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Rare Bird - As Your Mind Flies By CD (album) cover

AS YOUR MIND FLIES BY

Rare Bird

 

Crossover Prog

3.98 | 214 ratings

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apps79
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
3 stars After the debut album Rare Bird's future looked brighter than ever.The single ''Sympathy'' became a major hit, it sold 500,000 copies in France along and over a million worldwide.The band rehearsed new material for a second album on Charisma, which was released in 1970 with the title ''As your mind flies by''.

With this work Rare Bird reached their progressive pinnacle and the major reason why was the presence of the massive epic ''Flight'' on the flipside.The opening one contains four shorter tunes of organ-based British Proto Prog mixed with Psychedelia in a typical period offering, based on harsh vocals, huge organ waves and lighter deliveries on piano and harsichord with a bit of ATOMIC ROOSTER punchy grooves and discreet Classical influences in some instrumental parts.They had captured the essence of the emerging Prog Rock movement, sounding a bit melodramatic and theatrical at moments. but the roots of the pieces are still on British organ-smashed Psychedelic Rock, lacking guitars, but delivering very powerful musicianship with the two keyboardists.''Flight'' is another story, this one sounds somewhere between QUATERMASS and THE NICE/E.L.P., featuring more than evident Classical orientations.Best comparison would be actually BEGGARS OPERA's first album, here the music is more melodic and certainly quite pompous with marching organ lines and multi-vocal parts and choirs.Atmospherically speaking the band took a huge step forward from the standard vibes of organ-driven Rock music, this opus contains great dramatic passages, some very dark instrumental segments and then going for more melodious/sentimental moments, the guys made a great job on tighten these links and ''Flight'' should be considered as a great attempt on early-70's Prog Rock excess.

Unfortunately the band didn't remain in the waters, especially after Graham Field left to form Fields.Three more albums with changing members followed, ''Epic forest'' showed the addition of funky rhythms within the Proto Prog content, while ''Somebody's watching'' (1973) and ''Born again'' (1974) had nothing to do with the old Rare Bird sound.Nic Potter of Van der Graaf Generator played both in ''Epic forest'' and ''Somebody's watching''.

The greatest work of Rare Bird, basically because of ''Flight'', a haunting example of keyboard-driven British Prog from the early-70's.Cool attempt on lyrical Psych/Proto-Symphonic Rock with some great keyboard parts.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

apps79 | 3/5 |

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