Search - Tages :: In My Dreams

Sweden's Beatles!

Morten Vindberg | Denmark | 08/13/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

""In My Dreams" is part two of a Tages Anthology covering the complete Tages studio recordings 1964-68. This CD contains their complete second (Tages 2) and third (Extra Extra) albums + some singles-tracks and rarities.



Tages were often called the Swedish "Beatles". And they were probably one the most competent European beat groups outside the British Isles in the middle 1960's. Though they did write occasional great originals there were no john Lennons or Paul McCartneys in the band.



This CD documents that they were a very solid r&b group; solid covers of standars like "Leaving Here" and "I Feel Good". Their own "Guess Who" has an apparent mod-attitude to it - great track!



Most of their originals are quite melodic and it's no surprise that these songs gave associations towards the Beatles. Most of their ballads, though, are probably more in the Herman's Hermits vein. Some of them very good, like the title track "In My Dreams". The single track "Miss MacBaren" was supposedly written on a train-ride from Copenhagen to Stockholm - a very catchy tune that could easily had made to the international charts at that time, was it given the necessary exposure.



With the release of Sgt Peppers's in 1967, Tages like many other bands of the time began spending more time in the studios using much more varied instrumentation and outside musicians, but on this CD we meet the Tages as the basic 5-piece rock-band. And they were really good as such!

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