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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So much more than Born to be Wild!!,
By
This review is from: Steppenwolf/Steppenwolf the Second (Audio CD)
Looking at this CD the word 'bargain' springs to mind...
Collected here are Steppenwolf's first 2 albums, and they make a great pair. Steppenwolf, their debut album, is a fantastic album. It was recorded on basic equipment and for little money, but stands the test of time beautifully. It's loud and raw and captures the energy of the young band perfectly. Everyone has heard Born to be Wild, a song written by the band's ex-guitarist Dennis Edmonton (aka Mars Bonfire). But the album has far more to offer than this classic biker song... Sookie Sookie (another single) and the Ostrich continue the upbeat hard driving sound of Born to be Wild. Other songs like Desperation (covered by Humble Pie), Hoochie Coochie Man and Your Walls' Too High and The Pusher are slower songs, but equally powerful, with some nice organ textures. Lighter fare is found in A Girl I Knew and Everyone's Next One, a couple of - dare I say - pop numbers, that are cute if slightly out of place here. Berry Rides Again is the band's recreation of a Chuck Berry number, the lyrics cleverly referring to all manner of Berry songs.. Well, fame found the band with the release of the debut album and Born to be Wild, so they returned to the studio only months later to record the follow-up entitled 'The Second...' Now, there are those who would say that The Second was rushed, and a bit patchy. There's perhaps some truth in that but to me it's still a strong album. The album kicks off with Faster than the Speed of Life, another punchy Mars Bonfire-penned song, and other highlights I'd recommend are Magic Carpet Ride (of course), Tighten Up Your Wig (a re-write of Junior Wells' Messin With the Kid) and Don't Step on the Grass, Sam. The latter finishes with the sound effects of a drugs bust - even the sound of the gear being flushed down the loo, so no prizes for guessing what the song's about! The album finishes with a suite of songs that run into one another - Disappointment Number (Unknown) through to Reflections. These songs have a improvised, jam feel about them, and capture what the band must have sounded like live at this time. Overall, 'The Second' is a slightly weaker album than the debut album. But that's being slightly picky. They're both very strong albums that capture the band at its creative peak. If you have a Greatest Hits album, and are looking to buy more Wolf albums - start here! If you like late 60s hard rock with that driving organ sound (Deep Purple etc), again this is a great introduction to this slightly over-looked band. Steppenwolf were so much more than Born to be Wild!! Buy this and Play it Loud!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews) 8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Steppenwolf - 'Steppenwolf/The Second' (Beat Goes On),
By Mike Reed - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Steppenwolf/Steppenwolf the Second (Audio CD)
Band's first two lp's on a 2-CD reissue,both from 1968.Right from the original master tapes,with great sound quality.Timeless album rock.Many great Steppenwolf tracks are included here,like "Sookie Sookie","Berry Rides Again",the FM staple "Born To Be Wild",the unforgetable "The Pusher"(my personal Steppenwolf favorite),"Don't Step On The Grass,Sam","Magic Carpet Ride" and "Hodge,Podge,Strained Through A Leslie".Ever notice how previously mentioned "Born To Be Wild" and "Magic Carpet Ride" often get played on classic rock,metal AND oldie stations?There aren't many bands that get that treatment.A should-have.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great CD! Needs to be in stores, though.,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Steppenwolf/Steppenwolf the Second (Audio CD)
Steppenwolf is a great and talented band. This CD has all 8 of my favorite songs on it: Sookie Sookie, Berry Rides Again, Faster than the Speed of Life, Born to be Wild, Magic Carpet Ride, Don't Step on the Grass, Sam, Tighten Up Your Wig, and Hoochie Koochie Man. I mean, I've got all these songs on audio cassette (Magic Carpet Ride is the title of this album--why doesn't it ever go on CD?), but they're never all on one CD... Until now. Thank you, whoever produced this CD!!!
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The first two Steppenwolf albums on a single CD,
By Lawrance M. Bernabo - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Steppenwolf/Steppenwolf the Second (Audio CD)
All you have to do is listen to these first two albums from Steppenwolf to realize there were more than a one-hit wonder. Steppenwolf's 1968 self-title debut album made it to #6 on the Billboard Charts mainly on the strength of one song, "Born to Be Wild," which only made it to #2 on the singles chart, but which achieved immortality as the song identified with the film "Easy Rider." Given that was the other way to get "Born to Be Wild" back then, having this album get to #6 was pretty good. But then since the title of the song was placed conspicuously on the cover of this album and because the group's name was taken by a classy novel by Hermann Hesse, it was proably easier for kids to bring this album home that the soundtrack for the first notorious film about the drug culture. Actually "Born to Be Wild" was the third single from this album, following "The Girl I Knew" and "Sookie Sookie," but neither of those made a dent in the charts and "Born to Be Wild" exploded on the national consciousness. You can make the argument that the phrase "heavy metal" comes from this song, which was written by Dennis Edmonton, brother of drummer Jerry Edmonton and former band member, under the pseudonym Mars Bonfire. Originally the song was slower and more of a ballad, but then somebody came up with that thundering opening guitar riff and the rest was music history. We are thirty-five years down the road and this is still THE biker anthem of all-time. Fortunately "Born to Be Wild" comes in the middle of the album (penultimate track on side one) so that listeners had the opportunity to notice Steppenwolf did other songs. However, on this debut effort the best ones are not written by bad members, with the cover of Don Covay's "Sookie, Sookie," Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man," and the riveting take on Hoyt Axton's "The Pusher." These last two tracks are over five minutes long, unusual for the time, and along with the emphasize on blues on this album suggests more in common with the early days of Led Zeppelin than you would have thought at first glimpse. "Everybody's Next One" is probably the best of the original tunes by John Kay, usually working in collaboration with someone else (producer Gabriel Mekler in this case), the song sounding like a British Invasion tune but with a harder edge. But there is enough sub-par efforts here to keep this from being a really great debut album. Instead "Steppenwolf" provides a solid basis for the group to build on as their first big hit disappears into the rearview mirror. At this point the focal points of the group are clearly John Kay on vocals and guitar and the underappreciated Goldy McJohn wrecking serious havoc with his keyboard playing. The biggest difference between the first pair of Steppenwolf albums is that this time Kay is writing the best songs on the album, with "Tighten Up Your Wig" and "Don't Step on the Grass Sam" (complete with the drug bust at the end of the song), being the best of the rest after "Magic Carpet Ride," which also has some of the most interesting lyrics penned by Kay. Overall, the top is not as high but the bottom is not as low for this second album, so they grade out about the same, which is why this double-CD set makes a lot of sense. . |
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