The Sensational Alex Harvey Band | ||
| Allmusic Biography : The Sensational Alex Harvey Band formed in 1972 when veteran vocalist Alex Harvey (February 5, 1935, Gorbals, Glasgow, Scotland; died February 4, 1982, Zeebrugge, Belgium) teamed with struggling Glasgow group Tear Gas. Zal Cleminson (born May 4, 1949; guitar), Hugh McKenna (born November 28, 1949; keyboards), Chris Glen (born November 6, 1950, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland; bass), and Ted McKenna (born March 10, 1950, Glasgow, Scotland; drums) gave the singer the uncultured power his uncompromising rasp required and were the perfect foil to the sense of drama he created. Armed with a musical and cultural heritage, Harvey embarked on a unique direction combining elements of heavy rock, R&B;, and the British music hall. He created the slum-kid Vambo, celebrated pulp fiction with "Sergeant Fury," and extolled a passion for B-movie lore in "Don’t Worry About the Lights Mother, They’re Burning Big Louie Tonight." Framed, SAHB’s 1972 debut album, was accompanied by a period of frenetic live activity, while Next... reflected a consequent confidence that was especially apparent on the title track, a harrowing, atmospheric rendition of a Jacques Brel composition. The quintet continued their commercial ascendancy with The Impossible Dream and Tomorrow Belongs to Me while enhancing their in-concert reputation with a series of excellent and increasingly ambitious stage shows. Harvey’s presence was a determining factor in their visual appeal, but Cleminson’s intelligent use of clown make-up and mime brought yet another factor to the unit’s creative think-tank. 1975’s Live encapsulated this era, while SAHB’s irreverence was made clear in their exaggerated reading of Tom Jones hit "Delilah," which gave the band a U.K. Top 10 single. Its success inspired The Penthouse Tapes, which featured such disparate favorites as "Crazy Horses" (the Osmonds) "School’s Out" (Alice Cooper), and "Goodnight Irene" (Lead Belly). The band enjoyed another hit single with "Boston Tea Party" (1976), but the rigorous schedule extracted a toll on their vocalist. He entered hospital to attend to a recurring liver problem, during which time the remaining members recorded Fourplay as SAHB (without Harvey). Hugh McKenna was then replaced by Tommy Eyre and in August, 1977 Harvey rejoined the band to complete Rock Drill. However, three months later he walked out on his colleagues during a rehearsal for BBC’s Sight and Sound program, and despite the ill-feeling this caused, it was later accepted that his return had been premature given the extent of his illness. Despite pursuing a solo career at a more measured pace, Harvey died as a result of a heart attack on February 4, 1982. Ted McKenna, Cleminson, and Glen had, meanwhile, formed the short-lived Zal with Billy Rankin (guitar) and Leroi Jones (vocals), but this ill-starred ensemble struggled in the face of punk and split up in April 1978. McKenna later joined Rory Gallagher and MSG, while Cleminson was briefly a member of Nazareth. In 1992, members of the original band were reunited as the Sensational Party Boys. The band became very popular once more in their native Glasgow and surrounding areas. They officially changed their name in August 1993 back to the Sensational Alex Harvey Band with the original line-up (minus Harvey). Credible frontman, ex-Zero Zero, and Strangeways vocalist Stevie Doherty (born July 17, 1959, Coatbridge, Scotland), performed the band’s back catalog with great presence and power, and without attempting to emulate Harvey. The band reunited for a second time in the new millennium, with Billy Rankin and then Max Maxwell taking Harvey’s place behind the microphone. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 28 Title: The Legend Released: Tracks: 10 Duration: 47:33 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Midnight Moses (04:24) 2 Action Strasse (03:18) 3 Delilah (04:05) 4 Cheek to Cheek (03:51) 5 St. Anthony (04:42) 6 Sergeant Fury (03:32) 7 Gang Bang (04:48) 8 Framed (04:57) 9 I Just Want to Make Love to You (06:41) 10 The Faith Healer (07:11) |
| The Legend : Allmusic album Review : Legend is one of the surprising wealth of Alex Harvey/SAHB collections to turn up in the years following his death, all of which were apparently compiled in the belief that the only people whod be interested in such a thing were those who assumed the bands best performances were covers. The hit "Delilah" is here, of course, together with way too many selections from The Penthouse Tapes. The true legend of Alex Harvey, on the other hand, remains buried in the album tracks, B-sides, and live performances that this collection (and others like it) continued to overlook. A shame -- he deserved better. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 28 Title: Framed Released: 1972 Tracks: 11 Duration: 55:15 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Framed (05:00) 2 Hammer Song (04:06) 3 Midnight Moses (04:24) 4 Isobel Goudie: My Lady of the Night / Coitus Interruptus / Virgin and the Hunter (07:31) 5 Buff’s Bar Blues (03:09) 6 I Just Want to Make Love to You (06:41) 7 Hole in Her Stocking (04:46) 8 There’s No Lights on the Christmas Tree Mother, They’re Burning Big Louie Tonight (03:52) 9 St. Anthony (04:41) 10 Smouldering (05:31) 11 Chase It Into the Night (05:30) |
