Search - Various Artists :: Sixties: Psychedelic Side of Pop

+ 1/2 stars...good--as far as it goes...and even then...

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 04/19/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The Sixties: Psychedelic Side of Pop has some really great psychedelic rock tunes from the awesome sixties; but of course at ten tracks this really runs short of being any type of true retrospective of sixties psychedelic pop and rock music. What we do get is excellent material; and it's great that it has a budget price for people who are watching their pennies these days. But, come on--do they mean to tell me that they couldn't have added at least one more song--or two? The record label, American Beat, was stingy with the amount of the music they gave us! On the other hand, the quality of the sound is very good and I love that artwork.



The album starts off with Strawberry Alarm Clock doing a mega hit for them called "Incense And Peppermints." The musical effects wow me and the music perfectly complements the vocals to this tune. Strawberry Alarm Clock plays with major and minor key modulations--and even the tempo--to make "Incense And Peppermints" strong and a true sixties classic. I love it! "Something In The Air" by Thunderclap Newman really stands out here; they perform this with panache and I love the way they harmonize. The guitar work helps the ballad immensely and overall this is a feel-good psychedelic number that I could never forget.



The Lemon Pipers weigh in with their hit entitled "Green Tambourine." "Green Tambourine" certainly has a strong psychedelic pop flavor to it and that percussion sounds great. The Lemon Pipers deliver this like champs and I'm impressed. "Green Tambourine" will always be a classic psychedelic tune. In addition, there's a major highlight of the album when we get to Procol Harum's "Whiter Shade Of Pale;" "Whiter Shade Of Pale" has a massive musical arrangement that is both psychedelic and majestic with that organ in it; and this is a number that I can still hear every now and then on the "oldies" radio station in my area.



The Zombies do "Time Of The Season" with a lot of positive energy even though it sounds laid back; the drums mark the beat well and "Time Of The Season" features The Zombies right up front and center--right they always belonged! Of course, there's the very famous "Sunshine Superman" by Donovan; this master of music never sounded better. His excellent diction makes his performance even stronger--great! There's another gem in "Eight Miles High" when The Byrds perform it; this has that classic Byrds sound and they make this number take off like a jet!



The Troggs score a huge goal in my book when they perform "With A Girl Like You;" this tune has lots of energy and it's infectiously catchy, too. This is great psychedelic pop. The Small Faces do a good job on "Itchycoo Park;" and the CD ends strong with The Seeds performing "Pushin' Too Hard." "Pushin' Too Hard" has a timeless psychedelic flavor to it and this is yet another prime example of classic sixties psychedelic pop.



The Sixties: Psychedelic Side of Pop offers great sixties psychedelic music but there just has to be more for this CD to make a five star rating in my book. This is best suited for the casual fan who wants merely a brief introduction to this genre of music; clearly the diehard fan should look elsewhere for more substantial CDs and CD box sets.

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