CROWN OF CREATION

JA came a bit more down to earth after 'After Bathing at Baxter's' which was a very experimental acid-rock album. Well, this is not completely down to earth of course! But it is fresher and has a lot of great songs. Here the band melded their psychedelic sound with some more commercial interests. The album opens on a very mellow note with the folky and rather spooky "Lather". Grace's voice is very soft and expressive here. "In Time" is one of the best, with wonderful harmonies as usual. In fact, the whole band are playing and singing better than ever. The first half works nicely as a chill-out antidote to what came next- the subsequent songs and lyrics are heavier stuff. This starts to show with Balin's "Share A Little Joke", another highlight on here for sure. Grace's vocals sound more meaty on the second half, particularly on "Greasy Heart", and the song has some of her typically literate and surreal lyrics. There are some sci-fi themes that run through the album and the final piece ends it all with a very dark apocalyptic mood. There's an interplay of the group's three or four strong vocalists, plus some stop and start changes and feedback guitars, I guess it was unlike anything by any American group at the time. It was very influential music, and I believe it still is today. Three and a half stars.