THE ARTHUR BROWN BAND

1. "Prelude-Nightmare" (3:30) great start to the album--really sets the tone for what's ahead. (8.875/10)

2. "Fanfare-Fire Poem" (1:53) great theatric Screamin' Jay Hawkins/Little Richard-like intro to the band's biggest hit. (5/5)

3. "Fire" (2:55) Not really a great song, in my opinion, but it does have some dramatic vocals, that five-chord organ and chorus lyric hook and some solid band support. (8.875/10)

4. "Come And Buy" (5:45) after a rather dull opening 90 seconds, the chorus delivers some sparks and flames. But then the song returns to the dull Vincent Price motif for another minute before the next chorus. Great work from bassist Nick Greenwood as well as Vincent Crane and Drachen Theaker on keys and drums, respectively. The fact that find myself continuously hoping for more breakout passages like the all-too-brief choruses makes me rate this one a little lower. (8.75/10)

5. "Time / Confusion" (5:18) great performances from Vincent Crane, Nick Greenwood, and Drachen Theaker but it's often hard to get any attention with Arthur's domineering show up front, plus, the overall feel here is too funerary (with Arthur's Alan Rickman-like speaking voice). (8.75/10)

6. "I Put A Spell On You" (3:38) not the version that Screamin' Jay does--not even close--as Arthur has some odd effect on his voice and proceeds to stand back for longer stretches here than on any other song (which is great for his band members as they all have a chance to shine a little). Rated up for Vincent Crane and Drachen Theaker's performances. (8.875/10)

7. "Spontaneous Apple Creation" (2:51) opens with what sounds like Arthur's book or film narration before the band joins in with some Roald Dahl-appropriate eerie carnival music. (Nice work Vincent, Nick, and Drachen.) (8.875/10)

8. "Rest Cure" (2:39) the odd ball song on the album turns out to prep us for the future appearance of phenomena like The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Meatloaf and even Freddy Mercury. (8.875/10)

9. "I've Got Money" (3:05) some great ahrd-drivin' blues rock in the Yardbirds vein with Arthur's raw, gravelly voice taking us back into some psychedelic blues rock theatrics. The band is so tight! (8.875/10)

10. "Child Of My Kingdom" (7:02) some fairly pleasant piano-based jazz-rock with an odd, slightly sinister and definitely unsettling vocal performance that sounds like an African American blues singer like Joe Williams. I very much like this song and all of its performances. Pure and perfect. (14.5/15)

Total time 37:41

This is an album that is just not what I'm in to: there's too much theatric macabrism conveyed in Arthur's melodramatic lyrics and performances. It's as if he's trying to rock opera the vampirian underworld. The use of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' iconic song as the album's centerpiece feels all-too perfect as Arthur's entire schtick feels just like the one Screamin' Jay made famous through his own song and performances. There's solid music coming from his band--his instrumentalists often commanding jaw-dropping stuff--but there is never any doubt as to who the star of the show is: it's always frontman Arthur Brown, and he usually dominates 90% of the minutes of each song. I should not forget to mention the wonderful and powerful use of horns and orchestral support on several songs. More of this, please!

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of entertaining and unusual musical theater. Arthur carves out a theatric niche that many rock, heavy metal, and goth bands will take full advantage of over the coming decades.

Stylistically the music on the album is an organ and vocals driven psychadelic tinged rock´n´roll style. There is no guitar on the album, so the basis of the music is organ/piano, bass, and drums. The theatrical and versatile vocals by Brown dominate when they appear (he sings, whispers, recites poems, and screams his lungs out). Although the album features a pretty rough sounding production and the rhythm tracks are organic and raw, the album is still pretty sophisticated as a result of the way the vocals and organ are performed, often providing the album with an almost musical/theatrical performance quality. The brass- and string arrangements which were overdubbed on the request of the record label, provide some tracks with an additional musical dimension, but to my ears they don´t really fit the music, and it´s audible that they weren´t part of the original musical vision.

Upon conclusion "The Crazy World of Arthur Brown" is a decent quality psychedelic rock album, and although "Fire" isn´t the most interesting track here, it´s of course a huge hit and something most people recognise when they hear it. It´s a disjointed and incoherrent album too though, sticking in many different directions, and it´s a bit hard to grasp what it is the band really want. I´ll make the postulate that The Crazy World of Arthur Brown are probably more influential because of the customes and face paint that Arthur Brown wore on stage than for their music. Still a 3 star (60%) rating isn´t all wrong.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

"Gas Tanks" dark, cavernous, progressive intro in fact with Hammond organ, the bewitching voice of Magma and the flute bring back to the heavy prog of yesteryear; the organ in its firmament which flirts with the cinematic genre for a time, as on 'Phantom Of The Paradise' and it continues on "Coffin Confession" interlude arpeggio guitar and organ with the threatening, hypnotizing, theatrical voice of Arthur; the concept continues with "Going Down" a grandiloquent sequence of sax in a flamboyant riff; bluesy title, groovy swirling towards the jazzy movement, on Joe COCKER, Alice COOPER. Long crescendical rise 70's, sax, organ, souvenir atmosphere on an old SUPERTRAMP sometimes. "Once I Had Illusions (part 1)" on Jim's voice, heady, repetitive air, organ forward, vocal blues-gospel rising in a trance on the SUPERTRAMPs, brief psychedelic song charged with emotion; a bit of unhealthy DOORS at the detour for the track of the album. "I Like Games" suite with harmonica and bluesy western atmosphere, the guitar slide that suits so well, vintage atmosphere à la John Lee HOOKER then energetic crescendo on a bass drum; deep, muffled voice, crooner, before launching with a flight of seagulls the...

Psychedelic "Shining Brightness", megaphone voice, vibrating organ; it screams like a good jazzy hard rock and this xylophone or vibraphone and this voice reciting a mantra; a BOF tune from the 'Twin Peaks' then the final organ making the hovering side more lively to announce "The Blues and Messing Round" typed standard blues where the guitar brings back to distant bases ranging from Albert COLLINS, BB KING, Jimi HENDRIX to Gary MOORE, in short heavy; the cascading piano and finally the Hammond for a beautiful, simple and effective vintage moment. "Long Long Road" changing register again with piano, Hammond and acoustic guitar and the romantic ballad with obvious spleen; a bit of PROCOL HARUM, MEAT LOAF and Joe COCKER on a divine voice; an anthem title. "Once I Had Illusions (part 2)" comes to conclude this opus with a blues drawing on the heavy by the guitar and the swirling voice like a will-o'-the-wisp; jerky rhythm showing one of the possible proto hard origins, a little in line with an emblematic DOORS title. "No One to Blame" and "Living in the Love" on the artbook to get you, myself not having it so no note on it.

Arthur BROWN signs there an exuberant, stimulating music; it is stunning, powerful, retro-garde and innovative; it's mostly jam-packed with musical vitamins and it shows that he can release a full concept album at his slightly advanced age. Melting-pot sounds that draw from his original musical universe, old atmospheres mixed with today's sound and 40 minutes of simply enjoyable progressive travel. What surprised me in this column was to cite reference marker groups who themselves took these substrates from their musical repertoire, in short a little gem after a long, long road.

The original team that crafted the band's one and only self-titled release of the era consisted of Arthur Brown himself on vocals known for his outlandish stage charisma, Vincent Crane on Hammond organ and orchestral arrangements, Nicholas Greenwood on bass and Drachen Theaker on drums. The band was literally on "Fire" during 1968 with a hit single that peaked at #7 in the US and #2 in the UK as well as an early progressively minded rock album that contributed in redefining the possibilities of rock music. But all good things come to end, some shorter than other and by 1969 the members had grown restless and the band imploded. Crane would soon start Atomic Rooster while Greenwood would go on to join Steve Hillage in Khan, another band Jonesy as well as recording his own solo album.

The lineup lasted long enough for one classic album and no more yet Arthur Brown himself wanted to continue his CRAZY WORLD so he recruited a long list of guest musicians and set out to record what was suppose to be the second album under THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN moniker. The debut release offered the perfect mix of easy to follow blues rock melodies with pop sensibilities decorated with bizarre avant-garde intros, intermissions and extended passages. When it came to crafting his followup STRANGELANDS, Brown eschewed the easy on the ears pop sensibilities and went for the avant-garde jugular as he steered his musical style far away from the money-making machine that spawned his hit single "Fire." Turned out it wasn't the best move.

