DR. SIEGEL'S FRIED EGG SHOOTING MACHINE

No matter how many times you listen to Flied Egg's first album `Dr Siegel's Fried Egg Shooting Machine' from 1972, you're still going to be scratching your head trying to figure out where even a second of the album hints that the band are from Japan! Not only do they sing in English (superbly too), but they draw a lot of influence from British bands like Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath, as well as the pop music from that country of the previous decade. Despite that, the endlessly eclectic album is full of colour and energy, and it's hard not to get caught up in the silly diversity of their musical split-personality approach!

The opening title track is a rollicking and up-tempo rocker, jammed full of guitar soloing that veers between acid-rock snarls and bluesy wailing, and little moments of the piece even hold touches of a Moody Blues-like sound. Both `Rolling Down The Broadway' and `Burning Fever' are ballsy hard-rock tunes that sound like the love child of Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep (plenty of strangled guitar soloing in the latter), and `I Love You' is one of the straighter moments, a lovingly sung romantic pop-ballad with elegant orchestration. The two part `Plastic Fantasy' is the highlight of the disc, the first half carried by gothic piano, spectral vocals and an unceasing presence of gloomy Hammond organ, but the final minutes divert into a dreamy pop reflection.

After a brief interlude of choral vocals, the band kick off their second side with punchy rocker `I'm Gonna See My Baby Tonight'. Much more interesting for proggies, instrumental `Oke-Kas' could give Triumvirat and Emerson, Lake & Palmer a run for their money, being a brash n' boisterous symphonic workout overloaded with ravishing piano and Hammond organ runs and endlessly thrashing drumming. `Someday' is another classy pop-ballad, and the eight minute Purple/Heep-esque closer `Guide Me To The Quietness' frequently reprises mud-thick Hammond organ blasts with bombastic and heavy guitar crashes, all wrapped around a doomed and melancholic heavy-hanging Ozzy Osbourne-like vocal.

`Dr Siegel...' is not particularly original, nor ever quite as psychedelic or mind-bending as the title and front cover art might suggest. But the LP is constantly joyful, loaded with tunes that often twist in unpredictable directions and vibrant playing. Frequent spins reveal how addictive and easy to enjoy it is, and if you like your prog melodic and mixed with cool Sixties sounds, you'll have a great time with this gently schizophrenic gem!

Three and a half stars.