The story of Hard Stuff begins with the band Atomic Rooster and John Du Cann. After being ousted from Atomic Rooster, Du Cann ended up the power trio Hard Stuff. The band was originally called Bulletproof but had to change their name due to another band already owning that name. Joining Du Cann was Paul Hammond and John Gustafson. The band put out two albums of prototype Heavy Metal.

The first album, Bulletproof, is a hard rocking mess of cranked up Marshall amps and tons of guitar solos. The music is a mix between Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath and Grand Funk Railroad. The songs all feature hard rocking guitars and tons and tons and tons of guitar solos. This is all part of the blueprint for heavy metal as the band was experimenting with riff rock and power chords. The reason it is not simply called ‘heavy metal’ has more to do with the tin sounding recording – in 1972 there just was not enough power to make metal yet!

The songs “Sinister Minister,” “No Witch At All,” “Time Gambler” and “Hobo” best represent why this one is the better of the two.

Bolex Dementia saw the band in the studio adding much more funk into their music, a decision that Du Cann was not thrilled with. As the album was half recorded, Du Cann and Hammond were seriously injured in a car accident. The album was put on hold and when it was completed it lost a lot of flair. The music industry moved on without waiting for them and the band drifted into obscurity. The second album does contain a few good tunes in “Roll A Rocket,” “Sick ‘N’ Tired” and “Jumpin’ Thumpin’ (Ain’t That Something)” but the magic of the first album was no more.

Angel Air has done a wonderful job releasing these albums. Both are worth picking up for a music history lesson. Bulletproof is a great album for cranking up and taking a trip back to the early days of hard rock and heavy metal.