SCORCHING BEAUTY

I'm a gladda it's finished!

When Iron Butterfly broke up in 1971 after a brief but significant existence, it seemed the band was finished. In 1975 however, guitarist Eric Braunn and drummer Ron Bushy got a band together, using the Iron Butterfly name for obvious marketing reasons, and recorded two further albums for MCA records. "Scorching beauty" was the first of these albums.

Anyone looking for another "In-a-gadda-da-vida" will be sadly disappointed by this collection. The album contains nine 3-5 minute songs which, while reasonably diverse, are prosaic at best. The opening "1975 overture" is not particularly impressive musically, but the chanted vocals and Celtic influences misleadingly give the impression that the band is looking to explore interesting new territories. The second track, "Hard miseree" quickly dispels any such notions though, as the band rip off a HAWKWIND riff fronted by some dubious vocals. The track does benefit from some decent if all too brief organ.

After this, we settle down to a succession of songs which sound like THREE DOG NIGHT rejects. "Searchin' Circles" is an insipid ballad which sails rather too close to TDN's "Going in circles", and "People of the world" is a clear attempt at a finding a chart single ("Joy to the world"?).

The CROSBY STILLS AND NASH like "Pearly gates" is slightly more interesting with its alternating tempos, but the main relevance of this track is that it is co-written by a certain JON ANDERSON. Only the closing "Before you go" has any real appeal, and even then it is only once the vocal section has finished and the album plays out with a decent, HOT TUNA like guitar section.

A very lightweight offering for this once pioneering band, which sees two former members trying to exploit the name while desperately seeking a hit single.

Pretty decent.

Iron Butterfly isn't quite Iron Butterfly without Doug Ingle. With that said, the band was apparently suffering from an identity crisis here as they sound more like T.Rex than anything else. But T.Rex is (was) a good band so that's not entirely a bad thing. Scorching Beauty saw the return of the 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida' era guitarist Eric Braunn along with the only truly original IB member (along with Doug Ingle) drummer Ron Bushy. That fact alone makes this lineup the most interesting post-Ingle lineup to date. Braunn does deliver some good guitar work here, even though the material never really reached higher ground and the band's efforts pretty much fizzled out among all the top notch music from other bands.

Though there are no clear highlights on the record, the material stays fairly strong throughout. Braunn, Kramer and Reitzes all share the vocal duties and everyone performs real well. The two previous Iron Butterfly records that come to mind while listening to this are Heavy and Metamorphosis. Yet still Scorching Beauty sounds unique when comparing to the rest of the IB catalogue.

In conclusion, this album is far from bad. It may not be the most typical Iron Butterfly record but once you've come to terms with that, you may find that it's a pretty decent 70's rock venture. Atleast it's worth checking out.

Half of the band got together for this album and the least that I can say, is that it is not a famous exercise to listen to it.

Most of the songs are uninspired, vaguely heavy and definitely on the hard-rocking side. Of course, you shouldn't expect any great stuff here. When I mentioned hard-rock, this album is playing in some kind of amateur third division league (but let's consider that there are already four professional ones before the first amateur one...).

Song writing is poor, and it leads to a pretty much forgettable effort. Pop rock People Of The World, this album really doesn't hold one song that could. But to have survived the listening of this track is quite remarkable. It is indeed a very poor song. A marvellous example of the press next syndrome.

I don't know how many of these albums the band have sold, but my guess is that in comparison with the thirty+ millions for In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida , this one had little to do with those numbers. What I mean, is that they would have been very much inspired NOT to have released this dreadful work even if the New York Dolls oriented Lonely Hearts is not a bad rock song. A little earlier on the album, the T. Rex oriented Am I Down was not too bad either.

The best number from this poor album is the good rocking Before You Go. Excellent guitar and fine drumming are the highlights of this song. But this is really one of the very few moment during which I could find a genuine pleasure while listening to it.

I just can tell that it would be better to stay away from this one. Two stars, thanks to three songs, that's it. Nothing needs to be added really.

Four years after their first break up, Iron Butterfly comes back in January 1975 with Scorching Beauty. The album had a stunning cover art and photography, but it was a big, big disappointment. Although they still had half of the classic line up (guitarist Erik Brann and original drummer Ron Bushy) on board, the music had almost nothing reminding of their former self: without Doug Yule´s distinctive vocals and organ it just does not sound like Iron Butterfly at all. Worse: the new compositions were also very different and closer to the early 70´s hard rock cliches.

That would not be a big problem if they only were a little more inspired and convincing. Ok, the tracks are not all bad. The opener 1975 overture and Hard Miseree are quite pleasant and have their merits. However, they are easily counterbalanced by the mediocrity of the remaining cuts (Am I Down and People of The World are especially hard to listen to). Erik Brann proves himself a decent singer and his guitar skills are obvious, and the band is very tight, but the weak compositions really blew the whole experience. So much so that even the good production and nice performances could not save the project.

From now on Iron Butterfly was a completely band altogether. And they would only prove themselves worth with their next release Sun and Steel. This one is only for collectors and completionists.

In 1975 Iron Butterfly reformed with Erik Braunn and Ron Bushy and released this album. Contrary to the belief of many this album is really good. 1975 Overture provides a great start to this album and Pearly Gates is a highlight of the album. The song People Of The World is the worst of the songs here as it sounds like any other song from the mid 1970's. The other highlights of the album are High On A Mountain Top and Am I Down.

Lots of Iron Butterfly fans dismiss this album and the next album Sun And Steel as mediocre albums. I disagree with that statement. Scorching Beauty is still the lesser of the two mid 70's reunion albums as Sun And Steel is an unsung classic. Despite that this album is still very good. Although it's nothing like In A Gadda Da Vida this album deserves more recognition.