IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA

The music of Iron Butterfly in this stadium can be described as heavy psychedelic blues rock influenced proto-prog rock with some melodic organ sounds (father used to play in church style), fuzz-distorted guitar and typical sixties anti-stylish American pop styled vocals. The riff of the title track remains a well-known aspect of the classic rock repertoire. Perhaps the music would have sounded a bit like The Doors with a different vocalist and a less heavy approach.

On side one Iron Butterfly showcases some of their song-writing. Often the songs have a heavy guitar riff, melodic organ chord progressions and some distorted melodies. The vocals of Doug Ingle are quite funny, as his vocal approach has dated terribly. The multi-vocal arrangements are however good and at times even harmonically challenging. On some songs the band succeeds in amazing me, like the pleasant melodic 'Mirage' and the out-of-control psychedelics of 'Are you Happy?'. On side two we get to listen to the extended version of the title track. The opening section is of course sort of legendary, though not too brilliant. The eastern influences in the refrain are however quite impressing and main riff remains classy. The long solo's on fuzz guitar are very nice if you like sixties reverb rock and of course we are treated with a drumsolo with an emphasis on phase shifting (never get tired of that...). The comeback of the band with the church-style organ of Doug Ingle is nice.

Conclusion. This is a good record, especially for '68. The recording amazed me a bit, it has a lot of high but the overall range and thickness of the sound is great! The band really sounds heavy at times. I'd say this is proto-prog that most of us will learn to like over time and I can give it three and a halve stars. Ad the fourth star yourself if you are interested in development of the genre or sixties psychedelic rock in general.

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