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░ ██ ██ Artist: Neil Merryweather ██ ██
▓ █░░ ■█ Album: Space Rangers █■ ░░█
■ █▓▀ █ Year: 1995 █ ▀▓█ ░
█ ▓ Rel. Date: 2017-11-11 ▓ █
▒ ▒ Genre: Progressive Rock ▒ ▒
█▄ ░ Label: Buy Or Die Records ░ ▄█
░ █▄ ░ Source: CD ░ ▄█
░ █▓ Type: Reissue ▓█ ░
▓ █ Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo █ ░ ▓
▓ █ █ ░ ▓
▄ ■ ■ ▓ ■
░█ █░ ▀
█ Strange! I've been a 70's obscure rock completist █
█ for almost three decades, and I just stumbled upon █
█ this gem a few days ago.. Hmmm. I was looking up █
█ another great record (Highway Robbery) when █
█ suddenly a familiar name came up in a list of █
█ similar items: Neil Merryweather. I thought, and █
█ thought hard, and suddenly realized I already had █
█ an album featuring him: Lita Ford's 'Out For █
█ Blood'. Bought that one in '83 or '84, I believe, █
█ and even back then it seemed kinda watered-down █
█ and not heavy enough, despite the 'wild' album █
█ jacket. But Neil's name stuck, in spite of all the █
█ abuse my mind has taken in the last 25 years haha! █
█ So this one said 'Space Rangers', and was recorded █
█ in 1974, during the heyday of the only worthwhile █
█ glam movement that has ever existed.. So I checked █
█ it out... and was TOTALLY blown away!! What a █
█ trip, and what outstanding musicians. How come █
█ this is not a classic? Some people even call it █
█ 'the greatest hard rock album ever recorded'.. █
█ right now, I do agree with such an overstatement. █
█ Emotion is only fleeting and, alas, it will pass █
█ soon enough, but I do believe it belongs in a █
█ desert island list comprising, say, twenty or █
█ thirty top titles.. Anyway, the whole world needs █
█ to hear this guy and his band jamming away. What █
█ kind of drugs were they taking? I'm sure it was █
█ acid or mushrooms. Yeah, it's glammy, but in the █
█ same vein as early Queen, or better yet, Alice █
█ Cooper,Billion Dollar Babies-era... maybe 'Welcome █
█ to My Nightmare', which means that Space Rangers █
█ predates that cinematic/B-Movie opus... You can █
█ add a bit of prog to the mix (think Atomic █
█ Rooster).. I read that Neil's main influence was █
█ Traffic (or was it Hendrix?), and yeah, it's easy █
█ to notice some overtones, but this is like Traffic █
█ on Mars, or maybe without the ego trip. The albums █
█ starts kinda slowish, with 'Hollywood Boulevard', █
█ which resembles Bowie or Mott the Hoople. I like █
█ this song, but feel that it could've been shorter; █
█ then everything moves and starts mutating, the █
█ band exploring the soundscapes of cosmic soul, █
█ kinda like Parliament meets Utopia,and that's █
█ neat. But, man oh man, this thing suddenly █
█ explodes come track four: if you thought Frank █
█ Marino was like a more heavy metal Hendrix, you █
█ need to listen to this!Guess the acid hit hard and █
█ took them by surprise right at that moment. █
█ Everything's epic, crazy, full of great solos and █
█ riffs, with more time changes than your usual Mars █
█ Voltas, and the closing track is just alien: it's █
█ like Philip K. Dick lost in Funkadelic's █
█ colorful-yet-nightmarish wilderness... Wow! I can █
█ not recommend this enough. It's weird that that █
█ walking source of heavy metal knowledge, Martin █
█ Popoff, didn't include this masterpiece in his █
█ seminal 'Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal- Part █
█ I'. It's just as well, methinks, because I'm sure █
█ he would've given it a low grade, maybe a 3 outta █
█ 10. Why? Becuase Popoff is crazy for MOR metal █
█ stuff, like Uriah Heep. Space Rangers sounds more █
█ like heavy Zappa,while Heep is as heavy as Motley █
█ Crue...or Lita Ford (and yes, I do own their first █
█ six LP's- a poor man's Deep Purple, indeed!). █
█ Whatever... Someone need to reissue this on vinyl, █
█ like right now!! 'Nuff said █
▓ ▓
▒ ▒
░ 1. Hollywood Blvd 5:38 ░
░ 2. Step in the Right Direction 3:42 ░
░ 3. Eight Miles High 3:40 ░
░ 4. King of Mars 3:34 ░
░ 5. Neon Man 4:05 ░
░ 6. Sunshine Superman 3:45 ░
░ 7. Road to Hades 4:12 ░
░ 8. High Altitude Hide 'n' Seek 3:24 ░
░ 9. Escape 2:49 ░
░ 10. Sole Survivor 8:13 ░
░ 43:02 ░
░ ▒ ▒
▓ █ ░ ▓ ░
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