Arc... At This (UK 1971)... and Eddie Van Halen: RIP....

A brilliant underrated hard rock album out of Britain, which evolved into Bell + Arc.  There are two big hits in here, Great Lager St. and Let Your Love Run Through:

My usual comments about why these songs didn't become number one hits on the radio, why they aren't played round the clock today on (garbage, crapulent) satellite radio, etc.  In particular, there's a great hook, wonderful performances by the musicians, and the hard guitar churning out chords plus the fuzz lead guitar playing ornamental melodies all around, is just killer.  Reminds me of the wonderful Israeli band Jericho's space-children ode, Justin and Nova.

Nonetheless the remainder of the album is not quite to the same lofty heights, but no matter, it's a gem in the making.  Sad that this style of swirling loud electric hard guitar rock is so absent today with all the drivel on the air/radio/GPS waves. For us oldsters it's so refreshing to hear.  The LP is almost fifty years old now!  Two generations, well into the grandpa's.

In fact, subsequently when Graham Bell joined the band, they changed their name to Bell + Arc, and declined to SSW material dominated by keyboard and piano, sadly.  Gone, the wonderful electric guitars.  Again, just one album resulted.  One typical track:

Then the next year, Graham Bell released a solo SSW.  And that was it.