With a dark, heavy sound whose core was leader Vincent Crane's thick, powerful Hammond organ, Atomic Rooster were part of the U.K.'s first wave of progressive rock, an offshoot of psychedelic-era wildmen Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Somewhat akin to early Deep Purple, Atomic Rooster favored the heavier side of prog, with a doomy mood and a hard-edged guitar attack. Founding drummer Carl Palmer left after the first album to make further prog-rock history with Emerson, Lake & Palmer, but the band kept going until 1973. In the '80s, they reunited, feted by the burgeoning British metal scene, and released three more albums, but sadly Crane committed suicide in 1989.