Toad
Toad

The Toad (toad, in English) are a Swiss quartet, composed of Werner Froehlich (bass), Benj Jäger (vocals), Cosimo Lampis (drums), and Vittorio (Vic) Vergeat (guitar). However, the only musician of Swiss origin was the bassist, the singer was Icelandic, while the other two were Italian.

The group revolved around the charisma and capabilities of the acrobatic guitarist (coming from an experience with Hawkwind), and in 1971, before the singer's departure, they left us a masterpiece of hard-rock, precisely Toad.

The album is composed of 7 tracks, and it's easy to categorize their style similar to that of the masters, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, to name a few. It starts with "Cottonwood Hill", just right to get into the spirit of the album. Riffs a la Black Sabbath and rolls, the song seems to never stop. There's also an indefatigable bass that we can hear throughout the album designing its own paths. And to make everyone happy, a guitar solo that sublimates the tempo change that occurs in the finale. A sharp, noisy piece. Great piece.

"A Life That Ain't Worth Living" continues along the same lines, slightly inferior to the previous song but still energetic, fitting well between "Cottonwood Hill" and "Tank", which comes next. This time it's the guitar that reigns, with distorted screams and an insistent wah-wah. We can fully appreciate Vergeat's 6-string style, rich and sharp, capable of giving the right emphasis to various moments of the song. Unlike others, a musician who does not express with excess ego, but who likes to emphasize the song with his flashes when it needs to be done.

Another proof of his skill is given to us in the blues "They Say I'm Made". A track in the style of Hendrix's Red House, with the guitarist's fingers running on the fretboard (of the guitar, naturally), while bass and drums outline the rhythms. Memorable the finale, which greatly resembles Jimmy Page's solo in Heartbreaker. Ah, if this Vergeat had been born three years earlier... But the masterpiece of the album arrives now, with the full eleven minutes of "Life Goes On". A Sabbathian beginning that leads us to a green hill, full of flowers, where we can glimpse the steep slope that lies on the other side, which we will soon face. Perfect the voice laid on the acoustic guitar, overlapped with some choruses... And now the descent begins, with the wind stirred by the guitar notes tousling our hair. Powerful chords lead us to the solo, powerful, perfect, which brings us back to the theme with which we started.

Now it's the turn of "Pig's Walk", a song where guitar and drums are highlighted, given free rein. First the wah-wah (much used by Vergeat) and then the toms, ending the song, followed by the final track, very different from the previous ones, "The One I Mean". It's indeed a very thoughtful piece, atmospheric, with only acoustic guitar and voice that eases the tense atmosphere that had been created.

What to say? An album I recommend listening to, well recorded, that doesn't tire and will certainly introduce you to a band in great form, one of the best of the genre that populated the very thick underground scene of those times. Perhaps it's good it remained so well preserved within it, because there's no need to sell millions of copies or have prairies of fans.

As Vergeat says on the back of the cover: "True music is forever".