| Framed : Allmusic album Review : Harveys merger with Tear Gas, a faltering rock band, was the smartest move of his career. With a heady mix of theatrics and driving rock, SAHB quickly made a name for themselves across England, releasing this album along the way. Harvey struts and yowls and gets raunchy (prefiguring the SAHB version of "Delilah") while Zal Cleminson rips up the territory with some astounding guitar work. A great debut and a hell of a rock album. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 28 Title: Next… Released: 1973 Tracks: 7 Duration: 35:39 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Swampsnake (04:53) 2 Gang Bang (04:45) 3 The Faith Healer (07:11) 4 Giddy Up A Ding Dong (03:16) 5 Next (04:02) 6 Vambo Marble Eye (04:18) 7 The Last of the Teenage Idols (07:12) |
| Next… : Allmusic album Review : After making an impressive and promising debut with Framed, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band perfected their unique, glam-inspired fusion of hard rock and cabaret styles on Next. It also happens to be their best-sounding album, thanks to the efforts of Phil Wainman, a producer best known for his work as a bubblegum-pop svengali to the likes of Sweet and the Bay City Rollers. Wainman puts the bands sound over the top by adding a sense of studio polish that fleshes out their odd combination of styles without taking away from the musics sense of rock & roll power. The result is an album that has all the muscle of a good hard-rock recording but tempers its bombast with a sense of big-production depth and clarity that brings outs the bands tight musicianship. Next also produced the Sensational Alex Harvey Bands first hit single with "Faith Healer," the creepy tale of a religious con artist that blends an intense vocal from Harvey with a thunderous, guitar-driven wall of sound production. Other standout moments include the title track, a frenzied reading of a ribald Jacques Brel tune that effectively pits Harveys anguished wail against lovely orchestrations, and "The Last Of The Teenage Idols," an autobiographical exploration of Harveys travails in the music business that shows off the bands versatility through an arrangement that encompasses hard rock, big-band soul, and even doo-wop. To sum up, Next is one of the true high points of the English glam-rock boom and required listening for anyone with an interest in Alex Harveys music. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 28 Title: The Impossible Dream Released: 1974 Tracks: 8 Duration: 41:19 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Hot City Symphony: Vambo / Man in the Jar (13:13) 2 River of Love (03:10) 3 Long Hair Music / Hey (04:36) 4 Sergeant Fury (03:26) 5 Weights Made of Lead (02:36) 6 Money Honey / Impossible Dream (02:06) 7 Tomahawk Kid (04:30) 8 Anthem (07:42) |
| The Impossible Dream : Allmusic album Review : Whoever thought that the surface obsession of glam rock never met the loopy idealism of the hippie movement -- at least in the musical realm -- has obviously never heard the appropriately titled The Impossible Dream. Recorded, again, appropriately, as the Age of Aquarius was in full transition to the age of the Spiders From Mars and, later, the me decade, The Impossible Dream manages to capture that cultural DMZ in an operatic blast of pub rock-based pomp without circumstance. Harvey is the bacchanalian ringleader, marshalling the Sensational Alex Harvey Bands considerable, flexible resources to the task at hand and providing a damn good listen in the process. Multi-part song cycles, three-minute rockers. and tomes such as "Long Hair Music" keep you, the unexpecting listener, on edge. This is one of those overlooked records, and Harvey was one of those artists, that could easily have reached less than an arms length and touched T. Rex, Queen, the New York Dolls, AC/DC, or Sweet, and, by extension, Mötley Crüe, Poison, and Guns n Roses. The Impossible Dream is a key album in the discography of one of rocks little-known grand schemers. It rocks out, is pretentious, bombastic, rollicking and grand, but its never boring. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 28 Title: Tomorrow Belongs to Me Released: 1975-04 Tracks: 10 Duration: 39:19 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Action Strasse (03:14) 2 Snake Bite (03:55) 3 Soul in Chains (03:52) 4 The Tale of the Giant Stoneater (07:20) 5 Ribs and Balls (01:51) 6 Give My Compliments to the Chef (05:32) 7 Shark’s Teeth (04:53) 8 Shake That Thing (04:04) 9 Tomorrow Belongs to Me (03:45) 10 To Be Continued… (Hail Vibrania!) (00:53) |
| Tomorrow Belongs to Me : Allmusic album Review : By the time they recorded Tomorrow Belongs To Me, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band had perfected a totally unique trademark sound, an audacious and often surreal witches brew of heavy metal thunder, glam artsiness, prog complexity, and all sorts of left-field cabaret and big-band elements. This album does not break any new ground for this oddball synthesis, but it is a solid and high-powered outing that will please anyone who enjoyed Framed or The Impossible Dream. Highlights include "Snake Bite," which sets a saucy tone with a sleazy hard-rock riff then adds all sorts of funky keyboard shadings for further spice and "The Tale Of The Giant Stoneeater" a slice of surreal mythology whose backing track sounds like the hard rock version of a Godzilla movie soundtrack. Unfortunately, other tracks find the Sensational Alex Harvey Band slipping into complacency: "Soul In Chains" wraps a tired, cabaret-inflected tune around a surprisingly cliched lyric about romance gone bad and "Ribs And Balls" is a short throwaway that wastes a worthwhile riff. Despite these occasional lapses, the majority of Tomorrow Belongs To Me holds up well and offers plenty of solid tunes: "Give My Compliments To The Chef" is a complex, atmospheric mood piece with surreal lyrics about social breakdown that became a concert favorite and the groups surprisingly straight-forward take on the title track has a twisted yet heartfelt sense of grandeur. In short, Tomorrow Belongs To Me wont win the Sensational Alex Harvey Band any new fans but makes a worthwhile (if unextraordinary) addition to any fans Harvey collection. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 28 Title: Live Released: 1975-09 Tracks: 12 Duration: 1:06:09 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Fanfare (Justly, Skillfully, Magnanimously) (01:27) 2 Faith Healer (06:50) 3 Tomahawk Kid (05:44) 4 Vambo (09:23) 5 Give My Compilments to the Chef (06:47) 6 Delilah (05:16) 7 Framed (11:04) 8 I Wanna Have You Back (02:40) 9 Jungle Jenny (04:02) 10 Runaway (02:48) 11 Love Story (06:00) 12 School’s Out (04:01) |
