CAPTAIN BEYOND

One of the best-kept secrets of hard rock is the short-lived but immensely influential American supergroup Captain Beyond, carrying a name penned by Chris Squire upon seeing Larry Reinhardt descend from a tour bus once, as the story goes. The group was composed of ex-alumni of Iron Butterfly as well as the original Deep Purple vocalist Rod Evans, the man appearing on the first three albums, the band's Vanilla Fudge-inspired early psychedelic era. However, Captain Beyond is a completely different musical outlet, and a rather unique one that is, as their music could most suitably be credited as heavy psychedelic prog rock. A lot of great riffs, very technical and unpredictable playing, tons of experimentation even within the shortest of songs, a solid and inventive rhythm section that takes equal amounts of inspiration from jazz and Latin rock, as well as a bombastic, raspy and pitch-perfect performance from Rod Evans, the kind of performance Deep Purple never got from him but could have dreamt of.

The band's self-titled debut album is arranged in a somewhat complex way, consisting of several suites divided into shorter segments, in-between which there is no lag time, something that had become a recognizable trait of many other progressive albums. The playing is straightforward and focused, yet always very hypnotic and impressive, there is a very fine quality to the riffs on here, together with the vocal melodies, which makes this album truly special. The first big piece is formed by the first three tracks on side one, and that would be 'Dancing Madly Backwards', with its gnarly, scruffy hard rock sounds, soon transitioning into a psych-prog carousel of massive guitars. Two excellent shorter tracks complete side one of the album, while side two opens with the 'Thousand Days of Yesterdays' suite, a more experimental labyrinth of influences is on display here, reaching the final and most excessive five-part piece 'I Can't Feel Nothin'', simply a blazing heavy prog sound that blows Rush off the stage. A hidden gem that deserves to be unearthed and appreciated in its entirety. 'Captain Beyond' by Captain Beyond is a unique album that is undoubtedly ahead of its time, anticipating the courageous and daring marriage between hard rock, prog and stoner rock, a record that would go on to influence many important bands of the following decades.

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