The United States of America, The United States of America, 1968, :37
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
The only studio album by an avant-garde, experimental, leftist band. It utilizes found sound and electronic sounds as well as straight rock and traditional singing styles by Grace Slick-like vocalist Dorothy Moskowitz. "Stranded in Time," for example, is basically a lost Beatles track from their experimental period. There's also shades of Vaudeville, ragtime, Dixieland jazz, even medieval chorale. It's basically a treasure trove of Americana filtered through a progressive lens. There's a lot of ideas here and you have to admire the array of styles tackled, but I think a little cohesion would have actually helped the project. I think the band's politics would be better served by a more unified vision and less of a "everybody pitch in with whatever sounds they want" vibe. It's too bad they never got a second chance to hone their talents and make a second album. Favorite tracks: "Stranded in Time," "Coming Down," "The Garden of Earthly Delights."
The only studio album by an avant-garde, experimental, leftist band. It utilizes found sound and electronic sounds as well as straight rock and traditional singing styles by Grace Slick-like vocalist Dorothy Moskowitz. "Stranded in Time," for example, is basically a lost Beatles track from their experimental period. There's also shades of Vaudeville, ragtime, Dixieland jazz, even medieval chorale. It's basically a treasure trove of Americana filtered through a progressive lens. There's a lot of ideas here and you have to admire the array of styles tackled, but I think a little cohesion would have actually helped the project. I think the band's politics would be better served by a more unified vision and less of a "everybody pitch in with whatever sounds they want" vibe. It's too bad they never got a second chance to hone their talents and make a second album. Favorite tracks: "Stranded in Time," "Coming Down," "The Garden of Earthly Delights."
