By the time Lobby Loyde formed the Coloured Balls in March 1972, he was already a 12-year veteran of the local music scene. Working his way through R&B legends The Purple Hearts, psychedelic heroes The Wild Cherries and onto the bluesy Aztecs, Loyde had well and truly established his reputation as Australia ’s pre-eminent guitar master. By the beginning of 1973, the band’s standing was such that they put in an astonishing performance at the second annual Sunbury Festival. Loyde’s legendary 16-minute, freeform showpiece ‘G.O.D.’, a searing cosmic heavy metal epic that surely stands as one of the greatest performances ever recorded by an Australian band of the era is included here as one of the 7 bonus tracks. After releasing 2 singles on the Havoc label, the Coloured Balls Signed to EMI. With help from producer Ian D. Miller and highly experienced engineer John Sayers the band knocked out Ball Power in a couple of weeks. One of the great progressive hard rock LPs of the era, Ball Power really had a lot going for it: great songs, inspirational playing, attitude to burn and an experimental edge that would have frightened the hell out of any lesser band. The overall excellence of Ball Power makes for quality listening all the way through. The songs range from the crunching, melodic hard rock of ‘Flash’ and ‘Hey! What’s Your Name’ to the simple, raw rock’n’roll of ‘Mama Don’t Get Me Wrong’ and ‘Won’t You Make Up Your Mind’ (a proto-typical punk ball-tearer at a breathtakingly brief one minute and 32 seconds) and a raucous cover of the Jerry Lee Lewis standard ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’’. In between there are the sleazy blues of ‘Something New’ and ‘B.P.R.’ plus progressive, guitar-heavy monsters like ‘Human Being’ and ‘That’s What Mama Said’. Ball Power is presented in a 6 panel textured digi-pak with a 24 page booklet filled with rare photos & liner notes by Ian McFarlane. It has been digitally remastered with 7 bonus tracks – including the 16+ minute live version of G.O.D.
Track Listing: 1. Flash 2. Mama Don’t You Get Me Wrong 3. Won’t You Make Up Your Mind 4. Something New 5. B.P.R 6. Human Being 7. Whole Lotta Shakin’ 8. Hey! What’s Your Name 9. That’s What Mama Said
Bonus Tracks: Singles, 1972-1973 10. Liberate Rock - Single A-side 11. Slowest Guitar on Earth - Single B-side 12. Mr. Mean Mouth - Single A-side 13. Love Me Girl - Single B-side 14. Mess of the Blues - Single A-side 15. Devil’s Disciple - Single B-side Live at Sunbury, 1973 16. G.O.D.