PROTO-PROG

The Doors began with a meeting between Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek on Venice Beach, in Los Angeles. At the time, Manzarek was in a band called Rick And The Ravens with his brothers Rick and Jim, while Robby Krieger and John Densmore were playing with The Psychedelic Rangers. During the year of 1965, Densmore joined together with members of the Ravens and bass player Patty Sullivan and recorded a six-song demo, in September 1965. The demo was very pirated and since then circulated widely as a bootleg recording and finally appeared in full later, in 1997, in a collection of The Doors. That month the group recruited Robby Krieger and the final line up of The Doors was formed.

The Doors had a relatively short life due to the dead of Jim Morrison. During those years the band released six studio albums, their eponymous debut and "Strange Days", both in 1967, "Waiting For the Sun" in 1968, "The Soft Parade" in 1969, "Morrison Hotel" in 1970 and "L.A. Woman" in 1971, and only a live album "Absolutely Live" in 1970. However, the band did many live sets all over those years. Later, many of those live acts would be released in several formats. So, from those days we have an amount of live releases of those live sets. This is the case of this live album, "In Concert".

"In Concert" is a live album that was released in 1991. But, "In Concert" isn't a live album released from a single live set from the band. In reality, "In Concert" is comprised of live recordings that can previously be found on three other live albums from the band, "Absolutely Live", "Alive, She Cried" and "Live At The Bowl '68", with the exception of the last track of "In Concert", "The End", that wasn't unavailable until now on CD in The Doors live releases and that was taken from the live concert that was made at the Hollywood Bowl. So, "In Concert" is a live album that was recorded between 1968 and 1970 in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Copenhagen. Thus, the picture of the band's live work is still a bit disjointed because the uneven levels of inspiration achieved at various moments.

"In Concert" is a very extensive live album with 2 CD's with about 2 hours and 20 minutes long. It covers a significant part of their career. It has many of their most known tracks, such as, "Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)", "Backdoor Man", "When The Music's Over", "Break On Through (To The Other Side)", "Soul Kitchen", "Roadhouse Blues", "Light My Fire", "The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)", "Love Me Two Times", "Moonlight Drive" and "The End". Besides that, it has many other live parts with some very improvising parts, mainly a rare track, "The Celebration Of The Lizard". The CD 1 is exclusively filled with "Absolutely Live". It's the most consistent part on the set, and it almost specifically bypasses the band's most popular songs. It opens with a non-music track "House Announcer" that is nothing more than the presentation of the band. Than we have "Who Do You Love" that can keeps the flavor of the original song with some psychedelic declinations and highly electric turns. The medley of four songs with "Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)", "Back Door Man", "Love Hides" and "Five To One" is excellent. "Build Me A Woman" is a fairly standard blues. "When The Music's Over" follows the album's version pretty faithfully, but this an extended version. "Universal Mind" sounds much like most of "Morrison Hotel" material. "Petition The Lord With Prayer" and "Dead Cats, Dead Rats", are two short tracks with some vocal improvisations by Morrison. "Break On Through (To The Other Side)" is a great live version of the song. "The Celebration Of The Lizard" is a great piece originally planned for "Waiting For The Sun" that was never finished. "Soul Kitchen" is brilliantly chosen to end "Absolutely Live" and this CD. The CD 2 is less consistent. It opens with "Roadhouse Blues" one of their classic songs followed by "Gloria", a version of a Van Morrison's song. After that we have "Light My Fire", "You Make Me Real", "The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)" and "Love Me Two Times". "Light My Fire" is a landmark of the band, one of their most beloved. "You Make Me Real" is a nice song. "The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)" is a great song with recited lyrics. "Love Me Two Times" is a nice rock song with a blues' touch. All these tracks are good versions. "Little Red Rooster" is a version of a Willie Dixon's song. "Moonlight Drive", "Close To You" and "Unknown Soldier" represent also three nice live moments. The album and CD close with "The End". It's probably the most iconic piece of The Doors and the most progressive track ever made by the band too.

