PSYCHILLIS OF A LUNATIC GENIUS

4.5 stars really!!! WATCH OUT!!!!! This is the translation of the band's name from Brussels Flemish dialect. You might guess from their album title that these guys were wild and crazy enough that you better watch out they did not drive you crazy!!

Another pristine-perfect re-issue from Musea records with a thorough search on the life of the band's adventures both before , during and after PAZOP's short life. Musea even pushes the honesty by not including the four commercial tracks they had recorded before their first album (one of which was called Merry Jungo) because they thought this might ruin the enjoyment of the album. They do however include many tracks from their second unreleased album and I cannot thank them enough for it. Pazop came to form out of the ashes of Wallace Collection, Waterloo and Arkham but never really managed any real success because of bad management and non-respectful records label managers.

The music developped here is somewhere between Canterbury and some fusion bands of those same years and they are fairly distinctive-sounding because they have no guitarist in the line-up. The lead instruments are the flute, violin (played by polish origin Kuba Szczepanski) and keybooards. In the vocal dept , Dirk Bogaert is simply one of the better rock singer from Belgium at the time along with the lead singer from Irish Coffee. Jacky Mauer is a fantastic percussionist using all sorts in this record. Pazop is a perfect example of Belgian Zanyness on record and obviously they listened to Zappa and Robert Wyatt's Matching Mole. Crying From Disaster's Hands is an early peak in the album , Can It Be Sin nother and the hilarious In The Army another soon followed by Airport Formalities .

A real lost gem from 70's Belgium.

I couldn't agree with Sean Trane more, that this is a lost gem from 70's Belgium, and it's worth 4.5 stars. In typical Canterbury tradition there is so much humour on this album. Even when the song seems serious you just have to read the lyrics to see the silliness. Zappa had to be an influence on these guys.The first 8 songs are from their first album recorded in 1972, while the last 8 songs are from an incomplete recording session from 1973. They used a mellotron in studio during the second recording, so it's nice to hear that at times during the second half of this disc. Interesting that the bass player Patrick Cogneaux previously played in ARKHAM which also boasted drummer Daniel Denis who would of course go on to form UNIVERS ZERO.

"Le La Loo Loo Le La" is a good, uptempo, instrumental track with keys, violin and drums leading the way. "Harlequin Of Love" is where we first hear vocals, and it took me a while to get past how much they sound like David Clayton Thomas from BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS. This is a complex track with lots of tempo shifts. It's Zappa-like at times with lots of flute. "Crying For Disaster's Hand" features a jazzy sound with fragile vocals to begin with. Organ, bass and flute lead the way. Cool song.The tempo picks up after 3 minutes when drums and piano become prominant. "What Is The Further Purpose" is very jazzy with fast paced vocals. Great sound. Nice bass lines. "Swaying Fire" features outbursts of violin that come and go in contrast with the soft vocal passages. Vocals do get stronger, and the drumming becomes more prominant. "Mirela" is an instrumental that has Canterbury written all over it. Nice. "Freedom Dance" opens with flute and theatrical vocals trading off before an uptempo melody arrives. "Lovelight" has some very JETHRO TULL sections on it. Great tune !

The next half starts with an instrumental called "Bami, Lychee, Si." I was reminded of ZAO as it is very smooth and jazzy. Some vocal melodies come in. Some mellotron as the sound is building. Crazy spoken words to end it. "Harlequin Of Love(second version)" is like a reprise of the first one. "Can It Be Sin" is the longest track at almost 7 minutes.This is a slower paced, solemn song but with funny lyrics. Mellotron on this one as well. "And The Hermit Will Be A Master" opens with keys. Violin, drums, bass and vocals soon join in. Jazzy. Vocals get theatrical after 4 minutes. "M.M.M." is an uptempo instrumental with lots of flute. It calms down before 2 minutes with flute still leading the way. It becomes quite jazzy later. "In The Army(devil likes smoke)" would make Zappa proud. Hilarious lyrics and a crazy instrumental background. Well played of course. "Airport Formalities And Taking Off / Stewardess And Breakfast" is a true Canterbury song title no ? It definitely sounds like classic Canterbury anyway. I love this track. Check out the organ work ! Spoken words to open and close the song. "It's The End" is a silly little number that would have been perfect to end a concert with.

