GOLDEN EARRING
''TO THE HIT''
AUGUST 1975
44:11
1/Why Me?
John Fenton / Barry Hay / George Kooymans/7:13
2/Facedancer
Barry Hay / George Kooymans/4:09
3/To the Hilt
Barry Hay / George Kooymans/3:07
4/Nomad
Barry Hay / George Kooymans/7:06
5/Sleepwalkin'
Barry Hay / George Kooymans/5:00
6/Latin Lightning
Barry Hay / George Kooymans/7:15
7/Violins
Barry Hay / George Kooymans/10:21
Bertus Borgers /Saxophone
Rinus Gerritsen /Bass, Keyboards
Barry Hay /Flute, Vocals
George Kooymans /Guitar, Vocals
Chris Mercer /Sax (Tenor), Saxophone
Robert Jan Stips /Keyboards, String Arrangements, Synthesizer
Cesar Zuiderwijk /Drums, Percussion
REVIEW
by Donald A. Guarisco
On To the Hilt, Golden Earring fully gives themselves over to the prog rock tendencies that they had toyed with throughout the 1970s. The resulting album has a strong prog feel but lacks the characteristic sound and the solid material that defined the group's best efforts to that point. The band puts in a typically energetic and thunderous performance, but their strong instrumental chops can't overcome the self-indulgent nature of much of the album's material: "Why Me?" and "Latin Lightning" are a few of the potentially interesting songs on To the Hilt that are undercut by dull, overlong sections of jamming. Said songs also lack the tight arrangements and the sudden, surprising instrumental twists that made the group's past epics so interesting. The album's rigorous pursuit of a full-blooded art rock sound results in this album lacking the distinctive, easily identifiable sound that infused Golden Earring classics like "Radar Love" or "She Flies on Strange Wings." Despite these problems, some good songs shine through. The album's best songs tend to be the shortest ones: "Facedancer" is a strong rocker built on an interesting blend of synthesizer and acoustic guitar and the title track pursues a galloping country-rock groove that made it a favorite in concert. However, high points like these are separated by long stretches of complex but faceless jamming that makes To the Hilt a chore to get through. As a result, this album is virtually guaranteed to leave the casual listener cold and can only be recommended to the most hardcore of Golden Earring fans.
BIOGRAPHY
by Steve Huey
Best known in the U.S. for their hard rock material, Golden Earring have been the most popular homegrown band in the Netherlands since the mid-'60s, when they were primarily a pop group. The group was founded by guitarist/vocalist George Kooymans and bassist/vocalist Rinus Gerritsen, then schoolboys, in 1961; several years and personnel shifts later, they had their first Dutch hit, "Please Go," and in 1968 hit the top of the Dutch charts for the first of many times with "Dong-Dong-Di-Ki-Di-Gi-Dong," a song that broadened their European appeal. By 1969, the rest of the lineup had stabilized, with lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Barry Hay and drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk. They experimented with their style for several years before settling on straightforward hard rock initially much like that of the Who, who invited them to open their 1972 European tour. Golden Earring signed to the Who's Track label, which released a compilation of Dutch singles, Hearing Earring, helping the group break through in England. Released in 1974, the Moontan LP spawned the single "Radar Love," a Dutch number one, U.K. Top Ten, and U.S. number 13 hit.
They toured America opening for the Doobie Brothers and Santana, but the lack of a follow-up ensured that their popularity remained short-lived in America, even though they remained a top draw in Europe over the rest of the 1970s. The band experienced a brief American comeback in 1982 with the album Cut and the Top Ten single "Twilight Zone," but as before, Golden Earring could not sustain their momentum and faded away in the U.S. marketplace. ("Radar Love" did enjoy a second round of popularity in the U.S. when pop-metal band White Lion covered the song in 1989.) Nevertheless, the band persisted over the ensuing decades, recording and performing well into the new millennium and remaining a concert draw in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe. Although they have not toured North America since the mid-'80s, Golden Earring did record their 2003 album, Millbrook USA, in Millbrook, NY at the studio of Frank Carillo (whose duo album with George Kooymans, On Location, saw release in April 2010). The bandmembers have also recorded as solo artists in Europe.
