| Lucifer's Friend |
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Information AboutLucifer's Friend |
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Despite the band's German origin and progressive rock stylings, they are not usually classified as Krautrock which had a more electronically oriented sound. Originally formed as Asterix, the band changed their name to Lucifer's Friend after only one album. The early albums were released on the prestigious Vertigo Records label in Europe, but in the United States those albums were released on a series of small independent record labels (Billingsgate, Janus, Passport), often a year or more after their release in Europe. Thus, despite airplay in some markets and a cult following, the band's albums were hard to find and commercial success eluded them. The band was finally signed to Elektra Records in the late 1970s who released three albums with a more commercial pop oriented sound, but by then interest in the band had waned; those albums were even less successful than the earlier ones. Lucifer's Friend was known for changing musical styles and influences on each album. The self-titled 1970 debut had dark lyrics and a stripped-down guitar and organ style heavily influenced by Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath . That album is still sought after by fans of early Heavy Metal Music . The second album, ''Where the Groupies Killed the Blues'', took an entirely different direction; it was a very experimental album of progressive and Psychedelic rock, mostly composed by John O'Brien Docker . On the third album, ''I'm Just a Rock & Roll Singer'', they changed direction again, this time in the straightforward rock style popularized by such groups as Grand Funk Railroad , and gritty "life on the road" themes in the lyrics. ''Banquet'' featured extended, multi-layered Jazz Fusion compositions and a 30-piece backup band, alternating with some shorter tracks reminiscent of Chicago and Traffic . Those first four albums are all concept albums of a sort and along with the self-titled Asterix album are the most sought after today. ''Mind Exploding'' established a holding pattern and tried to combine the jazz of ''Banquet'' with the garage-rock of ''Rock & Roll Singer'', but was not as well received as the earlier albums. Vocalist John Lawton left in 1976 to join Uriah Heep , but returned for the 1981 album ''Mean Machine''. On the two albums without Lawton they dropped any further attempts at experimentation and instead opted for a slickly produced commercial sound, managing a competent imitation of Queen on 1978's ''Good Time Warrior'' and veering into Disco on 1980's ''Sneak Me In''. John Lawton's 1980 solo album on RCA , ''Heartbeat'', was a Lucifer's Friend album in everything but name, with the lineup from ''Sneak Me In'' performing as backup musicians on that project. Lawton's official return, ''Mean Machine'', found the band returning to heavy metal, this time in the vein of Foreigner and Bad Company . The band officially broke up in 1982 but briefly reformed in the late 1990s to release a new CD, ''Sumo Grip''. The later albums on Elektra include keyboardist Adrian Askew, formerly of the pop group Edison Lighthouse who had the early 1970s hit single "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)". During the 1970s John Lawton split his time between Lucifer's Friend and another band, the Les Humphries Singers , which was very different from Lucifer's Friend and performed a Revue of then-current Top 40 and Gospel Music material. Lawton currently performs with the band Gunhill. DISCOGRAPHY
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