70s Rock Tournament | 🗳️Vote
Four cult classics enter. One moves on. Your vote decides which lost heavy gets a second shot at glory.
Before metal had a name. Before FM rock got safe and predictable. There was a sound that was raw, heavy, and full of fire. It lived in the margins, just outside the mainstream.
Maybe you found these albums years later, flipping through a dusty record bin. Or maybe your older cousin had them spinning on a crackling stereo, the artwork just as intense as the riffs inside. These bands had the right lineage. Members came from Deep Purple, Iron Butterfly, the garage scene, and the blues-rock clubs of Detroit and beyond. They had the riffs, the energy, the songs. What they didn’t have was the spotlight.
Captain Beyond – Captain Beyond (1972)
A seamless, swirling hard rock trip featuring ex-members of Deep Purple and Iron Butterfly. Spacey, riffy, and eternally overlooked.
Frantic – Conception (1970)
Montana-born garage survivors turn full-tilt psych-blues beasts, covering Hendrix and Van Morrison with unhinged intensity.
Cactus – One Way… or Another (1971)
Built from Vanilla Fudge and Amboy Dukes muscle, Cactus exploded with bluesy swagger and proto-metal might.
Warhorse – Warhorse (1970)
Nick Simper’s post-Purple epic—thunderous organ, doomy riffs, and gothic grandeur from the deepest depths of 1970.
Captain Beyond eponymous easily.