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We got this tape years ago when it was submitted by a customer of ours who thought we would be interested in it. He was from Ohio, and told me he was friendly with the guys in this band. He managed to get their demo recording and sent it on behalf of the band. That was around 1986, and the recordings dated around 1983. That was the last I heard about it. Decades later, I rediscovered the tape and decided it was time. Heavy and complex, the first track of their demo tape was 45 minutes long! As you can imagine, there were no labels that took them on...except me of course!
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Soundboard 9.4 - What I find most appealing about this show is the mix, and how they do not bury the guitar which is what you might normally assume given the type of “top 40” music Annie wrote at the time. You will be pleasantly surprised to hear the guitar front and center, and actually pretty grungy sounding.
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Audience 8.7 - A strong and intense recording with a percussive tilt to it, so you get a very present and crisp drums and percussion. Everything else is also pretty clear but I would have liked guitars more up front but they are fine. This period of the band is exciting and intense, so if you love your progressive jazz hard rock played with fire and intensity that sometimes is off the charts this band is for you.
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Audience 8.3 - This recording captures a medium to large hall atmosphere from maybe middle rows and is quite good under those circumstances. It actually lends a cool vibe to the show, despite that naturally huge reverb going on. Oh, if you are unfamiliar with them, here’s the deal: GREAT hard and heavy jazz rock leaning towards rock with a very quirky singer. Once you get used to him, you are LOVING this band.
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Audience 8.6 - A little bit thin as far as this recording goes in that it could use a little more bottom end but that is not a deal breaker because it is not a “shrill” thin, just could use more lows. That being said, there’s a lot to chew on with this show. Great performance, good quality, so just be aware the singer requires some getting used to! Have fun.
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Formed in 1972, Hands were originally called Ibis, and then a series of name changes which eventually led to Prism, which they were widely known as, until things got serious. With the production of high quality studio demos, they were forced to change names again, this time for good - with the name HANDS. These early recordings capture them at a time before the studio quality demos, when they were still working small clubs and colleges and playing a lot of covers (albeit very interesting ones).