TITAN

"Sweet Dreams" is the 4th full-length studio album by US psychadelic/space/stoner rock act Titan. The album was released through Relapse Records in October 2010.

The band play a very interesting combination of psychadelic rock jams and 70s progressive rock. The music is predominantly instrumental but there are a few vocals on "Wooded Alter Beyond The Wander" provided by guitarist Josh Anzano. They sound surprisingly good considering that the band mostly focus on instrumentals. Personally I´m always a bit reluctant when it comes to psychadelic jamming as it often becomes mindless noodling that were probably great fun for the musicians involved but not specifically designed to meet the ears of an audience. In other words I usually prefer more structured music. That´s where "Sweet Dreams" comes in and save the day. This might be psychadelic rock jamming for the most part, but there are several themes and hooks in the tracks which make them memorable and quite enjoyable listens. The variation is also satisfactory. The ambient synth track "Synthasaurus" (love the title) along with the sparse vocals on "Wooded Alter Beyond The Wander" make those two tracks stand out a bit from the rest, but the remaining three tracks are also great and I never feel monotony slip in. The 5 tracks, 38:13 minutes album is entertaining throughout.

The instrumentation of bass, guitar, drums and keyboards/synths work really well. Lots of nice organ playing and synth effects along side jamming guitars and a solid rythm section. The warm and organic sound production further enhances the listening experience.

Honestly I didn´t come to "Sweet Dreams" with high expectations. From what I had read about the album I didn´t expect it to be something I would enjoy, but thankfully I´m not too old to be surprised. Because not only do I find "Sweet Dreams" a very enjoyable album, I also think it´s a high quality release and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

A New York quartet with big love for 1970s prog, stoner rock and psychedelia, Titan first surfaced during 2007 with this meaty debut release. Featuring the rather convoluted title 'A Raining Sun Of Light & Love For You & You & You...", this is an album buried deep in the annals of epic, wigged-out psych-rock, featuring four extended tracks that each charge lightning-paced through a heady sonic landscape of wild guitar riffs, crashing drums and oblique fantasy-flecked lyrics. Not unlike a brazen, marijuana-and-speed soaked mash-up of fellow psych-stoners Om, proto-metal pioneers Black Sabbath and the mystical atmospherics of both Pink Floyd and Gong, this is a truly remarkable journey to the outer limits of progressive psychedelia, though its also one of those albums that needs several listens - preferably whilst herbally medicated - to truly grasp. Strangely enough however it is only the opening ten-minute salvo 'Annals Of The Former World' that features a title, and for reasons that escape this writer the remaining three pieces all remain nameless. Yet this peculiar decision, in tandem with the dreamy blue artwork, merely adds to the albums overall blustery mystique. As a result, this helps 'A Raining Sun Of Light & Love For You & You & You..." come across not as a selection of separate tracks but as one epic slab of uninterrupted music, making for a mesmerising experience for those willing to fully immerse themselves into Titan's hypnotic groove. Occasionally, as found in the latter stages of the otherwise excellent motorik-grooved album closer, repetition seeps into the mixture, yet somehow it doesn't seem to actually matter. Titan's sound is a colossal one, brimming with a range of influences cherry-picked from the world of 'progressive' music. From the thunderous metallic snarl of 'Annals Of The Former World' to the celestial psych-rock passages and krautrock-kissed beats of the trio of nameless tracks that follow, this dense tapestry of influences weaves a powerful assault on the senses that grabs you by the throat and resolutely refuses to let go. You can also have fun picking out the many homages crammed into the mix - a game that may take some time - and then, at the very end, breathe calmly again as out of nowhere a gently-strummed banjo closes 'A Raining Sun Of Light & Love For You & You You...' on the most unexpected of notes. Awesome stuff. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

A cultivated, sinful, surprisingly psychedelic, compact energetic and visceral progressive new album, from a band that keeps its head up thanks to music and only thanks to it, which transpires into a personal and general high emotion or pulsating exhibition, which finally recreates the classic steps of art and prog almost (almost!!) where the 70s or the early 80s left it: in hard rock, in psychedelic adventure, in sound gasp, in a monotony of the language favoring the still ambition of experiences beyond wild and cracking. To be mixed are new and frivolous tendencies, like the fact that the garage feeling, the underground revolutionary grunge of melody, the suspense reachable only by a few definite steps, or the itching progressive-alternative conflict; nevertheless, this is Titan, all new or all-influenced, with a powerful album I quite tend to like.

