Home
The Gospel According to Zeus

The Gospel According to Zeus in Bloomington, MN
Current price: $13.99
Loading Inventory...
Size: CD
Arguably the first
hard rock
album released by the
Motown
-owned
Rare Earth
imprint, 1970's
The Gospel According to Zeus
was also the first and last recording by Detroit heavy rockers
Power of Zeus
. Needless to say, these two facts were inextricably linked, as the producers and engineers responsible for fueling the
hit factory had little or no understanding of what it took to capture the new decade's Earth-shaking
sounds in their studios. Interestingly, this wound up pushing
'
psychedelic
elements -- mostly evident in their vocal harmonies and use of the Hammond organ -- to the fore at the expense of a meatier guitar, bass, and drums foundation. Also, unlike many of the era's incredibly bloated, jam-happy behemoths (e.g.,
Iron Butterfly
's
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,"
Deep Purple
"Child in Time"
), tough, punchy songs like
"It Couldn't be Me,"
"No Time,"
and
"Realization"
are conspicuously short and concise -- as mandated by
pop
architects, no doubt. And if you're expecting distortion, forget it. The uniquely forceful
"The Sorcerer of Isis (The Ritual of the Mole)"
offers about the only opportunity for the band to really cut loose with some instrumental overload and actual guitar shredding (fitting that they cited it as the most representative of their live shows). More often than not, however, it was trippy acoustic guitars and harpsichords that had
Baroque folk
ballads
like
"Green Grass and Cover"
"Uncertain Destination"
breaking up the pacing; and the ominous-sounding
"The Death Trip"
is actually a rather sleepy, almost
Pink Floyd
-like swirl of a song. In other words, for a band professing to love the hard
psych-rock
of
Cream
and the
Jimi Hendrix Experience
proto-metal
Led Zeppelin
Black Sabbath
,
is obviously a sonically stunted effort. And yet ironically, what at the time doomed both the band and album's chances of success has since transformed it into a true original outside any identifiable genre. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia
hard rock
album released by the
Motown
-owned
Rare Earth
imprint, 1970's
The Gospel According to Zeus
was also the first and last recording by Detroit heavy rockers
Power of Zeus
. Needless to say, these two facts were inextricably linked, as the producers and engineers responsible for fueling the
hit factory had little or no understanding of what it took to capture the new decade's Earth-shaking
sounds in their studios. Interestingly, this wound up pushing
'
psychedelic
elements -- mostly evident in their vocal harmonies and use of the Hammond organ -- to the fore at the expense of a meatier guitar, bass, and drums foundation. Also, unlike many of the era's incredibly bloated, jam-happy behemoths (e.g.,
Iron Butterfly
's
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,"
Deep Purple
"Child in Time"
), tough, punchy songs like
"It Couldn't be Me,"
"No Time,"
and
"Realization"
are conspicuously short and concise -- as mandated by
pop
architects, no doubt. And if you're expecting distortion, forget it. The uniquely forceful
"The Sorcerer of Isis (The Ritual of the Mole)"
offers about the only opportunity for the band to really cut loose with some instrumental overload and actual guitar shredding (fitting that they cited it as the most representative of their live shows). More often than not, however, it was trippy acoustic guitars and harpsichords that had
Baroque folk
ballads
like
"Green Grass and Cover"
"Uncertain Destination"
breaking up the pacing; and the ominous-sounding
"The Death Trip"
is actually a rather sleepy, almost
Pink Floyd
-like swirl of a song. In other words, for a band professing to love the hard
psych-rock
of
Cream
and the
Jimi Hendrix Experience
proto-metal
Led Zeppelin
Black Sabbath
,
is obviously a sonically stunted effort. And yet ironically, what at the time doomed both the band and album's chances of success has since transformed it into a true original outside any identifiable genre. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia