Los Angeles quartet Red Temple Spirits skillfully mix post-punk influences - mid-period , Savage Republic, early - with a loving dose of lysergic psychedelia (Syd Barrett and Roky Erickson are particular touchstones). Bassist Dino Paredes and guitarist Dallas Taylor coax entrancing drones and pulses from thier instruments with judicious uses of echoe and other effects, while shamanistic frontman William Faircloth (a colorful immigrant from Britain's original '60s psychedelic movement) delves into mysticism (Native American on the first album, Tibetan on the second) with a grace and passion rarely seen before.
Dancing to Restore an Eclipsed Moon is an astonishing debut.
The luxurios packaging (doubleLP/single CD) mirrors the care put into the music, which tastefully incorporates flutes, bells, natural sounds (water, birds) to create a heady atmosphere of ritualistic ecstasy. Short catchy compositions like 'Dark Spirits' and 'Dreamings Ending' alternate with several long and complex pieces.
As crystallized by the gorgeous 'Dive In Deep' and an incandescent cover of Pink Floyd's 'Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun,' the theme of hope for the magic and beauty of life in the face of despair remains. Prior to the Spirits, Faircloth lent his vocal ululations to the similarly psychedelic Ministry of Love, a trio that included guitar wiz Mark Nine. Although lacking the Red Temple Spirits' brilliant chemistry, there are some great moments on the five-track EP, including 'Living in the Moment' (a showcase for Nine's e-bow mastery) and Faircloth's touching ballad, 'You're Not On Your Own'
One of the finest singers - songwriters in soul music.
Amazing album with 3 songs in R B top10. Bobby Womack is a soul music allrounder: he can scream (like James), talk deeply to the ladies (like Issac and Barry), he has the Al or Marvin touch when it comes to love songs, the honesty of Sam and Curtis, and the occasional Sly-like urge to wig out
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Recorded in Memphis in the blackest of soul styles, Bobby "The Preacher" Womack's Understanding overflows with raw energy and emotion. Blurring the lines between Southern soul, funk, and gospel, the album's rough edges reflected something fundamental about life in Black America and the need to reach for something higher.
Womack had learned well from his idol Sam Cooke that the people wanted to hear about something besides love. In the gritty "Simple Man," Womack preaches to his brothers and sisters:"Hang on in there..
.we don't live on a hill, but we stand just as tall." At the time he wrote the songs for Understanding, Womack was a man of considerable talents who had too little to show for it in the way of successful solo records.
An always in demand studio musician, Womack's influential guitar playing helped define such eternal classics as Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home," Wilson Pickett's "Funky Broadway," Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools," and "Family Affair." By 1972, his singing and songwriting had matured to such an extent that only an act of God could have kept him from storming the charts. "Woman's Gotta Have It," one of the album's three Womack originals, shot up to the very top of the R B charts in that golden funk summer of '72.
This mid-tempo soul-funk ballad starts off with a sensuous bass line straight out of Marvin Gaye's With its simple message about how to keep a woman happy--"You gotta giver her what she wants when she wants it / Where she wants it / And how she wants it"--the song touched a chord with audiences like few other Womack songs ever have. A bubble gum-soul cover of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" was released as the follow up single to "Woman's Gotta Have It." While it managed to impressively crack the white-dominated Pop Charts, its mellow B-side "Harry Hippie" was embraced as the "black side" by black radio, driving it into the R B Top Ten (and, surprisingly, into the Top 40 on the Pop Charts).
"I Can Understand It" is the album's funkiest and most complex track, made with timeless production values: a driving and loudly mixed bass/drum groove, a tight gospel chorus of soul sisters, lush touches of strings, and Womack's belting vocals and fuzz guitar. While this compelling Womack original never charted, New Birth turned it into a No. 4 R B hit when the band covered it in 1973.
His most consistently satisfying album, Understanding captures Womack at the peak of his powers. This is the one to get.
This album has that timeliness appeal. It features the chart-buster in the mid-tempo number "Woman's Gotta Have It." It was a number one single on the Billboard R B charts.
In addition to the aforementioned song,
Womack also features a host of other granite numbers like "Ruby Dean" and "I Can Understand It." The latter, penned by Womack , was also covered by New Birth. Both versions are excellent.However,
Womack's version has a soothing effect as it employs a sensuous string arrangement while New Birth's rendition is rather funky, retaining a spirited horn arrangement. Womack's version was never a release. "Harry Hippie" is a narrative about his brother and former bandmate Harris Womack.It checked in at number eight. The Ohio native's unique trait to calm a song with his blistering baritone re-surfaces on "Sweet Caroline," the album's third and final release. For a song to be so sweet and gentle,
Womack enhances the flavor of this sentimental number with a heartfelt, soulful approach. It slipped into the Top 20 at 16. By all standards, this album is stirring.
This album is a legendary one in the annals of Italian progressive music.
Released in 1973, it combines heavy rock and classical music in a progressive style with mellotrons galore, bringing to mind a mixture of Deep Purple and ELP, but with a Pink Floyd influenced feel.
I want to explain carefully why I am ready to put Zarathustra in the same pantheon as In The Court of the Crimson King, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Foxtrot, Close to the Edge, Thick as a Brick, and In A Glass House, among others. Although it is not a seminal album like those noted above - and although it has some minor flaws (for example, the production is dated) - it nevertheless has a few things in its favor that far outweigh any minor quibbles, and definitely point to a legitimate masterpiece.
it is portant to consider that Zarathustra was MR s debut album. It took Gentle Giant three albums to get to their first conceptual quasi-masterpiece ( Three Friends ), Genesis four albums to get to Foxtrot (and Supper s Ready ), and Jethro Tull five albums to get to Thick as a Brick and none of the debut albums by any of these bands was anywhere near the masterpiece that Zarathustra is. Indeed, of the eight seminal progressive groups (Crimson, Floyd, Moody Blues, Genesis, Yes, Gentle Giant, Tull and ELP), only Crimson s Court and Floyd s Piper are equally great debuts (with ELP s debut coming pretty close).
The Zarathustra suite itself is one of the most beautifully and carefully crafted compositions in the history of progressive rock, and I use the word carefully in its literal sense: i.e., that great care was taken.
The band neither rushes into things, nor lets things sit for too long. Every section whether soft, smooth, slow and simple, or hard, rocking, fast and complex is constructed for maximum effect, with minimal (if any) down time. Perhaps most remarkably, Galifi and the band are able to convey the story of Nietzsche s Superman (in both lyrics and music) quite well even if one does not understand Italian.
For all of these reasons, Zarathustra stands on its own as an incredibly creative, often brilliant, and extremely early (if not seminal) concept suite.
What makes any album a masterpiece? Obviously, there are the compositional, lyrical, musicianship, production and general execution elements.
However, that is not enough. It must have something else: a quality that makes the album not only an exceptional achievement in its time, but also an achievement that transcends its time and, indeed, makes the album timeless. Although, as noted, the production on Zarathustra sounds somewhat dated, it nevertheless transcends its time, and is not only a timeless masterpiece in the truest sense of that word - but an exceptional, historically important album, and an absolute must-have for any serious prog-rock collection.
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"Zarathustra" is another controversial progressive rock album. Many claim that it is best prog album album to come out of Italy during the 70's, while others claim that it's just basic hard rock with mellotron thrown in. I was quite moved after listening to "Zarathustra" for the first time because the themes, melodies, and mood-changes are really high-quality.
The four awesome compositions (one is 20-minutes long) alternate from soft and delicate, to 70's heavy rock. In my opinion, "Zarathustra" is one of the best progressive rock albums out there.
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