VANILLA FUDGE

The first side of the record contains three songs in a same set-up as the previous "Renaissance" record. The opening track -"Shotgun" is one of the most intense recordings of the 60' with furious guitars, keys and bass lines. This heavy opener contains beside the songstructure some nice solo's of especially Tim Bogert on the bass. "Some Velvet Morning" has a doomy atmosphere with a great dynamical change from heavy to sweet rock as we also saw often on Renaissance. It ends with industrial sounds before going further with "Where is Happiness", which is another psychedelic hardrock effort. This first side of the record will please fans of the previous "Renaissance" record by having the same dynamic approach and quality.

"Break song" is the name of the sidefilling jam. While having a psychedelic hardrock theme this is a loose song which already changes to standard bluesrock within the first minutes. Vince Martell shows quiet impressive guitar handling however and therefor I don't mind the litle complexity of the accompany. Bluesrock as a genre always had great jams and has a better live reputation then the progressive rock genre. The bass solo is almost even more impresssing then the guitar solo. Tim Bogert shows many experimental bass effects which does please me al lot. It is not always nice sounding, but I enjoy the strange sounds because of it's strangeness. The key solo of Mark Stein is good but not as stunning as the earlier solo's. The drum solo is nice, but -as is the case with most drum solo's- gets a bit booring after several listenings.

In total this album is a quiet steady effort and almost as good as the "Renaissance" record. Just excellent psychedelic hardrock!

Although the music on 1967's Vanilla Fudge was primarily straightforward organ-led psychedelic rock, the same can not be said for The Beat Goes On. There are flirtations with conventional music, like the piano intro "Sketch" and a few Beatles covers in rapid succession, but a majority of the music seems to have very little direction at all - a good portion of side two can hardly be called music, if truth be told. As cool as a sound collage of twentieth century political figures can be if done right, it seems out of place and overly long when it takes up eight minutes on a rock album. The Beat Goes On does have some cool musical ideas from time to time, but they rarely expand beyond interesting fragments; although Vanilla Fudge sticks to cover tracks once again, they never actually recreate any of the tracks they pay homage to. Instead, they briefly touch on numerous compositions, and the result is an incoherent mess.

It's actually a shame that the band never decided to flesh out any of the tunes here, as I think a heavy psychedelic version of "Fur Elise" or "Hound Dog" could have made for an entertaining listen. The Beat Goes On aims to transport the listener through history, musical and otherwise, and although this is a great concept, the execution is baffling. A directionless and confusing album, The Beat Goes On is a failed experiment in my book, and a disappointing followup to Vanilla Fudge's 1967 debut. This is only recommended to the most die-hard of psychedelic collectors - all others should proceed with extreme caution.

Musically, we're dealing with psychedelic rock that isn't too far away from what most bands in the genre were doing in 1966 and 1967. Although sidelong jams and increased experimentation hadn't yet become the norm, heavy use of the Hammond organ and Beatles-influenced vocal melodies are plentiful here; Vanilla Fudge were also at the forefront of early hard rock, and some of the organ sections here clearly paved the way for heavy acts like Deep Purple and Uriah Heep. Though I would not call Vanilla Fudge a terribly groundbreaking observation, it's easy to understand why this record was so influential as it solidified everything that early psychedelic rock was about.

As mentioned previously, all of the tracks on Vanilla Fudge are cover tunes. This is a bit of a turn-off for me (I typically like bands to write their own material), but it's clear that these guys put a lot of thought into the arrangements. Though the songs may be the same, Vanilla Fudge's renditions of these tracks sound entirely their own. Their take on The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" is a fine example of this, as is their interpretation of the Motown classic "You Keep Me Hangin' On". It's certainly interesting to hear all of these songs re-imagined in a psychedelic setting, but that's arguably all that it remains - a re-imagining. Especially over forty five years after its release, Vanilla Fudge doesn't sound terribly exciting or artistically ambitious. Unlike some other 1967 landmarks like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band or Absolutely Free that have grown with each passing year, Vanilla Fudge feels more like a relic from the psychedelic era than a truly timeless classic.

