LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

• Edition: Official remastered reissue
• Audio: Newly transferred, restored and remastered
• Packaging: Original artwork reproduced in a hard-cardboard sleeve
• Extras: Illustrated insert with detailed liner notes by Mike Stax, prepared with input from original guitarist Robb Huxley, plus a separate lyric insert

Jericho is a landmark of early-1970s Israeli heavy progressive rock, combining aggressive twin-guitar work, powerful vocals, complex arrangements and distinctive Middle Eastern melodic touches.

The group’s history began with The Churchills, one of the pioneering bands of Israel’s late-1960s psychedelic scene. After relocating to the United Kingdom in 1971, they initially adopted the name Jericho Jones and recorded Junkies, Monkeys & Donkeys. By the time of their following album, their name had been shortened to Jericho and their music had become considerably heavier, longer and more progressive.

“Ethiopia” opens the record with urgent rhythms, rapid changes of direction and volcanic guitar riffing. “Don’t You Let Me Down” is more concise but retains the band’s forceful sound and characteristic modal melodies, while “Featherbed” expands from a reflective opening into an extended instrumental workout dominated by the interplay between guitarists Haim Romano and Robb Huxley.

The second side contains two lengthy centrepieces. Robb Huxley’s “Justin and Nova” is a cinematic psychedelic-progressive epic, moving through dramatic vocal sections, piano, strings and expansive guitar passages. The album closes with the eleven-minute “Kill Me With Your Love,” a hard-edged mixture of heavy progressive rock and early proto-metal.

Released by A&M in February 1972, the album captured Jericho at their creative peak but became their final full-length recording. Its intense performances and unusually sophisticated arrangements place it alongside the finest underground hard-rock albums of the period, recommended to listeners of May Blitz, Toad, Three Man Army, Sir Lord Baltimore and early Black Sabbath.

Personnel:

Track listing:

Side A
1. Ethiopia – 4:34
2. Don’t You Let Me Down – 3:40
3. Featherbed – 9:40

Side B
1. Justin and Nova – 8:29
2. Kill Me With Your Love – 11:16