Customer Reviews

Scorching Beauty/Sun & Steel

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

 

 

Of these two albums, remastered on one CD, Scorching Beauty (1974) largely doomed this band's attempt at a comeback. The album was undercut by weak vocals, lackluster songwriting and mediocre playing. By comparison, Sun and Steel (1975) was not bad at all, and marked a major change in direction. It featured dense instrumental arrangements, with multiple keyboard overdubs, and occasional orchestrations. The songs were much more progressive than anything the Iron Butterfly had previously attempted. Sun and Steel should have been more successful, but in the wake of the previous album, it failed to chart.

I am a fan of everything they did.

Please don't listen to this expecting In A Gadda Da Vida. This is similar to typical mid 70's rock.

Scorching Beauty came first and even in the words of drummer Ron Bushy, the keyboardist sucked. It does weaken even the best of songs (like High On A Mountain Top) Otherwise, Am I Down, Searchin Circles & Pearly Gates are awesome songs.

Sun & Steel is the better of the two. EVERY song is great! The ones eric Braunn doesn't sing are better. He was a shaky singer at best. But it adds a certain emotion to the songs so they are good! Sun & Steel, Beyond The Milky Way, Scion, I'm Right I'm Wrong, Watch The World Going By and Scorching Beauty are the best cuts!

THIS IS PURE CLASSIC ROCK GOLD!

I felt like writing a 4-star review because I felt like these albums could use a boost. They're decent 70's albums, and I get the feeling that they've caught a lot of bad press because people couldn't help but wonder, "what's the point? Aren't you guys permanently stuck in the 60's?" Well, quite frankly, Iron Butterfly never quite fit in during the 60's, either; despite their acid-rock image, they were really heavy for their time, and they really remind me more of Blue Oyster Cult than your average acid-rock band. They've also never been any better than a B-list band; their popularity was (probably, I wasn't there) based entirely upon people thinking it was cool to play the song "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" and sit around saying, "Wow, man, aren't we so hippieish?" Honestly, there were a lot of better acid-rock bands around, bands like the Baxter's-era Jefferson Airplane and Quicksilver Messenger Service (who devoted their live album "Happy Trails" to two massive acid-rock epics, one of which was a 23-minute(!) long version of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love(!!!))

So, let's forget about the acid-rock image and consider the elements left behind: an early, organ-driven, proto-metal minded group who sounded a bit like a 60's rock version of Blue Oyster Cult (themselves a metal-influenced, keyboard-driven arena rock group) with maybe a little Pink Floyd thrown in the mix for good measure. Now, I'll be the first to admit that much of these albums is pretty damn mundane, but if you like the style of music they espouse these are two very listenable records. Will they ever rank in your top 10 or 20 favorite albums? It's highly doubtful. But if you're looking for good, relaxing, quasi-heavy 70's rock then these albums are perfect; in fact, with my current 70's and 80's oriented taste in music, I find them more enjoyable than the group's 60's output.

I've liked Butterfly since the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida days. I bought both these featured albums upon their release hoping for the best, but being disappointed both times. Of the two, Sun and Steel was unlistenable. I did like a couple of the Scorching Beauty tracks. If you're a Butterfly fan, you've got to check them out regardless.

Length:: 2:06 Mins

Scorching Beauty/Sun & Steel