Bloodstone - Bloodstone ** 1972

The wild first album from Bloodstone -- a much trippier affair than some of the group's later work, as you might guess from the image on the cover! There's a really heavy vibe going on with some of the tracks here -- almost an echo of psychedelic soul from the Norman Whitfield camp, with perhaps some of the fuzzy guitars of the Westbound scene too -- all a very different change from the sweeter harmonies Bloodstone would drop later in the 70s still a bit rough around the edges here, but in a great way! The album's got plenty of appeal for fans of heavy funk, and there's a definite righteous undercurrent to the music -- as you'll hear on tracks like "This Thing Is Heavy", "Dumb Dude", "Lady Of The Night", "Friendship", and "Take These Chains".