ARTIST: Armageddon
TITLE: Armageddon
YEAR RELEASED: 1977
CHART ACTION: #151
SINGLES: None
OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: Oh, heck to the no
LINEUP: Keith Relf, Martin Pugh, Bobby Caldwell, Louis Cennamo
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: Keith Relf’s post-Reinassance band veered him pretty solidly into prog. It was disappointing on all fronts.
SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: Combining Keith Relf, two blokes from Steamhammer and drummer Bobby Caldwell, Armageddon took flight and promptly crashed.
Relf’s harmonica skills seem a bit out of place, and some tracks just meander along on a repetitive riff, and others meander along with jammy proggy excess. Only a couple of tracks rise to the occasion on the dividing line between exile and a catalog slot.
This is a shame, as Relf, though he was not-at-all-well, still had some vocal prowess (though emphysema due to asthma soon took care of that), and Martin Pugh had done yeoman’s work as a studio player. But it didn’t cohere, and didn’t ring the cash register, either.
NOTES & MINUTIAE: They only played two live gigs, and couldn’t tour as Relf got sicker and couldn’t sing for an extended show.
IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No
GRADE C+: “Buzzard” keeps me from chucking it all.