Of course, fans of psychedelic rock have probably owned this album decades before I wrote this review, but newer listeners of the genre are still advised to check it out. It may not strike me as anything terribly essential, but Vanilla Fudge is an influential release that encapsulates everything that one should expect from late sixties' psych. As a listener, however, I must admit that I was more than a little disappointed.

Vanilla Fudge have made a career out of re-interpreting other people's works. Seemingly, they have succeeded in creating a name by doing so. Honestly, it's hard to go wrong with re-heating some already familiar songs. For my part, I am not the least interested in that and over the years I've let go of their earlier releases, but treasuring this one as an exception.

Why? Simple. This album contains a live recording of a rare, original piece "Break Song", where for over 23 mins. the band chooses to stretch out in a bluesy tune. Every member gets to solo - and brilliantly, I may add!

"Break Song" broke new ground in Prog Rock here with perhaps the very first ever recorded bass solo using a distortion pedal, courtesy of Tim Bogert. Carmine Appice also shows what a great drummer can do when allowed to expand and the rest of the crew also shines.

Some people loathe this track, whereas this is the very Vanilla Fudge I would have liked to hear more of. Well, we are permitted to have different preferences, but "knocking" this piece doesn't appear to be reasonable to me.

Of some interest, later the rhythm section became part of CACTUS - a rather coarse Hard Rock band - where Bogert and Appice revisited fragments of what appeals to me in "Break Song", but never really came close to the delivery on "Near The Beginning". (Frankly, CACTUS is best to be left alone...!)

Equally, the formation of Beck, Bogert and Appice also failed to capture the real talent behind these very capable musicians. Were they overrated, or was it restrictions applied by the producer's? We may never know.

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

In 1968 hard-rock was in a childish fase. Just a few bands did experiment with heavy sounds like the Blue Cheer and this Vanilla Fudge. The Blue Cheer became a proto-type for metal (especially Black Sabath) and Vanilla Fudge for hard-rock. I quess the members of Deep Purple were so much impressed by this record they did not only copied Fudge's sound, but also this albumcover. If this record was called Vanilla Fudge in Rock everyone should have noticed the great resemblance of the great stone sculptures of the Fudges members and Deep Purple members!

Enough about the historical impact of this great record and let's talk about the music itself. The most songs start with silent, slightly psychedelic passages and then turn into hardrock monsters. The progression of the songs makes this music proto-prog, because of it's intellectual and emotional value. The heavy passages are as heavy as a musician can control it's instrument. Sometimes it is a bit chaotic, but it sounds really impressive. The sang is really convincing on this record and shows panic in the voice. The musicians all have a semi-free role: they constantly fit within the composition, but seem to have the freedom to have their own interpretation.

The compositions are strong. The music is dynamic with it's heavy and silent passages flowing easily into each other. The sang consist of different vocalists and high background vocals; using all possibilities to enhance the compositions. The total effect is quiet awesome. There is still one cover on this record: the Season of the Wich's original version is of Donovan. This version however is much creepier and may be the cover Vanilla Fudge did make.

This record is a must-have for everyone interested is hard-rock, the origin of hard-rock and protoprog. This is the perfect record showing how hard-rock was developed out of the psychedelic scene. This record is especially advised for fans of Deep Purple and Uriah Heep. Rating: 5/5 10/10 98/100

It begins with 'Ticket to ride', a slow organ grinder with very strong vocals, harmonies and constant guitar lead work. The lyrics are basically the same as The Beatles but this is psyched up to the max. It is a great version and especially the organ work of Mark Stein is phenomenal.

'People get ready' is a lengthy song, with gentle intro and some outlandish drumming from Carmine Appice. The shimmering Hammond suddenly stops as harmonies a capella come in. It sounds like a church service for a while. It is painfully slow but soon the wonderful 'She's not there' will start. The ominous organ is amazing, and it has a wonderful bassline from Tim Bogert. It is a different version but one that typifies the counter culture late 60s. This ends with a very slowed down psychedelic finale.

