A1 	Swim 	4:40
A2 	Bad Mother Boogie 	4:55
A3 	Our Lil Rock-N-Roll Thing 	6:25
B1 	Bad Stuff 	3:08
B2 	Bringing Me Down 	5:27
B3 	Bedroom Mazurka 	4:33
B4 	Telling You 	5:10
B5 	Underneath The Arches 	0:30

Bass, Vocals [Background] – Tim Bogert
Drums, Percussion, Vocals [Background] – Carmine Appice
Guitar – Werner Fritzschings
Organ, Piano – Duane Hitchings
Vocals – Peter French

Cactus rode in on the undercurrent of the second "heavy music" wave, sort of the undertow to Led Zeppelin, if you know what I mean. The original Cactus had established a following centered around their invigorating boogies "Let Me Swim" and a super drawn out version of "Long Tall Sally," but they never quite reached that pinnacle of success many people felt they were worthy of. For one thing, their "in concert" presentations were limited by a seemingly bored lead singer, and a stationary band who went through the motions seemingly uninspired.

Months later, we have a "new" Cactus, based around the ever present nucleus of Carmine Appice and Tim Bogert, with an exciting new singer, Peter French, an up and coming lead player named Werner Fritzchings, and a fifth Cacti, Duane Hitchings, providing some keyboard work via Little Richard. The band's "show" is 100% improved with all the flash and vigor inherent in rock and roll.

Side One of the new Cactus LP was recorded "live" at the Mar Y Sol Festival, and while the new version of "Swim" is ambitious, it just misses the mark; but that's all right because "Bad Mother Boogie" is Class A, 1972 type rock 'n roll. "Our Lil Rock-N-Roll Thing" is yet another reprise of 1950s style, ass shakin' music, and through it all, the Mar Y Sol crowd sounds semi-receptive. With a hot crowd, Cactus can really get it on. Just ask anyone from Commack.

As for the studio side, "Bad Stuff" is the best of the bunch, with its undertones of Hendrix and the throbbing tile chewing insistence that makes this music so inviting. Perhaps if "Bad Stuff" is edited down a bit, it will become a hit single, and that's all the new Cactus needs to push them into the super stratosphere, where they rightfully belong. ---Jim La Lumia, superseventies.com

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1. Black Dawn 04:09
2. Mama Bring It Home 04:05
3. Dynamite 05:09
4. Juggernaut 04:40
5. Headed For A Fall 04:13
6. You Need Love 05:09
7. The Last Goodbye 04:35
8. Walk A Mile 04:39
9. Another Way Or Another 04:30
10. C-70 Blues 05:57

Jimmy Kunes – vocals
Jim McCarty – guitars
Pete Bremy – bass
Randy Pratt – harmonica
Carmine Appice – drums, vocals

Cactus, the band that was once heralded as America's answer to Led Zeppelin, has returned with Black Dawn, a new studio album. Black Dawn is classic Cactus with a fresh new energy that the band has not had since its heyday in the early 1970s. Released September 2nd, 2016, on Blvd Records, the band will embark on a US tour September 9th.

Featuring original founding members Carmine Appice (drums, vocals); and Jim McCarty (guitars), along with bassist Pete Bremy; harp player Randy Pratt; and lead singer Jimmy Kunes; this version of Cactus Redux is sure to embrace not only its long time core fans but also a whole new generation of rock enthusiasts.

"This is a whole new phase for Cactus," says Carmine Appice. "We had a renewed energy when we got together to make this album, and it shows."

"We put in an enormous amount of time getting the feel of the record and the sound just right," says Jim McCarty. "I would have to put my money down on the fact that there are not a lot of other bands out there right now, especially from our era, that rock as solid or as hard as Cactus does on Black Dawn."

Black Dawn leads the listener down on a righteous path of infectious rock classics and contains two previously unreleased studio tracks featuring the original line-up thus bridging the legendary old Cactus to the newer, re-fueled version.

Formed in 1970 from the ashes of The Vanilla Fudge by Carmine Appice and Tim Bogert, the initial line up also featured McCarty and vocalist Rusty Day.

While Cactus saw success from the start and soon built a loyal fan base, by early 1973, the band had collapsed. It would not be until 2010, two decades after the tragic death of Rusty Day, that the group reformed with the current line up.

