Magic Carpet Ride - The Dunhill/ABC Years 1967-1971

very underrated band all sweet

I have been wanting to get into Steppenwolf for a long time now. The release of this The Dunhill/ABC Years 1967-1971 collection was the perfect time to do it. The only problem is, the idiot that I am didn't pre-order it and it took months for me to actually find a copy for sale. Thankfully, I eventually got there at the perfectly affordable price of £40.Steppenwolf's The Dunhill/ABC Years 1967-1971 is an eight disc collection that bundles together six of the band's albums and two live albums all in one tidy clamshell case. Each disc sits in a LP replica cardboard sleeve and includes a fine sized booklet. In here you're getting Steppenwolf (1968), The Second (1968), At Your Birthday Party (1969), Monster (1969), Steppenwolf 7 (1970), For Ladies Only (1971), Early Steppenwolf (1969) and Steppenwolf Live (1970).As someone has only heard the odds and sods of the band's catalogue, I was well impressed with what I heard here. I found the music to have a certain heaviness that wasn't quite the norm in music. The guitars aren't overly distorted and have a clean over driven sound. It's not what we're use to in 2022 but crank that sucker up and it sounds great. Naturally, the band is well known for Born to Be Wild from their debut album. It's a fantastic song but over shadows a lot of cracking tunes like Sookie Sookie, The Pusher and a wicked rendition of Hootchie Kootchie Man. Their second album isn't quite as memorable, neither is the third but they're both very consistent and sound great. The former has the all time classic, Magic Carpet Ride. Which is a genuine classic if you ask me. In what might be a controversial opinion, my favourite albums (besides the debut) was actually Monster and Steppenwolf 7. Monster has the best song in the collection in the near ten minute epic, Monster/Suicide/America. What a fantastic song that is. It sits somewhere between late psychedelic rock and ends as this big bombastic Styx like epic. I wonder where this song has been and why it's never featured on rock radio etc.The actual quality of the sound is pretty good. The sound of the time is quite primitive by modern standards but I would say that the music sounds great. All the instruments are very clear. The drums and bass have great depth and the guitars pack a nice punch, even without modern rock guitar tones. The biggest draw back the albums have are just things from the time. The debut album has that horrible late '60s stereo panning that puts all the drums in one speaker and everything else in the other. I don't know about you, but I absolutely hate that. The Early Steppenwolf recording is a great performance but the sound is quite treble heavy and sounds quite shrill. Everything else sounds clean, consistent and great.After listening to all of this. I have to wonder why Steppenwolf were never a big band of the time. These guys put out a lot of great tunes and a lot of it is better than most of what was out at the time. They certainly deserved the success. Either way, this is a fantastic collection of music and I would highly recommend it picking it up (if it remains available).

The most comprehensive and empathetic Steppenwolf collection I have seen in the 50+ years I have been a fan. It very neatly charts the familiar territory of a band taking first steps, criss-crossing America and the world in search of their destiny, from the formative years at the Matrix (Early Steppenwolf) when Steppenwolf were a jamming band as good as any plying the West Coast through what many fans like me consider the politically charged and golden years 67-71, ending with “For Ladies Only”, an album criticised for its risqué inner gatefold art and equally esoteric inner picture insert (reproduced in the booklet) but also boasting a collection of great songs. Presented in an easy opening sturdy box this is not a cheap knock off collection. Each album is presented in quality mini album card sleeves, the artwork crisp, clear and deep in colour, gatefold where the original was sold as a gatefold 12” album (people who know Steppenwolf will know that often the same album was presented as gatefold or slip in sleeves depending on the territory of issue – Steppenwolf Live for instance was issued as a double LP in USA and Germany). Sound quality is excellent as are the bonus tracks attached to individual albums. Fans will already know these tracks but this is the best introduction to Steppenwolf a new listener could hope for. Bonus for me is the sleeve art printed directly onto cd’s – making them a true collector’s item. They are accompanied by a small (but larger than A4) poster montage of gig posters and a comprehensive 52 page booklet with loads of rare art/photos and a commentary from producer Bill Cooper who with Richie Podolor was at the epicentre of the recorded Steppenwolf sound and who offers some genuinely helpful info about the band’s history. (Cooper also plays on one track, a role which he reprised on electric sitar at one Wolfpack gathering in Nashville). Fantastic stuff just in time for Christmas 2021. John Kay would go on to a solo career (also with John Kay Solo Band), to reform Steppenwolf in 1974 and latterly form John Kay and Steppenwolf to rebuild their reputation - but those are stories for the next fabulous box set.

