Guitarist Roger Lomas and singer/guitarist Pip Whitcher, (Rog & Pip) were members of Convertry freakbeat legends The Sorrows Along with other members of the band they relocated to Italy in the late 1960's due to the huge popularity over there. However, home-sick the found themselves back in the U.K. before the decades end.
The pair continued writing material together, eventually becoming a partnership that lasted well into the 70's. During this time, they recorded a vast amount of material mainly, at the state of the art AIR Studios. Fortunately, budding producer and eventual Grammy winning Lomas, made sure they kept tapes from everything they
The Sorrows
recorded. The fruits of which here can be heard for the very first time.
Starting with a Sabbath/Zeppelin-esque proto metal blast of a debut single "From A Window" b/w "Warlord" they released a string of singles under various guises such as Rog & Pip, Renegade, & The Zips. The sounds they produced progressed with the times, yet they always maintained a gritty and aggressive tone whether performing bulldozing metal or cutting edge glam rock
Formed in Montreal, Canada in 1967 by school mates Vincent Marndola and Richard Arcand as a band called "Jimmy Peace." In '69 they replaced original drummer with Roger Cager, and added a 2nd guitar with Christian Trembaley, and thus, Ellison was in business.
The band gained a good following in the Montreal and Quebec areas. Managed by Jean-Claude Borsseau. They recorded their first and only album in 1971. Produced by Alexandra Dumas & Ives Hammel and was originally released on the Trans-World Records imprint.
There lists very little information in regards on how well, or poorly the record sold. And even beyond that, it is completely unknown how many copies were produced, and the actual number of LP's is still unknown.
Elliso broke up in 1973, and all the members went their separate ways
I don't even feel the need to say "not to be confused with the band of the same title" because I think it's pretty safe to assume, it is most definitely not.
However, all is not lost, do not touch that dial. In fact, what we do have here is a pretty decent specimen of early forms of Metal/heavy psych/and yes, even folk, which went hand in hand with most hard bands of this time period.
The band's beginning, takes us to Basildon, U.K. where in 1966, Cream High School Hall which inspired the band to get busy real quick on a band of their own (I can believe that.) Their earlier days, the group went under the names/Aliases: Growth, Stevensons Blues Department, & Burn. The band began playing regular support for Fleetwood Mac, and Jethro Tull.
The difference however, with this "Iron Maiden," in place of the "Metal as Fuck" Murray & Smith twin leads, is a "Metal as Fuck" guitar/bass pairing that could suck yer face off, add some quirky, off key, off beet, straight up riffing that never knocks itself back, the vocals of Robert Plant singing Zappa, and it's this: The "Original Iron Maiden."
Truth is, of the many flavors that runs through this album, The biggest being blues-driven hard rock with even some "boogie woogie" to it are all pretty standard
Until
The songs can generally end up anywhere but it usually lands in what I believe is the pure and simple sound of Heavy Metal forming. Amazingly in different ways, the root system for hook/pauses, just little musical subtleties are being chiseled away within the construct of the soon to be the new-standard heavy metal formula.
NOTE: It took a unnecessarily long time for me to play this record for the first time just a few years ago. I admit I was completely and improperly shit-headed to deny myself an album that could have brought me as much, if not more pleasure than it, or the "other" band do now.
I was wrong. I was dumb.
Kids are dumb.
Not all kids, but a good hunk of them, and it's not their fault. Most of them even today are being weened by the likes of Garth Brooks, and that other piece of shit, who am I thinking of? The "Sad "Bastard-anti-gun hippi" douche..?
Look, kids, the point is, never EVER NEVER disregard any band based on their hometown, or lack thereof, or because they got stuck with a shitty album cover that was put into place without a stitch of artist input, or, simply because it shares a name with a different band.
Combine that, and your whole "Because They did it first" bullshit, and YOU are part of the problem, man!
Fuck you. .
