voila_la_scorie Before buying "Medusa" I had never heard a Trapeze song before. But I knew about Glenn Hughes from his work with Deep Purple and less so from his work on Black Sabbath's "Seventh Star". With DP his voice was soulfull and rock 'n' roll, and the music was rockin' and funky. I expected that would be what I would find with Trapeze. Reading the reviews on Amazon, I figured "Medusa" would be the album to go with, but honestly I was not too thrilled. The album was good but never really hit me. Hughes often sounded a bit more like early Sabbath Ozzy and the music was more like Free meets early Judas Priest.

This album, however, is what I thought Trapeze would be like. It's a combination of seventies funk/rock plus hard rock. The album opens with a blistering guitar attack of heavy chords with a thumping beat. The song lightens up a bit after the intro but the album already has my attention. The next two tracks have Hughes giving us his voice in full range, with so much range and variety I can't believe it's the same guy on Medusa. Sometime during all that touring in the U.S. he seems to have really found his voice. From Uriah Heep-like shrill screams to thick-throated soulful laments Hughes comes across like three different singers before the album is half through. Indeed, he is credited with "all voices" in the jacket.

The songs come out funky or heavy, with tracks like "Way Back to the Bone" and "Feelin' So Much Better Now" letting the heavy guitar beast out of the cage. Mel Galley totally cooks on some of the solos and Dave Holland gives his drums a good workout. All three members seem to have found new sounds and new ideas with which to work and they are giving it everything they have.

Though the sound quality is a slight bit muddy on this album, the talent and energy more than make up for it. I'm glad I found the Trapeze I was looking for.