PROTO-PROG

The year 1967 was the Summer of Love and offered a last air of innocent hippie glee before the calendar year 1968 roared in full force. The idealism of perpetual peace and free love were interrupted by a turbulent world stage where everything seemed to go topsy turvy overnight. The music of the era reflected this by shifting from simpler musical forms that had only just evolved out of the straight forward approach of rock and roll to headier and ever bolder musical experiments. The Beatles' classic "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" deserves the lion's share of credit for upping the ante in the world of simpler rock forms that focused on singles as a means of marketing to a full-fledged concept albums in an art rock style which hit the world with the subtlety of a lightning bolt.

While the world of psychedelic pop and rock would sally forth unscathed with many simpler forms of rock continuing to occupy the hit singles charts, some intrepid acts followed the cue of The Beatles and went for the concept album avant-garde jugular. VANILLA FUDGE was one such band having never even released a single song of their own making and then suddenly delivering a followup album that recklessly abandoned all the rules and engaged in a fearless exploration into the unknown musical possibilities that could result from just simply going for it. THE BEAT GOES ON was basically a meandering sampling of the entire history of music without any regard to how things connected or fit together in any way, shape or form. Based on the smashing success of the debut, the album still sold its share of copies but quickly alienated any fans who were expecting a continuation of the band's soulful psychedelic rock playfulness that put VANILLA FUDGE on the map.

Broken into four phases with various short snippets called tracks, THE BEAT GOES ON meanders through a maze of crossover classical music (Mozart, Beethoven etc), medleys of famous pop hits by Elvis Presley and The Beatles as well spoken word speeches and one of the very first recordings of all time sampled by Thomas Edison. The band retains its psychedelic rock at key moments with the already established fuzzy organ heft and heavier rock combo effect of the guitar, bass and drum but in reality there are no actual songs on THE BEAT GOES ON and merely samplings strewn together into a psychedelic haze of consciousness shifting. Clearly the year 1968 was a traumatic one for the world and the methodologies of finding the proper musical escape hatch were becoming bolder and more ambitious with THE BEAT GOES ON being one of those albums that at first listen may seem completely pointless but also when placed into the context of the time fits in with how the world of musical exploration was panning out.

The album is compared with Frank Zappa's "Lumpy Gravy" however VANILLA FUDGE beat Zappa to the punch by a few months with a nerdy concept album that engaged in the everything and the kitchen sink approach. The major difference of course that being that Frank Zappa was a gifted and brilliant composer of the avant-garde and VANILLA FUDGE being a naive quartet of youngsters who didn't quite have the chops to bring their ambitions to a high level of competency. While many really hate this album including the band itself as they blame this unwise followup as a total career killer, as far as experimental avant-garde albums go it's not that bad. While its hardly any milestone of creative fortitude, as a historical reference point and unorthodox art rock album from 1968 it's a totally listenable experience.

Luckily the band would quickly follow up with a new album of mostly self-penned tracks titled "Renaissance" but momentum had been lost and THE BEAT GOES ON has been ridiculed by many ever since. Personally i admire VANILLA FUDGE's audaciousness as the band clearly had no idea of how to keep an audience enthralled. One of those cases of moving too quickly into an arena where the artistry wasn't up to snuff. It would've made a lot more sense to release "Renaissance" first and establishing the band as a bonafide creator of its own material and sound and only then after retaining its momentum by releasing something like this a year or two later. But when all is said and done, THE BEAT GOES ON exhibits a trend of a musical expedition into completely uncharted territory and that's pretty remarkable for a band that could've simply put out another album of psychedelically tinged cover songs. Despite not crafting the next great art album of all time, VANILLA FUDGE earned its place as a bonafide proto-prog act that helped propel the spirit of the evolution of the rock music paradigm. While results were mixed, the spirit of the creative process excelled.

