Rating: 10.0

Country: USA

Release Date: 2006

Record Label: Peaceville

Track list:
DISK 1
1. Wheel Of Fortune
2. When The Screams Come
3. Under My Thumb
4. Smokescreen
5. Teaser
6. Little Games
7. Much Too Young To Know

DISK 2
1. Virgin Death
2. Yes I Do
3. Ask No More
4. Man
5. Be Forewarned
6. Catwalk
7. Die In Your Sleep
8. Frustration
9. Target
10. Everything’s Turning To Night
11. Take Me Away
12. Nightmare Gown
13. Cartwheel
14. Cat & Mouse
15. Show ‘Em How

Band Website: Pentagram

Pentagram - First Daze Here Too

Bobby Liebling- Vocals
Victor Griffin- Guitars
Marty Swaney- Bass
Joe Hasselvander- Drums

The year has been exceptionally kind to us Penta-freaks - over the course of the past 12 months we have seen the re-release of the Peaceville Pentagram recordings (all of which I gushed over for you kind Diabolical Conquest folks), the definitive issue of Bedemon's legendary recordings, new Witchcraft and Burning Saviours records (again, I reviewed these, BUY THEM!), the issue (FINALLY!) of Victor Griffin's SUPERB canned Nailed -era recordings (the Love Through Blood EP), a compendium of ancient Griffin demo recordings, some of which stem back to the Death Row period, as well as the OUTSTANDING new Place Of Skulls album, unquestionably destined to be amongst the highlights of 2006, and indeed, rock n'roll history. It does truly please me so that Pentagram's longstanding cult popularity has FINALLY resulted in an onslaught of reissues and compilations. Day by day more and more people awaken to the revelation that legions of Penta maniacs have known since they first laid ears on “Review Your Choices” (the song, not the rather boring Black Widow recording), that Pentagram are truly among the most magical bands to play the devil's music. After having undergone countless delays, the second part of the First Daze Here saga is FINALLY in my hands, and in the month or so that I've had it, I have been in a state of absolute EUPHORIA. Having owned some of these recordings on CD-R, I do have to say, before this review begins in earnest, that any reproductions that you have owned prior to the issue of this CD will NOT compare, you really have to buy it to see the difference.

I do think that it is somewhat important to preface this review with a perfunctory note about Pentagram, specifically directed towards those of you who (for good reason) have pinned Pentagram as a staunchly doom rock band. If “Starlady”, “Livin' In A Ram's Head”, “Last Days Here” on the original First Days Here did not already alert you to the variegated nature of Pentagram's style, this compendium will certainly further your understanding of a band that vacillated effortlessly from ominous, unfathomably dark downer rock to raucous, scintillating, hip-shaking American r'n'r, a band that somehow conjured up the class and talent to perform commercially-inclined muscle rock and nefarious, demonic incantations with equal aplomb. Digesting the vast amount of ‘70s Pentagram material out there, you would be led to believe that often, the band was torn between the searing, sweaty riff-rock that constituted the bulk of their influences (Stray, Groundhogs, Budgie, Cactus, Buffalo, Lincoln St. Exit etcetera) and a vehemently anti-commercial, uncompromisingly evil doom sound that would go on to define ‘80s-and-beyond Pentagram.

Much of this, of course, owes to the fact that both Bobby Liebling and percussionist extraordinaire Geof O'Keefe had their hands in the Pentagram jar, and while Bobby's lumbering dark rock numbers have gone on to characterize the Pentagram legend, Geof's blistering, hairy riff-workouts accounted for much of the more straightforward material. Much of Geof's brilliant work has been neglected by the masses in lieu of Pentagram's association with the Maryland/DC/VA doom sound, but Relapse has rescued this SUBLIME material for heavy rock collectors the world over, complete with OUTSTANDING liner notes from Geof, as well as Vincent and Greg.

On to the record, then! The first disc opens with a SAVAGE rendition of “Wheel Of Fortune” , hands DOWN the highlight on last year's Show Em How opus on Black Widow. This version, of course, is vastly preferable to the recent re-recording, Bobby's rampant Iggy-isms surfacing again, cooing and careening sensuously over suitably MONSTROUS riffing and BESTIAL bass, Geof's barbaric, floor-tom-intensive caveman pounding providing a throbbing, sinewy backbeat to the hellishly intense proceedings. Dripping with carnal desire and lurid lust, the track remains one of my absolute favorites from the Pentagram canon, a real handclapping, footstomping, headbanging anthem for the ages. Once you've survived that, the disc offers forth yet another interpretation of a much-beloved staple, “When The Screams Come”, this time played notably faster than the classic versions presented on the original FDH and Black Widow's A Keg Full Of Dynamite live recording. I'm not entirely sure where I stand on this, considering the fact that I very much adore the ponderous, unhinged-bordering-on-paranoia feel of the doomy original, especially considering the fact that the doomy passages provided a fantastic contrast to the BREAKNECK breakdown, but this certainly offers an interesting twist, and Randy Palmer's presence on the track alone makes it significant.

