CAPTAIN BEYOND

You NEED this record! A fantastically flowing hard and heavy beast of riff-tastic proportions, it sounds as fresh today as the day it was released, the other two lps have their moments, but this is the jewel in their crown. Rod Evans (ex- DEEP PURPLE) singing over the top of a fantastically cosmic set of tunes, cranked out by ex-members of IRON BUTTERFLY and EDGAR WINTERS WHITE TRASH with no little flair, the guitar work in particular is awesome. If comically leaning hard rock with long spacey instrumental passages floats your boat, you've found nirvana. Seek it out.

Absolutely fabulous hardrock item with a little prog thrown in.....these guys are no newcomers..as they come from: Deep purple/Iron butterfly/Steamhammer...what more do ya want?? This is supreme hardrock- prog music of upper class....great tunes combined with ingenious musiciansship...if you are the least light prog freak...then this is for you! ABSOLUTELY.....GREAT STUFF!!

One of the early 70s hidden pearls. Heavy-edged, dark and sometimes complex melodies performed with a rather unusual attack. Very close to ordinary heavy-music, mostly because of the band wanting to get a rather dark, thundering atmosphere I guess. But don't be fooled by this, time-signatures and the variety on this debut are rich, demanding and a great concept-album. I don't know if the bands intention was to make a concept-album, but it sure feels like it on its journey containing 35 minutes of music. Ok, way too short actually, but who cares as long as the quality hits you almost every minute. Things Ive heard from the group later on are not even close to this debut-album. Fans of prog.metal especially will love it and anyone into good prog.music should take their hat off. Great stuff

If this band is in here than so should Deep Purple and Warhorse. Is the fact that DP's first vocalist is in here sufficient to be included in here . Don't get me wrong , this is rather good hard rock (Warhorse DP's first bassist band is quite enjoyable also) , but to me the first three Purple albums were a lot more of interest than this one. Then again the quality of the soloists (Blackmore and Lord) offered more possibilities than the valiant attempts of IB soloists.

This is a unbeliavably good album. The songs smash you with no mercy, one by one, flowing from the loudspeakers as an undivided piece of hard rock music. All band members are coherent with the concept of this album, but one of them shines brigthly... Larry reinhardt, A.K.A. RHINO, his guitar work is truly innovative and is still fresh nowadays, I really don´t know how this one was not a HUGE success... Maybe the competition was really too hard these days.. But i really want to recommend this album to any person who loves rock and roll, it´s stompy, energetic, balanced, without loose melodic inspiration. A kind of hidden treasure of the 70`s that everybody must to listen.

I bought this in 1972 and it's still one of my favourite albums. If you were/are into 70's rock and you have never heard this get it NOW. Considering it is 32 years you will be amazed at quality of the songs and production, and the vocals don't sound dated as Rod Evans does'nt resort to squawking "baby baby" every two seconds (yes Robert Plant I mean you!!). The riffs and timings are so refreshing you will think you are listening to a new band. I'm not on retro trip here, but they don't make em like this anymore.

Kind of a poor mans Zeppelin or Humble Pie with a prog twist. This group has obvious Deep Purple roots because of Rod Evans, who was once a part DP. They certianlly have some rockin' songs, the first and last songs were the most memorable for me. They sound ahead of their time too, they just can't stand up against the big guys Zeppelin, DP, Humble Pie, Sabbath as far as the hardrock aspect is concerned. If you want rare, hard, prog rock from the early 70s, check out atomic rooster than come to these guys and check out warhorse.

Captain Beyond is a low-key supergroup that somehow never managed to garner the acclaim it deserved. You'd think with members from Deep Purple (lead singer Rod Evans), Iron Butterfly (guitarist Rhino Reinhardt and bassist Lee Dorman) and the Johnny Winter Band (drummer Bobby Caldwell), Captain Beyond would be a household name, but it's rare to find anyone who's heard of the group. What is truly galling about Captain Beyond's anonymity is that this debut album is a blistering, throughly enjoyable work.

Personally I think the problem is packaging myself. This album came out in 1972 during the Golden Age of Prog, and I'm certain that if Captain Beyond had presented its 13 slices of music (which frequently segue into one another) in the form of three lengthy, multi-part epics then this album would have been gobbled up by the then-voluminous prog-rock crowd.

Initially the music here (for which drummer Caldwell was almost solely responsible) will probably seem a little simple to most prog fans. There are lots of heavy bluesy guitar riffs (Raging River Of Fear even sounds like Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child (Slight Escape)) and no electronic keyboards, flute or strings whatsoever. Despite that, an attentive listen to the whole album will reveal hidden treasures.

Firstly there is Evans' cool, fantasy-based lyrical imagery that starts with Dancing Madly Backwards and continues through Mesmerization Eclipse onto Thousand Days Of Yesterdays and concludes with the interlaced I Can't Feel Nothin'/As the Moon Speaks tracks. Even more important is that fact that Caldwell and co create a really wide range of sounds and styles despite the seemingly limited weapons at their disposal. While much of the music may be high-octane rock, there are lush acoustic moments, off-kilter spacey explorations, jazzy interludes and the like ... and I'm just talking about the 9 minutes that make up Thousands Days Of Yesterday (Intro)/Frozen Over/Thousand Days Of Yesterdays (Time Since Come And Gone)!

It's hard to point to a single oustanding musician in Captain Beyond, but their collective sound is really quite refreshing. If you're a fan of creative hard rock music, and don't come to this album expecting a complex masterpiece, you will find this to be one of those lost gems that slipped through the cracks. ... 76% on MPV scale

Like most people that have posted to this list, we have hundreds of recordings that have accumulated over the years. Few stand the test of time. Of all of the recordings that I own, I can name only a few that I have played monthly since I have owned them. Captain Beyond's self titled and first work I have played at least once a month since the early 70's.

Each time I listen, I hear something different, though I know all of the notes and beats, the amount of shear energy within this recording is extremely unique. The people that put this together (writers, players, engineers) knew at the time that this was an epic work in the making. This work will be talked about generations from now, hats off to all that played a part.

For first time listeners, the trick is to listen to it at least 3 times, if you do, the content will start to seep into you, revealing this as a unique, complex, beautiful masterpiece.

CC

To start off there is no way I could give anything but 5 stars here. I first heard this album while in college in Newport RI, in 1973. A friend of mine from NY lent it to me. I had never heard of this band and I was just floored by the complexity of the music. We actually drove to NY City to see this band but due to the snow the show had been canceled.

Well thanks to the internet I have been just reintroduced!! This band is timeless. The music sounds very fresh and new even though it is 32 years old. As a test I gave this CD to my 19 year old son who as most kids do just love rock. He just purchased Sufficiently Breathless the bands second CD, (An LP back then) and Captain Beyond has now become part of his IPOD collection. Anyway....awesome, awesome rock. A definate hidden jem from a band that was virtually unknown.

I don't understand the quibbling about whether this is a prog LP or not -- the ensemble playing here is very complex, with repeating themes, songs that seque together, poetic fantasy lyrics -- if that's not PROG ROCK then I don't know what is?!?!

As most other reviews have mentioned, this is smokin' hard rockin' music. None of your wussy Genesis music here duuude. A true forgotten classic from a band that should have been huge.

CAPTAIN BEYOND's debut album is something very special and one of those album that is just plain ol "gritty", "crunchy" and wonderfully psychedelic. CAPTAIN BEYOND were really kind of a "supergroup" with IRON BUTTERFLY members Larry Reinhardt "Rhino" (lead guitar) and Lee Dorman (bass) , DEEP PURPLE's Rod Evans (lead vocals) and Johnny Winter's drummer Bobby Caldwell. The end product was one of my personal favourite album of 1972 and a definite pick for the ol' desert island conversation. Without a question CAPTAIN BEYOND's debut album was clearly ahead of its time and although is 20+ years later bands like PORCUPINE TREE obviously heard this album! Overall the album hits many high points and covers a tremendously wide range of pieces... hard rock, but not metal... spacey but not too "druggy"... acoustic without being too tranquil... jazzy without being jazz... conceptual without being a "concept album" (although each song flows into the next).

For me, this is one of the greatest albums of all time. I don't give out max ratings often because with a collection of over 3300 recordings, it takes a really special recording to stand out as one of my top 10 recordings. As a Deep Purple and Iron Butterfly nut, it wasn't any surprise I'd find this recording (which was released the year I was born). I've always loved Rod Evans voice and it just fits perfectly with the music from Dorman, Rhino, and Caldwell. He's got a great voice and tone that is plenty strong enough to belt out lyrics over the loud musical passages. The lyrics are also a wonderful collection of psychedelia, I mean where else would you find imagery like "Dancing madly backwards on a sea of air".

I imagine some progists will say this album isn't progressive due to the fact it is essentially a bass/guitar/drum album lacking keyboards, flutes, violins, synthesizers, and sound effects normally attributed to progressive genre. To those people I must say; can't you just enjoy excellent music without analyzing it to death and thus taking all the enjoyment out of music? This album has numerous tempo and time signature changes, great jazzy drums, tight rhythms, and blistering guitar work that were 20 years ahead of the game. Don't forget that while the album is segmented into many single songs, there are 3 basic themes that really segment the album into three extended compositions. The songs flow from one into the other with such fluidity that is often amazing to segue from an acoustic piece right into a raging hard slab of rock.

I just can't say enough about how great this album is. Amazingly it sounds just as fresh and original today as it must have when it was originally released. I think any prog fan that likes heavy music will find this an enjoyable recording on some level if not completely altogether. I remember when this album finally got issued on CD (Japanese release), I bought two copies and place one in a safe, secure location. My greatest fear was that I'd lose or damage it and that the pressing would be a limited run. That thought is just to tragic to envision!

What's so special about this record? If you read the previous reviews, you're thinking that this is a masterpiece, a fantastic blend of progressive and hard rock, with interesting lyrics, creative arrangements, fine melodies and great musicianship. But unfortunately this is not the case with Captain Beyond, although there are two great musicians involved: Bobby Caldwell (a great drummer, as his works with Armageddon and Johnny Winter proves) and Lee Dorman (a fine bassist, previously with Iron Butterfly); but Rhino is a sub-standard hard rock guitar player: his riffs are below the average and his soloing is sparse and uninspired; and Rod Evans is a weak singer, period. Most of the songs featured here segues one into another, creating mini-suites, full of tempo changes ("Dancing Madly Backwards/Armworth/Myopic Void" is, to my taste, the most interesting). But the songwriting (all by Caldwell/Evans) is uninspired and some songs are derivative (listen to the last bars of "Frozen Over": Grand Funk's "Into the Sun" resurfaces here); also, album's package is poor and unattractive. I never listened to their other two albums, but since this is considered their best, IMHO you're not losing anything if you do not buy "Captain Beyond", unless you are a prog-metal fan interested in tracing roots to this genre.

How this band flew under the radar like it did, I will never know, but their self titled 1972 debut will live on forever as a brilliant work of hard-rock prog! Captain Beyond was a super group of sorts, including members of well known bands Deep Purple (vocalist Rod Evans) and Iron Butterfly (guitarist Rhino Reinhardt and bassist Lee Dorman), it seems baffling that this band got such little recognition. This aside, the album is a true joy to listen to. The album flows brilliantly through many recurring themes, lots of great guitar work and mind-blowing drumming (See Mesmerization Eclipse).It is comprised of many short tracks, but many of them can be considered one song (Tracks 1-3, 6-8, 9-13) and perhaps if they were condensed into longer tracks prog fans would have paid more attention. The music itself is usually fast paced hard-rock, with some cosmic interludes and off kilter jams, very complex and jazzy at times. The trio of musicians create a staggering amount of sounds considering the amount of instruments used. A highly underrated (and highly recommended) album!

-4.5/5

Captain Beyond are a blues-rooted band, playing heavy riffs with a power and spirit at the same time. This is a very good work, not properly a progressive album, because very near to a Hard'n'Blues (Mountain, Led Zeppelin or ZZ Top), but also near to Allman Brothers Band and the whole southern rock sound (this album is dedicated to the memory of Duane Allman....so you can immagine). Nice tracks, great guitar riffs ("mesmerization eclypse", "raging river of fear"), and also quite good songs: "I can't feel nothing", aggressive and powerful, with a fast and precise drum work..Not bad, not essential for a progressive collector, but a very good album. Unfortunately it lasts only 35 minutes... :-(

Captain Beyond was formed in 1971 by two members of Iron Butterfly’s early 70s touring group, along with Johnny Winter’s drummer Bobby Caldwell. Longtime session singer Rod Evans auditioned as singer and was quickly hired. All three had just come off long tours and their respective groups were embarking on extended hiatus, but these musicians were either still interested in touring, or just needed the money.

The band’s name is rumored to have been suggested by Yes bassist Chris Squire, who ran into the group during a tour. Their debut was quickly recorded and released by Capricorn Records to very little fanfare, and even less promotion. The album is heavily- blues influenced, with the predictable murky production of cheap recording equipment that was so prevalent at the time. Only the lyrics and the occasional creative arrangement set them apart from dozens of similar groups of that day. The album starts quite strong, but struggles a bit toward the end.

“Dancing Madly Backwards (On a Sea of Air)” is a bit of a dig at the Haight-Asbury brand of hippies at a time when the flower-power era was fast coming to an end. Like much of the rest of the album, the references here are pretty dated:

“’cause I’m not sitting on the Golden Gate – love and peace and war and hate;

Well I’m not going to sit around and wait, all I’m a doing is losing my faith”.

These guys are pointing out that they are not a bunch of pot-smoking hippies (they’re just a bunch of pot-smoking singers in a rock and roll band,):

“We’re all on stage and that’s for sure, searching is endless when there ain’t no cure”.

The music is straight-ahead blues with a southern tinge and pretty sparse – guitar, drums, bass and piano, but the various percussion instruments and some slide guitar add a little spice.

“Armworth” is one of the more unique anti-war songs I’ve heard. Again, a bit dated, as this album came out as the Vietnam War was gasping its last breaths. This is a bitter, reflective tune about a guy who’s lost an arm in battle, and is trying to find some meaning or reason to attach to the loss:

“Where did they put it fella’, where and which way?

Did it start the mad charge that the enemy made, or is it with my brother in a meaningless grave?”

The mostly instrumental “Myopic Void” is a spacey, psychedelic ditty that emphasizes the Johnny Winter influence on the band. There’s a short meaningless chorus toward the end, something about dancing on the ceiling, but this is just a short blues rant with some funky slide guitar and pulsating rhythm.

“Mesmerization Eclipse” is obviously a song about being stoned, very heavy with a twanging guitar riff and rolling drums. Imagine Ronnie Van Zant singing along to Jimi Hendrix’ guitar and you get the idea.

The next song appears on the album, but was rarely sung live for whatever reason. “Raging River of Fear” has a tempo that is reminiscent of Creedance Clearwater Revival, but the vocals are all southern-fried rock. This is about fear, apprehension, maybe even dread, all emotions that many of us were feeling leading up to the mid-70s, with lots of social changes going on, political turmoil, and racial tensions becoming violent across much of the country. This actually sounds a lot like some of the stuff Santana was doing around the same time – layered harmonic vocals, extended instrumental passages heavy on guitar, and a thundering drum finale. The last of the great 70s blues band sounds.

“Thousand Days of Yesterdays” is a nostalgic piece of longing for simpler days that we all felt slipping away in 1972 (boy, if we only knew just how far the slide would be!). This is slow, sad, reflective, mellow, lots of cymbals and bells, spacey vocals, and a respite with “Frozen Over” before the song picks up again for a few more minutes of the same.

“Frozen Over” is an Allman Brothers clone musically, and the lyrics suggest this is a song about a drug overdose by some chick –

“Ah, your face is frozen over, it’s not the one I knew; honey your face is frozen as can be – baby your face is like a block of ice, cold as the deep dark sea”.

“I Can’t Feel Nothin’” is another two-part work, this with what sounds like some dull cow- bell (very appropriate for the early 70s), soaring blues licks, and staccato vocals, another hazy stoned song with nothing to really set it apart other than some pretty decent extended blues jam toward the end. This album was recorded in just two days shortly after the members got together after finishing long tours with their respective former bands, so it’s inevitable that there would be some filler.

“As the Moon Speaks” is a kind of spoken-word/chanting psychedelic jaunt across the brain, just another head-trip tune to fill some space, punctuated by a short jam burst titled “Astral Lady”.

The album wraps up with two short reprises, one of “As the Moon Speaks”, and the other for “I Can’t Feel Nothin’”, the latter being the heaviest groove yet, and a strong finish to the album.

Captain Beyond was a super-group of sorts in 1972, not as much for the actual players in the band as for the stature of the bands they had just come from. The band’s management at the time must have been terrible, since they were not given exposure through a nationwide tour (even though there were tours aplenty across the U.S. in those days). They would release another album a year later adding brass, another guitar, organ, and plenty of percussion, but the sound was more muddled and less pure than the debut. A final album followed later in the decade, but by then the band was attempting to cash in with a harder formula rock sound and didn’t manage to set themselves apart enough to challenge the heavy rotation of southern-rock bands flooding the market, and the players largely drifted apart with some returning to established groups and others simply fading away. This first album was definitely their peak.

