PAMPERED MENIAL

OK, granted, Pampered Menial probably sounded dated even when it came out, back in 1974 - aside from some synth work from David Hamilton, this sounds like it could have come out four or five years earlier on the psych/proto-prog scene. Granted, it's not exactly hugely proggy, mainly adding a prog twist to power ballads. But when the music's this gorgeous I just... don't... care. Pampered Menial is a powerful album which features the exceptional voice of David Surkamp - who's compared to Geddy Lee and is certainly similarly high-pitched, but has a bit more of an operatic style to his vocals - and excellent musicianship from the rest of the band.

From Steve Scorfina's hard rock lead guitar to the more prog-tastic contributions of violinist Siegfried Carver and Mellotron/flute wiz Doug Rayburn, this is one of the most emotionally moving albums you're likely to find. The band expertly decide when a composition calls for some prog complexity, when a bit of hard rock rawness would help, and when the song needs to be stripped down to just a few instruments and Surkamp's wonderful voice. Though the rest of their career didn't exactly set the world on fire, Pavlov's Dog can be satisfied just with this one masterpiece. Brilliant.