The covers of “Under My Thumb” and the Yardbird's “Little Games” are somewhat predictable and cookie-cutter, though Bobby's extraordinary ability to channel both Relfy and Mick into his unique, unmistakable voice is quite stunning (think back to “ First Days Here”, where Bobby was a DEAD RINGER for Jimi!). Fans of “Starlady” will be very thankful for the inclusion of “Teaser” and “Smokescreen” here, both very firmly entrenched in the greasy, rough-but-radio-ready r'n'r of that fabled track, and much like “Starlady”, it isn't entirely difficult to imagine Kiss performing these numbers, though “Smokescreen” has a distinctly Purple (In Rock) edge to it, the rhythm section in particular bearing the unmistakable imprint of Glover and Paice, Geof funneling Paice's jazzy, fill-heavy, madman wollop through an American motor-rock filter. GREAT. Having never heard the original version of “Much Too Young To Know” before, I was expecting a clean studio version of the rowdy and MINDBLOWING riff-rock number on the Keg Full Of Dynamite set (which, to my knowledge, is the only officially-endorsed take of that particular version), but instead I am greeted with a swooning, pummeling blues-rock beast that isn't entirely removed from the heavier Free moments, in particular their performance on the outstanding live record., as well as similarly-minded British stuff like Red Dirt and Hard Stuff. Geof claims, in the liner notes, that he had Trapeze in mind when the track was penned, and while I can see a certain resemblance on certain Trapeze bootlegs, the band exhibiting the same loose, open swing as Glenn Hughes and company, Trapeze never wrote something quite as aggressive sounding as this.

Disc 2 offers an absolute WEALTH of highlights, and while I won't engage in a song by song description of each (much as I would like to), I would very much love to spare a few thoughts on certain songs that have provided constant company for me over the past month or so. The original version of “Ask No More”, certainly among the most legendary numbers in the Pentagram arsenal, is sinister, macabre, esoteric, a masterpiece of Pentagram dynamism that sees the band fluctuating between despondent, desolate guitar passages and PUNISHING outbreaks, highlighted by an extraordinary solo by Vincent McAllister (hands down one of the best guitarists ever) and Geof O'Keefe's RELENTLESS pounding at the conclusion of the track. The astute Pentagram fan will lament the absence of the concluding passage that Bobby tacked on to the definitive Peaceville cut, but for me, these 2 minutes and 38 seconds are ORGASMIC. The cut of the nightmarish “Be Forewarned” here features the unedited version of Vincent McAllister's solo, which was overdubbed by Bobby for the first FDH (WHY, Mr Liebling?). As one might expect from any proposition that involves the words “Vincent McAllister” and “solo”, the results are great, Vincent's spectacularly melodic and soulful style bleeding all over the fear and dementia captured on the track.

“Catwalk”, in my earnest opinion, is VERY MUCH one of the best songs Bobby Liebling has ever written, and WHY it isn't included in most discussions of “Best Pentagram Song Ever” completely baffles me, for it really encapsulates all the elements that make Pentagram such a transcendental, out-of-body experience. Absolutely SUBLIME, counterpoint-heavy bass playing by Greg Mayne and typically individualistic, ebb-and-flow playing by Geof coalesce with Vincent's supportive sheaths of guitar to supplement Bobby's bewitching, devilish twist on a relationship song. The song takes a host of unpredictable, unorthodox twists within its 3 and a half minute span, including a rather noticeable lack of a hook, replaced instead by an odd breakdown that recurs throughout the song. I can't even begin to articulate how much I dig the solo passage here, Vincent's blistering lead being matched by Greg's meandering, exploratory bassline. Geof O'Keefe settles back into a solid, in the pocket groove to provide a bulging backbone for both musicians to veer off into their own tangents, and it all comes together beautifully. I do not hesitate for a second to proclaim Pentagram as among the finest musicians of their age, and this is a HUGE statement for me to make.

“Frustration” is classic Liebling songwriting, totally off-balance and progressive-thinking songcraft, merging a bludgeoning doom intro with an eerie, brief quiet passage makes an even shorter re-appearance at the conclusion of the track. 02:03 of mind-expanding genius. “Target”, meanwhile, finds Bobby at his most depraved and manic, matching the smoking, seething Sir Lord Baltimore intensity of the jam section (ornamented, as you might expect, with FIERY, über piquant Vincent McAllister wah wah licks…WHAT a player the man was, really wish he was still playing music now). Sir Lord Baltimore's gruesome head rears itself again on “Everything's Turning To Night” and “Cat & Mouse”, the wasted bloooozzzzzzzzeeeee vibe, outlandish outlaw guitar squeals and feverish-bordering-on-the-absurd buildups of the song reminding me of a certain legendary, ultra-dramatic New York trio. “Take Me Away” smacks of heavy, hairy, no-nonsense garage blues ala Yesterday's Children and first album Dust, Geof's mention of Humble Pie making me think fondly of the landmark Live At The Fillmore outing, which fits equally well as a parallel. As befits a band as defiantly dangerous and HIGH FUCKING VOLUME as Pentagram, the compendium reaches an outrageous climax/denouement with the extended, rapturous “Show Em How”, a beloved standard that, in this take, spirals out of control with a horrifying Vincent McAllister solo, channeling his inner Hendrix to coax a host of brays and screeches from his instrument. MUST BE HEARD AND EXPERIENCED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME!

It must be said that there are a few ditties that I don't entirely care for- “Virgin Death” sounds incomplete and somewhat messy, “Man” is tongue-in-cheek, ironic chestbeating misogyny soundtracked by rather forgettable, unswervingly linear blues-rock, “Yes I Do” leaves me somewhat on the fence, coming off like an ultra bizarre heavy psych wah number that is rather incomparable to anything else at this moment. All this being said, I'll take ANY Pentagram material I can get my hands on, so I really shouldn't be complaining. If you're smart and have any sort of taste in heavy-handed music, you would do the very same and pick this up at your earliest convenience. It is not often that musical events quite as monumental as this happen, and you would be a complete bloody idiot to not relish and bask in moments such as these. Thanks for this, Pentagram. I do sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for continually re-affirming my faith in the depth and power of rock n'roll.

November 11th, 2006