732 Steppenwolf - Monster (1969)

 732 Steppenwolf - Monster (1969)

Studio Album - Hard Rock



About the Act:

Steppenwolf were an American Rock band, formed in 1967 from the flames of a dying Canadian band. They were pretty big between 1968 and 1972, when they broke up, for the first time. They have been more on than off since, though the last of their 10 studio albums was released in 1976.

About the Album:

This was their fourth studio album, in 2 years. It was their first not to contain a major hit single.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

I liked it.

Musically, it's fairly typical of late 60s hard rock. There are standard instruments including an organ, and I found it to be tinged with hints of R&B and bouncy not-quite funk. Musically I really enjoyed it, well played, nice variety, good life to the music, and and fairly gutsy. Bits of it ramble on, which was a feature of the times, and a feature I often like, because that's when the musicians are responding to, and playing off each other, kind of edging into improvisation stuff, and a good jam is the sign of a good band.

The vocal style is also rock, growly and with an edge. The lyrics are somewhat focused on politics, and it's fair to say that they take a fairly predictable stance about Vietnam for example. There is one track about a cheating girlfriend, and one track seemingly about the persecution of witches, and another about religion and philosophy, and an instrumental called "Fag". It's a nice instrumental, but I'm not sure what they were trying to do with that title.  So actually not everything is politics and anti-war resistance.

It's quite a short album, as was common at the time. I think I would put this at the better end of the American Rock scene at the time, definitely worth a listen if you like stuff like Janis Joplin and The Doors.

7.4/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4wZluhDV5H3kMEUajxn6Pp

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6ogdCG3tAWhe1yGPcNYD6EH1xSDiHl6f

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_(Steppenwolf_album)



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