Make Yourself Heard

Help Yourself (1971). There's no question that Help Yourself's debut album was a product of its times - something about the whole easygoing boogie vibe and gentle psych-inspired trippiness, the way of singing, the production, and more just screams early-'70s non-metal and non-glam rock & roll. Look at it one way and Help Yourself was just a cut above incipient bar band culture but, heard with fresh ears years after its release, it strikes a great balance between entertaining the crowd and exploration. Call the band a more down-to-earth Pink Floyd or Hawkwind set somewhere in the English countryside without specifically owing anything to either band. Morley, who takes vocal lead throughout, shows a fine voice similar to Neil Young's, with just that hint of twang while not sounding quite so cracked and strained…