Rats in the Record Shelves: Some Obscure 70s Heavy Metal Albums

 Axis. A very underrated band.

Lately, I have been trying to find new music to listen to and check out. So, I decided to dig real deep and find some really obscure stuff, and I mean REALLY obscure stuff. Shit I never even knew existed. So, the best way I did this was simply type in "obscure hard rock and heavy metal albums" in Google. Then, I decided to go by decades, like 70s and 80s, and I had a lot more luck finding some albums. In fact, I found lists of about 100 obscure albums or so. The decade that stuck out to me the most was the 70s. There were some pretty killer records released around the 70s that no one has even heard about. So killer that people would have a hard time finding them in record stores. So, I decided to go and download a lot of these records. A lot of what I heard was really fucking cool stuff. I couldn't believe some of this music has been obscure. So, I have decided to share with you all a handful of albums that really stuck out to me out of the several that I downloaded. So, here we go children!

Dust - "Hard Attack"

When I saw the cover of this album, I thought, how METAL is this record going to be?! Well, the first song, "Pull Away-So Many Times," kinda threw me for a loop with the intro. I was starting to think this might have been some CSNY-esque band, which wouldn't have been bad, but I was thinking...you know...METAL, especially with that cover. But, the song kicked in and I started thinking, "THIS is what I was looking for." Really classic heavy metal/hard rock record from the 1972. Kind of has a Cactus feel to it, but with darker and more fantastical lyrics. The drums are thunderous, the guitars have a nice bite to them, and the bass is rumbling. I found out that two of the members in this band, Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise, would go on to produce KISS' first two albums (heavy metal classics!). Standout tracks include "Learning to Die," "All in All," "Ivory," and "Suicide."

Elf - "Elf"

 No, this is NOT the soundtrack to the kick ass Will Ferrell holiday flick. This happens to be Ronnie James Dio's first "professional" band's record. The cover, well, Jesus Christ, that shit is scary (happens to be Dio on the cover. Holy Hades!) I knew once I heard that Dio was on this record that it would be kick ass, and that is exactly what it was, just...not the music I expected. It is very boogie, blues, southern rock oriented music, but very hard rockin', to say the least. The album just boogies and woogies all the way through. This was the first record to feature Dio (many people think it was the Rainbow records, but that was certainly not the case.) Dio is definitely in fine form, like always, on this record and it is quite fun to hear him sing these bluesy, boogie tunes. The instrumentals kick ass too on this record, with the drums sounding quite pummeling and the guitars have that nice twang in overdrive feel to it. Any fan of Dio's work will love this record. Standout tracks include "Hoochi Koochie Lady," "Sit Down Honey (Everything Will Be Alright)," "I'm Coming Back for You," and "Gambler, Gambler."

Axis - "It's A Circus World"

My man and one of my drumming influences, Vinny Appice. Bad ass all around, and a thunderous drummer. Little did I know though that he had some projects he did before Black Sabbath. He played with Rick Derringer (an under appreciated artist, in my opinion. Killer tunes.) and also had a band after his work with Derringer. That band is Axis, and, from my knowledge, they only had one record, and that record is "It's A Circus World." Many, many solid tunes on this record. Honestly, not one bad tune on the record. Very thundering hard rock from these boys. Gives people a taste of what is to come with Appice in Sabbath. Standout tracks include "Busted Love," "Train," "Armageddon (my favorite," and "Cats in the Alley."

Hairy Chapter - "Can't Get Through"

Now, on to some cool, heavy shit. This little obscure classic comes from Germany, where there seem to breed cool fucking metal (Accept, Scorpions, Michael Schenker, need I say more?). It is a very adventurous, yet heavy record. Of course, around the time the album was released (1971), Sabbath was starting to hit it big, so this album can definitely be compared to Sabbath, especially in heaviness. But, this record has a lot more musicality to it, in my opinion (nothing against Sabbath though, one of my favorite bands.) 5 tunes on this record, but all of them are very fucking rad heavy metal tunes. It's like if Alice Cooper, Zeppelin, and Sabbath had a threeway and came up with this little concoction. Standout tracks include "Can't Get Through," "It Must Be the Officer's Daughter," and "You've Got to Follow This Masquerade."

Hard Stuff - "Bulletproof"

Another obscure early 70s metal gem. This album has riffs written all over it. I love the guitar work on this record. It can be very funky on end ("Jay Time" and "The Provider (Part One)") and rock n' roll with garage attitude on the other ("Taken Alive" and "Time Gambler"). But, these riffs can be very all over the place and in your face. So heavy and so distorted. The vocals on the record remind me a lot of the singer of The Guess Who, which is not bad at all. Really killer heavy metal album that hardly anyone knows about, but should know about. Standout tracks include "Sinister Minister," "No Witch at All," "Monster in Paradise," and "Mr. Longevity (RIP)."

Ram Jam - "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram"

I know what you might be thinking. The band that sings "Black Betty" Brad? Really? Yes, really. And no, this album does NOT have "Black Betty" on it. This is Ram Jam's sophomore album and, from my knowledge, their last album. But, this album is way better than "Black Betty" and is definitely a kick ass heavy metal/hard rock album with just a little bit of southern-esque flavor thrown in. But, from listening to this album, I do not think of Ram Jam as a southern rock band anymore. This album shows that they are far from being such a thing. This album simply kicks your ass all the way through. No need to say more. Standout tracks include "Gone Wild," "Pretty Poison," "Hurricane Ride," and "Turnpike."

Atomic Rooster - "Death Walks Behind You"

Some more early 70s metal for you! This band is definitely some kind of Sabbath/Yes hybrid, and I really dig it. I feel like this band was sort of a precursor of the whole prog-metal thing that would start to happen in the 80s with bands like Fates Warning, Queensryche, and others. But, also, it kind of has a doomy feel to it that I feel would be a big influence on a lot of the stoner metal bands of the 90s, like the Melvins and Kyuss. Basically, this band should have been as big as Black Sabbath or Yes! This album is absolutely marvelous and I'm pretty positive that a lot of this album has been influential on metal somehow, someway. Standout tracks include "Vug," "Sleeping for Years," and "Gershatzer."

Lucifer's Friend - "Lucifer's Friend"

Last, but certainly not least, is one last early 70s metal gem (what a time for heavy metal!). The name of this band alone is quite metal. But, who knew French Horn in a metal song could sound...metal? Well, I found that out listening to this album and the opening song, "Ride in the Sky." This band reminds me a lot of Uriah Heep if David Coverdale sang for them instead of David Bryon. It also, obviously, reminds me of Sabbath if they had incorporated Hammond B-3 into their sound. For how early this album came out (1971), this is quite the heavy metal record. I feel like if "Paranoid" was not released the same year, this would have been one of the definitive heavy metal albums of that year, or ever. But, unfortunately, that did NOT happen. Standout tracks include "Ride in the Sky," "Keep Goin'," "In the Time of Job When Mammon Was a Yippie (what a title!)," and "Baby You're a Liar."

Honorable Mentions:
Electric Sun - "Earthquake"
The Boyzz - "Too Wild to Tame"
The Godz - "Nothing is Sacred"
Talas - "Talas"
Bloodrock - "Bloodrock"
Target - "Captured"
Heavy Load - "Full Speed at High Level"


Hopefully, you go onto Youtube to check out some of these albums, or perhaps go buy and or download these albums for your listening pleasure. Trust me, these albums are very much worth it.

Peace and cornbread,
Bonzo Brad