oldmancthc

Not a single positive thing I can say about this.

Awesome Armadillo-tank cover. Hard driving, but weird synthy percussion and bass. Wild-style prog-organ. I really want to love this. Side one delivers on all of it, aside from some short prog-for-the-sake-of-prog moments I wasn't wild about. Jeremy Bender opens side two with a jarringly straightforward sound. Compared to the previous 20 minute opener, it just feels out of place. Bitches Crystal follows and doubles-down on the weirdo heard on side one including some unhinged screaming vocals (always a plus). It does maybe go a little too far into the weirdo here and there. The rest of the album is sort of a blend of "trying a bunch of shit" that seems like I'm sitting in on a particularly polished but meandering practice session. Some stunningly talented performances, but just doesn't have the attraction of side one... Except for A Time and A Place, which fucking rocks, and is a true standout in the back half.

While there is definitely some solid blues on here, none of it really feels essential or exceptional. I understand why these guys were always in the shadow of Led Zeppelin

Based on description and when it was made, I really expected to hate this. It was a nice little surprise to learn I do not! While it's a little to "jammy" for my tastes overall, and occasionally drifts off into syrupy melodies, I can appreciate that it's chock full of interesting arrangements, some great layered textures, and plenty of straight forward rockin' to keep me from losing interest.

Great early Psych from San Francisco legends.