Song of the Week – Grim Reaper, Detective

IGNORED OBSCURED RESTORED

Led Zeppelin has been hot in recent months. The40th anniversary of the release of Physical Graffiti in February seems to be spark that lit the fire. Just about every magazine and blog that covers rock music has featured them recently.

Today’s SotW is from the Zep related band Detective who recorded two albums for their Swan Song label. The Rolling Stone Record Guide (1st edition) said those recordings were “Credible but uneventful late-Seventies hard rock from a band led by ex-Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye.”

The brevity of the review says a lot about the group’s (lack of) critical acceptance when their recordings were on the shelves. They were quickly dismissed as nothing more than a Led Zep wannabe band. But occasionally things (wine, music) improve with the passage of time.

“Grim Reaper” is from Detectives’ self-titled debut.

The muscular drums and the tight pants vocals by Michael Des Barres, could easily pass off this cut as a Led Zep outtake. I like it!

Enjoy… until next week.

BTW, today is Record Store Day. Take a nostalgic trip to your favorite local bricks and mortar record store and see if you can’t find something to add to your collection.

2 thoughts on “Song of the Week – Grim Reaper, Detective

  1. This cut makes me wonder what it is about some songs, I’m thinking Cream more than Led Zeppelin, that sound like this that I love, while I think this isn’t much good. I don’t have a canned answer, but for sure what I like has different values than what I don’t like. Hence, I like Cream. Hence, I’m not keen yet on Detective.

  2. Although I’m not exactly a Cream expert, this is more Zep than Cream to me.

    As for record store day, I sold all mine about three years ago because I needed the cash. Thank goodness I didn’t sell them 10 years ago when albums bottomed out at a buck a piece. I did pretty well, but I’d have done pretty weller (Paul Weller’s sister) if I could’ve hung on as vintage vinyl value seems to just keep climbing.

    I’m not going back either. I don’t miss cleaning, flipping or babying vinyl. If there’s an audible difference, it doesn’t bother me.

    I am the only man alive who champions the CD – the perfect medium between purist vinyl and convenient download.

    Yet another reason it’s time for me to go.

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