Praise for Bang‘s Bullets (The First Four Albums Plus…) from San Francisco?s aQuarius Records: All right! We’re happy to report that Rise Above Relics is back in business, with an impressive new batch of proto-metal reissues including albums by Steel Mill and Necromandus… gotta get ‘em all reviewed, but we’re gonna start with a Bang. A box set of Bang, in fact.

We’ve long stocked the self-released CD reissues of this early ’70s American answer to Black Sabbath, but THIS is the definitive Bang reish for sure. Physically much nicer than those previous reissues, this handsome yellow box contains all 4 of Bang’s full-lengths on 4 individual CDs in mini-lp style gatefold sleeves, plus bonus material, and a thick (40 page) booklet stuffed with detailed liner notes and photos… and there’s a Bang sticker too!

Essential for Bang fans, and that means all lovers of ’70s heavy psych rock action. Here’s a revamp of what we had to say about Bang before, when we reviewed each album:

Dust, Captain Beyond, Jerusalem, Toad, Pentagram, Highway Robbery, T2, Buffalo, Budgie, Blue Cheer, Lucifer’s Friend…if these names mean anything to you, you’re probably one of our customers who dig that heavy ’70s acid rock proto-metal stuff. Whenever we find a reissue of another lost gem from the era we try to share it with you. So, here, at last… the legendary Bang, a trio from Florida (by way of Philly) circa ’71-’73 who managed to crank out some Sabbath-like riffing to go with the very Ozzy-like vocals of lead singer and bassist Frank Ferrara!

Bang never got big – although they did share stages with everyone from Alice Cooper to the Allman Brothers to Chuck Berry to Funkadelic to Black Sabbath themselves, apparently had a #1 hit in Hong Kong and at one point owned their own private plane! They released three albums in their career (for a US major label in fact) plus they recorded some singles and made an entire unreleased album as well.

As we said, Bang, especially on their first self-titled album, recorded in February of ’72, bore a remarkable resemblance to the Sabs, which was really unusual for their era, when heavy bands were more likely to copy Zeppelin or Purple or just be stuck in the ’60s. Kinda lo-fi, but quite heavy, it delivers doomy hard rock, with a kinda Comus-y Pagan slant, that also brings to mind the most powerful early King Crimson. Like most heavy bands of the period, Bang weren’t cognizant of the “metal” concept, and probably saw themselves as a pop rock group – a dark and psychedelic pop rock group to be sure – and so sometimes the hard riffing lets up to allow for some happier or more gentle fare, which is not always a bad thing anyway (this a phenomenon we discussed in our review of the Dust albums once upon a time).

Bang’s second album, which followed later in ’72 (groups back then didn’t dilly dally with putting out one album every couple of years like today’s bands) was oddly presented as two distinct side-long mini-albums, each with its own ‘front’ cover. Side one (the heavier) being Mother with side two dubbed Bow To The King. Both sides together were not as Sabbathy as the debut perhaps, but still excellent ’70s proto-metal indeed.

They then went to Hollywood in ’73 to cut Bang Music, their third album. It’s quite a bit more of your standard ’70s rock / pop fare, not nearly as heavy as their earlier efforts. But it’s nicely melodic and has a few rockin’ tracks on it, like opener ‘Windfair’.

Then we step back chronologically a couple of years for the conceptual Death Of A Country, which was Bang’s never-released first album, recorded in 1971 prior to their self-titled debut. With visions of societal corruption and ecological disaster, this album’s doom-filled lyrics are certainly Sabbathian, although the music really doesn’t get as apocalyptically heavy as what they came up with on Bang. But still, a decent slab of downer psych-rock, more ’60s hippie than ’70s metal.

True heavy music connoisseurs really need this 4th disc, though, for the two of the three “lost singles” included: the tracks ‘Slow Down’ and ‘Feels Nice’. They’re the highlights here for sure. ‘Slow Down’ woulda fit in well on their debut, while ‘Feels Nice’ has more of Led Zep vibe. As an additional bonus, Rise Above have included a half-hour radio interview.

Bang’s slogan was always “Music Shot From Guns”. Of their albums, it’s the first two, Bang and Mother – Bow To The King, that definitely use the higher caliber ordnance. But the other two discs here also get off some good shots. And the whole package is a huge improvement over the band’s previous official reissues that we stocked, not to mention the bootleg editions that have also circulated. More room for the art, better design, and the other goodies in the box.

One of the best unsung heavy rock acts ever, finally gets the box set they deserve. BANG!

At 40 years old, Aquarius is the oldest independent record store in San Francisco. We try to only carry music we love, and we’re always searching for more new, cool, weird and wonderful music. All of which we then share with you, our loyal customers.