First Daze Here: The Vintage Collection

First Daze Here: The Vintage Collection

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
'First Daze Here - The Vintage Collection' features rare recordings rediscovered, remastered and revealed for the first time ever. Be forewarned...the day of reckoning has arrived! Relapse Records. 2001.

Tracks:

Forever My Queen
When The Screams Come
Walk In The Blue Light
Starlady
Lazylady
Review Your Choices
Hurricane
Livin' In A Ram's Head
Earth Flight
20 Buck Spin
Be Forewarned
Last Days Here

Album Description

'First Daze Here - The Vintage Collection' features rare recordings rediscovered, remastered and revealed for the first time ever. Be forewarned...the day of reckoning has arrived! Relapse Records. 2001.

Customer Reviews:

Cannot believe they weren't really famous.......2007-03-23

I'll be honest, I don't know what doom is but this doesn't sound like it to me. This is some of the best Rock n Roll I've ever heard. It sounds like Love, the Stooges, and Black Sabbath all rolled into one. I cannot think of anything cooler than that.

VINTAGE BUT SWEET DOOM-METAL.......2006-06-07

AH, THE SWEET SOUNDS OF PENTAGRAM, ALONG WITH SABBATH,THEY ARE THE TRUE KINGS OF METAL, NOT HARD BLUES ROCK, LIKE ZEPPELIN. THEY JUST DID NOT CACTH A BREAK LIKE THE OTHER HARD ROCK BANDS OF THE LATE 60'S -EARLY 70'S, LIKE SAID BANDS AS SIR LORD BALTIMORE, CAP. BEYOND , ELIAS HULK, AND SO FORTH. BUY THIS AND GIVE THIS BAND THE PRAISE THEY DESERVE.

Classic hard rock at its best... Pentagram--the American Black Sabbath!.......2006-03-22

Pentagram is one of those obscure bands that you will probably never hear about on a mainstream level. This band's cds, particularly the two compilations: "First Daze Here," and "First Daze Here Two," probably can't and won't be found at your local Best Buy or Tower Records. You'll probably have to go to your local independent record store like I did (Bionic Records in Fullerton) and purchase the album from a guy who is addicted to ganja and the 4 foot long bong hidden somewhere in his closet. But once you do purchase these two early years comps., you'll be glad you did. You will feel like you stumbled onto an obscure band that you can introduce all of your geezar friends, uncles, older cousins, and even your father (and other balding, or grey-haired middle-aged men who grew up listening to early "heavy" bands like Steppenwolf, The Hendrix Experience, Mountain, Blue Cheer, the mighty Black Sabbath, UFO, Budgie, early Scorpions [Michael Schenker and Uli Jon Roth-era], and The Stooges)to, as well as some of your cohorts who are disciples of the aforementioned early heavy/stoner rock bands. And all of these people shall be quite impressed.

The best way to sum up the sound of Pentagram is--think along the lines of the music of Ozzy-era Sabbath meets the vocal sound of Ian Gillian. Please don't incorporate the Ian Gillian-era Sabbath reference here as that was a completely different sounding era. The guitarist, Vincent McAllister sounds like a direct apprentice of Tony Iommi, riffs, vibrato, solos and all--and what are the odds, he played a Gibson SG during this period? I wouldn't be surprised if he was using a Laney amp with a Big Muff distortion either! Plus, the lyrics are humorous and very much directed towards men. Any band that pens the lines "Now listen here baby--I got a message for you, I need a woman who can cook, clean and screw," is top notch on my list. These cats were straight-up American classic hard rock and it's about frickin' time their early music has been put on recorded media to be heard by the masses. The cd art is pretty dark and cool as well. You know a band doesn't mess around when they use the Sigil of Baphomet as their band's official symbol (mind you, this pre-dates any other metal band such as Venom using this symbol). Get ready to rock out and impress some friends when you listen to this one!

Awesome 70's American Doom.......2005-12-12

Pentagram, the perpetually forgotten 70's American Metal band. Hailing from Alexandria VA, they toiled in obscurity for the better part of two decades before releasing an LP. Along the way, they released a handful of singles and recorded some demos as well. These tracks are culled from those various locations and given a good treatment to form what should be a mandatory disc for every Black Sabbath Fan. While comparisons to Black Sabbath are quite appropriate, I can almost imagine a straight line being drawn to this from the works of Blue Cheer (who these guys idolized) and other early stoner/psychedelic bands. Perhaps it's just my American patriotism or something. While this certainly is very heavy music, it's not in the same league as Sabbath, and as much as I like the guitar tone on here, it's really quite different from that of Tony Iommi. You might even call it a bit of an acquired taste.

