Certif1ed Probably one of the greatest albums you've never heard - if you haven't heard it, of course...

And, given the lack of attention this album seems to get, I'd guess that those who haven't heard it are in the majority - which is a huge shame.

The monster riffs, twin-guitar assaults and huge, metallic sound will make you check out the release date again and wonder how, as a metal fan, you came to miss this one.

"Ride The Sky", the album's opener, is pretty much the perfect blueprint for a heavy metal song, with the sinister opening, the screaming vocals, the diamond sharp twin guitars and the definitive metal rhythm guitar sound.

Even with the Strong Hammond backing, "Everybody's Clown" sounds like something from The Scorpion's 1975 album, Virgin Killer - can't remember if "Speedy's Coming" is on that album or not, but that's what I'm thinking about.

John Lawton's amazing vocals predict Klaus Meine, and, despite the obvious roots in the Heavy Krautrock scene, this entire album seems almost peerless - although listen carefully and you can hear the strains of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" coming through from the rhythm guitar in the slower moments.

But this really is an astonishing track for 1970, not so much proto metal as being pretty darn close to the real McCoy.

There's a strong Led Zeppelin streak running through the album, and the unmistakable sound of the riff to "Heartbreaker" is the inspiration for "Keep Goin'" - but there's a large dollop of Sabbath in there too, and influences from The Nice (a reference to their almighty version of "America" is hinted at around 2:00) - but also a unique twist. The breakdown riff around 1:30 is pure, molten metal. A monstrous track.

The excitement continues - there is a good reason why you only ever read good reviews of this album. The overall style is a tad on the samey side, but the metallic moments shine out like brightly polished steel, predating Priest's movement to the dark and shiny side by at least 6 years.

Another big highlight comes in the opening of "Baby You're A Liar", with sounds of early Motorhead mashed up with Phenomenon-era UFO. Again, this is all 5 years too early!

OK, the underlying flavour is still from the Hard Kraut Rock scene, a bit more noticeably than Sabbath, but far less so than Zep and their Blues Rock roots.

The unmistakable "Kerrrang!!!" from the rhythm guitar and those wide-vibrato tenor screams are all the cues you need from this era in metal's early development.

This is not only an important footnote, it's a major development in the metallic direction, and an essential part of any metal collection - more so than Zep or Purple, even though I think it's fair to say that this album is probably influenced by Zep, Purple, Sabbath, Uriah Heep, and by direct association, the grandfathers of metal, Spooky Tooth.

SouthSideoftheSky Yesterday’s Ideals

Leaving behind the overtly progressive approach of Banquet, Lucifer’s Friend returned once more to a more straightforward Rock sound with Mind Exploding. The album most similar to this one is I’m Just A Rock ’N’ Roll Singer from a couple of years earlier and, like that album, Mind Exploding features shorter and more Rock-based songs. The band still utilizes assorted keyboards, brass and female backing vocals, but all this is more discrete here than on Banquet. The Heavy Metal sound of the first two albums is still absent, however. As I have emphasised in earlier reviews, Metal fans should begin with the band’s first two albums, as those are the only albums by Lucifer’s Friend that are genuinely Metal albums. Mind Exploding is about as Metal as Led Zeppelin or David Coverdale-era Deep Purple, but generally better than those in my opinion. Structurally similar to I’m Just A Rock ’N’ Roll Singer, about half of the material here is very strong and the rest is a little bit too far towards Rock ‘N’ Roll for my tastes. Moonshine Rider is a strong opener and semi-progressive, semi-ballads like Broken Toys and Yesterday’s Ideals are really great songs that wouldn’t be too out of place on the band’s better albums. Blind Boy and Natural Born Mover are straightforward Rock ‘N’ Roll songs with little or nothing to impress. Fugitive is a funky rocker with a nice synthesiser solo, but overall not too interesting. Free Hooker is the album’s longest track and possibly its most progressive and best song. Anyway, the best songs comes at the end with Free Hooker and Yesterday’s Ideals taking pride of place.

Mind Exploding is hardly Lucifer’s Friend’s best album, but neither is it their worst. It is a very good addition to any collection that already holds the essential Banquet, Where There Groupies Killed The Blued and the self-titled debut.

Recommended!

