Reviews (page 6 of 8)
Bluesrock, but not smooth and nice dirty, more like metal and drums…4/10
Can hear the beginnings of metal here. Not as dark as Black Sabbath or has the chops of Deep Purple but it has moments. Production is lacking and there's too many covers. But overall, decent.
--- its scronchy music its very in my right ear I don't like how it's mixed. the drums are too far away and the bpm just doesn't seem like it's bpming. if this was mono it'd be fine, but it isn't. skrunkley funky weird drums no like nice vocals tho again strange bpm overall not fun bpm not fun if this came on in a shop I would go out of my way to stop and say what on earth. no fun
You could really make out the guitar
Took the sound of Jimi Hendrix without any of the emotion
The importance and ground breaking of multiple genres of this album cannot be overstated. However as an album it peters off towards the end, and it's most well known song is a cover. The music is enjoyable but more history than greatness.
More interesting than good. Why listen when jimi exists?
Could have been a Cream album, pretty good high 2.
I have to give this 4 stars, just because it is essentially the grandfather of "Stoner Rock," and while it is mostly feels dated, it still has an energy and a legacy. I do revisit this album every few years, in the same I do some other classic rock.
noisy
Heavy, trippy, and fun to listen. Also the rare 60s proto-metal album that actually does sound like metal. Best song: Summertime Blues
Okay 60's blues rock album. After two listens, I didn't really catch the vibe that this pioneered heavy metal. It wasn't bad, but I found the vocals to be a little off-putting. 3/5.
Nope 1*
That was awesome - definitely adding it to my collection. I can't believe I've never heard of them! Raw and hard.
9/10 - pretty insane for 1968, gotta give a lot of respect to this one :)
It rocks.
8 / 10 Hard-Rock bastante sucio. Sorprendente para ser de los años 60. Lastima que hay canciones que parece que están mal grabadas.
Really good album. Unfortunately I'm hearing it for the first time just now. It suffers from so many bands sounding like this in some way over the past 50+ years
It's some kids taking drugs and turning up the volume knobs on their amplifiers and making loud noises. It's not as ground-breaking as music historians would have you believe. You just had to be there with an amp and a guitar and a lack of restraint. "They did it first! It's important! Without them, you wouldn't have metal or bands like the Pixies or Nirvana!" says the Straw Man I just invented. No. This was literally inevitable. I'm not rewarding that.
There are way too many of these Blues-goes-Psychedellic albums on this list. All I hear on this one is fuzz guitar and an absence of high frequencies. Not to mention talent. There isn't anything interesting on the album. Move on, nothing to see here. 2/5
i like the sound, but nothing makes me want to go back to it over other psych rock of the era
Sorry my dear sashay away. I wouldn't say I like these music :(
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.
Never heard this record, but it's pretty compelling, definitely a different beast than either the pop music popular at the time, or the overtly psychedelic counter culture tunes.
a silly little thing with bouts of silliness sprinkled sparingly throughout. Honestly Enjoyed this more then I thought I would fun little album.
Early guitar distortion, very cool. The vocals are pretty wild and the drumming is also very left-field. This album has moments where it clicks and feels profoundly boundary-pushing for its time but equally has moments of pretty boring noodling. Lyrically, there isn't much here to latch onto and there isn't much cohesion between songs. This is a collection of very high highs and very low lows.
So, this is what proto-heavy metal sounds like. A heavy blues-rock sound that was not so different than what bands like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin sounded like a bit later on. Not the most interesting or ground breaking sound, but it was impressive this was 1968 and not 1970. Sure a lot of bands were more popular and commercially appealing, but Blue Cheer predated those bands and I would consider them a little underrated. A good solid record where it's the music that matters and not the satanist imagery that Sabbath would associate with the music.
I don’t understand this album or band. The band covers songs from the 60s and 70s and, although the guitarist is not bad, it doesn’t seem like it this needed to be made. 2/5.
2 droney jammy rock
I liked it straight away, bluesy rock
Очень круто, что вот эти дядьки в 68-ом году играли хард рок, который в целом в то же время играли и другие знаменитые группы, и вот у тех знаменитых групп даже есть какая-то уникальная фишка, тогда как эта музыка звучит... Ну, в общем, мне не понятно, чем этот альбом выделяется на фоне большой тройки, кроме географии по другую сторону океана. Выйди этот альбом чуточку позже - никто бы и не заметил. Лучшая песня - Summertime Blues.
I really enjoyed this. Just a great 40 minute vibe. I’ll come back to it.
Well, that turned out to be interesting! I didn't know anything about it (neither the group nor the songs) but I liked it because it's blues... and good blues at that! A 4, no doubt ;-)
I hadn't heard of the group before. The album may have been the starting signal for heavy metal, but from today's perspective it seems rather boring. I won't be listening to the album or the band again any time soon. 2/5
According to Wikipedia: 'Blue Cheer's debut album was recorded in 1967 at Amigo Studios in North Hollywood, California. In an interview, frontman Dickie Peterson explained that "Some songs I wrote have taken 20 years to really complete. And there are other songs like 'Doctor Please' or 'Out of Focus' that I wrote in ten minutes." Six tracks. Three covers. Three originals. So that's 20 years and 20 minutes to write three songs. Not what you'd call prolific. Dirty, gloopy, distorted, must have crashed onto the music scene like Nirvana's Nevermind - here something new - will you like it? Unlike Nirvana, others did it better than Blue Cheer. But pioneering, for sure.
