[font=Century Gothic][size=6][b][color=DarkRed]Status Quo - Dog of Two Head[/color][/b][/size]
[size=3]Originally released on Pye Records NSPL 18371 in December 1971
[b]CD issued on Castle CMAR620 in July 2000[/b][/size][/font]

[font=Century Gothic][size=3][i]Dog of Two Head[/i] was Quo's fourth album, and the last on the Pye label, before Quo left for the newly formed Vertigo label. The "Dog" album (as it became known) marked Quo's change of direction and their familiar brand of 12-bar boogie is strongly evident on this, one of their strongest early album efforts.[/size]

[img=http://i.exigomusic.org/image/12101.jpg]

[size=2][b]By late 1973 there must have been quite a few people at Pye Records who wished they had allowed Status Quo a free rein to develop in their own direction, for had they done so they might well have held on to the band. From Pye's point of view Status Quo had enjoyed success with their 'pop' song "Pictures of Matchstick Men" a couple years earlier, ad their subsequent singles, although not hits, had been 'safe.' The band, on the other hand, found their new brand of brash boogie going down very well in the clubs, and by the time [u]Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon[/u] was released the band were in no doubt which direction they wanted to head in. [u][color=red]Dog of Two Head[/color][/u] was the perfect continuation from [i]Ma Kelly[/i]; it was heavier, more consistent and was wonderfully intermingled with little acoustic numbers. The release of the album concluded the band's (four) record deal with Pye. There was little fanfare and promotion from Pye on release, but the record company certainly made sure everybody knew that they had Quo's early works when the band struck gold with their [u]Piledriver[/u] album in 1972 and '73. Quo were on a roller coaster that was to continue for over thirty years, from late '67 to the present day. [i]Dog of Two Head[/i] was an important part of the Quo canon.[/size][/font]

[size=2][color=DarkRed]Francis Rossi[/color] - guitar, vocals
[color=DarkRed]Rick Parfitt[/color] - guitar, keyboards, vocals
[color=DarkRed]Alan Lancaster[/color] - bass, guitar, vocals
[color=DarkRed]John Coghlan[/color] - drums, percussion
[color=DarkRed]Rob Young[/color] - harmonica
[color=DarkRed]Bruce Foster[/color] - keyboards
[color=DarkRed]Grass[/color] - backing vocals[/size]

[font=Century Gothic][size=4]01. Umleitung[/size][/b] [size=3][color=DarkRed](Lancaster, Lynes)[/color] 7:11[/size]
[b][size=4]02. Nanana[/size][/b] [size=3][color=DarkRed](Rossi, Young)[/color] 0:52[/size]
[b][size=4]03. Something's Going On In My Head[/size][/b] [size=3][color=DarkRed](Lancaster)[/color] 4:45[/size]
[b][size=4]04. Mean Girl[/size][/b] [size=3][color=DarkRed](Rossi, Young)[/color] 3:54[/size]
[b][size=4]05. Nanana[/size][/b] [size=3][color=DarkRed](Rossi, Young)[/color] 1:13[/size]
[b][size=4]06. Gerdundula[/size][/b] [size=3][color=DarkRed](Manston, James)[/color] 3:50[/size]
[b][size=4]07. Railroad[/size][/b] [size=3][color=DarkRed](Rossi, Young)[/color] 5:29[/size]
[b][size=4]08. Someone's Learning[/size][/b] [size=3][color=DarkRed](Lancaster)[/color] 7:09[/size]
[b][size=4]09. Nanana[/size][/b] [size=3][color=DarkRed](Rossi, Young)[/color] 2:30[/size]
[b][size=4]10. Tune To the Music[/size] [size=3](A-side alt. mix)[/b] [color=DarkRed](Rossi, Young)[/color] 3:36[/size]
[b][size=4]11. Good Thinking (Batman)[/size] [size=3](B-side alt. mix)[/b] [color=DarkRed](Rossi, Parfitt, Young, Lancasterr)[/color] 3:40[/size]
[b][size=4]12. Time To Fly[/size] [size=3](album outtake)[/b] [color=DarkRed](Lancaster)[/color] 4:18[/size]
[b][size=4]13. Nanana[/size] [size=3](unreleased version)[/b] [color=DarkRed](Rossi, Young)[/color] 2:58[/size]
[b][size=4]14. Mean Girl[/size] [size=3](unreleased version)[/b] [color=DarkRed](Rossi, Young)[/color] 3:58[/size][/font]

[center][img=http://i.exigomusic.org/image/12100.jpg][/center]
[quote][size=2]The change was going on. In 1971, while Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath were competing to be considered the genuine pioneers of the hard rock genre, Status Quo was involved in an inner struggle to find themselves and their own sound. Nobody would have said then that few years later, Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster, and John Coghlan would be fighting in the peak of European charts with the groups before mentioned. 'Dog of Two Head' was going to be their first step, a very powerful one, in being considered a serious and significant rock band and not another easy-come, easy-go psychedelic group. This was their first record where the basic wall of sound formed by mighty guitar-bass-drums won the game to the more flavored sound of their beginnings. The band forsook psychedelic experimentation and delved into more blues-oriented rock rhythms. The record contained the revision of the Arabesque "Gerdundula," one of their most intriguing tunes and a favorite in the concerts of years to come. They began to show that year their love for boogie rock in the long and powerful "Umleitung" and in "Someone's Learning," which proved to be one of the rare occasions the band touched on political issues (Irish terrorist quarrels, in this case). The album also contains the intimate ballad "Na Na Na," a two-minute resumé of the composition techniques and humble philosophy of Status Quo. Finally, [b]'Dog of Two Head' includes one of the most brilliant compositions of the band, the stunning "Railroad."[/b] Maybe the record is not as representative of Status Quo's sound as 'Hello!' or 'On the Level,' but it keeps being one of the band's more unusual and inspired achievements. They were going to find their characteristic sound in their posterior effort, 'Piledriver,' but [b]never again were they going to sound as innovative and inventive as they sound here[/b].
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