Stoned or not stoned, this composition pretty much strikes a genuine adaptation of sounds, rock, rhythm and sequence, the way their correspondent movements, like experimentation, smash 'n' rock, beat improvisation or huff kinetics, do the same wicked, ab frontal communication. This is a difficult album, even a distorted one, but ultimately there's loads of feeling, excitement and shock-waves, enough for a comparison with the best; or with the alternative music of the alternative modern period. The tightness leads to an anxiety impression, yet we are talking multi-forms and high pressures of a kind artistic way, in which the artists of the mechanism are anonymous and serve the sound, and the consumed listener itself sticks to the value of being amazed, crumpled or gallantly dehydrated by the music force, eclecticism or high-fine explosion.

From small notes of the classic Hawkwind and little reminiscence of a Pink Floyd crashing pill, to more alive recent movements, including Mammatus or the hard rock original gifted power, with a bit of electronic perfidy, since I don't think that some accents and sequences can't match an Ashra or a sound machine band (but, yes, the rest is from space to fake-endemicity), Titan are both influenced and original. At least the beat tells nothing better. It's rock energy also strikes me some new-sound Hidria Spacefolk, but it's perhaps only because both bands released very exciting rock, space and fret music this year.

Finally, the detailed ornament of A Raining Sun Of Light And Love, For You And You And You shares just a couple of more uninterpreted general things. Like the explosion of one's entire instrumental sample being in permanent contrast with other movements, thus creating a diverse music in what is, generally, a great but simple struck. When noise is accomplished, the other value will ultimately include beats, space sonic and a melody inspired by free improvisation. The best emotions through Titan, here, runs when the massiveness is blended with an actual gentle order of play and creation, when the feistiest mad-driven sensualities are in fact a beat among others, when rock is ultimate but includes its much desirable eclecticism, when finally this entire psychedelic new-merge seems the stress of an experience beyond taste and a sense beyond mechanical intuitions. Less fascinating in this album can be the garage motives or even the stoned cold reactions to some moments where the art tempo is approaching a most exhausting finesse.

This album swims through an experimental, inductive and creative passion, and has traces of only what a psychedelic undisturbed chemistry can illuminate, further on the great experiments of progressive rock and sound. This is a four stars 2007 mention, cause I totally loved it.

I just got it and play it for the first time. The album is very interesting and the sound is very reminiscent of the 70s progressive rock.

This new propossal includes a mix of phasers and delay, manic-flanged drums, synthesizer mayhem, acid- guitar leads, unthinkable bass lines, time-signatures, and cosmic space sounds of the highest order.

Titan are a pleasure to behold. Highly recommended for fans of all things psychedelic/prog/Kraut/space rock, be it contemporaries like Acid Mothers Temple, Comets on Fire, Boris, Green Milk from the Planet Orange, and Dead Meadow, or legends such as Guru Guru, Amon Duul, Can, King Crimson and Hawkwind.

4 stars!

While most stoner rock bands draw influences from Black Sabbath and Hawkwind, Titan adds more influences into the mix. They incorporate the spirit and attitude of 70's progressive rock bands to their raw and druggy sound. This is a great step forward within their genre and compared to other "retro" bands they are still a force to be reckoned with.

The sound and feel of the albums is firmly rooted in the 70's and although this can be a bad thing if one's looking for innovation, if we talk about how good the music is then it's another different story. They have a wide array of influences ranging from bands such as Neu!, Ash Ra Temple, Hawkwind, Rush, Mahavishnu Orchestra (although less disciplined) and even Comus. Now try imagining all of those bands mixed and served with a coating of some good ol' stoner rock. From the fuzzed guitars, to the steady-yet-interesting rhythm section and the different kinds of keyboards such as the Hammond organ (for the heavier parts) and the moog (for the intergalactic trips) all of these instruments help create this wonderful retro sound.

All of the songs here are around the 10 minute mark and they have plenty of time to develop their sound. All of the songs have different moods and themes, but all are centered in showing off their prog influences (and jams). The first songs starts with their only vocals in the whole album sounding like Roger Wootton from Comus and then switching to a organ/ guitar power duo leading us into the extended jam for there on after. The second song is the "heavy prog" song in the album giving us nods to Goblin, Bigelf and other "heavy prog" bands while still having a trippy atmosphere in the whole song. Sadly this song isn't very varied and its the weakest of the bunch. The third songs kicks us back in action and now with a space rock vibe and Acid Mothers Temple-ish synth effects. This song also shows their stoner rock roots more clearer and its the highest point in the album. The last song is their Krautrock moment. A single motorik beat keeps the song going echoing Neu! in their prime and an excellent song to finish the album.

As you can see by reading this review if you're looking for innovation then good luck finding it here, but if you want some prog inspired stoner rock jams then this is your stop. Also if you enjoy bands such as Comets on Fire, Dead Meadow, Colour Haze, Mammatus and related then this is for you too. Highly recommended for people who found this review interesting.

3.5 out of 5

(Don't let the star rating fool you. If you're interested in this band then don't hesitate and check them out.)