3:47 E.S.T. [AKA: KLAATU]

The shop assistant at my local HMV was openly laughing when I bought this album for a knock down price.

He was off course remembering the persistent rumours that this album is in fact a Beatles album anno 1975. John, Paul, George and Ringo reformed and released this album under the pseudo name Klaatu. A very funny story. Unfortunate, this rumour is not true. Klaatu shifted a lot of extra copies of this album on this rumour alone.

Those who bought this album under the illusion of this being a Beatles album could not have been disappointed if they just listened to the music and not the laughter from their family and friends. The music is very The Beatles anno Sgt Pepper........ but with some added elements. Maybe the elements John and Paul, with a push from George, would have added to their sound if they had released an album five years after Abbey Road. We will never ever know. A song like California Jam is the Beatles anno Sgt Pepper, with some help from The Monkees. Paul and John would not had been ashamed of the excellent Calling Occupant either. My guess is that it would had been a John Lennon song with some added help from Paul McCartney and Phil Spector. Dr. Marvello is a George Harrison song throughout.

But the band is actually Klaatu and the recording was never aided by either Paul, George, John or Ringo.............. I believe. But this album still sounds like what I believe would had been The Beatles anno 1975 if Paul McCartney was reigned in by John Lennon and George Harrison. The music on this album is actually very good, although it is difficult to concentrate on the music when you are getting constantly bombarded with The Beatles references. The above mentioned songs are the strongest here. There are also some space rock like songs here too. This is a good album throughout and an album which has made me pretty curious about the rest of the Klaatu albums. This is a three star gem.

3.25 stars