VANILLA FUDGE was organist Mark Stein, bassist Tim Bogert, guitarist Vince Martelil and drummer Carmine Appice. While Stein handled lead vocals, the entire band engaged in intricate harmonies influenced by bands such as The Beatles and The Rascals only VANILLA FUDGE was a pioneering band in bridging the world of black soul music with the brave new world of psychedelic rock. The band's eponymously titled debut emerged in 1967 and found instant gratification as it literally shot up to the #6 position on the Billboard album charts even before the release of the crafty cover of The Supreme's 1966 smash hit "You Keep Me Hangin' On" was released as a single and too shot up the charts. Graced with an impeccable sense of harmony and by playing cover songs at half the original speed, VANILLA FUDGE delivered an irresistible new perspective on well known songs on its self-titled 1967 debut.

This first album was unique in the band's five album run that lasted only three years as it featured no original songs whatsoever however the band did contribute three very short self-made instrumental intros that were listed as separate tracks but in reality served as nothing more than short snippets that connected the cover songs. With no original songs to showcase VANILLA FUDGE made it count in their unique and original approach into how they interpreted each song. The band excelled at crafting a mix of top notch soulful harmonies with Mark Stein's vocals showing a particularly engaging style that mixed traditional soul singing with bouts of wailing and extended vocal techniques. The use of acid rock organ runs, energetic drumming excursions and heavy guitar moments earned the band the reputation as one of the few American acts that bridged the gap between the world of 1960s psychedelic rock and the future worlds of prog and metal.

Following only a year after The Supremes hit #1 on the Billboard singles chart with "You Keep Me Hangin' On," VANILLA FUDGE's version shot up to the top 10 as well only stalling at the #6 position. The single was enough to keep the band's album racing up the charts and propelling VANILLA FUDGE into the big time. The success allowed the band to tour with Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane and eventually the band would tour with Led Zeppelin as their opening act. The band was a major influence on Deep Purple with its emphasis on the use of bombastic organ heft and harder rocking moments of guitar and drumming. The album walked a delicate balance between beautifully delivered soulful harmonies laced with tender orchestrations and the contrasting hard rock, the likes of which had never been attempted.

To be honest i'm not a fan of cover albums for the most part and the mid-1960s found many newly established acts not ready for prime time releasing albums that relied too heavily on cover songs to fill up space but VANILLA FUDGE is the exception as they definitely reinterpreted a diverse set of covers all the while drenching them in the sounds of the organ-fueled excesses of acid rock and heavy psych. The album flows perfectly from beginning to end and the band members really did take full command of the cover songs and make them their own. VANILLA FUDGE's debut is an excellent slice of traditional soulful pop songs transmogrified into proto-prog and proto-metal splendor. This one really is a unique moment in history since the band would follow with the avant-garde sophomore release "The Beat Goes On" before delivering an album of all original material on "Renaissance." While i don't want to love this one, i can't help myself! It's a brilliantly bold move from a band that masterfully crafted one of the most uncanny hybridization albums of the entire 1960s.

It's a definitely unstuffy album - but then, what do you expect from something Fripp co-wrote? In a three-piece (and with a lot of guests, of course), the musicians have managed to produce supremely creative and articulate arrangements that certainly don't bore. The band members were far away to suffer lack of inspiration - but sometimes there was probably so much of it that the motifs on the record run in all sorts of directions and together form a not entirely consistent mix. Well, just consider - some tracks (North Meadow, Digging My Lawn or Erudite Eyes) flirt with jazz quite sympathetically. A strange canterbury-esque melodicism characterises Call Tomorrow and How Do They Know, and alongside these we have again restrained psychedelia-drenched pieces like Newly-Weds and Thursday Morning.

Interspersed with all of the above are 60's cajodle cymbals with strings and poppy girl vocals (One in a Million, Little Children and the particularly awful The Sun Is Shining). On the other hand, there are hints of a future "Crimson" style in The Crukster and Elephant Song. Completely outside the other tracks on the record, then, is the fully instrumental Suite No. 1. combining contrasting guitar and piano-mellotron passages in a pleasing adaptation of classical music techniques. Of the bonus tracks, the punchy and saxophone-tinged She Is Loaded is worthy of particular mention, but the slightly dreamier Under the Sky with its swishing flute has something going for it too.

