PSYCHILLIS OF A LUNATIC GENIUS

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.

The confusing part of the release PSYCHILLIS OF A LUNATIC GENIUS is that under this title, the album was actually released twice. First by Musea as a comprehensive compilation that featured both unreleased albums and then a second time by the French label Replica Records which for some reason though it best to release both albums as separate units in 2016. This label retained the title PSYCHILLIS OF A LUNATIC GENIUS but only released the first eight tracks of the album that were supposed to emerge as the band's debut album back in 1972. The second album was released as a self-titled PAZOP album with the eight tracks that were supposed to emerge as the band's sophomore album.

As far as the music goes PAZOP were masters of their trade. Clever prog compositions that offered diverse creative musical styles that mixed everything from King Crimson influenced prog to Frank Zappa inspired wackiness all fortified with the technicalities and sounds of England's Canterbury Scene. The music on this version of PSYCHILLIS OF A LUNATIC GENIUS is brilliant to say the least however it is rather unnecessary as a release due to the fact that Musea already released both albums together 20 years earlier. I guess the main reason for this release is because Musea only released the compilation on CD and this edition was the first edition on vinyl so for those who only wish to own their music on an LP format then this one is obviously the way to go but for everyone else who is indifferent to such things then this is fairly redundant.

It should have at least carried a slightly different title reworking to distinguish it from the Musea compilation of the same name. This vinyl version also features a completely different album cover that offers more of a psychedelic vision of what the era represented. While i prefer the Musea comp with both albums side by side. This Replica Records vinyl edition does offer what the original debut album was supposed to be. Great music no matter how you find it. PAZOP offered a true sense of originality that set it apart from the very beginning of its existence.