There was a lot of talent involved in the making of Cochise's debut album. Guitarist Mick Grabham went on to play in Procol Harum; bassist Rick Wills would later join Foreigner; B.J. Cole would be an in-demand pedal steel player on many sessions over the next few decades; drummer Willie Wilson would play with Pink Floyd; Dick Taylor, who'd just left the Pretty Things, produced; and Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis (famous for working on Pink Floyd LP covers) designed a striking and, for the period, daring cover of a woman's unadorned breasts. The credits on a résumé don't always guarantee an outstanding album, however, and Cochise is one of those '60s-turning-into-'70s records that treads an uneasy line between eclectic diversity and a lack of direction. It's so-so period 1970 British rock, distinguished just slightly by a more country-ish flavor than the norm, courtesy of Cole's pedal steel. It's not country-rock, however, and some of the songs in fact owe little or nothing to the form. Numbers like Painted Lady and Moment and the End are tense, meandering hard rock tunes; the latter cut, in fact (as well as sections of some others, like Velvet Mountain) sounds kind of like late-'60s/early-'70s Guess Who LP filler. There's a wistful rural feel to parts of the material that suggests some promise, but that mood's shattered by an unnecessary, pedestrian heavy rock cover of Simon Garfunkel's 59th Street Bridge Song. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi

1		Velvet Mountains
2		China
3		Trafalgar Day
4		Moment and the End
5		Watch This Space
6		59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)
7		Past Loves
8		Painted Lady
9		Black Is the Colour
10		Love's Made a Fool of You

	Like us on Facebook
	@SoundHound	Follow