MYSTERY AND ILLUSION

Mystery and Illusion has a special place in the long discography of US artist Jeremy, as he here, after a long career, finally release an album with vocals added to his excellent compositions.

Most of the tunes on this CD is a trip back in time to the 70's, with the 5 first tunes here in particular having a sound that reminds quite much of Hawkwind as they did on Hall of the Mountain Grill; although with slightly more psychedelic and symphonic textures, and less indulging in space sounds and hard rock licks. And no violin either. But the sound and atmosphere is similar.

On the last five tunes Jeremy experiments with other sounds, from backwards playing of some instruments with symphonic elements and Beatles influenced vocals added on Float Upstream on the weird side to the Bon Jovi meets 70's Genesis on Save Me on the more commercially oriented side.

Jeremy showcase his various influences as well as skilled playing and composition from start to finish on this release; and fans of symphonic as well as psychedelic rock from the 70's have a CD here they'll probably enjoy. And there's a good chance that many Hawkwind fans will find this one intriguing too.

What a trip ;)

JEREMY releases albums for 15 years or so; he's a one-man-band, often helped by David Dietrich on drums. This one that I recieved from MALS label is his recent effort.

OK, where to start? Musically this is not that Prog you've used to, it reminds me of Psychedelic/Hard Rock hippies from 60s, when jams were long and pointless, keys were Hammonds ONLY, vocals were muddy and all the way BEATLES-alike...wait, I've just described 'Mystery and Illusion'! :) Seriously, this album sounds as if it was recorded in THOSE times, and the only thing that spoils the party is electronic drumming (thankfully not in every track). You may home recording ruins everything, but no, sometimes it helps to create the very right atmosphere, and this is what JEREMY managed to achieve. If you're into Proto-Prog and Space Rock, if you really like IRON BUTTERFLY, HAWKWIND, GONG, early FLOYD and the likes, you'll certainly enjoy this CD. Support both the label and the artist and check 'Mystery and Illusion' out. Recommended.