Search - Edgar Band Broughton :: Oora

Not quite genius, but.....

03/09/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mention the name of the Edgar Broughton Band to anyone, even the music cognoscenti, and chances are you will be met with blank faces. The Broughtons were never chart-toppers, but made a following in the open-air concerts of the late 60s and early 70s, althought they kept recording into 80s. This album is one of their best, and is one of the finest recordings of the early 70's, in this reviewer's opinion. It's difficult to define, because it ducks in and out of genres - yes, there are some full-tilt rockers on the album (Hi-jack Boogie, Hurricane Man), some beautiful acoustic numbers like the sublime Green Lights, or Rock N' Roller, which wouldn't seem out of place on a similar era Neil Young album, and some mystical mantras, such as Roccococooler, which is trippy without going overboard - more a stream of consciousness. But for all it's diversity, Oora is a brilliant album for its sheer feel-good factor - it's a record for all seasons. What is music? It inspires you. It creates moods and feelings. This album does this perfectly, evoking in the listener a wide range of emotions, from the punch-the-air power chords of 'Things On My Mind' (which is guaranteed to have you singing along by the end), to the unimaginable, quiet understatement of 'Green Lights'(on a par with Neil Young's 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart', surely). There's something for everyone here - and if you have a wide taste in music, then you should love it. Although the music speaks for itself, this works equally well as a time capsule of 70's creativity, with the use of backed effects to create added atmosphere reminiscent of Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side Of The Moon' opus. But despite the occasionally sorrowful lyrics (for anyone who has ever lost anyone, 'Rock N' Roller' provides "Dark nights, golden lights/Hand in hand together/Sweet breath, fetid death/Nothing lasts forever", with unbearable poignancy), the album has a great sense of humour running through it and underpinning many of the songs, deriding the hippy culture and its inertia which actually gave the Broughtons their break ("You tried to change the world, but you got up far too late/They'd all gone back to bed before you reached the garden gate" - 'Oh!You Crazy Boy'), and blending social comment - slum clearances sung about on 'Eviction' and the dolly- bird models of the day on 'Pretty'. So why should you buy this album? Well apart from its rather impressive cover (the original vinyl on Harvest Records came in a printed plastic bag), if you are looking for an album which you can listen to on a joyously hot summer's day, and feel great to, or something to slide into your CD player in the depths of despair, and feel comforted - then this is the album. Quirky and original, you'll never hear anything quite like this on one disc. Distinctly English, without being as gleefully parochial as The Kinks, its appeal is universal. I've never taken it off the turntable without feeling at least ten times better than when I put it on. This album, and the band who made it, have been criminally underrated for the past three decades. Isn't it time the balance was redressed?"