Received the 3 cd Hard Meat set last week,and it IS fabulous,to hear the 2 albums in great sound,with a fab booklet,telling their story,and for the first time to hear the unreleased 1969 album they recorded for Island,but unfortunately the deal feel through.

I've always put Hard Meat in the category of like for example Stray and Little Free Rock,ya know that end of the 60s with elements of psychedelia still whiffing about like hash smoke,but with harder rock elements becoming the dominant thing with louder guitars with effects pedals,rawer production,harder drums,and louder pounding bass and not so soft and effeminate vocals as much of UK psych seemed to have,and the victoriana and childhood vignettes certainly not as prominent,but it wasn't ALL heavy stuff,as like Stray and Little Free Rock,Hard Meat had their quieter moments,the light with the dark,and thankfully not blues derived,both their albums are excellent,replete with many songs with melody,and marvellous songwriting,along with quite magnificent playing.It really is a shame that a band like Hard Meat did NOT sell a lot of records,at that time,but i suppose there was so much competition in this rock market.

As for the unreleased 1969 album,to my ears,the band are still finding their feet in developing a sound and a direction,hence there are a few covers,but i can certainly hear much promise on those recordings,in particular their own songs,some which would be fully realised on their 2 released albums.This is a rather enjoyable set none the less,with a rawer,more basic sound,with a nascent rock sound,saying a final cheerio to the psychedelia and the blues that had been prominent before.....this unreleased 69 album,is a dress rehearsal as to my ears it comes nowhere near the excellence of early 1970 self titled debut,and late 1970 Through A Window albums.That should have been better selling.(apologies for a kinda vague post,or if titles are slightly wrong,unfortunately 've not got the box in front of me at the moment,so doing this from memory)

Thanks Stuart,
I have the set as well but not got to playing it quite yet, so will keep your thoughts and impressions in mind when listening to it.

PM:slightly_smiling_face:

Phil Aston's 'Now Spinning' Youtube channel has an unboxing and ten minute review video of the Hard Meat box set.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzZR0sFz_ZY

PM:slightly_smiling_face:

Just got the boxset, my only complaint is there is no mention of the two tracks recorded for the 49 Greek Street RCA compilation. A bit strange as Sandy Roberton (RIP!) produced them too and I got directly from him that TIN ANGEL were actually HARD MEAT under disguise, probably at the time they were moving from Island to WB. Anyway luckily both Strange Fruit and Persuasion are included on this boxset, the latter with a title change, "Liquid Boats":wink:

Oh great for the heads up Paul,im a subscriber to his youtube channel(though ive got the bell turned off for new content),plus his FB page,but i do try and stay off social media as much as in can,because it can be a horrid and bleak place to visit,i only belong to FB,for the music groups i belong too,everything else is utter turdlike.

Did you get a chance to give this box your attention Paul?If so what are your early thoughts on what you've heard?
Cheers.

Hi Stuart,
Yes, I have played the discs now. It is a wonderful set I think, sort of progressive hard rock with good guitar work. The players are all really good musicians, loved the drums especially. The original songs are all really worthy creations and the singer has a good voice. The main album has been out before, probably grey area needle drop, but this is all top notch sound quality. The booklet is very informative as well, sad all three members have passed now. They deserved better but they got two tours of the US and supported a good few bigger artists of the day so not bad for the memories and o tell your grandkids. The other two discs are also very enjoyable, especially the second album. Definitely a little box set worthy of a space on your shelf. I shall return to it often I think. :slightly_smiling_face:

Hello Gian,
Thank you for taking time to reply to the post,i'm glad you mentioned the recently deceased Sandy Robertson,who whether having a small part or a large part in the story of so many underground bands in the UK at that time,his sad passing didn't seem to garner much attention,which is a shame,as he WAS interlinked with a lot of music from the later 60s into the 70s,the amount of times his name comes up in stories of bands from that time is unreal.I'd liked to have saw an article on his music business exploits and the many bands he was involved with,THAT would make for a rather interesting indepth article.So if the likes of Shindig(who i think did a article with him on albums he produced)or the likes of Mojo or Record Collector do an indepth article on him,would be very very interesting.

As for the 2 tracks you mention,Strange Fruit and Liquid Boats,personally i had no idea of Tin Angel,or the 2 numbers,one with original title Persuasion,appeared on a RCA compilation,BUT both Strange Fruit and Liquid Boats are mentioned in the liners briefly as both were included on the unreleased Island album,i wonder why the title change for Liquid Boats?Thank you concerning that wee bit of information,as it's not mentioned in the liners.

Sadly ALL members of Hard Meat are no longer with us,and now Sandy Robertson too,i always find that quite hard hitting,as noone involved gets to see the rerelease and interest in their works from 50 years ago,similar to Roger Bunn,whose album got a expanded cd reissue,who sadly passed just before its release....but at least their creations live on long after their physical being has left here.

Cheers Paul,i have that bootleg twofer,but THIS is far better sounding than that cd,to me you can hear everything,and i was delighted at the much better upgrade in sound quality,and all done legit too,making the listening so much more enjoyable,and i enjoyed the bootleg cd,but i've listened to the second album Through A Window on good quality headphones through my amp,and it has a real psychedelic feel to it,with a rather jammy and languid vibe in parts,it certainly gave me the feeling of listening to a different album,than before,i was utterly blown away listening to it this way,as i usually dont have headphones on in the flat as its just me,so i dont incase the phone or he door goes,or the cat is up to something......but one early morning,i could not sleep,the cat was out for the count,so i put this cd on with my headphones,and it was magic........so yes i agree,a shame they did not get the recognition or success they should have had,but touring in the states is much more than many other bands ever managed to do,for example likes of small faces for instance.None off them are here to see the appreciation of their creation and work in 2022,thats always sad!!