Label: CouBroMusic 2015
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom
The quick glance through the press-release is clearly enough information to have you cheering for these guys and I quote, "Gold Dust - Their eponymous self-titled debut album was released on vinyl in 1986 to mostly negative response. There were fist fights, death threats, and someone even spray painted 'Gold Dust Sucks' in huge black letters on their driveway. 27 years later, the band discovered that it's considered by some to be a 'psychedelic heavy metal masterpiece', a very rare collectors item, selling for up to $700 and is listed in the '6001 Record Collector Dreams' by Hans Pokora with a 4 star rating".
The U.S. band and the Couper Brothers (Scott: guitars, keys, taurus pedals. Jay: drums, percussion, backing vocals) are cult figures and underground heroes of the Boston rock scene. If retrospective retribution is the driving force. What about the music quality? 'Hard Love' is a collection of twenty of their most hard rocking originals on CD. The third album in the series featuring the controversial and enigmatic lead vocalist and bassist Davo Kiah. During his seven year tenure with the band, they recorded hundreds of songs. It's fuzzy bass-lines and slightly psychedelic rock from your obscure U.S. power trio of the eighties. And a lot better than expected really. I'm definitely impressed by their wicked material.
These tracks were all recorded between the years of 1986 to 1993 and they've all been digitally remastered. Opener, "Journey Through The Darkness", display their love for Sabbath-ish arrangements and compositions. However, there's so much more to Gold Dust and the following track, "Fool's Parade", classic rock and more like if Montrose decided to hook up with Ted Nugent to jam with Mountain. The title track,"Hard Love", party rock 'ala seventies KISS meets the eighties melodic groove. "I Just Can't Live This Way Anymore", power pop with your killer hook and buzzing sound. "Deep Freeze", the return to the psychedelic heavy metal. "Anticipation Blues", lovely fuzzy stuff in the vein of Mountain meets BTO (that's Bachman Turner Overdrive). They always seems to have the punk-ish vibes of The Replacements going on in the background though.
Fuzzy, catchy, eclectic. Screaming guitars, wicked drums, the raw sound, it's a roller coaster ride.
So where can I buy a copy? I still have the original album
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