Conclusion: "In Concert" contains almost all of the material from the band's live releases, and can paints an accurate picture of the magic that these trailblazing iconoclasts were capable of making onstage. Free from the strictures of the recording studio, The Doors were able to stretch out both musically and conceptually, with some extended jams and Morrison's spontaneous poetics making once familiar songs into exciting new explorations. Once "In Concert" is a kind of a best off of three of their previous live albums, "Absolutely Live", "Alive, She Cried" and "Live At The Bowl '68", we can say this is a nice and cheap way to have that live stuff. It also can be a good introduction to the world of the band.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

DON'T DELAY!!! A barrage of Radio London adverts are coming your way! "Armenia City In The Sky", a concept I certainly haven't considered before, opens us up (and closes...) with a supposedly 'sonovox' vocal effect, one of a number of simultaneous wall-to-wall effects, including a back-tracked guitar melody at the end. John Entwistle, just one of the multi-instrumentalists present, plays the horns (here and throughout). Who knew this was so timely and specifically appropriate the sort of sound one might've heard for those most classic of radio ads? I mean, I didn't. "Heinz Baked Beans" poses a rather current-era-sounding question--and seemingly totally unrelated to its title-- 'What's the tea?' They don't skip a beat, and four times we get a rapido 'MORE MUSIC!' leading to the Folk Pop classic "Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand"; it's Simon-and-Garfunklesque (but more exciting and non-demestic, a la castanets?). Verily, people should know this one.

We get a style and lead-vox switch-up (Pete Townsend) on the really great "Odorono". It's some Power Pop Lite, k? Roger Daltrey then exchange vocals duty on "Tattoo", a [Who-specific]track[type] I feel must have influenced Yes to some degree. The Sunshine-Jangle of "Our Love Was" reveals some really spectacular psychedelia; very delicious to mine ears, and with a strikingly beautiful guitar solo. Overall, an expertly crafted tune. Next is a track which, by name alone, is so well-known, nay, so iconic, I actually might not've been able to reliably identify the band were you to ask me: "I Can See For Miles". But of course, hearing it, y'know, there's no mistaking this is L'Who, and part of that is the trademark BOOM from naughty-nun Keith Moon working behind the kit. Bolded this'n because, in its relatively experimental psychedelic display, it is technically proto-Prog in fine form. The cool Country Western advert is so charming hahaha. You TOO can 'turn into a Beast of a Man!' So funny, personally.

The cutesy "I Can't Reach You" is yet another lead by Townsend. Entwistle then takes up the charge, much to my surprise, on "Medac", yet another charmer (better than the one prior). I feel I can only think of him as singing "Boris the Spider" (Fake fans: please report) [like the Ringo of the group, but, no offense to the wonderful Starkey, far more talented]. "Relax" to follow is quite lovely--I did chuckle to myself at the boyish chirp from again-lead vocalist Petey--and I think interesting in the use of an organ, another contribution from Mr. Entwistle. The keyboard role then continueth next... I sort of see why, but I don't recall the unusual Chamber Pop of "Silas Stingy". Great ideas herein, but other groups at the time and thereafter sonically succeeded far more. Then we get, in stark (quieted) juxtaposition, the classically-informed folksy nicety of "Sunrise", the softest entry as one of the album highlights for me. And here we are, the final statement of the (original) LP, "Rael [1]" . Roger Daltrey is the obvious choice for front man, as many of us know; in his sweetest contributions he still shows great power. Yet another iconic force from the most excellent The Who; another, more sure entry in Proto-Prog should-hears. The last minute+ has so much to offer your ears.

Again I repeat, especially to those of you in the back, DON'T DELAY! THE WHO SELL OUT TODAY! Peace be with you and yours.

Finally, returning a week later, here are my recommends from the bonus material (1995 version): "Melancholia" (slick, dark and then moody Garage-Psych), "Someone's Coming" (playful Pop Rock), "Early Morning Cold Taxi" (some great early Power Pop), "Hall of the Mountain King" (a fun, truly Proto-Prog rendition; the second moment after "Melancholia" that reminded me of early Pink Floyd), "Mary Anne With the Shakey Hand" (seriously so charming version with a very prominent organ, and it's a tad longer than the album version, replete with key change), "Glow Girl" (just some good ol' fashioned The Who The Whoin')

The year 1971 launched the band into instant success with the debut of its one and only self-titled album that featured eight tracks of early Spanish psych and prog as well as performing at the Granollers Progressive Music Festival where they immediately made a huge impression as Spain hadn't quite latched onto the early sounds of progressive rock brewing in the UK, Germany and abroad. The members of PAN & REGALIZ on the other hand clearly had their hands on the pulse of the international market as they eschewed crafting lyrics in their native Catalan or even Spanish and rather performed in English. Likewise the band emulated the British scene with clear references to Jethro Tull and early Pink Floyd as well as finding affinity with the early German Krautrock scene and its psychedelic excesses.

