SMILE A WHILE

This has been featured on a number of ‘worst album cover’ lists over the years, and you can certainly see why. At least The Mothers of Invention had the decency to mostly cover themselves and restrict their photo to the chest up when they had a similar cover. I wonder if this is where the Go-Gos got the idea for their first album cover? One of these guys ended up in Guru Guru, another band known for tasteless album covers, which is not surprising I suppose.

The music is Canterbury, or at least it is as near as I can tell. Sort of a slightly-mad fusion kind of thing going on, which is largely how I hear Canterbury, so I suppose that fits. The musicians seem to have a sort of self-deprecating sense of humor, so I’ll give them credit for that.

According to the band’s notes they were previously known as Fashion Floyd as a sort of sick tribute to Pink Floyd, but changed their names, probably to avoid confusion (not!).

Nothing really to get excited about for the most part. “Bosco Biati WeiB Alles” features a drum solo, which is pretty weird for a fusion album. And the opening of “Snakeskin Tango” sounds like a singer whose crotch is caught in the mic stand grip. There are also a few live tracks which are comparatively more straightforward upbeat jazz with some pretty decent guitar work and a lot more vocals in a rather funky vein.

But overall this is clearly something that hasn’t held up well over time, and is probably best relegated to the collections of fans of the band (if there are any). And yes – I’ll admit I was only interested in this album to hear what kind of music would be covered by such a gaudy picture. Can’t say I’m overly surprised. Two stars.

peace