Stone the Crows "Teenage Licks"

Reviewed by Ian Rush Polydor

Stone The Crows are a British rock group fronted by Maggie Bell on vocals. She has been compared to the late Janis Joplin, but Maggie Bell's vocals have a charm and sincerity not always evident with Joplin. This L.P. is the third released by this group, and certainly they are more polished and tight knit in playing. The current line up is Les Harvey (guitar), Steve Thompson (bass), Ronnie Leahy (Keyboards), Colin Allern (percussion). Musically the band are showing more progressive, driving riffs than formerly. There is much less influence of soul music Which was evident in earlier albums.

Most of the tracks on the album comprise original material In fact the other two tracks Dont Think Twice (Dylan) and Ailen Mochree (Scottish traditional) are probably the least effective tracks on the record. Keep On Rollin is a straightforward rock song, in the Delaney/Bonnie style, in which The Beat goes on. One Five Eight is probably the best track which opwns with electronic spacey sounds, followed by fuzzed out guitar and powerful vocals from Bell. The track has an evil funky feel and good lyrics. One Five Eight was written by the groups former Organist. I may be right, I may be wrong is another simple rocker; a good time un-complicated song which would probably appeal to those who like Delaney/Leon Russell/Joe Cocker type music.

Stone The Crows present an exciting, driving type of rock music. Although an accomplished and tight group the emphasis of the musicians is always to provide a solid background of rhythm and to feature the powerful voice of Maggie Bell. There are no lead-breaks or freak-outs but plenty of driving solid rock sounds suited equally for listening or moving to.

Stone The Crows still retain the driving solid percussive background of sould music yet they have also a subtlness and artistry which make them one of the best bands in Britain today.

Led Zeppelin Atlantic/HMV

Reviewed by David McLatchie

Its been close to a year now since our ears were blessed with a new package of Led Zeppelin's distinctive sound. Continual engineering errors have delayed the completion of their fourth album, the one with the unpronounceable name. They began recording as early as December 1970 Happily, though expectedly, this record is as good as its immediate predecessor, but it is also a decided departure from the dominating-heavy-rock with emphasis on lead guitar and the unique voice of Robert Plant, to a larger role for rhythm and bass with more modulated singing. On tracks such as The Battle of Evermore and Stairway to Heaven Plant's voice is certainly sweeter, even gentle in parts. There seems to be strong influence in the album, from the romantic-epic ballad style of Fairpoint Convention and especially Fotheringay. Whether this is a result of Sandy Denny's presence on The Battle of Evermore track, or whether it has resulted in her presence, its impossible to say. But anyway she is there, and I for one am delighted to hear her duelling it with Plant.

There are 8 tracks in all, beginning with Black Dog, which is in traditional Zeppelin style with difficult lead guitar riffs and breaks in the music as Plant sings each rhyming couplet, much the way is goes in Dazed and Confused and You Shock Me, though perhaps not as memorable as these latter two songs, Black Dog is still an excellent track.

Then Zeppelin go womb-hunting with a rock 'n roll number entitled Rock 'n Roll - what else? The result is a pleasant, beat-ey track that sounds like a cross between Chuck Berry and early Beatles, with the Zepp. flavouring that Plant always imparts. It seems that many groups, having established themselves in one great idiom, then turn to airing several styles on the one album. Ten Years After, with their Watt album are another example of this. And in the case of both T.Y.A. and Led Zeppelin perform an old Memphis Minnie/ Kansas Joan McCoy song, (though with their own arrangement), called When the Levee Breaks - they do it well too.

Following Rock 'n Roll comes The Battle of Evermore, yet another song springing, I would guess, the Tolkien-like legend-myth-fairy story base. As mentioned, Sandy Denny sings in this one, and Jimmy Page mandolines away a solid accompanying melody. Stairway to Heaven is next; its quite a plaintive song emphasized by acoustic guitar - the lyrics (written by Plant) are the essential part of this track - they are printed on the dust cover so make of them what you will. Misty Mountain Hop, first track on Side Two reverts to a heavier sound and this is maintained into Four Sticks so-called simply because John Bonham used 4 drumsticks at once. Going to California is another acoustic number. It reminds me of Ralph McTell and the lonely minstrel image, and it reveals the range of Led Zeppelin in comparison to such one-track heavy groups as Grand Funk Railroad,

This seems an exploratory album with fun numbers like Rock 'n Roll thrown in. Though it doesn't have the impact the Zeppelin 1 and 2 had, tho' it doesn't stun you like Whole Lotto Love still does, this is an excellent record and is certainly worth emptying the wallet: It is not so long since Led Zeppelin was in some danger of breaking up. This has now passed and Zepp. is more cohesive than ever. Also, there is a large amount of material on tape, so another album can be expected reasonably soon.