PSYCHEDELIC/SPACE ROCK

Well...you have to watch the video to learn about other related stories about this album and about some technical information about how it was recorded. I have to say that it is a good video documentary, but some of the information has been written before in some books about the band and also told in some interviews with some of the members of the band.

The "clean" version of "Not Now John" replaces the use of that "terrible" four letters word which stars with "F" in the phrase "F*** all that " with a more "simple" "Stuff all that" phrase to allow the song to be played without censorship in the radio. I don`t know if this song was played in the radio even with that change, but I can`t remember if it was played in the radio stations in my city. "The Final Cut" album is maybe the only album which was released under the PINK FLOYD`s name which is one of the most forgotten albums by some fans, being really more a solo album from Roger Waters than anything else, But in this song, the heaviest from that album, at least one could listen to David Gilmour sharing lead vocals with Roger Waters, and to some very good guitars by Gilmour plus some very good drums by Nick Mason. The rest of the album songs were sung by Waters alone and despite having some good playing from Gilmour and Mason still sounded more like songs from a Roger Waters`solo album. So, maybe the main reasons to release this song in the "A" side of this single was to give the impression that the band still was a "real" band and that it was the srongest song from that album. Maybe the female backing singers who only appeared in this song from that album were no credited in the back cover of that album to avoid their "shame" of being listened repeating that "terrible word which stars with F" several times during this song. But in this single version they sing along with Gilmour and Waters "Stuff all that" instead. Obviously all the vocals in this single version were edited a bit, or maybe all were re-recorded to change that part of the lyrics to "Stuff all that", and maybe I`m wrong but I also could listen to some mixing differences in comparison to the album`s version.

"The Hero`s Return (Parts 1 and 2)" in this single has an additional final verse which extends the lenght of the song for one more minute. This song is also a good song but again it sounds more like a song from a Roger Waters`s solo album. In this extended version the song sounds very well too.

For collectors and fans only.

Side A drones in and out with different sounds coming and going throughout. Again I can't really explain the appeal for me other than it is relaxing and it makes me feel good. I do think this band had a gift when it comes to Psychedelic music. You would think the start of Side B was a continuation of Side A until it becomes fuller after a couple of minutes. Check out the vocal expressions around 6 1/2 minutes and 8 minutes in as the mandolin and so much more continues. A calm before 9 minutes that really continues to the end as it becomes dark and at times haunting.

The second album begins with Side C and we get percussion-like sounds to start and it's not long before spacey synths drift in floating over top along with other sounds. The synths stop as it becomes quite sparse with not a lot going on until before 7 minutes when the sound seems to build slowly. Some interesting sounds that we haven't heard yet after 8 minutes that continue to change and evolve the rest of the way. Side D starts slowly with percussion before we get some electric violin and electronics. Sounds eventually echo and without question the violin is featured here more than on any other song. It just doesn't sound like a normal violin and that's pretty cool. Check out the sound before 16 minutes. Nice. This continues for some time then it calms down some with vocal expressions late.

Transcendent is a word that is associated with the music of this band a lot and I have to agree. A lot of German bands like CLUSTER and the like from the early seventies certainly come to mind when I listen to this recording.

As a fan of the 90s albums, it is very interesting to go back and check out these earlier ones. This debut album has that organic homemade feel to it and offers upbeat guitar riffs with spaced out trippy synths and a nice groovy bass. There is dub and lots of sound effects and is actually pretty impressive for a do-it-yourself project in the early 80s. I find this a decent listen but at this stage the band's more progressive tendencies hadn't quite blossomed yet. Their sound is very much in its infancy and it lacks the strange time signature and heaps of extra instruments that they would become famous for. The psytrtrance and ambient features are here but not as sophisticated as the albums beginning with their first fully developed album "Pungent Effulgent." However, despite not being the most intricate or developed of their releases, this is a fun little album that has a nice feel to it. ERPSONGS and the other five cassette-only albums have been released on CD and remastered and can all be found together in the recently re-issued box set "Vitamin Enhanced." 3.5 rounded down

Nimbus' music is pure vintage-sounding Finnish prog/psychedelia of the early seventies, though surely not in the high level of TP or Wigwam, and featuring less of jazziness or eclectism. The circumstances weren't very favourable, and despite some warm reception among critics and especially the home area, Nimbus were destined to stay in the margin and to wither away within two years. I believe with the support of Love Records they would have reached much further.