This Esoteric masterpiece has been a long time coming. It is a wonderful tribute to a fabulous family of musicians, under the sympathetic guiding leadership of John Kay, who made these recordings in a very short period 1967-71. I came across the first album in 1969 when I was introduced to it at the age of 13, by my dear 'Wolfpack' Brother in Arms, Pete. It made a deep impression then and it still does today. These lovingly superbly remastered recordings are real gems of the period. Many thanks to Mr Paschal Byrne and his team of magicians. Beg, steal or borrow to hear these, especially:- The first record a true masterpiece of the 'genre', 'Monster' even more topical today than ever!, 'Seven' a killer album, and the incredible swansong, 'For Ladies Only'. If you only know 'Born to Be Wild' and 'The Pusher', listen again, you are in for a real treat. A special mention for Esoteric and Cherry Red Records, a special bunch who deserve your support. Thank you again guys and gals, and God bless all your future work :0)

Listening to Steppenwolf's music is synonymous to all the wonderful things that took place in the late 60's.Born to be wild, Easy Rider, Captain America, Peter Fonda,......, and so on!

As Advertised ! -- Quality as quick delivery .

A great audio collection from times gone past

Great collection of steppenwolf albums in 1 beautiful boxset

albums sound better than ever

Steppenwolf has long been poorly represented in the digital world, but that has finally been rectified here by Cherry Red Records. The ABC / Dunhill catalog has now been beautifully remastered, and placed within a lovely clamshell box. Each album is contained in a cardboard cover replicating the original album artwork, and all but one of these eight discs include bonus tracks. The sound quality is absolutely spectacular, and if you already own any of the previously released versions on CD, then you’re going to want to upgrade to this set. The difference in quality is staggering.This long overdue Box Set includes a rather substantial booklet including details of the rise and fall of this landmark band, along with some fascinating information about the inner workings of the original recording sessions. It also contains some great photographs, and memorabilia as well.There has been several bands on the ABC / Dunhill label that had their master tapes lost or destroyed over the years, but fortunately Steppenwolf weren’t one of them. So this set was transferred from those master tapes, and the results are truly amazing. If you’re a fan, then I highly recommend grabbing this before it goes out of print for a second time.Steppenwolf were definitely one of the most important bands from the late sixties and early seventies, and they’ve finally been given the treatment they so obviously deserve. I could not be happier with this wonderful release, and look forward to years of enjoyment from the band that set the standard for hard rock……before there was hard rock.

Gran descubrimiento (para mi), que solo tenia el primer LP. y gran descubrimiento por los discos incluidos en este "Pack", que son bastantes buenos...no se el resto de su discografia!!!SaluD

In addition to good remastered CDs, this box also contains a nice little book with the band's history! Otherwise, there is a good CD with very good sound and it is Steppenwolf Gold, but in my opinion many good songs are missing. There was a lot of Vietnam war politics in the band's way of expressing themselves which for those who are new can feel a bit dated but as a time document it is also an important aspect in terms of the band's history and many of the... let me call it protest songs are good. I have longed for a long time to have Steppenwolw's CDs available again and with good sound. You get that here. Apparently there should be these to buy individually, so to speak, with even better Japanese sound quality, but then this becomes a very expensive story and I am more than satisfied with the sound of the CDs in this box. Recommended

Super Box, zwar sind mancher Infos in dem beiliegende Heft falsch (kenne mich aus als Steppenwolf fan seit über 50 Jahren). Trotzdem schön gemacht und obwohl die CD Cover sich nicht richtig schließen (falten) ist es mal schön original Covers auch auf den CDs zu haben anstatt die von MCA Records. Steppenwolf 7 wird hierbei in dem Cover Version von UK in 1970 und nicht in das US Original. Finde ich aber schön so, habe zwar beide auch als LPS, aber was anderes die UK Version als CD Cover zu haben. Kleines Poster liegt auch dabei. Sound hört sich ganz gut an und es ist auf jeden fall empfehlenswert - Schade nur das Steppenwolf Gold und 16 Greatest Hits nicht beigefügt sind. macht aber nix. Trotzdem sehr gut.