Steppenwolf – STEPPENWOLF****

Sookie Sookie/Everybody’s Next One/Berry Rides Again/Hootchie Cootchie Man/Born To Be Wild/Your Wall’s Too High/Desperation/The Pusher/A Girl I Knew/Take What You Need/The Ostrich

Self titled debut album from Los Angeles hard rock group Steppenwolf, Includes the biker anthem Born To Be Wild, a US No. 2 hit single memorably featured in the film Easy Rider. (US:6)

"Try to imagine the huge impression produced by this original band in the late sixties with such an innovative and original musical approach. The Pusher and Born To Be Wild were an authentic explosion of newness, filled with inspiration. In this sense I think this was the most solid and auspicious debut of a rock band up to that date."

"The early American hard rock hippies - this record is a glorious mix of freaked out acid-tinged organ-tinted guitar-soaked songs including moments of glorious clarity like the furious Pusher. Steppenwolf soar with political angst and tie-dyed glory. Then there's the unique and unforgettable singing of John Kay. He differs from most of today's male rock singers in that he tries and succeeds at sounding far older and more worldly than a man just out of his teens has any right to. Shifting from pop balladeer to blistering blues shouter, John Kay is easily one of the finest singers the classic rock era ever produced."

"Virtually the first band to shape a convincing, modern hard rock sound. This is an exceptionally fully realised pioneering hard rock album that (unusually) rocks throughout. Stylistically definitive with an excellent rhythm guitar sound. Very consistent with no weak material. The lyrics too are excellent by rock standards."

"Steppenwolf stood out from the 'groovy peace and love' bands of the late '60s. They dressed like hippies, but there was a rougher, darker interior lurking beneath, which comes through in their music."

"An excellent example of late '60s hard rock, just as heavy metal music was beginning to lace itself into the rock and roll genre. The best cuts are the rebellious counter-culture anthem Born To Be Wild and the anti-drug The Pusher."

"A perennial favourite at virtually every party I attended. Though semi-commercially oriented, this is clearly acid driven hard rock, essential for any psych collection.”