I’ll be honest, I can’t really find very much information with a quick search on google like I normally can with many bands. That said, I can see they were a psychedelic blues rock band from the late 1960s, and that’s enough to get me interested. The album artwork looks sort of psychedelic folkish, and that can be enough for me to check out a band. There’s a Wikipedia entry of a progressive rock band with the same name from around 1971, but I’m not even sure if it’s necessarily about this band. With that said, because I can’t find a whole lot of background information, I’ll gladly jump on into the music.
“Elysian Fields” starts out with a big, low, muddy, somewhat distorted bass, that really sets a great tone for the song. That guitar is really sweet in tone. There’s a whole bunch of syncopation in the rhythm, and the song is super interesting. There’s little left turns everywhere in the tune. The bass is absolutely massive, and the electric guitar is super crunchy yet carries some nice wah effect with it. The drums sound great with that raw energy to them. The vocals have really awesome layering to them – there’s some almost gospel like background vocals here and there, while the lead vocals have this strange off-kilter echo to them, that creates an awesome feel for the soundscape, almost reminding me of Manfred Mann in a certain way. Wow, this band can really groove.
“Bide My Time” starts out with some groovy bass to get things going. Oh wow, this sounds like a really sweet rework of “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by Iron Butterfly with the way the bass is walking up and down the line. Those vocals have a whole different effect to them right now. The drums are crashing down with a whole different tone as well from the beginning track. This track is almost more polished – the first one almost had a certain garage rock feel to it when I listen to this one. Oh wow, there’s a little drum solo of sorts that I totally didn’t see coming, and I’m really digging it. Honestly this album is super awesome so far, I’m really looking forward to the next tracks. Wow, the drum break gets increasingly layered and complex and there are little rhythmic parts thrown in from instruments I couldn’t even try to name. The song fades out to the drum break, and is really awesome.
“Take You Home” starts out some very nice, very deliberate, strong notes from both the bass and electric guitar and drums, as they all sync up to give the playing more strength. I’m not even sure how many guitars are in the track, but I’m really digging this little raw bluesy psychedelic groove. It almost reminds me of Geezer’s song “Groovy” off their 2020 album of the same name with the key and overall feel of the song. Wow that face-melting solo at the from the guitar is sick.
“Jump On You” starts out with some little studio chatter, and jumps right into a sweet psychedelic blues-inflected rock song. It almost reminds me of “See What a Love Can Do” by Grin off their self-titled 1971 album in the overall feel. I’m really digging this one. This album is incredibly interesting to listen to, you just don’t know what’s coming next. Those gospel chorus background vocals bring a whole different dimension to that guitar solo that’s being played on the track. Great song.
“Sun Would Set” starts out with an almost looser feel, and has a really different feel from everything else with the piano. Wow, this one honestly reminds me a bit of The Beatles in a certain light. There’s an acoustic guitar somewhere in there I think, and that hollow echo of the cymbals on the drum kit really have such a cool feel when combined with the huge lines laid down by the piano and the bass guitar. Wow, this is some sort of strange psychedelic orchestral song of sorts – perhaps just a psychedelic progressive rock song. The electric guitar has a really crispy fuzz to it. Wow, this song has an awesome jam in the middle. The keys from the piano are almost bell-like at times. This song has a strange darkness, that gradually changes to something positive. Definitely has great psychedelic flavor. This song is just awesome. This syncopation in the playing really great feel to it. Wow, that electric guitar is absolutely screaming at times. Great song.
“Love Is the Word” is nearly 19 minutes in length, and starts out with a little groovy electric guitar that is quickly joined by the bass and drums. The guitar feels like it’s just sort of feeling out the soundscape and possibly laying down the foundation for something. Oh wow, I don’t know if that’s a synth I hear, or if that’s a bass-y horn or saxophone of some sort, but it’s entirely unexpected, yet serves as something like a reliable backbone to the song right now. Oh wow, the song has changed the feel a bit to a different, almost sort of positive/major key, and the whole thing is building up to a massive culmination in sound. It sounds like the tempo is steadily picking up, as well as the overall loudness of the track. The guitar is absolutely jamming out for the entire duration so far.
(continued) Oh wow, the guitar and bass and horns drop out, and is replaced by some super, nearly sinister, low piano. Holy smokes, the vocals just came on and the soundscape changed up a bunch. Oh wow, that guitar is absolutely screeching out some delicious notes. The band really gets down and grooves on this one. The background singers really elevate the jam to different levels with the smooth high notes of their vocals. Wow, this song just absolutely keeps going. This is definitely a massive, awesome psychedelic progressive rock manifesto. They keep on jamming, and the whole thing feels incredibly fresh the whole way through. There are some really nice light, high notes coming from some synths or horns right before it takes a new turn that still feels unexpected though natural. It’s like being at the top of the roller coaster waiting for the drop straight down, which is picked up immediately by the drums.
(continued) Holy smokes, there’s some sort of stringed bass being played by a bow, and it sounds absolutely awesome. This tune is absolutely groovy as all get-out. The vocals and song have such a smooth, relaxed, assured tone at this point, which is a sentiment echoed by the rest of the instrumentation. Wow, the tone is almost celebratory at this point, somewhat reminiscent of a New Orleans, Louisiana sound, with all of the clapping, shouts and cheers, plus that sweet, milky tone from the electric guitar. Wow, this is an awesome medley of a song, and I can hardly believe 14 minutes of it has already played.
(continued) Wow, everything is really coming to a slow building musical crescendo of sorts. It almost reminds me of how Ray Manzarek orchestrated his take of Carmina Burana from 1983. Wow, these violins and other string/bow instruments really add such a natural roundedness to the song. Everything is melding together at this point with the instrumentation, and the drums are patiently, yet expediently driving the song forward as the they sort of crash down around the soundscape. This massive crescendo at the end is both chaotic, yet incredibly polished in roundedness at the end. Absolutely massive sound, absolutely awesome song.
Wow, this album was awesome. That 19 minute medley at the end is almost reminiscent in certain aspects to the Grateful Dead circa 1968 with their long, ever-changing jams. I can’t believe how little information I could find on the internet. I’m already searching on discogs for a copy on vinyl. I really didn’t know what to expect from this album, yet somehow my non-existent expectations were completely exceeded. If you enjoy psychedelic rock, progressive rock, or any late 1960s blues rock, I think there’s a decent chance you’ll enjoy this album. If you do decide to give it a listen, I do hope that you enjoy it at least as much as I did. Once again, awesome album.
-A