| Live : Allmusic album Review : Although the Sensational Alex Harvey Band showed off plenty of sonic firepower on studio outings like Next and Tomorrow Belongs to Me, they were always at their most ferocious in the concert arena. As a result, Live is an especially rousing and engaging addition to the groups catalog. Since the set list is almost entirely composed of time-tested favorites, it also one of their most consistent albums. The albums contents are taken from a single nights performance at the Hammersmith Odeon, and this gives it a sonic coherence that other live albums rarely capture. A totally committed performance from the band seals the albums appeal with its thrilling combination of heavy metal bombast and tight arrangements that carefully deploy keyboard shadings to flesh out the guitar-heavy sound. The proceedings start powerfully with "Faith Healer," an ominous rocker whose thunderous riffs take on a new level of muscle in the live arena. Other highlights include "Give My Compliments to the Chef," a sci-fi-influenced tale of societal breakdown that slowly but surely builds into a hard-rocking frenzy, and the groups cover of "Framed," which transforms the classic Leiber-Stoller tune into a twisted psychodrama where Harvey debates with the audience over his innocence. However, the finest track on the album is a cover: the groups surprisingly subtle version of the Tom Jones hit "Delilah" tones down the originals fevered psychodrama to create a waltz-like tune with a tongue in cheek circus atmosphere. This track is also notable because it was released as a single and became one of the groups biggest hit singles in Europe. To sum up, Live is a double-triumph for the Sensational Alex Harvey Band because it functions both as a strong live souvenir for the groups fans and also as a solid introduction to the groups highlights for the novice. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 28 Title: The Penthouse Tapes Released: 1976-03 Tracks: 10 Duration: 37:46 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 I Wanna Have You Back (02:39) 2 Jungle Jenny (03:59) 3 Runaway (02:45) 4 Love Story (05:03) 5 School’s Out (04:53) 6 Goodnight Irene (04:32) 7 Say You’re Mine (Every Cowboy Song) (03:21) 8 Gamblin’ Bar Room Blues (04:06) 9 Crazy Horses (02:51) 10 Cheek to Cheek (03:32) |
| The Penthouse Tapes : Allmusic album Review : Anyone familiar with the work of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band knows the group had an intriguing penchant for performing odd cover versions from all different areas of popular music. This 1976 album allowed the group to give full vent to this obsession: three of the tracks are band originals, but the rest are a series of covers that hit everything from Irving Berlin to the Osmonds to Alice Cooper. The resulting album has a thrown-together feel that keeps if from cohering properly, but still manages to be a worthwhile listen thanks to a combination of spirited performances and interesting arrangements. The highlight of the band originals is"Jungle Jenny," a gender-switched Tarzan tale that sets lyrics about a lusty white goddess who drives the apes mad over a tune that mixes glam rock guitar with tribal drums. In terms of covers, the standout tracks include a moody mid-tempo take on Jethro Tulls "Love Story" and "Crazy Horses," which utilizes Harveys larynx-shredding wail to bring out the apocalyptic overtones in this surprisingly hard-rocking Osmonds tune. The band also takes some surprisingly effective stabs at country rock with their boozy sing-along cover of "Gamblin Bar Room Blues" and "Say Youre Mine (Every Cowboy Song)," a Harvey original. A few of tracks come off as throwaways ("Runaway" is energetically performed but adds nothing to the tune), but this album is a solid listen overall for any fans of the Alex Harvey sound. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 28 Title: SAHB Stories Released: 1976-07 Tracks: 8 Duration: 40:38 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Dance to Your Daddy (05:45) 2 Amos Moses (05:18) 3 Jungle Rub Out (04:27) 4 Sirocco (06:51) 5 Boston Tea Party (04:36) 6 Sultan’s Choice (04:06) 7 $25 for a Massage (03:18) 8 Dogs of War (06:13) |
