If the Jeff Beck Group's 1968 debut, "Truth" is the blueprint for Led Zeppelin's debut as well as much of what we might call hard rock or metal through the '70s (Van Halen, etc) and beyond, "Beck-Ola," the 1969 followup is savage, malevelont, and chaotic, albeit less accessable. Certainly the more calculating Jimmy Page never put out anything quite so raw, in every sense of the word. The edgy quality makes it no surprise that the amazing lineup - Beck, Ron Wood, Rod Stewart, Nicky Hopkins, and in place of Mick Waller, drummer Tony Newman - broke up three months after its completion. Beck had switched to a '54 Stratocaster, and "Beck-Ola" suggests Led Zeppelin having a showdown with the Stooges circa "Funhouse." Wood and Stewart wrote most of the material, and it is here that Stewart's songwriting voice (his humor especially) is first evident (check "Spanish Boots"). But, if you're seriously thinking about "Beck-Ola" on CD, check out the EMI import edition. When you hear the solo on "Sweet Little Angel," you'll thank me!