Psychedelicatessen

HERE IS A WEATHER WARNING:- There's a storming gale of VERY HEAVY Psychedelic Rock on the way which is expected to reach Force 10 on the Beaufort Scale. Occasional gusts of very high decibels are expected! The opening blitzkrieg of storming Hard Rock and Heavy Metal thunder is titled "Futilist's Lament", and it would indeed be futile to lament the loss of sleep throughout this window-rattling sonic blast. This thunderous assault on the eardrums won't just keep you awake, it'll probably wake up the neighbours too and have them angrily banging on your door. There's no peace for the wicked (or the good) either with the next song "Death Warmed Up" as the non-stop artillery barrage of sound continues. This storming "Sea Shanty" is an unrelenting 9-minute-long pressure wave that's LOUD enough to wake the dead, never mind the neighbours, and it's probably the only time you'll ever hear a violin played on a heavy Psychedelic Rock/Metal album. Yes, really! A violin! Although you've never heard a violin played quite like this before. This even goes beyond the incredible power of Darryl Way's manic violin-playing in Curved Air. Yes, it really IS that awesome! Is this stunning album Psychedelic Rock or is it Heavy Metal? Who knows? Maybe it's some amazing new hybrid such as Psychedelic Metal. Either way, it's a remarkable album of unbridled raw power and energy. Phew! There's a bit of a breather now but not for long with "Pushed, But Not Forgotten". The song opens deceptively gently, but there's another storming outburst of Heavy Metal thunder and lightning on the way. It's not quite the storming hurricane of the first two powerful numbers, because this third song contains some gentler melodic passages, and it sounds all the better for it too. After all, thunderbolt and lightning can be very very frightening (according to Queen). This song is more like a warm gentle breeze with occasional outbursts of Heavy Metal thunder raining down, so keep an umbrella handy.

The enigmatically-titled "Walking Down Their Outlook" doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but who says LSD-influenced wild and crazy Psychedelic Rock has to make any sense anyway!? One thing's for sure though, it's another burst of raw Psychedelic Metal mayhem, featuring an absolutely maniacal violin player running rampant throughout. Who would have believed a delicate violin could ever sound so incredibly LOUD! Not Stradivari or Vivaldi, that's for sure! There's no let-up in the incredible pace of this album, so be prepared for more fireworks with "Missing Out", another 9-minute-long, non-stop fusillade of Heavy Metal cannon fire. This sonic blast explodes into life like a psychedelic shell burst bathed in glowing iridescent rainbow colours. There's more musical madness and mayhem on the way with "Nowhere", and nowhere will you find any gentle romantic ballads on this album. It's another wild and frenzied psychedelic violin ride aboard the crazy train, which brings the album to a magnificent conclusion in a storming blaze of pounding and percussive glory.

High Tide's "Sea Shanties" rides high on a great tsunami wave of thunderous raw energy and power. "Sea Shanties" they are NOT! This is a rolling wave of storming Heavy Metal thunder from beginning to end. Batten down the hatches and hold on tight because it's going to be a wild and windy ride. There's an unstoppable High Tide on its way with a Force 10 gale blowing in on this supersonic blast from the past. Come hell or high water, you won't want to miss out on the storming ballroom blitz of High Tide!

  1969: High Tide - Sea Shanties - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHIQkfp0s68

  1970: High Tide - High Tide - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfhR1VDg5AvyQ9bVqp6NYi2vMSoBFiloL

  1986: High Tide - Interesting Times - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lElzDHHYkGYr4ky0euve3hZQo2AoZL4-0

  1989: High Tide - Precious Cargo - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddB9XWPGAK0

  1990: High Tide - A Fierce Nature - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nf8TkUgPqgLRj9LrYNg_xxCh_hdzAlQJo

  1990: High Tide - The Flood - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlGCN2obONAe_rLOHTbYCqkWtMMz2Hrz_

  1990: High Tide - Ancient Gates - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO3uDfLe5nU

  1991: High Tide - The Reason of Success - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciQB3UsHSuM

  2000: High Tide - Open Season - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mBMDlTgOOI_AYHvI-wfndylVPe0DO47qM

  1971: Help Yourself - Help Yourself - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mONXKW2JPzFqOMZKOiQb2DYjFhnlK7Gds

  1972: Help Yourself - Strange Affair - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k2lfXw8VQ_NvVHWew2QGJDRdMN33U81RU

  1972: Help Yourself - Beware the Shadow - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nQ8pzu-wGj05m9IZb8TgYubCX6TJaN52M

  1973: Help Yourself - The Return of Ken Whaley - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nJ73TCkhrqa5eTiyNzvVYIsYPKnaxyrrQ

  2004: Help Yourself - 5 - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kBfeUzCVH4OCdhmTtfMY54q453GQ74avc

Upon hearing the "Beware the Shadow" album for the first time, you'd be convinced they were an American Southern Rock band. In fact, their first song "Alabama Lady", sounds like a typical song that the U.S. bands Alabama or the Allman Brothers Band might have recorded in their heyday. Help Yourself have encapsulated the American Southern Rock sound perfectly with "Alabama Lady". It sounds as American as a Stetson-wearing cowboy in a rodeo riding a bucking bronco. Next up is the real highlight of the album, the 12-minute-long song "Reaffirmation". The floating sound of a Mellotron in the opening gives the song a somewhat mystical air, but this is only a prelude to a long Psychedelic Country jam session that sounds very reminiscent of some of the Grateful Dead's extended jams, only Help Yourself are much more Alive and Kicking in this exhilarating number than the Grateful Dead ever were in their seemingly endless jams. Side One draws to a close now (already?) with the brief "Calypso", which turns out to be a hippyish campfire sing-along song.

The Side Two opener "She's My Girl" has the same happy and carefree sound of the summer as "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles. "She's My Girl" has Hit Song written all over it. It's a song that's positively aglow with passionate romantic love and optimistic hope for the future. Up next is "Molly Bake Bean", a song with childish innocence which sounds just as silly and frivolous as the song title implies. It's a perfect Country sing-along song to listen to and join in with whilst eating baked beans around a campfire with the kids. And now it's time for the BIG bluesy piano ballad "American Mother", another song that sounds as quintessentially Born To Be Wild American as riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle over the Golden Gate Bridge. "American Mother" sounds like a song that Big Brother & the Holding Company might have recorded and it brings to mind another great song, "American Woman", by the Canadian band The Guess Who. Both songs represent good old-fashioned Blues-Rock numbers with the same raw and earthy appeal. We're just "Passing Through" now for the final song, a gently laid-back slice of Folk-Rock Americana.

"Beware the Shadow" is unlikely to appeal to Prog-Rock fans generally, but if you're in the mood to listen to some good old country boys from the Deep South of London in England, then Help Yourself to this rather unique Psychedelic Country album.