BOX OF FROGS (EX YARDBIRDS) 2LPs SELF TITLED & STRANGE LAND W/BECK, PAGE, RORY
These are 1st pressing original 1984 and 1986 releases of both Box Of Frogs LPs, “Self Titled” and “Strange Land” on Epic Records catalog numbers BFE 39327 and BFE 39923. These recordings feature legendary guest guitarists Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Rory Gallagher
These records are from my personal collection and were purchased new and played only a few times on a high end turntable. They were play tested for this listing in order to guarantee an accurate description.
Both records play like brand new. The labels are in perfect condition. The outer jackets are perfect.
I will ship in a sturdy LP mailer with cardboard inserts and bubble wrap for further protection.
Shipping to the USA will be via USPS Media Mail.
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The Box Of Frogs Story:
Blues-based hard rock combo Box Of Frogs reunited guitarist Chris Dreja, bassist Paul Samwell-Smith, and drummer Jim McCarty, all three founding members of the famed Yardbirds. They couldn't be The Yardbirds again, not without their late lead singer Keith Relf, who came to a tragic end in the 70's as he electrocuted himself at home in his own recording studio. The trio re-teamed in 1983 for a live date at the London Marquee, and with a new vigor and hint at success, they soon christened themselves Box Of Frogs adding Medicine Head vocalist John Fiddler. Fellow Yardbirds alum Jeff Beck guested on several tracks on the group's self-titled 1984 LP, with Jimmy Page appearing on the 1986 follow-up Strange Land. Box of Frogs disbanded soon after.
In addition to the core band, most of the tracks across both albums are rounded out with a veritable who's who of rock, in addition to the previously mentioned Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Legendary guitarist Rory Gallagher, Roger Chapman, Graham Gouldman, Steve Hackett, Graham Parker, Max Middleton, Geraint Watkins and others grace the guest lineups as well. Chapman's gravel vocals are especially appreciable on an updated cover of their very own “Heart Full Of Soul”.
The opening haunt of the first track of the first eponymous album, “Back Where I Started”, speaks volumes about the ride you are about to embark upon. The sounds, the scope of songwriting, the tight unification of all the musicians and vocalists, the sheer magnitude of excellence unleashed across two albums, there is a feeling that this is as close to perfection in 80's rock as possible. You feel as though, still to this day, you have one foot in the post psychedelic 60's/70's classic rock era, fused together with 80's melodic hard rock. There is a touch, only slightly, of AOR and Prog-Rock, a dash of pop-metal, and a hint that this is where Led Zeppelin might have ended up, had Bonzo survived. Be not fooled, the guest artists, terrific as they are, do bring a lot of par excellence to the table of offerings, but Dreja/Samwell-Smith/McCarty/Fiddler composed this masterwork and hold every note tightly in their fingers and neurons, and they explode them onto tape like a Wagnerian Magnum Opus.