| SAHB Stories : Allmusic album Review : The sixth album for the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, released following a year-plus hiatus that nevertheless saw the release of two new LPs: the water-treading Live, and the odds n oldies collection Penthouse Tapes. Both portrayed the band in a light that had only a little in common with the groups true strengths -- both, attended by major chart success and exposure, left the band uncertain quite how -- or even if -- they should proceed. SAHB Stories suffers accordingly. At its greatest, it shines alongside the very best of the bands past. The closing "Dogs of War," though bombastically overwrought, nevertheless ranks alongside John Cales similarly fear-lashed "Mercenaries" as one of the greatest-ever examinations of the soldier of fortune, while the twisted history of "Boston Tea Party" -- quite likely the only U.K. hit to mention George Washingtons wooden teeth -- is set to a pounding tomahawk guitar riff, and an extraordinarily contagious chorus. A positively spellbinding interpretation of Jerry Reeds "Amos Moses," meanwhile, drops the listener headfirst into the Louisiana bayou, hunting alligators and police chiefs alike. Elsewhere, however, the sense of finality that gathered around the bands period live shows was echoed in the albums failure to ever get out of second gear. "Dance to Your Daddy" is catchy but a little too cute; "Sirocco" rumbles with pulsating Eastern promise, but never quite delivers, and so on. The end of the band was nigh, and Harvey himself acknowledged that when he quit the group just a few months later. He would return, of course, but the dead horse was beyond flogging by then. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 28 Title: Fourplay Released: 1977-02 Tracks: 8 Duration: 42:11 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Smouldering (05:33) 2 Chase It Into the Night (05:31) 3 Shake Your Way to Heaven (05:12) 4 Outer Boogie (05:02) 5 Big Boy (04:57) 6 Pick It Up and Kick It (04:28) 7 Love You for a Lifetime (05:10) 8 Too Much American Pie (06:15) |
 | Album: 10 of 28 Title: Rock Drill Released: 1978 Tracks: 9 Duration: 35:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Rock Drill (06:26) 2 The Dolphins (06:14) 3 Rock ’n’ Rool (03:44) 4 King Kong (03:20) 5 Booids (01:38) 6 Who Murdered Sex? (05:21) 7 Nightmare City (03:53) 8 Water Beastie (04:51) 9 No Complaints Department (?) |
| Rock Drill : Allmusic album Review : This album, the final effort by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, finds the band ‘s energy at a low ebb. In fact, Alex Harvey had originally intended to leave the group after a lengthy hospitalization for liver problems but was talked into returning to the group for another album. The resulting album feels like an afterthought. All the hallmarks of the groups sound are there (dramatic arrangements, glam-rock guitar firepower, odd covers) but it often feels like the group is going through the motions: "Rock ‘N Roll" is a surprisingly cliched tune that lacks any distinctive or memorable riffs and the generic boogie of "Who Murdered Sex?" lacks the ribald spirit that a song with such a title should have. Another problem with Rock Drill is that it lacks the dramatic shifts of sonic style that characterized outings like Tomorrow Belongs To Me: the band forsakes the intriguing cabaret and big-band elements they had toyed with in the past in favor of a straight-ahead rock sound that robs the band of much of its personality. However, the album does include a few worthwhile moments for fans: the title track is a pounding rocker that sports a committed vocal performance from Harvey and "Water Beastie" starts with an odd, tribal-styled chant that segues into a quirky fusion of reggae and hard rock. However, these bright spots cant make up for the overall uninspired feel of Rock Drill and, as a result, this album can only be recommended to hardcore Alex Harvey devotees. | ||
 | Album: 11 of 28 Title: The Collection Released: 1986 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:08:15 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Tale of the Giant Stoneater (07:17) 2 Action Strasse (03:08) 3 Gang Bang (04:44) 4 Next (04:02) 5 Give My Compliments to the Chef (05:27) 6 Framed (04:56) 7 Tomorrow Belongs to Me (03:45) 8 Sergeant Fury (03:30) 9 Delilah (live) (05:07) 10 The Faith Healer (07:11) 11 Boston Tea Party (04:37) 12 Vambo, Part 1 (05:05) 13 Dogs of War (06:09) 14 Giddy Up a Ding Dong (03:12) |
| The Collection : Allmusic album Review : This was the first Alex Harvey collection to see its release on compact disc. There have since been dozens of others, many with better sound. This set contains 14 songs, all of them either Harvey chart hits such as "Delilah," "Faith Healer," "Action Strasse," and others, as well as staples of the bands outrageously funny, entertaining, and over-the-top rock & roll show. The beauty of Harveys music is that it endures as a prime example of the first glam era. Harveys tunes, such as his cover of Leiber and Stollers "Framed," "Gang Bang," and the raucous "Giddy Up a Ding Dong," also kept him rooted to the grand rock & roll tradition and to rhythm and blues. This is an excellent introduction to Harvey and can readily be found languishing in the bins of used record stores for a discounted price. | ||
 | Album: 12 of 28 Title: Portrait Released: 1987 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:07:59 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Vambo (05:05) 2 Boston Tea Party (04:44) 3 Gang Bang (04:47) 4 The Faith Healer (07:11) 5 School’s Out (05:04) 6 Delilah (05:04) 7 Tomahawk Kid (04:31) 8 Gambling Bar Room Blues (04:09) 9 Framed (04:57) 10 Mrs. Blackhouse (03:37) 11 Tomorrow Belongs to Me (03:48) 12 To Be Continued (00:57) 13 Dogs of War (06:17) 14 Anthem (07:43) |
| Portrait : Allmusic album Review : One more in that so infuriating succession of poorly compiled and zero-annotated Alex Harvey/SAHB compilations that materialized on the shelves during the first five years following his death, Portrait is, likewise, yet another that was compiled in the belief that the only people whod be interested in such a thing were those who assumed the bands best performances were cover versions. The hit "Delilah" is here, of course, but so are way too many selections from The Penthouse Tapes -- "Crazy Horses," "Schools Out," "Cheek to Cheek." A realistic portrait of Alex Harvey, on the other hand, remained buried in the album tracks, B-sides, and live performances that this collection (and too many others like it) seemed hell-bent on ignoring. | ||
