Cheap Thrills - BONUS TRACKS
Artist: Big Brother & the Holding Company
Community Score: 10.00

Cheap Thrills, the major-label debut of Janis Joplin, was one of the most eagerly anticipated, and one of the most successful, albums of 1968. Joplin and Big Brother had earned extensive press notice ever since they played the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967, but their only recorded work was a poorly produced, self-titled Mainstream album,... Read More

Revelation
Artist: Man
Community Score: 10.00

A blast from Man's psychedelic past, this debut shows the band making an auspicious debut with Hammond drenched guitar rock. It's easy to see, between the spacey effects and unearthly vocal choruses of their single "Sudden Life," how Man positioned themselves between the space prog of Nektar and the acid-fried rock of the Quicksilver Messenger... Read More

Mountain
Artist: Leslie West

Frequently classified as the first album by the group Mountain, which was named after it, Leslie West's initial solo album featured bass/keyboard player Felix Pappalardi, who also produced it and co-wrote eight of its 11 songs, and drummer N.D. Smart II. (This trio did, indeed, tour under the name Mountain shortly after the album's release, even... Read More

Vanilla Fudge - ATCO
Artist: Vanilla Fudge
Community Score: 10.00

In a debut consisting of covers, nobody could accuse Vanilla Fudge of bad taste in their repertoire; with stoned-out, slowed-down versions of such then-recent classics as "Ticket to Ride," "Eleanor Rigby," and "People Get Ready," they were setting the bar rather high for themselves. Even the one suspect choice -- Sonny Bono's "Bang Bang" --... Read More

Near the Beginning
Artist: Vanilla Fudge
Community Score: 10.00

Near the Beginning is an excellent title for this self-produced Vanilla Fudge recording. The fourth of five albums recorded during 1967, 1968, and 1969, the band themselves worked to get closer to what made them very special. What made them special was their treatment of other people's material. Reworking Junior Walker's 1965 hit is interesting,... Read More

Steppenwolf
Artist: Steppenwolf
Community Score: 9.53

Steppenwolf entered the studio for their recording debut in mid-1968 with a lot of confidence -- based on a heavy rehearsal schedule before they ever got signed -- and it shows on this album, a surprisingly strong debut album from a tight hard rock outfit who was obviously searching for a hook to hang their sound on. The playing is about as loud... Read More

Good Times Are So Hard to Find: The History of Blue Cheer
Artist: Blue Cheer

Blue Cheer's massive contribution to the early evolution of American heavy metal exists entirely on their first two 1968 releases, Vincebus Eruptum and Outsideinside. While those initial releases charted admirably, critics largely ignored the band's loud, bluesy, psychedelic-tinged hard rock. The touchy-feely summer of love lasted a lot longer... Read More

Louder Than God: The Best of Blue Cheer
Artist: Blue Cheer

Released in 1986 on Rhino records, Louder Than God is an adequate "best of" collection for those interested in a brief but complete assortment of Blue Cheer's greatest proto-metal hits. Rhino wisely chose studio wiz Bill Inglot to remaster the 13 tracks on this offering, making it one of, if not the best, post-'70s repackaging of Blue Cheer... Read More

Vincebus Eruptum
Artist: Blue Cheer
Community Score: 10.00

Had "Summertime Blues" not gone Top 15 in the spring of 1968, Blue Cheer might not have had the opportunity to unleash their expression over numerous albums through multiple personnel changes. Vincebus Eruptum sports a serious silver/off-purple cover wrapped around the punk-metal fury. Leigh Stephens is nowhere near Hendrix, Beck, Clapton, or... Read More

Outsideinside
Artist: Blue Cheer
Community Score: 9.50

There's a swagger and aggression to Blue Cheer's power blues that can be traced through the decades of heavy metal and the post-metal mutations of hard music. The second of only two Blue Cheer recordings featuring the classic lineup of Leigh Stephens on guitar, Dickie Peterson on bass and lead vocals, and Paul Whaley playing drums,... Read More

Sweetwater
Artist: Sweetwater

The only Sweetwater album to feature Nansi Nevins on vocals throughout is hard to get a grip on. Sometimes it's attractive Californian folk-pop-psych not too far removed from the Mamas and the Papas, as on "Through an Old Storybook"; sometimes it's trying for a rock-baroque-classical-jazz fusion, although the material doesn't match the ambitions... Read More