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Vincebus Eruptum

Blue Cheer

1968

Vincebus Eruptum
Album Summary

Vincebus Eruptum (; pseudo-Latin) is the debut album of American rock band Blue Cheer. Released on January 16, 1968, the album features a heavy-thunderous blues sound, which would later be known as heavy metal. A commercial and critical success, Vincebus Eruptum peaked at number 11 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and spawned the number 14 hit cover of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues". Being an example of hard rock, it is also lauded as one of the first heavy metal albums. Spin magazine placed it at number 22 on their list of the 40 greatest metal albums.

Wikipedia

Rating

2.81

Votes

11517

Genres

  • Hard Rock
  • Psychedelic Rock

Reviews

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May 21 2021
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4

Another album that stands out because of when it happened more than what it's doing. However, if you released this today and said it was a Jack White side project, no one would doubt you.

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May 25 2021
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2

Among albums recorded underwater, this one is the best.

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Nov 24 2020
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2

I'd heard of Blue Cheer but never heard them... can see why people say they beat Black Sabbath to making the first heavy metal album, but while they might have a similar sound to early sabbath they sure as shit don't have the songwriting. The first two songs are covers and the rest seems to be kinda droney, sludgey jam tracks - a 32min album that felt like it dragged on. My guess is they're all one-take jobbies, probably recorded live. Pretty much everything after the cover songs felt like a "big ending" that just kept going and going. 2/5.

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Oct 13 2020
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3

Kind of the missing link between Cream and Black Sabbath. Raw recording, love the imperfections. Favorite tracks: "Summertime Blues", "Rock Me Baby"

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May 31 2021
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4

Electrifying combo of blues, hard rock, and rip-roaring riffs and guitar solos. There's some ultra impressive drum work on here too, which I wasn't expecting.

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Nov 04 2021
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3

Found this truly pointless. If this is the birth of Heavy Metal, I guess metal is hammy blues rock covers drenched in muddy guitar pedal effects.

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Jan 27 2022
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2

Proto whatever your preferred genre of noise mess is. These guys make filthy, sludgy, gloopy rock--and all while looking like Hanson! Now if only they had a little of the blonde brothers' gumminess, this would actually be as crazy as they're trying to sound.

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May 21 2021
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4

Solid album, but you can definitely tell this was their first album. Rough around the edges, but some really great ideas in there and some powerful sounds. Favorite Tracks: “Summertime Blues,” “Doctor Please,” and “Parchment Farm”

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Jul 23 2021
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4

It's a very nice surprise to discover these pre-heavy metal bands that I did not know about before. An excellent album.

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Sep 03 2021
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4

The riffs come about slowly, dreadful and hyper-distorted, built around depraved melodies. One of the Bands that really starts playing Heavy Metal. (7/10) Favourite Tracks: Doctor Please, Summertime Blues, Out of Focus

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Jun 21 2022
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4

As pitchfork says, Blue Cheer are "musicians who... live not to perfect their technique, but to simply rock.". Well, that sounds GREAT to me. The playing is rough as guts and pretty over the top, especially the lead playing. Lots of bends and trills, feedback, barely in tune. The slow, heavy, vaguely blues based playing is a prototype for metal in general and stoner rock in particular. This is the shit. This sounds like they set up in a room, chucked a few mics in randomly and just started jamming it out. It's loud, noisy and obnoxious. And that's what I like!

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Oct 02 2020
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3

7/10. this album is pretty heavy n stuff but it doesnt totally click with me. i think just because of the audio quality? idk if its just the mono mix that i got but it sounds even fuzzier and harder to make out than a lot of 60s stuff already does. plus the songs themselves arent amazing imo, tend to go on for a while. by a bit before halfway thru it just felt like a ton of fuzzy psychedelic noise goin in one ear and out the other. might just be bc i have trouble focusing on stuff though.

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Apr 07 2021
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3

This is nice and heavy like Psychadelic proto-Fuzz. Definitely ahead of its time—you see the bridge from Cream to Black Sabbath. The drummer sounds does a great Ginger Baker impression. It’s Jammy, heavily distorted and short. Sometimes the jamminess comes off as repetitive and a little rough/unrehearsed. Pretty good. Would buy on Vinyl. B. 3.

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Nov 03 2021
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3

Oh Lord, I got to raise a fuss, Lord I got to raise a holler About a playin' proto heavy metal just to try to earn a dollar Oh Lord, I tried to destroy my amps, your ears I did abuse Sometimes I wonder what I'm a gonna do Lord, there ain't no cure for the early hard rock heavy ear-splittin' blues

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Nov 04 2022
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2

Third song should have been titled “Doctor Please … make this song stop”. I know it was early metal, but man these guys were clearly not good song writers. Summertime Blues cover is a classic though.