 | Album: 13 of 28 Title: The Best of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band Released: 1991 Tracks: 15 Duration: 1:10:09 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Delilah (live) (04:05) 2 Cheek to Cheek (live) (03:47) 3 Jungle Rubout (04:24) 4 Man in the Jar (08:15) 5 Weights Made of Lead (02:39) 6 Sgt. Fury (03:29) 7 Boston Tea Party (04:11) 8 Next (04:02) 9 Gamblin’ Bar Room Blues (04:06) 10 Tomorrow Belongs to Me (live) (06:20) 11 Snakebite (03:58) 12 School’s Out (04:53) 13 Love Story (05:03) 14 Faith Healer (06:03) 15 Framed (04:53) |
 | Album: 14 of 28 Title: BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert Released: 1991 Tracks: 10 Duration: 57:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 The Faith Healer (06:15) 2 Midnight Moses (04:32) 3 Gang Bang (04:54) 4 Teenage Idol (08:14) 5 Giddie Up a Ding Dong (03:26) 6 The Temptation of St. Antony (06:39) 7 Framed (06:44) 8 There’s No Lights on the Christmas Tree Mother, They’re Burning Big Louie Tonight (03:51) 9 Hole in Your Stocking (05:41) 10 Dance to the Music (07:32) |
 | Album: 15 of 28 Title: All Sensations Released: 1992 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:11:26 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Midnight Moses (04:24) 2 Action Strasse (03:13) 3 Delilah (05:16) 4 St. Anthony (04:39) 5 Sergeant Fury (03:31) 6 Next (04:02) 7 Give My Compliments to the Chef (05:32) 8 The Last of the Teenage Idols (05:08) 9 Gang Bang (04:45) 10 Framed (04:53) 11 I Just Want to Make Love to You (06:38) 12 The Faith Healer (07:11) 13 Vambo Marble Eye (04:18) 14 Anthem (07:49) |
| All Sensations : Allmusic album Review : A good taste of Alex Harveys lyrical dramatics and pleasantly boorish musical attitude can be found within the 14 songs from All Sensations, even though its not the most complete compilation from the Sensational Alex Harvey Band available. Harveys unhinged vocal approach is laid out best on the opening "Midnight Moses," and again on a live version of "Delilah," the Tom Jones classic colorfully dressed up with a heavy guitar crunch and wallowing synthesizer. Harveys underlying humor is front and center on songs like "Give My Compliments to the Chef" and the more popular "Sergeant Fury," mixing his exaggerated stage presence with a solid rock & roll backdrop. The inclusion of "Gang Bang" and the Frank Zappa-like rawness of "Faith Healer" add value to this collection, exhibiting the many faces of the late Scotsman. Despite the absence of 1976s "Boston Tea Party" or "Dont Worry About the Lights, Mother," All Sensations manages to paint a detailed picture of the Sensational Alex Harvey Bands multi- dimensional peculiarity and off-the-wall personality. | ||
 | Album: 16 of 28 Title: Live on the Test Released: 1994 Tracks: 7 Duration: 31:21 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Next (04:00) 2 Faith Healer (03:14) 3 Give My Compliments to the Chef (06:06) 4 Delilah (04:58) 5 Boston Tea Party (03:46) 6 Pick It Up and Kick It (04:35) 7 Smouldering (04:39) |
 | Album: 17 of 28 Title: The Impossible Dream / Tomorrow Belongs to Me Released: 2002 Tracks: 20 Duration: 1:21:46 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Hot City Symphony, Part 1: Vambo (05:03) 2 The Hot City Symphony, Part 2: Man in the Jar (08:14) 3 River of Love (03:12) 4 Long Hair Music (04:37) 5 Hey (00:39) 6 Sergeant Fury (03:29) 7 Weights Made of Lead (02:41) 8 Money Honey / Impossible Dream (02:10) 9 Tomahawk Kid (04:34) 10 Anthem (07:45) 1 Action Strasse (03:14) 2 Snake Bite (03:55) 3 Soul in Chains (03:52) 4 The Tale of the Giant Stoneater (07:20) 5 Ribs and Balls (01:51) 6 Give My Compliments to the Chef (05:32) 7 Shark’s Teeth (04:53) 8 Shake That Thing (04:04) 9 Tomorrow Belongs to Me (03:45) 10 To Be Continued… (Hail Vibrania!) (00:53) |
| The Impossible Dream / Tomorrow Belongs to Me : Allmusic album Review : Combining the Sensational Alex Harvey Bands third and fourth albums, The Impossible Dream and Tomorrow Belongs To Me, offers perhaps the archetypal vision of Alex Harvey, as his long-nurtured alter-ego, the comic book hero Vambo, finally burst out of imagination to take on a life of his own on stages across the world. Yet what would become the groups most successful albums also stand as their patchiest. From The Impossible Dream, "River Of Love," "Long Hair Music," and "Weights Made Of Lead" seem particularly throwaway; casualties, perhaps, of the sheer volume of live work which the band was putting in. Certainly there was nothing to rival its predecessors "Faith Healer," "Next," or "Isabel Goudie," although when the album was good, it was great. The sparkling "Sergeant Fury" and "Tomahawk Kid," a dramatic (if slightly off-kilter) tribute to Robert Louis Stevensons Treasure Island were already live staples, while the impossibly moving, and so aptly-titled "Anthem" would allow Harvey to live out all his Scottish pride -- when SAHB toured the US in early 1975, he even arranged for a couple of bagpipers to join them on stage for the closing minutes of the song. Tomorrow Belongs To Me is weaker still, despite the uniform excellence of its contents onstage. Indeed, like Impossible Dreams "Hot City Symphony," the epic "Give My Compliments To The Chef" and "Tale Of The Giant Stone-Eater" were surely designed with live, as opposed to studio, dynamics in mind, while the bulk of the shorter pieces once more tend to be throwaways. Again, however, there are exceptions -- one can readily imagine "Sgt. Fury" swaggering carelessly down through menacing shadows of "Action Strasse," while the almost religious intensity with which Harvey emotes the title track (from the stage show Cabaret) is virtually worth the price of admission alone. One can also safely say that, linked on one CD, the two albums work better as a whole than they ever did alone -- again, testament to the sheer dynamic of SAHB-period live shows. That the best of that show is preserved only on the criminally short album Live on the Test only adds to this sets vitality. Live on the Test showcases the best, but you should hear the rest. | ||
