To You All

Krokus have had better albums and album covers later in their career, but this is a unique piece of their history. At this point they were still only playing 70's hard rock with touches of various influence. For me Boston is an obvious one. It just has that happy-go-lucky sound. It is a far cry from the Accept-tinged stuff they would become known for.

Despite being released on an obscure label, the sound here is pretty solidly 70s. It is fuzzy at times, but overall very typical. The opening track Highway Song is a typical late-70s anthem. It reminds me of both Boston, and the Boston-tinged albums that Lucifer's Friend was putting out. The 2nd track has a bit of Rush-meets Zeppelin rocking sound in the open and eventually backs into the heavy Lucifer's Friend influence. It is just good catchy hard rock.

The album features original vocalist and longtime bassist Chris von Rohr. He has a fairly pleasant if generic hard rock voice with a Swiss-tinge to it, but not as merciless as some Swiss vocalists (and not as clean as some). It gets more accented at times but especially on the first song remains quite polished. Festival is an organ and key driven ballad that is decent but not phenomenal. After this song the band go on a few different tangents, featuring a raggae-inspired tune Move It On, some blusier tracks such as Lonesome Rider, Trying Hard (despite its hilariously dumb lyrics and vocals, it has a great organ performance), and the ballad closer Take it, Don't Leave It, which is pretty tasteful.

At the end of the day, this isn't the Krokus you are probably familiar with. It is still firmly planted in the 70s rock sound and though it is listenable and tasteful, it doesn't deliver anything out-of-this world exciting.

Recommended tracks: Highway Song, To You All, Trying Hard, Take it, Don't Leave It.