REALITY

The debut album from Second Hand which was released in 1968 and called Reality is a pretty psychadelic experience.

The music is heavily influenced by rock/ blues bands like Jimi Hendrix and Cream but in addition to that sound Ken Elliott´s vintage keyboards are a trademark in Second Hand´s sound. His voice is very strong and humourous. This music seems to be made while having lots of fun and probably under the influence of various drugs.

Most songs are fairly ordinary rock songs with a psychadelic touch while Mainliner Reality is a 15 minute long song with lots of string arrangements. The most progressive track on Reality for sure.

The musicianship is allright but a bit sloppy. The production is muddy and far from clean but I guess that´s the way the band thought it should be ( or maybe they just didn´t have enough money to buy themselves a better sound).

If your introduction to Second Hand was their second and most known album Death May Be Your Santa Claus this album probably won´t blow you away. But on the other hand if you liked Death May Be Your Santa Claus this is a a nice way to see how they started out. I´ll rate Reality 3 small stars. It´s a good psychadelic rock album with vintage keyboards and a great singer, but not much more than that. I´ll recommend that you start with Death May Be Your Santa Claus if you´re curious about Second Hand.