Tooth, Fang & Claw

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Long before he was bow-hunting, firearm-hoarding endangered species, Ted Nugent fronted the heavy acid-rock band Amboy Dukes. But their 1974 studio album <i>Tooth, Fang & Claw</i> found Amboy Dukes driving toward the guitar-dominated stadium metal that transformed Nugent into “The Nuge.” The opening “Lady Luck” gets things going with the kind of red-hot guitar leads and chugging rhythm section that would seep into 1977's <i>Cat Scratch Fever</i>. Trace elements of '60s-flavored guitars surface in “Living in the Woods,” especially in Nugent’s doubled fuzz-toned leads. The standout song “Hibernation” epically rocks out for nearly 10 minutes, walking the line between proto-metal and heavy metal. Rob Grange’s bass work is also to be commended, as he segues from fundamental four-string pedaling to more complex runs played higher on the neck. “Free Flight” dodges genre trappings to deliver an instrumental jam of stellar musicianship before Nugent and band kick new life into Chuck Berry’s “Maybelline.” One of Nugent’s most underrated recordings abides in “The Great White Buffalo.”

via Apple Music