The Damnation Of Adam Blessing - The Damnation Of Adam Blessing....Plus (1969 us Splendid psychedelic heavy/hard rock, Akarma reissue, 2 bonus - Flac)

Excelente banda norte-americana do final dos anos sessenta, em seu debut álbum de 1969, disponibilizando-nos um mix de psicodelia e hard rock da melhor qualidade; e não podemos deixar de citar os brilhantes covers feitos nesse álbum. Edição com 2 bonus tracks! Desfrutem!

Cleveland rocks! It really does, and not just because the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has a 44114 zip code. Something about being at the foot of Lake Erie, in the American heartland, seems to make the rock rock harder, the funk funkier, and the music generally more honest as a whole. 

Early-'70s psychedelic hard rock band The Damnation Of Adam Blessing is a prime example of Cleveland's particular influence at work. They're hard and heavy, but they don't screech and scream. 

They are unabashedly psychedelic, but they show some tasteful restraint. They rock, but they rarely bludgeon. Again, "honest" rock is the operative word and the Damnation certainly pull no cheap punches on their self-titled debut. 

Reissued by Italian imprint Akarma, Damnation of Adam Blessing...Plus offers up their 1969 debut, with the addition of two unreleased bonus tracks, and a sizable booklet of band info and interviews. Awesome stuff for the die-hard collector, but is the music any good? You bet, but you have to listen. 

An almost guaranteed turn-off (on a heavy duty rock record, at least) would be the appearance of a cover of "Last Train to Clarksville," but the funky, greasy rock version contained here has got to be the best treatment this Monkees' tune has ever had. 

The Damnation do it up like Led Zeppelin-meets-Otis Redding, without a speck of camp or exploitation, and succeed in doing what so many strive for, but few achieve: placing a cover song into a genuinely new light. 

The Damnation aren't infallible, though. They have a tendency to wear their influences on their sleeves, especially when shifting sonic gears from song to song. "Dreams" nuzzles its nose a little close to the Doors' doorstep and manages to swing by the Zombies' flat on the way -- aping the smooth West Coast jazz tendencies of the former and the sweet and solid backing harmonies of the latter -- but not so much that you'd feel insulted by it, or even care. 

The sleeves may be out, but the bits of the Guess Who ("Lonely"), Blue Cheer ("Le' Voyage"), and "Love" ("Strings and Things") are subtle and welcome rather than obvious and overbearing, just a young band stretching their legs and playing what they like to hear. This isn't monumentally groundbreaking music, but it is darn solid rock. (Scott McClintock, Rovi )