Lucifer’s Friend – Banquet
Spanish Galleon
Thus Spoke Oberon
High Flying Lady – Goodbye
Sorrow
Dirty Old Town
Our World Is a Rock ‘n’ Roll Band
Perhaps best known for being an early home for future Uriah Heep singer John Lawton, Lucifer’s Friends were founded in Hamburg in 1970 by Englishman Lawton alongside four locals: guitarist Peter Hesslein, bassist Dieter Horns, keyboardist Peter Hecht and drummer Joachim Reitenbach.
After three albums that reflected the various forms of rock music currently in vogue – blues to prog, psychedelia to hard rock – the band’s fourth album Banquet, released in 1974, was a far-reaching work in which a more orchestral feel was introduced.
“We recorded that album live in the studio,” Lawton told Prog. “We had a brass section in one corner of the room, a string section in another, and I was in a vocal booth. It was the only way to capture the atmosphere. But it worked so well. It’s still my favourite Lucifer’s Friend album.”
“We were listening to bands like Genesis and King Crimson, and they made their mark on us,” admitted Hesslein. “But I was also really into film soundtrack music – and still am. I loved the way somebody like John Barry or Bernard Herrmann built their compositions. There was a lot of melody but also so many time changes. It was complex, but also highly atmospheric. That’s what I wanted to achieve with our album.”
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Other albums released in April 1974
- Ragged Old Flag – Johnny Cash
- Second Helping – Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Big Fun – Miles Davis
- Bridge of Sighs – Robin Trower
- Standing on the Verge of Getting It On – Funkadelic
- Okie – J.J. Cale
- Exotic Birds and Fruit – Procol Harum
- Hamburger Concerto – Focus
- Houston (I’m Comin’ to See You) – Glen Campbell
- Positive Vibrations – Ten Years After
- Road Food – The Guess Who
- Sweet – Sweet Fanny Adams
- Secret Treaties – Blue Öyster Cult
- Unconditionally Guaranteed – Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band
What they said…
“The different tempos, the variants in the atmosphere, everything is done in a smooth way so the album flows just like it is supposed to. The best example of this is the opener Spanish Galleon which is also the best song in the album, Lawton’s powerful vocals, the energetic horns, the fast guitar, the catchy chorus in the end or the excellent synth solo that closes the song, every moment manages to be just perfect.” (Sputnik Music)
“Banquet also balances out the epics with a pair of shorter, poppier songs that still manage to show off the band’s firepower and complexity in their tighter format; the best is Dirty Old Town, the closing ballad that builds to a jazzy, horn-powered chorus. All in all, Banquet is a fine, underrated prog outing and is worthy of rediscovery by art-rock fanatics. It’s an ideal introduction to the sound of Lucifer’s Friend.” (AllMusic)
“Spanish Galleon floats to life not without some Santana and possibly War influence, meanwhile tinkling keyboards are strangely confident in a solo and lotsa Deiter Horns’ bass often basks in a spotlight of its own. Bornhold batters his way to a forefront trial-by-fire in a breakdown of notable percussion which gives way to a fading finish of elongated, laser-pulsed Moog synth.” (Encyclopaedia Metallum)
What you said…
Gary Claydon: I’ll be honest, I much preferred their first couple of albums to Banquet. This slides from the heavier, bluesier sound and adds extra jazz. It feels like Black Sabbath decided to couple with Santana. Then raise their child as a rock musical. John Lawton was always a solid performer but here he constantly sounds on the verge of launching into something from Hair or Jesus Christ, Superstar. Very off-putting.
Banquet is heavily front-loaded, with Spanish Galleon and Thus Spoke Oberon chockfull of its best ideas. From there, the horns become increasingly intrusive (especially on the too-long Sorrow) and the lyrics become increasingly cheesy (especially on the annoyingly crap High Flying Lady – Goodbye).
I’ve always liked bands who are unwilling to stand still and Lucifer’s Friend certainly fell into that category. Banquet isn’t a bad album and has several enjoyable passages. Thankfully, the jazz-rock never actually tips over into out-and-out fusion and it retains a palpable prog feel. Ultimately, though, it’s one of those albums – and Lucifer’s Friend one of those bands – that makes me want to go listen to something else. As such, I can’t score it above a 6 and even that’s a little bit of a stretch.
