Founded in Evansville, IN, in the autumn of 1978, Amulet were a hard rock four-piece comprised of singer Cliff Hill, guitarist Bob Becker, bassist Paul Skelton, and drummer John Becker, whose short existence went largely unchronicled beyond Midwestern borders, and underground ones at that. After cutting their teeth in local clubs as a covers band, Amulet began composing their own material, and by mid-1980 had developed a repertoire they felt was worthy of recording for what would become their eponymous, self-produced debut album. This contained some impressive blue-collar Midwestern hard rock (as well as a few less astute detours into latent psychedelia and clumsy white-boy funk), and managed to drum up some interest from record labels -- especially hard rock-friendly Atlantic Records. But the bandmembers were already on the outs with each other by then, and ultimately confirmed their not-ready-for-prime-time condition by breaking up just as their hard work was starting to bear fruit. Nevertheless, Amulet's increasingly rare vinyl LP gradually grew in legend among serious hard rock collectors, prompting its eventual reissue 20 years later by Texas-based Monster Records. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, Rovi