First, I'll tackle the straight up metal stuff: Forever My Queen is supposedly the most well-known song from the band. Anyway it explodes right out of the gate with a simple yet crushing riff and an awesome solo to boot. When the Screams Come is my personal favorite song on here. The main riff just drips with evil and there's a bit of thrash in the middle. Certainly we have here one of the greatest ever forgotten metal anthems, and it's a tragedy that this is only know by a small circle of devoted fans. Earth Flight, B-Side of the band's second single starts with a bass intro and builds to a heavy rocker with Sab riffs. In fact, the one in the middle reminds me a bit of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Review Your Choices is similar to the aforementioned When The Screams come, but here the guitar is toned down a bit. That doesn't mean it's any less evil, however.

Now, as I mentioned the band literally worshipped Blue Cheer, and it shows on some of these tunes. Walk in the Blue Light hearkens back to the band's earlier material, which leans more toward Blue Cheer than Black Sabbath. Not bad, but there were much better things to come from the band. The song Starlady has become notorious, since Gene Simmons had offered the band $10,000 for this song but they famously refused. Incidentally, this may have resulted in Simmons ditching the band and signing Angel instead. In my opinion, this sounds much better than what KISS would have done with it. It's a pretty straightforward 70's rocker, and yes that's rock not metal. Be Forewarned was the band's first ever single in 1972, and it's trippy with its waves of tremolo guitar. Lazy Lady, the B-Side to Be Forewarned, is another Blue Cheer-ish song here with a sliding bass intro and just some hints of doom throughout. An auspicious start for an auspicious band.

The remaining songs are a mixed lot. These strike me as works in progress, or something that could have used more development. For example, Hurricane, the band's second single, begins with a rightly marching riff and then half-way through, goes speed metal for about 30 seconds. It sounds very awesome and quite innovative, but at the same time under focused. And Livin' in a Ram's Head, a VERY roughly recorded tune cut in a club in DC, has some sort of "stoner-punk" sound but feels a little incomplete as a song. I can only imagine that, given proper studio time and treatment, this could have been blaring out of every FM radio.

20 Buck Spin reminds me of some of those old heavy jam bands like Truth and Janey or JPT Scare Band. It's a tale of a hooker and life on the street, and at the end it just takes off into an extended jam. Vince McAllister gets a little self-indulgent, but that's okay, he's actually a good player. Then finally, Last Days Here, the "quiet" song, but not emotionally light, as it deals with death and the afterlife in a heavy-handed fashion. I like Bobby Liebling's vocals on this one.

The band personally oversaw the remastery of the CD and the creation of the included booklet, with full lyrics and a few photos. Very good job on that as well.

So to summarize, if you are any kind of a fan of stoner or doom metal check this out. You won't be disappointed. Also be sure to check out First Daze II, coming March 2006, and the related band Bedemon, whose Child of Darkness CD will be out very shortly.

HEAVY ROCK HEROES.......2005-11-13

If you are into Doom or Black Sabbath you will like this! If Sabbath are being considered the godfathers of Heavy Metal and Doom, Pentagram must be the godsons! It's hard to believe that back in the 70's these guys never really made it, since they had very strong material as you can hear on this compilation album containing their career in the '70's. Back in '74 Paul Stanley of Kiss tried to buy the song Starlady for 10.000 dollars, but the band's singer Bobby Liebling didn't want to sell it. Only in the '80's and '90's they got their rightly deserved recognition and they were big influences on bands like Cathedral, The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan, St. Vitus and Trouble. If you like any of these bands you'll surely will like this album. This album gives you an inside scope in what way heavy rock music would develop, therefore highly recommended!

First Daze Here Too: The Vintage Collection

Average customer rating:

This is awesome
Stoners of the World Rejoice!!!
GOOD BUT NOT AS GOOD AS FIRST DAZE ONE
First Dazed, Then Confused
Ah, the wonder and the beauty of Pentagram...

First Daze Here Too: The Vintage Collection
Pentagram
Manufacturer: Relapse
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Death Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

First Daze Here: The Vintage Collection
Relentless
Day of Reckoning
Turn to Stone
Kingdom Come/Sir Lord Baltimore

ASIN: B000CNDXFO
Release Date: 2006-03-07

Tracks:

Wheel of Fortune
When the Screams Come
Under My Thumb
Smokescreen
Teaser
Little Games
Much Too Young to Know

Tracks:

Virgin Death
Yes I Do
Ask no More
Man
Be Forewarned
Catwalk
Die in Your Sleep
Frustration
Target
Everything's Turning To Night
Take me Away
Nightmare Gown
Cartwheel
Cat & Mouse
Show 'Em How

