Steppenwolf/Steppenwolf the Second [Original recording remastered, Import]

Steppenwolf | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 29, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered, Import
• Label: Bgo - Beat Goes on
• ASIN: B00000IO68
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #65,154 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Sookie Sookie

2. Everybody's Next One

3. Berry Rides Again

4. (I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man

5. Born to Be Wild

6. Your Wall's Too High

7. Desperation

8. The Pusher

9. A Girl I Knew

10. Take What You Need

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Faster Than the Speed of Life

2. Tighten Up Your Wig

3. None of Your Doing

4. Spiritual Fantasy

5. Don't Step on the Grass, Sam

6. 28

7. Magic Carpet Ride

8. Disappointment Number (Unknown)

9. Lost and Found by Trial and Error

10. Hodge, Podge, Strained Through a Leslie

See all 12 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

The legendary American rockers' first two LPs digitally remastered, 'Steppenwolf' & 'Steppenwolf The Second'. Contains all of the cuts from when MCA first released both records in 1968, including the hits 'Born To Be Wild', 'The Pusher' and 'Magic Carpet Ride'. A combined total of 23 tracks. Also features the original cover art of each record and additional sleeve notes. Double slimline jewel case. 1999 release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Steppenwolf - 'Steppenwolf/The Second' (Beat Goes On), April 7, 2006

By 

Mike Reed (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Steppenwolf/Steppenwolf the Second (Audio CD)

Band's first two lp's on a 2-CD reissue,both from 1968.Right from the original master tapes,with great sound quality.Timeless album rock.Many great Steppenwolf tracks are included here,like "Sookie Sookie","Berry Rides Again",the FM staple "Born To Be Wild",the unforgetable "The Pusher"(my personal Steppenwolf favorite),"Don't Step On The Grass,Sam","Magic Carpet Ride" and "Hodge,Podge,Strained Through A Leslie".Ever notice how previously mentioned "Born To Be Wild" and "Magic Carpet Ride" often get played on classic rock,metal AND oldie stations?There aren't many bands that get that treatment.A should-have.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great CD! Needs to be in stores, though., May 28, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Steppenwolf/Steppenwolf the Second (Audio CD)

Steppenwolf is a great and talented band. This CD has all 8 of my favorite songs on it: Sookie Sookie, Berry Rides Again, Faster than the Speed of Life, Born to be Wild, Magic Carpet Ride, Don't Step on the Grass, Sam, Tighten Up Your Wig, and Hoochie Koochie Man. I mean, I've got all these songs on audio cassette (Magic Carpet Ride is the title of this album--why doesn't it ever go on CD?), but they're never all on one CD... Until now. Thank you, whoever produced this CD!!!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first two Steppenwolf albums on a single CD, March 25, 2004

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Steppenwolf/Steppenwolf the Second (Audio CD)

All you have to do is listen to these first two albums from Steppenwolf to realize there were more than a one-hit wonder. Steppenwolf's 1968 self-title debut album made it to #6 on the Billboard Charts mainly on the strength of one song, "Born to Be Wild," which only made it to #2 on the singles chart, but which achieved immortality as the song identified with the film "Easy Rider." Given that was the other way to get "Born to Be Wild" back then, having this album get to #6 was pretty good. But then since the title of the song was placed conspicuously on the cover of this album and because the group's name was taken by a classy novel by Hermann Hesse, it was proably easier for kids to bring this album home that the soundtrack for the first notorious film about the drug culture.

Actually "Born to Be Wild" was the third single from this album, following "The Girl I Knew" and "Sookie Sookie," but neither of those made a dent in the charts and "Born to Be Wild" exploded on the national consciousness. You can make the argument that the phrase "heavy metal" comes from this song, which was written by Dennis Edmonton, brother of drummer Jerry Edmonton and former band member, under the pseudonym Mars Bonfire. Originally the song was slower and more of a ballad, but then somebody came up with that thundering opening guitar riff and the rest was music history. We are thirty-five years down the road and this is still THE biker anthem of all-time.

Fortunately "Born to Be Wild" comes in the middle of the album (penultimate track on side one) so that listeners had the opportunity to notice Steppenwolf did other songs. However, on this debut effort the best ones are not written by bad members, with the cover of Don Covay's "Sookie, Sookie," Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man," and the riveting take on Hoyt Axton's "The Pusher." These last two tracks are over five minutes long, unusual for the time, and along with the emphasize on blues on this album suggests more in common with the early days of Led Zeppelin than you would have thought at first glimpse. "Everybody's Next One" is probably the best of the original tunes by John Kay, usually working in collaboration with someone else (producer Gabriel Mekler in this case), the song sounding like a British Invasion tune but with a harder edge. But there is enough sub-par efforts here to keep this from being a really great debut album. Instead "Steppenwolf" provides a solid basis for the group to build on as their first big hit disappears into the rearview mirror.

If "Born to Wild" is the ultimate biker anthem then Steppenwolf's next hit, "Magic Carpet Ride," tries to achieve the same prominence as a psychedelic dance number. The song made it to #3 on the Billboard charts and got the "Steppenwolf the Second" album to the same position on the album chart. This 1969 album follows closely in the footsteps of its predecessor, although there is clearly a bit less of the blues this time around thrown into the hard rock mix. There is even an acoustic track, "Spiritual Fantasy," which does seem a bit out of place, especially compared to the funky guitar-organ groove of "Magic Carpet Ride."

At this point the focal points of the group are clearly John Kay on vocals and guitar and the underappreciated Goldy McJohn wrecking serious havoc with his keyboard playing. The biggest difference between the first pair of Steppenwolf albums is that this time Kay is writing the best songs on the album, with "Tighten Up Your Wig" and "Don't Step on the Grass Sam" (complete with the drug bust at the end of the song), being the best of the rest after "Magic Carpet Ride," which also has some of the most interesting lyrics penned by Kay. Overall, the top is not as high but the bottom is not as low for this second album, so they grade out about the same, which is why this double-CD set makes a lot of sense. .