Playing a slightly jazz-influenced brand of progressive hard rock, the UK-based Stud spawned its self-titled debut album in 1971 for Deram Records (there would be two follow-ups, although both were released in Germany only). The band comprised former and future members of Blossom Toes, Family and Taste, which I guess qualifies them as a minor supergroup of sorts. Despite the band’s overly ambitious designs (two of the six tracks are well over ten minutes), Stud’s best moments come during its shorter, more commercially accessible material. “Turn Over the Pages” and “Song” are effective acoustic-based numbers, while “Sail On” is a nifty riff-heavy rocker. “1112235” and “Horizon (i. Here ii. There),” on the other hand, the two aforementioned mini-epics, are ponderous, overwrought, self-indulgent affairs (the former features a guitar, drum and bass solo). Musically adept, technically proficient and ultimately fairly boring, Stud is best remembered—if at all—for its album cover, velvet-like, glow-in-the-dark variations of which I’m sure appeared on bedroom walls throughout the ‘70s.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Stud
Playing a slightly jazz-influenced brand of progressive hard rock, the UK-based Stud spawned its self-titled debut album in 1971 for Deram Records (there would be two follow-ups, although both were released in Germany only). The band comprised former and future members of Blossom Toes, Family and Taste, which I guess qualifies them as a minor supergroup of sorts. Despite the band’s overly ambitious designs (two of the six tracks are well over ten minutes), Stud’s best moments come during its shorter, more commercially accessible material. “Turn Over the Pages” and “Song” are effective acoustic-based numbers, while “Sail On” is a nifty riff-heavy rocker. “1112235” and “Horizon (i. Here ii. There),” on the other hand, the two aforementioned mini-epics, are ponderous, overwrought, self-indulgent affairs (the former features a guitar, drum and bass solo). Musically adept, technically proficient and ultimately fairly boring, Stud is best remembered—if at all—for its album cover, velvet-like, glow-in-the-dark variations of which I’m sure appeared on bedroom walls throughout the ‘70s.
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2 comments:
Hi,
You certainly post some very unusual and obscure gems on your blog. I'd like a listen to the Stud album (Rory's old sidekicks), but can't find the link. Where is it?
Thanks,
mark
Mark, thanks for your note. There are no links to the actual music on this site, but you can find a copy of the Stud cd at www.cduniverse.com. You may also want to visit Esoteric Recordings, the label that reissued the album just last month (www.esotericrecordings.com). Thanks for visiting!
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