Lucifer Enoch

Lucifer wasted no time and used the pandemic to record yet another long player that rings in a new chapter and dives even further into the grande realms of colossal old fashioned rock, with a severe morbid twist. For this opus they entered guitarist Linus Björklund’s Studio Ryssviken for an even more heart pounding drum sound while continuing their work at The Honk Palace. This time Lucifer has expanded their song writing partnership within the band and Johanna has not only penned the new material with Nicke but also with guitarist Linus, as well as guitarist Martin Nordin contributing. With “Lucifer IV” the group is proving furthermore to be steadily building their very own pillar of rock history, brick by brick.

Mean Machine is the eighth album by Lucifer's Friend. On this album the band returns to its heavy metal roots, albeit with less of the Hammond organ found on the first album. However, by this time the band had lost its core following years ago and it was too late to recover. Lucifer's Friend lasted a year after the album's release and then finally broke up. John Lawton would join the hard rock bands Rebel and ZAR. Lucifer's Friend would reunite in 1993 and would release Sumo Grip in 1994 and would break up for the final time in 1996.

On their third album, Lucifer's Friend took a new tack: instead of being a progressive band or a hard rock band, they decided to incorporate both styles into a more ambitious sound that also worked in elements of soul and jazz. The resulting album, I'm Just a Rock 'n' Roll Singer, lacks the coherent flow that defines a good album but offers an array of tuneful, well-crafted tracks nonetheless. By this time, the band had learned to make their songwriting the focus of each track and tamed the instrumental soloing that overwhelmed Where the Groupies Killed the Blues.

The release of Good Time Warrior by Lucifer's Friend saw the departure of legendary rock vocalist John Lawton (who exited for a stint as Uriah Heep vocalist) and the entrance of another English talent Mike Starrs. The album also marked a change of direction for the group. Earlier albums like Mind Exploding and Where the Groupies Killed the Blues demonstrated the German groups flair for progressive and experimental rock,while Good Time Warrior contained a more straight ahead rock sound. Such tracks as "Old Man Roller" and "Sweet Little Lady" demonstrate this the best and pave the way for future band releases such as Sneak Me In and Sumo Grip. The albums last cut "Warriors" is a lengthy and moody piece which harkens to the groups earlier sound while providing a solid platfrom for Starrs' vocals.

Sneak Me In is the seventh album by Lucifer's Friend, an album in which Mike Starrs, formerly of Colosseum II, replaced John Lawton on vocals for a second time. This album and the previous Good Time Warrior (1978) were an attempt at a more commercial, accessible style which met with limited success. Starrs was replaced by the returning Lawton, for 1981's Mean Machine.

Two years after Mort Garson composed and arranged an entire series of albums based on the 12 zodiac signs, the pioneering electronic musician delved into the occult with the 1971 LP Black Mass, simply credited to the artist name Lucifer. Originally issued by UNI Records, the release has often confused record store patrons who have stumbled upon it - it isn't a recording of an actual Satanic mass (Anton LaVey released the first one in 1968) nor is it a doom metal album. Instead, it's a soundtrack-like set of haunting Moog-based pieces which interpret various supernatural and demonic themes. While it's hard to tell exactly what Garson's perspective on the album's subject matter was, it's easy to assume that he was merely fascinated by the occult rather than someone who actively held Satanic beliefs or practiced such rituals…

Here is another winning combination of two best-selling easy listening albums from music conductor Enoch Light, who produced a long string of hit stereo percussion albums in the 1960s. Stereo 35 MM Volume 2 was a Top Ten album in 1962 and with the coupling of "Far Away Places" Volume 2, are both on CD for the first time and re-mastered in glorious stereo.