RPM album chart in Canada and reached #6 on the Billboard charts in the US, earning a gold status along the way. It placed 80th in Bob Mersereau's The Top 100 Canadian Albums book.Steppenwolf is the debut album from Steppenwolf, a band that emerged out of Toronto's Sparrow when they relocated to Los Angeles and coined the term "heavy metal." The album topped the RPM album chart in Canada and reached #6 on the Billboard charts in the US, earning a gold status along the way. It placed 80th in Bob Mersereau's The Top 100 Canadian Albums book.
Steppenwolf got a four-star rating from AllMusic, as it did from the New Rolling Stone Record Guide. While Robert Christgau didn't start his Consumer Guide until after this album, when reviewing Steppenwolf's All Time Greatest Hits, he noted "their two 1968 albums ... had tunes, lyrics, verve; they had a good beat and you could wheelie to them."
Four songs from the album were released as singles. Though only "Born to Be Wild" was a hit (#2 US, at leastThe RPM Archive is missing the charts between August 19 and September 30, 1968. "Born to Be Wild" was at #12 on August 19th and then at #6 and #16 in the two weeks prior to being at #30 on September 30th. It may have reached higher than #6 on August 26th, September 2nd or September 9th. #6 Canada) and is included on this list of Great Canadian Songs, "The Pusher" and "Sookie Sookie" still occasionally get played on classic radio.
| Beginnings: | Toronto (as the Sparrows) |
| Label: | Dunhill |
| Release Date: | 29 January 1968 |
| Producer: | Gabriel Mekler |
| Style: | hard rock |
| Mar*Star 125: | did not rank |
| Mar*Star 150: | 30 |
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Track Listing
Personnel
