TEN YEARS AFTER=Ssssh.=1969=DERAM=SML1052=VERY RARE=

	£		20
	$		26

 TEN YEARS AFTER

Ssssh.

VERY RARE RECORD

STEREO

LAMINATED GATEFOLD COVER

1969

BAD SCENE = STONED WOMAN = IF YOU SHOULD LOVE ME = THE STOMP

PLUS MANY MORE GREAT TRACKS

 DERAM RECORD LABEL

CAT#  SML 1052

MATRIX# 

I may be a little biased towards this album, but really, you must realise it was a grandiose effort for the boys. Ten Years After was a homemade album of four guys getting together to play a couple of covers; Undead was a live album made by the same boys; Stonedhenge was a first try, but a failure; and this, this is absolutely fantastic. Well, not absolutely. Ten Years After never made an album that was 'absolutely' fantastic. Forget about 'absolutely'. But this is definitely fantastic in the fantastic Ten Years After way.

Where was I? Ah yes, Ssssh. The only real trouble with that album is an ungly cover and the fact that you never can remember how many 's' you have to write between the capital one and the 'h'. Apart from that, there are some great blues numbers, some great ballads and some great heavy rockers the likes of which were not to be found previously. The very album opener ('Bad Scene') is not just heavy - it's practically hardcore punk: a breathtaking speed and a gruff guitar tone that predicts the Ramones but also kinda outdates them. But there are also tricky changes in signature, a special jazzy middle-eight, Alvin's trademark solos, strange electronically encoded vocals and... well, you get my drift. There's everything that Stonedhenge sorely lacked. The blues covers are all done wisely - generic, mayhaps (which blues cover ain't?), but catchy, and every one has something special to boast about. 'Two Time Mama' has a wonderfully sweet slide guitar tone resulting from several masterful overdubs so that ultimately you seem to be surrounded by a sea of slippery guitar waves gently falling onto one another; and there's also Alvin singing in unison with the main guitar melody, which is always a pleasure. The harder antidote 'Stoned Woman' is built around a mean mean highly distorted bass riff and features complicated time signature changes again. And the closing 'I Woke Up This Morning', with the most blatantly obvious title in the world, features an especially ferocious rapid-fire solo by Alvin. Put it next to anything on Ten Years After and you'll see how high the mighty hath risen: he's now able to play so fluently, without a single break for more than a minute, that the 1967 style by now seems naive and outdated. Notes just keep falling out of nowhere, with such diabolic precision and craftsmanship that I don't have much choice but to tip my hat. For some reason, speedy and technically proficient as other guitarists might be, I have never even once heard anybody play like that. The album's highest point, however, is the cover of Sonny Boy Williamson's 'Good Morning Little Schoolgirl' with lyrics revised and melody re-written: the lyrics suck in any case, but the riff is now breathtaking, one of the two or three mightiest that the band had ever in its credit. And you really don't know how fond I am of these little riffs that repeat themselves over and over; it's mean and strong, just like Alvin's accompanying singing. Yeah, I know all they're trying to do is imitating ol' bluesmen, but they're a great bunch of Brit guys imitating ol' bluesmen! Kinda like a British analog of CCR! Youpee! I don't quite dig 'The Stomp' because that one's a bit too repetitive for me; with its creepy, quiet atmosphere it sounds like a Stonedhenge outtake, too, and that's never quite good news. But that's my one and only complaint about the track listing, and at least you can perfectly 'do the stomp' while listening to that one. Oh, and if you're anti-blues or something, then I can offer you the somewhat naive but charming ballad 'If You Should Love Me' which some might dismiss as flower power hip crap, but I DIG generic flower power hip crap, so I don't give a damn. I love this ballad, as Alvin once again makes a complete clown out of himself, overemoting on this pseudo-Motown number and thereby transforming it into a ridiculous love declaration by a young naive charming idiot who keeps repeating the same cliches over and over because he really doesn't know any other words to say but he really feels something with his poor little heart and does his best to go ahead and articulate it. Okay, this is just how I feel about the song, and this is also how I feel about much of the flower power movement. Now where have I put that Country Joe And The Fish record?.. Nah, just pulling your leg once again. I don't have no Country Joe records. I DO have a lot of Ten Years After records, though. And what you are doing now is reading my reviews of them, particularly the review of what I consider to be one of their two best albums. So don't let me bore you with my second-rate crappy digressions. Let's just reiterate: this record is a must for anybody with even a passable interest in Sixties' blues-rock and should forever remain one of the crucial landmarks in that genre. That's how obstinate I am, and now let's move on to the next album.

VINYL - in excellent ++ condition

 SLEEVE - sleeve excellent condition

COVER - in excellent  condition

Grading System Used - Record Collector's

Questions/Queries - If you have any queries/questions please contact me straight away through Ebay messages as I check these daily.

Payments - Please pay within 3 days of auction close and I will post within 3 days of receiving a cleared payment.

Payments accepted - Paypal and Postal Orders (UK only and details are on invoice).

Postage Discounts - Discount on postage costs will be given to multi-wins within a 5 day period. Signed for option can be arranged, but please contact prior to paying to arrange costs for this.

Packaging - All records are posted with stiffeners and in card mailers.

Return & Refund  - Should you receive the item and it is not as described and photographed as in the e-bay auction, I will gladly refund you once you have returned the item to me, and the item is in the same condition as when you received it. 

Postage for 'returns' will be for your own account. Once the item has been received, the selling price will be refunded to you. Unfortunately, postage costs can not be refunded unless the item is faulty or damaged in transit.

Feedback - Please leave feedback if you are happy with your purchase - in the unlikely event you are not happy let me know before posting feedback. Thanks.

Keep an eye on our on-going listings and put us on your Favourites list.

Thanks for Looking!