''Prehistoric Sounds'' is the third album by the Australian punk rock group The Saints, released in 1978 via

Harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...

. This was the final album to feature founding lead guitarist,

Ed Kuepper Edmund "Ed" Kuepper (born 20 December 1955) is a German-born Australian guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded the punk band The Saints (1973–78), the experimental post-punk group Laughing Clowns (1979–85) and the grunge-like Th ...

, who left the band shortly after its release. In October 2010, the album was listed in the top 50 in the book, ''

100 Best Australian Albums 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

'' with their debut, ''

(I'm) Stranded ''(I'm) Stranded'' is the debut album by Australian punk rock group The Saints which was released by EMI on 21 February 1977. Their debut single, " (I'm) Stranded", was issued ahead of the album in September 1976, which ''Sounds'' magazine's re ...

'', at No. 20.

Background

Australian punk rock group, The Saints, had relocated to the United Kingdom in mid-1977. They released their second album, '' Eternally Yours'', in May the next year on EMI/Harvest with band members Chris Bailey (also on lead vocals) and

(also on lead guitar) producing.McFarlane
'The Saints'
entry. Archived fro
the original
on 9 October 2004. Retrieved 9 April 2011. The other members of The Saints were Ivor Hay on drums and

Algy Ward Alasdair Mackie "Algy" Ward (born 11 July 1959) is an English heavy metal bass guitarist and singer. He founded Tank, a part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. He also played with the Damned and before that the Saints. Career ...

on bass guitar. The album reached the Top 100 on the Australian

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...

Albums Chart. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...

(ARIA) created their own

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabul ...

in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974. The soul influenced third album, ''Prehistoric Sounds'', followed in October 1978 (January 1979 in Australia). Its commercial failure led EMI to drop the band. During 1978, relations between Kuepper and Bailey had deteriorated, with Bailey preferring rock and pop songs and Kuepper pursuing less commercial and more intellectual material. Bailey later admitted ''Prehistoric Sounds'' was, "not one of my personal favourite records." Finally Hay, Kuepper and Ward left the group in early 1979. Kuepper returned to Australia and followed a more avant-garde direction with

Laughing Clowns Laughing Clowns, sometimes written as The Laughing Clowns, were a post-punk band formed in Sydney in 1979. In five years, the band released three LPs, three EPs, and various singles and compilations. Laughing Clowns' sound is free jazz, bluegr ...

, which would frequently feature brass. Hay briefly returned to Australia to join Sydney-based

The Hitmen The Hitmen are an Australian hard rock band formed in November 1977 by long-term members, Johnny Kannis on lead vocals and Chris Masuak on lead guitar as Johnny and the Hitmen. The group went through numerous line up changes in its first run ...

and then rejoined Bailey in London for a later version of The Saints. Ward became a member of English

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

punk band, The Damned. Bailey continued the group with Mark Birmingham on drums, Bruce Callaway on guitar, Barry Francis on guitar and Janine Hall on bass guitar. Bailey later said, "I think there are a few good songs on that album. But it feels stilted in places, it sounds like a record made by a band falling apart, and sure enough soon after recording the album, the line-up of the band changed quite drastically." When critic

Clinton Walker Clinton Walker is an Australian writer, best known for his works on popular music. He is known for his books ''Highway to Hell'' (1994; a biography of Bon Scott), ''Buried Country'' (2000; also a film and soundtrack album), ''History is Made a ...

said he thought it was one of the best albums of the year, Bailey responded, "I listen to that record and some things work and some things don't," before acknowledging that his opinion might be tarnished by his memories of the recording session.

Reception

said ''Prehistoric Sounds'' was, "an extraordinary record - one of the period's best bar none - a brooding, melancholic collision of electrically charged rock balladry and swooping, brassy arrangements. Broadly misunderstood, it meant nothing to no-one."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Andy Kellman described the album as "the textbook by which to make a great rock record where horns play as much of a role as guitar". In October 2010, the album was listed in the top 50 in the book, ''

'' with their debut, ''

'', at No. 20.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Ed Kuepper and Chris Bailey; except where indicated.

2007 Reissue

In 2007 Prehistoric Sounds was reissued with bonus tracks: :14. "Looking for the Sun" 'studio outtake from Prehistoric Sounds'':15. "Intermission" 'live_at_Paddington_Town_Hall,_Sydney_21_April_1977''.html" ;"title="Paddington_Town_Hall.html" ;"title="'live at Paddington Town Hall">'live at Paddington Town Hall, Sydney 21 April 1977''">Paddington_Town_Hall.html" ;"title="'live at Paddington Town Hall">'live at Paddington Town Hall, Sydney 21 April 1977'':16. "This Perfect Day" 'live at Paddington Town Hall, Sydney 21 April 1977'':17. "Run Down" 'live at Paddington Town Hall, Sydney 21 April 1977'':18. "Erotic Neurotic" 'live at Paddington Town Hall, Sydney 21 April 1977'':19. "Demolition Girl" 'live at Paddington Town Hall, Sydney 21 April 1977'':20. "Nights in Venice" 'live at Paddington Town Hall, Sydney 21 April 1977'' Produced by Ed Kuepper and Chris Bailey All Tracks:copyright Saints Music\Mushroom Music

Personnel

;The Saints * Chris Bailey - vocals *

- guitar *Ivor Hay - drums, percussion *

- bass guitar with: *Martin Bruce - trumpet *Martin Drover - trumpet *Paul Nieman - trombone *Roger Cawkwell - tenor, alto, baritone & soprano saxophone, piano, brass arrangements ;Technical * Bill Price - engineer *Jerry Green - second engineer *Gary Ede, Peter Vernon - photography

References

{{Authority control The Saints (Australian band) albums 1978 albums Ed Kuepper albums Harvest Records albums