Customer Reviews

April Wine

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Here we see the Wine as a democratic unit, before Myles' good sense took over and the Henmans eventually all left. Although one could easily dismiss most this album as fodder (as the All-Music Guide reviewer states above), there is a little bit more than meets the eye. Recorded soon after the band's move to Montreal, the album seems to be influenced a great deal from Montreal's music scene at that time. "Listen Mister" comes across as a non-classical prog number that remains a very entertaining listen, mixing fast-rock sections with laid-back, shimmering moments, with samba-rock a la Santana and some 3/4 rock thrown in for the extended solo section. That said, however, "Fast Train" and "Listen Mister" (coincidentally, Myles' two songs on the album, not counting the band-writted "Wench") are perhaps the best quarter of the album. "Oceana" only ceases to be embarrassing when one realizes April Wine were not the only group dabbling in post-psychedelia... and not necessarily succeeding in the process. "Can't Find the Town" and "Song for Mary" seem like a wandering folkie wandered into the studio during the band's lunch break and quickly recorded two numbers. "Page Five" may be the most progressive moment on the album, but not necessarily the best. (One notices at least half the album is plagued by weak vocals by the Henmans.) "Time" sees Myles regain lead vocal duties, albeit on a song not written by him. A blues-rock number similar to early Iron Butterfly (only more somber in its choice of chords), at least the band plays a better card walking out than it did walking it with "Oceana". Faced with this varied set, one wonders what would have become of the group had they chosen a different direction... say, the interesting prog leanings. Though later tracks such as "Electric Jewels" and "Child's Garden" still flirted with non-classical progressive notions, most Henman contributions were kept away from the albums. Though perhaps a wise move (in light of this album), this relegated enjoyable tracks such as "Teacher" (another prog-friendly number) and "I Get Bad" (a T-Rex pastiche) to single B-sides. I was able to enjoy April Wine live in concert Friday night, and I'm _not_ _complaining_ about any of the choices Myles made, all of which made April Wine a much better rock band. ("Electric Jewels" rocks!)

This record is perhaps worth getting simply because it has forgotten gem of "Can't Find The Town" on it. "Fast Train" is also a hit but it is available on some compilations while "Can't Find The Town" is absolutely beautiful song that disappeared from the face of the earth and was never heard of since. Some of the other songs mostly closer to the end of the album while not as stunning are still enjoyable.

The more I listen to these guys, the more I like them. Certainly they were overshadowed in their time by rocks greats, even in their home country Canada they were overshadowed perhaps by better bands. They got pretty heavy at times, and that is one of their appeals. Growing out of pyscahdelia, they seemd to go for the hook heavy riff rock. The album is solid throughout, with some heavy sets.

I love cranking this album...through all the well crafted songs and waiting till it kicks in. And it does. Production is decent.

A good purchase for the hard-rock collector.

It woulnt earn the fourth star in its day, but it hold up much of todays overall weaker music, earning it a 4th star.

April Wine had a few more good albums. On the Record was even better than this prehpas there heaviest. The whole worlds Going Crazy had its chunky moments was well, but also a few weak tracks. The band cheesed out and lost their edge somewhere in the 80s. I also think their record companies really screwed them. All you can really find is Greatest Hits and repackages of their tune. Please consider the original albums.

This is pretty good.

I'm honestly quite shocked and puzzled so many people believe April Wine's first album is such a weak effort- I personally believe it's a criminally underrated and unjustly forgotten early 70's rock album.

It's not even really a hard rock album like so many reviews claim it is either. Alright, it features a few hard rock moments of course, but it's not a *constant* emphasis on early hard rock.

For the most part the style here includes a little bit of blues and a touch of psychedelic rock among other things, but what's REALLY cool is how the sound the band is going for resembles *nothing* I've ever really heard before. I wouldn't even say it resembles most of the popular Canadian or American rock artists at the time.

"Oceana" opens the album on a really bizarre note. Probably influenced by the Moody Blues or even Sugarloaf, it's a REALLY psychedelic-sounding dreamy/hypnotic song. It's definitely not ordinary hard rock like some of the reviews try convincing me it is. No, it's clearly something very very different from most rock artists. The fact the song gradually progresses into some rather fascinating ideas over the course of its 5-minute run and every single one of those ideas works brilliantly means it's a severely underrated song.

"Page Five" reminds me of Captain Beyond in the vocal melody, but then the song completely switches in a new direction with bluesy guitar solos and just a REALLY good collection of notes darting around all over the place. It's not necessarily messy or sloppily written though- there's definitely some organization in the way the solos and vocals flow. It's just... very different. Sort of reminds me of the British rock band UFO and their Flying album (which was also released in '71). Some truly brilliant guitar soloing occurs at the 3:30 mark. The entire track is gold though.

"Listen Mister" seriously sounds about 10 years ahead of its time. The vocals resemble the party atmosphere of the early 80's heavy metal scene. The only difference -perhaps a HUGE difference- is that the lead singer is really trying hard to create something here that connects with the listener. It works beautifully. He's practically crying as he sings the line "Why you're so afraid to reason". This particular melody is REALLY darn good. The way the guitar tastefully follows the vocal melody leads me to think these guys had something special right from the very beginning. More Captain Beyond influences come into play again with the dreamy guitar bit near the 4-minute mark.

"Song for Mary" strikes me on a VERY personal level. The band Thin Lizzy attempted the same kind of deep emotional message on their debut with a song called "Dublin", and perhaps "Song for Mary" was an influence, and you know, perhaps it's even better than the Thin Lizzy classic. It also reminds me of an old Elton John song but ENOUGH with these comparisons- this song stands on its own very well.

"Wench" is a unique track for the way the guitar playing soars while still maintaining a bluesy feel, and the vocal melody is definitely what I consider pure quality along with the lyrics pertaining to women. "Time" is just extremely melodic with a stomping blues rhythm and features funny lyrics about teasing a girl. "Can't Find the Town" has that devastatingly heavy atmosphere to it that feels VERY serious and sincere, and the piano playing has that distinctly moving haunting feeling that makes it even more mysterious how this is supposed to qualify as ordinary hard rock. What?

Albums like this reveal why combining blues with hard rock and psychedelic elements is such a *fantastic* idea- the songwriting possibilities feel sort of endless. This band clearly had potential with this release whether most people realize it or not. An album that will continue to be my hidden treasure of satisfaction that hardly nobody has heard of. April Wine clearly had the right ingredients to be on the same level as other hard rock bands at the time such as the James Gang, Humble Pie and Trapeze.

This has one of the worst album covers ever. Feet! this band has never been able to put a bottle of 'april wine' on their covers and it seems like a obvious choice. Oh well the music is much better with a mix of styles, including some psych rock and hard rock etc that has some fine moments. This isn't as good as their next discs up to 'forever for now' I rate them all five star wine efforts till then. But it's still april wine and worth owning for fans of this band. In fact it's enjoyable to hear a bands early stuff I believe, to see how they were trying to come together and it's obvious that myles goodwin is going to be the powerhouse of this band even from this point.