THE PERFECT PRESCRIPTION

Jason Pierce and Peter Kember are the leaders of this band and pictured on the album cover of "The Perfect Prescription".This album and "Playing With Fire" were very significant records in the late eighties. Alternative Press describes them as having "...a British style and an American heart". The music is very psychedelic with fuzzed out guitars, drugged out vocals and spacey soundscapes. Let's just say the Krautrock spirit is alive and well on this album. Drugs and spiritual themes seem to be their obsession but there is no denying the talent of these space cadets. In fact Jason Pierce would go on to form SPIRITUALIZED and continue the themes started on these SPACEMEN 3 albums. Please check out "Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space", a very significant record from 1997 by SPIRITUALIZED.That album has vintage keys, strings,horns and noisy guitars much like this one. On this record we can hear farsifa, violin, sax, trumpet and organ as well as the usual bass, percussion and guitars.

This recording is truly a trip and I love it. I came to know it years ago through James Unger's (loserboy) website. He's so into the Psychedelic scene, and this was one of many I purchased back in those days. I didn't even know until getting info on this album that my version (a 1996 edition) has four bonus tracks.They don't specify that, and I thought they were part of the original recording.

"Take Me To The Other Side" is led by drums, guitar and bass as he pleads "Come on take me for a ride, take me to the other side". Very repetitive but oh so good. "Walkin' With Jesus" opens with organ as almost spoken vocals come in. Bass followed by strummed guitar and drums follow as this contrast continues. Love the lyrics here. Amazing tune. "Ode To Street Hassle" might be my favourite on here. It's like the theme from the previous song is continued as he talks about walking with Jesus and talking to him. Different vocalist on this one. Again I love the lyrics. Bass and synths are prominant. "Ecstacy Symphony" features spacey synths that would make TANGERINE DREAM proud. It blends into "Transpaent Radiation (Flashback)" which is a RED KRAYOLA re-worked song. The original was released in 1967. Violin and strummed guitar lead as bass joins in.The vocals before 1 1/2 minutes are almost spoken.This is melancholic to say the least. For many this is the best track on here. Great lyrics.

"Feel So Good" features guitars, horns and bass with almost spoken vocals. Very laid back. A second vocalist comes in. "Things'll Never Be The Same" has this dissonant, fuzzed out guitar. Very psychedelic with vocals that have attitude. One of my favourites. "Come Down Easy" is a catchy tune about getting high. "Call The Doctor" is darker with almost whispered vocals. Spacey organ after 2 minutes. "Soul 1" is an instrumental with keys and guitar standing out. "That's Just Fine" is a top three tune for sure. Check out the intricate guitar ! "Starship" is a re-worked MC5 tune from 1969. Check out the guitar feedback as drums come in. Guitar follows. Great sound ! This song was on an EP of theirs called "Transparent Radiation" released the same year as this album (1987). It turns chaotic and freaky. Love the guitar 3 1/2 minutes in to end it. "Ecstacy" is over 8 1/2 minutes of Klause Schulze-like spacey music. Very cool.

An excellent and important addition to any Psychedelic collection.

Spacemen 3 arguably took the spirit of Hawkwind to even more narcotic extremes in the 1980s, being as they were a space rock band who, unlike their more coy predecessors in previous decades, made no bones about their extensive appreciation for and endorsement of narcotics. But don't make the mistake of thinking they were too intoxicated to produce interesting material; few neo-psychedelic units would have contemplated producing a song like Ode to Street Hassle, an esoteric rant juxtaposed with a bass groove reminiscent of the classic Lou Reed Song, for instance. Although it sounds like anaesthetised chaos on a first listen, give it more of a chance, because there's more going on here than meets the ear at first.