PARADISE NOW

Listening to this album immediately comes to my mind that Group 1850 once was the support-act of Pink Floyd, that must have been a very impressive musical experience, and inspiring! Especially in de psychedelic compositions Paradise Now (ominous atmosphere, dreamy vocals and organ, fiery guitar runs and propulsive drums), Hunger (hypnotizing featuring Syd Barrett-like vocals and raw, wah-wah drenched guitar), the short Lonelyness (spacey) and ?! (I love that soaring psychedelic organ ? and guitar sound).

Catchy beats in Friday I'm Free (again dreamy vocals and lot of room for harder-edged guitar, with use of the wah- wah) and the short Circle (sweeping percussion). Short and more experimental is the track Martin En Peter, this one contains cheerful interplay between percussion and flute, a typcial late Sixties 'hippie' climate.

My absolute highlight on this album is the final song Purple Sky (around 10 minutes, the longest one). The blend of space rock, blues and psychedelia sound captivating and compelling, evoking Jimi Hendrix (I think the title refers to him), especially the guitar (blistering in the final part) and bluesy vocals. In between a drum solo, pretty usual in those days.

To me this LP sounds as a very pleasant Dutch answer to psychedelic Pink Floyd. Not every track is my cup of tea, but I appreciate those experimental twist and turns, it made Group 1850 to an internationally very acclaimed formation, the original first vinyl albums are very sought after!

P.s.: What a pity that Prog Archives mentiones the wrong line-up with this Dutch classic prog album, the right one is: Peter Sjardin (vocals, flute and organ), Daniël van Bergen (guitar and piano), Dolf Geldof (bass), Martin van Duynhoven (drums, tablas and percussion) en Dave Duba (guitars, vocals and drums). This was confirmed by manager Hugo Gordijn who I recently spoke.