Probably in an attempt to give the album some sort of unifying concept, the gentlemen have peppered both sides of the record with spoken interludes. The first side was "enriched" by the Saga of Rodney Toady, a fat and ugly boy who was laughed at by the kids and comforted by his mother with the thought that one day he would marry a fat and ugly girl, just as his fat and ugly father once did. Even more demented B-side inserts then report in increasingly distorted voice positions that "They know a man called just George".

How to rate such a gallimace of style and concept? I get the feeling from the album cover that the broadly smiling Fripp is just enjoying the embarrassment of reviewers who have tasted this jazz-pop-rock stew and don't know whether they're sick of it or want more. Given the stylistic inconsistencies and distracting spoken word, I'm going to be strict this time. Since the album doesn't qualify for a four in my opinion and a three-star average is not appropriate for such rebellious content, Giles, Giles & Fripp get two stars from me. And take that as you will.

It actually seemed like a sophomore album might never materialize due to the fact guitarist Danny Weis quit the band just before the recording sessions were due to take place. In a state of desperation the band replaced him with Eric Braun who had started to learn how to play the guitar three months prior. The title track was also a pure fluke in its creation. It's peculiarity was the result of nothing more than Doug Ingle going on a drunken binge one evening and uttering unintelligible lyrics to drummer Ron Bushy who misinterpreted what was supposed to be "In The Garden Of Eden" that he could only make out as IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA. If that wasn't strange enough, after writing five songs that would become the A-side of the original vinyl LP release, what would become a huge hit was nothing more than a soundcheck never intended to be recorded but by sheer chance was accidentally caught on tape while the band was waiting for their producer Jim Hilton to arrive at the studio.

While the usual method was for IRON BUTTERFLY to write structured psychedelic pop rock songs, the band just decided to improvise for over 17 minutes with the results being the entire B-side of the original album. The band's ATCO Records for some reason thought that all the mishaps would make a great B-side and took the chance releasing the unedited 17-minute track as a raw performance that included all the unintended mishaps but somehow thought it might resonate with the psychedelic haze that permeated the summer of 1968. The gamble obviously paid off and the album became a massively huge hit outselling every other album for the next year and by 1969 had surprised a million copies in sales. The title track was released as a single but butchered down to a mere 2 minutes and 52 seconds. Since the appeal of the track was the long jamming session that featured trippy organs, impromptu drum solos and a repetitive psychedelic guitar riff with mumbled lyrics, the album was instantly endearing to the post-flower power crowds that wanted a bit more acid fuzz in their rock music.

Likewise the rather pop oriented five tracks on the A-side also appealed to the hippie crowd with short tributes to "Flowers And Beads" and the flower power themed "Are You Happy" which provided the perfect gateway to the unconventional title track that followed. Due to the fact the appeal in the album was the 17-minute title track which was never released as a single in its entirety, the only way to obtain it was to buy the album thus the album for a brief moment became the biggest thing in the USA outperforming bands like The Doors, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and the biggest names in the world of psychedelic rock. The fact that the album has gone down in history as both a critical step towards the later world of heavy metal and progressive rock has only cemented its status as one of those essential albums that one must hear and own despite the fact the album really doesn't exhibit any particular traits of a classic band that stands the test of time. The album basically was a complete surprise hit that absolutely nobody could've planned if they tried and proof that sometimes fate determines things more than any amount of calculated planning. To date IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA has sold more than 30 million albums! Amazing!

