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SCORCHING BEAUTY

Iron Butterfly

Proto-Prog


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Iron Butterfly Scorching Beauty album cover
2.56 | 41 ratings | 5 reviews | 12% 5 stars

Good, but non-essential

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Studio Album, released in 1975

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. 1975 Overture (4:19)
2. Hard Miseree (3:42)
3. High On A Mountain Top (4:03)
4. Am I Down (5:22)
5. People Of The World (3:24)
6. Searchin' Circles (4:38)
7. Pearly Gates (3:26)
8. Lonely Hearts (3:15)
9. Before You Go (5:35)

Total Time 37:43

Line-up / Musicians

- Erik Brann / lead vocals, lead guitar, arrangements (4-6)
- Howard Reitzes / keyboards, vocals (9)
- Phil Kramer / bass, vocals (3,7)
- Ron Bushy / drums, vocals

With:
- Jon Anderson / backing vocals (7)

Releases information

ArtWork: Drew Struzan

LP MCA Records ‎- MCA-465 (1975, US)

CD Repertoire Records ‎- REP 4558-WY (1995, Europe)

Thanks to PROGMAN for the addition
and to Quinino for the last updates
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IRON BUTTERFLY Scorching Beauty ratings distribution


2.56
(41 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of rock music(12%)
12%
Excellent addition to any rock music collection(20%)
20%
Good, but non-essential (24%)
24%
Collectors/fans only (37%)
37%
Poor. Only for completionists (7%)
7%

IRON BUTTERFLY Scorching Beauty reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Easy Livin
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
2 stars 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.

Review by ZowieZiggy
PROG REVIEWER
2 stars 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.

Review by Tarcisio Moura
PROG REVIEWER
2 stars 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.

Latest members reviews

4 stars 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 song ... (read more)

Report this review (#1870632) | Posted by Thenewrider | Tuesday, January 30, 2018 | Review Permanlink

3 stars 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 ... (read more)

Report this review (#144387) | Posted by Jimsey | Sunday, October 14, 2007 | Review Permanlink

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