Search - May Blitz :: May Blitz/2nd of May

May Blitz/2nd of May
May Blitz
May Blitz/2nd of May
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock, Classic Rock, Metal
 
  •  Track Listings (15) - Disc #1

2 on 1 from Beat Goes On Records from 1970 & 1971. 1992.

     
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CD Details

All Artists: May Blitz
Title: May Blitz/2nd of May
Members Wishing: 7
Total Copies: 0
Label: Bgo - Beat Goes on
Release Date: 11/6/1992
Album Type: Original recording remastered, Import
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock, Classic Rock, Metal
Styles: Hardcore & Punk, Progressive, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPCs: 5017261201539, 766486226623

Synopsis

Album Description
2 on 1 from Beat Goes On Records from 1970 & 1971. 1992.
 

CD Reviews

Amazing bluesy hard rock!
BENJAMIN MILER | Veneta, Oregon | 03/17/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)

"May Blitz was a short-lived band that released two albums on the Vertigo label, their self-entitled debut from 1970 (also released in the U.S. on Paramount) and The 2nd of May in 1971 (not released in the U.S., as far as I know). The band featured drummer Tony Newman, ex-Jeff Beck Group and Sounds Incorporated, with two Canadians, guitarist and vocalist Jamie Black and bassist Reid Hudson. Black and Hudson were in a Victoria, BC band called the Runabouts, who were also known as The Missing Lynx. Apparently the band wasn't known outside the BC club circuit, and as far as I know, had no albums released. After the demise of the Runabouts/The Missing Lynx, James Black and Reid Hudson came to England. May Blitz was actually founded by Black with two other guys, bassist Terry Poole and drummer Keith Baker (both ex-Bakerloo, a band that featured future Colosseum and Humble Pie guitarist Dave "Clem" Clempson), but before they got a chance to record their first album, those two guys left, and in came Reid Hudson and Tony Newman. May Blitz was indeed a Canadian/English trio. May Blitz followed the power trio format of the likes of Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, but unlike them, May Blitz was never all that successful, making it easier to enjoy their music without the fear of any song being overplayed on the radio, which is fine with me. May Blitz's music is an excellent combination of hard rock, blues, psychedelia, and even some prog, and their music oddly had a hippie vibe going on, particularly the drug-oriented "Smoking the Day Away" and the back-to-the-land theme of "I Don't Know". Jamie Black's guitar and even vocals often sound like Hendrix, and in fact when my brother first heard "Smoking the Day Away", he thought it was Hendrix. A lot of the music really features some truly killer guitar solos, and Tony Newman sure gives us some powerful drumming to go with it. "Dreaming" starts off on the gentle, acoustic side, before the music explodes in your face. "Squeet" is one of my favorites, particularly the guitar solo. "Tomorrow May Come" is a little different from the rest of the album, a wonderful, mellow, atmospheric with excellent, dreamy, psychedelic lyrics (no, not any of that "Canyons of your minds" type of lyrics which already became outdated after 1967, after all, this is from 1970). "Fire Queen" is completely wild, sounds like the Crazy World of Arthur Brown with the guitar in place of the Hammond Organ. Here, Jamie Black went totally out of his way to sound exactly like Arthur Brown, I am more than certain the band had "Fire" in mind when recording this song, but the song turned out much more wild than anything I heard on the 1968 Crazy World of Arthur Brown album. "Virgin Waters" is the closest to symphonic prog the band got, but even so, they still stick to their bluesy hard rock roots. I really enjoyed the whispered spoken dialog in the more mellow moments of the song.



For their followup, The 2nd of May they pretty much continued on that same bluesy hard rock/psych path of their first album. "Snakes and Ladders" starts off a bit on the Hendrix-side, even the vocals remind me of Hendrix, and the second half sounds like how Black Sabbath might have sounded like if they went psychedelic. There's a bunch of strange electronic effects to go with this song. An amazing piece! "The 25th of December, 1969" is a more lightweight number for May Blitz, but there's also a nice jazzy passage too. "In Part" is perhaps the album's only real weak spot. Although it starts off fine, I like the way the music grooves, and there's even flute, the second half is wasted on a drum solo. "8 Mad Grim Nits" is the band's only instrumental piece, which is guitarist James Black's time to shine, so he obviously shows what he's got, and he includes more strange sound effects from he guitar as this piece progresses. "High Beech" is a nice, pleasant psychedelic piece complete with reverb. "Honey Coloured Time" is a mellow, bluesy number with some whispered dialog. The closing piece, "Just Thinking" starts off rather slowly, and I love how this piece builds up to a wonderful psychedelic climax. Of course, this was the last time we'll hear from May Blitz. The two Canadian guys (James Black, Reid Hudson) returned to Canada (in British Columbia), and Tony Newman went on to other things like Three Man Army.



Whatever the case, May Blitz is a truly excellent hard rock power trio, and if you like this kind of music, you're sure to like their albums."
Watch out! Songs are edited...
ikeda | Schweiz | 01/30/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)

"I gave this 5 stars for the content and 1 star for BGO's edition. The two albums are definitely worth buying,... but separately. This version by BGO has the songs edited in order to fit onto one CD. I bought the first album by itself (Repertoire label from Germany) and then this British 2fer version in order to get the 2nd of May at a decent price. Comparing the first album on both CDs, the BGO version fades out the songs early! Not being sure that they did the same with the second album, I immediately returned the BGO version and bought the unedited (albeit expensive) German import of 2nd of May. Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer chances..."
Excellent late '70s, hard-driving British rock
ikeda | 04/26/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)

""May Blitz" is the signature album for a British group with the same name. It was originally released in the late '70s, and unfortunately, never received wide attention in the US. Too bad! This is one of the finest rock-n-roll albums I've ever heard! The original album contains only the first seven cuts listed here, from "Smoking the day away" thru "Virgin waters"; these songs I can guarantee. All you have to do is listen to the first few bars of the first cut to know you're in for a musical treat. If you've heard early "Wishbone Ash", or "Beck, Bogert & Appice", or "Cactus", this album is as good as any of them. It's classic, hard-driving rock-n-roll from a group of very solid musicians."