Vincebus Eruptum

Had "Summertime Blues" not gone Top 15 in the spring of 1968, Blue Cheer might not have had the opportunity to unleash their expression over numerous albums through multiple personnel changes. Vincebus Eruptum sports a serious silver/off-purple cover wrapped around the punk-metal fury. Leigh Stephens is nowhere near Hendrix, Beck, Clapton, or Jimmy Page, the skill of a Yardbirds replaced by a thud of bass/drums/low-end guitar. Vocalist Dickie Peterson takes almost six minutes on Allison's "Parchment Farm" [sic] to talk about shooting his arm, shooting his wife, picking cotton, and having sex. Definitely more risqué than Grand Funk Railroad's "T.N.U.C.," Abe "Voco" Kesh's production is almost nonexistent. They certainly influenced the way Grand Funk would take the power trio; you can hear in Peterson's voice that tonal quality Mark Farner had to employ as well to get the lyrics over the morass of sound. It's interesting that the Velvet Underground's classic White Light/White Heat took this attitude up a notch at this exact point in time, going in to the studio and unleashing "Sister Ray," the almost 20-minute scream that was the result of Lou Reed's shock treatment therapy as a teen. Both bands were influenced heavily by *****, heroin appearing to be the culprit, and while "Second Time Around," which closes this album, came in from the West Coast, the Velvet Underground blasted with even higher intensity from the East. Also interesting that "Doctor Please" on Vincebus Eruptum doesn't have the crunch West/Bruce and Laing would insert into their own "The Doctor" four years later on Why Dontcha.