DoWnLoAd
''TO THE HIT''
AUGUST 1975
44:11
1/Why Me?
John Fenton / Barry Hay / George Kooymans/7:13
2/Facedancer
Barry Hay / George Kooymans/4:09
3/To the Hilt
Barry Hay / George Kooymans/3:07
4/Nomad
Barry Hay / George Kooymans/7:06
5/Sleepwalkin'
Barry Hay / George Kooymans/5:00
6/Latin Lightning
Barry Hay / George Kooymans/7:15
7/Violins
Barry Hay / George Kooymans/10:21
Bertus Borgers /Saxophone
Rinus Gerritsen /Bass, Keyboards
Barry Hay /Flute, Vocals
George Kooymans /Guitar, Vocals
Chris Mercer /Sax (Tenor), Saxophone
Robert Jan Stips /Keyboards, String Arrangements, Synthesizer
Cesar Zuiderwijk /Drums, Percussion
REVIEW
by Donald A. Guarisco
On To the Hilt, Golden Earring fully gives themselves over to the prog rock tendencies that they had toyed with throughout the 1970s. The resulting album has a strong prog feel but lacks the characteristic sound and the solid material that defined the group's best efforts to that point. The band puts in a typically energetic and thunderous performance, but their strong instrumental chops can't overcome the self-indulgent nature of much of the album's material: "Why Me?" and "Latin Lightning" are a few of the potentially interesting songs on To the Hilt that are undercut by dull, overlong sections of jamming. Said songs also lack the tight arrangements and the sudden, surprising instrumental twists that made the group's past epics so interesting. The album's rigorous pursuit of a full-blooded art rock sound results in this album lacking the distinctive, easily identifiable sound that infused Golden Earring classics like "Radar Love" or "She Flies on Strange Wings." Despite these problems, some good songs shine through. The album's best songs tend to be the shortest ones: "Facedancer" is a strong rocker built on an interesting blend of synthesizer and acoustic guitar and the title track pursues a galloping country-rock groove that made it a favorite in concert. However, high points like these are separated by long stretches of complex but faceless jamming that makes To the Hilt a chore to get through. As a result, this album is virtually guaranteed to leave the casual listener cold and can only be recommended to the most hardcore of Golden Earring fans.
BIOGRAPHY
by Steve Huey
Best known in the U.S. for their hard rock material, Golden Earring have been the most popular homegrown band in the Netherlands since the mid-'60s, when they were primarily a pop group. The group was founded by guitarist/vocalist George Kooymans and bassist/vocalist Rinus Gerritsen, then schoolboys, in 1961; several years and personnel shifts later, they had their first Dutch hit, "Please Go," and in 1968 hit the top of the Dutch charts for the first of many times with "Dong-Dong-Di-Ki-Di-Gi-Dong," a song that broadened their European appeal. By 1969, the rest of the lineup had stabilized, with lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Barry Hay and drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk. They experimented with their style for several years before settling on straightforward hard rock initially much like that of the Who, who invited them to open their 1972 European tour. Golden Earring signed to the Who's Track label, which released a compilation of Dutch singles, Hearing Earring, helping the group break through in England. Released in 1974, the Moontan LP spawned the single "Radar Love," a Dutch number one, U.K. Top Ten, and U.S. number 13 hit.
They toured America opening for the Doobie Brothers and Santana, but the lack of a follow-up ensured that their popularity remained short-lived in America, even though they remained a top draw in Europe over the rest of the 1970s. The band experienced a brief American comeback in 1982 with the album Cut and the Top Ten single "Twilight Zone," but as before, Golden Earring could not sustain their momentum and faded away in the U.S. marketplace. ("Radar Love" did enjoy a second round of popularity in the U.S. when pop-metal band White Lion covered the song in 1989.) Nevertheless, the band persisted over the ensuing decades, recording and performing well into the new millennium and remaining a concert draw in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe. Although they have not toured North America since the mid-'80s, Golden Earring did record their 2003 album, Millbrook USA, in Millbrook, NY at the studio of Frank Carillo (whose duo album with George Kooymans, On Location, saw release in April 2010). The bandmembers have also recorded as solo artists in Europe.
DoWnLoAd
