The same year as Black Sabbath released their self-titled debut, German band Lucifer's Friend released a similarly titled effort to the masses. Sporting a somewhat disturbing and clever album cover, the record featured the heavy guitar work of Peter Hesslein supported by the rhythm section of Dieter Horns on bass and Joachim Rietenbach on drums interlaced with the keyboard skills of Peter Hecht. Providing vocals was the Briton John Lawton, who had a stint in Uriah Heep in the late 70s. I have heard Lawton described as a cross between Rob Halford and Ronnie James Dio, which I definitely hear.
While many albums of this era are questionable in terms of whether or not they can be termed heavy metal, this is not one of those. The riffs on this album stand shoulder to should with Sabbath's own debut in terms of heaviness. While the keyboards bright a bit of lightness to the darker guitar notes, this is still a straight out heavy rock record. From the brilliant opener Ride in the Sky, which features a blaring French horn used with wicked effectiveness (like an angry elephant), to the driving self-titled finale, "LF" is one of the best heavy records of the early 70s. This rambunctious mix of guitars and keyboards is where I would have liked Iron Butterfly to go after "Ball."
Unfortunately, Lucifer's Friend did not match the intensity of their first album (as an aside, all five members were in a band called Asterix that released an album the same year, but that's a discussion for another day). The follow-up, "Where the Groupies Killed the Blues," is a good album, but not as amazing as the predecessor. The next several albums were more jazzy and softer-edged, and it was not until 1981 that Lucifer's Friend came back with "Mean Machine," a heavy album that was a 'too little, too late' affair. Still, "LF" remains a landmark album in the heavy metal world, and fans of the genre unfamiliar with such tunes as Toxic Shadows should acquaint themselves with all reasonable haste.
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