1. Swiss hard rock band formed by members of the original Brainticket, Toad’s history is obscure and largely undocumented. Their debut is said to be in the realms of Dies Irae, being heavy, bluesy and experimental. Their second album, “Tomorrow Blue” was surprisingly straight hard-rock, akin to Sperrmüll, with Hendrix, Status Quo and R&B influences. Their original lead singer Benjamin Jäger went on to Island. Swiss hard rock and blues-rock outfit Toad leaped (sorry) onto their country’s charts with their debut single, “Stay,” in 1972 — paving the way for the massive Swiss metal movement of the early ’80s and such notable bands as Krokus and Celtic Frost. Mainly a three-piece, consisting of Vittorio “Vic” Vergeat (guitar/vocals), Werner Frohlich (bass), and Cosimo Lampis (drums), Toad often enlisted the help of an additional lead vocalist in much of their studio work (Bens Jaeger sang lead on their debut, but departed the group as soon as recording was completed). That same year, the live album Open Fire: Live in Basel 1972 hit stores, taking advantage of the band’s constant and successful touring. Tomorrow Blue followed shortly after, appearing in 1973, and the band released Dreams early in 1974. A few live albums, compilations, and studio works continued to trickle out during the rest of the ’70s and early ’80s, with the core Toad lineup still firmly in place. By the early 2000s, interest in the early European hard rock scene in general (and Toad in particular) led to a slew of deluxe CD reissues and collections — the best of which were to be found on the Italian imprint Akarma. |2. TOAD is a 6 piece band from Phoenix, Arizona that has crafted a sound of their own that cannot easily be classified. This entitled “Rotten Tide” and was tracked live to analog tape. For this album, TOAD teamed up with recording engineer/producer Bob Hoag, who owns and operates Flying Blanket Recording. All vintage gear from the 60’s and 70’s was used to get a true rock and roll sound. The serious snarl of the vocals are accompanied with horrifyingly distorted organ scattered throughout, which provides a new unique sound that TOAD has coined as their own. |3. Also, Toad is the name of an underground hip hop artist. |
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