This is not the kind of music that will likely appeal to fans of the 70s European progressive rock sound, but for those who favor groups like Cream, Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, Iron Butterfly, Babe Ruth, and other blues-influenced music, this is an very interesting period piece that makes for a few good listens and some nostalgic wanderings into the distant musical past. Probably three and a half stars, but I’ll go with three.

peace

Neo-psychedically tinged, solid rock and roll. How this gem went unnoticed I'll never know. Captain Beyond is not a historical document to examine out of nostalgia -- the music is exhilarating. Not only was it recorded by a virtual super-group (Rod Evans of the original Deep Purple plus musicians from Iron Butterfly and Edgar Winter Group), the production is outstanding to boot.

Evans projects amazingly strong, almost soulful vocals. Strangely enough, he actually sounds like Danny Joe Brown would with later-70s Molly Hatchet. Yeah.I know.that was Southern Rock. But this is another interesting thing about the album: much of the riffing here sound more like ZZ Top than the acid bands from which Captain Beyond's members emanated from. (But don't worry.Evans' British-psychedelic roots feed the system enough. The album is progressive in concept and is not proto-Skynard!)

The drummer, Bobby Caldwell (formerly of Edgar Winter) is one smooth operator; tight. I never knew Caldwell was so proficient until I heard this. His playing, along with crystal- clear guitar lines by Larry Reinhart and Evans' impassioned vocals all fuse into a coherent musical experience.

I find "Dancing Madly Backwards" and "Myopic Void" to be the true standouts of the recording. The latter track is the most Prog-inspired and uses effects that make Pink Floyd wish they were there. Don't delay, enjoy this today. You'll be glad you did.

This is an absolute blast ! Cosmic lyrics with some heavy duty guitar driven instrumental work will usually make me giddy, and CAPTAIN BEYOND have succeeded with this their debut from 1972. And when you consider the band members here were once parts of IRON BUTTERFLY, JOHNNY WINTER and DEEP PURPLE it's no surprise that this is heavy. Cool to see them dedicate this record to the memory of Duanne Allman. There are 13 short tracks but many of them blend into one another. I like the Psychedelic vibe on this recording as well. Rod Evans is rough and passionate on vocals while Bobby Caldwell might be the one who impresses me the most on drums.

"Dancing Madly Backwards (On A Sea Of Air)" is heavy with bass, guitar and drums as vocals join in. I like when the tempo picks up before 2 minutes. Some ripping guitar joins in. Nice. "Armworth" has this guitar sound that reminds me of Duane Allman. I really like this one, the vocals aren't as aggressive. Great tune ! It blends into "Myopic Void" which is psychedelic and spacey until it kicks in after 2 1/2 minutes. "Mesmerization Eclipse" has such a good guitar intro as drums pound. Vocals have attitude here. Killer guitar here too. "Raging River Of Fear" offers up more fantastic drumming and "in your face" guitar.There's a Hendrix vibe here. Some harmonies too when the tempo picks up.

"Thousand Days Of Yesterdays (Intro)" features acoustic guitar and reserved vocals that blend into "Frozen Over" where it kicks in heavily and quickly. I like the bass in this one. Check out the drumming 2 minutes in followed by this wondrous guitar ! "Thousand Days Of Yesterdays (Time Since Come And Gone)" is catchy with strummed guitar and a good beat. Tasteful guitar 2 minutes in followed by vocal melodies. A surprisingly light but uptempo track. "I Can't Feel Nothin'" is drum led early before the guitar steals the show late. It blends into "As The Moon Speaks (To The Waves Of The Sea)" where it calms down and we get spoken words and vocal melodies. It kicks in then It blends into "Astral Lady" which blends into "As The Moon Speaks (Return)" where spoken words and vocal melodies take over. Vocals follow. Percussion late as it blends into the final track "I Can't Feel Nothin' (Part II). Kicking ass !

If you like heavy music, this is a classic and a must have.

A fine album. One of the great record from the Purple family. Maybe it's not a masterpiece but this is rock men! Heavy riffing, acoustic and psychedelic moments, great siniging. This album is a whole. Every track is good.No expolosion's here, but if you lookiing for a solod prog rock album (a heavy prog rock album) check out this one. A solid 4 stars

I prefer their 2nd release "Sufficiently Breathless" to this one. However, if you enjoy an intense ride for a good 40 minutes, concluding it with a headache while still begging for more...than this LP is for you! Me? I get my kicks with DP's "In Rock" if I want to do that sort of thing. Bobby Caldwell really dominates the music on this one with his drumming, and doesn't let up at all. It sort of reminds me of that Furio guy from Arti & Mestieri's "Tilt" LP a little. Buy it for the drumming, although, Rhino on guitar is no slouch, either.

Just recently aquired a nice UK vinyl copy of this one. Being a fan of both DEEP PURPLE and IRON BUTTERFLY, I'd be silly not to check it out.

Great album, very heavy and energetic. Sounds possibly akin to what the mighty PURPLE might have been like if Rod Evans has stayed on. All tracks are loaded with guitar riffs, although slightly repetitive and primitive, they are so well played and consistently changing, it keeps this listener entertained throughout. Nice pysch touches here and there as well, giving it a 'space rock' feel at times.

Rhino and Bobby Caldwell are on top form here, some blistering solos on the axe here and there and speedy, tight and powerfull drumming, give this LP a great energy. I would say more of a hard rock LP than prog. Nevertheless, give it a try!

Really like the colourful hippy style cover to this one. Vinyl junkies might like to know that USA 1st pressing came in a unique hologram style sleeve. Can be picked up on ebay with ease.

I don't know if this had to be considered progressive rock. In my opinion this should be simply defined has hard rock music (the background of the musicians had a clear influence because they were members of Deep Purple and Iron Butterfly). We have 13 songs with a maximum length of 4:02 minutes on the first song. I would recommend this one for fans of Black Sabbath or Uriah Heep for example but I don't know if this is a good start for discovering progressive rock music. On the other way the musicianship is high and even if this is a short release they really did their jobs especially the drummer (Bobby Caldwell). The vocal (Rod Evans) has a really clear hard rock timbre on this release.

if you are of the opinion you need keyboards to be really prog, beware of this album - no keyboards here. However, the sound of the guitars and the multi-layered riffs definitely make this a prog album.The songs may appear to be a bit short, but there are actually three suites on this album with the songs floating into each other. As others have already mentioned, Captain Beyond are a kind of super-group. It is not an album I play every day, but hey, with a collection as huge as the one at our home no album is except for the latest acquisitions. And it is definitely a too often overlooked little gem. 4 solid stars.

I played in a semi-successful local band in Chicago from '75 to '82 and was always impressed with these guys. We were going to cover a song or two, but it's hard to copy the original. This music was just to radical for most people, but I've always loved it. I wouldn't say it was ahead of it's time, but I would say it was just to extreme for the average listener. It grows on ya. If you listen to it a few times it really starts to be special. I now will listen to it a few times a year. And it's never background music. When it's on, I'm listening.

Cap't Beyond was doing the bar scene in the late 70's and I saw them once. Most of the people didn't even realize what they were seeing. It was really nice. They do a good live act and watching Bobby Caldwell is really something. He has to be my favorite drummer of all tiime! It was funny seeing people try to dance to this music, ha! I doubt they could have ever been a really big commercial band, just to radical and progressive!! And I always play it LOUD!

Another nice surprise to me in 2007 was discovering Captain Beyond, together with the debut from Audience this has to be the best surprise. What power this band has! I´m totally in shock. This is progressive hard rock, but mostly it rocks like hell. It´s a bit more subtle than your average hard rock band though and that´s where the progressive part starts. They remind me of a band I have spend a lot of time listening to the last couple of years and that´s Orange Goblin ( a band I would like to have added to prog archives). Especially their new album Healing Through Fire is really much like Captain Beyond. Well you get the point. If you like Captain Beyond chances are you will like Orange Goblin too.

I didn´t know about Captain Beyond´s history and the rather prominant gentlemen that make up this band before I read the biography here on Prog Archieves, but I was never in doubt that these were outstanding musicians. I guess I´ll have to check out Iron Butterfly ( I only know you know what song). I have never really listened much to the first couple of albums from Deep Purple but maybe they are also worth purchasing. Evans is a great and pretty diverse singer, I´m pretty impressed with him.

The songs on the album are mostly hard rock with some of the meanest riffing I have ever heard, but there are progressive tendencies that keeps the album exciting throughout the whole playing time ( It´s only 35 minutes but every minute is exciting). The most progressive songs on the album are: Myopic void, Thousand days of yesterday and As the moon sparks, the rest of the songs are more or less hard rock even though there are twists. I have to note that all the songs seque into each other making the whole album a musical concept. The lyrics sound really tripped out and drug induced.

This is an excellent album and I can highly recommend it to anyone into hard rock, who like me finds the general structure in a hard rock song a little too predictable and who want´s something a little more challeging. The fortune here is that even though this is a little more prog than your average hard rock it still kicks ass bigtime.

