CAPTAIN BEYOND

I listened to this album about a month ago, after not listening to it for a while, and as I listened I just was floored how good it was. Featuring former Iron Butterfly members and ex-frontman of Deep Purple Rod Evans, this was supergroup of sorts. The formula of hard rock and progressive rock on their debut predates Rush's (very non-prog) debut by 2 years! Add some Floydian psychedelic flavor and you get one hell of an album.

When looking at the number of tracks one might get the impression that it just has several short songs - that is misleading. Most of the tracks blend together as a continuing song, and various themes are revisited throughout the album. And, of course, the album rocks. Why this band did not reach a greater audience I don't know, but anyone interested in the heavy prog sub-genre should own this album. It is spectacular. 5 stars.

Well before you get your knickers too much in a bind, let me just state clearly that this is NOT an album that consists of entirely new material. Well, there is one new track that never was released but otherwise this is merely a collection of demos and alternate takes. Most of these tracks appeared (in final form of course) on the eponymous debut album whereas one comes from the oft loathed third album 'Dawn Explosion.' Curiously there is nothing from the second album 'Sufficiently Breathless.' This album is exactly what you would expect, namely a collection of material that was probably never meant to see the sunlight outside of its eternal crypt in someone's basement or attic or who knows where with all the raw and gritty pre-production values one could imagine. And that's exactly what we get here.

The only totally new track here is the hilariously titled 'Uranus Expressway' (yeah, i can't help but thinking it could be nicknamed 'Hershey Highway!!!!' LOL. Despite the silly title, this is a serious bluesy rock track that is nothing out of the ordinary from the day and wisely left off of the debut album for it doesn't have that progressive flair like many of those earliest of tracks. It actually echoes back to a more primeval era of Deep Purple minus John Lord's keyboard contributions, of course, but actually a decent energetic rocker that finds the band in fine form with a tinge of Southern twang that correlates the Johnny Winter connection. All in all these are interesting relics from the past and will undoubtedly be ravishingly devoured by rabid fans foaming at the mouth for any scraps of residue from the hitherto inaccessible vaults, but other than the single new track there isn't much that is out of the ordinary from what's actually on their albums. It's not like these tracks are so different compared to some of those on the Beatles' different versions for example. This is definitely a good and worthy extra supplement for any collector's shelves but not one i feel warrants the essential label. Nice album cover :)

I was wondering what I myself had written about this stand-out record and I found that I never actually wrote a review about the Captain Beyond debut. A shame, because in the beginning it was one of my great inspirations for my own band (along with May Blitz, Budgie and others).

For legal reasons the songwriting of the album was contributed to singer Rod Evens (ex-Deep Purple) and the excellent drummer Bobby Caldwell (ex-Johny Winter). Guitar player Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt (ex-Iron Butterfly) who obviously wrote a lot of riffs here wasn't mentioned as co-writer because of legal issues. Lee Dorman (also ex-Iron Butterfly) plays bass.

This is actually one of the few progressive rock records that actually rocks! It has power, ingenuity, the wild vibe and yet has that obscure collectible feel to it. Furthermore, the hard rock elements are firmly rooted in American rock - not British at all. It is actually quite strange why this record didn't receive more appraisal at its time. Perhaps the record was to intelligent for rock listeners and too energetic/punchy for progressive rock listeners. Perhaps because of the overly progressive songtitels and not so catchy lyrics. I would have to press myself to remember the lyrics of one single refrain now I think of it. It matters not. The endless stream of original riffs and rhythms, sometimes in odd signatures, without loosing the wild Hendrix feel is a real winner here. Furthermore one can find musical elements that clearly resemble stoner rock that would appear in the nineties. Together with some eclectic prog (metal King Crimson comes to mind) and some space-rock moments this is a complete eclectic work of art that fails to fit in any category.

My only complaint being the production - which lacks a clear low end (bass) - this is an almost perfect record. Exciting and innovative. Five stars. Must have if you like hard rock, heavy prog, heavy psych and seventies progressive gems in general.

Consider the musical universe of the 70's. If HAWKWIND was the stoner captain in our Milky Way, CAPTAIN BEYOND was another one, however clearly navigating through a different galaxy. Where do those space corsairs comes from? This obscure band is in fact a supergroup composed of former members of well-known prestigious formations: ex-DEEP PURPLE's vocalist Rod Evans, ex-IRON BUTTERFLY's guitarist Larry Reinhardt and bassist Lee Dorman and ex-Johnny WINTER's drummer Bobby Caldwell. So is this another hard-blues formation? A pale copy of the aforementioned bands? Not at all.

CAPTAIN BEYOND's eponymous debut really is an unique mixture of hard/heavy riffs with space/psychedelic/acid rock elements. Is it progressive? Yes, in a sense that this album is more a patchwork than a collection of songs. The music is unpredictable, evolving, moving, as if the CAPTAIN was constantly re-adapting the trajectory of his ship through the unexpected turbulences of the cosmic void. Furthermore, the record is catchy, accessible and avoids being repetitive or messy. The tracks are full of unusual changes and breaks, years before RUSH's proto-prog-metal. This is no touristic stationary cruising, prepare to be surprised. There are signs that do not lie: the original cover art was in 3D. Fasten your seatbelts, an epic journey through undiscovered stellar systems awaits you...

Rather than 13 tracks, the disc should been rather seen as composed of 3 mini-epics plus 2 songs. The first 3 tracks form the first mini-epic, lasting 9 minutes. The take-off is immediate with the heavy "Dancing Madly Backwards", its acceleration and solo will send you directly beyond our galaxy through a wormhole to an unknown destination. Mindblowing! The floating syncoped "Armworth" symbolizes the arrival, introducing the calm and ambient "Myopic Void". You can now rest and admire the stars. Don't relax too much though, the ship re-accelerates to speed of light for a boosted-up reprise of "Armworth"'s theme. The finale is a genuine sonic deflagration. Simply great! One of the best space heavy rocks from the 70's! The aggressive "Mesmerization Eclipse" is a very nice hard rock with many rhythm changes, while "Raging River Of Fear" sounds like DEEP PURPLE on serious acids. It even includes a small jazz-rock interlude.

