Detective - Detective 1977

After Michael des Barres' short stint with the band Phoenix, he formed Detective along with former Yes and Badger keyboardist Tony Kaye, and they were signed on to the Swan Song label. Although there's no way of avoiding the similarities between Detective's sound and that of Led Zeppelin's, their debut album evolved as the freshest of the three albums that they released.

Des Barres vocals are unmistakably Plant-like, and Michael Monarch's guitar riffs are somewhat refined, yet at times they buzz and chug just like Page's, but there's still an ample amount of enjoyable rock & roll left over to make Detective a worthy album.

Detective - It Takes One To Know One.1977 [hardrock]

Biography by Paul Collins

Detective's sound fell somewhere between their Swan Song label-mates Bad Company and Pretty Things, but they never acquired the arena fame of the first or the longevity of the latter. Their lineup appeared unlikely at first blush -- it included former Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye, bass player Bobby Pickett, and lusty frontman Michael Des Barres. But together they created a slick, unified sound that ranged from crowing blues to stadium-friendly ballads. Despite friendly encouragement from Jimmy Page and sharp production values, Detective never really hit it big, and the