THE GUITAR IS MIGHTIER THAN THE GUN

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Another great effort with the prognosis for a psych/space masterpiece - let us allow enough time and we'll see. Here we have four well thought out songs provided with spaced out jam periods here and there. They let the music flow based on their longstanding experience and make sure that something like boredom won't come up. This sounds like FBFOS are collaborating with Baby Woodrose's Dragontears - stylistically related, not rehashed though. A bit american west coast psychedelia feeling here plus some heavy psych excursions there - which forms the skeleton in order to embed wonderful improvisational spacey parts. The band are reduced to the three-piece core here on this production - so the multiple playful guitar contributions are mostly overdubbed.

As should be expected, the long title track makes out the centerpiece - a spacey intro lets you feel like an astronaut gliding through space and time supported by an extraterrestrial gripping synth work. A varied trip furthermore leads you through short heavier rocking storms provided with rare vocal presence ... as well as long grooving interplanetary voyages with excellently corresponding instruments in the vein of Oresund Space Collective. Finally you wonder how time flies - 23 minutes are vanishing in a snap!

Decorated with nice female/male vocals Turn Left To The Mexican Barbeque at first is made like Greateful Dead and Allman Brothers Band are struggling for supremacy - but this doesn't stay for long of course because they later fade into a fantastic relaxed flow which will please every space rock fan. The melodic Demons and Haze even has some singing along moments - sounds very retro - like a leftover from the 70's - including a gorgeous hallucinogenic finale.

Smokin' is a bonus track especially reserved for the CD production and a strong argument to avoid the LP version - no reason to miss this one (sorry to you vinyl aficionados). This is another example for an unexhaustible reservoir of inspiration. Again it's the variety which impresses - weird synth contributions - a jazzy groove - playful guitars. American west coast psychedelia competes with a Hawkwind adapted mood, also folksy impressions and hallucinatory floating parts. This new FBFOS output is a reliable addition to your space rock collection.

This third effort by Swedish space rocker First Band From Outer Space presents us with a band seemingly in the process of shifting their stylistic expression, and while still remaining within the space rock realms they are now heading towards a completely different part of it.

Their previous album basically came across as a heavier version of British institution Hawkwind, blending in some nice Sabbath-inspired moods. This time around only fragments and a few select segments remain of the former, while the latter has been almost completely eradicated from their sound.

They have traded this with a stronger emphasis on improvisation and light, vintage psychedelic sounds. As well as generally more elaborate constructions. The end result is a CD residing somewhere in between Pink Floyd, Oresund Space Collective and Hawkwind in overall sound, with a few passing nods in the direction of early 70's improvisational based psychedelic rock acts. Mostly good but at least on this occasion not quite managing to create as intriguing moods as on their previous efforts. A good album though, and one that fans of Oresund Space Collective in particular should take notice of.

This third album from the Swedish space rockers shows a little inspiration inflexion compared to their previous opuses. With only three long tracks (four in the CD edition), the compositions has become less melodic, more stretched and improvised. "The Guitar Is Mightier Than the Gun" also marks another change with the discrete incursion of new elements for the band.

The opener and shortest song of the disc, "Demons & Haze", is simply one of the best compositions from the Swedishs. Best passage of the record, it possesses a powerful space stoner rock introduction with an unusual rhythm and vocal flow. Bombastic! The rest of the song is slower and features spacey keyboards reminiscent of Tim Blake. "Turn Left to the Mexican Barbeque" starts with a calm acoustic guitar, to continue with a heavy space metal jam with female vocals. Enjoyable, but we already heard better from FIRST BAND FROM OUTER SPACE. The 23 minutes title track is a little unusual for the band. Not entirely space rock or stoner, this piece alternates soft floyd-ish, psychedelic improvised and joyful cheesy moments. The middle part is too long and the music doesn't seem to go anywhere. Finally, the overall result is average.

The CD edition includes a 16 minutes long bonus track, "Smokin". This is rather a patchwork of different extracts than a structured composition. The song contains long calm passages, nervous moments, short middle-eastern melodies and HAWKWIND-esque touches. Not essential and also a bit lacking musical direction, but more convincing than the title track.

"The Guitar Is Mightier Than the Gun" is a little unequal and incoherent. The band wanted to evolve and emancipate from their initial stoner / HAWKWIND roots by proposing something new, which is a good thing. However, these novel elements are, on the one hand, stretched space rock improvisation (which has been done before in the 70's), and, on the other hand, soapy symphonic passages. The melodies are also less present than on their great previous album "Impressionable Sounds Of The Subsonic". The only remarkable track of the record is the opener "Demons & Haze".

Enjoyable if you like space rock and HAWKWIND, but not the best place to discover the band.