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Written by: Mars Bonfire
Produced by: Gabriel Mekler
Released: Jan. '68 on Dunhill
Charts: 13 weeks
Top spot: No. 2

The first two singles from Steppenwolf's debut stiffed; the third was "Born to Be Wild." It hit Number Two in the summer of '68, a year before Dennis...

At one time, this group was known as the Sparrow. They had emigrated from Canada, settled in the Bay Area, played a lot of the minor clubs and were terrible.

Now they are the Steppenwolf, live in Los Angeles and have a record which is quite good. The material and their instrumental style is nothing too original; in fact, their first record is a compendium of current and past techniques, attitudes...

Monster is the latest volume in Steppenwolf's continuing campaign for social justice, soil conservation, and sexual freedom. John Kay even appears on the album cover without his shades, man. His eyes are brown.

Steppenwolf, who gave us those really fine first albums, and one of the best car songs ever with "Born To Be Wild," has gotten into the same trip that ruined the Doors. That tight, clean...

Steppenwolf's first album was a pleasant surprise. In a season of mainly mediocre releases, even the best albums of recent months (with your choice of exceptions) suffered from a depressing unevenness and should have been much better. By comparison, Steppenwolf's first was a model of consistency which stood up well to repeated listening. While it opened up no new worlds of music, the album did...