Cactus

The plan was for the Vanilla Fudge rhythm section of bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice to join with guitar god Jeff Beck and his singer Rod Stewart in a supergroup of sorts. The plan was derailed when Beck had a motorcycle accident that incapacitated him for 18 months. Stewart then joined pal Ron Wood in the revamped Faces (and pursued a somewhat lucrative solo career), leaving Bogert and Appice to find alternates for their dream band. They recruited guitarist Jim McCarty from Mitch Ryder's disassembling Detroit Wheels, and singer Rusty Day from Ted Nugent's Amboy Dukes…

Cactology is the definitive collection of music from one of the most underrated and overlooked hard rock bands of the '70s. From the opening notes of Howlin' Wolf's "Evil" (cast by Cactus as a Black Sabbath/Led Zeppelin-type monster riff sludge rocker), the listener is swept into a dark world of beer-swilling, testosterone-fueled stud boogie. On the CD's second track, the band gives Mose Allison's lightly swinging jazz/blues classic "Parchman Farm" a hyper-speed freight train treatment that shames even the Who's thunderous Live at Leeds version of Allison's "Young Man." All the while, bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice (both of whom are better-known for their work with Vanilla Fudge and Jeff Beck) add a thunderous, chops-heavy bottom end…

With a mixture of members from Vanilla Fudge, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, and the Amboy Dukes, it's hard to believe that Cactus didn't really succeed in their time…