THE COLLECTORS

Items ordered by ending time | Showing only 100
Show all THE COLLECTORS The Collectors items on eBay

Visit eBay search:'prog rock' for items
Sell your THE COLLECTORS items on eBay !

No release results - showing artist results instead

Sort: Recent best-seller | Results cached

Visit Amazon tag:'Progressive Rock' for more prog rock

4,5 stars really!!!

Behind this superb Art Nouveau artwork sleeve is hiding one of the true, hidden and forgotten gems of Canada. To achieve this kind of perfection as a first try, back in the late 60's is simply astounding (the only had a few singles beforehand) and unfortunately all too rare. Bill Henderson and Claire Lawrence (the main core of the group) make a fantastic songwriting partnership that will last a few albums, and even if not perfect,

Right from the start , guys know how to bait a discerning proghead, by giving us a taste of what is to come without revealing how the main course with the opening (but rather light ) What Is Love and then plunging into serious business with She, a real feast for vocal harmonies; But they are still teasing us (especially with that flute around the end), but the wait is over; Everything we suspected in the first two songs get confirmation with Howard Christian's Older, loaded with drama, suspense and that typical late 60's flavour when everything was still to be done musically, artistically, socially, sexually, and generally progressive-wise. A full blown epic in just five min, even if the superb vocals account for roughly 50% of the spine chills; Lydia Purple is more popish, just to give us a break, but then comes the first nail in your coffin, One Act Play. Somehow not far away from very cheesy moments of Moody Blues or Rare Bird's vocal orgies, without Mellotrons, these guys bring you to ecstasy without any gadgets.

But all of that you have heard so far was simply foreplay, just getting your ears/appetite warmed-up for the main orgy: the 19 min+ What Love where not one single second is wasted in self-indulging solos (as was the craze back then): no we are dealing with an epic that could've been divided into multi-movement suite (like Supper or even contemporary Procol Harum's In Twas Held In I - if they even knew it was hip to do such a thing) and outside a few moments that clearly outline we are in 68, this is one of the earliest prog epics. These guys are not content to rivet you to your seat, they are holding you still so they are driving nails into your coffin and every minute going by is sealing your fate. Don't even think for a second they are taking the easy road either, a round the 1§ min mark, they drive a spike right through heart, another through your brains and the last one right in your genitals. A slight flute warns you that you have reached paradise. This record might just drive this atheist to heaven!!!!!!!

Need I say more??????????????????????????????????????

Actually, yes!!! The record company says New Vibrations From Canada on the back sleeve, but when some almost 30 years later, you listen to this record, WOW!!! They are still brand new vibrations.

The Collectors - st (1968) * review #300 celebration! *

The Collectors came as a surprise for me, the record was given to me and it was said to be 'very good'. Now, there are many good very good records from '68, but there aren't many that can really be called progressive. This remarkable album has a full-blown progressive vision with many inventive ideas and breakthroughs. Of course, Zappa had already done crazy stuff, The United States of America would release there perhaps even better debut, The Doors had done some ground-braking work in '67 and King Crimson was almost ready to go in the studio, but still I find this album a very rewarding achievement for it's year of release.

So, what's so special about this record from Canadian soil?

It has superb song-writing with intelligent use of unusual chord progressions, it has an adventurious (as in the better sympho-prog) sound and it has an epic with of 19 minutes which shows the boundaries of what is possible (at the time). All this sounds very seventies-like, but the sound is clearly that from a sixties beat-band/psychedelic-band on fire. Perhaps a bit like the Beatles, some Doors, yet different. The vocals are amazing. Lead vocalist Howie Vickie has this huge voice, at times reminding me of Jim Morrison in his use. The back-up vocals are brilliant and harmonically challenging. For those who liked the Beach Boys, this is even better.

1. What Is love (3:45) The opening track is a peaceful introduction of what's to come. Some important elements of the epic on side two (with almost the same title) are played. Still this short track has a sympathetic nature.

2. She (Will Of The Wisp) (3:45) This is were the progginess begins. This is a very adventerious song with an up-tempo sound. The melodies are inventive and the vocals are amazing. The heavy acoustic guitars sound great and the rhythmical developments are refreshing and psychedelic.

3. Howard Christian's Older (5:10) This song has a folk-approach with a nice acoustic intro. The vocals tell a story about a very special boy with mysterious powers. The song develops in a rock-song with fierce vocals and a mystical sound. The melodies of the vocals are brilliant, unexpected notes over already special chords. Actually, this song is quite psychedelic and the ending is strange.

4. Lydia Purple (2:45) This song also has a folky intro (with a flute) and playful guitar/vocals theme. Extremely catchy, very nice psychedelics from the sixties. The second voice is magical on the second couplet. In the middle of the song there are some more folky moments with a string-section and some flutes. The third couplet also has a third voice which is utterly brilliant.

5. One Act Play (3:40) Perhaps my favorite. This graveyard type ballad with it's dark and serious mood is just amazing. The composition is among the best of every song written in the sixties. The many chord-progressions that all have an impact combined with these spooky vocals are very effective. So, ever wanted to listen to doom-psychedelics from the sixties?

6. What Love (19:15) One of the few full-blown epics of '68. More daring than Procol Harum's In Held was I, The Collectors explore a lot of moods and atmospheres. The opening section introduces the question 'What is this Love?'. No emphasis on romanticism, but an almost desperate question. After this the song develops into a church-like pastoral moment with nice combined vocal efforts. Later in the song moments of serious aggression, psychedelics and avant-garde are apparent. Though it's a strong epic, the ending section could have been a bit more substantial. A conclusive (and perhaps melodic) ending-section could have made it even better.

Conclusion. I love these early albums that are so expressive and ground-braking. This is an album that should have been far more influential then it was. This is a record that should have a place in all our collections, it's not just a collector's item. The song-writing is monumental and bombastic and the epic on side two is indeed very brave with it's moments of extreme aggression. Four and a halve stars would be appropriate, but since Sean Trane also came to this conclusion and gave four, I'll compensate by giving five stars. Ah, what the heck - this is a masterpiece! Recommended to every-one interested in psychedelic rock, early progressive rock and the development of the genre itself. Furthermore this is one of the most important Canadian releases of the sixties.

The Collectors' self-titled debut album shows a fine command of psychedelic rock and pop styles of the time. The best side is actually the first side, which offers a brace of small but perfectly formed psych-turning-to-prog songs with, at points, really interesting lyrics and structures (see, for instance, Howard Christian's Older). The side two epic, What Love, starts off strong but unfortunately loses steam, rapidly turning into a substandard imitation of Doors epics such as The End or When the Music's Over - whatever Howie Vickie's talents are, he's not Jim Morrison and it's rather embarrassing to listen to him trying to be Jim Morrison.