MILESAGO

I grew up with this album and have the warmest memories of it as being one of the few Australian Prog albums of the era, certainly in terms of mainstream availability. Very much in the blues-psych-prog style which quite a few Australian bands experimented with, Spectrum's songwriting, Mike Rudd's singing and guitar and Lea Neale's aggressive hammond work made them stand out.

Milesago is a deliberatively provocative album and a part of its times, but still brings a smile - from the bouncy single "But That's Alright" and the shorter material on the old LP disc one, through to the more experimental and longer pieces like "Fly Without its Wings" with its steady buildup to an organ/guitar crescendo propelled strongly by the rhythm section, "Mama, Did Jesus Wear Makeup" and the wacky 11 minute suite "The Sideways Saga" .

The second single "Trust Me" is a short and haunting piece that sadly went nowhere on radio - one of the few recorder driven prog songs I know!

The Aztec remaster has lots of extra goodies (live material and singles) including a twenty minute version of the jolly boogie number "Some Good Advice" played by Spectrum's danceable alter ego The Indelible Murtceps.