Rock psicodélico. Ni fu ni fa.
I’ve always loved Summertime Blues, but the rest gets a little weird, although it was probably influential during its time.
I know I had a copy of this album years ago. Hearing it again makes me remember why I got rid of it. It’s a turning point in heavy rock, no doubt. Its influence on stoner, punk, psych and doom metal is totally there. It’s heavy, the bass sounds great, BUT, it’s not really all that interesting to listen to repeatedly. If it’s this or Sir Lord Baltimore or The Stooges? I’m choosing SLB or Iggy.
I had never heard of this band or album. After reading a bit, I can see why they get the credit of being an early metal or the first metal band. I hear Jimi Hendrix on "Summertime Blues", The Doors on "Rock Me Baby" (mostly the vocals) and in general I find it an interesting listen.
Well, that was a waste of time. I don't know who this noisy mess is for. It has the sound and distortion, but it lacks anything catchy or interesting.
I LOVE a great power trio and Blue Cheer is a great example of why. An aesthetic idea stripped to its core with no room for any one member to phone it in. These 3 are up to the task and I've enjoyed them in the past, but I can't help but think I'd probably enjoy them more if I was actually living in the past... as in 1968 when this dropped. Seriously it would blow my mind. They really paved the way for stoner rock, metal, and general hard rock to follow. While they had exceptional energy and applied talent, so did era bands such as Black Sabbath, Cream, Steppenwolf, and dare I add Budgie to that list.. all projects with more interesting compositions and songwriting. Hats off to these boys though.. they were true innovators and for when you want that early stoner rock sound that has one speed: "GO", you could do worse.
its blues i guess
4.0
Fun late 60s shred sesh. Good tones and dedication to metal.
I heard some hendrix and black sabbath sounds in this.
Sounds much later than it was. Class heavy blues.
I had this written off quite quickly but got into the heaviness as it ticked along. Doesn't sound like 1968
Enjoyably silly early heavy metal album, bluesy psychedelic & sludgy - only 6 tracks, too short in my opinion. While the recording & sound quality is poor, this just adds to the experimental feel of the record. Heavy guitars & drums certainly added to the emerging new sound of late 60s heavy metal at the time. This album is definitely added to my playlist
A forgettable experience.
This is too noisy for me, and some riffs feel repetitive to the point of being annoying.
Started off pretty solid but towards the end I was repeatedly looking to see how much longer I had to endure
Enjoyed this a clear influence for heavy metal music. Rating this higher due to how early it came out obviously has its flaws, but impressive for the 60’s
A bit raw for my taste, but one can see the important stepping stone BC provided in the evolution of metal and psychedelic rock. A clear eschewing of traditional song structure with more lyrical depth than expected, including some tongue-in-cheek satire. Listened to: at home, during work. Favorite track: Parchment Farm
I’d put this somewhere between a 3 and a 4. Kinda cool, kinda forgettable, kinda lost in antiquity. All in all, it won’t stand out in this project but I enjoyed it for the time being.
I'm sure it was sensational and revolutionary when it came out, but thru a 2024 lens it just sounds a bit overblown and full of cliche - even if it was one of the originals, there's a reason this isn't up there with Zep and Cream
2.9/5. listened 1x catchup on 5/8/24.
Loud and distorted. Musically not that impressive and some of the songs just dragged on. Recognized a couple of songs, but still didn’t think it was that good. 2/5 Won’t listen again
Album 397 of 1001 Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum Rating : 3 / 5 Just enough of a mess to be somewhat enjoyable.
Acid rock often reminds me of Peter and Lois when they had their band and thought they were really great, but it was just the drugs.
Solid - quite rolling stonesy
joa, für die sehr frühe Zeit ganz nett, aber auch anstrengend
2 - Boring. It's just not really the kind of music I like.
cool
descubrimiento. no destacan al lado de cream o jimi hendrix
Had not heard of this band, other than Summertime Blues.
Bad
Nice album, reminds me of Led Zeppelin
Nice psychedelic rock, but not too special
Sounds a lot like Cream. Not sure who came first. Decent listen but nothing to special. Perhaps it has some historic value..
Put this album on in the background, turn the volume down a bit, and chill with your favorite drink and some friends. It's perfect for hanging out and chatting.
If you ever wondered what The White Stripes or Jack White would sound like if they made music in the '60's, well here you go
Not really much to like here. The music here is mostly heavy blues which was a precursor to metal music, but you’re much better off listening to early Black Sabbath than this. Half of the songs are covers which really just aren’t good. And the originals aren’t any better: soulless singing, uninspired guitar and drum solos, just all around mediocre. As a proto-metal album, I can see why this was included, but I’m really glad that Black Sabbath and others developed the genre into much more interesting music.
Proto metal with a missing link between blues and 60s acid rock. Well that sounded interesting. I think it's more accurate to call this 30-40 minutes of three people recording band practice. There's no cohesion or groove here. Every time I started to half like a track, it meandered away into needless guitar antics. Some of the playing was really bad, not in a raw/ live fashion, just bad. I feel like this should have been something I enjoyed, but I didn't - 2 stars.
Hmm
Pretty solid for proto-metal, was a fun listen.
