Heavy Duty – Crowbar

Heavy Duty was the second studio album for Canadian rock and roll revivalist band Crowbar. Originally released in 1972 on the heels of the gold live album, Larger Than Life (And Live'r Than You've Ever Been), Heavy Duty was a big disappointment to fans. The band's debut album, Bad Manors and their live performances on a cross Canada tour had won legions of fans for the band and many were anxiously waiting for the band's next album. On this album, the band moved away from their high energy blues styled songs and tried their hand unsuccessfully at psychedelic music in the style of the Grateful Dead. and Allman Brother type southern rock on a couple of songs, which also did not work. The songs on this album did not appeal to the fans looking for more good time boogie blues, The Band styled rock and roll songs as in Crowbar's previous album and live show. Although there were a couple of such songs on the album, they were too few and the whole package was too diverse for fans to appreciate. Heavy Duty was the band's last album for Daffodil Records with a move to Epic for the next album but this was the beginning of the end for Crowbar and after one more album the band split up. This release by Unidisc is a straight reissue of the album as a budget price and contains no bonus tracks. ~ Keith Pettipas, All Music Guide