John Davidson: Well, that cover and the name of the band were an exercise in poor branding and expectation management. I was anticipating something dark and brooding.
Instead, we get Santana meets funky proto-disco pop, before it goes sideways into something more avant-garde. All presented with a very polished Vegas dinner show production.
Not bad for what it is, but not for me. The guitarist is excellent.
Greg Schwepe: First off, there needs to be a little ‘truth in advertising’ when you name your band Lucifer’s Friend. Having never heard of this band or album, I pressed “PLAY” expecting to hear some early 70s Cookie Monster vocal growl accompanied by some “I killed your Grandma, drank her blood, and buried her in my backyard”-style lyrics. And yet, none of that was to be heard! And I was thankful for that.
Banquet kicked off with Spanish Galleon and some jaunty keyboard and some (not devil’s) horns! Wow! Totally not what I was expecting! So, in listening to the remaining tracks on Banquet I found a band with a sound I really liked. And as I listened next to Thus Spoken Oberon, the most rocking song on the album High Fly Lady, Sorrow, the somewhat acoustic vibe of Dirty Old Town, and the bonus track “Our World Is A Rock ‘N’ Roll Band, I tried to figure out who they sounded like and reminded me of. Because we like to put our bands in tiny descriptive boxes so everyone else can easily figure out who they are.
And immediately with the horns and keyboards, I was reminded of early 70’s Chicago. And a little more listening I was reminded of late 70s Pablo Cruise? Yes, believe it or not. And then the most odd musical comparison memory popped into my head; does a bit of that song sound like the theme from The Love Boat? What? I was not an avid watcher of that cheesy 70s show, but back then if you had the TV on, all those 70s TV theme songs got stuck in your head for life, whether you wanted them to or not!
Overall, another nice surprising find from being in this group. 8 out of 10 on this one for me. Turns out, Lucifer can be your friend.
Mark Herrington German band Lucifer’s Friend, fronted by John Lawton of Uriah Heep fame, produced Banquet, their fourth album, in the early 70s. It often crops up on ‘forgotten rock gems‘ lists, so it’s certainly worthy of a review. It Fuses jazz, prog, horns and hard rock with a showman-like flourish and features great vocals from John Lawton.
Some highlights for me are the 12-minute opener Spanish Galleon, which sounds like Santana meets Joe Loss, with a progressive heart throughout. Another is Thus Spake Oberon with a central guitar and horn solo . There is a consistency to the overall sound and a couple of less proggy tracks , but it all hangs together well over the course of the album.
It takes a few listens to register the whole smorgasbord of sound, but it gets an 8/10 from me.
Watch On
Mark Veitch: Never heard of it or them, so decided to give it a try on the driver to work. Based on the album cover and description it’s everything I hate, but it’s actually very impressive. Just goes to show, never judge a book by its cover. 7/10.
Wesley Winegarden: Until today I had never heard of this band, but I have to admit, I liked it more than I expected when I saw the album cover. Musically, it sounds like Deep Purple got together with Steely Dan and recorded an album, but somehow it works. In fact, it works so well that I am going to explore the band’s other offerings.
Mike Canoe: Ever wonder what it would sound like if the music of Uriah Heep and the music of Chicago got together and had a baby? Unlikely, because that’s a pretty weird and specific image, but that’s what Banquet by Lucifer’s Friend makes me think of – and it’s better than it sounds in print on your screen.
There is definitely the jazz fusion sound of early Chicago, along with the band hall full of instruments that go with them: saxophone, flute, trumpet, trombone, etc. The sound of Uriah Heep is more subtle. It’s in some of the guitar and keyboard work and the abundant vocal harmonies but mostly it’s in the powerful vocals of John Lawton. I can hear why Uriah Heep chose him to replace original singer, David Byron.
I went down a jazz fusion rabbit hole a couple of weeks ago and Banquet still stands out as a rock album by comparison – and a pretty fun one at that.
Final score: 6.48 (23 votes cast, total score 149)
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