Nice'N'Greasy [Import]

This was released in the US, with a couple of track changes as "Atomic Rooster IV", which creates a certain amount of confusion, particularly since it was actually the bands fifth album in the UK. Like "Made in England" it features Chris Farlowe on vocals and Rick Parnell on drums, but Steve Bolton was replaced on guitar by "Johnny Mandala", who is actually John Goodsall, later of Brand X fame. That alone makes for an improvement over Made in England, but I would not put this record in the same league with "Death Walks Behind You" or "In Hearing Of". John Cann's vocals may have been pretty crappy, but his guitar playing and songwriting skills were so very complimentary to Vincent Crane.

Still, for Atomic Rooster fans, this is a worthwhile album to hear and own, if only for "Voodoo in You" and "Can't Find a Reason". "Voodoo in You" shows the Farlowe/Crane funk collaboration actually working in the studio. "Can't Find a Reason" is one of the most beautiful and haunting piano compositions that Crane ever recorded. He revisited it a bit in his unfinished "Taro Rota" project. Farlowe's vocals on this version are a bit over-the-top weepy, but I forgive it for the piano part.

The second album from Atomic Rooster to feature Britain's premier soul singer, Chris Farlowe, is a bit of a mixed bag, but a good listen nonetheless.

Not as dark as `death walks behind you', there is more of a funky, soulful tinge to it. It still has heavy rock credentials however, and is on the prog end of the rock spectrum (though not full blown prog) with its mixture of musical styles, jazzy inflections and experimental nature. Farlowe is in fine voice. His style doesn't always quite fit naturally with the rest of the band, which leads to some interesting results as each tries to shift towards the other.

This is a decent remaster with a couple of interesting extra tracks and good liner notes about the band at the time and the recording of the album. A worthy release for a worthy record. 4 stars.

After taking a chance on the Chris Farlowe fronted Made in England and absolutely loving it, I had high hopes for Nice and Greasy. The atrocious album cover had always put me off in the past, easily vying with Uriah Heep's Salisbury and Black Sabbath's Sabotage for worst 70's rock cover of all time. But like those albums I wanted Nice and Greasy's sleeve to be concealing a real rock gem. Sadly, I have to say that it doesn't quite hit the mark.

It's no stinker by any means. New guitarist Johnny Mandala is the first 'real' guitarist that Vincent Crane had had to work with on a Rooster album, and you can hear the way he manages to fill many of the spaces in Vincent's songs with fabulous solos and bridges. And Chris Farlowe is just as good as he was on Made in England. But it's in the song selection that the album falls short. It's too much of a ragbag of different styles that just don't amount to enough to my ears.

Opener All Across the Country is a surprising bluesy number that doesn't sit well as an Atomic Rooster number. Then comes Save Me which is a re-recording of an earlier Rooster song, but done with lots of horns and a heavy soul vide. Not bad but certainly not necessary. (I never think it's a good sign when any band start re-recording their own songs). Voodoo in You is a cover version - mid paced - and one I initially discounted, although with repeated listening I'm starting to warm nicely to it. The first track that I really loved is the next one, Goodbye Planet Earth. A song written by Mandala, and one that I can't really hear Vincent playing on actually which is quite strange, but it has a great repetitive riff that sticks to your brain cells. The remaining 4 tracks, which include the instrumental Ear in the Snow, again just aren't memorable enough to stay with you after the album finishes.

It's a shame that the band weren't able to maybe take more time to construct a really strong album to go out on. You can certainly hear the quality of the musicianship employed on all the tracks. And it's not a bad album. It's just not as great as the previous Rooster catalogue.