This is something else. After the lighter touch of the debut album, Rare Bird sounds like a real prog rock band the 2nd time around. The riff on "Hammerhead" is a monster.
The production is monumental. The sound is full of drama and dynamics, and lead singer Steve Gould sounds like he really means it this time. Maybe not so much grandeur as their contemporaries ELP, but looking back, Rare Bird is absolutely the most interesting of the two.
A most essential prog rock album regardless of time and age.
And still no guitars, if Steve Gould's bass guitar does not count..
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Line-up
1. What you want to know (5:59)
2.
Down on the floor (2:41)
3. Hammerhead (3:31)
4. I'm thinking (5:40)
5.
Flight (19:39)
- part 1. As your mind flies by
- part 2. Vacuum
- part 3.
New York
- part 4. Central Park
The Reviews
1
Rare Bird's second album "As Your Mind Flies By" turned out to be their classic release. It's stuffed with a great 70's atmosphere and flawless songwriting.
All the 5 tracks on the album are impressivly strong. "What You Want to Know" and "I'm Thinking" are melodic, organ-driven, early 70's progressive rock at its best. The arrangements have lots of cool, twisted and varied organ-sounds and the vocals are great.
The rest of side one is made up of the short, baroque-influenced "Down on the Floor" and the great, heavy-progressive "Hammerhead". The second side consists of the 20-minute "Flight". This is one of those tracks that will make any fan of 70's progressive rock cry of joy.
The first part of it is quite dramatic and classical-influenced, then it goes into a great jamming part with a choir and excellent duels between the organ playing of Graham Field and the twisted el-piano of Dave Kaffinetti. The two last parts of the track are energetic and heavy with the most perfect organ-sounds you can imagine. With no doubt one of the best progressive rock albums from 1970.
Second album for RARE BIRD marking a wonderful contribution to the progressive rock genre. Without a question fans of organ and keyboard driven prog rock will love the music of RARE BIRD. Their arrangements although centred around the keyboard work of David Kaffinetti offers some great drumming and bass interplay.
Steve Gould s melodramatic vocals are a tad bit raw but I think fit the music perfectly and give it a nice degree of grit. Prog heads will love the side long 20 min long track "Flight" an ambitious four-movement track which surprisingly does not overshadow side 1 which is littered as well with 4 fantastic tracks. For me the sound of RARE BIRD is a scientific cross of URIAH HEEP, T2 and ELP.
"As You Mind Flies By" is pretty much a masterpiece and is an essential recording
The absolute highlight on this album is the 'magnum opus' "Flight" (at about 20 minutes), divided in four pieces. Part One contains propulsive interplay between drums and organ, Part Two has exciting duo-keyboardwork (swirling organplay), Part Three delivers a psychedelic organ (like early PINK FLOYD) and in Part Four is the focus on slow and sumptuous Hammond organ play (including excerps from RAVEL's "Bolero"), the vocals have a slightly hysterial undetone but fits perfect to the atmosphere.
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.
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'
As promised, this is the first album of this Mexican legend, one of these albums that you must own. Probably the best acid rock album ever made in Latin America, plenty of fuzz guitars and excellent compositions.
Tracks
1. Nasty sex
2. Melynda
3.
I wanna know (Quiero saber)
4. If you want it (Si tu lo quieres)
5. Shit City (Ciudad perdida)
6.
A king's talks (Pláticas de un rey)
7. Still don't, not yet (Todavía nada)
8. At the foot of the mountain (Al pie de la montaña)
9.
Under heavens (Bajo los cielos)
A group from Guandalajara. They won a radio competition and begun very famous in the area.
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