THE MARVEL WORLD OF ICARUS

Being a huge Marvel fan I had to check out this oddity from the early 70s by Icarus. It certainly did not disappoint and gets better as it goes along. It begins with strange chanting and chaotic jazzy time sigs and then progresses onto some inspired flute work especially notable on 'Fantastic Four' and 'Conan The Barbarian'. I love the psychedelic flavours on Thor that even becomes a blues rendition towards the end.

The lyrics are downright cheesy but non compromising as to the content. This could easily work as a soundtrack to Marvel comics, and of course it was a lawsuit waiting to happen, the band being slapped on the wrist for using the coveted superheroes. The album is a fun romp and never takes itself seriously but has some seriously brilliant musicianship. The saxophone solo in Thor is dynamic for instance.

'Black Panther' is rather a slinky thing like the super hero herself, and there is a great flute solo and jazzy vibe with lyrics such as, "watch out for the panther now!" and it carries on about the white man and the black man, in true 70s style.

'The Man Without Fear' features a cool rocking beat, and crazy lyrics, "he's the one they call the man without fear, when all the fight is over he's thinking of his lover only, wishing that he could see her, wanting to be just near her only, but he must hide his sorrow for he knows that tomorrow, lonely, for he must hide his sadness and fight the human madness." The flute solo follows again and it is as good as Ian Anderson. This is groovy and worth a listen.

'Silver Surfer' is a sheer psychedelic composition with phased vocals and a rather melancholy atmosphere. The musical swirls are real freak out. Lyrics are very cool, "Nothing can stop your cosmic power, even the super humans cower, Oh Silver Surfer, ride, ride, ride the sky." You have to admire the approach of this band who have decided to pay homage to Marvel without flinching in their tenacity.

'Things Thing' is a short thing. It kind of boogies along steadily like 12 bar blues with some raspy vocals, and the scorching sax solo is backed by wonderful tom toms. Some lyrics, "Deceiving so unbelieving" is all I can make out.

'Captain America' is a rocking loud blaster with some quirky lyrics, "who's the saviour of the nation?" and the flute solo once again similar to Jethro Tull style.

I have to say this is a real blast from the past that deserves recognition with a fresh approach and fun content. Perhaps it should be played in the background at comic conventions. Marvel should have looked at this as a wonderful advertisement for their product rather than demanding 50% of profits. The record was withdrawn and hardly saw the light of day, but hopefully now it will have some impact.

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