Inspired by hearing Pavlov's Dog on Iain Anderson's show this past Friday night, I pulled out the first two albums. Listening to "Pampered Menial" now, it sounds very rich and not at all dated. When the cd reissue came out, it didn't sound right. The depth of sound on the record had been flattened. Of course, what brought many of us to the party in the first place was that they were produced by Sandy Pearlman and Murray Krugman.
They weren't as far away from Blue Oyster Cult as they seemed back then. In fact, what it sounds like now is maybe Sparks. "PM" rocks more than I remember it and "Natchez Trace" is a classic. As cool as any Led Zep song you care to recite. David Surkamp's vocal was considered something of a novelty and somewhat a little operatic for it's setting but hearing it this afternoon - it brings back memories. It's actually a perfect instrument in the setting of the considerable firepower and orchestral nature of the group. I'm pretty easily distracted at the minute and spinning this instead of some of the newer gear scattered around this place.
Often labelled prog, I don't see them as that at all and these albums stand the test of time. On the other hand, it's pretty far removed from anything resembling punk rock. A version of the band has played in Germany and Greece fairly recently so they're still active. Their myspace site has nothing from "PM" on it but here's the link anyway.