I can´t praise this album enough but I think a 5 star rating is a little much though. 4 stars will do, but I´ll tell you I was really close to a 5.

I can't review an album based on a handful of listens. I really can't. I don't feel like I know an album until I can hear it in my head. As often as not, I will log in to write a review, start listening to the album, and realize that I need to wait a little while before I attempt the review.

That happened to me today. I logged on to write a review of the first UK album, loaded it up in WinAmp, and realized I wasn't quite ready yet. So I jumped over here to review the album that I've listened to more than any other in the last three months, the amazing debut from Captain Beyond.

So what makes these guys different and special?

While the sound of Captain Beyond may sound a bit dated nowadays, it was really something special back in 1972. Disciplined, restrained hard rock with psychedelic elements and a progressive vision was something that wasn't so easy to find back in 1972. Throw in the absolutely amazing rhythm section of Caldwell and Dorman and you have music that has the ability to transcend it's era. Pleasing vocals and vocal harmonies, abrupt transitions in melodies and rhythms, and guitar work that can be either blistering or restrained as required round out the number of candies in Captain Beyond's box of chocolates.

I so want to give this album five stars, but I'll restrain myself and award Captain Beyond the four that it has most deservedly earned.

EDIT: Man, I keep listening to this thing and the second half of it builds to an absolutely awesome conclusion. I'm not going to change the rating to 5 stars yet, but if this keeps up, the change is definitely coming. This may be the best composed album that I have ever heard. It's on the first four tracks that are keeping me from jumping this to five, and then just barely.

There's this elite group of albums, or should I say music pieces, which catch your attention from the first to the last second. They're also often ment and made to be listened as a whole. Well, this is one of these albums. It demands to be listened from the beginning to the end to be fully enjoyed - no skipping, repeating, shuffling or stopping is advisable. Music just builds, flows and changes effortlessly. There's not a moment of boredom or strain here, everything is of the same high quality; listener is really treated like a king. Taste is a word that could describe this gem. This is basically hard rock enriched with lots of progressive elements in a perfect manner. Music is diverse, yet very constant and compact, songs are wonderfully connected together.

Album opens with ''Dancing Madly Backwards (On A Sea Of Air)'' and seconds after you ''taste'' the sound get an idea about the whole thing - an elaborate and inventive hard rock with all the band members in great shape: both Reinhardt and Dorman do better job than they did in IRON BUTTERFLY; Evans' engaged singing fits the music perfectly; Caldwell's drumming is crisp, precise and diverse. Album continues with ''Armworth'', a shorter song in a similar hard style as the opener, while ''Myopic Void'' offers more spacy sound with nice guitar work. Towards the end of the song theme from the first song reprises. Very good. ''Mesmerization Eclipse'' is powerful and straightforward, yet tasteful and proggy hard rock with more great guitar riffing and drumming. ''Raging River Of Fear'' starts even heavier and gets even proggier. Exqusite! ''Thousand Days Of Yesterday (Intro)'' is a nice, welcomed acoustic break. ''Frozen Over'' gets things back on hard-prog track brilliantly. What a superb, heavy song! It's very hard to stay focused and original as these guys manage to do.

Story continues with already known ''Thousand Days Of Yesterday (Time Since Come And Gone)''; this time it's faster and more progressive; beautiful balance between harder and mellower aspects of the album, again excellently executed. ''I Can't Feel Nothing (Part 1)'' starts in a slightly bluesy, even funky way, while remaining progressive. Near the end, it transforms in - guess what - fast, hard rock. Smoothness of these transitions is enticing. ''As The Moon Speaks (To The Waves Of The Sea)'' starts as a gentler, quieter, a bit spacy song. But again, that doesn't last for very long - soon it explodes and eventually melts into guitar driven 16 second break titled ''Astral lady''. ''As The Moon Speaks (Return)'' comes back in a quieter fashion followed by well known guitar work and a fast, short drum solo. Superb. ''I Can't Feel Nothing (Part 2)'' kicks in with 'Oooh, here it comes!' just to reminds us to all of the heaviness and power of this masterpiece. What a journey!

Lyrics are thoughtful and interesting enough, dealing with ethereal themes and introspection, and contribute to overall great impression. Production quality is very good and cover ranks among the 70's best.

The best hard rock album as far as I'm concerned, 35 minutes of perfection. 5 stars without a doubt.

I was mainly interested in this band because of the presence of ex-Mark I lead singer and I was curious to hear what sort of music Captain Beyond was playing.

In my opinion, the prog aspect within Purple has always been very thin. A couple of songs on their three Mark I albums maybe...The brilliant April is certainly the one that best fits the genre (and it is the only true prog tune that the band has ever signed).

Now back with the Captain: their music sounds a bit outdated actually. As if they remained in the late mid- sixties and the psychedelia that went with it. Some of them are ridiculously short and doesn't help to be overwhelmed with this album. Of prog music, there is little question (actually, I wonder why Ten Years After is not yet featured on PA when I listen to such albums).

This being said, since I like heavy rock quite a bunch, I also like this album. A few outstanding tracks are really worth like the opening number Dancing Madly Backwards and Myopic Void which opens as a spacey and loaded tune and develops in some crescendo towards a very dynamic closing part.

But to be honest, I have major difficulties to consider this work as a masterpiece as several of my fellow colleagues. Too few songs are on the average side (Mesmerization Eclipse, Raging River Of Fear even if the instrumental and final part of the latter is very good) and there are actually not a single song that deserve this status IMHHO.

I also never understood why the band had to slice these songs (which are already short) into smaller pieces. Thousand Days. would have fit perfectly as one and only entity instead of being split into two and spread over this album (same treat for I Can't Feel Nothing or As The Moon Speaks).

The former song seems to come out straight out an early TYA album (Cricklewood Green to name it). This debut album remains a curiosity of the early seventies. It is a good album overall. Three stars.

Interesting supergroup reuniting members of Deep Purple MK I (vocalist Rod Evans), Iron Butterfly (guitarist Rhino and bassist Lee Dorman) and The Johnny Winter Band (drummer Bobby Caldwell). But somehow they never really happened. Their mix of 70´s hard rock with some late 60´s psychedelia is quite interesting, but there is almost no prog at all. I guess if they persisted a little more then thy maybe reached another level, since the musicians involved were great. It is also strange they never were a big success.

Maybe their music was too elaborated for a hard rock act and maybe not psychedelic or prog enough for those markets either. Captain Beyond must have been hard to sell in the early 70´s. There are some fine acoustic passages, blues rock licks, jazzy interludes and spaced out vocals. Nowadays the music seems a little dated, but it is very good also, specially if you´re interested in the styles I mentioned before. Like others reviewers have pointed, their sound was a bit ahead of the time. Unfortunately they wouldn´t hold to their ground for too long, which is a pity. With time and patience they could be a lot bigger. Worth a listen.

Heavy and cosmic music from beyond the Myopic Void...

The amount of heavy prog bands that emerged in the early to mid seventies only to die off after their debut album is a number not easily counted. Many of these bands took advantage of a fertile market at the time where ''classic'' rock and progressive rock flourished and combined the styles into heavy, riff based progressive rock that brought up memories of Led Zeppelin while maintaining the high-brow complexities and depth of bands like Yes. Among so many forgotten relics is the debut from Captain Beyond, the project from Mk I Deep Purple vocalist Rod Evans and former Iron Butterfly members Larry Rhino Reinhardt on guitar, and bassist Lee Dorman. What comes out of the mix is an amazing effort from the band featuring memorable riffs, spacey lyrics and very heavy passages in this gem of heavy prog.

One thing that's noted by many people right off the bat is the track listing for the album. Many people wonder how the band could possibly be considered progressive when there's 13 tracks on the album, and the longest of which is 4 minutes. Well, the progressive tenancies of the band extend far beyond simple track length, since within any one song the band well develop and change ideas in the blink of an eye - and do it well. Songs like the blistering opening track, Dancing Madly Backwards (On A Sea Of Air) and the killer Memorization Eclipse feature extreme changes in pace, tempo and speed that fit amazingly well into the context of the song. Of course the overall scheme of the album also becomes apparent after listening to it a few times. The album is actually comprised of only 5 songs that are broken up into segments. Dancing Madly Backwards takes up the better half of the first side while the second side of the album is comprised of only two suites, A Thousand Days Of Yesterdays and I Can't Feel Nothin'. One would wonder if more proggers would pay attention to the album if it was read with a shorter track listing, but we'll never really know.

What's great about the album is that it never lets up. It may give an occasional break from the constant bombardment of heavy rock, but those moments usually only last a minute before plunging back into the world (or outer-space) of heavy riffs. Raging River Of Fear is one of the few songs which actually stands on its own away from the other suites, and stand out it does. Those heavy riffs make for a constant attack while Evans' vocals bring the audience along for the ride. The second half of the album is just as good. Thousand Days Of Yesterdays starts with a slow and clam section which immediately gives way to the scorching sections of the Frozen Over segment before being reprised by the almost funky Thousand Days Of Yesterdays (Part II). I Can't Feel Nothin' is perhaps the most dynamic song in terms of pacing, working from the quick opening to the creepy, spoken word As The Moon Speaks (To The Waves Of The Sea) section to the brief and apocalyptic ending.

