At Your Birthday Party – STEPPENWOLF***

Don’t Cry/Chicken Wolf/Lovely Meter/Round & Down/Its Never Too Late/Sleeping Dreaming/Jupiter Child/She’ll Be Better/Cat Killer/Rock Me/God Fearing Man/Mango Juice/Happy Birthday

At Your Birthday Party was the third album from hard rock band Steppenwolf in little more than a year. Includes the US No. 10 hit single Rock Me. Big in the States during the late sixties, they made much less of an impact in Britain. (US:7)

"The stand-out tracks are Rock Me and It's Never Too Late. However, the real highlights on this album are the unexpected diamonds in the rough that showcase Steppenwolf's surprisingly diverse palette. One track, Cat Killer, is a short, adrenaline-laced boogie-woogie piano workout; and another, Mango Juice, is a spacey, mellow jam. The rest is fairly standard stuff that does not necessarily display much creativity on the band's part."

"Steppenwolf's third album was a disappointment after their strong first two efforts. Although there are a few decent tracks there's just a lack of cohesion to the album. It just feels like Steppenwolf grabbed outtakes or songs rejected from their first two LPs and released this to meet some contractual obligation. It's not a bad album, it's just unfocused and meandering."

"Another killer effort from one of the seminal rock bands of the late 60s. There are some real nuggets here and some filler but its still a pretty good slice of what hard rock was like in 1969."

"Three stellar tracks, Rock Me, It's Never Too Late and Jupiter Child, surrounded by some of the worst filler I've ever heard. Even the band disowned this one. John Kay blames it on the lousy contract they signed, that required two albums a year. A near impossible task with all the concert obligations they had to fill. However, the three songs above are so good, they carry the album and make it worth owning."

"Seems like they spread it out more by trying different approaches. So it seems anyone expecting to rock on this album was probably disappointed, and anyone who doesn't mind ballads or pop like me can find something to enjoy."