IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA

I can remember quite well. When I was young, yeah a teen, looooong time ago, the band's trademark In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida touched me in a very special way. What a relief! I once accidentally caught the more energetic live version with a cassette recorder from a radio broadcast. And then it accompanied me for just a long time. What I'm writing about now exactly is the 1995 remastered version of this album. First of all, fantastic sound quality, no question! What makes this truly essential though is the decision to append the band's inspired stage rendition, taken from their first live effort, originally published two years later.

By the way, keyboarder Doug Ingle actually wanted to name the song 'In The Garden Of Eden'. But, while announcing this to his band mates, he failed in a remarkable manner regarding a clear pronunciation, for what reason ever :-) ... anyway, they took him by his word in the end. The atmosphere is priceless, hippie-esque, also the band's interaction with the audiance, guitarist Erik Brann driving crazy in between, and the must-have drum solo provided by Ron Bushy. Eh, Ingle's sacral and melancholic organ often enough managed to bring tears to my eyes. They are excellently jamming around the main theme, including extensive solo activity, similar to Rare Earth's 'Get Ready' if you will.

The other songs, for me, are having a rough ride, are not more than a proper accessory. Okay, don't want to be unfair, we have to consider the recording times, which were dominated by a transition from pop, blues and jazz towards a new dimension. Thus here we have typical proto prog stuff featuring some Beatles, Vanilla Fudge and Jefferson Airplane references. Due to the new enhanced and remastered outfit this album runs essential anyway. And the band even recorded more than a one-hit-wonder. I would also count the beautiful 'Butterfly Blue' in, featuring new guitarist Mike Pinera and his talk box wizardry. But that's another cup of tea.