If you like Deep Purple, but have always wanted them to be more progressive, then this album is probably the answer to your prayers. Captain Beyond wouldn't recreate this sound for their follow-up, Sufficiently Breathless, but this album stands as a tribute to everything that Heavy Prog does best. 5 beaming astral ladies out of 5 for this wonderful effort. Highly recommended to anyone who likes heavy riffs, spacey elements and well thought-out suites.

Captin Beyond may be one of the most obscure bands of the 70's, but the bands that their members came from certainly weren't. Evans was the original vocalist for Deep Purple (the one that sang on Hush), Reinhardt and Dorman were from Iron Butterfly, and Caldwell played with Johnny Winter. Some call them prog-rock, some call them space-rock, some compare them to the Allman Brothers. But no matter what you call them, they were a talented band, despite their lack of commerical success.

Many of the songs on this album actually merge together to create longer songs. The first set is Dancing Madly Backwards / Armworth / Myopic Void. The songs are full of heavy riffs and odd time signatures, and finishes with a section featuring several guitars with delay, slide, and wah applied to them. The effect is otherworldly, and gives you the feeling of floating into space or into a vision. Mesmerization Eclipspe and Raging River of Fear each stand alone, and both are excellent rockers. The next epic is Thousand Days of Yesterday / Frozen Over / Thousand Days of Yesterday. It starts off with another etheral guitar-based track before launching into two rockers, with similar lyrics to tie them together. The album's finale is I Can't Feel Nothin' / As The Moon Speaks / Astral Lady / As The Moon Speaks / I Can't Feel Nothin'. (I certainly hope they had some other way of naming these songs when they did them live...) Bookended by some of the best rocking tracks on the album, the poetic middle sections compliment it nicely, and the jam in the middle is another great track.

Any fan of the rock of this era, progressive rock, or proto-prog should check this out. These are a excellent musicians performing some amazing songs. I can think of no reason for their failure, other than they were perhaps ahead of their time. Three or four years later, Rush would fuse progressive excess with bluesy hard rock and strike it big.

Beyond good!

Here we have a great piece of Heavy Prog from the 'other' side of the Atlantic. There is a connection to the UK, however, with Rod Evans previously of Deep Purple handling the lead vocals here. This might lead you to suppose that the music of Captain Beyond is similar to Deep Purple Mk. I which it is not and neither can it be compared to Deep Purple Mk. II. This is a completely different beast and one of the very best I've heard of its kind!

The album is basically one complete piece of music with a handful of great riffs that come and go, and we are given several interesting variations on these riffs. The whole thing is a rather loud affair and a tour de force of good guitar riffs, fast and moderately complex drumming. The instrumentation is rather simple with electric guitars, acoustic guitars, bass, drums, lead and harmony vocals, and the occasional very discrete piano and some percussion instruments. There are many interesting tempo changes and mood changes keeping it interesting throughout. Some passages remind me of Black Sabbath others of Camel!

The second half of the album is the best one, with a bit more variation due to slower acoustic sections, and its great build up towards the finale. What I particularly like about this album, in addition to that is presented as a whole, is also how loaded and well structured it is. There are no mindless improvisations or long psychedelic jam sections, all too common in the psychedelic bands of the time. Captain Beyond might very well have come up with this music by doing long psychedelic jams, but what is left here for the final product is well arranged and they don't waste a minute on that stuff. There is a sense of urgency here lacking in the works of, say, Hawkwind or early Pink Floyd or American acts like Hendrix and The Doors for that matter.

What I also like is the fast and constantly changing rhythms, something that bands like Pink Floyd and Hawkwind really needed to learn. Hawkwind, for example, had a very strong tendency to settle into a constant grove and keep it throughout the whole song and let the guitars and keyboards do all the work on top. Captain Beyond, on the other hand, had all the instruments, including the drums, competing for attention. What is psychedelic about Captain Beyond is more in the overall space theme and the image of the band than in the actual music, I think.

By way of criticism I should say that this album is not perfectly recorded and produced, but it does not sound bad. There could also be more solos and instrumental sections (but well-structured ones as opposed to mindless jamming) and the sound could be fuller if they added some more keyboards to the mix. Still, this is a classic of Heavy Prog and no fan of the genre should do without a copy of this near-masterpiece album.

Highly recommended!

What I love the most about this one is that it is completely forgotten,and people just don't realize how incredible it really is.Magical music,I mean.A step foward towards the Deep Purple hard rocking direction,with bits of early Pink Floyd space psychedelia.It could have worked out terribly wrong,but the end result is an uncanny masterpiece.It's timeless brilliance,unfornutaley,was too much for the ignorance of Capricorn Records,who completely ignored the band after the album's release,and so Captain Beyond went downhill.Their debut,however,is suspended above time....

I'm not sure how much progressive rock there is.If the therm refers to experimental rock msuic,then there's certainly a lot.Exotic arrangements are not found,though.No flutes,grand piano,mellotron or even keyboards.There's simply no place for those in the album,as it is generally heavy and grooving,with very brief quieter passages.Ant though it contains 13 tracks,these are highly connected,making it work as 5 songs:2 individual pieces and 3 suites.But even those are hard to be separated,as the album is consisted by a very unique and dependent sounding,where nothing,I repeat,NOTHING can be separated.

The opening Dancing Madly Backwards suite already presents the constant changing time sigantures and space-sounding,with great guitar work and 'far-off' vocals from the ex-Deep Purple Rod Evans.

My personal favourite would be the one song formed by I Can't feel Nothing,As the Moon Speaks(To the Waves of the Sea)and Astral Lady,but everything else is just fantastic.Just experiment hearing these album alone in the dark.Absolutely unique,amazing sounding.

Everything you'd expect from a 70's hard rock band is here,but the music made here sounds fresh.Though it wasn't tagged this way back in the day,the band is a 'supergroup':Drummer Bobby Caldwell from Johnny Winter Band,Rhino and Lee Dorman from Iron Butterfly and Rod Evans from Deep Purple.All playing as if it was the last performances of their lives.

There's really not much more to be said about it,as putting these simple words down was already a challenge.You just gotta listen to understand it.People just don't do this anymore...I hadn't heard something as refreshing as this since I laid my hands on In The Court of the Crimson King.

Highly recommended.

A supergroup that somehow got lost in the shadows of prog music, Captain Beyond was a band that gave us some great heavy, yet sophisticated prog. The line up featured ex Deep Purple singer Rod Evans as well as ex Iron Butterfly members Larry Reinhardt (guitarist) and Lee Dorman (bassist) on the drums was Bobby Caldwell who had played with Johny Winter.

Released in 1972 on Capricorn records Captain Beyond by Captain Beyond is a heavy prog album with some psychedelic aspects. It is a great album because of it's flowing movement and enjoyable melodies. Unfortunately this album has really been swept away and become a lost gem in heavy prog.

It contains 13 tracks of no more than 4 minutes each. However many of the tracks flow into one another creating a few unified songs. It is a solid album that seldom contains obvious flaws. Therefore I gave it a 4/5 stars but really for me it is a 4.5/5 stars. I highly recommend this album to any heavy prog fan

Without a doubt in my mind, this is a superb hard rock band producing a superb hard rock album. However, when looking through a prog scope, there seems to be a slight issue here. Is this prog? How could it NOT be prog? My answer; I don't know, I don't care. Unfortunately, the iffiness factor might be the reason I strike this album from masterpiece status.

The band can play, the execution is spot on, the transitions are perfect, the music has depth and the riffs just strike your inner rock-n-roll nerve that makes you want to fist pump to ad infinitum. You'll have to do it in some tricky metre as it seems like every other time signature the band plays in is some odd number for most people. This is all under Rod Evans's smooth vocal execution which augments the band quite nicely, even if I'm not currently familiar with his tenure in Deep Purple.

Long songs and virtuoso passages aren't here, so don't expect too much pompousness. Also, keyboards are rare to nonexistant, so it's more of a hard rock album than a prog rock album in those respects. I like these types of prog albums as proggers aren't sure whether to accept CAPTAIN BEYOND for it's depth or ignore it because it's too much of a rocker than a progger, and my curiosity feeds off the endless debating.

Songs like ''Dancing Madly Backwards'', ''Mesmerization Eclipse'', ''Raging River of Fear'', ''Frozen Over'' and the ''I Can't Feel Nothin'' parts are perfect outputs of what Captain Beyond are all about, at least on this album. Who says a little rock is bad for your prog health?