This is one of those obscure albums that makes the search all worthwhile. A must !

Psychillis of a Lunatic Genius is belgian band Pazop´s sole album. Allthough Pazop is listed here as Canterbury Scene there is much more to their sound than that. Admitted there are lots of Canterbury influences here but there are also definite RIO tendencies. Pazop owes some dept to Zappa for instance. Pazop has the same kind og crazy humour. There is also a Jazz/ fusion element in some of the songs. This CD reissue of Psychillis Of A Lunatic Genius contains the tracks from the original LP and some songs recorded for their second album which was never released. There is not that much difference in sound or style so this album seems like it´s meant to be this way.

The music is very intriguing and at times mildy complex. In addition to drums, bass and keyboards there are lots of flute and especially violin on Psychillis of a Lunatic Genius. There are no guitar on the album, but don´t worry you won´t have time to miss it as there is always something exciting going on. The most Canterbury influenced songs are What Is the Further Purpose, Mirela, Bami, Lychee, Si ( even though it has a weird RIO like ending), Can It Be Sin and M.M.M. while the RIO influences can be heard in songs like Harlequin of Love, Freedom Dance, And the Hermit Will Be the Master, In the Army (Devil Likes Smoke) and Airport Formalities and Taking Off... All Songs are very good IMO. There are no weak songs on Psychillis of a Lunatic Genius and as a consequence this is an excellent album that comes close to being a masterpiece.

There are a few flaws that doesn´t suit my taste though. A lot of the songs fade out which I find annoying. SOngs should be finished properly IMO. It´s very seldom fading a song out works for me.

The musicianship is outstanding on this album, so look forward to listening to the many details these musicians play. This is really great. I have to mention Dirk Bogaert as he is an excellent musician. He has got a really good voice and he masters many different singing styles. His accent is hardly hearable and when it shows it´s kind of charming IMO. The polish violinist Kuba Szczepansky also has to be mentioned as he is great too. Listen to some of those fast runs and strange sounds he makes. Just brilliant.

The production is good. It has that soft Canterbury sound that we´ve all come to expect from bands within that genre.

I´m very impressed with Psychillis Of A Lunatic Genius and if you like your Canterbury prog rock with a weird twist this should also appeal to you. This is highly recommendable IMO. It ´s definitely one of the more original albums I have heard in a long time. At this time there are very few ratings on this album which is very undeserved if you ask me. Try this one out you won´t regret it. The 4 big stars are well deserved.

Pazop's sole album shows a flair for the comedic, fun-loving end of the Canterbury spectrum and a healthy Zappa influence, of a sort which if the album had been produced a mere year or two earlier would have probably done quite well. Alas, the album was recorded at a point when prog appetites were turning towards more serious fare, such as the symphonic masters of ELP, Genesis and Yes and the more serious-minded fusion bands, and so it ended up falling through the cracks a little. A shame, because this is an extremely competent debut - enough so to make me wish we had more from this band than this slim archival release.

My prog friend informed me about this band and I was not aware at all about it and the name did not ring any bell at all in my mind and I tended to neglect it. But I remember vividly the same thing happened to me when another friend of mine informed me about vintage band named as Nosferatu which in turned I liked the music. So is this case I don't wan to make any exclusion as who knows that it gives me something new. He did tell me at my personal blog that the band in some ways has some influences from National Health, Soft Machine those of Canterbury Scene. Hmmmm ... I pondered my head and was curious to know about the music.