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Jan 28 2021
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1

Not for me ... at the time I could see it as breaking new ground, maybe. From the current paradigm, it feels derivative of all influences that are contributing to the sound, its a half-formed thought of what music should be. I imagine I hate people that point to this album as life changing.

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Nov 28 2021
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4

If Black Sabbath's debut is the birth of metal, then this album is it's conception. So how does it sound? Well, it sounds like blues. But not like blues but like... █▄▄ █░░ █░█ █▀▀ █▀ █▄█ █▄▄ █▄█ ██▄ ▄█ Ridiculously heavy and psychedelic, it's not that pleasant as a listen. Not to mention the vocals, which felt like they were mere decorations to the gigantic sound. Yet for some reason, it rocked me hard. And I enjoyed it quite a lot.

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Jun 09 2021
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3

J'ai adoré le moment où le chanteur casse sa guitare et l'enflamme sur scène devant un public éberlué.

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Nov 18 2021
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3

These guys sure do sound like Hendrix and The Who did at that time. Summertime Blues is a dead ringer for The Who's live version. Let me guess, these guys saw Hendrix and The Who at the Monterey Pop festival (down the road from where they live), started to play like them and rushed an album out in time for the new wave of heavy metal? I like late 60s heavy metal. This is where it all started and it was original and exciting back then. I'm just not sure how much of the wave can be attributed to influence from these guys. They deserve a few points for how fleet footed they were jumping on the bandwagon.

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Feb 21 2021
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2

Saved Prior: None Saved Off Rip: None Cutting Edge: Rock Me Baby, Out of Focus Overall Notes: Yeah this ain't it chief. Not as god awful as it was as background music the first time listening to it but definitely not my thing.

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Nov 17 2021
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2

yuck wasnt remastered so it sounds tinny and terrible

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Dec 09 2022
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2

Direct and templated bluesy psychedelic rock from the '60s of which there is much too much on this list. Nothing distinguished here – not the vocals and the jamming is replacement level for the era. Maybe was influential the, but today is merely not bad and sorta boring.

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Feb 21 2021
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1

Felt like it dragged on, even for such a short album. Typically a fan of heavy metal but didn't really enjoy this, only redeemable song was Out of Focus.

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Apr 23 2021
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5

Wow, dit vind ik tof. Blues is niet mijn ding maar als j het zo speelt!! ook live gezien op Roadburn, fantastisch toen

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Aug 06 2021
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5

Loved the album as a whole. Exactly what it needed to be. Second half of the last track was a little much for me but still giving it a 5.

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Jan 07 2022
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5

It is uncanny how much the White Stripes sound like these guys. Never heard of them before but this album is fire.

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Jan 24 2022
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5

Loved it! An early forerunner of lots of stuff I like, and one of the first power trios. Every song was great, but their version of summertime blues was greatest for me. Really intrigued to hear more of their stuff.

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May 12 2022
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5

Whoa. Hard to find to listen to but it was worth the hunt - oh the fuzz and the fuzz - the drums pounding throughout and the voices tearing through this 30 min powerhouse of an album. I’m sold on blue cheer - kind of in the world of a more bluesy stooges and a rougher hendrix experience.

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Jun 03 2022
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5

excellent hidden gem, hadn't heard about them before, but enjoyed the proto-heavy metal sound.

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Sep 11 2022
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5

Epic album. Amazing sound by a super talented band

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Mar 08 2023
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5

What a great record! Never heard it but it’s amazing!

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Apr 23 2023
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5

Zalig hoe je hoort op welke manier deze muziek invloed heeft gehad op latere genres! Weer iets onbekend die me verraste

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Jun 23 2023
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5

I have heard of Blue Cheer before. I had always read they were "proto" heavy metal. And yeah, that's exactly what this is, similar to Deep Purple. And I love it. It's raw and low production, but that's cool with me. There's quite a bit of jammin' too. I love it.

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Jul 19 2023
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5

Even the causal metal fan is familiar with this band and the cover of Summer Time Blues, though Parchment Farm is the true gem. Also one of the few proto metal bands that was not from England. The good is of course the music, big loud fuzzy guitars, this is the birth of Doom/Stoner metal for sure. My biggest problem is some of the vocals especially on Doctor Please. It's a 4 star album but I'm given 5 given how influential it is on music that I love so much.

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Oct 25 2023
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5

There are bands today still trying to recreate the sound and intensity of this record. You can hear the DAN of so many hard rock and metal genres forming in the incredibly brief run time of this album. Loved it. Gnarly.