Perhaps if i was there in the summer of 1968 and in the midst of the hoopla i would be as enamored with the whole IRON BUTTERFLY thing but honestly i can't say find this album as anything more than an average standard psychedelic pop rock album of the era. It's true that the phenomena of the title track does indeed make this a legendary release and for that reason i do own a personal copy because after all the title track is a part of the overall culture for better or for worse. From a critical point of view the first side of the album is decent with catchy psychedelic hippie songs that are quite listenable if rather unremarkable but there's no denying that the legendary title track was and remains unlike anything that came before or came after and serves as a significant musical milestone as far as experimenting with rock music is concerned. The sloppiness and rather amateurish performance really only highlights the slacker drop out and do your own thing ethos of the era. After all 1968 was a very turbulent year politically across the world so a nonsensical anthem that was nebulous and could be interpreted differently by individuals and still resonated collectively was obviously exactly what the doctor ordered. A true anomaly of history yet will be in the collective consciousness for eons to come. This has to be one of the most unlikely hit albums of all time!

The band also lost Jerry McGeorge and was replaced by former Saturday's Children bassist Jeffrey Boyan. The album sounded a lot more in line with the subject matter of its moniker this time around with a trippy lysergic delivery system and lyrics in some tracks such as "At The Mountains of Madness" which thematically narrated the works LOVECRAFT, this particular track focusing on the 1931 novella of the same name. H.P. LOVECRAFT II is also chock filled with psychedelic sound effects and odd drifting into trance-like states. The track "Electrallentando" for example displays a very drugged out display of psychedelic folk that culminates into a hypnotizing period of total escapism and freaky sound effects with only a tribal drum operating as a life to any sort of musical "normalcy." It's moments like this why it's clear H.P. LOVECRAFT were deemed the perfect opening act for Pink Floyd of that era. Even the opening track "Spin Spin Spin" displays a more detached and less commercial sound in relation to the mainstream psych rock that was dominating the charts of the era. Don't get me wrong, the track features an instantly lovable hook however the atmospheres are more on the dark side and the serious tones offer more of an introspective melancholy than any other act of the day.

"It's About Time" is probably the closest thing to what could be called straight forward psychedelic rock on the album starting in a bluesy rock sort of way but then doesn't take too long to melt down into a strangely timed slice of psychedelia with oscillating keyboard effects in the backdrop and a weird time signature that slowly resurrects with a piano and bass groove accompanied by a military march drumbeat until the track finds its footing back to where it becomes a hi-brow classically orchestrated chamber pop number! It then returns back to the blues rock number that soar due to the harmonic excellence team of George Edwards and Dave Michaels. A wild ride for a mere 5 minutes and 20 seconds and it's only the second song! The band's reputation of delivering a spooky and mysterious vibe was probably too much for anyone having a bad trip in the day! This was obviously music for the big boys and girls who could keep their crap together and enjoy the wild and uninhibited explorative nature of H.P. LOVECRAFT's brilliance.

The album only gets trippier as it progresses with the thematically on target "At The Mountains Of Madness" showcasing the band's propensity of delivering strong rock beats while saturating the guitar, bass and drums in extremely eerie atmospheres and this point even the vocal harmonies have gotten stranger. With strange pitch bends and keyboard tricks, H.P. LOVECRAFT simply mastered the art of making a musical representation of its author namesake. The use of studio techniques such as back masking echoed reverse tape effects, swirling keyboard techniques and chaotic acrobatic vocal interplay conspired to make some of the freakiest music the entire 60s could conjure up. The short "Mobius Trip" exists more on in the world of simple folk music but fortified with psychedelic echoes, vocal production reverb and abstruse contemplative lyrics. "High Flying Bird" is perhaps the most uplifting track on board and although heavily dipped in LSD and provides a lyrical optimism of anything is possible if you set your mind to it. It was an early folk rock classic recorded by Judy Henske and Jefferson Airplane. "Naughty Boy" offers a 40 second spoken word narrative with nothing but processed vocals as a backdrop repeating "zero, zero, zero, zero?" The closing "Keeper Of The Keys' offered one last mind melting experience with a stentorian pseudo-operatic vocal performance and a cover of Brewer & Shipley's song.

