Defrosted

Frijid Pink's second album was so-so hard rock on the verge of becoming heavy metal. Most of the songs were built on rote blues-rock riffs, with the macho bluster paced by Kelly Green's husky voice, which generally tried too hard and was too full of itself. The compositions addressed the themes of thrusting romance ("Black Lace"), quasi-countercultural utopianism ("Sing a Song for Freedom," which sounded influenced by "American Woman"-era Guess Who), and good-time boogie ("Sloony," with speedy guitar work that seemed to claim Alvin Lee as an influence). Even relative to their debut album, it sounded unexciting, and it was far less successful, peaking at number 149 where the first LP had almost made the Top Ten. When reissued as one of the CDs in Akarma's box set Hibernated (which repackaged the band's first three albums), the disc added four bonus tracks from non-LP early-'70s singles. Most of those bonus tracks show an increased soul-funk influence, with female backup singers showing up on "We're Gonna Be There," a takeoff on "Johnny Comes Marching Home" with stereotypically high-pitched early heavy metal vocals.

Line-up: Kelly Green - vocals, cowbell Gary Ray Thompson - lead & rhythm guitars Tom Harris - bass Richard Stevers - drums, tympani