CREEM ONLINE: Sir Lord Baltimore

CREEM—May 1971
by Mike Saunders

Sir Lord Baltimore
Kingdom Come
1971 Mercury

(Editor's Note: This nugget from the CREEM archive holds great historical significance. It features the first known reference to "heavy metal" as a musical genre. In that same issue—May 1971, which featured the mighty Früt on the cover—Dave Marsh coined the term punk rock in a story about Question Mark and the Mysterians. In later years the magazine tried to coin other genre names, but for some reason Technicolor Yawn and Electric Assrot never caught on.)

All you true blue Heavy fans, take heart. This album is a crusher. Sure enough, Sir Lord Baltimore is none other than a new heavy band discovered by Dee Anthony, Who Should Know (Joe Cocker, Free, Humble Pie); and while SLB’s degree of success hasn’t been determined yet, they’ve certainly got what it takes to rake in a million.

This album is a far cry from the currently prevalent Grand Funk sludge, because Sir Lord Baltimore seems to have down pat most all the best heavy metal tricks in the book. Precisely, they sound like a mix between the uptempo noiseblasts of Led Zeppelin (instrumentally) and singing that’s like an unending Johnny Winter shriek: they have it all down cold, including medium or uptempo blasts a la LZ, a perfect carbon of early cataclysmic MC5 (“Hard Rain Fallin’”), and the one-soft-an-album concept originated by Jimmy Page and his gang. No slow blooze for these guys: “Excitement is what we’re into…” In addition, “Jack Bruce has been a major influence on my career” says SLB bassist Garry Justin. Top that, man.

As much as I hate heavy music—cock rock, macho rock, or whatever the current name for it is—I have to admit to having every Blue Cheer album ever made, and then to having a peculiar liking for Led Zeppelin II because of its undeniable stupid-rock punch. So just as I was once forced to ponder good bubblegum vs. bad bubblegum because of my irrepressible fondness for “Indian Giver,” I’d be the first to admit that there’s good Heavy and bad Heavy.

Finally then, as for esthetics: if you’re going to listen to heavy music—despite unending putdowns, condescension, and scorn from rock and roll writers and mouldy English Invasion purists like me—why listen to leaden, plodding slop like Free and Grand Funk when you can have a classic slug-you-in-the-gut knockout-your-brains-out efforts like Led Zeppelin II or this album??? Really. Buy Kingdom Come by Sir Lord Baltimore, and be the first on your block to have your brains blown out.