H.P. LOVECRAFT was as equally revered as a live act as it was for its amazing studio albums. With a repertoire that included aspects of pop, rock, jazz, folk, classical all dipped into the largest cauldron of psychedelia the late 60s had to offer, H.P. LOVECRAFT saw the band peak in its creative prowess making this album one of the absolute unabashed masterpieces of the entire psychedelic era. Light years beyond the mere psychedelic pop of many of its contemporaries unfortunately the band was a bit too far ahead of its time and soon found the band collapsing due to diminishing returns and members pursuing other academic endeavors. Although George Edwards and Michael Tegza tried to resurrect the band under the name Lovecraft, this version would have zero resemblance to these wild and unrestricted psychedelic days and primarily focused on watered down country rock and little interest for true fans of the brilliant early albums. I'm always surprised in how i've heard about a band all my life and think yeah that's interesting and never get to them but when i finally do i'm blown away by the artistic ingenuity around every corner. H.P. LOVECRAFT was one of those band's that really delivered on all front's and this second album H.P. LOVECRAFT II was as good as it got leaving it as the band's legacy.

By using lead ex-folk singer George Edwards' unique vocal style as the focal point along with multi-octave singer Dave Michaels as a harmonic counterpoint, H.P. LOVECRAFT showcased a more intelligent approach to lyrical delivery as well as a more competent display of instrumental mastery especially heard on the organ playing of keyboardist Dave Michaeis who also offered piano, harpsichord, clarinet and recorder. Early on the band had a larger instrumentation than most so called psych bands of the day as well with George Edwards not only providing lead vocals but also guitars and bass, Jerry McGeorge on bass, Tony Cavallari on lead guitar and Michael Tegza on drums and timpani. The band was signed to Philips Records in 1967 and released it's first single "Anyway That You want Me" before this first album was released (and it wasn't included). Once relocated to San Francisco, H.P. LOVECRAFT became a regular at various venues including The Fillmore and the Hinterland Ballroom.

The band released its debut self-release in 1967 and featured even more sounds from guest musicians that included bells, piccolo flute, English horn, saxophone, reeds, trombone, tuba, vibraphone and horn arrangement which is why H.P. LOVECRAFT has been deemed one of the early proto-progressive bands for its ambitious songwriting and intricate instrumentation. The self-titled debut was a bit different having emerged in October 1967 in the fact that was typical of many 60s releases in featuring a fair number of covers rather than originally penned material. In the case of H.P. LOVECRAFT's debut many were interpretations of traditional or contemporary folk songs with some being a bit more obscure and the most obvious being the Chet Powers song "Let's Get Together" which would become a top 5 hit for The Youngbloods in 1969. The album was preceded by the opening "Wayfaring Stranger" which provided the first single which displays perfectly the band's unique energy and stylistic potpourri under the guise of 60s psychedelic rock.

Despite the covers, the debut album actually flows quite well with H.P. LOVECRAFT making it all its own. The band delivered a tight competent 60s rock sound with an extra kudos going to the excellent keyboard playing sometimes taking on a Baroque classical scope of virtuosity. The album's most famous cut was also its longer, the 6 1/2 minute "The White Ship" and although not hitting any pop charts set the tone of the band's mysterious demeanor and musical competency. The harmonies between George Edwards and Dave Michaels are outstanding as well as the brooding rhythmic flow. "The Time Machine" is a strange oddity as it starts off as a ragtime Vaudville style foot tapper but then drifts into a strange psychedelic haze before heading back to Vaudville. "That's How Much I Love, Baby (More Or Less)" showcases the band's easy in adding jazzy elements to its repertoire. The album surprisingly ends with a short 33 second liturgical chant "Gloria Patria."

Despite quite a few covers of traditionals and contemporary songs on the debut album, this band was clearly unlike any other and proved to remain a little outside the accessibility for the drugged out hippies who weren't looking for intellectual stimulation but rather the next form of escapism. A unique intelligent band that expressed itself within the psychedelic scene, H.P. LOVECRAFT's debut may not be as great as its follower but it's utterly amazing how well these guys pulled off an album's worth of originals mixed with covers. Personally i like this one a lot. Had i been around back then i certainly would've gravitated to these guys over Jefferson Airplane anyway!

