INFINITE LOVE: LIVE AT THE QUEEN ELIZABETH 1971

Absolute masterpiece. Sorry, but i had to begin this review by these strong words.

This freshly unreleased 1971 double live album is an unexpected gem (and the word is weak) which expand a lot Quintessence's discography, along with the other « Cosmic Energy: Live at St Pancras 1970 » CD also by Hux records which is almost in the same vein in term of performance, but not for sound quality.

The performance on "Infinite Love: Live at the Queen Elizabeth 1971" is stellar, that's why at the time some music reviewers claimed that Quintessence was « the best live band in the world ». Indeed, the band combines virtuosity and mystic fervour like nobody. Flute and guitar parts are awesome, the psychedelic jams evoke the best Grateful dead. Quintessence is really the following of the american psychedelic scene, with a unique indo progressive touch. The track list gather pieces from all albums including the masterpiece eponym track « Dive deep » with two versions including one clocking at 24 minutes.

This is rare enough to be precised : not only this concert has been very well recorded in 1971 -as explained into the very informative booklet- thanks to amplifier settings in order to make the flute and vocals clearly audible, but the CD transfer is a success too : for one time the sound is neutral and musical with great presence, no over-compression which makes this CD a delight to listen to, even on ambitious audio systems, which is rarely the case with « rock » records. Thanks a lot to Hux records for this great mastering job. This is the kind of CD releases which may save the CD industry ! The only drawback for picky audiophiles who don't like to put their fingers on their precious discs is the very unconvenient double CD jewel case which is a pain to use : it's very hard to remove the CD from the box without damaging it, which is very frustating with such a quality record. Besides this detail, this « Infinite love » is easily the release of the year in vintage progressive rock.

Free acid folkish rock combo, back in the 1970s, Quintessence played a key role in the development of long musical excursion mixing raga-ish ornamentation and pop folk-inflected psychedelic improvisations. After a bunch of original and highly inspired mantric folkish-rock studio releases, the band culminates their whole career with this ritualistic and epic live improv recorded in 1971. This blissed out live session first introduces us into the spacious sound mandala with a highly intense, mid-epiphanic-nervous ballad then carries on a crystalline, gentle pastoral pop chanting hymn (Wonders of the universe). The rest of the album features Eastern buzzing and ravishing drone raga, expansive soundscapes (dominated by the dancing dreamy-like flute and the free folk rockin ensemble), amazing almost liturgical acoustic section. Incredibly elaborated sound signature and recognizable sonic sound travel which features essential convoluted freakout moments always within a classy stylish vein and an efficient sense of melodicism. The album is constantly luminous or charming despite that we can regret the brief presence of a few enthusiastic pop naiveties (which anyway don't affect the quality of the album). With their unique combination of improvised textures and sound alike syncrestism, Quintessence contributed to create what I would like to call ragadelic prog music. A tribute to the esoteric beauty. Warmly recommended to all prog lovers.