The Pornographer Der Pornograph (2001) [re Up]

L'Infonie were born as a Québécois versatile rock commune in 1967 around the initiator Raôul Duguay and the musical chief Walter Boudreau, just along the Québécois "multidisciplinary" music scene in those days. Quite in the vein of late-60s concentrated music essence, mixed with pop, jazz, and classic, they recorded their first creation "Vol. 3" (currently released as an eponymous one) at André Perry Studio and released in 1969. Amazingly, their soundscape had been altered moment by moment - obvious jazz rock / fusion movement and a talented American musician Terry Riley could exert pretty influence upon their second work "Vol. 33 (Mantra)", featuring a sole suite "Mantra" based upon Terry's landmark piece "In C". Finally L'Infonie breathed new life into Québécois progressive rock world with their third double-album "Vol. 333" released in 1972…

On Grab It for a Second, Golden Earring continued in the straightforward hard rock direction they started with 1977's Contraband. They also went for a more radio-friendly sound by teaming up with producer Jimmy Iovine, who polished their sound to a new level of slickness and also fleshed out the group's sound with session musicians like percussionist Jimmy Maelen. The result is an album that rocks hard, but loses sight of the band's personality. Much of Grab It for a Minute feels like an attempt to compete with the likes of Bad Company or Aerosmith: rockers like "Roxanne" and "Tempting" crackle with energy but feel like they could have been performed by any second-tier hard rock band of the 1970s.