HEAVY was the band's debut and although the IRON BUTTERFLY is credited for influencing both progressive rock and the heavy metal scenes that would develop, in 1968 when this album was released, we're not talking HEAVY in today's vernacular referring to loud, raucous and quickened but rather 60s style as in "man, that's heavy!" Yeah here HEAVY refers to cosmically deep which was what the psychedelic 60s were all about of course with some bands a bit more adroit at tapping into their inner cosmic nature than others.

IRON BUTTERFLY was the product of the West Coast psychedelic scene which took over the USA during the latter half of the 1960s however this band emerged from the unexpected conservative city of San Diego. The band's lineup changed substantially even before this debut was released with this first album of 1968 which appeared in January featuring Doug Ingle (organ, vocals), Ron Bushy (drums), Darryl DeLoach (tambourine, vocals), Jerry Penrod (bass, vocals) and Danny Weis (guitar). Although "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" would quickly follow in June of the same year, the lineup had already been reduced to a quartet with only Bushy and Ingle remaining.

Graced with the coolest and most groovy album cover of the band's career which depicted a statue of a giant ear, the music itself is nothing really to get overly excited about. While referred to as hard rock retrospectively, this was not even close to the noise level of contemporary bands like Blue Cheer or even some tracks from The Kinks. What HEAVY offers is a 30-minute ride into the world of 60s psychedelic acid rock based on blues rock, beat music and rhythm and blues. The tracks at this point were quite short with most only a couple minutes long.

This is a pleasant slice of late 1960s acid rock with a strong emphasis on dramatic organs and eccentric vocals however the music is basically blues rock that seems like it just got its feet wet in the world of psychedelia. Despite the plaudits the band has received as a proto-prog or proto-metal band, none of those have manifested on this debut album HEAVY which unfortunately doesn't convey its modern titular connotations. While the music doesn't exactly blow me away i have to say that i like the moody vocals quite a bit and how can you not possibly love that bitchin cool cover art? THAT's worth the price of admission alone!

Initiated by guitarist David "Clem" Clempson and vocalist / bassist Terry Poole the band went through a couple of drummers before settling on Keith Baker BAKERLOO was a fast-rising hit at local London establishments such as Henry's Blueshouse before receiving an invitation to join the UK Big Bear Ffolly tour which included the soon to be called Black Sabbath band Earth, Locomotive and Tea Symphony but also opened for Led Zeppelin's London debut event at the Marquee Club on the 18th of October, 1969. While the band seemed like a guaranteed success story, BAKERLOO only released its sole self-titled album in September of 69 and would soon part ways with all members joining some of the most famous blues based hard rock bands that the UK produced in the 1970s.

The original album featured seven tracks which added up to 46 minutes of playing time but future reissues have found various numbers of bonus tracks included. While the album was primarily self-penned originals, "Bring It On Home" was actually an uncredited Willie Dixon song, a trend that was common in the British blues scene of not giving credit where it's due as well as a tasteful rearrangement of a Johann Sebastian Bach's "Bourée in E Minor" composition in the form of "Drivin' Backwards." All three members were at the top of their game and effortlessly delivered fast-paced virtuosic blues rock jamming sessions bringing a sense of sophistication that the style wasn't particularly known for which possibly proved to be a bit alienating for the audiences who gravitated towards the style but caught the attention of the early prog rock lovers for its attention to detail and in particular the 15-minute closing "Son Of Moonshine."

