SPACE HYMNS

Here we have one of the quintessential 'Hippie' albums from the early 70's - where a man and his wife have made a profound discovery by way of Egyptian divinity, and composed a bunch of interesting songs, some of them almost preachy, but musically speaking, it has its share of Space-Prog and Folk-Prog. The band Ramases and his wife Sel have assembled here are future 10CC members Eric Stewart (Guitars/Moog synth), Lol Creame (Guitars/Moog synth), Kevin Godley (Drums and Flutes) and Graham Gouldman (Guitar/Bass) along with a Martin Raphael playing Sitar. 'Life Child' opens the album in fine form ; great melody, clanky Rickenbacker Bass and Ramases' voice is quite enjoyable. Some abrasive Lead-Guitaring cuts through the mix at one point and the song then features a dark, spacey interlude with thick Moog sounds and tri-tones, then returns to the initial melody and ends. On the opposite end of the scale, 'Hey Mister' is a simple, acoustic tune with some excellent samba-sounding Percussion work. 'And The Whole World' features a lovely, 'twee' melody that's probably been done before, but its gentle arrangement, soft singing and good use of Vibes makes it addictive. 'Quasar One' is a track that is 'recorded alive', but doesn't state when or where. Again acoustically oriented, with some Moog, soft Drums and Bass and a rather 'nasally' lead vocal. During the mid-section, the tune tends to get a little bogged-down with repetitive chanting over a simple riff. 'You're The Only One' has an annoying lyric, but the actual vocal arrangements are superb and very progressive, contrapuntal if I'm not mistaken. Nice to hear some Electric-Piano in this song as well. Flipside we are greeted with 'Earth People', very strange intro of Harmonium (?) and backward effects, giving way to a beautiful acoustic tune that sounds really 'deep' and 'out there'. I love it !! 'Molecular Delusions' is built around mantric-like chant with Sitar and Middle- Eastern influenced vocals. It can be quite mesmerising. 'Balloon' is a rather straight-forward song, but catchy and pleasant. 'Dying Swan Year 2000' is a brief, unaccompanied vocal by Ramases. 'Jesus' returns to an almost singer/songwriter approach with a tasteful melody and quite uplifting vocals. 'Journey to the Inside' is almost a Krautrock sounding experiment relying heavily on the Moog synthesiser and a bizarre Drum pattern. This is an album I've enjoyed over the years and worthy of 4 stars. Be sure to look out for the LP version in a fantastic, fold-out cover, curiously, by Roger Dean.