Considered to be the logical intermission between Brown's debut and his soon-to-be psychedelic prog band Kingdom Come, STRANGELANDS was recorded in 1969 and very much lived up to its album title however the good folks at the record company were having none of this this bizarre improved musical freakery that took metaphysical abstractness in the lyrics to unthinkable bizarre new realities and a stylistic shift from predict singable songwriting to avant-experimentalism that had more in common with free jazz than anything remotely rock and roll. The album was scrapped and remained in the vaults for almost 20 years after its initial recording in late 1969. The album wouldn't see the light of day until 1988 but has retrospectively been considered a belated prog masterpiece by some and utter dross by many more. In reality the album falls somewhere in between those extremes on the spectrum.

Although Arthur Brown himself was the attention getter with this shock rock stage performances of face paint which would inspire Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson and the entire genre of black metal that would come, on the musical composition side the band's debut was forged by a unique marriage of the disciplined classically trained musical approach of Vincent Crane who crafted music in a logical linear way and the more experimental free range approach of drummer Drachen Theaker. Theaker being the only musician to stay on board to record STRANGELANDS had more influence this time around and his avant-garde weirdness became the dominant force that Brown was more than willing to explore. Greenwood is said to have been the least musical explorative and in many ways kept the other three from getting too weird too fast.

STRANGELANDS retains the tones and timbres of the band's self-titled album of 1968 but instead of focusing on the melodies and pop sensibilities of the debut, this time around Brown expanded all those crazy avant-garde sounds that provided the intros, intermissions and extended freakery. The result was an album that featured a range of instrumental parts that played more independently as if each musician existed in his own world and the individual parts were somehow forged together like a musical chimera on the Isle of Dr Moreau. Rather than lush keyboards supporting a main melodic theme, now the keys went rogue into extreme psychedelic weirdness not unlike some of the trippiest Krautrock to come while the percussion forged by Theaker looked more toward the world of avant-jazz for bizarre otherworldly technical workouts closer to something from avant-percussionist Han Bennink than anything from the up til then rock paradigm.

While this album has the reputation of being complete musical gibberish, that is not the case at all. It may require a few listening sessions to unravel the musical complexities at hand but each musician has been assigned an expanded musical motif that extends beyond the typical for the day "coming together" for a unified musical motif. Operating much like the avant-prog excesses of Henry Cow that would emerge in a few short years, Brown was once again ahead of the pack with his relentless drive to innovate. Unfortunately few were willing to immerse their senses in music this dense and alien to their musical sensibilities however i personally don't really buy that because by 1969 several avant-rock release had emerged including Captain Beefheart's own "Trout Mask Replica" which STRANGELANDS is often compared to due to the fact that Theaker had personally known and played with the great Don Van Vliet, who inspired much of the approach.

Although it's impossible to decipher given the abstractness of this recording, STRANGELANDS is loosely arranged into four parts titled "The Country," "The City," "The Cosmos," and "The Afterlife," most of which feature multiple suites. The album was far more instrumental and the musical motifs took every liberty to escape the confines of any established musical paradigm. With acts like Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention and his pal Captain Beefheart, the avant-garde genie was truly out of the bottle and Brown himself had caught the bug. Ironically the only real connection to the debut other than the tones and timbres of the keyboards is the vocal style of Brown himself albeit this time around he excelled at a more exaggerated histrionic form of operatic theatricality. The album basically plays out as Brown pummeling the senses with philosophical metaphysical concepts while the musicians color the musical palette with improvisational impressions rather than belting out unambiguous bravado.

This is one strange bird right from the opening "Life Jacket" right down to the final cover of the 1950's song "Endless Sleep." Steeped in the excesses of Beefheart's "Trout Mask Replica" with the musical fortitude of space cadet Sun Ra meets the free floating spirit of The Velvet Underground, STRANGELANDS more than lives up to its album title and is by all means an acquired taste if one can palette such things in any dosage. This album was really cutting edge and ahead of its time in many ways and although scrapped initially has been rediscovered as the album that showcases Brown's true mad genius that would, once tamed a bit, usher in his new stint with Kingdom Come whose three albums have become progressive rock classics in their own right. For those who love the most bizarre and demanding musical expressions to be found, this late 60s oddity is right up your alley.

