Bloodrock - Bloodrock 'N' Roll (1975/2019)

Roughly a year after Texas hard rock band Bloodrock disbanded for good, certain memorable moments were culled from their earliest releases and packaged in the form of Bloodrock-n-Roll. Odd as it was the exclude material from their fourth and arguably most consistent record, Bloodrock U.S.A, what does show up here is solid in its own right. As far as the tracklisting is concerned, listeners are of course given what they really want immediately with the opener being the band's trademark doom-and-gloom anthem "D.O.A." which, upon its initial release a few years earlier, gave countless critics and would-be fans all they ever cared to hear from the group. From here on out, it's a steady flow of meaty riffs, wild soloing and super macho vocals laid across what stays, for the most part, a standard issue rhythm section. That's not to say any of what follows is dull at all. The lean assortment of remaining tunes hold up just as well if not better, and they're not even a hint as dismal.

Take for instance the immediately following track, "Gotta Find a Way", pulled from Bloodrock's self-titled debut. Here we have all the winning ingredients of early 70's American rock complete with sharp riffs, frantic keyboard solos, and a supercharged vocal delivery containing lyrics aimed squarely at the working class: "You're workin' all day and you're sleepin' all night just to get up and do it again/You take your pay and you rest one day and you never reach the end" - classic stuff! "Cheater" also carries a similar formula, featuring a couple of truly inspired jam sections after the whole "I wouldn't cheat on you" sentiment has been wrung dry. "Jessica", "Lucky in the Morning", and "You Gotta Roll" carry things along at a steady clip as well with their own respective twists and turns throughout. Not that Bloodrock were such a one trick pony, either. The band did manage to pen a handful of slightly softer, or at least differently angled tunes during their time, as evidenced by the gracious inclusion of that odd little number, "Kool-Aid-Kids" which proves a truly superior closer. A word of advice to the newcomers - start your listening here and then work your way above and beyond the releases this compilation represents to hear all the strange little developments and creative liberties the band would inevitably take with their following albums.