Although this album only ran for about 30 1/2 minutes it displays an interesting contrast between the A side of the original album and the B side. Side One featured the band's most accessible sounds including the first single "Dead Of Love" all of which exemplified the affinity of Jethro Tull influences with the early blues rock of "This Was" and the guitar and flute soloing trade offs as heard on albums like "Stand Up" and "Benefit" however PAN & REGALIZ wasn't a clone and made these styles their very own with highly varied compositions and a more psychedelic and jazzy touch. The first side culminates with the flute-laden instrumental "Thinking In Mary" which showcased the band's unique rhythmic style as well as use of acoustic guitars and soloing improvisation.

The second side of the album is something else altogether with each track going down completely different roads. The unexpected "A Song For The Friends" takes a journey back to the days of the music hall which features a cabaret piano performances with a rather theatrical foxtrot dance performance which was popular in the 1930s. Then with "When You Are So Bringdown" the band jumps back into blues rock with a bit of Jimi Hendrix swagger. The true progressive psychedelic trip of the album though comes with "Today Is Raining" which immediately exudes an Amon Duul II meets Guru Guru reckless abandon for convention and immediately finds a throbbing bass groove accompanied by trippy organs, spastic drumming and even a jew's harp! Even the vocals display a rather drugged out persona reminding of Can. The music still implements bluesy guitar licks and leads while the cyclical loop style of Krautrock propels the track into a sprawling procession of strange motifs laced with sound effects and detached escapist cosmic unorthodoxies. The track really floats off into space towards the end.

The album ends with the more standard "I Can Fly" which also served as the title of the album when it was reissued on the Orange label in 1979 with a completely different track listing. This was the only reissue to feature this title and all others after reverted back to the eponymous original intention. This track is a nice little confidence booster with bouncy bass groove and psychedelic guitar and sound effects and is by far the most standard psychedelic rock track on the album. One of the coolest tracks on the album as well.

Later reissues also included the pop single "Magic Colors" which features a funky guitar riff and sounds more like a British psych pop hit from around 1968 or some of the crossover prog of The Moody Blues only with a more energetic display of guitar heft and a healthy dose of the Tull-ish flute that dominates the album's content. Overall PAN & REGALIZ may have displayed its influences clearly on its sleeve and doesn't sound even remotely Spansih in any possible way but still managed to emulate the English and German scenes without sounding overly much like the influences they were worshipping. Many may find this album to be lopsided and uneven or even unfocused but i tend to love these kind of albums that offer a wider display of a band's creativity and given that the band only release one album they made it count. While the band was successful it pretty much ended when bassist Artur Domingo decided to join the band Evolution and drummer Pedro van Eeckout followed stuff and joined Jarka. París tried in vein to keep the band going but finally called it quits in 1973.

The band's debut TANGERINE DREAM was released in 1967 and followed the first single "Flight From Ashiya" which lamented about an impending plane crash thus showcasing the band's propensity for whimsical and unconventional lyrics accompanied by typical 60s psychedelic rock sounds. Despite emerging from England, KALEIDOSCOPE sounded more in tune with the California Haight-Ashbury scene. Ironically a much more famous band from Germany would adopt the name of the album and become one of the pioneers of electronic music but that's another story altogether!

This album of 11 tracks featured the earliest sounds of the psychedelic pop scene with jangly Byrds-like guitar work, catchy pop hooks in the vein of The Beatles or The Pretty Things and an overall beat and garage rock sound structure. Devoid of many psychedelic effects or even significant trippy keyboard / organ contributions the album doesn't sound as psychedelic as the cover leads us to believe. The opening "Kaleidoscope" ushers in the clear focus on pop hooks above all else. Sounding like a more refined version of The Monkees in many ways, the track features the hallmark vocal harmony effect that the 60s offered in abundance along with a busy piano and surf rock style of drumming along with the jangle guitar effects. The second track "Please Excuse My Face" shifts more to a Kingston Trio type of folk only with silly lyrics.