 | Album: 18 of 28 Title: Live / The Penthouse Tapes Released: 2002 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:24:24 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Fanfare (Justly, Skillfully, Magnaminously) (01:26) 2 Faith Healer (06:50) 3 Tomahawk Kid (05:49) 4 Vambo (09:29) 5 Give My Compliments to the Chef (06:37) 6 Delilah (05:16) 7 Framed (11:08) 1 I Wanna Have You Back (02:39) 2 Jungle Jenny (03:59) 3 Runaway (02:45) 4 Love Story (05:03) 5 School’s Out (04:53) 6 Goodnight Irene (04:32) 7 Say You’re Mine (Every Cowboy Song) (03:21) 8 Gamblin’ Bar Room Blues (04:06) 9 Crazy Horses (02:51) 10 Cheek to Cheek (03:32) |
 | Album: 19 of 28 Title: Framed / Next… Released: 2002 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:19:24 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Framed (04:53) 2 Hammer Song (04:06) 3 Midnight Moses (04:24) 4 Isobel Goudie: My Lady of the Night / Coitus Interruptus / Virgin and the Hunter (07:31) 5 Buff’s Bar Blues (03:05) 6 I Just Want to Make Love to You (06:38) 7 Hole in Her Stocking (04:40) 8 There’s No Lights on the Christmas Tree Mother, They’re Burning Big Louie Tonight (03:45) 9 St. Anthony (04:39) 1 Swampsnake (04:53) 2 Gang Bang (04:45) 3 The Faith Healer (07:11) 4 Giddy Up A Ding Dong (03:16) 5 Next (04:02) 6 Vambo Marble Eye (04:18) 7 The Last of the Teenage Idols (07:12) |
| Framed / Next… : Allmusic album Review : A handy two-fer coupling of the Sensational Alex Harvey Bands first two albums, nicely remastered but sadly accompanied by nothing that has not been reissued before, Framed/Next captures the band as they took their first steps towards a superstardom that was by no means taken for granted. Early live audiences hated the group, and the only consolation for Harvey was that he actively enjoyed the confrontation. Framed was recorded in under five days, and still steams with the seething fury of its birth, a mixed bag of new creations, odd concoctions, and oldies that Harvey had been playing for up to a decade. Both the title track and "I Just Want To Make Love To You" were reprised from his Alex Harvey Soul Band debut album; "Hole In Her Stocking" had already appeared on his last LP, as a member of the Rock Workshop troupe; and "Midnight Moses" revisited a lost 1969 single. Elsewhere, however, the epic "Isabel Goudie" showcased his backing band with a lengthy recounting of a Scottish witch legend, while the decidedly unseasonal Yuletide single "Theres No Lights On The Christmas Tree" told the tale of a gangster going to the electric chair. And "The Hammer Song" found an entire new generation of fans after Nick Cave covered it on 1990s The Good Son. At the time, though, they couldnt give this stuff away. Fast forward a year and the bands fortunes had changed dramatically. Now regarded as one of the top live acts in the country, the criticism was that their vinyl didnt reflect their live performances. Next, dynamically produced by Phil Wainman (later better-known for his work with the Bay City Rollers), would change that forever. Once again, the title song was a cover, a dramatic version of Jacques Brels "Au Suivant" transformed into an apocalyptic tango. More important within Harveys own subsequent iconography, however, was the pulsing "Faith Healer," a magnificent invocation that was soon to become the bands traditional set-opener (replacing a manic version of the Osmonds "Crazy Horses") and has since, of course, ascended to the status of Rock Anthem. The seethingly sexual "Swampsnake" and the lascivious "Gang Bang" cater delightedly to the bands reputation for taking no prisoners, but a rambunctious version of Freddie Bells 1956 classic "Giddy Up A Ding Dong" gives ample vent to their lighter side, before Harvey unleashes the semi-autobiographical "Last Of The Teenage Idols," a song recounting his long ago triumph in a Scottish Tommy Steele competition. Its a great conclusion to the album, and a fitting finale, too, to this releases roundup of SAHBs first full year in action. | ||
 | Album: 20 of 28 Title: SAHB Stories / Rock Drill Released: 2002 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:19:44 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Dance to Your Daddy (05:45) 2 Amos Moses (05:18) 3 Jungle Rub Out (04:27) 4 Sirocco (06:51) 5 Boston Tea Party (04:36) 6 Sultan’s Choice (04:06) 7 $25 for a Massage (03:18) 8 Dogs of War (06:13) 1 Rock Drill (06:26) 2 The Dolphins (06:14) 3 Rock ’n’ Rool (03:44) 4 King Kong (03:20) 5 Booids (01:38) 6 Who Murdered Sex? (05:21) 7 Nightmare City (03:53) 8 Water Beastie (04:51) 9 Mrs. Blackhouse (03:35) |
