KINGDOM COME/GALACTIC ZOO DOSSIER 2310130 (-71) UK

When Carl Palmer and Vincent Crane left "The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown" for Atomic Rooster 1970 the band ceased to exist. After participations in a few other combos Brown announced forming this new group a year later together with a very ambitious program - three albums planned with pre-set themes about mankind as well as spiritual and cozmic matters. This was the first - supposedly concentrating on the state of humanity. The lyrics may seem dated today, but the music is timeless...at least to my ears. I've seen critics calling it a totally new direction and very different from the 1968 TCWOAB LP, yet all I hear is a natural follow-up three years later. Made as a seven piece with guitars and a primitive moog being part of the arrangements, but it's the same mad-cap attitude, same vocal style and the organ parts - here played by Michael Harris - sounds a lot like the ones from Vincent Crane on the first LP. In all it's a tophole psych/prog album. Melodies carried by irregular song patterns, odd interludes and some trifling pych guitars. Even if the outcome appears complicated at parts it seems the recordings were relatively simple, giving a near garage quality. For some reason the album didn't sell at all and got lukewarm critique. Maybe the timing was wrong. It would have been a hailed classic in a sixties zeitgeist, but 1971 things had changed. Don't know of any original US press before the Castle 2003 CD (06076-81335-2). German 1971 on Polydor. Premiere UK had label as shown here, matt fold/out cover, poster and "Head Hunters" inner. (ÄZC*)