'Bang bang' has an extended freak out jam and then a weird chilling nursery rhyme of ring around the rosies, and a tisket a tasket. The organ gains volume and fades as a fade up of Vince Martell's guitar is heard. Stein's falsetto vocals are now the tune of the original 'Bang bang' but very slow and brooding. The rumbling Hammond is gloomy and so effective. The Hammond becomes more aggressive as the song picks up intensity.

'Illusions of my childhood - Part 1' intros the astonishing psychedelic 'You keep me hanging on' that begins with quavering organ and sitar like Indian guitar tones. A pummelling drum beat begins and then the quiet sustained organ. The vocals are passionate and wonderful harmonies augment the emotion. This was a soundtrack to the Vietnam War and the protest era. It is an important landmark of the psychedelic 60s and most people would remember this over any other Vanilla Fudge songs. It has many twists and turns. After the opening melodic verses and choruses there is a freak out of organ, guitar, percussion, and bass.

'Take me for a little while' follows an organ transition and this song is a moderate paced ballad. Stein's organ drones beneath as a pad. It is a nice peaceful love song to prepare for the mayhem to follow. Three Blind Mice plays as part of 'Illusions of my childhood - Part 3' and this is followed by a classic. 'Eleanor Rigby' is the final track and another Beatles cover done exceptionally well. It has a duration of 8:24 and really is full of inventive musicality. The rat-a-tat percussion signifies the war time, and low groaning music has an air of ominous fate about it. It builds to an intense rhythm, faster and faster until it breaks with a swishing organ sweep. Silence then until the gorgeous organ tones begin and join a very measured pace with Bogert's bass embellishments. The vocals begin well harmonised but still melancholy, slow verses with the same Beatles lyrics begin but the atmosphere is very downbeat and sad. At the end it seems to crash and burn but it is still wonderful music. This is an essential album as it ushered in progressive music styles and showed how to do covers, keeping the essence of the original but adding new flavours, altering its time signature, adding new passages of music, to enhance its beauty, and all with a psychedelic flair.

I believe this album is a mix of cover songs (including The Beatles very own Ticket To Ride and Eleanor Rigby) and own songs (?). Vanilla Fudge's version of Ticket To Ride, which opens this album, is pretty standard. Their version of Eleanor Rigby is radically different though and an aquired taste. Eleanor Rigby is also one of my alltime favorite songs (it is one of the best ever pieces of music written) and I have to admit I prefer the original version. What Vanilla Fudge has done with Eleanor Rigby and the other songs here is to introduce more soul and zest into the songs. They have added the Tamla Motown sound (the vocals) and some heavy organs. Both performed by Mark Stein. Which adds a heck of a lot to songs like Eleanor Rigby and You Keep Me Hanging On. The latter one is the best song on the album and a very powerful song which can be compared to Joe Cocker's version of With A Little Help From My Friends (Woodstock version). I believe this album was pretty revolutionary when released. Vanilla Fudge became a very big band at that time and it's drummer Carmine Appice have played with Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath and all the great bands from that time and to this date. I believe he is still touring with, among others, Vanilla Fudge.

This album is a bit of a shock to the system for most here. The sound and music is very much proto-prog and unique. Vanilla Fudge was an unique band and pioneers in their own right. The result of their work was among others; progressive rock. Just listen to this album and you will understand.

The quality of the music, when taken out of it's historical context, is very good. This album has it's flaws, but it still stands up to the scrutiny of 20/20 hindsights anno 2011. I happens to like this album when dusting it off (it was like a snow storm in my office). It is recommended to those who love the early sound of progressive rock. Those who also love heavy prog will find a friend in this album. The blueprint for heavy prog was also laid down on this album.

Good stuff !

3.5 stars