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Thread: Lucifer's Friend - Banquet

  1. #1

    Lucifer's Friend - Banquet

    I've been listening to some Lucifer's Friend, and I like their jazz rock better than the heavy prog stuff.

    Wild Vines Music

    Still trying to identify this music (updated link):
    Unknown Track

  2. #2
    This album KILLS. I love it big time, nice post man. Although it doesn't get as much love from me as my first exposure to them, Where the Groupies Killed the Blues, it ranks a very close second. Very different style, and really well done.

  3. #3
    Really like this one, but it's not even a tiny spec on the radar of the magnum opus of sheer brilliance that is Where The Groupies Killed The Blues.

  4. #4
    éí 'aaníígÓÓ 'áhoot'é Don Arnold's Avatar
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    Thanks for sharing the link. I've been aware of this group for years and seen the name here and there, but had always dismissed them. I think it was the band's name, that led to false impressions of "what's inside the container". Anyway, pretty decent slab of music!

  5. #5
    They have got to be the most infuriating band for collectors starting out to examine their back catalogue. A real “lady or the tiger” situation, you never know what you’re going to get:

    • Lucifer’s Friend: Pretty much straight-up LZ/DP style hard rock. Heavier than most, a pretty surprising album.
    • Where Groupies Killed the Blues: A bizarre and most unique mix of LZ-style heaviness and Gentle Giant-style complex prog. There’s lots of odd time signatures, twelve-tone rows, extremely surprising musical arrangements and whatnot to be found here. Comparisons to Uriah Heep are blatantly unfair, UH never came anywhere close to this level of sophistication and musical refinement (I always thought any “prog” tendencies UH were purported to have were mere window-dressing, anyway). Ignore the cheesy, un-promising title and give this a try.
    • I’m Just a Rock & Roll Singer: Jeeezzzzz...what the hell happened? Suddenly, they want to be Grand Funk Railroad? With brass and female backing vocals? Yuck! There is one track (“Song for Louie”) which throws in a clichéd synth/Mellotron freakout that sounds like a throwaway from the last album but other than that, pretty much insufferable, dunderheaded boogie-rock. The title song is so overloaded with rock & roll clichés it’s almost hilarious. Of course, this album also contains “Blind Freedom,” a totally unexpected left turn into jazz-fusion territory, which leads to...
    • Banquet: Where the hell did this come from? Mega-bombastic orchestrated jazz-prog epic, think Genesis-meets-Lighthouse as arranged by Gil Evans maybe? Totally over the top and rather wonderful, actually.
    • Mind Exploding: You’d think, given the title and bizarre cover art, this would be another dumb hard rock album but no, it’s more or less a return to the hard rock-meets-prog style of WTGKTB, but not quite that good. Get after you get that one and Banquet.
    • Good Time Warrior: Oh, stupid boogie rock, there you are! Again, some of these songs are so dumb, it’s hilarious. And of course, this album also contains one of their finest ever prog epics in the ten-minute album-closer “Warriors.” The proggy power-ballad “My Love” is quite nice as well. The rest of the album is a total wash, but it may be worth it for those two tracks alone.



    I fell off the LF wagon after that, but I understand that the rest of their output is straight-up AOR except for Mean Machine, which apparently goes for a NWOBHM sound.

    -------------
    MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

    "It is not an obscenity to be free. It is a divine right." --Annette Peacock

    N.P.:“You’re Holding Me Too Tight”-Kiki Dee/Stay With Me

  6. #6
    Banquet was a bit too hokey for me after hearing Where the Groupies Killed the Blues. Just stylistically it was hokey for me ..not to state it was a bad album. Back in the late 70's a bootleg tape had surfaced in the U.S. ..which was a concert/soundboard recording of Lucifer's Friend. It featured more piano than organ as they ran through songs like "Rose On The Vine", "Mother", and "Prince Of Darkness". Back in the early 70's a vendor named the "Blind Jogger" had been a sound tech/roadie for internationally known European Rock bands and he transfered many shows on to cassette. The musicians in the band sounded Classically trained and especially the keyboardist. There is something within their image/music that sets off a vibe of dark humour. Only on the surface were they predictable..as there was something else about them which ran deeper. They either chose to sell out a bit more or..they were under pressure to. They were above average musicians and could tow the line easily if that were the case. I can vision them backing Sonja Kristina (name wrong?) on "Piece Of Mind".