"CAPTAIN BEYOND" is a progressive southern rock album that out-paces anything before it's time. The opening measures of "Dancing Madly Backwards" spell out the 5/4 intro which turns to a straight forward feel with RHINO's guitar leads simple and harmonized. Bobby Caldwell's drumming is clean and crisp. "Mesmerization Ecplise throws a rhythm into 7/8. ROD EVANS is singing about desperation setting in (we all know what this album is about. don't we) and "The Raging River Of Fear" pulses the beat with 1/16 accents on the churus, then releases itself to an open-ended 6/8 groove, then back again. BOBBY CALDWELL plays flams on his snare- drum while he's in a drum roll. Amazing. The Band takes a tempo breather but is back in progressive form with "A Thousand Days Of Yesterday' It's blistering 7/4 meter just spins your head around.The reprise to the albums theme is "I Can't Feel Nothing" which is just relaxing at this point. It's simple 4/4 beat makes you say Ahh.......This albums gives you a dose of tempo changes, time signatures and modulations throughout. It's dizzying. If you can listen to all the tracks in one sitting, then you will have been fully, totally, progressively rocked.

This is a good and heavy prog album. Man, I love about 9/10's of it! Rhino really plays some wierd and beautiful rhythmns and licks. It is like nothing you have heard. This stuff would go over today if they released it now. It is so cool!

"Dancing Madly Backwards" has some killer stuff. It doesn't let up one bit. "Armworth" is another great tune, but the slide guitar section repeats far too much for me. Then we have the wonderful reprise called "Myopic Void" which ends with a restatement of "Dancing Madly Backwards."

"Mesmerization Eclipse" Keeps slaying the listener with more wonderful changes and it stays hard and heavy.

"Raging River of Fear" again does you in. Where did they get these musical ideas? It makes you wish you could think like Rhino.

I think maybe the only real drawback to this album are some of the lyrics. The song "As the moon Sparks," sounds kind of amaturish. It reminds me of some of the stuff Rod Evans sang for "Deep Purple." Other than that this is a killer release! I highly recommend it. Also, it has no keyboards. I like the guitar focus here. Since they limited themselves to one guitar, Rhino made full use of his creativity. Like I said in my review of the band "Flash," I was hoping prog bands would go in this direction. Just using guitar, bass, and drums, and forcing themselves to think of more musical ideas. It works tremendously well here with Captain Beyond.

I give this one 4 solid stars.

I've been interested in this release ever since I've read about the supergroup behind it. The idea of a cross-up between the ex-Deep Purple vocalist Rod Evans and two key members of Iron Butterfly really sounded like a mix that should have felt right at home with me. This is why I began actively seeking out this CD a few years back and finally had a copy of my own by 2007.

Let me start by saying that the Heavy Prog genre isn't among my top sub-categories of the progressive rock movement but there have been quite a few nice surprises along the way. The closest stylistic comparison that I can think of in order to describe this album is that of a mixture of Atomic Rooster and Quatermass. But what I'm ultimately saying is that Captain Beyond sounds pretty much like they should for a band active in the early '70s. There isn't much that differentiates their music from those two other bands, meaning that they don't bring anything completely new or original to the table with this material. Still, if you're into this type of material then you're bound to find a hidden gem in this release.

The album's material is split into many interconnected compositions and songs divided into smaller portions which definitely appeals to my progressively-inclined mind although I really don't see much point to it in this particular case. In retrospect, it would definitely have made more sense to keep the compositions as complete pieces since I personally tend to lose the connection between them.

Overall it's a nice little piece of Heavy Prog from the early days of the style's existence. The music is far less trippy than that of Iron Butterfly but, at the same time, has little connection to the symphonic escapades that were explored by the early Deep Purple lineup. It's a very pleasant, but ultimately non-essential release that will appeal to its audience and fans of the early '70s rock music.

***** star songs: Armworth (1:49) Frozen Over (3:46)

**** star songs: Dancing Madly Backwards (On A Sea Of Air) (4:02) Myopic Void (3:31) Raging River Of Fear (3:51) Thousand Days Of Yesterday (Intro) (1:19) Thousand Days Of Yesterday (Time Since Come And Gone) (3:57) As The Moon Sparks (To The Waves Of The Sea) (2:26) Astral Lady (0:16) As The Moon Sparks (Return) (2:14) I Can't Feel Nothing (Part 2) (1:14)

*** star songs: Mesmerization Eclipse (3:49) I Can't Feel Nothing (Part 1) (3:07)

Captain beyond is a prog rock supergroup. The band are: Rod Evans who appeared in Deep Purple first albums, Rhino Rhinehardt and Lee Dorman of Iron Butterfly, and Bobby Caldwell from the Johnny Winter band. They had 3 albums. This one is their first. It's very much into hard rock with touces of prog. The album is a bit short - 37 minutes long, but it's a quick fantastic journey. The songs are very powerful, and they don't have any breaks between them, so it's like one big concert. There are no keyboards but guitars. Rod Eavns sings with all his heart, and he does it well. All in all it's another left over band which deserves to be on the front stage. From the first song - "dancing madly backwards" to "frozen over" and the final "as the moon speaks" and "I can't feel nothin" - it's a magic trip, full of rythem, rock and power. Electrifying!

I love this record. It's not often anymore I want to turn on something really loud and bang my head, but when I do, this is the record I usually choose to listen to. It's Beer Drinking and Hell Raising music for me.

Former Deep Purple vocalist starts a group with guys from Iron Butterfly and a guy who played with one of the Winter Brothers. It's not really prog, I'd classify it as proto-metal kind of in the heavy Led Zeppelin/Deep Purple/Iron Butterfly mold. It's riff rock that makes you feel like you're on a class 5 rapids, thrilling rollercoaster, and space shuttle all at the same time in the span of barely over 30 minutes.

I consider this an all time classic in the hard rock field and it really is a lost classic for inclined parties. Bizarrely released by southern rock specialists Capricorn Records, there is a note dedicating this album to Duane(!) Allman(?) which is surprising to me, my buddies and I could never figure out the relationship. It doesn't sound anything like the Duane or the Allman Bros or any other record I've heard from the Capricorn Stable, except maybe a little off the Johnny Jenkins' Ton Ton Macoute! album. Maybe Duane supplied them with the opium that supposedly was the inspiration for the tune "Starglow Energy" off Captain Beyond's next release, Sufficiently Breathless. The cover art is a perfect reflection of the times and music, enhancing it's classic status in my collection.

Thanks to the reviewers here I was drawn to this album like a moth to a flame. Immediately I was dazzled by crunching riffs with heavy guitars and then amazing time changes locking into killer riffing with dirty guitar sounds and serious vocals. The time sigs changes so dramatically it is hard to keep up but it is such a delight to be treated to an obscurity like this hiding in the prog vaults. It begins with 'Dancing Madly Backwards (On a Sea of Air)' with all the time shifts and then blazes straight into 'Armworth' with Rod Evans' vocals, from Deep Purple, and hard rocking non stop rock rhythms.

The riffs are always prevalent and driving headlong to new half time feels and awesome instrumental breaks with the mind bending guitars of Rhino, from Iron Butterfly. His slide guitar work is absolutely psychedelic and atmospheric. Bobby Caldwell was a brilliant drummer and has a field day on percussion injecting timpani triplets and odd beats throughout. The bass of Lee Dorman is a constant pulse. 'Mesmerization Eclipse' is the first break into a different feel after the non stop opening suite of songs. There is another heavy riff and Deep Purple style vocals. They are much more progressive though, and once again the song reaks into several signatures, the band are brimming over with creativity and one never knows where they will go next, fast to slow to downright out of place, each meter is a pattern that locks on with that ever present heavy guitar. I didn't like the way this faded out slowly but immediately the next riff settles in on 'Raging River Of Fear'. This has a heavy bluesy feel, aggressive vocals and accomplished rhythm changes. The drums on this are incredible, constantly providing new tempos and fast paced beats and fills.

'Thousand Days Of Yesterday (Intro)' settles down the fury with quiet acoustic picking and gentle vocals. The harmonies are nice and the overall feel is melancholy to break away from the heaviness before and after. It doesn't last long as the next moment guitars crunch in and a fast tempo with forced vocals on 'Frozen Over'. The half time feel on this is astonishing injecting new metrics and it then changes completely in the next section. Nobody changes time sigs like Captain Beyond; so rapid and always appropriate. It fades into an accelerated acoustic rhythm on 'Thousand Days Of Yesterdays (Time Since Come & Gone)'.

A fantastic rhythm locks in and Rhino is dynamic in the lead break. It fades and hammering chords intro 'I Cant Feel Nothin (Part 1)'. The drums are dazzling along with another massive riff. The vocals are easy on the ears and close to the Bachman Turner Overdrive style. The music continues non stop with a suite of songs; 'As The Moon Speaks (To the Waves of the Sea)' a quiet acoustic piece of beauty with narrative vocals, 'Astral Lady', 'As The Moon Speaks (Return)' back to the pounding rock of 'I Cant Feel Nothin (Part 2)'.

