ICARUS

Being a huge Marvel fan I had to check out this oddity from the early 70s by Icarus. It certainly did not disappoint and gets better as it goes along. It begins with strange chanting and chaotic jazzy time sigs and then progresses onto some inspired flute work especially notable on 'Fantastic Four' and 'Conan The Barbarian'. I love the psychedelic flavours on Thor that even becomes a blues rendition towards the end.

The lyrics are downright cheesy but non compromising as to the content. This could easily work as a soundtrack to Marvel comics, and of course it was a lawsuit waiting to happen, the band being slapped on the wrist for using the coveted superheroes. The album is a fun romp and never takes itself seriously but has some seriously brilliant musicianship. The saxophone solo in Thor is dynamic for instance.

'Black Panther' is rather a slinky thing like the super hero herself, and there is a great flute solo and jazzy vibe with lyrics such as, "watch out for the panther now!" and it carries on about the white man and the black man, in true 70s style.

'The Man Without Fear' features a cool rocking beat, and crazy lyrics, "he's the one they call the man without fear, when all the fight is over he's thinking of his lover only, wishing that he could see her, wanting to be just near her only, but he must hide his sorrow for he knows that tomorrow, lonely, for he must hide his sadness and fight the human madness." The flute solo follows again and it is as good as Ian Anderson. This is groovy and worth a listen.

'Silver Surfer' is a sheer psychedelic composition with phased vocals and a rather melancholy atmosphere. The musical swirls are real freak out. Lyrics are very cool, "Nothing can stop your cosmic power, even the super humans cower, Oh Silver Surfer, ride, ride, ride the sky." You have to admire the approach of this band who have decided to pay homage to Marvel without flinching in their tenacity.

'Things Thing' is a short thing. It kind of boogies along steadily like 12 bar blues with some raspy vocals, and the scorching sax solo is backed by wonderful tom toms. Some lyrics, "Deceiving so unbelieving" is all I can make out.

'Captain America' is a rocking loud blaster with some quirky lyrics, "who's the saviour of the nation?" and the flute solo once again similar to Jethro Tull style.

I have to say this is a real blast from the past that deserves recognition with a fresh approach and fun content. Perhaps it should be played in the background at comic conventions. Marvel should have looked at this as a wonderful advertisement for their product rather than demanding 50% of profits. The record was withdrawn and hardly saw the light of day, but hopefully now it will have some impact.

All members of Icarus were huge fans of Marvel Comics, hence the basic concept of this LP. As you can see from the track list, each title is based on a marvel character. Sadly at the time, the head of Marvel found out about this shortly before release and demanded a 50% share of the royalties. Instead of giving in, the record company simply withdrew the LP. Several copies of the originals slipped out of course. I'm glad to say one of these slipped and found it's way into my record collection, where it will be staying. Like most rarities of this nature, it has been re-issued. Not sure if Marvel are getting their cut this time round though. I'm sure they're making enough from the recent spate of films.

Anyway the music: As said before, pretty commercial sounding. No lengthy or wild instrumental passages at all here. What makes this one stand out is the sheer variety of compositions and brilliant songwriting. Tracks like 'Fantastic Four' and 'Thor' are pretty bluesy, 'Iron Man' veers into a Psych territory and 'Madam Masque' is a beautiful ballad. Due to the nature of the concept, it is simply great fun to listen to. All musicians are competant and the singer has a great voice.

As a result of the withdrawn LP, the band split. Yet another of these one album wonders. As usual leaving me thinking, imagine if they'd made more, we'll never know. Well worth a purchase!

PS - Fact - As read a few years ago in a reputable music mag, this band were the first to play in Romania. Apparently they went down a storm!