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Enid View Post
    Banquet was a bit too hokey for me after hearing Where the Groupies Killed the Blues. Just stylistically it was hokey for me ..not to state it was a bad album. Back in the late 70's a bootleg tape had surfaced in the U.S. ..which was a concert/soundboard recording of Lucifer's Friend. It featured more piano than organ as they ran through songs like "Rose On The Vine", "Mother", and "Prince Of Darkness". Back in the early 70's a vendor named the "Blind Jogger" had been a sound tech/roadie for internationally known European Rock bands and he transfered many shows on to cassette. The musicians in the band sounded Classically trained and especially the keyboardist. There is something within their image/music that sets off a vibe of dark humour. Only on the surface were they predictable..as there was something else about them which ran deeper. They either chose to sell out a bit more or..they were under pressure to. They were above average musicians and could tow the line easily if that were the case. I can vision them backing Sonja Kristina (name wrong?) on "Piece Of Mind".
    LF were session musicians, this was just one of their gigs. I understand some of the band members actually played in James Last’s band! John Lawton moonlighted as a member of the pop-gospel group Les Humphries Singers:



    They did a mess of “exploitation” albums for the Europa label under a bunch of fake names. The most sought after are the two “progsploitation” albums by the Pink Mice (rocked-up classical covers more or less in the ELP style):



    -------------
    MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

    "It is not an obscenity to be free. It is a divine right." --Annette Peacock

    N.P.:“Where Is Your Love”-Irrwisch/In Search Of

  8. #8
    I wish those Lucifers Friend albums would be re-released on CD. They have been available, but I don't think they are still available at this moment.
    I only have their self-titled one and a DVD with a recording of their Rockpalast performance.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Rarebird View Post
    I wish those Lucifers Friend albums would be re-released on CD. They have been available, but I don't think they are still available at this moment.
    All of them up to and including Mind Exploding were reissued by Repertoire in the 90s. All of those editions are way out of print (and frequently pirated as CD-Rs). I lucked into CD copies of the first two (the original Repertoire edition of the first album featured all their non-album single tracks as bonus tracks. All their B-sides are cool, proggy instrumentals and worth hearing). As for the others...I’m somewhat fortunate I live in the US, where used vinyl copies are rather common. The later (Elektra) albums were all briefly available on CD, but these seem to be even rarer.

    -------------
    MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

    "Parece cosa de maligno. Los pianos no estallan por casualidad." --Gabriel Garcia Marquez

    N.P.:“Energy (Out of Future)”-Supersister/To the Highe$t Bidder

  10. #10
    It's ambitious album, but not very consistent. I feel this could be said about most of LF 1971-1976 outputs, by exception of debut maybe. Banquet is better than third, I'm Just A RnR Singer, but inferior to WTGKTB and debut.
    Though on third album there's fantastic Song For Louie.

  11. #11
    Member Mythos's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JeffCarney View Post
    Really like this one, but it's not even a tiny spec on the radar of the magnum opus of sheer brilliance that is Where The Groupies Killed The Blues.
    x2...!

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Progbear View Post
    All of them up to and including Mind Exploding were reissued by Repertoire in the 90s. All of those editions are way out of print (and frequently pirated as CD-Rs). I lucked into CD copies of the first two (the original Repertoire edition of the first album featured all their non-album single tracks as bonus tracks. All their B-sides are cool, proggy instrumentals and worth hearing). As for the others...I’m somewhat fortunate I live in the US, where used vinyl copies are rather common. The later (Elektra) albums were all briefly available on CD, but these seem to be even rarer.

    -------------
    MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

    "Parece cosa de maligno. Los pianos no estallan por casualidad." --Gabriel Garcia Marquez

    N.P.:“Energy (Out of Future)”-Supersister/To the Highe$t Bidder
    Exactly, so I would think it was time for new re-releases. (Esoteric?)

  13. #13
    Member TheH's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Progbear View Post
    LF were session musicians, this was just one of their gigs. I understand some of the band members actually played in James Last’s band! John Lawton moonlighted as a member of the pop-gospel group Les Humphries Singers:



    They did a mess of “exploitation” albums for the Europa label under a bunch of fake names. The most sought after are the two “progsploitation” albums by the Pink Mice (rocked-up classical covers more or less in the ELP style):



    -------------
    MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

    "It is not an obscenity to be free. It is a divine right." --Annette Peacock

    N.P.:“Where Is Your Love”-Irrwisch/In Search Of
    That maybe strange for other countries but everybody in Germany would know how the guy in the red top Standing behind Lawton in the Les Humphries Singers vid is.
    The James Last band easlily toped the German Charts in the 70s with whatever they released.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Progbear View Post
    LF were session musicians, this was just one of their gigs. I understand some of the band members actually played in James Last’s band! John Lawton moonlighted as a member of the pop-gospel group Les Humphries Singers:



    They did a mess of “exploitation” albums for the Europa label under a bunch of fake names. The most sought after are the two “progsploitation” albums by the Pink Mice (rocked-up classical covers more or less in the ELP style):



    -------------
    MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

    "It is not an obscenity to be free. It is a divine right." --Annette Peacock

    N.P.:“Where Is Your Love”-Irrwisch/In Search Of
    This is a very odd vid you've posted. Can't say that I was ever aware of it. I have the 2 on 1 cd of the Pink Mice and I believe it is essential for any fan of the first 2 Lucifer's Friend albums. Thanks for posting the vid!

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