Detective - It Takes One To Know One


E: ok, we did Sheriff, i guess we have to do Detective next. 

B: sure, call my bluff. Read 'em and weep. 

S: are you serious? That can't be coincidence. 

E: that is pretty obviously the same photo, isn't it? Which one came first? 

B: dunno, but we can compare the two pretty easily. This is the serious band portrait of Detective, taken with an expensive camera. These guys wanted to jump off the shelf into your cart whether you were record shopping or not. We also can't ignore that it's a Swan Song album, so it's definitely pre-1983, and Led Zeppelin's manager liked them. Sheriff was '82, so they were clearly trying to reference this album, certainly not the other way around. I bet Compy has all sorts of interesting things to say, but we're going blind on all of them, pre-conceiving our own notions. What do you think it'll sound like? 

S: they look like The Cars. Is this some weird New Wave thing? It doesn't look like Prog either. 

B: funny you should say that. I may not have any idea what this band sounds like yet, but i do know who's behind those sparkly sunglasses. That's Tony "i don't wanna play synths" Kaye proving it by not being in Yes anymore. I bet this is gonna turn out to be standard 70s Blues Rock. Roll it. 

Aw yeah. Am i good or what? If you think Greta van Fleet sounds like Led Zeppelin's high charting singles, then these guys are the deep cuts. No wonder Jimmy Page thought they were underappreciated. Warm Love is the only sappy slow jam, the rest of the album is hard hitting, Cap'n Crunch style Rock and Roll. 

Now, as to why they never hit it big from a commercial radio standpoint, i have 2 guesses: 1) this is not polished to perfection, it's raw and on a couple occasions sloppy. 2) nothing on this album stands out in terms of late 70s Hard Rock. This is a weeknight bar band. A good one, and i personally love it, but ain't nobody coming back from the commercial break hyping Detective or bumping other already established jams to make room for them. Probably not entirely fair, but still true; this is all middle of the playlist, DJ bathroom break type stuff. Don't be afraid to check them out, though. If you like hard 70s blues rock, there's plenty to enjoy.

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