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Nov 05 2023
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5

Kicks ass. Cant believe I’ve never heard this album.

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Feb 13 2024
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5

This is what I'm here for! I had never heard or heard of these guys or this album, and its a great album. Its very "of its time" but its got a lot of future-looking sound in it as well. 5/5

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Feb 16 2024
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5

This felt like early metal, and I loved it.

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Apr 05 2024
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5

Absolutely fantastic album. Only knew the first track, never heard any of the other songs before. I found nothing about this that would discourage me from listening to more. 5 stars easy peasy.

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May 13 2024
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5

Sounds much later than it was. Class heavy blues.

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May 24 2024
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5

I needed this today. "Vincebus Eruptum" is the debut album by American rock band Blue Cheer. Hard rock, pyschedelic rock, acid rock and heavy metal are the assigned genres and they all fit but this album is known as and considered one of the first heavy metal albums. The band was a trio consisting of Dickie Pearson (vocals, bass), Leigh Stephens (guitar) and Paul Whaley (drums). The album did well commercially hitting #11 in the US and was well received by the critics. The album opens with a cover of Eddie Cochran's " Summertime Blues." This is fast and heavy. Rolling drums and bass. The guitar explodes and goes in all directions. The song gets faster. This is chaotic, messy and wonderful. Lead singer Pearson mentioned the result had something to with large amounts of LSD. They do another cover in B.B. King's "Rock Me Baby." It's slower, more bluesy. Two large extended guitar solos by Leigh Stephens. There are four words to describe "Doctor Please:" lo-fi, fuzzy, hazy and heavy. Another chaotic monster guitar jam. It's a song about whether Person should take drugs; no need to think about what direction he took. In "Out of Focus," you really start to see the influence of Jimi Hendrix in Stephens' guitar sound. The song has got a groove and is funky. There's also some high level screaming by Pearson. Pounding drums, a thumping bass and driving guitar begin the closer "Second Time Around." Stephens guitar is oscillating between melodic and random, extended solos. Whaley gives a "Moby Dick-esque" drum solo. There's a long silence which goes into guitar solo and the song ends in two-minutes of total chaos. Amen my friends. This album is just fantastic. The band sounds like a punk-i-fied, more reckless version of Led Zeppelin. The music is energetic, fuzzy, garage, lo-fi, heavy, chaotic and totally rockin.' At times the band goes off in random directions and I don't even know if they know where they're going, what the other musicians are doing or if they even care. Leigh Stephens' guitar playing is just plain awesome taking off in each song...very unique. This is an album that every person that likes hard rock needs to listen to.

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Jun 09 2024
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5

That was awesome - definitely adding it to my collection. I can't believe I've never heard of them! Raw and hard.

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Jul 28 2024
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5

Ich kenne "Blue Cheer" gar nicht, aber nach dem ersten Anhören gefällt mir das Bild, die Band ist das Bindeglied vom Blues zu Heavy Metal. Auch dass sie der Funken für Black Sabbath seien. Alles nachvollziehbar. Harter Blues, lange Solis, anspruchsvolle Arrangements, was ist mit da entgangen.

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Sep 02 2024
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5

What an amazing album, straight out of the gritty demonic psychedelic 60s. The self penned songs are really great and the covers are the hardest takes of said songs at the time. Its not really heavy metal but it's Cream or Jefferson Airplane turned to 11.

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Jul 17 2021
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4