"Prelude" in all its eeriness opens up our album into "Nightmare", a boisterous organ-led number (as most are). Arthur Brown's voice is absolutely insane, and to think this was released in '68 is a whole other thing. For those unfamiliar with him, his voice is a deep, rich and dramatic baritone, but at times he utilizes this effectively piercing falsetto. Huge opener. Orchestral arrangements, as with the woodwinds on "Nightmare" and the horns on the next, "Fanfare / Fire Poem", were handled by Crane. This is of course then the intro, of sorts, to the signature Arthur Brown tune that has been solidified in history, "Fire". This song is far richer than I remember. It's easy to recall the chorus and of course his bold opening statement ("I am the God of Hellfire!"), the latter becoming a calling card of sorts, but this song is a big'n. It's dark and layered, especially thanks to the excellent horn arrangement here.

Our apparent theme continues on the dark, soulful "Come & Buy" (a play on words, no?). The rhythm section is so grooving, and the composition, here (as is the varied trend throughout) written by Brown and Crane, is phenomenal. It's so well fitted with a larger orchestral ensemble than tracks before. It's easy to hear the effect Brown had on bassist (Sean?!) Nicholas Greenwood. A stark juxtaposition is found in the softer, introspective "Time"... And all seems to hush before "Confusion". This second half of this two-parter is more intense, yet still softer in tone. And thus ends the first side. Dark and looming forces preside here...

Next we have the Screamin' Jay Hawkins' tune "I Put a Spell on You". And we all know it, I'd think. This will definitely help to bring you back to the reality of Brown and Co.'s influences. Their rendition is, of course, quite dark, but ultimately a super classic feel, and how could it not be? Rapid string-plucks introduce our next, "Spontaneous Apple Creation", and such a wild feeling was produced in me. And here, I had mentioned before Arzachel as contemporaries (and sure, they are), but I have to wonder to what degree Vincent Crane influenced the early sound of Dave Stewart on organ (he later going on to form the Arzachel-offshoot Egg as well). Just some wild sounds that are rather surprising to hear this early on (just a year before Arzachel).

Our final moments ease into the shockingly upbeat "Rest Cure", certainly the least progressive number of the whole: Blue Eyed Soul as performed by a dramatic, seemingly crazed Englishman. Greenwood has a stronger nearly melodic performance on bass here. If you know Khan, you know he's got a lot to offer in this field. I guess it makes sense with a title like this, but "I've Got Money" continues in the wildly upbeat and positive feeling of the last. Not super exciting compositionally, but still a fun track. Finally we have the 7-minute "Child of My Kingdom", which feels perhaps like what he was prepared to accomplish with Kingdom Come. Ultimately, much of this tune is R'n'B. Just feels like a comparably weak overall ending to an otherwise fantastic album. And that all to say that there really isn't a weak song, a song on here that I would deem less than "Good"; thus the undeniable strength of the start won me over to a firm 4/5 stars.

Despite a rather prolific solo career which included several solo albums as well as a few by THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN, Mr. Brown has never topped his debut performance that managed to outstage even the wildest characters of the tumultuous 60s but come 50 years later, this dude is still cranking out the music! And now in 2019, only two days after his 77th birthday, he who is also known as The God of Hellfire has released a new worthy edition to his canon in the form of GYPSY VOODOO which is the culmination of a career's worth of ideas all woven together with a new version of THE CRAZY WORLD band which includes a total of ten different musicians and vocalists. No members from the original rendition of the band are on board here, no Vincent Crane, no Nick Greenwood, no Drachen Theaker. This is a modern day ensemble and after all this is the ARTHUR BROWN hour so who cares about all those others!

While the decades have gone by and musical styles have changed, BROWN seems to exist in his own world where time stands still. GYPSY VOODOO sounds very much like the pioneer of Theatre Shock Rock with the groovy funky vibes of his glory years along with the blues based hard rock that made his 60s and 70s run so addictively fun! With ten diverse tracks GYPSY VOODOO finds BROWN in good spirit and although his vocals haven't navigated the oceans of time completely in tact, they still don't sound too bad for the most part with only some of his attempts to hit the higher range sounding a little raggedy. However on spoken word segments such as on "Fire Poem," he sounds exactly as he once did. With a refusal to join the new sounds of the 21st century it also sounds like BROWN conjured up a new batch of tracks right after his zany revered debut over a half of a century ago when comic books were a mere 10¢!