What a fantastic heavy slice of prog with an obscurity that should be unearthed and played often. A great find for any heavy prog fan and one to return to habitually.

Following the paths of the various members of Deep Purple lead me to Captain Beyond. DP Mk I vocalist Rod Evans took up the mic for Captain Beyond. But what thrilled me was that Iron Butterfly's guitarist Larry (Rhino) Rienhardt and bassist Lee Dorman were also part of this outfit. Rhino appeared on the final Butterfly studio effort Metamorphosis before the band split up for a while (restarted later for two albums by "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"/"Ball" guitarist Erik Brann). Metamorphosis is my favourite Iron Butterfly album because of the guitar sound and variety of riffs, rhythms and time signatures.

Captain Beyond's first album does not disappoint. It starts off a rock album with no gimmicks or tricks. Rhino's innovative guitar playing is backed by a heavy rhythm section provided by Dorman's bass and the splintering drums of Bobby Caldwell (Who? Well, you know him now!). The man has a full arsenal of drumming skill and he doesn't hold back. Rod Evans was never much of a hard rock vocalist but he gives it a good effort, sometimes surprisingly on the edge, once or twice a little over the edge of his abilities. By the time the album reaches tracks four and five - "Mesmerization Eclipse" and "Raging River of Fear" respectively - you are starting to wonder if these guys plan to just rock away the whole album. In fact, there are only a couple of acoustic parts and no real ballads. Any track that starts slow doesn't stay that way for much more than a minute. Then it's back to the hard rock and roll machinegun attack. The final track "I Can't Feel Nothin' (Part II)" closes the album with a brief but rock out tune that should encourage fist pumping and head banging.

Like Iron Butterfly's "Metamorphosis", Captain Beyond's first album features ever changing guitar riffs, chord progressions, and time signatures. As my old guitar teacher said about Butterfly, "It's as if they are trying to put as many notes in the song as possible." The album has two song clusters, groups of related tracks with parts and intros. Sometimes it is hard to tell when one track has ended and the next has begun. The lyrics of "Myopic Void" close with the title for "Dancing Madly Backwards (On a Sea of Air)". On the other hand, the 15- second instrumental "Astral Lady" is nothing more than a guitar solo joining "As the Moon Speaks (To the Waves of the Sea)" and "As the Moon Speaks (Return)". You might wonder why the guitar break was only 15 seconds. What was the point of giving it a name? Maybe it was a psychedelic thing.

The guitar sound never gets really heavy with distortion. A suitable comparison would be Oasis's "F**king in the Bushes". Nevertheless, the album rocks and Captain Beyond proves to have no shortage of ideas for the guitar. By the time the album has played through you'll be wondering what hit you.

As a heavy prog album it fits the bill nicely. I actually suspected this album would be on this site and did a search. I am glad to see others recognized it for what it is. Highly recommended to heavy prog and 70's hard rock fans.

A criminally-underrated hard rock outfit featuring former members of both Deep Purple and Iron Butterfly, Captain Beyond would never quite manage to rise above cult status during their initial five-year career despite issuing at least two excellent studio albums. Released in 1972, this self-titled debut effort fused energetic hard- rock prowess and bluesy elements with subtle progressive textures and ex-Deep Purple frontman Rod Evans powerful vocals, creating a dense sound that falls somewhere between Led Zeppelin and Iron Butterfly. With the psychedelic ingredients replaced by melodic guitars and deceptively-intricate rhythms, 'Captain Beyond' remarkably captures the best of several musical worlds, coming off like some kind of prog-tinged proto-metal 1970's rock hybrid that should have been ripe for North American rock radio. For reasons that remain unclear, however, neither this first album or the superior, and overtly-progressive follow-up 'Sufficiently Breathlerss' captured the imaginations of the wider record-purchasing public, the group having to make do with minor- league rock 'n' roll status despite their impressive major-league sound. Both albums are highly recommended for those who enjoy the slightly heavier side of 1970's progressive rock, with this slickly-produced and highly- accomplished album featuring such toe-tapping nuggets as the groove-packed opener 'Dancing Madly Backwards', the catchy rocker 'Raging River Of Fear', the warm melodic strains of 'Thousand Days Of Yesterday' and the catatonic riff-prog of the gutsy 'Frozen Over'. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

Captain Beyond's self-titled album combines hard rock heroics with prog-derived song suite structures to offer up a memorable trip. With Rod Evans adding a quintessentially hard rock voice to proceedings and Larry Reinhardt delivering a similarly muscular performance, this certainly isn't one of the more delicate or pretty prog albums of the 1970s, but it does deserve to sit alongside the early Queen albums as a good example of how prog song structures can rock with the best of them.

The album was dedicated to the late Duane Allman, who had helped convince Capricorn Records to take on the supergroup, and there's definitely a certain bluesiness to the riffing here and there - to the point where I detect a hint of Jimi Hendrix's Manic Depression in Raging River of Fear. If you wanted to hear what Hendrix, Allman Brothers, or Cream would have sounded like had they turned their music in a proggier direction - or what would have happened had Deep Purple listened to more jazz fusion - this album might just answer that question.

A perfectly decent slab of guitar-driven, adventurous, 70s hard rock, but not enough of anything else.

Riff oriented, up-tempo, slightly murky and gritty hard 'n' heavy music like this with infectious grooves and a bluesy backbone isn't hard to find or imagine. And that's always a bit of a let down when listening to Captain Beyond's debut. You've heard things like this before. In itself that's not a bad thing, but Captain Beyond never really breaks free from the mould enough to make this a memorable disc.

Sure, the power, directness and instrumental aggression here stand out and feel like refreshing kicks in the butt in comparison to similar acts of the time. Bursting with energy, the band revels in punchy, bouncy riff fests and quick, short shifts in direction in melody or rhythm. With a decently engaging rhythm section and the visceral muscle to back it all up, the menacing rumble almost reaches the level of Black Sabbath now and then. Overall, it's a brighter, friskier and livelier journey. The music never stands still, with little room for breathers among the thirteen tracks. But yes, there's still that tendency to revert back to type in bar room brawl-ish, bluesy, hard rock clichés now and then. Disappointing. The best bits tend to be fast and direct barrages of nastier unpredictable riffs or slightly jazzy, busy sections dominated by repetitive and fiery guitar motifs and an enticingly spontaneous rhythmic framework. And while youthful, sprightly hard rock energy dominates, there are a few nice, but not spectacular, acoustic moments around and even touches of psychedelia and space rock to liven up the proceedings. However, most of the the bits that divert from the disciplined and tight rock onslaught are never really expanded or developed upon, serving as ornament rather than truly integrated bits. There is a slight haziness and will to build from repetition that I rather like. A spacier, more textured and dynamic side of the band that never really is brought to the front. In general it is killed off by the restless nature and relentless drive forwards before anything nuanced, layered or dynamic is allowed to take place.

You may love this album for its compact, energetic vitality, but my enjoyment is mired by it. Focus, drive and compact energy might leave you breathless for a while, but after a while Captain Beyond feels rather flat and limited by it. Things just flutter by in quick succession, eagerly hoping you'll enjoy the presentation more than the content.

Initially dazzling, occasionally a blast, regularly a bit of a disappointment.

2 stars.

//LinusW

Do you remember the first lead singer of Deep Purple? Rod Evans, after leaving the band formed Captain Beyond with former guitarists of Iron Butterfly, Larry Reinhardt and Lee Dorman and former Johnny Winter's drummer Bobby Caldwell. Together they managed to put together a band that could sound much in the vein of Deep Purple, heavy Led Zeppelin or psychedelic Pink Floyd. the first self titled album is a good effort and for those lovers of classic rock, it is widely recommended. Even though it doesn't reach the top albums of its time, it is a cult album that now has become a jewel.

Well, I have to admit that I only knew the music of this band only sometime five years ago when a friend of mine indicated that he has the CD of this album. When I listened to this one, I did not try to push or relate very hard with who's who of the band members even though my friend told me that he had this album due to somehow related to Deep Purple as Rod Evans was here. I tried to spin the album as objective as possible without any preconceived mind about what style of music they play or they should play. The result was a great experience.

First off, I had a feeling about vintage sounds the band play along the way through the tracks presented at the track list. My first reaction, the guitar playing is marvelous and admire it. It's not something compared to how Ritchie Blackmore or Jimmy Page play but to me the guitar playing is something that really sound raw with minimum effects such as baby cry and many guitar fills played around the tracks. The track duration is basically short with some of them only one minute more. However the flow of tracks are really nice and I got no trouble at all listening to the album in its entirety. Opened with some sort of raw drumming the "Dancing madly backwards (on a sea of air)" (4:02) moves beautifully with excellent vocal line by Rod Evans. The music is dynamic and relatively fast tempo and then continue to second track "Armworth" (1:48) that serves as a bridge to the next "Myopic void" (3:30) smoothly.

