Jeronimo

Jeronimo’s eponymous third studio album arrived in 1971 and is regarded by fans of the German progressive hard-rock trio to be their heaviest recording. From the first verse of the powerful opening cut “Sunday’s Child,” it’s obvious that Jeronimo is another album overlooked in its time that would find a wider audience with the 21st century’s resurgence of enthusiasm for bygone European hard rock. The following “Shades” boasts contagiously catchy licks and locked-in communication between the band’s rhythm section before Michael Koch comes in singing like a young Ozzy Osbourne (dig his frenetic guitar solo here). The mellowed psychedelia of “Reminiscensis” serves as a minute-long intro to “How I’d Love To Be Home,” which rocks with a spirited attack sounding similar to the proto-metal of early-‘70s recordings by the similarly heavy American trio Dust. “End of Our Time” displays dynamics in vocal harmonies between Koch and bass player Gunnar Schaefer, recalling the uncanny vocal chemistry between Grand Funk Railroad’s Mark Farner and Don Brewer. The band’s penchant for proggy arrangements surfaces in the complex riffs of “Silence of the Night.