| SAHB Stories / Rock Drill : Allmusic album Review : Completing the two-fer reissues of the Sensational Alex Harvey Bands 1970s LP catalog, this final package brings together the bands final, dying breaths. Cut less than a year after "Delilah" finally broke the band into the U.K. pop mainstream, SAHB Stories is the strongest of the pair; indeed, at its greatest, it shines alongside the very best of the bands past. The closing "Dogs of War," is a bombastically overwrought examination of the mercenary mindset, while the twisted history of "Boston Tea Party" -- quite likely the only U.K. hit to mention George Washingtons wooden teeth -- is set to a pounding tomahawk guitar riff, and an extraordinarily contagious chorus. A positively spellbinding interpretation of Jerry Reeds "Amos Moses," meanwhile, drops the listener head first into the Louisiana bayou, hunting alligators and police chiefs alike. Rock Drill, on the other hand, was recorded almost two years later, with the bands career and momentum alike having been irreparably hamstrung first by Harveys illness and "retirement"; then by the rise of punk rock, to file the group firmly into the box marked "has-beens." It was precisely the kind of challenge Harvey ordinarily relished, but he was tired and still unwell; the comeback came a few months too soon, and the songwriting came slowly. "Mrs Blackhouse," a single during 1977, was only half the song it might once have been, and too much of Rock Drill leans towards the lumpen, unimaginative rock stodge that his bandmates cut (as S.A.H.B. Without Alex during his absence. Only one track, the seriously odd "Water Beastie," truly hinted at the deranged variety and complexity that had hallmarked past SAHB albums and its revealing that, 25 years on, Harveys Considering the Situation anthology considered that song alone worth excerpting from Rock Drill. In truth, the album is not quite that dispensable. But it does come close. | ||
 | Album: 21 of 28 Title: Faith Healer Released: 2002-02-04 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:03:14 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Isobel Goudie (Part) (02:24) 2 Next (04:03) 3 Tomahawk Kid (04:32) 4 Faith Healer (live) (06:58) 5 Gamblin’ Bar Room Blues (04:06) 6 Sultan’s Choice (04:06) 7 Action Strasse (03:14) 8 Tomorrow Belongs to Me (03:46) 9 Framed (04:56) 10 Rock Drill (Part) (04:44) 11 The Hot City Symphony: Part 1 (Vambo) (05:01) 12 Gang Bang (04:46) 13 Mrs Blackhouse (03:35) 14 Sirocco (06:55) |
 | Album: 22 of 28 Title: British Tour ’76 Released: 2004-09-13 Tracks: 10 Duration: 1:05:35 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Fanfare (01:17) 2 The Faith Healer (06:42) 3 Tomahawk Kid (05:38) 4 Isobel Goudie (09:40) 5 Amos Moses (06:12) 6 Vambo (06:43) 7 Boston Tea Party (07:50) 8 Dance to Your Daddy (08:42) 9 Framed (07:39) 10 Delilah (05:12) |
| British Tour ’76 : Allmusic album Review : British Tour 76 is not an expanded version of the original Live album, despite the similarity in track listings, but a remarkable document of the bands next major tour, in support of the newly released SAHB Stories album. History relates that the group was on the way out now, and certainly its subsequent decline was precipitous. Here, however, Alex and the lads arent simply firing on all cylinders -- theyre enacting one of the finest shows any British stage had ever seen. Their seething reinvention of "Amos Moses," the bicentennial gift "Boston Tea Party," and the so-compulsive "Dance to Your Daddy" are the new albums contributions to the show; elsewhere, its business as usual, as the SAHB dig back into their earliest fare for a mighty "Isabel Goudie" and the inevitable thunder of "Faith Healer"; "Tomahawk Kid," "Vambo," and the encore hit "Delilah" are all present and deliriously correct, but the highlight has to be "Framed," with Alex in full comic Hitler mode, and delivering a routine that you simply couldnt get away with today. That doesnt stop it from being hysterically funny, though, as well as serving as a potent reminder that good taste and great rock & roll have rarely been comfortable bedfellows. | ||
 | Album: 23 of 28 Title: US Tour 74 Released: 2006 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:46:38 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Fanfare / (intro) (01:11) 2 The Faith Healer (07:46) 3 Midnight Moses (04:31) 4 N.E.X.T. (04:13) 5 The Hot City Symphony - (intro) (01:11) 6 The Hot City Symphony, Part 1: Vambo (06:05) 7 The Hot City Symphony, Part 2: The Man in the Jar (08:21) 8 Jumpin’ Jack Flash (06:22) 9 Framed (10:24) 1 Intro (00:47) 2 The Faith Healer (07:09) 3 Midnight Moses (04:24) 4 N.E.X.T. (05:14) 5 Sergeant Fury (03:39) 6 Framed (12:18) 7 Anthem (16:00) 8 Jumpin’ Jack Flash (07:03) |
 | Album: 24 of 28 Title: Zalvation: Live in the 21st Century Released: 2006-06-19 Tracks: 13 Duration: 1:31:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Faith Healer (07:35) 2 Midnight Moses (05:04) 3 Swampsnake (05:46) 4 Next (04:54) 5 Isobel Goudie (07:50) 6 Framed (08:57) 1 Give My Compliments to the Chef (07:59) 2 The Man in the Jar (10:29) 3 Hammer Song (07:00) 4 Action Strasse (05:25) 5 Vambo (08:14) 6 Boston Tea Party (06:30) 7 Delilah (05:40) |
| Zalvation: Live in the 21st Century : Allmusic album Review : When the Sensational Alex Harvey Band first set out without Harvey back in 1977, few people paid them much heed -- the ensuing album was little more than a restatement of the basic rock & rollisms that hallmarked their pre-Harvey days as Tear Gas, and even the die-hard fans passed on SAHB Without Alex. The band couldnt have advertised the albums failings any louder if theyd just called it "boring." So the idea that, with Harvey now long gone, the same concept could be revived for a newer age initially felt ridiculous. But the new SAHB have lasted almost three times as long as the old one, and a live set that unashamedly re-creates the classic band for an audience who might not even have been born when Harvey died is now so solid that -- what the hell? This is a great album! Not "great" as in better than any of the Harvey eras live recordings; listen closely, and you could still mistake it for an earnest tribute album, by a group who just happen to be great musicians. But a set that echoes every great Harvey concert of the 70s, from the opening thrum of "Faith Healer" through live favorites "Next" and "Isabel Goudie," "Boston Tea Party" and "Swampsnake," is nothing if not inspired and, while we could probably live more happily if "Framed" had been omitted (Harveys original shtick was too personal to bear repeating by somebody else), "Vambo" works surprisingly well, and "Delilah" is as triumphant as it ought to be. Zalvation is not the album that will bring original fans pouring back to the fold, if theyve not seen the live act who accompanies it. But anyone who has seen the current bands show is going to lap it up as hungrily as veterans ever fell to their knees before Live. | ||
