Steppenwolf — Hour of the Wolf
The album opener and lead single Caroline, was written by Mars Bonfire who is most famous for writing the band’s biggest hit, Born to Be Wild. It is a typically midtempo rock standard with a catchy chorus. Tom Scott provides horns on what is otherwise a typical 1970s slice of hard rock. As with the majority of the band’s 1970s singles it didn’t even dent the chart, despite it being commercially viable material. Annie, Annie Over is up next, it’s another rock standard, however there is some fantastic funky organ that brings an extra dimension to the track. John Kay’s voice sounds really good on this one, in fact the vocals reminded me somewhat of one of my favourite Steppenwolf tracks The Pusher. Two for the Love of One is another decent slice of hard rock nostalgia. At the time this album was deemed fairly unremarkable, it hasn’t fared too badly in the intervening years, whilst it’s not some earth-shattering revelation of a record it is an enjoyable enough rock album.
Just for Tonight initially takes things down a notch or two almost into ballad territory, before it boosts things back up into a stomping country rock standard. Taking their cues from the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the bluesy rock of Grand Funk Railroad, this is one of the better tracks on the album. Hard Rock Road follows in the same bluesy rock vein as the more uptempo segments of the previous track, again the likes of The Grand Funk Railroad spring to mind. Once again Tom Scott’s horns add a little extra something to the overall mix of the track. Someone Told A Lie is another fairly decent rock track, peppered with vocoder and blasts of heavy organ. The organ solo in the second half of the track is one of the track’s selling points. Another Lifetime is a bluesy/folky pedal steel track with more than a hint of The Band or The Grateful Dead. It wouldn’t sound out of place on Working Man’s Dead. The final track on the regular album Mr Penny Pincher takes us back into the harder material, with some near progressive sounding keyboard work from Andy Chapin, who was making his debut with the band. A virtuoso keyboard solo in the second half of the track seems to be his way of announcing himself on the music scene, he would later go on to work with both The Association and Ricky Nelson. The single version of Caroline is just a shorter version of the track, reduced down for radio play, however the final track Angeldrawers is the real surprise here. Despite the fact it sounds pretty rough, having obviously been taken straight from the seven inch single it represents one of my favourite tracks on the album. Andy Chapin is in full flow on this track, a hard rockin’ track with loads of synth and keyboard underpinning everything. If only a better recording still existed somewhere?
Overall this is a reasonably enjoyable album, it rarely breaks new ground if at all, but does everything with a high level of accomplishment. Andy Chapin’s keyboard playing is the real hero of this record, adding something a little different to the mix. If you are already a fan of Steppenwolf then it’s worth a listen, if not then perhaps you wouldn’t be too bothered either way. A solid album with interesting flourishes.