Death Walks Behind You

Album: Death Walks Behind You
Artist: Atomic Rooster
Release Year: 1971
Genres: art-rock, progressive rock

1) Death Walks Behind You; 2) VUG; 3) Tomorrow Night; 4) Streets; 5) Sleeping for Years; 6) I Can't Take No More; 7) Nobody Else; 8) Gershatzer.

Best Song: Death Walks Behind You

I have no idea what a Vug is, or a Gershatzer. I don't know what's wrong with the guy on the cover, either, but he appears to be suffering from the same thing that possesses this album, which is like the soundtrack to a nightmare. It's not pure progressive rock (the songs aren't long or complex enough), it's not straight hard rock (the songs aren't direct or accessible enough), but it does fit somewhere in between, with the band's taste for the macabre giving them some originality. The songs all have this hard, dangerous edge to them, helped in no small part by Vincent Crane's portentous delivery, and the album as a whole feels like an assault...on the hapless unseasoned listener, of course.

Check out John DuCann's ferocious guitar solo in the opening of "Sleeping for Years," for instance. It's angry, and I don't mean "jilted-lover angry" or "the Man's keeping me down angry." This is pure sadistic glee, boiling up from the primitive subconscious, and it's so damn cathartic to listen to- not to mention it predates "Eruption" by about seven years. But aside from that, there are dark, pounding riffs all over this album (especially the one in the title track), and the guys get some really nice grooves going-- some, in fact, could have made the charts. Oh, wait: ELO did that instead, ripping off the chorus of "I Can't Take No More" to make "Don't Bring Me Down." Ahh, well.

Still, I have to point out that the albums really drags in some places. "Streets" is just boring, and the instrumental "Gershatzer" is a lot less creative than its title might suggest. Sometimes they sacrifice melody and rely too much on the "scary and grotesque" schtick, which can make the songs seem plodding and clumsy. Still, the album is definitely enjoyable--assuming you can tolerate the synthesizers, of course.

Rating: 7.5