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Source: Japan 24-Bit Remaster

In Hearing of is the third album by British rock band Atomic Rooster. Although not included on the album, "The Devil's Answer" single was released just prior to it, becoming the band's highest chart success at number 4 in the UK. This helped push the album to a number 18 UK chart placing.

Much less bombastic than the band's earlier releases, In Hearing Of is almost funky at times, with "The Devil's Answer" sounding like a meeting between Memphis soul and British rock. The lyrics are doom-laden in the spirit of much of this genre of British hard rock at the time, and pseudo-classical references crop up from time to time, but Vincent Crane's keyboards are generally tasty, and the melodies are often downright memorable.

Atomic Rooster was a British progressive-rock group formed in 1969 with an original lineup of Vincent Crane (organ), Nick Graham (bass), and Carl Palmer (drums). Their debut album, Atomic Rooster, hit number 49 in the U.K. in June 1970, after which Graham and Palmer left the group. Crane maintained the name and recruited guitarist/singer John Cann and drummer Paul Hammond for the second album, Death Walks Behind You, which hit number 12 in the U.K., where it featured the number 11 single "Tomorrow Night," and number 90 in the U.S. Pete French of Cactus assisted on the third album, In Hearing Of, which featured the number-four U.K. single "The Devil's Answer" and reached number 18 in England and number 167 in America.

Then the group split up again, and again Crane assembled a new Atomic Rooster, this time featuring singer Chris Farlowe, guitarist Steve Bolton, bassist Bill Smith, and drummer Rick Parnell. Made in England reached number 149 in the U.S. in 1972, but the group had split again by 1974. Crane fronted lineups of Atomic Rooster into the '80s, before taking up with Dexys Midnight Runners in 1983. In 1989, he committed suicide.

Atomic Rooster were an English progressive rock band, composed of former members of the Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Throughout its history, keyboardist Vincent Crane was the only constant member, and wrote the majority of their material. Their history is defined by two periods, in the early 1970s and the early 1980s. Their genre in music is difficult to define, since they went through radical changes in very short times during the life of the band. However, their best-known era represented a more hard rock/progressive rock sound, exemplified by their only hit singles, "Tomorrow Night" (UK no. 11) and "The Devil's Answer" (UK no. 4), both in 1971.

Original period (1969-1975)
In summer 1969, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown had to cease touring in the middle of their second U.S tour because of keyboardist Vincent Crane's mental illness. When he recovered, he and drummer Carl Palmer took the step to leave Arthur Brown and return to England, the return date being Friday, June 13th, 1969, which was the year of the Rooster in the Chinese calendar. With influence from the U.S. band Rhinoceros, Crane and Palmer adopted the name Atomic Rooster and soon recruited Nick Graham on bass and vocals. They followed with what had emerged as the Crazy World Of Arthur Brown formula of vocals, organ, bass, and drums.

They soon undertook live dates around London; at their first headlining gig the opening act was Deep Purple. They eventually struck a deal with B & C Records and began recording their debut album in December 1969. Their first LP, Atomic Roooster was released in February 1970, along with a single, "Friday the 13th". By March, Crane felt it was best that they add a guitarist, and recruited John Du Cann from acid/progressive rock band Andromeda. However, just as Du Cann joined, Graham left. Du Cann (who played guitar and sang for Andromeda) took over vocal duties, whilst Crane overdubbed the bass lines on his Hammond Organ with a combination of left hand and foot pedals. Atomic Rooster resumed gigging until the end of June, when Carl Palmer announced his departure to Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Ric Parnell filled the drum spot until August, when the young Paul Hammond was recruited from Farm to the drum spot. They then recorded their second album, Death Walks Behind You, released in September 1970. Originally it was not commercially successful, as with the first album, but by February 1971, the single, "Tomorrow Night" reached #11 in the U.K. charts, with the album reaching #12. Atomic Rooster eventually made an appearance on the Top of the Pops, and toured to support their music.

In June 1971, just before they began configuring their line-up once again, the single "Devils Answer" hit #4 in the U.K. Atomic Rooster saw considerable popularity, and singer Pete French was brought in at the end of June. They began recording the In Hearing of Atomic Rooster LP. The sound diverged from Death Walks Behind You though, since French's vocals were much more bluesy, and the music followed suit. Both Du Cann and Hammond were unhappy with this, and left after the album was released to form Daemon (with John Gustafson (musician) and Hard Stuff, respectively. The latest Atomic Rooster line-up never played any concerts, and replacements were brought in: Steve Bolton on guitar and Ric Parnell on drums, who eventually joined the group permanently. This line-up went on tour, including a benefit gig in September, supporting The Who. At the end of the year, French moved on to form Cactus. Crane then recruited Chris Farlowe, at that time in Colosseum, to take the place of French. They went on tour and recorded another album in spring 1972. They released the album Made In England along with the single "Stand by Me", now on Dawn. They were more into soul at this point, and all the progressive and heavy rock leanings from the other releases had receded. The single did not chart, and the album just barely caught any attention, but touring followed through.

Steve Bolton left at the end of 1972, and was replaced by John Goodsall, under the name Johnny Mandala. They released the album Nice 'n' Greasy in 1973 with the single "Save Me", and a re-working of "Friday the 13th". This time, it was in a complete funk style. After nearly two years without any hits, Dawn Records dropped the group and Atomic Rooster began to split. After a tour, Farlowe, Mandala and Parnell left. The single "Tell Your Story, Sing Your Song" was released in March 1974 as "Vincent Crane's Atomic Rooster" on Decca. All subsequent gigs were played by Crane along with members of the blues band Sam Apple Pie. A final concert was played in February 1975, a benefit gig for the RSPCA. Afterwards, Crane disbanded Atomic Rooster.

01."Breakthrough" (Vincent Crane/Pat Darnell) 6:18
02."Break the Ice" (John Du Cann) 4:59
03."Decision/Indecision" (Crane/Darnell) 3:50
04."A Spoonful of Bromide Helps the Pulse Rate Go Down" (Crane) 4:38
05."Black Snake" (Crane/Darnell) 5:59
06."Head in the Sky" (Du Cann) 5:38
07."The Rock" (Crane) 4:31
08."The Price" (Crane) 5:16

Bonus Tracks:
09."Devil's Answer" (Du Cann) 3:28 - US version with overdubbed Pete French vocals 1971
10."Breakthrough" 7:20 - Live in Concert 1972
11."A Spoonful of Bromide Helps the Pulse Rate Go Down" 4:46 - Live in Concert 1972