PAZOP

One of the most creative and ahead of its time Belgian prog bands, the Brussels based PAZOP suffered one of the greatest injustices in all of the classic early 1970s progressive rock years. This band featured five extremely talented musicians that consisted of vocalist / flautist Dirk Bogaert, keyboardist Frank Wuyts, classically trained violinist Kuba Szczepanski, bassist Patrick Cogneaux and drummer Jack Mauer. Wuyts. Together this creative team crafted some of the most interesting and well designed prog of the era however due to forces outside of their control, never was given the privilege of releasing music.

The band was a local sensation on the live scene which got the attention of the Barclay label to sign the band and send them to the recording studio to record their debut album. The band recorded eight cleverly crafted songs but proved too be a bit too crafty, too eccentric and too ahead of their time to be considered viable and therefore after all the recording sessions, was told that their album wouldn't be released. As if that wasn't bad enough, the band deflated but not completely demoralized continued on only to be approached by another interested party who sent them to the recording studio to record an entire second album's worth of material with a different focus. Once again the band's creative efforts were a too outside of the expected parameters and rejected a second time.

PAZOP basically existed from 1972 to 1974 and engaged in two separate recording sessions that resulted in two albums worth of material but neither album was released during its time in existence. The master tapes would have to sit on dusty shelves for over 20 years before the Musea label would scour the artifacts of the past and find the brilliance of PAZOP suitable for a bonafide delayed release in 1996. The compilation "Psychillis Of A Lunatic Genius" was released on CD and featured both albums in their entirety spanning the band's earliest proto-prog leanings of the earliest recordings to the oft whimsical and serious adventurousness of the more serious tracks.

Twenty years after the Musea CD release, the French label Replica Records released both albums separately vinyl in 2016. One of the most confusing aspects of this decision was that the label opted to retain the title "Psychillis Of A Lunatic Genius" for its stand alone collection of eight tracks that was intended to be the debut album back in 1972 therefore the title refers to both the double album compilation as well as the vinyl edition that was basically half the music. Also in 2016 Replia released the intended second album as a self-titled release that featured all eight tracks from the later recording session. The music on this second release offered more adventurous excursions into complex prog inspired by King Crimson and England's Canterbury Scene in the form of instrumental workouts as well as featuring a stronger sense of whimsy with hilarious Zappa inspired tracks like "In the Army (Devil Likes Smoke)" and "Airport Formalities and Taking Off / Stewardess and Breakfast."

While it may seem redundant in many ways, for vinyl purists this one is certainly of interest as the music of PAZOP was unique, complex, quirky and utterly accessible simultaneously. While i always prefer more bang for my buck with compact units that offer multiple albums especially of unreleased archival material, this PAZOP album offers some of the greatest musical moments of the entire early Belgian scene therefore musically it's excellent and highly recommended. After all having too many versions of a lost album released is by no means a bad thing at all especially after the indignant disregard of the band's brilliance that was crafted in the classic era of prog. Thankfully rediscovered and payed the proper respect, the world of PAZOP is available on both CD and vinyl thanks to Musea and Replica Records. That is a great thing indeed.