An "L" of a good album!
Johnny Bacardi | Horse Cave, KY United States | 04/28/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"(actually 4 1/2) Oh, to have been a fly on the wall when this bad boy was recorded! Even after all these years, it seems almost surreal that (at the time) mega-successful(but notoriously difficult to get along with, by most accounts) producer Todd Rundgren would have ever been able to exist with the apparently blissed-out Hillage; I remember reading an article at the time which said that Todd wasn't used to dealing with artists that just wanted to make music and weren't concerned with sales like our Steve. In fact, the writer opined that Todd produced Hillage because the latter was the starry-eyed optimist that Rundgren wished he himself could be...whatever the reason, I'm glad he made the effort: "L", the result, is, in my opinion, not only one of Todd's best production jobs, but also one of the best efforts to come from the band called Utopia, and Hillage's finest hour as well. Hillage's lyrics are so hyper-optimistic and New-Agey, all full of "Mystick Sisters" and "Electrick Gypsies" and the like, that it would easy to dismiss him as a 60's acid casualty except for the fact that he is a damned good guitarist. There are magnificent licks and extended solos throughout-especially on his cover of George Harrison's "It's All To Much" which blows me away every time. He also does well by Donovan on "Hurdy Gurdy Man", and "Electrick Gypsies" is also a funky highlight. His other original compositions are tight and cleverly arranged, especially the extended instrumental "Hurdy Gurdy Glissando" and the apparently straightfaced "Om Nama Shivaya". Hillage never again or before sounded so focused; I think Rundgren's influence grounded him a bit and gave his stuff a base to work with. He soon went back to formless noodling on Green and Rainbow Dome Musick, and then undeserved obscurity, another casualty of punk. It's too bad that this album isn't available in the US on CD; however, this import is reasonably priced and well worth it."
Oh Wow! Steve Hillage!
Gavin Wilson | 01/21/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)
"When Neil, recently recruited as a policeman, calls a halt to the Young Ones' party by putting his truncheon through the turntable which was playing 'L', and then apologises for destroying a hippy record, I think he's being a tad ironic. This record has not aged well. Even when it was recorded (1976), we were in a post-hippy phase, and Hillage was either being ironic himself or yearning for an era that would not return for many years.On the back of this LP, I went to see Steve in concert at Oxford Poly in late '77. Miquette Giraudy was there, but I do not recall whether much of Utopia was in evidence. But 'L' is as much a Todd Rundgren/Utopia record as it is a Steve Hillage record. Certainly Utopia are the driving force behind many of the good bits, as far as I was and still am concerned.The other bits -- the electric gypsy nonsense and Indian leanings -- were embarrassing even at the time. The re-working of Donovan's 'Hurdy Gurdy Man' adds nothing to the original. But the album ends on a high note: Hillage finds new facets of Geroge Harrison's 'It's all too much' which guaranteed him a sizeable audience for the follow-up, MOTIVATION RADIO.This is not a bad album, but it is flawed. I would strongly recommend another quirky and related album of the period, Gong's SHAMAL, produced by Floyd's Nick Mason. That was also better recorded than this."
Track Listings (6) - Disc #1