INFINITE LOVE: LIVE AT THE QUEEN ELIZABETH 1971

Absolute masterpiece. Sorry, but i had to begin this review by these strong words.

This freshly unreleased 1971 double live album is an unexpected gem (and the word is weak) which expand a lot Quintessence's discography, along with the other « Cosmic Energy: Live at St Pancras 1970 » CD also by Hux records which is almost in the same vein in term of performance, but not for sound quality.

The performance on "Infinite Love: Live at the Queen Elizabeth 1971" is stellar, that's why at the time some music reviewers claimed that Quintessence was « the best live band in the world ». Indeed, the band combines virtuosity and mystic fervour like nobody. Flute and guitar parts are awesome, the psychedelic jams evoke the best Grateful dead. Quintessence is really the following of the american psychedelic scene, with a unique indo progressive touch. The track list gather pieces from all albums including the masterpiece eponym track « Dive deep » with two versions including one clocking at 24 minutes.

This is rare enough to be precised : not only this concert has been very well recorded in 1971 -as explained into the very informative booklet- thanks to amplifier settings in order to make the flute and vocals clearly audible, but the CD transfer is a success too : for one time the sound is neutral and musical with great presence, no over-compression which makes this CD a delight to listen to, even on ambitious audio systems, which is rarely the case with « rock » records. Thanks a lot to Hux records for this great mastering job. This is the kind of CD releases which may save the CD industry ! The only drawback for picky audiophiles who don't like to put their fingers on their precious discs is the very unconvenient double CD jewel case which is a pain to use : it's very hard to remove the CD from the box without damaging it, which is very frustating with such a quality record. Besides this detail, this « Infinite love » is easily the release of the year in vintage progressive rock.

I am delighted to support Oliverstoned's assessment of this totally magnificent - and wholly unexpected - release.

Simply listening to Quintessence was never what it was all about; this was a band that just had to be experienced "live". Their concerts were full-on experiences, with candles, lightshows, drapes, incense, chants, hypnotic rhythms and soaring vocals, with jams which gradually built up - (very much along the lines of Grateful Dead's Dead/Alive) - until the disparate parts wondrously coalesced, and the melodies expanded to invade all your senses, and you found yourself transported to another sphere altogether. With Allan's guitar wailing and floating gloriously, propelled by Maha Dev on rhythm guitar, Jake on drums and Sambhu on bass, while Raja Ram danced with his flute and Shiva danced with the audience, this was simply electrifying - psychedelic rock at its finest.

I have previously reviewed each of the band's five albums and consistently bemoaned the fact that no studio-based offering could ever hope to be truly representative of their "live" performances and actual musicianship; and, worse, that there was no chance, after all this time, of being able to do other than imagine how completely magical their concerts were. How happily wrong I was! Here we are, some forty years down the track, unbelievably resurrecting two live concerts from 1971, recorded at QEH on the same day (plus another half a concert, if you add in the surviving excerpts from the previous year's St Pancras concert, as captured on the sister CD, "Cosmic Energy: Live at St Pancras 1970"). What total joy!

I am not going to launch into a review of the individual tracks (a number of which are duplicated across the two concerts), because there is no need: people either loved the band or dismissed them as being a bunch of pretentious piss-takers peddling their own brand of pseudo-devotional clap-trap. Guess what? I loved them. Indeed, cards on the table: Quintessence is one of my favourite bands of all time. And the magic is all here again, on disc, in 2010.

Whilst the physical constraints of the CD format has necessarily resulted in the "Giants" suite from concert 1 (which should properly feature after Meditations, track 4) being housed as a bonus track on the St Pancras CD, we are nevertheless still left with well over 2 hours of sheer bliss. I note that the commentator in the booklet sides slightly with concert 2 as the preferred one. In the race to the stars, it's a severe case of splitting hairs, but, in my book, the inclusion of (a truly stunning version of) Wonders of the Universe elevates the first concert to a slightly higher plane, with the band on absolutely top form.

At their height, the band earned the reputation as being one of the best "live" bands in the world. They undoubtedly were. And now, thanks to this release, they are again, within the given constraints. Music and lights from the spheres, indeed!

Whoever mastered the double disc at Hux records deserves a medal - it has truly been a labour of love. The sound quality is absolutely crystal clear. And the accompanying booklet is hugely informative - (two of the concerts at which I saw the band are missing from the itinerary at the back, but it is both unreasonable and unrealistic to expect total accuracy after all this time).

All in all, this package is altogether just about as good as it could ever hope to get; and, to me, it's (quite literally) wonderful - as Oliverstoned says, a total masterpiece! Accordingly, I couldn't recommend it more highly. But I freely accept that it may now sound chronically dated and distinctly less than wonderful to the uninitiated!

Free acid folkish rock combo, back in the 1970s, Quintessence played a key role in the development of long musical excursion mixing raga-ish ornamentation and pop folk-inflected psychedelic improvisations. After a bunch of original and highly inspired mantric folkish-rock studio releases, the band culminates their whole career with this ritualistic and epic live improv recorded in 1971. This blissed out live session first introduces us into the spacious sound mandala with a highly intense, mid-epiphanic-nervous ballad then carries on a crystalline, gentle pastoral pop chanting hymn (Wonders of the universe). The rest of the album features Eastern buzzing and ravishing drone raga, expansive soundscapes (dominated by the dancing dreamy-like flute and the free folk rockin ensemble), amazing almost liturgical acoustic section. Incredibly elaborated sound signature and recognizable sonic sound travel which features essential convoluted freakout moments always within a classy stylish vein and an efficient sense of melodicism. The album is constantly luminous or charming despite that we can regret the brief presence of a few enthusiastic pop naiveties (which anyway don't affect the quality of the album). With their unique combination of improvised textures and sound alike syncrestism, Quintessence contributed to create what I would like to call ragadelic prog music. A tribute to the esoteric beauty. Warmly recommended to all prog lovers.