MASHMAKHAN

An unknown band for most of us, but Neil Peart gave them a good write up in his Travelling Music book and I picked up their 2 for 1 CD for a couple of pennies of sheer curiosity. Neil Peart wrote about them because one of his first gigs with Rush was on the same bill as Mashmakhan. Rush were warming up for them as Mashmakhan were a hit single band with As The Years Go By. A very big hit for this band.

This is the debut album from Mashmakhan. A band who back then were playing psychedelic/space rock stained rock/pop like most bands from that time were playing. It was the hit sound at that time. The hammond organ sound is strong and they are also dabbling with some sax, flute and guitars too. The vocals are superb too.

The sound and music is by all means dated and the hit song here As The Years Go By sounds very dated. This music has not by any means aged as well as Beatles timeless music. But this is still a very charming album and the music is good. The best song is As The Years Go By and the rest of the album also ticks over nicely. This is by no means a great album. But it is recommended to fans of this sound and this period of time. This album is by all means frozen in time.

3 stars