'Ennustus' (= Omen) is a deeply atmospheric and psychedelic song with speech-approaching vocals. On this and some other tracks the keyboard player Pekka Rautio's brother Matti adds his violin to a great effect. The complex melodies and time signatures are even more fascinating in the next song. The band's warm sound with plenty of organ and electric guitar is really nice, and the vocals of Pasi Saarelma are pleasant, comparable to the sentimental vocals of British SPRING (or a cross between Finnish singers Kirka and Petri Pettersson).

Unfortunately the album is only about 33 minutes, and the six songs are quite similar on the long run. They all sound pretty good, but the song-writing - which lacks strong melodies and really memorable highlights - starts to lose its power during the album. The composer is the guitarist Harri Suilamo except for the final song 'Yksinäinen purjehtija' (= Solitary yachtsman) which is written by Pekka Rautio. It's perhaps slightly brighter and livelier in mood.

The CD features two bonus tracks originating from a TV broadcast in January 1974, both written by Suilamo. 'Myrskyjen välillä' (= Between storms) is an average song in the same style, but 'Aamumaa' (= Morning land) is among the best ones. It's a small mystery why it was decided to be left out of the album. The sound quality is a bit poorer on these bonuses, but they are a valuable addition. 3½ stars for the well-done, informative CD edition! On a national scale it could be rounded to four, but internationally three will do.

The lastest album by the Finnish masters of instrumental Space Rock is bursting with energy, and the cover art indeed suits the music very well. The opener 'Ad Astra' starts with a massive- sounding intro riff and continues in the familiar OZRIC TENTACLES -reminding trippy heights. Their sound is however harder rocking than Ozrics, with a stronger rhythm section and louder guitars. The momentarily calmer part somewhere around the sixth minute comes very handy in order to make the music feel less monotonous speeding ahead in one determined direction.

'Cycloops' is similarily mostly in high tempo with some brief slow-downs. As if the intergalactic bus is changing its passengers along the way. I continue this image of mine for the final minutes: "This is your captain speaking. There's an asteroid rain ahead and we have to use an extra protection shield." Or maybe that's not so fitting image after all, since there's no majestic arrival in the end.

It's quite strange to see a Space Rock piece titled as 'Badding', which is the nickname of a bygone popular singer (mainly of the seventies, but his certain worn-out hits are still heavily played in the radio... You guess it, I really don't like Rauli "Badding" Somerjoki!). I fail to see a logical connection in the music. Anyway, this longest track (12:20) starts promisingly with jazzy flavours of electric piano and vibes / xylosynth. Also the bright guitar sound can be spotted at first, but later on the soundwall gets thicker. The vibes - or whatever - remain there nicely. In the halfway there's again a calmer moment, this time slightly longer and with delicate New Age -synths, but the return to the HAWKWIND-reminding normal (fast) speed nearly becomes monotonous by now.

Equally fast piece 'Endymion' (5:55 - the shortest one) has bitingly riffing guitars and the hectic, bubbling trippiness in the OZRIC style. 'Seirenes' (11:15) continues the album's overall mood without notable changes, that is, hectic, trippy and rather thick soundwall, with those familiar slower moments along the way.

I haven't yet listened to the whole HIDRIA output in order to evaluate Astronautica against it, but I have a feeling that in the earlier years there were more fresh and jazzy details in the playing. For example the flute is sadly missing here altogether. This album offers A class Space Rock on an international scale and is technically very solid, but maybe the sidesteps away from the usual formula are too scarce on the long run. Wider differences between tracks would give the album that final big enjoyment. I believe this won't become my favourite album by this band, but it's worth recommending nevertheless.

Even if this one was issued in Italy, ''Science & violence'' is totally sung in French by Carre and recalls the early roots of PINK FLOYD as well as some of the best French Prog bands of the 70's.The material is pretty original, combining the psychedelic influences with theatrical lyrics, rockin' grooves and some soaring keyboards in a charming package.Some of its parts resemble to PULSAR with spacey synthesizers, crying guitars and French narration, others are more raw and outdated with scratching electric riffs meeting lyrical acoustic textures.But there are also some evident ANGE hints in the album, the material of the flipside sounds like if pre-72' ANGE existed, characterized by soft electric moves and over-the-top singing lines, surrounded by mellow keyboard themes, building a slight psychedelic atmosphere, which will eventually explode into lovely, melodic soloing with a discreet symphonic base.There are also sporadic, harder runs with the guitars in evidence and an electrified atmosphere.

