Review: Dust, “Dust/Hard Attack”

Everybody has to start somewhere.  For producers Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise (KISS), Stories bassist Kenny Aaronson, and Marc Bell, a.k.a. Marky Ramone, a major chapter of their starting chapter was Dust.  Wise (guitar/vocals), Aaronson (bass/steel, dobro and bottleneck guitars) and Bell (drums) joined with producer/songwriter Kerner to create two albums for Neil Bogart’s Kama Sutra label in 1971 and 1972 that proved Americans could give their British brethren a run in the heavy-rock sweepstakes.  The music of Dust can be fairly be labelled as hard rock or proto-metal, but the New York power trio’s pair of albums also take in pop and blues influences and would probably best be described now as in a classic rock vein.  But you can decide for yourself, as these formative albums have been remastered and paired on one CD from Legacy Recordings (88883 70289 2).  Dust/Hard Attack is oddly presented with the second album first, perhaps to emphasize the edgier side of the band which was explored more fully on the sophomore set.

A snarling attitude is evident on these ferocious tracks.  In four separate notes contained in the nicely illustrated booklet, each key figure in the Dust story reflects on the Brooklyn group’s background and shot at success.  Kenny Kerner laments that Kama Sutra wasn’t a “rock label,” depriving Dust of the chance to become a “Supergroup.”  Indeed, Dust made unlikely company for Sha Na Na.  Marky Ramone confesses that the band was influenced by “what was happening in Britain, but there really weren’t any bands in America doing what we did at the time.”  Richie Wise admits a Brit influence, too, but perhaps a surprising one: The Beatles.

Hit the jump for more on Dust!

Release Round-Up: Week of April 16

Shuggie Otis, Inspiration Information/Wings of Love (Epic/Legacy)

Nearly 40 years after Inspiration Information, Shuggie Otis’ second and most recent LP, the R&B singer/songwriter/guitarist returns with a greatly expanded double-disc edition of that album featuring material recorded in the intervening years. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

David Bowie, Aladdin Sane: 40th Anniversary Remaster (EMI)

Ziggy goes back to America in this newly-remastered straight reissue of the 1973 classic. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Blind Melon, Blind Melon: 20th Anniversary Edition (Capitol/UMe)

The alt-rock album that gave us “No Rain” is remastered and expanded with several unreleased studio tracks. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

John Coltrane, Sun Ship: The Complete Session (Verve Select)

One of ‘Trane’s last quartet recordings, released posthumously, is expanded as a two-disc set that covers every last second of the session that birthed the album. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Frankie Valli, Hits (Rhino Flashback)

A budget reissue of Valli’s solo hits compilation from 1978. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Dust, Hard Attack/Dust (Kama Sutra/Buddah/Legacy)

A newly-remastered single CD collecting both albums by the proto-heavy metal band (featuring a young Marc Bell, who ended the 1970s as Marky Ramone). (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Jack Jones, Our Song/For the “In” Crowd and Lady/Jack Jones Sings (Zone)

Four Kapp Records albums between 1966 and 1968 on two CDs from the crooner who welcomed us aboard The Love Boat later in his career!

The Legacy of Record Store Day: Upcoming Exclusives Revealed From Sly, Willie, Miles, Taj, Aerosmith and More

It’s not quite the summertime yet, but Legacy Recordings has some hot fun planned for Record Store Day thanks to a diverse slate of releases from A (Aerosmith) to, well, S (Sly and the Family Stone)!  April 20 is the date when Legacy will join 2013 Record Store Day Ambassador Jack White to celebrate not only those beloved black vinyl discs, but also the brick-and-mortar retail record store experience which we hold very dear at The Second Disc.

Titles for the sixth annual Record Store Day have already been announced from artists including Paul McCartney, Duran Duran and Hüsker Dü; we know that plenty more news is on the way, so stay tuned for more RSD scoops as they come!  In the meantime, hit the jump to find out just what goodies Legacy has in store for you!

Ashes to Ashes: Dust, Legendary Proto-Metal Band, Returns with Remastered “Dust” and “Hard Attack”

Think of Kama Sutra Records, and chances are you’ll think of The Lovin’ Spoonful, or maybe The Trade Winds or even Sha Na Na.  The label wasn’t solely dedicated to sunny pop, however, as evidenced by the two albums released by the band Dust.  Richie Wise (guitar/vocals), Kenny Aaronson (bass) and the future Marky Ramone, Marc Bell (drums) joined with producer/songwriter Kenny Kerner to create two albums for Kama Sutra in the early 1970s that still rank among the most incendiary hard rock, proto-metal releases of the era.  On April 16, Legacy Recordings will reissue Dust and Hard Attack on a single remastered CD from the original analog master tapes, with a vinyl edition following on Record Store Day, Saturday April 20.

The New York power trio’s two cult albums, long out-of-print domestically, feature both vocal and instrumental songs, all rendered with the group’s high-energy, raw, heavy-blues style.  Most songs were written by the team of Wise and Kerner, with Aaronson supplying a song on each album (one co-written with Kerner).  Richie Wise recalled, “We were loud and fast, and it was just unreal.  Even when we played low, we were 20 times louder than everybody else. When we got our record deal, I got three Marshall stacks, Kenny Aaronson bought four Acoustic 360 watt amps, Marc bought this huge set of Ludwigs with a big 28-inch bass drum. On stage, it was just an amazing amount of exhale – not a whole lot of inhale.”  Bell explained the group’s sound: “We were teenagers, but we were pretty developed as musicians – concerning that genre. Nobody else in Brooklyn that I knew of could do what we could do as a threesome. And we had a style. Yeah, we could all play blues and rock, but we took it further. We took it to different time changes within the songs, and people weren’t doing that at that time.”

After the jump, we have much more on Dust, including a pre-order link and the reissue’s full track listing!