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.
I appreciate the historical value of this album, but it did not make me eruptum with joy
Would have preferred to not listen to this album
Starts out strong and then fades really really quickly.
One of the better albums of this era that I’ve gotten, both due to its influence and its length. It’s a precursor to metal, and it’s pretty fun. Most importantly, though, it’s just not boring. I would hate this if it were a double album, but 30 minutes is just fine.
Not even the approach of White Boy Summer could make this sound good.
Fuck this album and especially fuck the guitarist
I am so tired of 60s dude voice
Hollow and uninspired
New album for me. From 1968. Blues rock. Heavy metal. Stoner Rock. It is all there. Sound is great, but the songs themselves are a little less special. Must have been great to see in concert.
I can appreciate the raw bluesy energy of this record. Title is fake Latin.
I liked the idea and sound of this album, but the execution was not very good. The songs just weren't enjoyable somehow. Also it sounded pretty bad. Not very well balanced for example; badly mixed and lots of screeching.
It's cool to hear early heavy metal but not really anything more than that. While I think early Black Sabbath still holds up, the best songs here are the two first tracks which are just covers with a heavy metal twist. Still pretty cool to here the origin of a whole genre.
Bluesy rock, not bad. I have never heard of them and I'm pretty sure that I have not ever heard their most popular song on the album "Summertime Blues". Some creative riffs. This is an album I would have really liked when I was 18.
Uggh. Another white band from the late 60s playing twelve bar blues through overdriven amps. The only thing I gain from listening to this is more respect for the Stones and Zeppelin.
It’s like a cross between early heavy metal and blues. Wow! Very interesting.
Some really great guitar, licks, but nothing special. When I read the Wikipedia about the album, the idea is that this was a precursor to heavy metal, but before this or contemporary with this, you had Jimmy Hendrix “Purple Haze” you had Rolling Stones “paint it black”, you had Cream, so I don’t feel like this was really all that revolutionary or special
Another new album for me (and I thought I knew the history of rock!). I greatly respect the lineage but was glad this was 32 minutes in total. Would be a classic 2.5 rating if possible, but I'll round up on a Friday.
Pioneers of Heavy Metal made me want to like it but in the end it was just okay. Musically, it would be maybe a 3 or 4. Voice knocks it down to 2.
Nah
Felt like had some potential but missed badly.
Not good.
Jammy garage. (ntm.)
A very early precursor to the heavy metal that came after it. Vincebus Eruptum by Blue Cheer was probably one of the earliest albums to take the blues/rock and roll to a grittier more hard place than previously, and after just listening to Iron Maiden's debut, it's cool to see how the style evolved in the ensuing 12 years. Best: Summertime Blues Worst: Second Time Around 3.5 Stars
Great guitar tones and feedback, the drums are also pretty good. Everything else is a little lacking, especially the vocals and overall song writing. This album 100% deserves to be on the list and is very influential, but personally I just think it is fine. 3/5
Primordial heavy metal… cool to hear the predecessors to the style, but this album sounds raw and underdeveloped because it is.
That‘s not mine
The first song is a tinny sounding bare bones version of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues.” So many have done this song better. Second up is the standard “Rock Me Baby” they should have been ashamed to release this as some of the greats have covered this song. The rest of the songs consist of The guitar player going off and playing soloes like he doesn’t even know what song is playing. They are so off key and jarring. I suppose he’s trying to show off his guitar skills, but I winced all through the rest of this album . It’s obvious that the record company spared a lot of expense on this album.
Parchment Farm!
one hit wonder.
Always nice to hear some of the earlier entries in what became a massive genre for decades to come and continues today; in this instance, hard rock/heavy metal. Although I'm not particularly compelled to come back to this album or this band, I appreciate what they were doing.
Their rendition of Rock Me Baby is criminally terrible. It should have disqualified them from ever recording another song. I get why this was chosen for the list, but it sucks and I don’t like listening to it.
The most impressive thing about Vincebus Eruptum is the year it was released. Before Deep Purple, Zeppelin and Sabbath and there is a lot to be said for that. But it didn’t do much for me. I can imagine in 1968 being way more impressed 5.4/10
This is my jam
Alright for something recorded in a swamp. Good instrumentation, lackluster songwriting
While they may not be as good as bands like Zeppelin or Cream, Blue Cheer were pioneers of the hard rock/metal movement. They had such a big sound for a trio. I like how they stay strong to their blues roots on this album. And that cover is just so cool.
Not a fan.
Zero stars. This sucked
Who chose these albums??
Would rather listen to Sabbath or the Stones
give me that noise
psychedelic rock, acid rock. Año 67.
Pretty sweet. Kind of the ideal power trio sound and way more fun to listen to then, say, Cream.
If this is where metal started, it's not where it landed. Interesting only because of what it could have influenced, not because it is in itself worth listening to.
This was very solid psychedelic blues. It was perfectly enjoyable for my commute to work
Not bad, but pretty standard psychedelic rock. The guitar at the end of Doctor Please was a bit too much for me, which is saying something.
NEVER Heard of this band at all. Right off the bat, super stoked to listen to this. Very awesome. I have definitely heard this opening track. Summertime Blues. Did not know it was by Blue Cheer. Very cool, rocking psychedelic album.
