Genre: psych
Rating: **** (4 stars)
Title: Population II
Company: Hobbit
Catalog: HB 6002
Year: 1970
Grade (cover/record): VG/VG
Comments: minor ring wear; almost certain this is an original copy since the cover shows no sign of the cut out hole displayed by the boots.
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 4245
Price: $450.00
Cost: $101.00
It's always struck us as somewhat of a curiosity that guitarist Randy Holden doesn't attract the same critical attention as luminaries such as Beck, Clapton, Hendrix and Page. The man's certainly got the chops and his musical resume includes impressive (if brief) stints in some interesting bands, including Blue Cheer and the Other Half.
Recorded a year
after he'd left Blue Cheer, 1970's "Population
II" is simply a hard rock guitar lovers dream. The
album's essentially a one man show with Holden producing, writing all of the
material, handling lead vocals, as well playing most of the instruments -
former Kak percussionist Chris Lockheed handling drums. As mentioned
earlier, the emphasis is clearly on guitar and anyone looking for musical subtlety
need not bother. Doubt that comment? Check out the back cover
photo which show Holden playing in front of at least 16 gigantic Sunn
amplifiers. Exemplified by tracks such as the opener "Guitar
Song" (perfect for this album), "Between
Time" and "" the predominant sound is heavy blues, albeit
propelled by an almost endless stream of monster Holden guitar solos.
Elsewhere the album included a remake of "Fruit and Iceburgs"(sic)
which was one of three Holden contributions to The Cheer's "New!
Improved!" album. This molten version (actually divided into
distinct parts), kills the original. In the interest of being
perfectly honest we'll also point out nothing here is particularly
melodic. The rhythm section's kind of clunky. Holden's not exactly the
greatest singer you'll ever hear and spread across the entire album the
constant onslaught of mind melting wailing leads starts to blur
together. That said, it's still a killer album and it's easy to see
why there's such demand for it. Perhaps another musical urban legend,
but the album was reportedly withdrawn from the market almost as soon as it
was released, helping explain why it's such a rare and highly prized find in collecting
circles (and probably explaining why it's been booted so often).
"Population II" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Guitar Song (Randy Holden) - 6:06
2,) Fruit & Iceburgs (Randy Holden) -5:59
3.) Between Time (Randy Holden) -1:48
4.) Fruit & Iceburgs (Conclusion) (Randy Holden) - 1:48
(side
2)
1.) Blue My Mind (Randy Holden) -6:01
2.) Keeper of My Flame (Randy Holden) -10:07
Holden has an interesting website at: http://www.randyholden.com/