NEAR THE BEGINNING

Vanilla Fudge must have been one of the wildest and loudest group of the sixties. And when it comes to groups like Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Atomic Rooster, Birth Control (and many more) the Fudge must have been very influential with its brand of symphonic heavy psych. The recording of this record is so intense that its sound heavy even today, but also very chaotic, compressed and hard to listen to. 'Some Velvet Morning' sounds exemplary for how progressive (hard)rock bands would sound at the start of the seventies; heavy riffs, majestic organ theme and soulful verses. On all other tracks the band sounds quite directionless and heavy for the sake of it. The second side is recorded live and sounds like a heavy jam with solo's of the individual members. The organ solo's sound particularly like those of Purple's John Lord. The fuzz guitar by Vince Martel is particularly ear-piercing. If you should fancy owning this record I would do so mostly because of its crazed out sound and some moments of actual prog musicality, but for most others I would recommend skipping this one. I myself am glad I found a vinyl copy to just have heard this record once, because Vanilla Fudge is simply a phenomenon to behold.