Vincebus eruptum, czyli pseudo lacinska translacja blue cheera, wiec pierwszy krazek bandy selftitlledowy w bardzo stonerskim klimacie, bo sam blue cheer to nazwa popularnego na rynku w tamtych czasach LSD, ktore rozprowadzal patronajt od gratefulowych deadow, wiec od tego pewnie wziela sie nazwa zespolu, ewentualnie od proszku do prania, ale to raczej elesdyk zabral nazwe od proszku, a potem banda go zabrala na wlasny uzytek, ale czym muzycznie jest niebieski doping, banda z 67 hameryka kalifornia, wiec klimaty dzieci kwiatow, ale na modle metalowa, sama plyte mozna podzielic na covery klasycznych rokowych trakow, jak sumertime blues cochrana czy parchmanowej farmy allisonona, ktora jednak bardziej kojarze z wersji blues breakersow mayalla i rock me baby b b kinga, wspolnym mianownikiem tych trakow sa ich bluesowe korzenie, to co robi blue cheer na tym materiale, to budowanie pomostu pomiedzy bluesem do metalu, z czego wyszlo acidowe rokowanie o poteznym brzmieniu, nie tylko jesli chodzi o decybele, ale takze o surowy styl granych tutaj rifow, ktore w niektorych miejsach, brzmia wrecz zeppelinowo, a to prawie dwa lata przed ich pierwsza plyta, wiec cheerowcy byli prawdopodobnie pionierami tego stylu grania, prosty z ostrym jebnieciem i energia, ktora czuc takze na wokalu pana petersona, ktory jako frontmen napisal takze 3 orginalne traki, ktore stanowia druga czesc krazka, jesli by go podzielic na covery i orginalne kompozycje, to wlasnie z tych orginalnych kompow mozna w pelni przyznac bandzie miano stonerow, bo tematycznie bardzo lekowo, zwlaszcza na doctor please, ktory brzmi jak litania drugersowa wierzacego kwasiarza, niestety nie moge dodac nic na spotifaja, bo zbyt podziemmna plyta, cale szczescie z pomoca kolejny raz przyszedl soulseek, wiec pobralem sobie dwie wersje, zeby miec porownanie, z 2k03 remaster z dodatkowym trakiem, all night long, oraz projekt audiofilow z nipona z roku 2k17, ktory polega na odtwarzaniu w mozliwie jak najlepszej jakosci zapomnianych a kultowych materialow i roznica w jakosci obu tych wersji jest kolosalna, remaster z 2k03 brzmi jak tanie stereo, bo jest to migracja z mono do stereo, a cos takiego praktycznie nigdy nie jest czyms dobrym dla materialu koncowego, natomiast japonska wersja to wymasterowane mono, ktore genialnie oddaje glebokosc sceny, czy zmiane kanalow, czy fejkowe endingi, zeby wrocic z rosnacym basem jak na second time around, jeden z hajlajtowych momentow plyty w moich uszach, wlasnie takich albumow chcialbym wiecej na liscie, przelomowych, a jednoczesnie niezbyt znanych szerokiemu gronu sluchaczy

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May 19 2021
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4

Surprise. An entertaining and ahead of it's time.

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Jul 15 2021
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4

Very cool grooves and riffs. I dig the lofi sound

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Apr 25 2021
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4

Cool getting to know heavy metal origins... Guitar melodies were catchy

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May 19 2021
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4

Way ahead of their time. The beginning of metal!

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May 10 2021
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4

Loved the tones and production. Great band

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May 17 2021
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4

Never heard before. Nice notes of 70's such rock

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May 18 2021
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4

I personally hate the summertime blues song because I was forced to sing it over and over in elementary school. Other than that this band kind of rules. I had never heard of them but apparently they kind of started heavy metal. I probably won’t listen to this album much but I respect it. Talented musicians and all that. The drum solo and bass line in Second Time Around are fun.

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May 17 2021
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4

SETE. CAMINHO ATRÁS DO PREJUÍZO. METADE NÃO SE OUVE, CRL CRL CRL CRL CRL CRL CRL CRL CRL VROOM VROOM POW KABOOM MotA: Out of Focus "Oh Lord, I got to raise a fuss, Lord I got to raise a holler"

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Nov 11 2021
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4

Not available fully in my Spotify, unfortunately. Nothing too special, pretty much standard bluesy stuff except for being ultra dirty and garage. That's what I liked about it.

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Jan 09 2022
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4

Fierce, noisy, classic. The album starts out ridiculously strong with that exceptional cover of "Summertime Blues" and burns beautifully to the end. Rough-edged and a little jammier than I generally like, but this was a solid listen. Fave Songs: Summertime Blues, Doctor Please, Rock Me Baby, Second Time Around

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Jan 11 2022
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4

Very interested. Ground breaking.

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Jan 26 2022
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4

Blue Cheer doesn't get enough credit for how much they had to do with the start of metal. Gritty tones and raw recording from start to finish.

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Feb 09 2022
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4

Surprised I've never heard of Blue Cheer. Really cool short album. Heavy for its time. Wasn't on Spotify.

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Feb 21 2022
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4

Very heavy for '66. Couple interesting covers, but fun guitar work. Heavy Jimi vibes.

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Mar 03 2022
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4

This is what I always imagined garage rock sounding like- a bunch of kids just learning to shred with the murkiest sound on earth. Forget that overpolished White Stripes and Strokes nonsense. It’s very primitive, and I assume it won’t be a lot of people’s thing, but I do like the protometal sound and I have fun with this. But I can’t really rate it higher than a C+, although I think that I’ll give it four stars to round out.

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Mar 16 2022
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4

Cream-y. Hendrix-y. Under-appreciated

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May 16 2022
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4

Super fuzzy, psychedelic, blues rock. Yeah, this is my jam. This is what this project is about for me: discovering the bands and albums that had huge influence, even if they weren't that commercial successful themselves.

