Date: May 26, 1973
Weeks: 1
I've really only heard of Edgar Winter in that recent TV ad. I had no idea what kind of music he made, even though this very song is played at the end of that commercial. So I was kind of dreading another trip into the early 70s, anticipating one of the many light, insubstantial pop songs that topped the charts in that half-decade. But instead I got some genuine 70s experimental rock and roll, a genre which is woefully underrepresented on the charts. So I'm glad for that.
This song is a really weird instrumental piece. Oh, it starts off with an excellent guitar riff, and it's about two minutes of some really good guitar-and-drums rock and roll. Whenever that guitar is playing, this song is a blast. I even like the synthesized keyboards because the unique sound of them is being exploited to create something interesting and new. There's a saxophone that's less successful, but it doesn't wreck the song.
Then, about two minutes in, all that successful mixture of sounds collapses, and it turns into a weird extended drum solo, which lasts long past the point where it's still interesting. Then there are laser sound effects mixed in for no reason other than that they were capable of producing laser sound effects. The song finishes with a reprise of its excellent guitar riff, at least, but by then the song's momentum is gone.
Although I evaluate the single version of these songs, I'll try to check out the extended versions if there are any. And this one has a doozy. In this case, the extended version is just weirder, filled with more aural chaos. Although the extended version at least does a better job living up to the title, "Frankenstein." The extended version has a segment that actually sounds like lightning crashing and evokes the imagery of Dr. Frankenstein's lab. The basic song doesn't include any of that, so it leaves you wondering why it's titled that.
My verdict: Don't like it. It's got some nice guitar riffs, but the breakdown in the middle is too weird and completely interrupts a song that otherwise is kind of on the right course.
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