Pre-Revolution Psychedelic Rock from Iran: 1973–79

Hello All,

I checked for Kourosh Yaghmaei and found this older post from 2010 and couldn't add to it as it's closed.

2010 post: www.progarchives.com/Forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=60352&PID=3682123#3682123

3 years after the above post, Now-Again Records in Los Angeles, California, that reissues and manages a vast catalog of music from the 1950s with a focus on the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s, released high quality versions of Kourosh's psychedelic era, called "Back from the Brink". I really think it is worth checking and evaluating this again to be hopefully included in the website. The entire album is so beautiful. Specifically, I recommend the 2 tracks "Khaar" and "Mosafere Shar Baran"; but it has 30 tracks and there are more you can discover yourself. I listened to many many albums found here in Progarchives website, that are already included in the website, but some of them are not even close to this album or some of these tracks.

You can listen to the entire album here:

Excerpt from Wikipedia: His styles of music are a mixture of Persian traditional music and the protein 1970s rock influenced by bands and artists such as Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. Most of Yaghmaei's works used the Vox Continental. Yaghmaei has unique Iranian style of psychedelic rock and blues-rock music. He brought a lot of innovation to Iranian rock, using the keyboard as the rhythm of the song instead of the guitar is part of this innovation. Such as describing a melancholic picture, blues riffs, strings and analog synthesizer sounds make a feeling that settles in the heart. As the songs last for 6 to 8 minutes approximately, many progressive movements could easily be a part of the music. According to Iranian writer Ebrahim Nabavi, "Yaghmaei has had a profound impact on Psychedelic rock in Iran." Yaghmaei is known as the father of Iranian rock music because of his deep influence on Iranian rock music. "He was one of the people who was doing the Western-Eastern kind of hybrid music the right way," says Ashkan Kooshanejad, a British-Iranian composer.

Excerpt from Now-Again Records: is proud to present Back from the Brink, the only legitimately licensed collection of the godfather of Iranian psychedelic rock, Kourosh Yaghmaei. Kourosh Yaghmaei and his brothers Kamran and Kambiz were amongst the few inspired Iranian musicians determined to change Tehran’s musical landscape in the late 60’s and early 70’s. The trio, armed with rented, second-hand instruments and records by The Ventures, The Kinks, The Doors, merged Western garage rock, psychedelia and Iranian folkloric music to create a sound unlike anything that came before them. Later, inspired by the unlikely duo of Elton John and James Taylor, Kourosh’s music took a sophisticated turn, and he churned out funky, progressive rock that is as imminently enjoyable as it is impossible to categorize.

Rivertree wrote: both albums are an interesting listen for sure, vintage folk and psychedelia overall, rooted in Iranian musical tradition anyway, this does not fit our progressive rock scope

It is perhaps not as proggy, I mean not even comparable to some of the 70s gems !!! But, I am glad you guys found it enjoyable.  I did as well and ordered the vinyl immediately. It's ridiculously inexpensive for 30 hit songs from his 70s albums.  

^yep. exactly, it's not about being progressive as such, it's about fitting the progressive rock scope defined by the progarchives teams ...

As far as I can tell it depends on the mixture. If some tracks of the album are prog and some not it's hard to qulify the album as prog release. But if tracks belong to different prog sub-genres, it's the work of genre teams to decide.

I've listened to the album briefly and was not impressed. Probably because I don't understand lyrics or because I stuck to the 70s sound. And the album doesn't sound like prog to my ears.

But I like this video (you posted the link) a lot:

No matter that it's not rock. Thanks for sharing this!