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May 20 2022
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4

Pretty impressed. I was excepting some Beatles knock-off, but it's basically like every song is Helter Skelter. I see the influence on metal and hard psych for sure.

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May 20 2022
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4

Some of the heaviest, most unhinged rock you could hope to hear from its era. Blue Cheer were sort of at the vanguard of the turn towards a heavier, more primal rock sound for what must have been a matter of months before MC5 finally got their sound down on record to kick it up a notch. Hendrix and Cream presaged them of course, and Zeppelin also fits in there somewhere as well, but I'd argue what those bands were doing was a little more sophisticated. This sounds distinctly looser, and as such, is a ripping good time. The ultimate garage band.

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May 30 2022
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4

I enjoyed the guitar noodling. 7/10

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May 30 2022
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4

7/10. Enjoyable, but not a standout

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Jun 10 2022
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4

Mannnn… so I’m alone in liking this one?? Oh well. I guess you guys won’t be joining my Blue Cheer fan club, which will be known as the Cheerleaders. You know you know want the semi-annual newsletter and free iron-on, dudes! Come on! Okay. Yes, this is a museum piece and yes this is proto-grunge and yes the last track is almost indefensibly indulgent. The whole thing just kind of sounds like crap. No argument. But it sounds like specific crap. And the crap I’m talking about specifically is Kyuss and the whole desert rock scene of the 90s. I like Kyuss and love a heck of a lot of Queens of the Stone Age tunes. I swear to God if you lopped off “Summertime Blues” and gave me a blank CD-R of this Blue Cheer album but told me it was an unreleased Kyuss demo I would 100% believe you. It sounds that close at times to me, especially with some of the lead guitar sounds. And in fact, I actually prefer the Blue Cheer vocals here to what John Garcia did on most Kyuss tracks. So, in some ways it’s superior. Genuinely liked it guys. Don’t know what else to say. Shawn Harwell Head Cheerleader

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Jul 25 2022
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4

pretty good, i liked the vibe and it had a cool groove

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Aug 08 2022
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4

4.1 - I hear danger in the wildly overamped guitar that constantly sounds like it could spill over at any moment into peals of terrible feedback. Leigh Stephens seems to push that guitar to its groaning/squealing edge. It's impossible to not hear the through-line between this record and Black Sabbath's debut. I also hear inspiration drawn from Hendrix and his guitar wizardry. Standout: "Doctor Please" (particularly the guitar breakdown in the last couple of minutes).

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Aug 24 2022
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4

Pretty wild that this came out in '68. I can hear a lot of sounds that wouldn't be prevalent for years afterwards. This is a really cool mix of psych rock, proto-metal and blues. Dig it!

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Aug 30 2022
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4

Heavy fuzz sound and almost sounds like a mix between stoner rock and heavy metal. Very proto-metal as it doesn't have the characteristic Black Sabbath early heavy metal sound but it's close. I found the quality of the recording to be lacking but that could be because I couldn't find the whole album on a streaming service. Maybe if I find it on vinyl it sounds better.

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Sep 11 2022
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4

initially i was like “men yelling over weird guitars. 2” but then i found out they were one of the first to do it in this way?

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Sep 28 2022
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4

It's rare to hear an album that is so clearly the origin point for a genre of music, but this one seems pretty clear. I've never heard an earlier album that sounded like heavy metal, and later heavy metal albums don't have the 60s psychedelic sound wrapped into them the way this does. All of the elements of what would become heavy metal are here. Even the overly grandiose album title is present. As far as the music goes, they put out a hell of a lot of sound for a trio. The production could be a bit better, and some of the songs could be a little more interesting, but at the same time they were clearly experimenting with something here they deserve a lot of credit for the innovation in their sound 4/5

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Oct 17 2022
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4

Top 3 Songs: 1 - Rock Me Baby (2) 2 - Second Time Around (6) 3 - Summertime Blues (1)

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Oct 27 2022
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4

Had some Deep Purple kinda vibes (I think, that's the first artist that comes to mind.)

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Nov 18 2022
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4

Blue Cheer's restraint could be taken for the minimizing kind if it weren't for the final minutes of Vincebus Eruptum, the whetting of the appetite for more, and the perfect match to me in musical style and haircut.

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Nov 27 2022
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4

Got some Hendricks vibes from this, whatever happened to this kind of guitar playing?

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Dec 19 2022
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4

Sound was a bit limp in places, but energy wasn't. Love that this is proto metal.

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Dec 23 2022
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4

pretty good listen, no bad songs, nothing insane but a nice discovery

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