Marchal apparently prepared himself for a sophomore release, which was never issued, but a couple of tracks made it to the album's 97' reissue on Cosmorecord with irritating titles like ''Les Nazis font des betises''.The style has nothing to do with the sound on ''Science & violence'', this is Synth/New Wave music with synthetic beats and colorless vocals, extremerly monotonous and boring.

Ladich continued his career as a member of Janus, but Carre died prematurely in a motorcycle accident in 1994, in which Marchal was also involved.

Genuine Progressive Rock, mainly composed by the talented man named Jack Marchal.Quite close to a more energetic PULSAR with strong psychedelic and light symphonic underlines.Pretty rare yet warmly recommended stuff.

It is not a secret that I love Pink Floyd, that since I knew the progressive rock genre, I adopted them as my favourite band, and I've loved them ever since I discovered them. But my experience with the Barrett era came at least one year after I first listened to The Wall or Darkside, so it was a new concept to me, a psychedelic, crazier and more acid sound, which I will not lie, is not my favourite Pink Floyd phase, though I also like it a lot.

"See Emily Play" is a wonderful composition that remains in everyone's mind, this is like a hymn, like a precious piece of art for the devoted fans, and thought some might say its quality is way lower than songs such as "Echoes" or "Dogs", this piece has its own charm. A 3-minute psychedelic track with excellent keyboards working as background, while Syd's voice appears like a punch following the fast drums rhythm and the excellent interaction between guitar and bass. What a great song they did.

And to complete a pair, "Scarecrow" was included in this single album. This is a 2-minute song which is nice but not the best. Totally Barrett-esque of course, it is like a fairy tale with acid inside, so go figure.

This single is truly appreciated by fans and critics, so if for some strange reason you find a copy of it, do not hesitate and buy it.

I like it, mostly for Emily... but you know me, I rate singles or albums with less than 20 minutes length with 1 or 2 stars. This time I'll go for the latter.

Enjoy it!

Continuing their sombre and, at times, sinister vibe of their previous album 'Rotvälta', Swedish space rockers The Spacious Mind seem to dive even deeper into the black pool with 'Tonen'. Released a year later, the album consists of two long installations simply called part one and two. Listened to in their entirety on cd, the audience will have a hard time pinpointing the exact moment the waters shift as the music comes across as one brooding piece.

The very start of the album tips it's hat to the preceding release with those same Navajo rhythms, sounding like dry rattlesnake scales being shaken up inside a wasp's nest. It adds a raw and caveman feel to the proceedings, and when coupled together with the sluggish tempo of the guitars, the overall sonic impression is that of deep hypnotic atmospheres with the touch of an old Indian's heart.

Whereas 'Rotvälta' slowly but surely moved towards a rocking catharsis, that at the very end of the record seemed to cleanse the mystic and enigmatic irresolution of faux Navajo rhythms and howling guitar effects, on 'Tonen' something else stands in it's place. The catharsis is still there albeit in the form of a heartfelt and shimmering organ that suddenly injects itself a little over halfway into the second piece. Prior to this monumental moment of release, the music trots around in a hazy existence with wind-like guitar effects and a build up effect akin to a psychedelic take on Godspeed You! Black Emperor. This organ driven moment of release is just about as beautiful as a waterfall of sapphires, and the way it wraps it's lips around the somewhat unfriendly nature of it's surroundings is damn near a stroke of genius.

The downside to this album is that it can feel very long. 46 minutes of slowly unravelling music that only once in a while shows signs of progression. During the first side though maxing out somewhere over the stratosphere with a lightning bolt of cacophony, where drums and guitars run amok and create a blistering unmelodic jolt of noise and racket......yet that's about all you get from the rock palette. Everything else feels like a brooding gel of experimental bits that I personally get a kick out of, but I have to be in the mood for it. It's not an album you can throw on the stereo any time of the day and be bewildered in that oh so magical way. I can't imagine cooking dinner with it playing in the back - likewise do I sense a distinct difficulty in spinning this during some adult gymnastics - that is unless you've bagged one of those urban witches that spend most of their time barefooted at raves dancing like an ecstatic medicine man.

It worked just now though. I was engulfed by sunlight out on the patio with a clear view of dozens of bumblebees flying around like the drunk teddybears they really are. The music was deeply engaging and made me sweat even more than the white stinging rays, and after surrendering myself completely to the warm haze of the Indian ways - the lingering guitar winds and rattlesnake jitters - suddenly the organ jumped in and literally threw me thousands of feet in the air, with goosebumps ablazing and an orgasmic look on my face. 3.5 stars.