut are the work of outside hands Willie Dixon’s ‘Hootchie Kootchie Man’, Hoyt Axtom’s ‘The Pusher’ and, of course, ‘Born To Be Wild’ (written by ex-member Mars Bonfire). Awash with Hammond organ opening track, a cover Don Covey’s ‘Sookie Sookie’ is a hard-hitting number that got the band some airplay on soul stations, and that crossover appeal would characterise their early career. Marching in lock step with bands like Vanilla Fudge and Blue Cheer there’s was a testosterone fuelled sound muscular and punchy that provided a nice antidote to the prevailing hippy-dippy, flower power music that cluttered the charts. Years of relentless touring had rendered Steppenwolf a tight unit meaning that when they scored a record deal they were riled up and ready to go. During their original incarnation (1967-1972) they released eight albums on the ABC Dunhill label (remastered and collected here as Magic Carpet Ride ) all of which stand as testament to their continuing influence. Formed from the ashes of beat group the Sparrows, and taking their name from a Hermann Hesse novel, Steppenwolf forever changed the course of popular music as one of the propagators of heavy metal. ![]()
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