This album sucked. Production was ass and the tunes were no good 1.5
This list is so bloated with this kind of shit.
Need to see when this came out. Heard a lot of Jimi in it.
I wasn't upset when it was done. Reminded me of Jimi Hendrix, but not as good
This felt like early metal, and I loved it.
This is begging for a 21st century remaster. As it stands there’s not enough here to be anything more than loud blues hard panned into each ear.
i know this is like extremely important for metal as a whole but it is just, like, badly mastered with not-great lyrics. disappointing
This sounds like Black Sabbath, but it's older. It's also nowhere near as good. People shouldn't be listening to this anymore. I don't recommend any of the songs. Listen to Clutch or Fu Manchu instead.
The kind of 70s sound that I don't really enjoy very much. Excesseive guitar forward sound, extended leads and a guitar sound that doesn't fit my ear. 1.5 stars
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
There are some decent songs trying to break out here, but it sounds like a bunch of high school kids trying to get together while they've dragooned their mate in to do the sound deskand he keeps playing with sliders trying to get a coherent sound. Meanwhile, the drummer's mother recorded it on a Dictaphone she was holding outside the room because they were playing too loud.
Classic 70s rock
J'ai bien aimé ! Il y avait de l'énergie :) Pas de titres en particulier que j'ai noté.
"I've got to take my problem to the United Nations" hey, I recognize that line! A combination of things I enjoy and things I don't. They sound kinda sludgy, noisy, this I like. But blues is on top of my worst genres for a reason, so I'm surprised it didn't bother me that much
instead of showing us the first album of a genre, what if this list showed us the first GOOD album of a genre
Maybe this sounded cool back in th day, but it doesn’t hold up.
Wall-of-sound, muddy (positive), heavy bluesy psych rock. Enjoyed this one, wouldn't really say they were pushing the envelope then, but they were really good at what they were doing. Was fond of the song structures, too. Solid all around.
Ok, so they take songs already popular and sing them? What makes them special? Summertime blues has been done so many times I'm sick of it. That's my perspective now, I can't speak for what it was like in 1969 to hear this version.... (it did sound like a bit of a Jimi Hendrix rip off at times too). Rock me baby.... I know the Led Zeppelin version, "You Shook Me" and nothing can come close to that. Doctor Please. Is a Blue Cheer Original. It's fine. No complaints. Same with Out of Focus. Those are the two most uninteresting songs on the album. Parchment Farm. Another oldie, 1940s. Well, they have certainly changed it and made it "modern" for the 1960s. Interesting track. The Album ends with the third Blue Cheer original. I don't know what to say...I don't know what to do now.... Jimi Hendrix probably thought it sounded good. I bust balls because I don't like cover songs too much.... It is a good sound and an interesting album. Not something I'd ever seek out again though. 3.5
Little rough sounding but good heavy blues sound.
Groovy baby.
Kicks ass.
They seems a little strong on the guitars for 68, didn't love their style
Decent
River Bottom Nightmare Band!
I think they're pretty good at their core, but there's quite a few messy parts that drag it down to a 2.
Brilliant proto-metal. Hard to understand how this is the progenitor when so much sounds exactly like it. But I feel like that context is pretty fundamental to enjoying this album. However, even stripped of its historical significance, there are some great tunes on this albuM!
Too much noise.
A little bit indulgent. Seems a bit like a stupid pastiche, despite the fact that it's from the actual era. Some of their sound is good, and I can tell they're influential. But they suck. 2 stars
Just Good
This is loud and fast and just...a lot. Some say Blue Cheer beat Black Sabbath to the punch in being heavy metal, but Sabbath had better songs (and they wrote more of them themselves, too). This is just distorted blues. Still, though, this is an interesting historical document, being as fast and furious as it while having been recorded in 1968. I just don't necessarily need to hear it again.
Fairly unremarkable 60s fuzz rock. Summertime Blues was a nice surprise; I only knew of the Who version (which is better). It's hard to unpick the influence of a band of 60 years ago when I am so much more familiar with all the artists it has since influenced but to me, on two listens there was nothing I'd come back to.
On paper should be right up my alley. In practice my alley is already filled good and proper with what the MC5 and Stooges were doing at the time in this particular zone and listening to this just made me wish I was listening to that.
Vincebus Eruptum, for me, felt like it was going nowhere. The repetitive guitar riffs and lackluster vocals contributed to a forgettable experience, lacking the innovation or depth found in other rock albums of its time. Despite attempts to appreciate its raw energy, the album failed to leave a lasting impression on my musical preferences. NUMBER OF BANGERS - 0 STAND OUT TRACK - None
Turned this off at the killed my wife song. Some of the guitar stuff was kinda interesting but the lyrics are an ick
So short and thick sounding! Nice surprise. Parchment and Summertime were fun
Listened to this awhile ago and still dig it. Like a rougher Cream record
If youdve told me this was the Guess Who, I probably wouldn’t have questioned that. Definitely some crunchy licks.
not for me
Production is pretty bad, but the song writing is... ok. Makes you appreicate what having a producer like Glyn Johns can do for a band.