 | Album: 25 of 28 Title: Hot City (The 1974 Unreleased Album) Released: 2009 Tracks: 9 Duration: 40:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Vambo (04:46) 2 Man in the Jar (05:03) 3 Hey You (00:42) 4 Long Haired Music (05:03) 5 Sergeant Fury (03:36) 6 Tomahawk Kid (06:20) 7 Ace in the Hole (02:35) 8 Weights Made of Lead (02:34) 9 Last Train (09:49) |
 | Album: 26 of 28 Title: Live at the BBC Released: 2009-04-29 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:33:47 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Midnight Moses (04:39) 2 St. Anthony (06:22) 3 Framed (06:39) 4 Theres No Lights on the Christmas Tree Mother, Theyre Burning Big Louie (03:52) 5 Hole in Her Stocking (05:42) 6 Dance to the Music (07:28) 7 The Faith Healer (06:24) 8 Midnight Moses (04:33) 9 Gang Bang (04:54) 10 The Last of the Teenage Idols (08:20) 11 Giddy Up a Ding Dong (03:27) 1 Next (04:00) 2 Faith Healer (03:14) 3 Give My Compliments to the Chef (06:06) 4 Delilah (04:58) 5 Boston Tea Party (03:46) 6 Pick It Up and Kick It (04:35) 7 Smouldering (04:39) |
| Live at the BBC : Allmusic album Review : Two discs of 1972-1977 BBC performances by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band with excellent sound are collected on this set, though its not quite as lengthy as you might assume, adding up to about an hour and a half in all (with only about half an hour on the second disc). There arent great surprises in store for those familiar with Harveys BBC work during this, his commercial peak. As was also true of his records, his reputation as a truly sensational live visual performer isnt quite mirrored by this audio-only document. Too, the only song that doesnt appear on his studio releases of this time is a 1972 cover of "Dance to the Music," which might be energetic but certainly wouldnt give Sly & the Family Stone cause to worry. Disc one is entirely devoted to two performances at BBCs Paris Theatre, one in November 1972 and the other in October 1973, where they run through the bulk of the material from the SAHBs first couple albums. Some of his most celebrated songs, like "Framed" and "The Faith Healer," are naturally included, as well as his oddball cover of the early rock & roll hit "Giddy Up a Ding Dong," though Harveys manic-tinged vocals are more impressive than the period hard rock backing. Side two actually features 1973-1975 performances from the BBC television shows The Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops rather than radio spots, and the two songs from a December 1973 OGWT appearance -- an anguished cover of Jacques Brels infamous "Next" and a second version of "The Faith Healer" that utterly outclasses the one on the first disc from just two months earlier -- are the highlights of the collection, though this "The Faith Healer" is actually a live Harvey vocal fronting a pre-recorded backing track. His 1975 U.K. Top Ten hit "Delilah" (from a 1975 OGWT broadcast) is another highlight, but take note that the final and least essential two tracks, from a 1977 appearance on the same program, are the SAHB without Harvey. | ||
 | Album: 27 of 28 Title: The Best of the Sensational Alex Harvey Released: 2011 Tracks: 35 Duration: 2:29:42 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Framed (04:55) 2 Delilah (05:08) 3 Boston Tea Party (04:37) 4 The Faith Healer (07:11) 5 Long Hair Music (04:36) 6 Giddy Up a Ding Dong (03:16) 7 Next (04:01) 8 Snake Bite (03:56) 9 River of Love (03:11) 10 Give My Compliments to the Chef (05:32) 11 Tomahawk Kid (05:48) 12 School’s Out (04:53) 13 Crazy Horses (02:51) 14 Jungle Rub Out (04:27) 15 King Kong (03:16) 16 Rock ’n’ Roll (03:40) 17 The Last of the Teenage Idols, Parts 1-2-3 (07:15) 1 Shout (04:45) 2 Framed (03:22) 3 Agent OO Soul (02:41) 4 Roman Wall Blues (02:45) 5 Hair (02:46) 6 Birthday (02:28) 7 I Just Want to Make Love to You (06:39) 8 The Faith Healer (03:12) 9 Next (03:59) 10 Delilah (05:03) 11 Give My Compliments to the Chef (06:06) 12 The Hot City Symphony, Part 1: Vambo (05:00) 13 Tomorrow Belongs to Me (03:46) 14 Boston Tea Party (03:45) 15 Cheek to Cheek (03:27) 16 Action Strasse (03:15) 17 Midnight Moses (04:24) 18 There’s No Lights on the Christmas Tree Mother, They’re Burning Big Louie Tonight (03:46) |
 | Album: 28 of 28 Title: Delilah: Best Of Released: 2013-12-09 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:11:43 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Delilah (live at Hammersmith Odeon, King Street, London) (05:04) 2 Boston Tea Party (04:35) 3 The Faith Healer (07:11) 4 Framed (04:54) 5 Next (04:02) 6 St. Anthony (04:39) 7 River of Love (03:10) 8 Long Hair Music (04:38) 9 Snake Bite (03:57) 10 Give My Compliments to the Chef (?) 11 Tomahawk Kid (live at Hammersmith Odeon, King Street, London) (05:49) 12 Tomorrow Belongs to Me (03:46) 13 School’s Out (04:53) 14 Crazy Horses (02:50) 15 Cheek to Cheek (03:26) 16 Midnight Moses (04:24) 17 Vambo Marble Eye (04:25) |