Sunday, June 24, 2007

Hounds - Puttin' on the Dogs (1979)

Hounds were a midwestern quartet comprised of three Johns and a Jim. One of those Johns, John Hunter, acted as the guiding force and primary writer for the band throughout its lifespan. That lifespan ran almost a decade, and despite their longevity, global success was not in the cards. In retrospect, Hounds have become cult heroes to those who remember when rock and roll was still the voice of a rebellious generation. Their 2nd album, "Puttin' on the Dogs", is a quirky mixture of hard rock, new wave, progressive rock and AOR. With predominant keyboards and majestic arrangements, Hounds were at the forefront of the AOR movement which swept american radio at the close of the 70's. It is therefore unjust to exclude them from the history books, despite their low profile. Though the band's recorded output has never seen digital reissue, their music is still reaching new audiences through traders circles and collectors. Add yourself to the growing number of people who are just now appreciating this unique band for its contributions to modern music.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have two vinyl copies of this album. I like it better than their debut. Thank you for posting this! Great band.

Anonymous said...

I was very much surprised and pleased when I heard this LP.
Thought it was some kind of sloppy hard rock when in fact it is a rather elaborate (power)pop drawing its inspiration from bands as different as Queen or Pavlov's Dog.
Never judge a record by its cover!
Thanks.
POPPHIL

Anonymous said...

I'll take a shot with this one...
I have read a lot of things about this band...Thanks for sharing..I;ll post what I think later...Great site ya have...PROPS!!

Residentevil2 said...

Thanks you been looking for this.

Anonymous said...

For anyone who wants to check out their 1st album I have uploaded it. Link is as follows:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LKCPYRE0 The Hounds - Unleashed (1978) Vinyl with front cover art, there is no CD of this album made.

Anonymous said...

Just viciant music. What a gread record this is.
Thanks
Miguel

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately the link provided by orcprobe to download the first album from Hounds (Unleashed) is not longer working. Any ideas where to get it? Thanks~

Anonymous said...

Great album. I also saw these guys on this tour in the Rock island, Illinois, Civic Center, and they were awesome. Their album may have leaned towards pop, but they were pure rock live.

Mike R said...

I seem to recall hearing "Under my Thumb" by the Hounds on a local alternative radio station back in 1979. I hunted down this album and liked it so much I looked for anything else they had recorded, then adding the first album to my "record collection" I am hungry these days for something old/new for my ipod, so I dusted off the old vinyl and digitized it. And that is how I found this blog as I was curious if anyone else out there besides me enjoyed the album.

Anonymous said...

I loved the first album, this one...not so much. We saw them many times in bars and clubs around Chicago, the Hounds would rarely play covers. This album has three! The loss of guitarist Jim Orkis after the first album cost them their best songwriter. The production on this is way too slick. What's the deal with that drum sound? Not a bad album, but I'll take the first album any day.
John Hunter was a real nice guy, he always took time to talk to the fans, even the ugly male ones!

ZAxploitation said...

Hi
Thanks for the share.
Any chance you could repair the download link?
Thanks.