RARE BIRD [AKA: SYMPATHY]

Rare Bird's debut which had been released by the group only 1 month (!) after their formation and had been obviously the very first album ever released on Charisma was in fact a very remarkable one and quite a fine example of organ-driven proto-Prog. Closest comparison coming to one's mind if listening to this album (which might admittedly sound a bit dated to some modern ears) is certainly Procol Harum due to its domination by keyboards and in fact there wasn't any real guitar player at all though Steve Gould obviously contributed as well some apart from bass and his brilliant vocals. The music on here though being in a rather easily accessible and even catchy vein had been certainly considered quite progressive those days and might still meet the standards of any admiror of early Prog nowadays and in fact there aren't any real flaws. Instead some of the songs are very good Prog pieces like "Beautiful Scarlet", "Iceberg", and "God of War" being for sure the three highlights of this album. "Times" is a slightly odd but as well interesting one since it starts like a rock'n'roll song from the 50's moving more into Prog territory in its second half. Then there's of course their No. 1 staple hit "Sympathy" almost everybody will have heard at least once in his life I guess. The rest of the songs are shorter and more simplified ones without being any bad and quite a pleasant listen in fact. So finally I can say listening to this ancient testimony from the very first days of Prog once again after many years has been quite a nice experience for me and I think one could easily consider it a worthy addition for any collector interested in early 70's Prog.