The next 3 tracks are the second 9 minutes long mini-epic. Don't rely on the acoustic introduction "Thousand Days Of Yesterdays (Intro)", "Frozen Over" is a evolving black hole that gets as thrilling as RUSH's "Cygnus X-1", years ahead! The surprising reprise is terrific! "Thousand Days Of Yesterdays (Time since come and gone)" concludes on a lighter SANTANA-like tone. The last 5 tracks from the third 10 minutes suite. Starting as a cool hard rock, "I Can't Feel Nothin' (Part 1)" turns out to be pretty ferocious, until "As The Moon Speaks (To The Waves Of The Sea)" arrives as a welcomed pause when you can peacefully admire star systems at the window... However, the journey is not over yet. The (very) short raging "Astral Lady" unveils a beautiful solo on "As The Moon Speaks (Return)" and prepares the reprise "I Can't Feel Nothin' (Part 2)". As you may now expect, the finale is once again worthy of its predecessors. Blimey!

What a pretty impressive journey beyond the stars! "Captain Beyond" is a little spatial treasure containing lots of gems. The quality is constant and the interest maintained intact through the many unexpected changes and the surprise factor is always there, even after several listens. Gorgeous riffs, spacey moments, Rod Evans' rock'n'roll crooner accents and Bobby Caldwell's original rhythms bring the final touches making this album quite special.

CAPTAIN BEYOND's self-titled debut is typically what astrophysicists call a singularity: unique and uncategorizeable. A sonic meteorite or a comet only visible once per century, carrying the listener among several musical stellar systems. The band already exposes innovative ideas and their own identity here. An essential trip for 70's hard/heavy/stoner/space rock lovers! Don't miss the spaceship!

The singularity notion also has its drawbacks: the next albums will unfortunately not be as inspired and breathtaking, the musicians themselves looking like they've lost the coordinates of this extraterrestrial music...

Everything about the band and album has been covered in previous reviews, so I'll go personal. I don't usually ever go for the heavy guitar stuff, I'm way more into pastoral prog and electronics. I passed the heavy metal phase at 14. This isn't exactly heavy metal, but its heavier than my norm. I wish I could go back in time and replace this with all the ACDC and Ozzy dreck that was blasted in high school. If I have a few brews nowadays, this is always in the player.

Captain Beyond is for me like surfing the perfect wave. The first two tracks are the get off, the second half of the third track myopic void is where the wave starts to crest. I can't feel nothing bookends the end of the ride, and you wish to replicate the experience immediately.

Main composer en former drummer Bobby Caldwell had left the band and the second Captain Beyond album is quite different from the cool and hugely innovative heavy rock masterpiece that is the debut. One of my all-time favorites I must add.

The sound-pallet is expanded on 'Sufficiently Breathless'with acoustic guitars, keyboards and percussions. The compositions are hard rock with some inventive hooks, but without the former punch and wild ideas. The rhythmical experimentation is all but gone. The production is slightly better though. The foldout cover artwork is very nice, even from the inside. On the second side band seems to be more free and we find some of the more original compositions.

Conclusion. This is still a good heavy rock album with some catchy song-writing, riffing and a cool sound. Three stars, but only recommended to fans of heavy rock from the early seventies.

I snubbed many bands, thinking they were just a poor ersatz of their past glory and again I was proved wrong. Captain Beyond is not a leftover of Deep Purple and Iron Butterfly but indeed closer to a supergroup. And a convincing one at that.

Trippy many times with success, catchy, ballzy sound and stellar vocals, Captain Beyond reminds me of a young band that did stepped aside of the commercial march: Queens of the Stone Age. If you listen carefully, you will hear many things that (perhaps) inspired Josh Homme like the vocal arrangements and the crazy riffing.

It's like expelled tribe members of Survivor formed a band and surpassed themselves!

First off, I had a feeling about vintage sounds the band play along the way through the tracks presented at the track list. My first reaction, the guitar playing is marvelous and admire it. It's not something compared to how Ritchie Blackmore or Jimmy Page play but to me the guitar playing is something that really sound raw with minimum effects such as baby cry and many guitar fills played around the tracks. The track duration is basically short with some of them only one minute more. However the flow of tracks are really nice and I got no trouble at all listening to the album in its entirety. Opened with some sort of raw drumming the "Dancing madly backwards (on a sea of air)" (4:02) moves beautifully with excellent vocal line by Rod Evans. The music is dynamic and relatively fast tempo and then continue to second track "Armworth" (1:48) that serves as a bridge to the next "Myopic void" (3:30) smoothly.

"Mesmerization eclipse" (3:48) is another rock outfit that impresses me in its dynamic and relatively fast tempo. It continues to "Raging river of fear" (3:51) neatly with good transition. While "Thousand days of yesterday (intro)" (1:19) is ambient in style, it then moves beautifully to a dynamic "Frozen over" (3:46) with energetic guitar and vocal line combined with inventive drumming.

Composition-wise, all tracks are excellent and different than typical hard rock music as they impose also some psychedelic style in the music. The melody is basically standard with not so much memorable pieces but all of them lumped together with excellent harmonies stemming from instruments played by the musicians involved. I fail to identify tracks that become my favorites. The reason is simple: this is the kind of album that must be enjoyed in its entirety - so it's hard to identify which tracks are best. I just enjoy the flow of music ...and it's excellent!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW