Despite releasing multiple albums and having a career that lasted from 1967 until 1974, Dutch band "Shocking Blue" received and have continued to receive very little attention from the mainstream rock press. The band is painfully underrated, and I believe that they require a serious reexamination. I will start this reexamination by looking at 1970's "Scorpio's Dance".
"Scorpio's Dance" is Shocking Blue's third album, released during the twilight of the psychedelic era that dominated much of Western music during 1960s. The album contains elements of psychedelic music, but sets itself apart by incorporating a number of other styles and influences. The album opens with a short introduction called "Scorpio's Dance", which is almost heavy metal in nature. Classical guitar clashes with distorted slashes of electric guitar. It sets the dark tone of the album very nicely. Next is the classic "Alaska Country". A song about solitude in what one can only assume to be a frozen wilderness, in a possibly metaphorical sense. The stark piano of the song rolls along sounding almost like the "Doors" and Ray Manzarek. The song really shows Shocking Blue's excellent musicianship; and the thumping bass lines and brittle, reverb-soaked guitars provide a truly full sound that almost sounds similar to contemporaries "Jefferson Airplane". Great tune. "Sally Was A Good Old Girl" shows the band's penchant for anything American sounding. The almost country song sounds somewhat ridiculous coming from a group of resident Europeans, but is catchy enough with its banjo plucking and gyrating country bass/drum rhythm section.
The real highlight of the album is the curiously titled, "Daemon Lover". The hazy song is classic 1960s psychedelia. The tremolo/reverb drenched guitars and organs provide a very dark mood for the evil-sounding song about damnation and love with a demon. The bass is slightly out of time with the band, but this only adds to the song , and the garage rock and jammy vibe of the song. The song is an absolute classic, and worth a purchase of this album or any other Shocking Blue compilations. The album heads back into country territory with the second part of the opener "Scorpio's Dance". The song goes from an rollicking almost "rag" back into the original classical influenced duel of acoustic and electric guitars, then into a "Spaghetti Western" sounding outro . The song really shows the versatility of the band; and that they were comfortable with nearly any genre of popular music.
The blues derived "Little Cooling Planet" showcases the power of late vocalist Mariska Veres. The music on this track is simply a somewhat tame blues/country jam, but the vocals are pushed to the front of the mix. Mariska had a great ability to sound very sweet and feminine at times, and powerful and masculine at others. This song shows her more bluesy and masculine side, with a Grace Slick- like vocal. The song is not great; but really features Mariska's vocals in a very raw setting with little instrumentation to muddle the vocals. "I Love Voodoo Music" is a folk-like song, that shows the band's acoustic skills. Mariska is less comfortable here, but still a quite enjoyable folk vocalist. The song breaks down into a very interesting "tribal" jam; that could easily be described as a sort of primitive form of modern electronic "Jungle" music. The song is an interesting experiment, but adds little musically to the album. "Seven Is A Number In Magic" continues the bands exploration of the occult atop a country-rock sounding jam. The song lacks any real structure, and feels quite boring and uses many of the same country guitar licks that dominate much of the album. The vocal uses an American accent from Mariska, and it sounds very contrived. Skip this one. "Keep It If You Want It" really shows why the band is popular with "garage rock" enthusiasts, the jangly and metallic guitars bounce around the somewhat bluesy song with a minimal drum beat. The song contains a saxophone solo that sounds somewhat silly and out of place, but overall a nice little track. The album closes with "Water Boy", a sitar-based jam that sounds really dated and very silly. The vocals are powerful and dramatic, but only fans of 1960s "sitar-rock" need apply here.
"Shocking Blue" will always be best remembered for their 1969 hit "Venus". It is a shame really, as the band definitely had a lot to offer and were a very diverse group of musicians with quite a bit of talent. However; one would do fine to buy/download a Shocking Blue compilation rather than explore all of their "albums". "Scorpio's Dance" is a decent enough album, but contains too much filler to warrant a separate purchase.
Rating-6.5/10
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