Cactus / 'Ot 'n' Sweaty (1972)

USA

Blues Rock, Hard Rock, Boogie Rock

With Carmine Appice on drums, Tim Bogert on bass, 2/3 of Beck, Bogert & Appice and singer Peter French is serious business. The latter has also officiated in a lot of groups of which Atomic Rooster is the best known and he still has another dimension than Noddy Holder (singer of Slade), just capable of making the ovaries of 15-year-old pisses shiver. English girls from the early 70s... His career was moreover limited to his group of hard-teens...

Here we are dealing with big heavy, raw boogie-hard-blues with incendiary guitars, a voice that tears well, rhythm and dynamite in almost every track.

The 1st part is live with "Swim", surprising of vitality whose rhythm accelerates at the end. This might be the best bit here. The rest is a bit lacking and the ballad "Bringing Me Down" is a bit nondescript.

"Bedroom Mazurka" swings well with a good piano part while "Telling You" begins on the organ in a slower tempo. It's rather mysterious; the guitar continues and the tempo accelerates with the piano. Very good piece.

Although this album is quite recommendable, it fails in the fact that no track is really essential or grandiose. It hits well, it's big, even very big sometimes, but it's not a masterpiece.

Members

Carmine Appice (drums), Tim Bogert (bass, 1970-2008), Rusty Day (vocals, 1970-71), Peter French (vocals, 1971-72), Duane Hitchings (keyboards, 1971-72), Jim McCarty (guitar, 1970-71, 2006-08, 2011-present), Werner Fritzschings (guitar, 1971-72, 2008-11), Jimmy Kunes (vocals, 2006-present), Randy Pratt (harmonica, 2006-present), Elliot Dean Rubinson (bass, 2008-11), Pete Bremy (bass, 2011-present)

Track Listing

01 - Swim 4:40

02 - Bad Mother Boogie 4:55

03 - Our Lil Rock-n-Roll Thing 6:25

04 - Bad Stuff 3:08

05 - Bringing Me Down 5:27

06 - Bedroom Mazurka 4:33

07 - Telling You 5:10

08 - Underneath the Arches 0:30

YANDEX