This is the album that started it all for me, when it comes to Heavy Metal. While I will be the first one to say that I think Black Sabbath was the first Metal band, and that Paranoid was the first metal album, I will say that this album was well ahead of it's time.There's this little genre of Rock known as Acid Rock, that most people don't really know about. By today's standards it would be swallowed up by Progressive Rock based on the style of playing and drug culture inspired lyrical content. However, Acid Rock was actually more like Heavy Metal's twisted brother. If you took Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors and Black Sabbath, and mixed them all together you still wouldn't have the right sound, but you would be close.
Let me start with the album's title track, since that's the only song anyone ever knows from Iron Butterfly. This song is a gateway drug. It will lead to a road full of drum solos, fuzzed out guitar, and heavy bass. It will also give you a different respect for the slurring of lyrics. The original studio version run 17:10. I happen to have a special release that contains two bonus alternate versions of the song. One is live and runs 18:51, and the other is the radio single, because most people just don't have the capacity to listen to the full song on the radio. That and no radio station has the balls to play the full version. But I'll come back to those two songs later.
The time length has always been one of the biggest features of this song, but that's due to people that think it's too long. The truth is that this song is an epic journey that's more than just a drum solo. There's a lot going on in this song musically. The little church organ has a beautiful sound, the bass is off the wall with everything that's going on, and the guitar is doing stuff that was completely wild, and beastly sounding.
This is such a perfect song, that it made the movie Man Hunter (later remade using the book title Red Dragon) a lot more exciting than it was. It also made Freddy's Dead into my favourite Nightmare On Elm Street movie. If that isn't enough, it was also the song to crank and piss of the neighbours.
I should also mention that on the original vinyl release of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, the title track took up the entire second side of the vinyl. The first side is where you can see how heavy this band really was, and it's not just about one song.
The album opens with Most Anything You Want. This is a very typical hippy song. This is all flowers and beads, and sweet little butterfly kisses and all that other crap. But there's this amazingly clear bass, that's laying down the whole basis for the song. Then on the left side you have the fuzzed out guitar sounding all pretty, but still very in your face. The right side has the organ doing the same thing. Then the the vocals, drums and bass are all pretty much centered. This is the format for pretty much the entire album and it works perfect.
"Girl I just know I love ya now... / Flowers and beads are one thing, / But having a girl is something. / That's if you got a girl who loves you, / And thinks the whole wide world of you. / Flowers and beads are one thing, / But having you girl that's something. / That's 'cause I know you love me only, / And that you'll never leave my hear lonely. / Girl, he just knows he loves you now. / You're all I talk about and ev'rything I say and, / Girl, I just know I love you now. / Girl, I love ya, I love you and need you in my lifetime. / Girl, I just know I love you, / Don't you think my love is true? / Girl, I just know I want you, / Don't you think my love is true?" This is the song Flowers and Beads, and yes it is as hippy sugar dripping sweet as the lyrics suggest. It's this album's ballad, or soft song. I can deal with, and handle that.
My Mirage is this fantastical song. Musically it has a slower beat, but only because this is a phantasm of a song. It's that ghost floating above your bed, that you can't stop looking at, but at the same time are totally freaked out by. It's clear by this point in the album that this band knows how to use and exploit ambience. Also Jim Hilton is a brilliant producer. This album is just magical with it's production. I mean everything is clear, and distinctively audiable.
Termination starts of all nice and happy, and really kind of keeps taking you on the nice little journey through the meadow, and valley and to the woods of lollipops and candy canes, at least musically. "Fly blue sky, voices keep calling, / Bidding me welcome. Why maiden land, / Luring me closer, forbiden land. / And as I'm Standing closer, / Those natives step beyond. / Release the mortal patterns, / My mind I post beyond. / Spinning in circles, / Miracles happen, / As lower life life shows me in to my doom, / Spirit will striken, / The end will come soon. / This is termination, / The outcome of your life." All of a sudden the song takes on a whole different meaning and it's kind of scary how they work the pretty and the deathly together in such a way. This is also the only song on the album not written exclusively by Doug Ingle (vocals and keyboards). Erik Brann (guitars and vocals) and Lee Dorman (bass and vocals) are the two that wrote this one.
The heaviest song of 1968 is Are You Happy. For starters the drums are thunderous at the start of the song. If they had been recorded using today abilities, they could be used to level buildings. Most Metal drummers aren't worth a shit when you hear what Ron Bushy can do. He is also quoted as saying that he hated when Doug Ingle would want to open a set with this song live. I can totally understand that. Then there's the guitar, bass and organ on this song that are all just as equally heavy. You want to talk about Metal? This song is Metal.
That brings us back to side two, and the album's title track. I've already covered the amazing classic album version. So, now I'll quickly sum up the two other versions.
The live cut of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida is about a minute and half longer, and it's only a little noticable. I would like to say that I like the bass sound better on the live track, and that the drum solo followed by a jam is totally interesting to listen to. However, I'd still take the original studio track over this one.
The radio single is 2:54, and does this song no justice. Basically it's the first minute and a half, and the last minute and a half melded together. It's almost exclusively just the lyrical parts, with none of the kick ass instrumentaion. All I have to say when it comes to this album is buy it, and then crank it up, because this album magically transcends time. Just sadly not the limitations of the recording abilities of the time, but there's nothing that can be done about that.
8/10 - content
9/10 - production
10/10 - personal bias
No comments:
Post a Comment