Thank Christ for the Bomb

Completely unfamiliar with this, started listening before I looked it up and wasn't sure at all whether it was actually old or aggressively retro. Reminded me of a lot of things, generally I guess British blues rock not surprisingly, though it had a certain twist, shades of Beefheart maybe and other things I couldn't quite put my finger on. Jammier portions even reminiscent of Velvet Underground. Taken altogether rather unique, and very good.

Great band name, great album title. I know Steve Malkmus from Pavement is a fan of The Groundhogs and listening to this record, I can definitely hear their influence on his music - particularly on his albums with The Jicks, like Real Emotional Trash or Pig Lib. Overall this is a pretty fucking rad album with a unique, proggy blues vibe and some white hot guitar solos. An easy 4 on first listen, gonna give it a few more listens to see if it should be upped up to a 5.

An 1970 concept album about the great war. The blues rock music with some psychedelic accents sounds nice with some good guitar licks. The songs are fine, but not great and the lead vocals are weak.

No idea what this could be. Let's find out. Ok, sounds like something you'd expect from 1970. Sounds like a mix of other bands I've heard from the time - Zeppelin, Sabbath, Cream etc. Psychedelic, a little proggy, a little bluesy. Nothing wrong with it, tbh. Lots of nice little lead breaks. Might have to test this while stoned tonight. 3/5.

This was really good. Surprisingly, hadn't heard of them before. 4 stars.

Two takeaways before I even listened to this record: - First time the generator shows me a user's album that hasn't been rated by anyone yet. This is exciting... - Very, VERY few black artists on the highest-rated list of albums from this user (only Youssou N'Dour, represented through "Immigrés", along with The Specials and Orange Juice -- where black musicians were only a tiny minority of the players, mind you). Guess that under that light, I wasn't really surprised to see lots and lots of hip hop artists in that person's worst albums list. "Loser-culture," goes that user when giving a miraculous 2/5 grade to 2Pac. OK boomer? What are you *truly* meaning here? *This* isn't exciting. It's actually quite depressing... About the album proper now: "Strange Town" is an excellent opener, driven and intense. However, the two tracks that follow are just decent British blues-rock that actually sounds a lot like Jimi Hendrix, yet *without the magical spark*. What takes the cake here is that this user also kind of shat on Jimi's whole artistry in one of their reviews! Where do you think the blues came from, huh? Local pubs in Sheffield? Think again. I swear to God that I *really* wrote my first two takeaways without listening to this record. So when I listened to its first leg, I thought: "The nerve this user has, frankly". Because beyond the subjective taste expressed here (no harm in that, of course), the picture painted here suggests hypocrisy that's a little maddening. If not worse... Tried hard to judge the record on its own merits, though -- and fortunately the title-track was striking enough to... put me back on track, so to speak. Made out of two sections -- one acoustic and one epic -- this song about the woes of war is where the early prog influences finally seep in to great effects. We're not so far from early seventies Procol Harum turf, but pulled off in an even more off-kilter fashion if that makes sense. "Ship On The Ocean" displays more streamlined blues-rock shenanigans again, but in quite a convincing manner. And "Garden" is another stunner whose slide guitar may recall Jimmy Page's artistry in Led Zeppelin, which is another "worst act" in that user's summary, by the way (sigh). Was cultural appropriation the issue this user takes with Led Zep? Looks unlikely. But I digress again... The vocals on "Garden" go to a very different, more understated place, though, and it's somewhat refreshing. "Status People" digs that Zeppelin groove further before "Rich Man, Poor Man" returns to the Jimi Hendrix vein. Closing the proceedings, "Eccentric Man" goes to even heftier intents, with a catchy vocal hook and an awesome guitar lick for the chorus. So in spite of my strong complaints up there, I'm really glad to have discovered this record and the band who released it. The start is a little too derivative, but The Groundhogs later proved to me that they had something very personal going on for them -- something which they even later amplified in subsequent releases, apparently to various effects. *Split* is great overall -- like a British response to Spirit's own alchemy of blues rock and prog -- whereas *Who Will Save The World?* appears as more heavy-handed and thin-sounding, quite unfortunately. But I guess that's a story for another time, kiddies. To conclude, I want to thank this user for submitting this record, while encouraging them to open their own shakras in the future so as to not come off as out of their depth to an extent. At the end of the day, everyone will have their preferences in genres or in acts from certain music genres. But you don't want to appear as prejudiced to defend those preferences, believe me. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 4. 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 3.5). ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ----- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 39 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 47 (including this one) Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 94 ---- Émile, as-tu lu ma dernière réponse sous la review de "Chet" ?

