OCEANS OF BLISS: AN INTRODUCTION TO QUINTESSENCE

Quintessence were always rather odd - a jazz/rock based band that took Indian philosophy so seriously that they based almost all of their music on it. This is an excellent sampler of their albums, containing almost all the essential tracks, but one which will give the listener a true flavour of what this band were about. Not only that but they all (except Jake) had stage names given to them by their guru.

Their greatest achievements were always their live concerts - these were guys who could really play the stuff on their albums and oftern do it better. I can still smell the incense they used to burn...

Dive deep into the oceans of bliss of essential Quintessence's devotional songs full of love, compassion, meditation and rock. That makes this compilation really an excellent addition to any prog music collection. If you do like them, you wouldn't miss their other albums too.

This might, indeed, be an introduction to Quintessence, but they were much, much better than represented here. And it only covers the first 3 LP's, on the Island label. Where is "Vishnu Narain" or "Wonders of the Universe" (both off "Self") or "Brahman" or the "live" version of "Jesus, Buddha etc" or "Pearl and Bird"? As a staunch fan, I'm not impressed by this. Heaven knows, the band's vinyl output was already patchy enough, but this mismatched compilation sells them even further short. "Don't buy" is my recommendation. Shiva Jones is releasing a new album under the band's name next week. That is certain to generate a degree of renewed interest. Wait to see if a better compilation appears as a consequence.

Notting Hill Gate. Was the A side of the band's single. Always was hugely overrated Move Into The Light. Was the B side of the single, didn't appear on any of the LP's and duly has a certain novelty value...but nothing more. Giants. Excellent opening track off the first LP Prisms. Flute. Echo. More of the same. Lost interest after half a minute. Twilight Zone. Is where this belongs. For all eternity. Dive Deep. An uninspired dirge, despite being title track off third LP. St. Pancras. Yes, this was "live". This is good. Manco Capac. Magnificent. Band operating as a cohesive unit Dance For The One. Shiva Jones - you are a God. What a voice! Midnight Mode. Why the five minutes of drone to finish it off? Run out of songs for the first LP, I shouldn't wonder High On Mount Kailash/Burning Bush/Shiva's Chant. Not a bad finisher. I suppose there had to be a chant to be representative. But they do tend to go on. And on. And on....

This band operated in England but most of their members had an Ethnic background. Indian philosophy and music culture can be heard in their music. I'm not usually very keen on Eastern music but here East and West are united nicely. Quintessence may be of interest to listeners of early jazz-rock or instrumentally oriented Psychedelia, even if you don't actually expect to enjoy Indian influences.

This 68-minute compilation includes selections (some of them as live versions) from their first three albums, 1969-1971, which I believe is their best era. Probably a good introduction to the band. For me this is enough anyway. Some tracks I enjoyed to some degree, some I didn't.