Follow-up to the "Twain Shall Meet" album, second of three LP:s they released 1968 and obviously made during a period of turbulence in the band. Not only shown by member changes - it was the first with Zoot Money (here as "George Bruno") and the last for Vic Briggs and Danny McCulloch - but also evident from the music and performance. While the former TSM contained well written songs conveyed by thorough production and arrangements a big part of this sounds like more or less prepared jam-sessions. One get the impression the guys showed up in the studio with a few ready made songs while rest was winged as they went along. And why not? Five skilled and attuned musicians backing Burdon's fetching vocals through a couple of very good ideas just can't be bad. The cooler regular numbers - the latin induced "White Houses" and the dark "Immigrant Lad" - come out well-done, while most of the rest can be described as garage psych with a bluesy taint. All of side two sounds lovely to me. "St. James Infirmary" and "New York 1963 - America 1968" are well spent 23+ minutes. A journey containing good vocals, meaty guitars, theme and pace changes and weird whims on just the right level of pretentiousness. Another favorite would be "Year Of The Guru" because of the brutal guitars. First released in US and Canada (MGM SE/E 4553), also downunder, in Japan and a couple of European countries, but for some reason not in UK. I would love to find a US mono, but till I do this Swedish 1st (label say manufactured by Deutsche Grammophon, so presumably some kind of German export) has all I need, including smashing audio. It came with label as shown here, thick vinyl and fully laminated cover. (GÖXÄ*) (ÄNÄ*)
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