JOSEFUS (Dead Man aLive) CD
Sadly, this top album, released on Hookah Records 2002 is only available on CD. It's devided into three parts and it starts with the three tracks "Aristotle" , "Time For The Rainbow" and "I Love You" from part 1, titled "Early Recordings", which are dated back to 1967. Especially "I Love You" is a total smasher, very aggressive and super Heavy. The other two tracks are more Acid Rock. Then follows the second period of JOSEFUS, titled "The Original Josefus" which includes a killer live-version of "Dead Man", that clocks in 26 minutes. It's much rougher and heavier than the original track on the studio album and it sounds, as if JOSEFUS have had a good day on stage and you can listen to their passionate playing. Then comes "Get Off My Case", a beautiful and dreamy song and Dave plays a top guitar.The next song of this period is "Lousiana Blues", which is very heavy and blues-laden, and the band shows their full potential. Vocalist Pete Bailey plays harmonica and drummer Doug Tull is working hard behind his kit, especially when he plays a top drum-solo.
The last song out of this period is "Light In Heaven", which has become one of my personal faves. Pete Bailey shows his talent, and that combined with a super-groove and a nice and beautiful guitar-soli....you can't ask for more. The third and last part of "Dead Man ALive" is the "1978 - 1979 Reunion", which kicks off with the live-track "Cosmic Man" and due it's hard rockin' heaviness, it could have been from 1972. The other two tracks ("Glory Guys" and "Wheels") out of this period are two studio-recordings, that are more influenced from the upcoming 80's Hardrock, but there's still a strong 70's vibe in the heaviness of the songs. I can't understand, why the band broke-up again and why only the track "Dead Man" had made it on one of the two studio-albums.The CD package contains an excellent booklet, with exciting photos, top cover-artwork and a complete biography. This is a very recommandable album, which includes with tracks 4 - 8 very rough recordings but they are real live and a authentic document. Visit the JOSEFUS homepage for more infos.
(Rolf Kowalski)