After his very good review on "Elements 1970-1971" (read here), Dave Thompson reviews also "Alchemy" on "Goldmine".
Here's his writing:
Dave Thompson
March 21, 2019
"Continuing the long- awaited exhumation of the Third Ear vault, but moving backwards in time from last time out’s Elements, this was their 1969 debut album – the one that hit the music press with such force that it’s still hard to believe we’re talking about a barely-remembered cult. In certain circles, they should have been enormous, as Melody Maker’s review made plain. “The three-eared men are a Godsend for lovers of mysticism, Stonehenge and the cosmic force lines. Absorbing, almost hypnotic… [and] 90 per cent improvisation.”
What more could one ask for?
As before, the original album is expanded to encompass all of the band’s doings around the time it was recorded – there’s a Peel session that includes a celebration of the group’s biggest gig so far, opening for the Stones at the Hyde Park free concert, and no less than eight unreleased studio tracks.
These in themselves are worth the purchase price. We begin with a 1968 session with producer Ron Geesin, destined for an album of library music a couple of years later (they appear under the name of the National Balkan Ensemble). Next up is a couple of songs taped early on in the sessions for Alchemy, on the eve of one of the band’s regular personnel shifts; and, finally, the first steps towards its follow up are here, including another version of “Hyde Park Raga.” Although this being the Third Ear Band, the title is the most familiar part of it.
In truth, the Third Ear Band are an acquired taste, a time-and-place-y experience that can demand more attention than a lot of ears are willing to give. The eastern elements certainly overwhelm anything that can even be loosely described as rock, and a good case can be made for expunging them from pop history altogether, and planting them instead within the realms of modern classical. Or, maybe, even folk. Sharp-eyed connoisseurs will spot them lurking within the Strangers in the Room collection mentioned above.
That, however, would be to deny the impact that they did make on the age. The Stones gig, after all, was just one of the festivals they played; they were also on the bill at the Isle of Wight that same summer, a few names down from the headlining Dylan. They shared management with Tyrannousaurus Rex (with whom they also gigged), Roy Harper and the Edgar Broughton Band; and a label with Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and Barclay James Harvest. They haunted the same arts labs that David Bowie frequented; and though they drew little influence from their stablemates, the same thing cannot always be said the other way around. There’s a lot to listen out for in Alchemy, then, and a lot of great music as well."
Dave Thompson
March 21, 2019
"Continuing the long- awaited exhumation of the Third Ear vault, but moving backwards in time from last time out’s Elements, this was their 1969 debut album – the one that hit the music press with such force that it’s still hard to believe we’re talking about a barely-remembered cult. In certain circles, they should have been enormous, as Melody Maker’s review made plain. “The three-eared men are a Godsend for lovers of mysticism, Stonehenge and the cosmic force lines. Absorbing, almost hypnotic… [and] 90 per cent improvisation.”
What more could one ask for?
As before, the original album is expanded to encompass all of the band’s doings around the time it was recorded – there’s a Peel session that includes a celebration of the group’s biggest gig so far, opening for the Stones at the Hyde Park free concert, and no less than eight unreleased studio tracks.
These in themselves are worth the purchase price. We begin with a 1968 session with producer Ron Geesin, destined for an album of library music a couple of years later (they appear under the name of the National Balkan Ensemble). Next up is a couple of songs taped early on in the sessions for Alchemy, on the eve of one of the band’s regular personnel shifts; and, finally, the first steps towards its follow up are here, including another version of “Hyde Park Raga.” Although this being the Third Ear Band, the title is the most familiar part of it.
In truth, the Third Ear Band are an acquired taste, a time-and-place-y experience that can demand more attention than a lot of ears are willing to give. The eastern elements certainly overwhelm anything that can even be loosely described as rock, and a good case can be made for expunging them from pop history altogether, and planting them instead within the realms of modern classical. Or, maybe, even folk. Sharp-eyed connoisseurs will spot them lurking within the Strangers in the Room collection mentioned above.
That, however, would be to deny the impact that they did make on the age. The Stones gig, after all, was just one of the festivals they played; they were also on the bill at the Isle of Wight that same summer, a few names down from the headlining Dylan. They shared management with Tyrannousaurus Rex (with whom they also gigged), Roy Harper and the Edgar Broughton Band; and a label with Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and Barclay James Harvest. They haunted the same arts labs that David Bowie frequented; and though they drew little influence from their stablemates, the same thing cannot always be said the other way around. There’s a lot to listen out for in Alchemy, then, and a lot of great music as well."
no©2019 Luca Chino Ferrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)
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