"Mesmerization eclipse" (3:48) is another rock outfit that impresses me in its dynamic and relatively fast tempo. It continues to "Raging river of fear" (3:51) neatly with good transition. While "Thousand days of yesterday (intro)" (1:19) is ambient in style, it then moves beautifully to a dynamic "Frozen over" (3:46) with energetic guitar and vocal line combined with inventive drumming.

Composition-wise, all tracks are excellent and different than typical hard rock music as they impose also some psychedelic style in the music. The melody is basically standard with not so much memorable pieces but all of them lumped together with excellent harmonies stemming from instruments played by the musicians involved. I fail to identify tracks that become my favorites. The reason is simple: this is the kind of album that must be enjoyed in its entirety - so it's hard to identify which tracks are best. I just enjoy the flow of music ...and it's excellent!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Enticing.

I snubbed many bands, thinking they were just a poor ersatz of their past glory and again I was proved wrong. Captain Beyond is not a leftover of Deep Purple and Iron Butterfly but indeed closer to a supergroup. And a convincing one at that.

Trippy many times with success, catchy, ballzy sound and stellar vocals, Captain Beyond reminds me of a young band that did stepped aside of the commercial march: Queens of the Stone Age. If you listen carefully, you will hear many things that (perhaps) inspired Josh Homme like the vocal arrangements and the crazy riffing.

It's like expelled tribe members of Survivor formed a band and surpassed themselves!

Captain Beyond is the ultimate in hard rock meets space rock meets obscurity!

Everything about the band and album has been covered in previous reviews, so I'll go personal. I don't usually ever go for the heavy guitar stuff, I'm way more into pastoral prog and electronics. I passed the heavy metal phase at 14. This isn't exactly heavy metal, but its heavier than my norm. I wish I could go back in time and replace this with all the ACDC and Ozzy dreck that was blasted in high school. If I have a few brews nowadays, this is always in the player.

Captain Beyond is for me like surfing the perfect wave. The first two tracks are the get off, the second half of the third track myopic void is where the wave starts to crest. I can't feel nothing bookends the end of the ride, and you wish to replicate the experience immediately.

Stoning beyond our galaxy

Consider the musical universe of the 70's. If HAWKWIND was the stoner captain in our Milky Way, CAPTAIN BEYOND was another one, however clearly navigating through a different galaxy. Where do those space corsairs comes from? This obscure band is in fact a supergroup composed of former members of well-known prestigious formations: ex-DEEP PURPLE's vocalist Rod Evans, ex-IRON BUTTERFLY's guitarist Larry Reinhardt and bassist Lee Dorman and ex-Johnny WINTER's drummer Bobby Caldwell. So is this another hard-blues formation? A pale copy of the aforementioned bands? Not at all.

CAPTAIN BEYOND's eponymous debut really is an unique mixture of hard/heavy riffs with space/psychedelic/acid rock elements. Is it progressive? Yes, in a sense that this album is more a patchwork than a collection of songs. The music is unpredictable, evolving, moving, as if the CAPTAIN was constantly re-adapting the trajectory of his ship through the unexpected turbulences of the cosmic void. Furthermore, the record is catchy, accessible and avoids being repetitive or messy. The tracks are full of unusual changes and breaks, years before RUSH's proto-prog-metal. This is no touristic stationary cruising, prepare to be surprised. There are signs that do not lie: the original cover art was in 3D. Fasten your seatbelts, an epic journey through undiscovered stellar systems awaits you...

Rather than 13 tracks, the disc should been rather seen as composed of 3 mini-epics plus 2 songs. The first 3 tracks form the first mini-epic, lasting 9 minutes. The take-off is immediate with the heavy "Dancing Madly Backwards", its acceleration and solo will send you directly beyond our galaxy through a wormhole to an unknown destination. Mindblowing! The floating syncoped "Armworth" symbolizes the arrival, introducing the calm and ambient "Myopic Void". You can now rest and admire the stars. Don't relax too much though, the ship re-accelerates to speed of light for a boosted-up reprise of "Armworth"'s theme. The finale is a genuine sonic deflagration. Simply great! One of the best space heavy rocks from the 70's! The aggressive "Mesmerization Eclipse" is a very nice hard rock with many rhythm changes, while "Raging River Of Fear" sounds like DEEP PURPLE on serious acids. It even includes a small jazz-rock interlude.

The next 3 tracks are the second 9 minutes long mini-epic. Don't rely on the acoustic introduction "Thousand Days Of Yesterdays (Intro)", "Frozen Over" is a evolving black hole that gets as thrilling as RUSH's "Cygnus X-1", years ahead! The surprising reprise is terrific! "Thousand Days Of Yesterdays (Time since come and gone)" concludes on a lighter SANTANA-like tone. The last 5 tracks from the third 10 minutes suite. Starting as a cool hard rock, "I Can't Feel Nothin' (Part 1)" turns out to be pretty ferocious, until "As The Moon Speaks (To The Waves Of The Sea)" arrives as a welcomed pause when you can peacefully admire star systems at the window... However, the journey is not over yet. The (very) short raging "Astral Lady" unveils a beautiful solo on "As The Moon Speaks (Return)" and prepares the reprise "I Can't Feel Nothin' (Part 2)". As you may now expect, the finale is once again worthy of its predecessors. Blimey!

What a pretty impressive journey beyond the stars! "Captain Beyond" is a little spatial treasure containing lots of gems. The quality is constant and the interest maintained intact through the many unexpected changes and the surprise factor is always there, even after several listens. Gorgeous riffs, spacey moments, Rod Evans' rock'n'roll crooner accents and Bobby Caldwell's original rhythms bring the final touches making this album quite special.

CAPTAIN BEYOND's self-titled debut is typically what astrophysicists call a singularity: unique and uncategorizeable. A sonic meteorite or a comet only visible once per century, carrying the listener among several musical stellar systems. The band already exposes innovative ideas and their own identity here. An essential trip for 70's hard/heavy/stoner/space rock lovers! Don't miss the spaceship!

The singularity notion also has its drawbacks: the next albums will unfortunately not be as inspired and breathtaking, the musicians themselves looking like they've lost the coordinates of this extraterrestrial music...

Captain Beyond - st (1972)

I was wondering what I myself had written about this stand-out record and I found that I never actually wrote a review about the Captain Beyond debut. A shame, because in the beginning it was one of my great inspirations for my own band (along with May Blitz, Budgie and others).

For legal reasons the songwriting of the album was contributed to singer Rod Evens (ex-Deep Purple) and the excellent drummer Bobby Caldwell (ex-Johny Winter). Guitar player Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt (ex-Iron Butterfly) who obviously wrote a lot of riffs here wasn't mentioned as co-writer because of legal issues. Lee Dorman (also ex-Iron Butterfly) plays bass.

This is actually one of the few progressive rock records that actually rocks! It has power, ingenuity, the wild vibe and yet has that obscure collectible feel to it. Furthermore, the hard rock elements are firmly rooted in American rock - not British at all. It is actually quite strange why this record didn't receive more appraisal at its time. Perhaps the record was to intelligent for rock listeners and too energetic/punchy for progressive rock listeners. Perhaps because of the overly progressive songtitels and not so catchy lyrics. I would have to press myself to remember the lyrics of one single refrain now I think of it. It matters not. The endless stream of original riffs and rhythms, sometimes in odd signatures, without loosing the wild Hendrix feel is a real winner here. Furthermore one can find musical elements that clearly resemble stoner rock that would appear in the nineties. Together with some eclectic prog (metal King Crimson comes to mind) and some space-rock moments this is a complete eclectic work of art that fails to fit in any category.

My only complaint being the production - which lacks a clear low end (bass) - this is an almost perfect record. Exciting and innovative. Five stars. Must have if you like hard rock, heavy prog, heavy psych and seventies progressive gems in general.

Here goes a rather brief review of a stupendous heavy prog album:

I listened to this album about a month ago, after not listening to it for a while, and as I listened I just was floored how good it was. Featuring former Iron Butterfly members and ex-frontman of Deep Purple Rod Evans, this was supergroup of sorts. The formula of hard rock and progressive rock on their debut predates Rush's (very non-prog) debut by 2 years! Add some Floydian psychedelic flavor and you get one hell of an album.

When looking at the number of tracks one might get the impression that it just has several short songs - that is misleading. Most of the tracks blend together as a continuing song, and various themes are revisited throughout the album. And, of course, the album rocks. Why this band did not reach a greater audience I don't know, but anyone interested in the heavy prog sub-genre should own this album. It is spectacular. 5 stars.