Rapscallion - Rain And Shine / Just A Rapscallion. 1979 USA-Cleveland

Rapscallion were one of many great AOR / hard rock bands hailing from Cleveland, a mecca for the blue collar muscular sound. The A) side mixes some heavy riffing with acoustic guitars and harmony vocals. It's way too raw to make inroads into the corporate FM sound, but the attempt is admirable. B) side has a Rush meets Styx vibe. Features a killer guitar mid song break. These guys had the right sound at the right time, but didn't catch the break. Pity that.

1/9/25

Silverhorse – Weariness / Lady Marian. 1980 USA-Cleveland

Starting off very much in the same territory as Kansas' 'Carry On Wayward Son', Silverhorse's sole release promises eight minutes of hard rock / prog / AOR. And that's pretty much what you get. More stripped down - no violins or keyboards to get in the way. But dual guitars and harmony vocals are very much accounted for. It appears they're from the Cleveland area, and their sound is hardcore Midwest club circuit. Grab it if you see it.

Ownership: SP: 1980 Thoroughbred. Recent online acquisition (2023). There is a picture sleeve, but my copy doesn't have it. It's obscure but not enough to qualify for the Unknown Vinyl blog.

5/24/23 (first listen / review / new entry)

Luxus - Brown Matter / The Thinker. 1977 USA-Cleveland

An exciting new find here! Based on very recent data (as in since I purchased this only a few months ago), it appears Luxus were from Cleveland and they recorded this one single (33 RPM) in 1977. It's 12 minutes long, so an EP length really. And what a 12 minutes! This is such a bullseye for the Midwestern progressive rock sound, it practically defines it. Starts off a bit slow on 'Brown Matter' with a proggy AOR ballad like sound. Have no fear, as once the guitar gets to riffing, we never turn back. Brilliant proggy hard rock, with complex meters and great solos. This is only the setup to the sublime 'The Thinker'. No messing around this time, as the guitar gets to blazing right away. Rush seems to be an influence here, which is a little early for that band's influence to begin creeping into the garage. The progressions are more complex though, similar to Yes, Gentle Giant, or even Yezda Urfa. It's hard rock in the same way as Seiche or UHF, that is to say this is thinking person's heavy music for sure (as the title indicates) - but it's also mid 70s progressive rock in spirit. Keyboards play a minor role, mostly what sounds like an ARP string synth. It's the killer guitar breaks and solos that makes this one so special. Would be great if they had more material. It would be considered a top tier archival release for sure.

Ownership: SP: 1977 M.T.R. Online acquisition. 

4/23/20 (first listen); 7/20/20 (review / new entry)