Review Summary: Best hard rock / prog hybrid album of the 70s!
Captain Beyond - Captain Beyond (1972)
Often when dealing with 'non-major' 70s prog and hard rock albums, the end result doesn't justify the hype. The period was full of bands jumping on the heavy, distorted, If-Deep-Purple-can-do-it-so-can-I band wagon. You (the discerning rock LP nerd) find yourself tracking down an underlooked band, expecting some highly professional, tight, hard-rocking albums chock-full of great ideas - only to turn up listening to fun but dated period-pieces. Examples abound with bands like Leaf Hound, May Blitz, Toad, and countless others.
But this... this here is the real deal.
It doesn't hurt that Captain Beyond is a supergroup of sorts, bringing together Iron Butterfly, Johnny Winter and Deep Purple alumni. What these gentlemen have crafted is an album that, for my money, is better than anything those respective groups ever came up with. This is one the best hard rock (and prog) albums of the 1970's.
What will immediately hit you like a wet fish (or sock, blanket, or toilet paper roll) to the face is the musicianship and brilliant construction of these goddamn songs! Bobby Caldwell is a genius on drums. The album opens with a really funky, heavy yet shuffling beat in some slightly off-kilter timing. Then comes a monstrous heavy guitar riff. It never lets up from there.
The songs segue from brilliant riff to brilliant riff. There’s too many to count! Not only are they heavy as ***, they’re also memorable and clever. The opening track melds three different songs together, and offers two variations on the same riff in different time signatures before combining them both at the end. And preceding this is a lovely peaceful little mantra with Caldwell drumrolling a storm underneath! There’s also a furious guitar solo that’s bookended start and finish by a lovely little pentatonic lick - demonstrating again how much planning went into this music. It’s like these guys were taking queues from 1980s metal bands. The fact that they're a 1970s band makes this even more impressive. Imagine the logistics!
“Mesmerisation Eclipse” has one of the best ‘cycling’ riffs I’ve ever heard due to its 5/4 timing (think the bassline in Money by Pink Floyd sorta effect). Songs like Raging River and Can’t Feel Nothing chug through mulitple heavy riffs, tightly plotted solos, and spastic little interludes (including some creative Latin rhythms), all with an astounding ease. No 70s album succeeds better at being both heavy and proggy without blowing away into pretentiousness. The only forays into that realm are the brief and somewhat laughable “As the Moon Speaks” - but even this is very charming. The whole album deals a lot with space imagery. I’m sure the lyrics sheet is a cringe-worthy, but the delivery works and the references to the sun, moon, stars, eclipses and whatnot creates a nice psychedelic feel.
The other thing I love about this album is its Southern rock inflections. This doesn’t just apply to the bluesy riffs. You wouldn't have guessed too easily from his Deep Purple days, but Rod Evans likes to put on a bit of that Southern twang and I love it. Just listen to his 'oooh yeahh yeahh' belting at the end of "Mesmerisation Eclipse" or "Frozen River of Fear" (which, by the way, has a killer riff too). Captain Beyond almost recall the Allman Brothers Band except heavier, tighter, and less jam-oriented. Also replace the Allman’s homespun lyrics with cheesy space imagery. So there you go. Buy this album now! Duane wants you to!