Considered an early pioneer of what we now see as heavy metal, Vincebus Eruptum seems like an anomaly to me. I mean, it is said to have performed very well both critically and financially, yet unlike Black Sabbath, I've never heard a song off of this album, let alone this band in general. Now, I realize that is very self-centred of me, as I was not around to hear this album at release (not even close) but you'd think I'd at least here some hint of this album in passing. Perhaps an older, more rock-savvy uncle, or just from passing. Yet, I've heard nothing, nada, zilch, and once I actually sit down and listen to the album, I start to understand why. Black Sabbath were so iconic with their newfound genres because it was dark, it was demented, and it truly felt like something new was rising from Hell to take over your pot smoking-son's brain. This? This just feels like someone performing aimless, meandering blues rock with a blown out amp. The sound here doesn't feel like its an active choice that benefits the album, but rather an experiment that turned out in the band's favor. However, the lasting power fails to reach beyond that initial wave, and whilst it may have been something worth exploring in the year of 1968, more contemporary ears will find this pales in comparison to what came after it, and even before it, and while it deserves to be an important part of rock history, I feel outfits such as the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Black Sabbath have it covered.
Fits in the middle. Not awful, not great.
Ahead of its time? Yes. Sounding good or even tolerable? No.
A truly derivative album. It’s not a good album Rolling Stones and it’s not a good Led Zeppelin. If it’s supposed to be a bridge between the two, you have to ask, what is it good for? I would say, not much of anything.
whatever
It’s ok, noise that sounds like everything else similar from that time.
3 2
It’s wild to me that anyone considered this heavy metal at any point. That means such a different thing now, and this is very much in the mainstream blues/rock sound now. Good album though, very fun
Sounds like The Beatles and Led Zeppelin had a baby.
I can appreciate the legacy here.
These old hard rock albums just have such a soft spot in my heart. The cover of Summertime Blues is delightful. This is 6 tracks of heavy feedback and just a really quality example of the genre. Not crazy special, just a good listen.
Holy mother of distortion
I know this band is very influential, but this was kind of boring to me. Not bad, but just didn't hit.
Für die Zeit - krass!
Love it
I can appreciate this album for its historical significance as an early example of metal (the earliest?), but listening to it, nothing really grabbed me. 2.5 rounded up.
pretty cool that these guys are considered the original hard rock band, but glad i wasn't around for the beginning because i wouldn't have liked it.
Sonidos psicodélicos muy al estilo de hendeix con un toque de the who, no soy experto pero no tengo dudas 🫠😂
Swept me up with their psychedelic guitar riffs. It had an almost blues-y jazz quality with its meandering instrumentals. It’s the kind of album you listen to while laying on shag carpet, passing joints with friends. The band your cool crush would recommend. A fun romp, albeit short.
Meh.
The years have taken a toll on this one but it's still really good. The guitar tones here are especially heavy and an absolute joy, especially on Rock Me Baby. I'd give it a 3.5 if I could
Not my type of music
Did the White Stripes just rip these guys off?
Great guitar tone
3.5/5. I guess what makes this record so essential is the fact that its heavily distorted blues sound would eventually lay the foundation for heavy metal.
Great record! Fuzzed out guitar tone and riffs. They may have invented heavy metal but they’re better than most of it 😎🤘 rock on
De va nice! De hade energi
garage rock meets psychedelic rock with heavy distortion. blue cheer is often credited with being one of the early architects of heavy metal, and you can definitely see it in this album. highlights: “summertime blues”, “doctor please”, “parchment farm”.
Ehh... I didn't really care one way or the other.
Not for me
This album digs in after Summertime Blues and it feels like they are reaching something like Led Zep but it’s a bit more freewheeling. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.
Who wrote this list? Influential albums are not necessarily the best albums of a genre. They are often the first or early examples of the genre. Later albums and acts evolve the germ of an idea into the hugely popular thing that becomes its own genre. In this case, the genre is heavy metal. This may be the first or one of the first heavy metal albums. But by god, it is not one of the best.
Solid proto-metal blue rock, interesting from an academic point of view, but little other reason.
imagine my disappointment when i spotted the extra E and it wasn't blue cher.
SHACK eats bees
Gee! What a gritty, feisty garage rock on swampy blues ground. Sounds like it must‘ve shifted some borders, then. Now…now I am impressed but also not so interested. Still 2.7
Én vájboltam rá, de eléggé ugyanolyan mint bármely más ilyen album szal idk miért éppen ezt kéne szeretni
As meandering and unfulfilling as blues rock can possibly get.
2/10
Kannski tímamótaverk sem einhvers konar prótómetall, en Jesús, ekki er þetta skemmtilegt. Þetta er ekki það fráhrindandi að maður geti ekki haft þetta í gangi, en það verður aldrei betra en það.
Sort of like The Jimi Hendrix experience without any of the hooks.
Nice proto metal. Something about a lot of the 60s vocals really rubs me the wrong way, this band included.
Bastante normalito, entiendo que porque es de hace bastante tiempo y no impacta tanto como en su momento. Mismo caso que con "Iron Maiden": le salva ser corto.
I might’ve enjoyed this album live in an underground club in 1968 while doing a lot of drugs. But sitting in my office trying to listen? Not so much. I especially hated the cover of “Summertime Blues.” It was clever to replace the deep “adult” voice of the song with instruments, but the tempos were all over the place and mostly paced like a dirge. The album title “Vincebus Eruptum” is Latin for “controlled chaos.” I’ll agree that this album was chaos, but it definitely wasn’t controlled.