SouthSideoftheSky Thus spoke Lucifer’s Friend

As I said in my review of the band’s third album, the Metal purist's interest in Lucifer's Friend is (probably?) limited to the band's two first albums; the Heavy Metal of the self-titled debut and the equally heavy but at the same time very progressive Where The Groupies Killed The Blues. But the present album, though no longer describable as Metal, is nothing short of brilliant! The material here is every bit as strong as on those earlier great albums but it is very different in nature. This great Prog Rock album is filled to the brim with electric pianos, synthesizers, strings and, particularly, brass arrangements in addition to the usual Rock instruments! All the instruments are exceptionally well played and the vocals are simply outstanding. The British lead vocalist John Lawton was later recruited to join Uriah Heep, but the funny thing is that several of Lucifer's Friend’s albums, including the present one, are much better and far more interesting than anything Uriah Heep ever did (with or without Lawton)!

As implied, Banquet is quite different from Lucifer's Friend’s earlier albums. This is less heavy and more jazzy (though not at all in a Jazz-Rock/Fusion way – this is still very much a Rock album. The electric guitars are more concerned with solos than riffs here. Lucifer's Friend were never content to stay within one musical style, but always preferred to move on to new territories with each subsequent album. This is one great album, severely underrated and definitely an excellent addition. The only song that might not be too interesting is the short High-Flying Lady Goodbye.

Metal fans should begin with the excellent Where The Groupies Killed The Blues and the self-titled debut, but Banquet is essential fans of Progressive Rock.

Highly recommended!

SouthSideoftheSky From Heavy Metal to Rock 'N' Roll?

Lucifer's Friend were never content to stay within one musical style, but always preferred to move on to new territories with each subsequent album. While the Metal purist's interest in Lucifer's Friend is restricted to the band's two first albums, more open minded listeners will do well to dig a little bit deeper.

The difference in sound between this and the previous two albums is striking. The dark and heavy approach is left behind here in favour of a more Hard Rock and Rock 'N' Roll style, but still with many progressive aspects. Even the lyrics are considerably more lighthearted. It is fair to say that the present disc is a transitional album between the brilliant, progressive Heavy Metal of Where The Groupies Killed The Blues and the all out Prog Rock (but no longer Metal at all) of Banquet. But while Banquet is an absolutely essential album for any fan of Progressive Rock, I'm Just A Rock 'N' Roll Singer is not essential for anyone apart from fans of this underrated band. However, there are some very good songs here too and the production values are clearly higher.

Needless to say, this album is not the best place to start with Lucifer's Friend. Metal fans should begin with the excellent Where The Groupies Killed The Blues and the self-titled debut.

SouthSideoftheSky "Hail the black redeemer, how long you been away. Caliph of the darkness, I miss you every day"

Did Lucifer's Friend create Heavy Metal with their debut and Prog Metal with this follow-up? Lucifer's Friend is a really interesting German/British band based in Germany. They basically created Heavy Metal pretty much simultaneously (and independently?) of the major bands based in Britain like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Uriah Heep (for which Lucifer's Friend vocalist John Lawton would later sing). And here, already with their second album they go on to a fully progressive approach. Indeed, this album is more sophisticated both musically and lyrically than anything Uriah Heep has ever done. Too bad they remain virtually unknown till this day.

The opening number, Hobo, is great but it is basically a clone of Ride The Sky from the debut. The second and third tracks are nothing short of brilliant, however. The piano intro to Rose On The Vine being particularly excellent as well as the fantastic acoustic guitar solo. The keyboards are very well played and varied. We find lots of piano, organ, electric piano, Moog synthesizer and Mellotron. Some of the piano-heavy passages remind me of early Queen (first two albums). We also find lots of acoustic guitars and even string arrangements. The guitarist is also very skilled and the electric and acoustic guitar solos are often very short and snappy. No long mindless jam sessions here!

The closer Burning Ships should have been a radio Prog Rock classic like Emerson Lake & Palmer's Lucky Man or Kansas' Dust In The Wind. It would have deserved that!

It should be pointed out that John Lawton is a native Brit and there is nothing of that horrible German accent (sorry all Germans! I have my own accent to tackle) in his vocals at all. And his vocals here are terrific - almost like a young Freddie Mercury at times! Also, there is no sign at all of the fact that this band is German; this music has nothing to do with the Krautrock genre. Lucifer's Friend could indeed have been a fully British band judging from the sound (perhaps they should have been a British band in order to get more attention?)

One sad thing, though, is that the sound quality of this album is not very good. It is decent, but not even slightly better than the debut album. Many Prog Rock fans might prefer to start with the album Banquet, but for Metal fans Where The Groupies Killed The Blues is the best and, in my opinion, Lucifer's Friend's masterpiece.

An extremely underrated masterpiece!