Oh no .... Where have I been so far that I have never known PAZOP at all? In fact the music is really unique and it has a class of its own. A category of its own. Oh yeah ... I can find some falovors of Soft Machine, hatfield an The North, Egg or National Health ....but hold on ... Pazop is a bit different. I tell you what, when I first listened to the opening track "Le la Loo Loo le La" (2:29) it reminded me to the kind of circus music where it has all energy and dynamics to open the show at particular evening. With dynamic piano work this opening track sets the overall tone of the album. The following "Harlequin of Love" (2:50) has dynamic vocal in it and I really enjoy the strange music they make especially with the use of flute and violin! It then slows down with "Crying for Disaster's Hand" (4:08) demonstrating the kind of vocal that does not seem to follow memorable melody but it still very enjoyable.

The jazzy track "What Is the Further Purpose" (3:10) is a funny song and I tend to smile listening to how vocal harmonies work their ways to its best combined with dynamic basslines as well as inventive flutework. Wow man!!! Marvelous! It then slows down again when it enters "Swaying Fire" (3:32) using flute as main instrument on top of rhythm section accompanying the strange vocal screaming nicely: SWAYING FIRE!!!! Woooow .....!!! It's really wonderful man!

Let's reflect ...

I am not going to review at track by track level but I want to do some sort of reflection about this band. This only album was released in 1972 - an ultimate year in the history of progressive rock. Why? This was the time when Genesis crafted Foxtrot where they included an epic Supper's Ready with 20 plus minute duration. And we had also Yes penned their lose to The Edge album which this site by today makes it the number ONE prog album of all time. Yes, Yes also made epic track with duration approx 20 minutes. And then we had Jethro Tull who claimed themselves as teh first band who produced song with duration at the maximum space of one side of an LP: Thick As A Brick,

What did it tell you my prog head friends around the globe?

When all progressive bands made solid efforts in making concept album with epic tracks, PAZOP came into play with SHORT duration tracks but they are all one another make some sort of "links" that the transition from one track to another sounds like seamless eventhough they are not. So in this case .. PAZOP is a true prog band as they did not follow what happened in the market - in this sense ....

Overall, I highly recommend you to have this hard-to-find album especially those of you who enjoy the vintage sound and unique musical composition. To kill your curiousity, go to you tube and type PAZOP .. Boom! You got it full fledge album. Enjoy! This album deserves 4.5 stars rating. Keep on proggin' ...!!!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

One of the greatest missed opportunities of the early 1970s surely belongs to the Belgian collective of talent known as PAZOP. Too eclectic, too cleverly creative and too removed from the major progressive rock regions of the world during the early era of prog, PAZOP was teased with all the promise of carving out a career in the blossoming world of the 70s prog scene but thwarted at the last minute at every move. Despite giving it all a veritable effort from every possible angle, PAZOP had disbanded a mere two years after forming in 1972 despite having recorded two complete albums worth of material. Sadly these classic recordings would sit quietly on some undisclosed dusty shelf awaiting a reawakening some two decades later.

The band formed in Brussels in 1972 and was forged out of a group of talented musicians who had ties to various previous musical acts. Flautist and vocalist Dirk Bogaert, drummer Jacky Mauer and keyboardist Frank Wuyts all emerged from the Brussels based Waterloo, an early Belgian band making a transition from the world of 60s blues based psychedelic rock into the more progressive styles that were blossoming all across Europe. Bassist Patrick Cogneaux on the other hand emerged from the short-lived Arkham which was one of the first bands to emerge out of England that was dabbling in the world of Canterbury jazz that had practically just begun with bands like Caravan and Soft Machine a few years prior. The fourth member, the Polish born classically trained violinist Kuba Szczepanski had his connections with the Brussels Opera Philaharmonic Orchestra before joining the Baroque psychedelic pop band the Wallace Collection in 1968.

Starting out without a name and eventually settling on Pas Op, the Flemish word for "Warning," the quartet stylized the name to PAZOP which gave it a rather unique moniker which also added an air of mystery. The name actually perfectly matched their idiosyncratic blend of progressive rock that was as inspired by King Crimson and the zany avant-prog whimsical antics of Frank Zappa as it was with the jazz-fusion sounds of England's Canterbury Scene. Having proven themselves as a popular local live band in the local Belgian scene, the band was wooed into a contractual agreement with the Barclay label and allowed to begin recording sessions on their debut album titled PSYCHILLIS OF A LUNATIC GENIUS, the PSYCHILLIS part referring to a species of peacock orchid native to the West Indies. After recording a total of eight tracks that were to be the debut album, the label rejected them based on the fact that weren't commercial enough for the market they were aiming for.