Never heard of this band before, but this sort of blues rock is right up my street. Straight into my frequent rotation.

Rocking tunes, very nice

If there was a prize for most American-sounding British band these guys would win it hands-down.

Underrated heavy rock.

This one of those would be great to put the vinyl on and have some beers with boys 70s rock albums

I like the user who compared the Groundhogs to the Velvet Underground. I mean, that's so incorrect, and yet it helped me approach this album from a different angle and appreciate it more. On the surface this was an enjoyable, well-played psychedelic-blues rock album that was maybe a little late to the game musically. But scattered in the mix are some surprisingly gnarly creative choices I really enjoyed, particularly in the jammier bits. Had the Groundhogs turned up the dial a little in one direction or another - just a little heavier, or just a little proggier, or just a little more avant garde - we would be having a completely different conversation about them in 2025. Nevertheless, the music was excellent and I enjoyed this quite a bit. It's the sort of under-heard work that I wish more people would submit to the group, so thanks for sharing it. Fave Songs: Strange Town, Thank Christ for the Bomb, Garden, Soldier, Darkness Is No Friend

Hey, that was a good bit of blues rock! Was expecting boring and was pleasantly surprised by some interesting chord progressions and an overall more adventurous aesthetic than I'm used to with the genre. Neat!

This was very easy to get into and enjoy! I liked the historical songs a lot.

This was great. It was reminiscent of a lot of stuff but definitely had its own unique styling. Great lyrics and vocals and lovely guitar work.

Finally something decent! A refreshing uplift after absolute dirge recently. This was spunky and fun. I liked it

Favorite songs: Garden, Strange Town, Ship on the Ocean, Status People, Eccentric Man, "Rich Man, Poor Man", Soldier Least favorite songs: Thank Christ for the Bomb 4/5

Thought this would be generic blues rock, but no, these guys got hit by the discombobulator. Has a uniquely fucky sound that made it stand out. Cool stuff.

Rating: 6/10 Best songs: Rich man poor man

Nice bluesrock album, but nothing too special

Kind of interesting with bits of psychedelia from a group I’ve never heard of before. Interesting!

All right album 3

In the 70s the anti war movement wasn’t nearly as strong as post Vietnam. This album was probably buried and not as popular for a reason. It’s a good 70s rock sound with deeper meaning in the songs than most at that time. Pretty good overall. 6.5/10

I personally do not thank Christ for the bomb

Interesting 70s’ rock LP with some great psych elements, felt a bit CAN-inspired at points. Lost a bit of steam on the back half, and not sure I’m getting the thematic content that’s supposed to be here, but the instrumentals were superb and just ragged enough to keep me interested until the end.

Hey ChatGPT please record a classic rock album

Blues rock, progressive rock, psychedelic. Ni fu ni fa.

Perfectly competent bluesy psych rock of a certain age, perhaps slightly above replacement level for 1970. Agree with the observations that his lot woulda been better served by differentiating themselves, a bit proggier, say, or folkier. That said, there are several strong guitar solos and strong drumming, too, but mostly indifferent, undistinguished vocals (one also “thanks christ for the bum.”) The “concept” (maybe it’s really just subject matter) would hit a little harder if the music actually sounded like 1914 (think Pink Floyd’s aural choices on The Final Cut). Doesn’t much move the needle musically or narratively (the muddy sound does not help), even factoring in the idea that this is not really one’s thing. The band seems at least somewhat justifiably forgotten. Can’t say it should definitely go to list proper but if it were traded Iron Butterfly, say, or Moby Grape, how many folks would even notice?

Sounded a little messy. I’m not sure if the intention was for something a little dirty, but the mixing on the opening track made it so difficult to understand the vocals. I remember there being long solos that were pretty cool, the lyrics were thoughtful, and the instrumentation slaps. The vocals aren’t the most unique out there, but they do the job. Production and mixing is mainly where my critiques lie. That and the whole album feels a little stale. Otherwise, enjoyed it very much. 3/5

Nice enough