This was Chrome's first album, recorded by Damon Edge and others prior to the involvement of Helios Creed, and it's a significantly different beast to the ominous android chug with which they became associated. The pulp science-fiction obsession was already well and truly cemented in place as indicated by titles such as Sun Control, Return to Zanzibar, and Memory Lords Over the Bay, and was already well and truly cemented in place with a ton of drugs by the sound of it, and not the mellow ones either. You may recognise the guitar solos fried in acid from later Chrome recordings, and also the tendency to shove things through various industrial strength flange pedals, but otherwise The Visitation is garage punk, albeit fucking weird garage punk rooted in bad trip psychedelics. Warner Brothers said it sounded like the Doors but didn't want to release it, obliging Edge to start his own label. I don't quite see the Doors thing, but there's a lot which reminds me of very early Devo - particularly in terms of subject matter - and even Sparks; and Kinky Lover comes pretty close to being a warped cover of the Beatles' Come Together.
That said, despite these differences, The Visitation is somehow immediately recognisable as Chrome, and you can play Alien Soundtracks straight after without really missing too much of a step. The point of continuity is the vibe, which was cold, dirty, scary, and deeply alien even back when they could have covered the Eagles without anyone doing too much of a double take.
If you're unfamiliar with this band, then they're almost certainly the thing you've been missing all this time.
You're welcome.
You're welcome? For what, mate? Is there a link hidden somewhere or something?
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