The tracks do display a bit of variety with "Dive Into Yesterday" propelling more into rock territory sounding a bit like something The Pretty Things would prefect on their masterpiece "SF Sorrow" so it's very likely KALEIDOSCOPE provided some inspiration in that band going the direction they did. "Mr Small, The Watch Repairer Man" adopts a clear influence from The Who's early albums however "Flight From Ashiya" takes on a darker and more menacing tone. Once again a precursor to The Pretty Things style. The other standouts are the track "A Lesson, Perhaps" which features only an acoustic classical guitar and spoken narrative whereas the closing "The Sky Children" showcases a more nuanced 8-minute dreamy epic tale that epitomizes the psychedelic rock style of the era.

While many tout TANGERINE DREAM as one of the quintessential psychedelic masterpieces of the era, i have to admit that i really don't get all the hype. Sure it's a nice pleasant album with memorable pop-infused hooks and decent performances. It's also a clear indicator of the psychedelic pop that would evolve in the next couple of years but at the same time it's a bit cliche and pales in comparison to what The Beatles and Pink Floyd were cranking out the same year. Even the works of Donovan, The Beach Boys, Procol Harum, The Left Banke and even The Monkees had crafted beautiful psychedelic albums by 1967. In the big scheme of things i find KALEIDOSCOPE's debut album TANGERINE DREAM to be somewhat down the list of my top 60s psych pop releases but it certainly has its following and is indeed a pleasant listening experience. Just don't expect to be blown away. This is no "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club" or even "The Piper Of Dawn's Gate."

3.5 rounded down

We start off with the title track - a piercing guitar sound, shouted vocals and a brass interlude. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a smash hit and a punch straight to the solar for anyone who thought the "bugs" had already said their piece to rock noise once and for all. The obligatory track, in which the dominant Lennon/McCartney duo let the "battered" Ringo behind the microphone, was tackled by the aforementioned With a Little Help from His Friends and it worked. The affectionate undertone that runs through the whole tune was ear-pleasingly fitting. While Alice crawls down the depths of the rabbit hole, her twin aims (quite possibly boosted by some hallucinogens) for the very heavens in the exultant chorus of the psychedelic Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. And it gets even better - the typically Beatles-esque melody in Getting Better has come up with a hell of a tune that you won't get out of your head for a long time. The brooding Fixing a Hole adds weird pseudo-classical titles to the psychedelia party, not exactly my cup of tea. On the other side, She's Leaving Home (the Eleanor Rigby inspiration from the previous Revolver record seems more than obvious here to me) wrings a proper emotional cocktail out of all those strings and melodies.

Here we go again - the Beetles apparently liked the wave of "good time music" that swept through the United Kingdom in 1966 so much that they started incorporating it into their songs in more ways than small. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! does have some interestingly dark undertones to it, but I still don't find its arrangements the least bit appealing. The indian moment in Within You Without You feels like the opposite of Love You To from Revolver to me - we have five drawn-out, tedious minutes here, during which we gradually move out of a frying pan into the fire. In When I'm Sixty-Four the "good time" arrangement returns, this time enhanced by some oboes. As interesting as the aging-themed lyrics are here, the whole musical component irritates me all the more. Lovely Rita sounds a notch more interesting, the blending of vocal lines in the chorus is quite pleasing to me as well. But then again, there are the jerky trumpets in the shabbiness of Good Morning Good Morning, which I can only shake my head at. The brief return of the Sgt. Pepper opening motif is pleasing, but it would fit me better at the very end of the record - we get to the end with the opus A Day in the Life. The melodic motif from the first half of the track has power like thunder, too bad about the noise collage in the middle and the reappearance of the "good time" motifs right after.

I find the first half of the album excellent, but it's hard to find anything positive about the second half. It seems to me that the Beatles looked too much at bands like the New Vaudeville Band, and for the first time in their career, they just took a ride on what someone else invented without any significant added value. Thus, in my personal assessment, I have to place Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band among the less hilarious half of the Beetle's output. Three stars will have to do (mainly because of the second side of the album) this time.

