This is another album that came into my recommended for you page on Apple Music. I’d never heard of Fludd prior to that, but I’m always down for some 70s rock and roll. Upon a quick look of Fludd’s Wikipedia page, they seem to be some sort out psychedelic blues inflected classic rock band, so this ought to be fun to hear.
“Always Be Thinking of You” starts out mellow and slow, but very building. It reminds me a bit of “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin honestly. I really dig this sound right now, it’s very subtly subverting expectations in the playing. Wow, that guitar solo is sweet. I’m super stoked for the rest of this album now.
“Yes!” has a nice boppy feel to it right away. It sort of reminds me of something off of The Beatles’ album, Revolver (1966), though a bit looser in feeling. I’m pretty blown away right now though, to say the least. The vocals are really nicely layered in the song, with some great reverb combinations with the background vocals. That drum break is pretty sweet too. All in all, this song is stunning.
“C’mon C’mon” has some great interplay between the guitars that sounds like the band is building up something huge. I haven’t mentioned the guitar work enough, but it’s awesome. I love the bass in the song as well. The songwriting is absolutely superb for every song so far. Honestly I’m stunned I’m just now listening to this album. That guitar solo sounded awesome to me. The vocals remind me a bit of Manfred Mann’s Earth Band a fair bit. Wow, this song is awesome. The entire band is absolutely ripping an insane jam right now for the outro. The piano is making its first noticeable appearance, and adds just the right flavor to the whole bit.
Oh goodness, the opening of “Cousin Mary” has some stunning harmonica and banjo. According to Wikipedia, this was the band’s biggest hit I guess, and I can tell why. The guitars are expertly echoing what the banjo is explicitly plucking with some great chords. Wow. This is a stupendous rock album.
Wow. “I Held Out” has a great bluesy rollicking feel to it. I am 100% blown away by the album right now. I just found out this is something of a greatest hits album, but wow, it’s awesome. If you haven’t checked out Fludd yet, you’d be glad to do so, in my honest opinion. This guitar solo is awesome. Wow, the vocals have such range, and such a great grit to them. I am blown away at the moment.
“Brother and Me” has almost an island sort of feel to it, though my initial impression was NOLA type of sound. The percussion is so impressive with the range of sounds. The conglomeration of all these instruments makes such a great sound, with no instrument taking a lead over the other, and instead just jamming together in one awesome composition. I love the water-sounding effects.
What the heck. “Dance Gypsy Dance” has almost a rootsy bluegrass country backdrop behind a great psychedelic-sounding blues rock sounding track. This song is absolutely excellent. I really dig the tone of the guitars on this one, and the seeming interplay with what sounds like a fiddle of some sort. That bass is so fat, absolutely enthralling.
“What an Animal” is a feel-good track of sorts, very upbeat and high energy. This song reminds me a bit of some of the Rolling Stones’ later stuff. Oh goodness, the gospel chorus background makes the song build in such an awesome way. Wow, that guitar solo is stunning with both the effects and what’s being played, and the piano is doing such a great job supporting it behind the solo. This band is awesome.
“I’m On My Way” has an almost proto-80s rock feel to the beginning, with somewhat of an arena prog rock feel to it. The range in each of these songs is absolutely awesome. Wow, that guitar is absolutely insane. This album is filled to the brim with music, and that sounds obvious, but these songs are absolutely insane.
“Help Me Back” starts out as another proto-80s rock song. Wow, the song absolutely subverts the expectations it builds up, and I’m absolutely stunned by it. The song is insanely epic. The fact that this band didn’t have more commercial success is absolutely insane to me. Wow, that synth adds such a massive sounding layer to the song. Wow. I’m saying that a lot, but these songs keep getting more awesome than they start out, and through something that feels very natural to the song, yet subverts the expectations built up by the song.
“With You” is the final track of the album, and certainly sounds that way. It’s almost a bittersweet slow rock sound with the piano played quite beautifully. This is the only song on this album that has acoustic guitar on it, absolutely stunning. The drums are massive in this song. Wow, add in that guitar solo and what you’ve got is an incredibly touching heavy in emotion yet soft in playing rock ballad of sorts. An absolutely beautiful song and an beautiful end to a superb album.
This one was an absolute joy to listen to. Fans of classic rock of any sort should really enjoy this album. I can’t wait to listen to more of Fludd’s music – it’s a shame they only got to make music up until 1977.
-A