I’m not musically inclined, but I’m pretty sure this band in not playing in tune with each other, maybe not even the same song. Also, the recording sounds distant and muted. I get the assignment, listen to 1001 albums of note and rate them. For me sitting here in 2023, this sounds like crap. For a teen in 55 years ago in 1968 who got their hands on this album it may have blown their minds. And I’m glad I listened as this album helps me understand the evaluation of heavy metal and props to the band for being informative, playing what and how they wanted…helping create a whole new style. One star for me for the music One star for innovation
Good but another album that is more important from an historical standpoint than by the actual music it contains.
Not really my kind of psychedelic rock
This album is like going to the McDonald's fast food of psychedelic/garage rock. It does the job, but please, not everyday.
Ok. Didn't listen to it all, but I didn't really repel me or blow me away. The singing voice sometimes kinda reminded me of Janis Joplin which I wasn't really a big fan of. 6/10
Just felt like a Hendrix rip off of are you experienced
I never heard of these guys before, but what they were doing in 1968 sounds extremely similar to what Black Sabbath (a band I really love) were doing at the same time: heavily distorted, 'sludgy', psychedelic blues rock - the kind of music that was the starting point for heavy metal. Now I'm trying to put my finger on why I like this album so much less than Black Sabbath's debut. Honestly, I don't really know. Maybe the recording quality is not good enough, maybe the guitar hooks aren't catchy enough, maybe the vocals don't stand out from any other rock music of the time. Whatever it is, Blue Cheer just weren't what Black Sabbath was. I guess that's why I'd never heard of them before. 3.5 rounded up.
People say this is the first heavy metal album, but it doesn’t sound like heavy metal to me. Decent blues rock sound, kinda like the White Stripes. It may have been innovative for the time, but just okay today
This is such a clearly psychedelic blues album, but it's notable in how you can tell that metal would break off from here, and even how garage punk is in there, and how it presages the alternative scene in the late 80s through the 90s. Heavy fuzz-drenched guitar and bass matching riffs, with hard driving beats, and a lead singer that's practically screaming through the songs. The opening track is a psychedelic-soaked version of Summertime Blues. Rock Me Baby is a bluesy rocker. Doctor Please is an extended jam to see what you can do with fuzz and sustain. Out of Focus is the most interesting one of the lot. Parchment Farm starts with a more heavy, driving beat, has a breakup after a solo, and transforms into a slower jam with a hooky bass line in the middle, then returns to the heavier beat for the end. Probably the most head-bangable one of the album. Second Time Around wraps up the album with an epic double guitar noisefest solo and a drum solo. I can imagine many stereos being unplugged by angry parents on this one. Not really an album I'd reach for, but it's a good listen.
Never knew this existed. I can listen to this one again.
Only complaint - too short at 32 minutes it was over just as I was getting into it
Wow! Kind of a crazy album with LOTS of drums. Really felt like an unrefined Sabbath or Zeppelin. Very raw and I can see why it influenced a lot of the metal/rock but it wasn’t very fun to listen to. Definitely recorded in the late 60’s.
it was fine yknow? good stuff. weird and not good stuff. didn't care for how the album ended
An average pub band. Why is this on the list?
Dirty, swampy, blues. Approved.
Summertime Blues Out of Focus
Visceral, gutsy 60's rock that sounds like an early precursor to punk and metal. Not necessarily an easy listen, but a surprising one for sure.
Particularly cool if you're into heavier rock music. Blue Cheer get mixed credit for the specific legacy of this album (it either is or isn't one of the very first heavy metal albums, depending on the critic you ask), but the groove-heavy, blues-informed (it has a B.B. King cover, after all), fuzz-drenched power trio sound went far. You'll still hear this sound today in bands like Sleep and Queens of the Stone Age. Peterson (vox, bass), Stephens (guitar) and Whaley (what better name for a drummer?) thunder through music descended from the blues and 50s pop, but in a way that predates the relentlessness of punk (this is 1968, after all). Every piece of the band is audible, they have a genuine sense of dynamics and they start stop on a dime. It's psychedelic as hell, mind you: they meander and jam, they take liberties with covers (Summertime Blues opens the record in stellar fashion) and they write very clear drug anthems (Doctor, Please). Is it an utter masterpiece? No, it falls short there - sometimes a little less compelling, sometimes too focused on the guitar noodling and while Dickie Peterson is a capable singer (and genuinely screams to good effect at times), he's a little limited in range and not exactly Paul McCartney with the melodies. It's good. You should check it out. But for most people, it isn't Sgt. Pepper's -- just another important incremental step in the grand history of rock music.
I get it, this is how we get to heavy metal. But this is also the third album I’ve had where someone covers Summertime Blues
This sounds like Jack White made years before he was even born. I guess I just really like blues rock because I think this is good. Loud, messy, sludgy, and fun, but definitely far from perfect. Should be remastered.
3/5. A year before Black Sabbath’s first album, so I can see how they squeaked by and got the title for “First Heavy Metal Album.” This was an album I enjoyed, but is not nearly the album that Sabbath put out a year later.
When it started I was expecting something completely different then what came, it's more blues then heavy obviously, but I preferred this type of blues over the traditional, the vocals are very present but not taking anything away from the instruments I like short albums, the bands are down to business and are no bullshiters, they get the job done with few songs.