The opening "Big Bear Ffolly" which refers to the tour which got them noticed immediately finds the band firing on full cylinders with a fiery enthusiasm that found the members almost telepathically crafting a super tight instrumental interplay. The creative diverse musical motifs and lightning fast playing style surely must've wowed the audience because BAKERLOO was truly on another level of competency. While mostly looking back to the earlier blues rock style of Cream as the primary source of inspiration, tracks like "Gang Bang" clearly pointed to the future world of faster hard rock with more intense instrumental displays and heavier chord stomping including an exquisite drumming solo. "The Worried Feeling" slows things down a bit to offer a more traditional blues style with less reliance on rock. The sprawling closer "Son Of Moonshine" showcases the band's expertise in extended jamming sessions and a 15-minute string of creative improvisation skills. While not exactly reaching prog rock territory certainly wasn't too far away from jumping on that bandwagon.

Although the band had only formed in February 1968 and found enthusiastic reviews over its album, the first to jump ship was Clem Clempson who would soon join Colosseum and then eventually Humble Pie and The New Jazz Orchestra. The band's end soon followed with Terry Poole most notably forming May Blitz and Keith Baker also joining May Blitz and Uriah Heep. Early drummer John Hinch would go on to join Judas Priest while early drummer Poli Palmer went to Family. A short stint for all involved but BAKERLOO's sole release is a fondly remembered album and live band from the era and had it continued could've gone far in the anything goes 70s. As it stands this is the only representation of the band's recording efforts but what a pleasant and exhilarating display of blues rock BAKERLOO unleashed. The bonus tracks on future editions are also very nicely done.

This album was indeed ahead of its time conceptually although very much steeped in the sounds of its era. Described as "A Science Fiction Pantomine" it narrates the fantasies of a boy named Simon Simopath who dreams of having wings abut ultimately grows up to work in one of those sterile office cubicles which leads to a nervous breakdown. But luckily after ending up in a mental institution he fantasizes about entering a rocket and befriends a centaur and a miniature goddess named Magdalena whom Simon falls for and marries! Now if this isn't the subject matter of a really good LSD trip then i really don't know what is! Far from the Seattle grunge band that adopted the NIRVANA moniker (and was sued by this band and settled out of court), THE STORY OF SIMON SIMOPATH is one of the earliest examples of childish twee pop and almost comes off as a musical fairytale meant to be played for children at bedtime.

Although NIRVANA was a mere duo, guest musicians included Sylvia Schuster (cello), Michael Coe (French horn), Brian Henderson (bass) and David Preston (drums). The music falls somewhere between simple 60s sunshine pop and a fully orchestrated classical crossover behemoth but the emphasis is on the cute and cuddly endearing storyline and the overall pop hooks leaving the orchestrations are a mere backing that only accent the overall performances. Nevertheless the Baroque chamber rock arrangements were quite unique when they emerged and have although the band itself attained only marginal success and the music they created evokes only a lukewarm response, it is fairly agreed upon that this NIRVANA was very influential for many bands to come including the earliest examples of progressive rock by The Moody Blues, Deep Purple and The Pretty Things.

While broken down into two acts with 10 tracks, the entire album only slightly exceeds 25 minutes of playing time making it one of the shortest concept albums for sure. This NIRVANA is probably more famous for having the same name as the successful 90s grunge band fronted by Kurt Cobain than for its own music mostly because it's a bit too hokey for its own good. While the spirit is heading in the right direction, the gleeful innocence of it all really does make it feel like a kid's album of some sort that could easily be played next to classics from Sesame Street or Peter The Wolf. Overall NIRVANA's debut is a fun little curiosity that warrants a listen just to place a sound to a name most are familiar with as the FIRST Nirvana but as an album that stands on its own it falls short of a totally captivating experience in any way. It sort of reminds me of "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band" at times except not even close to as ingeniously constructed. One that serves as a footnote in history and worthy of a spin or two but not something i would return to often.

Cheerful Insanity at times reminds me of The Who's psychedelic efforts, as well as other contemporaneous acts, like The Small Faces and Pink Floyd. Organ lends a rich character to the compositions, and the vocals are nice. However, frequent spoken word interludes detract from the experience. These attempts at humor are clunky and feel like a lesser version of Frank Zappa.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2024/04/15/deep-dive-king-crimson/