The Amboy Dukes The Amboy Dukes LP (Lime Green Vinyl)

The lost tapes have surfaced, bringing with them a walloping new stereo mix! A sonic cocktail of acid garage, blues and psych rock from one of Detroit's finest – featuring Ted Nugent! Dominated by gritty head-swirlers and heavy, fuzz guitar licks, their debut is considered to be an early innovator of heavy metal.

Their five and a half minute version of "Baby Please Don't Go" is an absolute acid garage classic with some fantastic feedback and great guitar sustain. Nugent creates some serious guitar noise on this number and shows off his brilliant chops. The album closes with another garage classic, "Gimme Love." This song has some laser fuzz guitar riffs and angry Mike Drake vocals.

In between these two garage monsters are many other great compositions. There are a few covers, two work really well (the splendidly bluesy "Let's Go Get Stoned" and the gritty Who cover "It's Not True"). They also hit real hard with "Colors," a furious acid rock song with some sinister soloing. "Phillip's Escalator" is very Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd with brit vocals, clanging chords and first class guitar scrape. It's a true classic on this exceptional outing.

The guitar freakouts, Who-like energy and great songs make this debut a prime slice of early Detroit rock.

– The Rising Storm

This is part of Sundazed's deep exploration into the Mainstream Records label that begins in 2024. They painstakingly (ok, they enjoyed it, but whatever) went through all variations of masters to pick which they thought were best in each instance, some mono, and some stereo. Sometimes they got the stereo right in the '60s and it was an highly enjoyable experience. Other times, not so much.

The debut album by the Amboy Dukes should be high on collectors' lists. Fusing the psychedelia of the early Blues Magoos with Hendrix riffs and British pop, the band which launched the legend of Ted Nugent has surprises galore in these lost grooves. This is a far cry from Cat Scratch Fever, and that's why fans of psychedelia and '60s music should cherish this early diamond.