OK, so what can one expect from a character like ARTHUR BROWN so many years after his peak years that go back so very very far? Well, pretty much more of the same. GYPSY VOODOO is very much a tribute to himself and even includes a remake of the "Fire Poem" / "Fire" tracks that made him famous in the first place but not exactly to the same effect. The good news is that if you totally dig the melodic blues rock based songs that BROWN has always dished out then you are in for a treat. This album is chock full of brand spanking new tracks that sound as if they were created long ago and only now resurrected with the miracles of modern day technology to make them sound squeaky clean and free of the analog technology's limitations and while the remake of "Fire" doesn't exactly blow the original away, it is by no means a terrible exploit of his primo material either.

VOODOO GYPSY is a mixed bag for me. One the one hand, every single track here is a worthy addition to THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN but on the other hand, there's a sense of been there / done that and the album is dripping with nostalgia albeit in a good way. ARTHUR BROWN clearly found his voice long ago and has hardly deviated from it since and has not been tempted in the least to add modern day musical influences to his tapestry of spoken word, blues rock, electronics and psychedelia. Don't expect any metal, hip hop or Beyonce making a cameo. This is ARTHUR BROWN as the God of Hellfire has always been and much the better for it however i do wish that there was some sort of upgrade to the ARTHUR BROWN sound that would connect it to the present. While in no way bad, this album doesn't exactly blow me away either. Definitely recommended for those who crave retro 60s sounds with the benefits of modern day production but if you are expecting a totally new musical paradigm from Mr BROWN then you will be woefully disappointed.

While starting out somewhat normal growing up in Whitby, England and studying philosophy and law in Leeds later in life, the 60s offered BROWN the chance to nurture his wild side as he became one of the most outlandish and flamboyant figures to have emerged from the psychedelic rock era which included his famous head dressing that he would ignite and perform fully aflame during his live performances. This outrageous behavior is what got him noticed and still remembered some half century later, but during the day it also got him in a lot of trouble with self-inflicted injuries, property damage run amok, apocalyptic shocking material and to top it off was booted off the Jimi Hendrix tour for his reckless shenanigans. Not content to simply light his head on fire, he would also strip naked and let it all hang out so to speak, a feat that got him arrested in Italy and banned from even setting foot on stage in other parts of the world. THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN seemed like the perfect descriptive moniker for this unhinged lunatic.

All of these wild man antics naturally caught the attention of record companies as well and BROWN signed on to Pye Records where he and bandmates Vincent Crane (Hammond organ, piano), Drachen Theaker (drums) and Nick Greenwood (bass) would record and release their one and only self-titled album in 1968. The album received a bit of a boost due to The Who's manage Kit Lambert sitting in as producer with Pete Townsend on associate production. The album was a surprise hit on both sides of the Atlantic when the first single "Fire" catapulted to the #1 spot in the UK and shot all the way up to the #2 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 not to mention significant success all over the planet. The album musically was based in the catchy pop hook laden psychedelic rock of the era with an energized with a groovy bass line, bombastic organ soloing and BROWN's four octave vocal range including an over the top falsetto that would give birth to the heavy metal style of Rob Halford in Judas Priest, King Diamond in Mercyful Fate and Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden.

Stylistically THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN album was laid out like a rock opera which included a more commercial side one followed by a slightly more experimental side two. The album was basically built around the concept of the first single "Fire" laid out in poetic prose and ambitious musical delivery, although the full rock opera effect was truncated and tamed due to the technological limitations of the day, the band more than made up for this lack of album ambitiousness with their lavish live settings where BROWN engaged in numerous costume changes and donned his famous face paint appearance that would also prove influential with artists such as Alice Cooper, Kiss, King Diamond and the entire black metal world that would essentially adapt the entire BROWN playbook and adapt it to the modern day. The album, while not a fully fledged opera, nevertheless provided a prototype of progressive rock hot on the heels of The Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's" album and remains one of the key pivotal albums in ratcheting the rock paradigm into more sophisticated levels of musical mastery.

THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN album is flawless in how it creates the perfect atmosphere with the keyboard rich opener "Prelude / Nightmare" which finds a dreamy flute being replaced by a groovy bass driven rock beat and heavy organs offering a spooky overtone to the classical virtuosity that Crane dishes out. For the most part BROWN sounds a lot like Frank Zappa in vocal tone but had the ability to drop to extremely low bass notes and then whizz up the scales to hit high falsettos and blood curdling screams. He had the perfect intuitive drive of how to alternate singing, narration or just knowing when to just scream his ass off. There are even moments that sound like Robert Plant well before Led Zeppelin was even in its infancy. Some tracks are connected with orchestrations with some such as "Fanfare / Fire Poem" creating a tension building interlude that connects the opener to the powerhouse single "Fire" a track so catchy and built on unexpected changes that an unsuspecting public was defenseless against its persuasive charm. The album was primarily written by BROWN and Crane but includes two covers in the form of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put A Spell On You" and James Brown's (no relation!) "I've Got Money."

The intensity of this CRAZY WORLD period was too much to sustain and like a super nova star simply exhausted its fuel supply not too long after getting started. Due to all kinds of mishaps and creative differences, the band completely fell apart during the tour. Firstly, Theaker was morbidly frightened of airplanes and could not tour. He was replaced by Chris Farlowe and then Carl Palmer but everything else turned south very quickly and the band called it quits. But like a super nova that explodes, it created the star seedlings to spawn new life elsewhere. After disbanding, Carl Palmer would join Vincent Crane to form Atomic Rooster, Theaker would join Love and then Rustic Hinge while Nick Greenwood would join up with Steve Hillage to form Khan. BROWN himself would create Kingdom Come as well as pump out a few solo albums during the 70s. The influence of this one shot band though would extend to the present day in the trifurcated tree that extends into progressive rock, shock / glam rock and heavy metal. No small feat for a short lived but over the top act that was only in operation for a mere few years. The band is legendary but the album is a mesmerizing as the tracks offer many moods, tempos and dynamics to keep it enthralling throughout its entire listening time that offer a mature mix of psychedelic rock, R&B and pop with classical touches.

While perhaps the overall sound is dated as it could never be mistaken for anything other than the time period it was created with it's somewhat cliche organ sounds, psychedelic rock constructs and album layout, THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN does exactly what it is supposed to and takes the listener back to the year 1968 and delivers a collection of ten tracks that still sound as interesting as they must've back then. While rooted in the psychedelic rock sound of the era, this album implements interesting creativity in the nooks and crannies that must've driven the record company CRAZY! If BROWN hadn't been constricted by external forces this album may have been far more progressive, far more outlandish and the CRAZY turned up several notches, but even as it stands, this is a brilliant display of the late 60s underground scene that just happened to spawn a surprising top 10 hit around the world. The 2010 remaster is well worth the price of admission with a bonus CD that includes the B-sides of the singles as well as demos, mono mixes and a few extras. Even today, 50 years later after its release, THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN sounds fairly unique with BROWN's eccentric vocals standing out. This is a true classic.

The music on "The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown" features minimalistic eclecticism, something that I admire in music and look up to as a musician myself. This album laid the basis for all organ-driven prog to come - Emerson, Lake & Palmer (Carl Palmer played in this band before joining Atomic Rooster, and than creating ELP), Egg, Triumvirat and so many more. Furthermore, this was the first shine of a great keyboardist Vincent Crane. This album is highly influenced by jazz, sould, gospel as well as classical music with an ambitious taste of theatricality, reminiscent of Screamin' Jay Hawkins or a British star Screaming Lord Sutch. Psychedelic elements are also at the first plan. Arthur Brown's concept was all about the beggining of time, gods and mythology. All of this dipped in a bit of psychedelic acid. The frontman recalls: "Seing into people's eyes, I saw all the universes. I saw them being born, saw them die. I would say it was the nearest I came to being able to see god". And this is what it's all about. Excellent, excellent work. "Prelude/Nightmare" opens the album with intelectual-sounding, romantic symphonic bits turning into the proper "Nightmare". And really, this is the essence of the album - has it all: conceptual lyrics, soul feel, a strain of classical music at the beggining, organ virtuosity. Those elements repeat on "Fanfare", "Fire", "Come And Buy", pretty much most of the tracks. Really good stuff. Even though it is kind of monotonous, it definitely is an outstanding experience!

Arthur Brown's music was all about being eccentric. He unconciously sparked something that would influence what we know as progressive rock. Although this is not full-blown prog, this should find itself on a shelf of every prog fan. 9/10!

