Solid Ground - Made in Rock (Sweden 1976)

Solid Ground was founded back in 1974 and were the hardest Swedish act at that time. They've released one single in 1975 and in 1976 they released this masterpiece in a limited edition of 200 copies on Scam. That's the reason why the original costs around $800, but that's what it's worth. But there's also a re-release on Mellotronen, with the single track as a bonus.The album kicks off with "Saturday Rare (Handrock)" , a very heavy driven opener like almost every song on "Made in Rock". There's a unique drum-sound on this album, that makes it sounding very natural and earthy. Two other tracks, that I really like are "Tombstone Kiss" and "Rock N Roller".Both are so heavy, that they could have been played in the 90's. This album is a real heavy pearl so watch out for it! (via cosmiclava.de)

Kick ass '70s proto-metal awesomeness alert! This Swedish band, who only managed one self-released LP back in 1976, combined hard rock panache with rough-edged rawness. It's a powerful mix of all things cool about rock in the '70s, from the swinging stoner boogie of Sabbath and Budgie and UFO to the glammy uber-catchiness of KISS and The Sweet to the melodic guitar heroics of Thin Lizzy... all done with almost punkish, sassy attitude and energy. And they've got some excellent, evocative of the era lyrics too, like these: "In the evening they go to discoteques / and drink champagne and listen to T-Rex / boys and girls look at each other / nothing happens no action no reactions" from the song "This Bloody Town". Meanwhile the production is in-your-face, plenty of distortion and reverb. HEAVY. Only 200 copies of the vinyl album were ever made, and the band eventually broke up in the wake of disco fever, a shame. (BUY IT @ Aquarius Records)

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Solid Ground - Saturday Rae