Já gostei da capa que me lembra bandas hippies, que curto muito. Espero que seja. 1. Oloco, música já fez dar aquela balançada na cabeça, da hora. 2. Incrível que quando tu vê que uma música puxa aquele ritmo clássico do rock dos anos 50, tu vai ver o título da música ou algo da letra e ele cita "Rock" HAUUHAUHA As músicas começam com um som massa, da hora de ouvir, bem a distorção hippie. Mas logo se tornam repetitivas. Dá pra ver que é bem a vibe woodstock mesmo, só meter umas notas muito louca pra galera nas dorgas pirar e achar que eles são bons músicos improvisando qualquer coisa. Eu ia dar 2 estrelas, mas como eu realmente curto essa vibe, vou dar 3.
Oxi, álbum com apenas 6 músicas, e velhão também, 1968. Já desde a primeira música, a pegada da banda me lembrou um pouco Deep Purple, e julgando pelas idades e semelhanças, talvez essa banda até tenha sido inspiração pro Deep Purple e pra muitos outros, quem sabe. (Pesquisei aqui e, de fato, aparentemente alguns até consideram essa banda a primeira banda de heavy metal do mundo) E ao longo do álbum de fato vai dando essa percepção de que esse som é familiar, mesmo nunca tendo ouvido essa banda antes. Acho que talvez isso seja uma boa evidência de que esse álbum deve ter sido importante e fundamental para o que temos hoje. Apesar de que ele em sí ainda soa muito bagunçado, como se eles ainda tivessem juntando ideias aleatórias e tentando construir algo novo com aquilo, que provavelmente é exatamente o que está acontecendo. Mais tarde isso possibilitaria músicas épicas, mas por enquanto ainda parece só uma bagunça danada mesmo, bem... cru e primitivo, eu diria. É complicado avaliar álbuns assim.. Apesar de eu não ter curtido as músicas, dado a importância delas, soa injusto dar a mesma nota que outros álbuns que não significaram nada, então vou nas 3 estrelas mesmo. Mas se esse álbum fosse de 10 ou 20 anos depois, provavelmente seria 2 estrelas.
Interesting “between genres” vibes at first but then got too overly Hendrixian and metal.
Kinda scary. Kinda bad. Kinda jam
Kicks ass. Cant believe I’ve never heard this album.
a couple jams but can't see coming back to it
In 1968 this must have scared people half to death. This is such a heavy record, the distorted fuzz tone of the guitar and banshee like vocal make it a chaotic 32 minutes of rock madness. I can see why this is in the list. Is it the first true hard rock/heavy metal record. The Sabs might be credited with the innovators of metal but Iommi must have heard Blue Cheer at some point.
Vincebus? I'd rather listen to the Vengabus. More "turn on, tune in, drop out" shite.
5/10 Nice sound, lacking nice songs
This was a lot more noisy fun than I was expecting In a Venn diagram sweet spot of blues, metal, and psychedelic rock
Idk what this music makes me want to do but it's something. Maybe shrooms. Maybe blow. Maybe just kick someone's ass. Idk but I dig it
This album is partly why I was looking forward to this 1,001 albums generator, to find new music. Blue Cheer is awesome. Downloaded the album, love it.
just so.
one of the pioneers of heavy metal. this album have a rough and heavy sound for 1968. love the psychadelic stuff
It had its good moments, but overall this one was a flop for me. I found the repetitive vocals annoying along with at least half of the guitar solos: a bad combo for this genre!
Accidentally spoiled it with some global reviews. I like this phrasing: "stands out more because of when it happened than what it's doing." The drummer was going crazy a lot of the time but keeps a darn good metronome. Respect.
couldn't make it thru the first song. it sounds like it was recorded inside a fishbowl
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.
AJ: more bluesy San Fransychodelica. Wiki says they were an early influence on metal, can see that. These kids were on the pot.
Standard '60s blues with less impressive vocalist.
Not for me, 70's grungey
Feel like I’ve heard this album 100 different times by different artists.
I’m assuming this album is considered ahead of its time but that didn’t make it enjoyable to listen to. I don’t think you can say this is better than, or vastly different to cream or Hendrix who released albums the year before. I don’t really see the Sabbath comparisons either. They may have been an influence but the first sabbath album was darker and better produced and the songwriting was infinitely better. This just seemed like a blues rock album in comparison.
This is one of the most blown out and outrageously fuzzy albums I've heard from the 60's so far. But I'm not gonna lie. I have definitely heard more interesting, and just flat out better psych rock before. This feels a little bit like a one trick pony type of deal. Because this is such an early, primitive form of heavy metal, the guitar overwhelms everything else, and the bass and drums kind of fall behind in comparison. And every song sounds like this. It is just a little overwhelming at some points when all you are hearing is this spine shaking guitar blowing everything out. Rating: 5/10
I thought Black Sabbath invented heavy metal, but this predates Sabbath's debut by two years. Like that record, this is heavy blues and still sounds good today. Rating: 3/5 Playlist track: Summertime Blues Date listened: 11/10/23
Captures rock of its era
Yeah put this in the bin.
SO - Summertime Blues, Rock Me Baby
US proto blues metal. They're no Sabbath! However I like the narrow vision of basic hard blues. Bet they were great live
Didn't do it for me. Not much to say about it. Happy it exists, though. + Doctor Please
I really enjoyed this album and I’m surprised that they never got popular. Though I suppose they were outshined by some of their contemporaries in the psychedelic rock. I’ll be checking out their other works for sure.