Completely dismayed but not totally demoralized, PAZOP continued on by delivering well received live performances that showcased the band's exquisite compositional flair of writing clever musical scores, some vocal based and others completely instrumental but each with a unique spin on the world of progressive rock which gave the band its own distinct unique style from the very beginning. Adding insult to injury the band was approached once again by the musician Sylvan Van Holme who wanted them to adapt musical scores from classical artists such as Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Mozart and Verdi to the world of modern progressive rock so once again the band was off to the recording studio and recorded a "second" album of innovative arrangements that offered an even more demanding spin on the band's already quirky stylistic approach that it had developed on the unreleased debut. Once again the band's efforts were completely rejected due to the fact Van Holme as aiming for a more pop-oriented watered down approach to such musical hybridization.

That was the final straw for a completely deflated PAZOP. Financially and emotionally bankrupt, the band called it quits in 1974 leaving two phenomenally brilliant albums to collect dust for more than two decades until the prog revival of the 1990s found labels like Musea scouring the rubble of the past in order to salvage the lost treasures that should've materialized during their day. The two albums emerged together in 1996 as the compilation PSYCHILLIS OF A LUNATIC GENIUS which featured eight tracks that were intended to be the first album and an additional eight tracks that were created to be the second.

Musically speaking, PAZOP were top dogs in the world of prog with an amazing display of compositional fortitude fortified with seasoned instrumental interplay and dazzling virtuosity. The band's eclectic sound is hard to pigeonhole. The potpourri of influences range from the world of classical legends and Canterbury jazz rock to the quirky whimsical brilliance of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. On vocal tracks Dirk Bogaert showcased a wide range of singing styles ranging from an emphatic well pronounced huskiness to utterly off the wall wailing and complete irreverence to established vocal norms. The first album is a bit more conservative with more emphasis on established song structures and singing styles but by the time the band recorded its second album, the members had garnered a true sense of musical freedom and went for the jugular as far as delivering some of the most far out music that existed in the world of whimsical prog. Amazingly enough the band consisted of a vocalist / flautist, keyboardist, violinist, bassist and drummer and yet delivered their whole enchilada without a trace of guitar.

PAZOP was one of the Belgian greats that was obviously too far ahead of their time to be recognized in their region of Europe. The band did everything right. Lyrics were in English. The melodic elements were instantly catchy and the hooks were irresistible. Soloing and progressive elements were cleverly constructed in a logical cohesive manner and the band exuded a charismatic delivery of tracks that all stood out from one another by offering a limitless expansive creative edge over pretty much anything going on in the Belgian scene during the timeline of 1972-1974. A lost gem perhaps but one that finally has gotten the recognition it deserves and if you ask me PAZOP was one of the most creative and talented bands to come out of the entire Belgian prog scene before the darker avant-chamber prog bands like Univers Zero and Present came onto the scene in the latter half of the decade.

To make things even more confusing, the French based Replica Records also decided to release the band's two albums only as separate units. This label would release the archival first album with the same title as this compilation by Musea and then would release the second album as a self-titled release. Both albums are fairly irrelevant considering everything you could possibly want from PAZOP is on this sole Musea compilation. This album really delivers it all! Outstanding tracks that range from a proto-prog stage that features more standard vocal and songwriting techniques to the utterly bonkers tracks such as "In The Army (Devil Likes Smoke)" and "Airport Formalities And Taking Off / Stewardess And Breakfast." PAZOP really delivered the highest caliber of early 70s prog and suffered one of the greatest injustices of the entire era perhaps. This is a must for fans of Canterbury infused progressive rock that indulges in wild excessive creativity, hilarious jocularity as well as top notch instrumental elegance. I wouldn't call it an understatement to claim that the record companies committed one of the greatest prog crimes of the century by ignoring PAZOP.