My Musical Odessey

Since high school, I have spent a substantial part of my life in the pursuit of new music that can stimulate my senses while not offending my sensibilities. Unfortunately, I am alive during a time in which music is at a creative low point. With the end of grunge,(the last real innovation in main stream music), the industry has descended into fabricated pop acts that put to shame the constructed groups of the 60's and 70's. Talent and drive has been replaced by marketability and conformation, and my disillusionment with this current fare caused me to look back into the annals of music for truly revolutionary songs. Now, I would like to make clear that my music tastes are in no way avant-garde or non-traditional. I remain a committed fan of popular rock music and I have never been one to scour record stores for a band that despite their abilities, has failed to make any inroads towards a wider audience. While I realize this may contradict my earlier statements concerning the state of modern music, I would like to remind my readers that the great musicians of the past were both artistically talented and commercially successful. Of course this thought process opens up a new topic of discussion, namely who is to blame for the state of modern music? The obvious two choices would be either music executives who have thrown away genuine talent for the sake of profit, or consumers who have readily swallowed the filth permeating the airwaves. Unfortunately, this is a question that will have to be answered in a future blog. Instead I would like to focus on quite possibly the best pop album of all time. Therefore, and without further ado, I would like to devote this blog to a little known album entitled "Odessey and Oracle."

The Zombies were never a enormously popular group. The band known for its string of "Top 40" hits like, "She's Not There" and "Tell Her No" had always been considered one of the lesser "British Invasion" bands, when compared to the likes of The Beatles or The Rolling Stones. Despite this, the band kept plugging along, and decided to meet and record their first real album in the summer of 1967(Their previous album had been nothing more than a collection of singles). Utilizing the songwriting skills of Rod Argent (who would go on later to front a 70's rock band aptly named "Argent") and the voice of Colin Bluntstone, the band recorded arguably the strongest pop album in history. With intricate harmonies and enduring melodies, the album was poised to fulfill the niche left vacant by the break down of Brian Wilson's "Smile" project. Unfortunately, the Zombies' lack of financial success forced the band to disband before the album was even released.

The Zombies' breakup forced back the release of "Odessey and Oracle" while executives debated what to do with album featuring a misspelled title (a point that caused the band some embarrassment) as well as a lack of a band to serve as the promotional vehicle. Fortunately, some of the tracks had been heard by American musicians who vouched for its quality. Finally, in April 1968 the album was released to disappointing sales. Despite this, the final song on the album, "Time of the Season," became a huge hit (two years after the album's release), propelling the band back into the "Top 40." Unfortunately, this did not help the lagging sales of the LP, and the album slipped into obscurity.

Despite its lackluster performance, "Odessey and Oracle" has attained a degree of respect and admiration among those in the music industry. Seen as a brilliant symbol of its time, the album has been hailed by music insiders as one of the best pop albums in history, second only to The Beach Boy's "Pet Sounds." Every song is unique,and it is one of the few albums I can listen to without skipping through the tracks. While not as earth shattering as "Pet Sounds" or as introspective and poetic as Love's "Forever Changes," I feel that "Odessey and Oracle" is easily the most accessible to even the most casual of music fans. Songs like "Care of Cell 44," "Friends of Mine," or "This Will Be Our Year" are instantly likable, and tracks like "A Rose For Emily" and "Beechwood Park" will grow on you after a few times through. Of course, there is also "Time of the Season," which may be the best song I've ever heard end an album. The song's immense popularity aside, this track represents not only the completion of The Zombies' album and existence, but it also represents a fitting close to the psychedelic/summer of love era that was summed up so efficiently by the album itself.

Finally, it's hard to put "Odessey and Oracle" above "Pet Sounds," despite my desire to do. Like "Odessey and Oracle", "Pet Sounds" went largely unnoticed at first, and it may have been The Beach Boys wider popularity that allowed Brian Wilson's genius to receive the praise and attention it justly deserved. Unfortunately the very media emphasis that caused "Pet Sounds" to reach wider audiences, may have also caused the album to lose some if its luster, and while still being a brilliant album, it became so familiar that audiences failed to remember its true impact on music history. Fortunately, "Odessey and Oracle" does not suffer from such overexposure. Its relative obscurity has caused it to be a perfect time capsule into the the world of psychedelic rock. Free of any pretensions, the satisfyingly fresh pop music will stimulate the senses, and even "Time of the Season" sounds new and original when heard with the rest of the album playing around it. In conclusion, "Odessey and Oracle" is an album I would recommend to anyone, and perhaps it can even get you through those dark days when modern radio makes you question the relevance of popular music in today's society.