The first album was a sort of compromise between blues and progressive rock which turned out really well. I suppose the album made quite an impact with it's theatrical vocals and scary, to be frank, compositions. Yet I cannot feel that the album was anything but a compromise where Brown constrained himself beyond his strength to make an album that would appeal to parts or any of the audience. Why? Simply because the next album he recorded, yet never saw released back then, was a chaotic piece of musical tapestry far beyond any normal mind. The album was in fact abnormal. The only sane thing about it is it's title, Strangelands, which encapsulates everything the album is. Strange and set in a strange land.

To listen to this album you need to be prepared for something beyond complex. There are no songs or epics in the normal sense. What you get is a bunch of musicians painting a canvas of distorted, twisted and deranged motives, with colours able to scare you. Sort of like a horror movie twisting your brain. You will not find structure. Well, that's not completely true. I will explain.

The Arthur Brown band of 1969 is the equivalent of modern day Mayhem, the norwegian black metal band. The reason for this statement is the immaculate ability to walk the ever so thin line between utter chaos and some sense of structure. Buried between the chaos you do find traces of order, proof of the true visions and musical skill possessed by the band, or both bands in this case. That is the scary part, the slight presence of order in a chaotic setting. Sort of like a workplace for orchs, really. Amidst all that chaos and devestation they do manage to build something that's both functional and impressive, given the circumstances.

With all that said, I must bear witness and let my personal feelings fly high, which, all things concerned is the purpose of reviews, and proclaim that this is not particularily enjoyable. I find it intriguing and interesting but not enjoyable. There are no real paths to follow and no real songs to endear me. The only real reward is after the album is over is the feeling of being impressed by how anyone is able to produce something like this. That is impressive but does not transform the music into anything other than noise, albeit with a sugar coating. (Though the coating must have gone off.)

I recommend you, if you like Arthur Brown, to give it a spin or two since it is a sort of progressional phase. "Galactic zoo dossier" was totally different and "Kingdom Come" (my favorite) is a sort of blend between the latter and "Strangelands". Purely an interesting note in the annals of Brown.

Conclusion: I'll give this album two stars, based only only on the fact that it is an impressive piece of work. That's all.

The album starts off with "Prelude - Nightmare" with luxurious chords and tunes which pushes onto the keyboard-based verses with Arthur Brown's unique vocal style, similar only to that of Ian Gillan of Deep Purple. The following track "Fanfare - Fire Poem" employs more musical styles and texture to the album. The fanfare evolves into an excellently lively organ playing as Brown recites an extraordinary, deliciously psychedelic poem leading you into the classic track "Fire". This track probably needs no description as you've probably come across the song before but just in case, "Fire" is really the essence of the album crammed into 3 minutes and presented to you as a catchy psychedelic tune with multiple hooks throughout.

From here onwards, the album sort of starts to go downhill or is not really as consistent as before. "Come And Buy" is more steady going song and acts nicely as a break from the earlier musical chaos. The melody is also quite relaxing, with the occasional upbeat section, although the lyrics aren't as adventurous as I would have liked in some places. "Time" further brings down the album into a calmer state into a wonderfully psychedelic dream, with more loud occasional interruptions to keep the listener interested. This segues into "Confusion" where familiar tunes are heard. Nothing too different is heard here.

Starting Side 2, an excellent rendition of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put A Spell On You" is heard. The band really make it their own, and create a brilliant atmosphere through the wall of sound. The Great "Spontaneous Apple Creation" follows with a bizzare intro, more creative poetry and chord progressions. Intriguing effects are used to fill the air along with vivid drumming. Overall quite an odd song but fits in nicely to this album. "Rest Cure" is another more mainstream attempt as heard on "Fire" (of which it is the B-side of). It makes a great upbeat fun song onto the album but upholds the adventurous standards as heard previously.

"I've Got Money" - a James Brown cover - has incredibly soulful sections which the whole of the band contribute to greatly, especially as the keyboard chords build up to the chorus. "Child Of My Kingdom" was a little bit of a letdown, not as memorable as the previous songs but still good. The song carries some nice Canterbury Scene-esque verses, with honky-tonk keyboards and steadily rocking rhythms. Interesting little tunes fill in any empty sections in the solos towards the end, without making them too clustered, and in effect creates a well structured ending to the album.

A(+) - One of the greatest and most underrated gems of the psychedelic era. Must be heard by anyone who likes the song "Fire" or bands like Deep Purple.