But I don't agree that this album is weak. Yes, it is inferior to In Rock and Machine Head, but it is definitely not weak. I don't understand why it is called unfinished. Listening to one of the fastest and most driving songs Smooth Dancer or the magnificent caustic Marylong or the expressive Super Trouper, I don't know how they can be improved more. All the elements of DP's style have already formed and embodied here, Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord still shine, in turns and together. Perhaps the perception was also influenced by the fact that DP was expected to continue the Machine Head's formula, where the drive and hard rock onslaught are perfectly balanced with keyboards, which were given a lot of scope for creativity. Yes, after all, a very high level was set by the previous albums.

The additional bonus tracks on the late reissue of the album are interesting first of all for the extended version of Women from Tokyo and the long First Day Jam, where Jon Lord seems to be rehearsing melodies for his next solo album.

The 25th anniversary reissue of the album contains several bonus tracks that belong there. They are quite interesting, but seem to be from another time. The rhythm of Freedom reminded me of the melody of Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison. Another cheerful rock and roll is Slow Train. All these songs are in the style of Deep Purple mark I, so I suspect that they could be the embodiment of old musical ideas. It is also interesting to listen to The Noise Abatement Society Tapes with the outright hooliganism of Jon Lord on keyboards. And the instrumental version of Fireball can easily be used instead of karaoke, to try walking in Ian Gillan's shoes.

This is one of the most diverse albums of Deep Purple. The next time the band will record such unexpected music in Come Taste the Band and Purpendicular, and in both cases this will coincide with a change of guitarist. Clearly not by chance. Hard rock fans may have been disappointed. After the big breakthrough of In Rock, many were probably expecting a continuation in the same style. But for those who appreciate unconventional musical techniques like me, this is exactly what you need.

My rating is a solid 3 stars, give it a chance!

Quite unlike anything Genesis ever released THE ROAD had one foot in orchestrated pop and another in the world of progressive rock and folk with a somewhat overblown religious concept inspired by the 1908 book "The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ" written by Levi H. Dowling who claimed the book was channeled by accessing the akashic records and featured a compendium of mystical knowledge. The book became the basis of many New Age philosophies and incorporated astrology into Christianity. Musically the album is quite diverse with lots of themes crammed into its 40 minute run with intricate lyrics rejoicing the life of Christ sounding somewhat like a mix of a Christian rock band trading off with a 60s cafe act albeit with sophisticated production engineering and heavy use of symphonic touches and array of instrumentation.

With a freaky album cover of an elderly man with an embryo seemingly growing out of his head, QUIET WORLD very well have crafted the world's first black metal album cover without knowing it as it belies the rather cheerful, uplifting and often whimsical transitions between Beatles-esque sing-songy choruses (think "Hey Jude" and its excessively long ending) and more serious even earnest folky passages making the album a little weird although for 1970 was probably not even remotely considered so. While not even remotely recognizable as having any connection to Genesis, careful listening will reveal some of Hackett's guitar techniques which would become his signature sound as chief axe grinder in one of prog's best known classic bands. The constant changing of themes including medieval segments gives the album an inconsistency with certain motifs sounding very serious and the rock opera segments sounding a bit whimsical.

For all its inconsistencies in keeping a uniform feel to the album's run, QUIET WORLD featured some excellent musical performances with interesting sections that rock out as well as tenderly beautiful folk sections however the spoken word dialogue towards the beginning of the album reveals the hilarious hippie dippy idealism and head in the clouds ethos of the era with overly earnest citations that make you question exactly how serious the entire project was as inevitable moments of humor insert themselves into the mix whether intended or not. Overall the album feels like a clash of two totally disparate musical scenarios namely a musical that was forced by a record company contract to work with a symphonic folk band and this was the result.

While Hackett would go on to international fame with Genesis and his solo career that followed, the Leah brothers on the other hand would go on to be successful composers of the musicals "A Slice Of Saturday Night," "Lust" and "Blood Money" which would find hundreds of various productions translated into many different languages as well as quite a few other film scores. While Phil Henderson also went on to compose film scores most of the other artists on board to disappear from the music biz altogether. While not an essential album by any means this isn't as bad as many make it out to be. It's quite pleasant actually although definitely a little goofy at times. Reminds me a little bit of the US band Touch's 1969 album as the musical meets prog and other styles is quite unique. Definitely worthy of checking out but needed to be a double album with better continuity to truly work in a captivating way.