That was impressive for the time
just meh...don't really enjoy proto metal all that much. This is basically more of the same. 1.5/5
As much as i like music from this era, this wasn't for me
Cream en moins bien imho
more like blue cheese lol (cramptés)
Considering this was released at the beginning of 1968, these guys are rocking pretty hard. 3.5 stars.
I liked it 3.5 stars
Ooh that's an album you can smell isn't it. Noodly guitar psychedelia.
Wow, totally unhinged heavy rock. Summertime Blues really sets the scene. Doctor Please is a trip unto itself.
Proto-metal, yeah, fun! I'm more familiar with the UK proto-metal side of things, so it's nice to be introduced to some US stuff. It's scuzzy and messy and it's got the attitude right, for sure. Fave track - "Summertime Blues" - I know it's a cover but it slaps more than anything else on the album...
Not gonna lie I was little afraid seeing another psychedelic genre album but that was a nice surprise.
No sublety about this. Loud, rocky, and ok i suppose. Banal lyrics though, and a feel of one trick ponies didn't endear them to me.
Sounds very much like Hendrix or Cream to me, not sure why it has any more right to be "early heavy metal" than either of those. Nothing wrong with it.
Meh. Nothing stood out to me.
one trick
Meh
Unexpected
Better album than I thought it would be. The guitaring is strong and it has a great best throughout. It's been added to my usual play list.
It may be very dated, but I think you get a pass when you are part of the reason a sound can be placed into time so easily.
An excellent example of something that needs to be on the list. I liked it, but more than anything, its historical position is more important.
hmm not for me
Instantly this made me think of the Stones but based on the dates maybe some of that influence went both directions
The riffs aren't great and it all comes off like a Hendrix ripoff. I don't see how this album birthed heavy metal when Black Sabbath (and even Steppenwolf!) exists.
I’d never heard of this lot before and while it’s obvious that they were one of the progenitors of early Hard Rock then why have they not been quoted or played more. Possibly because they’re just not that interesting- I did like their cover of Summertime Blues and the album was mercifully short.
The first song is familiar and a classic and the second song reminded me of Led Zeppelin but all the songs after that were not good at all. I just read the Wikipedia review that said that this was the precursor of heavy metal so I guess that makes it something that should be listened to. Unless you are one of the people who doesn’t like heavy metal at all, in which case this would have been the album that a time traveler from the future would’ve gone back and destroyed so that heavy-metal never existed. So, while I am glad that this album existed for the future of heavy-metal, I still didn’t like it so much
Ok, I'm good with noisy rock, but this was tough. I get the historical significance — these guys were pioneers in the "ear-bleed-blues-rock" category. But a remedial take on the blues cranked up to 11 does not make for a great album. They pave all the nuance out of everything and leave a flat scorched earth in their wake. I kept thinking of Disaster Area, the loudest rock band in the galaxy (from The Hitchhiker's Guide) and wonder if Douglas Adams was thinking of these guys when he came up with that bit.
I dug the overall vibe of this, though I wish the songwriting was a bit more interesting. But for three guys, they sure make a fuck-ton of noise, which I can appreciate.
Nope. Mediocre, basic, and screamy. I already decided this was a 1 and then it was confirmed by "All I did was shoot my wife."
It’s like not liking trifle, but liking cake, jam, custard and cream separately. It’s not even that they don’t work together, there’s just not enough definition for me
Guitar go brrrrr
Certainly not bad, but it would be far from my first choice if I wanted to listen to hard rock from this era. The guitar work is well done, and I can appreciate how this would have sounded novel and creative at the time. Unfortunately, it's not the sort of album that has held up well over time.
Un poco lo que esperaba de este lista, pero eso no lo hace menos turra.
Geluisterd aan de waterkant. Soms erg lekker, soms net iets er over qua chaos. Niet erg memorabel.
Interesting, but not great.
Proto heavy metal. It's pretty average, though.
This felt like the lovechild of Cream and Black Sabbath, in a good way. Everything on this record felt like just heavy psychedelic rock, but a lot of it felt very rough and unpolished, like a band first coming into their own. The first two cover tracks in particular were the best here, as they already were established songs which they put their ideas on, like a paint by numbers where you decide to choose your own colors. The rest of the record sort of suffers from the songwriting not being that good, but the talent was there.
Starts off great, but kind of hard to miss when the first two songs are covers. Solid covers. Got me jamming for sure. The rest is kind of nice, reminds me of Hendrix a lot, but sloppier. There is a distinct underproduced way it sits in your ears when using headphones, but I overlook that easily. It's got some nice sounds, the songwriting could use some help I think, and some parts could have ended sooner I think. I don't know. It's OK. 3.
Don’t remember it
# 39 : good thing it is only short, lots of noise of distorted riffs and heavy drumming. Not much of a song / album structure.
I like this one, not to long and at the beginning really fun, but I don’t like all the songs.. 3,8
Doors bullshit. No thanks.
Du bon vieux rock, la touche blues se prend bien. Clairement on comprends l'aspect précusseur metal de leur musique car ça sonne définitivement lourd pour l'époque. Un bon classique à revisiter. 7/10