Search - Clear Blue Sky :: Clear Blue Sky

"Clear blue sky", indeed

D. Hartley | Seattle, WA USA | 06/10/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Listening to this spectacularly ignored 1970 offering with the benefit of hindsight, one could say that Clear Blue Sky were either visionary geniuses, or lucky amateurs who picked a good day to rent the studio. Barely out of high school, this guitar-driven (with the odd flute or organ) power trio delivers an inventive set of neo-prog pyschedelic blues-metal, despite the somewhat crude production and sloppy mix. In terms of thier contemporaries, the sound falls somewhere between the Groundhogs and Budgie; but the scary thing is that if you were to do a blindfold test with a room full of college students and tell them this was a new lo-fi alternative band...they would believe you! Just listen to the album's best track, "My Heaven", and tell me you couldn't pass it off as Swervedriver or The Bevis Frond! With the promising raw talent displayed, one wonders whatever became of these guys. Collector's note:Roger Dean did the album cover art!"

CBS.

maxxroach | felona's big blue bacalada | 05/02/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"SLOPPY, AMATEURISH, AND CRUDE. THAT'S NOT ALL I LIKE ABOUT IT. THESE GUYS ARE STILL LEARNING HOW TO PLAY THEIR INSTRUMENTS, AND APPARENTLY ARE ENJOYING THE RISKS. CRAZY LEAD GUITAR. JIMI WOULD BE PROUD. VERY SIMPLE, STRAIGHT AHEAD JAM. CATCHY TUNES WITH A PROGRESSIVE TINGE IN THE ARRANGEMENTS OF THE MUSIC. SOME OF THE BEST CHEAP GARAGE MUSIC EVER. MUSICIANSHIP ASIDE, THIS ALBUM IS AN EASY 5 STAR. LIKE FUZZ? GO FOR IT."

Great rock

William R. Nicholas | Mahwah, NJ USA | 05/24/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great pick from the Vertigo catoluge. It is guitar rock, sometimes so unadulturated I doubt it was even mixed. The chord changes have some good twists and turns, so the music is never predictable. Some of the writting is so good that if you changed the production style, you would have a very polished pop rock album.



But the rawness is a real treat. The album reminds me of what Nirvana were doing on In Utero. Clear Blue Sky sounds suprisingly modern: they could pass for a grunge band from 1991.



Both garage rock and progressive rock fans will enjoy this."