Stray 1972 Saturday Morning Pictures

Genre: Rock
Rate: 320 kbps CBR / 44100
Time: 01:00:00
Size: 137,20 MB



Their third album marks their zenith in my opinion. It's clearly their most consistently awesome, featuring truly fabulous semi-comm hard rock with some prog flavor, and only a mildly commercial orientation. The guitar playing is top-notch, as is their choice of mat'l. This is certainly a great place to start with if investigating them for the first time. Alas, like a super nova, they flamed out with this, as subsequent releases don't compare. (tymeshifter)


Tracklist:

01 - Our Song 06:04

02 - After The Storm 06:45

03 - Sister Mary 04:19

04 - Move That Wigwam 05:20

05 - Leave It Out 04:33

06 - How Could I Forget You 05:50

07 - Mr. Hobo 02:40

08 - Queen Of The Sea 06:26

09 - Our Song (Single Edit) 04:05

10 - Mama's Coming Home 03:49

11 - Georgia 03:14

12 - Get Out Right Away 03:02

13 - Sister Mary (Radio 1 Session) 03:53





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Stray 1971 Suicide

Genre: Rock
Rate: 320 kbps CBR / 44100
Time: 00:39:01
Size: 89,33 MB



Review by Eduardo Rivadavia

London's Stray followed up an eclectic eponymous debut with more of the same on their 1971 sophomore effort, Suicide, which of course was just dandy since "more of the same" on this occasion essentially entailed another imaginative melding of different musical genres under the broad, forgiving definition afforded by the progressive rock tag. As to the album's rather negative title, it didn't foreshadow a radical shift toward the quartet's pre-existing heavy rock tendencies (actually, more keyboards were the hot novelty here) so much as a reflection of these songs' darker overall mood when it came to their lyrics.

Opener "Son of the Father" offered a perfect example, as it alternated quiet passages of sublime but chilling beauty with other hard-driving but rather upbeat sections -- all supporting questioning meditations about generations of men sent off to war after war. Some ensuing tracks, like "Nature's Way" and "Do You Miss Me?" continue to showcase Stray's copious testosterone via wicked power chords and boogie grooves (but always interlaced with some unexpected jam or jazzy accent), and the especially forceful "Jericho" catapults untold scores of contrasting riffs against one another with urgent intensity, ultimately culminating in a truly frightening descending riff sequence. Other songs take the opposite course of gentle introspection, achieving both mesmerizing (the lyrically corny but musically elegiac "Where Do Our Children Belong") and dismaying results (the soppy, string-laden Muzak of "Dearest Eloise"), while the neither-here-nor-there "Run Mister Run" evokes a Southern rock feel with its cow bells and blue-collar construction. And, finally, there's the controversially themed title track, which combines a Black Sabbath-like bass progression from Gary G. Giles with foreboding fuzz chords and sizzling solo licks from Del Bromham (reminiscent of Sir Lord Baltimore) to impart its gloomy story. Not a very uplifting finale, obviously, but nothing that detracts from Suicide's multi-faceted creative accomplishment, under any circumstance -- especially considering the album was reportedly recorded at Olympic Studios in just 30 hours!


Tracklist:

01 - Son Of The Father 05:48

02 - Nature's Way 03:30

03 - Where Do Our Children Belong 03:39

04 - Jericho 04:55

05 - Run Mister Run 03:55

06 - Dearest Eloise 02:30

07 - Do You Miss Me 06:29

08 - Suicide 07:40

09 - Encore 00:35





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Stray 1970 Stray

Genre: Rock
Rate: 320 kbps CBR / 44100
Time: 01:05:08
Size: 149,01 MB



Review by Eduardo Rivadavia

Because they were merely precocious teenagers when they'd been signed to a recording contract in the late '60s, the Stray (as they were originally known) probably experienced the golden era of British rock in all of its kaleidoscopic, Sgt. Peppers-powered glory, even more intensely than most. As such, they quickly progressed beyond their Brit blues and mod-ish beginnings to dabble in acid rock and psychedelia before diving more permanently into the nascent progressive and hard rock movements.

It is clearly the latter two styles that inform the core of their eclectic eponymous debut from 1970, and especially its sprawling, nine-and-a-half minute opener, "All in Your Mind." Building slowly at first, the song gradually sprouts into an insistently driving juggernaut offering ample opportunities for guitarist Del Bromham to showcase his wah-wah intensive solo flights, and to introduce the quartet's penchant for singing in harmonic unison. As with most of the album's other heavy rockers ("Taking All the Good Things," the Hawkwind-like "Only What You Make It," etc.), we're talking about weight streaked with softer dynamics and stylistic variety, on par with the parallel work of the Groundhogs or Pink Fairies -- but not single-minded riff leviathans like Black Sabbath or earliest Budgie -- although, curiously, shades of the latter's lighter, more explorative mid-'70s material do crop up in mellower tracks like the mildly exotic "Around the World in 80 Days" (featuring a mournful Spanish guitar figure) and the sultry grooves of "Yesterday's Promises." The H.G. Wells-inspired "Time Machine," in particular, collects an astonishing array of unrelated genres (folky acoustic guitars, handclaps, chucka-wucka guitars, etc.) but then so does "Move On," with its kinetic, funk-meets-jazz-meets-proto-metal mishmash, and LP closer "In Reverse/Some Say," with its tightly executed fuzz rock jam.

Along with most everything found on Stray's fascinating first album, these songs' rampant diversity suggest a far more seasoned and experienced group of musicians than the 18- and 19-year-olds involved -- impressive!



Tracklist:

01 - All In Your Mind 09:22

02 - Taking All The Good Things 05:31

03 - Around The World In 80 Days 03:37

04 - Time Machine 04:42

05 - Only What You Make It 04:01

06 - Yesterday's Promises 04:19

07 - Move On 05:47

08 - In Reverse - Some Say 09:02

09 - Change Your Mind (Outtake) {Bonus} 05:12

10 - The Man Who Paints The Pictures (Demo) {Bonus} 02:34

11 - In The Night (Demo) {Bonus} 02:59

12 - Outcast (Demo) {Bonus} 04:01

13 - All In Your Mind (Single Version) {Bonus} 04:01





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