"We still have a lot of life left in this band," says Appice. "Black Dawn is the just the beginning; if I have my way, Cactus is not going anywhere except upward and onward." --- abc-7.com

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A1 	Parchman Farm	3:05
A2 	My Lady From South Of Detroit 	4:20
A3 	Bro. Bill 	5:10
A4 	You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover	6:44
B1 	Let Me Swim 	3:50
B2 	No Need To Worry 	6:00
B3 	Oleo 	4:49
B4 	Feel So Good 	6:00

Bass – Tim Bogert
Drums – Carmine Appice
Guitar – Jim McCarty 
Vocals, Harp – Rusty Day 

Cactus may have never amounted to anything more than a half-hearted, last-minute improvised supergroup, but that don't mean their eponymous 1970 debut didn't rock like a mofo. The already quasi-legendary Vanilla Fudge rhythm section of Bogert and Appice may have provided the backbone of the band's business cards, and soulful, ex-Amboy Duke Rusty Day brought the voice, but it was arguably former Detroit Wheels guitarist Jim McCarty who was the true star in the Cactus galaxy, spraying notes and shredding solos all over album highlights such as "You Can't Judge a Book By the Cover," "Let Me Swim," and, most notably, a manic, turbocharged version of "Parchman Farm." The fact that Cactus chose to tackle this classic blues song just a year after it'd been blasted into the fuzz-distortion stratosphere by Blue Cheer betrays -- at best -- a healthy competitive spirit within the early-'70s hard rock milieu, and at worst it suggests something of a mercenary nature to Cactus' motives, but that's an issue for the surviving bandmembers to duke it out over in the retirement home. And we digress -- for the blistering closing duo of "Oleo" and "Feel So Good" (complete with bass and drum solo slots) easily certifies the Cactus LP as one of the best hard rock albums of the then brand-new decade, bar none. Too bad the illustrious members of Cactus would quickly lose interest in this band project and deliver increasingly mediocre efforts in the years that followed. ---Eduardo Rivadavia, AllMusic Review

Nie byłoby grupy Cactus, gdyby nie samochodowy wypadek Jeffa Becka. Wówczas szlag trafił jego planowaną współpracę z sekcją rytmiczną właśnie rozpadającego się Vanilla Fudge - Timem Bogertem i Carminem Appicem. Doszło do niej dopiero trzy czy cztery lata później. W międzyczasie Bogert i Appice zdążyli stworzyć - wspólnie z wokalistą Rustym Dayem (ex-The Amboy Dukes) i gitarzystą Jimem McCartym (ex-Buddy Miles Express) - inny zespół, właśnie Cactus, i nagrać z nim cztery albumy studyjne. Grupa została szybko ochrzczona przez prasę mianem "amerykańskiego Led Zeppelin". Czy jednak słusznie?

Stylistycznie oba zespoły z pewnością mają wiele wspólnego. Jednak już pierwszy utwór, strasznie chaotyczna przeróbka "Parchman Farm" Mose'a Allisona, dobitnie uświadamia jak wiele w tym porównaniu przesady. Kawałek sprawia wrażenie, jakby dla muzyków liczyło się tylko, by grać szybko i ciężko. Wrażenie pogłębia bełkotliwa partia wokalna. Później jest już lepiej, jednak bez wzlotów na miarę Ołowianego Sterowca. "My Lady from South of Detroit" to zaskakujący zwrot o 180 stopni - łagodna i nieco zbyt ckliwa ballada, oparta na brzmieniach akustycznych. Poziomu na pewno nie podnosi trzeci utwór, czyli nudnawe boogie "Bro. Bill". Całkiem przyzwoicie wypadają natomiast dwie kolejne kompozycje - rozbudowana, pełna dynamicznych kontrastów wersja "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" (przeróbka rhythm'n'bluesowego standardu Bo Diddleya), oraz rock and rollowy "Let Me Swim", z bardziej wyrazistą warstwą melodyczną (nie licząc chaotycznej końcówki).

