H.P. LOVECRAFT II

The sophomore studio album release from these creative proto-proggers. Rumor has it that the busy band, fresh off of an extensive touring spell to promote their acclaimed debut album, came into the studio with little or no prepared material and thus had to improvise the foundations for most of the music here. Also, the legend goes that much of this studio time was performed by the whole band while using LSD. (This would definitely help account for the very different, very trippy songs created for this album.) Obviously, multi-track recording techniques used enabled the band and producers to doctor up the songs with plenty of embellishing sounds and effects--all equally representative of the psychedelic path the band was attracted and adhering to. Also, the record label's employment of British-born audio engineer Chris Huston brought in the creativity to embellish all of the songs with the extraordinary psychedelic sound effects. The band actually give Chris great credit for the album even happening saying that they were too fried from touring to get their creative juices going. The result, however, was not commercially successful with no hits or album sales reaching Billboard's charts, but the band's reputation on the "psychedelic tour" continued to grow.

1. "Spin, Spin, Spin" (3:26) one of two songs that the band used that came from George Edwards' friend folk singer Terry Callier, it's a simple yet engaging song with a very catchy chorus and excellent use of piano, harmony vocals, Mellotron and strings! The pairing of the two very-different voices of lead singer George Edwards with the background/harmony vocals of Dave Michaels is quite striking but works! (9/10)

2. "It's About Time" (5:20) opens a little too Americana-like (it's the other song borrowed from folk singer Terry Callier) but then it launches into a great train ride of Southern rock after the 45-second mark. But then, less than 25 seconds later, everything comes to a halt: a spacious field of simple and singular offerings populates the music from bass, drums, organ, piano, percussion as the train moves slowly along. At the three minute mark the iron horse picks back up its speed until the strings turn our attention back to the interior of the train, then releasing in a powerful vocal and a "Long Train Running"-like motif. (In fact, I would not be surprised to hear that The Doobie Brother's Tom Johnston got his inspiration for the aforementioned song from this one here.) This song also sees more use of the effective-yet-peculiar pairing of George and Dave's voices. There are definitely loads of proggy elements, sounds and effects integrated creatively into this song. Too bad it's a little too disjointed. (9/10)

3. "Blue Jack of Diamonds" (2:55) though this opens with some oddly-effected reverse piano chords, it soon becomes a nice acoustic guitar-based song with a very pleasant lead vocal and beautiful clarinet support. (8.875/10)

4. "Electrallentando" (6:27) percussion wind chimes start out this song before odd organ, bass drum, and guitar picking join in. It makes for such an ethereal, feathery musical listening experience. For me, it's a real pleasure for to listen to. (I would think it would be for all prog lovers.) (9/10)

5. "At the Mountains of Madness" (4:48) a song that seems to bridge the worlds of JEFFERSON STARSHIP, THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS, and the wildest of the psychedelic movement. (9/10)

6. "Mobius Trip "(2:46) a very cool song that feels like the birth of the mid-1980s version of XTC. Definitely my favorite song on the album. (9.75/10)

7. "High Flying Bird" (3:15) funk?! With George's great DAVID CLAYON THOMAS-like vocal performance supported by some interesting organ play and unusual choral vocal arrangements. Rated up for the lead vocal performance: it's amazing! (9/10)

8. "Nothing's Boy" (0:40) creepy heavily-effected voice speaking "zero-zero-zero" into infinity while other cult voices and spoken poetry by commanding voice of guest Ken Nordine over the top.

9. "Keeper of the Keys" (3:06) a near-operatic vocal performance (from Dave Michaels?) over piano, bass and drums. One of the more straightforward pieces that is, of course, enriched by bowed bass and effects throughout and especially at the end. Sounds a bit like something by Puddles' Pitty Party. (8.875/10)

Total Time: 32:43

A-/five stars; an album that, thanks to studio engineer Chris Hutson, definitely meets all of the requirements of being cited for being one of the first representatives of the new progressive rock music movement. For the best album by this band I'd recommend their live album from 1968.