This album is credited with inspiring prog itself. I agree but think there were 2 other albums released in 1967 that share the credit (or blame, depending on your point of view) ? Moody Blues- Days of Future Passed, and Pink Floyd? Piper at the Gates of Dawn. However, since neither of those albums are on this list (how?!?), this is the lone representative for the first seeds of prog. (I also think there were hints of this direction from the Beatles as early as the Rubber Soul era, but I digress.)

Track 1 - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

The rockin' opening title track, with its orchestral interjections, sets us off on our journey. While there are no complex time signatures, the timing does change throughout the song. The transition to the next track is quite proggy, as well.

Track 2 - With a Little Help from My Friends

While Ringo (as "Billy Shears") tries not to sing out of tune, we enjoy a nice mid-tempo song with classic Beatles harmonies.

Track 3 - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

3-4 harpsichord starts us off (had there been harpsichord in rock before this? Not sure) joined by John's vocals and droning sitar. The chorus shifts to 4-4 after 3 big tom-tom beats. Ahh, time signature changes, very prog. The alternating meter sections continue throughout the song. Hat's off to Paul's bass line in the chorus!

Track 4 - Getting Better

Strident guitar chords on the verge of overdrive start us off here. The feel changes between the verses & choruses. The sitar returns on the 3rd verse, where admissions of domestic violence are made.

Track 5 - Fixing a Hole

More harpsichord, but this time with a jazzy shuffle and Paul's vocals. I like the guitar countermelody on the choruses. Wonderful solo, expertly syncopated.

Track 6 - She's Leaving Home

Very melancholy harp starts us off and strings join after Paul's vocals begin. This has always been my least favorite frack on the album. I do understand the social-consciousness message in the lyrics, and that it reflected the generation gap. But it's just so? melodramatic. But the arrangement might be one of the things that led to this album being "proggy" for its day.

Track 7 - Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite.

Now this one's more like it for me. I think it's one of the proggiest tracks on here and possibly in the entire Beatles catalog. Still more harpsichord is being utilized here. I love the high-hat work on the verses. Ringo is so underrated as a drummer! That middle section! Wow! Paul's bass lines and Lennon's vocals are superb. The ending of the song is even more of a beautiful cacophony than the middle section. My only complaint with this song is that it's too short.

Track 8 - Within You, Without You

Beautiful spiritual raga-rock from George. I love the Tabla drums! That orchestration is magnificent! I think I was about 8 when I first got this album. (I was born a year after it was released.) My little brain didn't know WHAT to make of this, but I liked it! I'm not sure, but I think that this was the first Beatles song to break the 5-minute mark. Time signature changes galore!

Track 9 - When I'm 64

A bit of Paul cheese for the grannies as John would have said. It's a bit of fun. I don't think Paul can sing it anymore as he's well past 64 these days!

Track 10 - Lovely Rita

I love the dreamy intro! Then it's time to rock again. Nothing too deep here, but there are some fun little bits in some of the sound effects. Outstanding background vocals. I like the piano solo with the organ in the background. The Beatles were so great that they can make a silly track, like this, have a fantastic arrangement and overall sound. Now the "outro" with the echoey sighing, etc., is certainly proggy.

Track 11 - Good Morning, Good Morning

Some more silliness here. Ringo's drumming is excellent. A time change in the bridge. I love the sax-ensemble too. Cool little guitar solo. It almost sounds like Ringo has double bass drums here. And those animal sound effects are fun!

Track 12 - Sgt. Pepper's?(Reprise)

A bit of a harder rockin' restatement of the title-track, signaling the end of the album (but it isn't, is it!)

Track 13 - A Day in the Life

Simply put, this song is a masterpiece. Ringo's drum entrances are so unique. The first few mellow verses are so nicely done. But then?. that crescendo!!! What??? No one ever did anything like that before, that I know of, at least in rock music. Paul's middle bit is much quicker than the opening verses. After John's dreamy ahhs, the fist melody returns at the faster pace. Then another crescendo! And that final chord that rings forever .... This is how an album is properly ended. Then we get the odd little "run out groove" sound piece. That was unexpected

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

Of course this is one of the Beatles finest albums. I think it is more prog in spirit than practice. But what it DID do was open the doors of what is possible in rock music WIDE OPEN. Anything was possible after Sgt. Pepper. And if that isn't progressive in the true sense of the word, I don't know what is! 4.5 out of 5 stars (because I'm not crazy about She's Leaving Home).