Najlepsze zespół zostawił jednak na koniec. Trzy ostatnie utwory ratują ten album. "No Need to Worry" to klasyczna bluesowa ballada. Nie zaliczyłbym jej do najlepszych tego typu utworów, jakie słyszałem, jednak gitarowe solówki wypadają naprawdę porywająco. W końcu McCarty pokazał swój talent, o jaki nie sposób byłoby go podejrzewać na podstawie wcześniejszych kawałków. Zdecydowanie najlepszym fragmentem longplaya jest natomiast "Oleo". Niby tradycyjny bluesrockowy kawałek w szybkim tempie, wyróżniający się jednak porywającymi solówkami McCarty'ego, oraz basowym popisem Bogerta. Całkiem udany jest także hardrockowy finał albumu, "Feel So Good", z wyrazistym riffowaniem w zasadniczej części, oraz wzbogacony długą perkusyjną solówką Appice'a.

Debiutancki album Cactus pozostawia mieszane odczucia. Szkoda, że dopiero w ostatnich utworach muzycy pokazują, na co naprawdę ich stać. Wcześniejsza część albumu jest bardzo bałaganiarska, zarówno przez stylistyczne niezdecydowanie, jak i nieład panujący w samych utworach (szczególnie w "Parchman Farm"). Razi to tym bardziej, że grają tu przecież doświadczeni instrumentaliści, po których można by spodziewać się większego profesjonalizmu. Najsłabszym ogniwem zespołu jest jednak Rusty Day, którego surowy, niechlujny wokal potęguje wrażenie chaosu. A najwięcej tracą na tym te najbardziej udane utwory, które z lepszym wokalistą mogłyby być jeszcze bardziej porywające. ---Paweł Pałasz, pablosreviews.blogspot.com

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A1 	Long Tall Sally 	
A2 	Rockout, Whatever You Feel Like 	
A3 	Rock N' Roll Children 	
A4 	Big Mama Boogie - Parts 1 & 2 	
B1 	Feel So Bad 	
B2 	Song For Aries 	
B3 	Hometown Bust 	
B4 	One Way... Or Another

Bass – Tim Bogert
Drums – Carmine Appice
Guitar – Jim McCarty
Vocals – Rusty Day 

One Way... Or Another (1971) was the second studio outing to feature the incipient incarnation of supergroup Cactus, comprised of Vanilla Fudge rhythm section Carmine Appice (drums) and Tim Bogert (bass), as well as former Amboy Dukes lead vocalist Rusty Day (vocals/mouth harp), and Jim McCarty (guitar) from Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels and the Buddy Miles Express. Even as their debut was ostensibly rawer, they retained the same amp'ed-up electric blues reminiscent of early Grand Funk Railroad and Foghat. The more polished outcome heard on their sophomore effort is undoubtedly the direct result of assistance from recording engineer extraordinaire Eddie Kramer and their upgraded digs at the recently completed Electric Lady Studios, which they inhabited shortly after the passing of the facilities' owner, Jimi Hendrix. Immediately, the proceedings are thrust into high gear with a languorous and seething interpretation of Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally." While not the extended barnburner it became in concert, it gets things off to a rousing start. The lightweight up-tempo "Rockout, Whatever You Feel Like" could easily be mistaken for Jo Jo Gunne, especially in Day's vocal asides, strongly recalling Jay Ferguson and company. "Rock 'N' Roll Children" is a heavier number with McCarty unleashing rounds of impressive and impellent fretwork churning atop the simmering backbeat. Cactus do what they do best, returning to their boogie rock roots on the suitably named "Big Mama Boogie -- Parts 1 & 2." McCarty's pumping acoustic opening is perfectly augmented by some organic mouth harp courtesy of Day before launching into an explosive assault of pure, unadulterated proto- metal. The cover of Chuck Willis' "Feel So Bad" is given a sizable shakedown, yet doesn't quite seem to live up to its potential. The opposite can be said of the understated "Song for Aries." Although clocking in at just under three minutes, the instrumental is a showcase for McCarty's immorally underrated lead guitar. The long-player concludes with two full-blown centerpieces, revealing Cactus' strength as a formidable powerhouse combo on the autobiographically-inspired rave-up "Hometown Bust." Fittingly, this lineup and album come to an end on a high note with the title track "One Way...Or Another." The number is quite possibly the finest original to have been worked up by the band. The cut blazes from tip-to-tail and if the primary riff seems familiar, that may be because it was lifted almost verbatim from Jeff Beck's Beck-Ola-era tune "Rice Pudding." However in Cactus' care, it stomps with a bit more crunch and no-nonsense attitude. ---Lindsay Planer

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