Album Description

Before the name was even coined, Legendary D.C. outfit PENTAGRAM was helping to invent the beast called heavy metal. For over thirty years the band, led by eccentric founder and vocalist Bobby Liebling, has remained true to its vision of songcraft in the macabre art. This unwavering dedication has influenced scores of renowned musicians some three decades on, and the legacy grows stronger with each passing year. First Daze Here Too is a brand new 2-disc set containing rare and unreleased studio recordings and live rehearsals from the early 70's. A deluxe 28-page booklet includes lyrics, detailed historical liner notes by drummer Geof O'Keefe and scores of never-before-seen PENTAGRAM photography! First Daze Here Too is 22 tracks of vintage PENTAGRAM classics from the vaults of the influential and critically-acclaimed D.C. legends!!! The legend lives on!

Customer Reviews:

This is awesome.......2007-03-23

Stoners of the World Rejoice!!!.......2006-08-05

Awesome release of early Pentagram material. Not as good as "First Daze Here", but helluva lot better than any output from most heavy rock bands today. Fans of Leaf Hound, Stooges, early Blue Cheer and of course Black Sabbath should check this out. Also you should check out Witchcraft for that early 1970's sound.

GOOD BUT NOT AS GOOD AS FIRST DAZE ONE.......2006-06-07

THIS BATCH OF EARLY SEVENTIES HARD ROCK, IS AS I SAID WAS NOT AS CONSISTENT AS VOLUME ONE, BUT BEATS MOST OF WHAT'S PUT THESE DAYS.

First Dazed, Then Confused.......2006-04-15

What if this fine band from Virginia would have recorded a bunch of albums at the appropriate time, just when they should have? What if they had recorded, mixed and produced in a decent but still heavy way these heavily riffed gems for the release of a couple complete albums? Would they then be as big as Sabbath or so?
Demos, rehearsals and some other raw stuff make this a lot different than the Pentagram we have known. This is much closer to the psychedelic hard rock sound of 70s bands like Jerusalem, T2, Sir Lord Baltimore or even Hendrix and Zeppelin. It includes a cover of the Stones' "Under My Thumb" for Christ's sake! It's an essential purchase not only for heavy metal or doom fans but also for all those who keep looking for that marvelous underground 70s hard rockin gems like the ones i refered to before. This is our chance to listen to that much influental band being influented by others.
Once again Relapse Records did an excellent work with the packaging. 28-page booklet, lyrics, photos, what else would you expect?
So, to answer that previous stupid question of mine, maybe Pentagram would never become as huge as Black Sabbath but they surely deserve a lot more than they ever got. Too vintage, too pure to be famous.

Ah, the wonder and the beauty of Pentagram..........2006-03-08

Unlike "First Daze Here," this collection tends to be less Sabbath-influenced, less Sir Lord Baltimore-influenced. This is not to suggest that the collection is anything but wonderful. It is wonderful. It is great. It is eminently listenable. But the Pentagram sound -- as you'd hear it on "First Days Here" -- is somewhat different. This album is rockier, more balls-to-the-wall funk, more strongly influenced by Zeppelin and Deep Purple.

That said, this is still undeniably Pentagram. Bobby Liebling's vocals and lyrics give the package a kind of choppy kick, a twisted, leering funk that all Pentagram material inevitably has. The guitar and drum work gives the whole thing a diesel vomit dirge. Damn. I think these tracks were recorded under the influence of Leaf Hound, Funkadelic's "Super Stoopid," the Stooges' "Little Doll," High Tide's first album, and Bang's first two albums, rather than "Lord of This World" or "The Wizard."

You can't go wrong with this package. Pentagram gave me the incentive to seek out obscure, early 70's heavy rock, and those bands gave me the incentive to seek out obscure, late 60's acid and heavy prog rock. Pentagram's influence continues to be heard in bands like the Obsessed, Saint Vitus, Place of Skulls, Spirit Caravan, and the like. But if "First Daze Here" shows us all where bands like Witchcraft and Burning Saviours came from, then "First Daze Here Too" shows us where the Blood Farmers, Ogre, and Death Row came from. If you want a stronger Black Sabbath sound, then you might pick up Bedemon's "Child of Darkness," which sounds more like the first "First Daze Here" package, and which features the oh-so talented Randy Palmer formulating some of the most deliciously doomy riffs that side of Saint Vitus; and it features Geof O'Keefe and Bobby Liebling besides!

But whatever you do today, you should plan to buy this album. And you should listen to it all the way through. And you should pray to the gods of metal, prog, and acid-fuzz that they bestow a third "First Daze Here" package on us all. Folks: here's to Buffalo, Josefus, and Blue Cheer.

And, of course, to Pentagram.