Formed from the ashes of the Crazy World Of Arthur Brown band, Atomic Rooster would embark on a journey in a constant state of flux and uncertainty that would ultimately cut short the life of a very good prog rock/heavy blues group. There would be the marginal success in Europe that more than offset style changes; a revolving door of musicians and, perhaps, most importantly, Vincent Crane's ongoing mental lapses that would ultimately end in his suicide. In a sense this could almost be two books in one, the Atomic Rooster story and the Vincent Crane story. But combined, The Hard Road is the classic tale of talented musicians who, through luck, chance and fate, both good and bad, have ultimately come up short.