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Topic ClosedMorphy Recommends: Captain Beyond
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ghost_of_morphy View Drop Down
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Points: 2755 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Morphy Recommends: Captain Beyond
    Posted: May 04 2008 at 13:52
Ok, I guess I'm going to make this into a series of posts.  Think of this as an extremely short blog.
 
Anyhow, I'd like to recommend some second and third tier acts that put out some quality prog, yet don't get the recognition that they obviously deserve.
 
Here are the groups and albums that I have mentioned in the past.  Any of these would be a fine addition to a prog collection.
 
Flash -- Flash
Robert Wyatt -- Shleep
New Trolls --   Concerto Grosso per I
Amagrama --  Ciclotimia
 
And today, we add to this list  Captain Beyond -- Captain Beyond.
 
I signed up for last.fm about six months ago.   In that time, Captain Beyond is my  fourth most listened to band, and six of the thriteen tracks on this excellent album show up on my most played 25 tracks.  It's good.   I cannot recommend this debut enough.
 
Anyhow, if you know Captain Beyond's first, brilliant album, show your love here.   And if you don't know it, go out and listen to it!!!  Last.fm has most of the tracks freely available for streaming.
 
Viva Captain Beyond!!!
 
 


Edited by ghost_of_morphy - May 08 2008 at 12:22
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avestin View Drop Down
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Points: 12625 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 04 2008 at 15:17
I hope you get more responses and views than I did in my numerous recommendations threads.
Anyway, I'll second your current recommendation!
 
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ghost_of_morphy View Drop Down
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Points: 2755 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 04 2008 at 23:54
Originally posted by avestin avestin wrote:

I hope you get more responses and views than I did in my numerous recommendations threads.
Anyway, I'll second your current recommendation!
 
 
Thank you for your support.  I's you and me against the Philistines!!!
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WalterDigsTunes View Drop Down
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Points: 4373 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 05 2008 at 02:47
Captain Beyond's debut album... hmm. I've listened to this time and time again. I've tried to spot the progressive aspects. I've really tried. To me, its just a slightly psychedelic 70s blues rock album. A decent enough listen, but it just doesn't set my world on fire Cry

Kudos for bringing it up, though. Hopefully folk will give it a spin because of this thread.
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Points: 10387 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 05 2008 at 07:34
I have always liked the first album of Captain Beyond, especially "Dancing Madly Backwards". and there is no doubt about it being a progressive album, in my opinion, even if there are no keyboards


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Points: 2822 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 06 2008 at 20:02

An excellent album, and one that not very many people know about.  It is the very definition of a "lost classic".
"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard." -- H.L. Mencken
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ghost_of_morphy View Drop Down
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Points: 2755 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 08 2008 at 02:54
This is all the love that is shown for Captain Beyond?
 
sigh....
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ghost_of_morphy View Drop Down
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Points: 2755 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 08 2008 at 03:13
Originally posted by WalterDigsTunes WalterDigsTunes wrote:

Captain Beyond's debut album... hmm. I've listened to this time and time again. I've tried to spot the progressive aspects. I've really tried. To me, its just a slightly psychedelic 70s blues rock album. A decent enough listen, but it just doesn't set my world on fire Cry

Kudos for bringing it up, though. Hopefully folk will give it a spin because of this thread.
 
OK, the prog aspect of this lies in the following....
 
1.  Composition.   This is like a well composed symphony, with recurring themes and interesting modifications of them.   This was released in the same year as Close To The Edge, which is probably most significant for it's raising the bar on composition in the classical manner.  Captain Beyond may not have as great material as Yes does (who does, however?) and may approach it in a completely different manner, but if you were grading this just on composition, CB would win the contest.   Seriously.
 
2.  Sound.  Unlike the other two CB albums, the debut was entirely composed by the drummer and the music is driven by the drummer and usually the bass player.  That frees up Reinhardt for a lot of interesting experimentation and he makes FULL use of the opportunity.   There are parts in here where you could swear that he was playing violin.  There are parts in here where you could swear he was playing a synth.  The guy's versatility really is shown off to the max here, and very little of it is traditional blues rock, like you describe.
 
3.  Technical Mastery.   As touched on in the previous point, the technical mastery on this album is awesome.  Both Reinhardt and Caldwell show off their skills early and often.  Some of the drum parts just make you want to orgasm.  And Dorman's ability to play off of what Caldwell is doing shows you that he is no slouch either.
 
4.  Style.  What a combination!  Hard rock + Psychedelic rock + Prog.    I've listed them in the order that you will notice them, but the Psychedelic element is nearly as prominent as the Hard Rock, and the pure Prog isn't really that far behind.  If ir weren't for the dominance of the Hard rock, I'd put this in eclectic prog.
 
In short, this album definitely is prog.  I will be the first to admit that it's not the proggiest, but (especially for it's time) it represents a welcome edition to the discography of prog.
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