{"product_id":"baker-gurvitz-army","title":"Baker Gurvitz Army","description":"Ginger Baker's mid-'70s profile took another unexpected turn following Cream's blues-rock blood and thunder and his Afro-beat matchups with Fela Kuti. He formed this straight-ahead power trio with the guitar- and bass-playing brother team of Adrian and Paul Gurvitz, who'd briefly lit up the '60s U.K. charts as Gun (of \"Race With the Devil\" fame). Such a step might have seemed subversively normal for Baker, but he and the brothers had an undeniable chemistry; not surprisingly, their debut album is a self-assured, aggressive affair. \"Help Me\" and \"I Wanna Live Again\" are punchy and succinct; so are the hard-driving instrumentals \"Love Is\" and its funkier cousin, \"Phil 4.\" The band leavens their hard-hitting delivery with subtle orchestration and piano; the latter instrument works to haunting effect on the introspective \"Memory Lane.\" There's some engaging humor, too; \"Mad Jack\"'s lyrics about a reckless outback race are silly, but kitschy fun. The only real clinker is \"Since Beginning,\" which is bogged down from self-consciously \"meaningful\" lyrics and meandering delivery; its eight minutes could have benefited from judicious pruning. Naturally, no Ginger Baker album could pass without some drum solos, but they're tastefully done. He's very much a team player here, in contrast to infamous stick-bashing marathons like \"Toad.\" That said, this album's a strong, decisive statement, and if hard rock's what you crave, you won't be disappointed. ~ Ralph Heibutzki","brand":"MovieMars","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46198201549087,"sku":"5013929734722","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0679\/7833\/0399\/files\/9b199e3cc3458a0e2de41274720d1b9d_bdee084b-2769-41ec-9c28-d1fbc7ec2ffb.jpg?v=1777875673","url":"https:\/\/www.moviemars.com\/products\/baker-gurvitz-army","provider":"MovieMars","version":"1.0","type":"link"}