Kaleidoscope
Sunbeam Records SBRLP5086
2011
This is a reissue of the debut album by the British band Kaleidoscope originally released as STL 5448 on Fontana Records in 1967. Original copies command a princely sum and they are worth it if you can afford it, because it is a truly wonderful album. I'm very happy with the reissue though. It is a quality pressing on heavy vinyl that sounds terrific. The sleeve is very nice and there is a booklet with notes by the group's leader, Peter Daltrey, with many wonderful pictures and ephemera from the record's 1967 release. I consider Daltrey to be among the most underrated figures in the history of rock. He was a fine singer and a brilliant songwriter. Kaleidoscope is much admired by cultists, but they ought to be appreciated by everyone. All of their albums are excellent and their unreleased album "White Faced Lady" is one of my all-time favorites. It was finally released on CD in the 1990s and if it ever comes out on vinyl I will be raving about it in this blog. Daltrey's solo records are also very worthwhile full of intelligence and melodic charm, but unfortunately I don't think they've ever been issued on vinyl either. This fantastic album opens with "Kaleidoscope" which is driven by Dan Bridgman's crisp drumming along with brisk piano runs and jangly guitar. It features psychedelic lyrics describing the sensations and images of being out in a crowd. The record becomes introspective with the gentle "Please Excuse My Face" which describes hiding one's heartbreak. A ringing guitar riff introduces the remarkable "Dive Into Yesterday" which is one of my favorite Kaleidoscope songs. The lyrics are extraordinarily trippy, a cascade of colorful imagery reminiscent of John Lennon's work on "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Strawberry Fields." "Mr. Small, the Watch Repairer Man" is a sympathetic portrait of a lonely worker very similar to Keith West's "Excerpt from a Teenage Opera" or the Hollies' "Charlie and Fred" which also were released in 1967. The song is extremely poppy and engaging. "Flight From Ashiya" was the single off the album. I think it has less commercial appeal than "Dive Into Yesterday" or "Mr. Small, the Watch Repairer Man" and it was not a hit. It is still a great song though. It begins with an ominous piano chord before shifting into an insistent bass riff supported by jangly raga rock guitar runs as Daltrey gives an atmospheric account of a doomed flight. "The Murder of Lewis Tollani" begins with a pounding drum that sounds like a heartbeat suggestive of "The Tell-Tale Heart" before lurching into a swirling psychedelic melange of melodies that recount a murderer's apology to his victim. This dazzling song concludes one of the finest album sides you will ever hear. Side two opens with "(Further Reflections), In the Room of Percussion" which as you might guess from the title is quite hallucinogenic. The music is a mixture of a trippy ballad and music hall recitation that reminds me of Syd Barrett. The lyrics are dreamlike and poetic. "Dear Nellie Goodrich" is a delicate love song with a chamber pop flavor and just enough trippiness to make it fit in with the rest of the album. It reminds me of some of the Zombies' songs on "Odessey and Oracle." The soaring "Holidaymaker" describes a holiday at the beach with colorful detail. With punchy horn overdubs and a straight forward poppy sound, it is the most commercial song on the album. It was the B-side for their single but perhaps it should have been the A-side. The elongated vocals and the shifting tempos give the song some psychedelic flavor. "A Lesson Perhaps" is spoken word with courtly accompaniment. It is a trippy fairy tale about a king who is lost in dreams, unable to act. The album concludes with the ballad of "The Sky Children" which is nearly 8 minutes long without any lengthy instrumental breaks. It is a psychedelic fairy tale about a journey undertaken by a group of children through a magical land. It features a mixture of colorful whimsy, evocative nonsense and trippy symbolism that recalls Donovan or even Lewis Carroll. I don't think the story is quite interesting enough to justify its length, but the melody is very hypnotic and appealing. Thus ends one of the best albums of 1967 which is no mean feat considering how many excellent albums were released that year. I rank it among the best British psychedelic albums along with "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and "Sgt. Pepper." Daltrey's lyrics are original, poetic and stimulating and the band's music is exciting and memorable. I've listened to this record many times and it still sounds fresh and enchanting to me. Even if you have little use for psychedelic music, this album is also a very rewarding pop record, one that really ought to be much better known. Recommended to fans of "Butterfly," "Forever Changes" and "Odessey and Oracle."
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