WIZZARD/INTRODUCING EDDY AND THE FALCONS K 56029 (-74) UK

Roy Wood's second album with Wizzard. Original plan was a 2-LP set - one experimental jazz/prog and one with pastiches of fifties and early sixties rock as a tribute to Wood's own teen idols. However the progressive part was put on ice, recorded a year later and not released as a whole until 2000 (Roy Wood & Wizzard "Main Street" - Edsel EDCD 626). I can't imagine anyone doing pastiches from the early rock years better. They mimic the ambience from the period perfectly, but the sometimes odd arrangements and Wood's vocals makes it modern. The sound is very much like the rock parodies he and Jeff Lynne did with Move and primal ELO and identical with earlier Wizzard stuff. In fact any of the cuts here would have blended in fine on any album from those groups. So forget about band names, genres and configurations. This is most of all a good Roy Wood album - eager, melodic and partly peculiar with emotional vocals and Phil Spector-like production. Favorite tracks - the beautiful "This Is The Story Of My Love (Baby)" and the harsh "We're Gonna Rock'n'Roll Tonight". US first on United Artists (UA-LA 219-G). 2000 CD on Repertoire Records (REP 4848) came with five bonus tracks. Premiere UK had label as shown here, matt fold/out cover and giant poster. (RÖWS*)