Steppenwolf - The Epic Years 1974-1976  

On February 14,1972, after five years together and six studio albums (all of which were compiled, along with two live albums, in the great box set Magic Carpet Ride - The Dunhill / ABC Years 1967-1971), Steppenwolf held a press conference and announced they were calling it a day.  Over the next two years frontman John Kay released a couple of solo albums and then in 1974 the band reformed with Bobby Cochrane (Eddie’s nephew) replacing Kent Henry on lead guitar.  Over the next two years they released their final three albums which have now been compiled in the new box set The Epic Years 1974-1976.  

Slow Flux kicks things off, and while the opening handful of tunes show that they are definitely back, as you make your way deeper into the album you will also find there is a bit more diversity this time around.  The first two tracks are the tight, muscular rocker “Gang War Blues” with a bit of a funk groove and some great guitar, and the powerful “Children of Night”, which tackles how the sixties love generation had given way to greed and hostility.  “Justice Don’t Be Slow” also addresses political issues and is a slow burning protest song, with some great horns, and is about Nixon’s troubles at that time (to feed the fire it even includes audio clips from one of his speeches).  The next track, “Get Into The Wind”, is an extremely catchy, hard charging rock tune with some awesome organ fills and a definite “Born To Be Wild” vibe.  The band shakes things up a little with “Straight Shootin’ Woman”, a catchy, high energy cut that has a bit of an R&B shuffle, horns and piano.  They slow it down a bit with the balland "Morning Blue" and the Albert Hammond penned “Smokey Factory Blues”, a pretty, kind of melancholy track with an orchestrated feel and rocking choruses.  Closing the album out are rocker “A Fool’s Fantasy”, which adds a really solid funk groove, and “Fishin’ In the Dark”, a track that moves in a different direction for the band with a bit of a bouncy dance beat and blasting horns. 

With their next album, Hour Of The Wolf, the band continued in a more diverse direction and with Andy Chapin replacing original member Goldy McJohn on keys, they at times went even further than before.   Written by Mars Bonfire (“Born To Be Wild”), “Caroline (Are You Ready For The Outlaw World)” is an upbeat rock tune, but with a bit of a glam vibe.  It is definitely a bit different from anything they had done before and also includes a great sax solo from the legendary Tom Scott.  After a bit of a misstep with “Annie, Annie Over”, which was written by Alan O’Day (best known for his song “Undercover Angel” and Helen Reddy’s “Angie Baby”) which is a bit cheesy and honestly not a very good song, they get back on track with “Two For The Love Of One”, a gritty, bluesy rocker that has a great instrumental section with Cochran and Chapin battling back and forth on keys and guitar.  They slow things down with “Just For Tonight”, a really nice ballad with a bit of a rock edge before kicking in back into gear with the meat and potatoes rocker “Hard Rock Road” (featuring another appearance on sax from Tom Scott) and the straight-ahead “Someone Told A Lie”, an extremely catchy track, and album highlight, that showcases Kay and bassist Biondo trading off lead vocals, enhanced with Cochran’s talk box and Chapin’s prog like keyboard flourishes.  Next up is “Another’s Lifetime”, a melancholy rootsy rock track with some really nice guitar work.  From the swirling keyboards at the beginning, you can tell that album closer “Mr Penny Pincher” is going to be a bit different.  While it has that gritty Steppenwolf rock edge and tons of hooks, Chapin’s keys are all over it, including a very prog instrumental section in the middle, making it fresh and forward thinking and another album highlight.  Disc two also contains the box set's only bonus tracks with b-side “Angeldrawers”, a really fun track that’s very synth driven with a heavy funk groove and a singalong chorus not so unlike something from the band War, and the mono promotional single mix of “Caroline (Are You Ready For The Outlaw World)”.  

Due to the lack of success for Hour Of The Wolf, label support for the band was at a minimum and when it came time for the next album, Skullduggery, word is Kay was just looking at it as a means to fulfill their contractual obligation.  Chapin didn’t like touring and had left the band to be replaced by Wayne Cook and half the albums eight songs were covers.  While there are some strong moments, it is definitely the weakest of the three Epic releases.  Having said that, the album does open strongly with the title track, a catchy rocker in the classic Steppenwolf vein with Cochran and Cook really shining on guitar and organ.  While they do a good job with their cover of “(I’m A) Road Runner”, they really don’t add anything new to what was already there. Next up is Canadian folk/country musician Valdy’s “Rock N’ Roll Song”, a nice, laid-back, rootsy folk song that in their hands is given a bit of a Gordon Lightfoot vibe.  As with on the last album, I would have to say their cover of an Alan O’Day song, “Train Of Thought” (released as a single by Cher two years earlier) is probably the worst track here.  It does have some nice organ work, but their rendition is just not very good.  “Life Is A Gamble” is a good old classic rocker with some great honky tonk piano and a hint of a country rock groove that starts moving things in the right direction.  Their cover of “Pass It On”, written by Jean Watt and recorded by The Wailers, is once again a bit of a shift for the band with a slow and mellow groove that sounds like it would be a singalong at a beach bar, but “Sleep” is a bit poppy and comes across like “Steppenwolf Lite”.  Closing out the album and in effect the band is the instrumental “Lip Service”.  I’m not sure if this was just something to fill the album, but it’s driven by a super infectious, synth heavy funky disco beat that is about as far from the band’s previous work as you can imagine, and is a whole lot of fun to listen to.  If you played this song to a million unknowing listeners and asked them who it was, I can guarantee no one will get it right.

Although it definitely has its share of weak moments, The Epic Years 1974-1976 shows that Steppenwolf had plenty left in the tank for this last phase of their career and is a very worthwhile collection.  Also included is an outstanding booklet with a very thorough essay and plenty of pics of the band and memorabilia.   Although the band ceased to exist at this point, former members Goldy McJohn and Nick St Nicholas formed "New Steppenwolf".  McJohn left the band shortly thereafter, but St Nicholas continued on for several years.  In 1980 John Kay formed John Kay and Steppenwolf, recording several albums and doing live shows until 2018.  

(Esoteric Recordings)