''Sun and Steel'' is the sixth and final studio album, released by

Iron Butterfly Iron Butterfly is an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 1966. They are best known for the 1968 hit "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", providing a dramatic sound that led the way towards the development of hard rock and heavy metal music. ...

in 1975. It explores a wider variety of styles than any other Iron Butterfly album, yet always remains within the contemporary conventions of

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

. Tracks from this album are usually left out of Iron Butterfly compilations/greatest hit collections.

Reception

Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine delivered a negative review of ''Sun and Steel'', rating it one out of five stars. He said it "was an outright disastrous attempt at reshaping the band's signature sound to '70s hard rock conventions, lacking even the curiosity value of ''Scorching Beauty''." George Starostin's Only Solitaire page gave a positive review of the album, rating it eleven out of fifteen. He said that "This is the best Iron Butterfly album I've heard so far" and that "as I'm not a fan of the 'heavy soul' genre, I have to admit the band worked some mini-wonders on here", singling out "Scorching Beauty" as the best track.

Track listing

Personnel

;Iron Butterfly *

Erik Brann Erik Keith Brann (born Rick Davis; August 11, 1950 – July 25, 2003), also known as Erik Braunn, was an American guitarist with the 1960s acid rock band Iron Butterfly. He was featured on the band's greatest hit, the 17-minute ''In-A-Gadda-Da-Vi ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

Ron Bushy Ron Bushy (December 23, 1941 – August 29, 2021) was an American drummer best known as a member of the rock band Iron Butterfly and as the drum soloist on the band's iconic song "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", released in 1968 although performed in the ba ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Bill DeMartines –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, vocals *

Philip Taylor Kramer Philip Taylor Kramer (July 12, 1952 – ) was an American bass guitar player for the rock group Iron Butterfly Iron Butterfly is an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 1966. They are best known for the 1968 hit "In-A-G ...

– bass, vocals ;Additional personnel * David Richard Campbell – orchestration on "Beyond the Milky Way" and "I'm Right, I'm Wrong" * Jerome Jumonville – horns on "Beyond the Milky Way" and "Free" * Alex Quigley – Marimba on "Free" *Julia Tillman, Maxine Willard, and June Deniece Williams – backing vocals on "Free"

Singles

* "Beyond the Milky Way" b/w "Get It Out" * "I'm Right, I'm Wrong" (3:50 edit) b/w "Scion" (3:40 edit)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sun And Steel (Album) Iron Butterfly albums 1975 albums MCA Records albums Albums arranged by David Campbell (composer)