This is one of those bands I always wanna like more too. It's frustrating because you understand their value objectively but the tunes usually just don't capture you. No matter how much you understand about their uniqueness, historical significance, etc. Maybe seeing 'em live back in the day would have created that connection which would make it worth replaying the records for pleasure.
They were really popular in Cleveland - local bands did their songs like Midnight Moses and Faith Healer. I don't really listen to their records anymore but the live stuff (is/was on Youtube) is great to watch. A band more of a time and place than something that needs to be continually reassessed
A cool friend cut me a mix cd of the highlights of the SAHB's catalog, all killer and little filler. It's true that a lot of the band's stuff sounds quaint to the modern ears. But there's "The Tale of the Giant Stoneeater", which starts out like a kid's radio story and winds up a ranting indictment of our oil-mad culture -- in the mid 70s! ; there is "Anthem", a beautiful song that I will have played at my funeral; and there is his searing cover of Jaques Brel's "Next", which is punk rock a couple of years early.
I saw the SAHB open for Jethro Tull in the Coliseum back in the last century. They were booed off stage, I'm sorry to say, by intolerant and impatient Tull fans, even before he kicked his way through the giant styrofoam brick wall. Vambo Rules!
Hammer Song
and I wanted everything to sound like it. It's my favorite.