Search - Ultimate Spinach :: The Very Best of Ultimate Spinach

"Don't trust anyone over 30" and...

CWC | Long Beach, CA | 05/04/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"... if you're younger than... say, 49, don't purchase this CD and don't read this review. The review won't make sense to you. (heh heh) I still have the first two original Ultimate Spinach albums, "Ultimate Spinach," and "Behold and See." I have to admit that this group was not my mainstay in musical taste at the time, but both these albums did get a lot of play time with me in my high school days. I'm getting quite a few laughs from reading the reviews of the people who don't like Ultimate Spinach that I had to pull out the first album to listen to while I write this review. What can I say? It was 1968... you had to be "there" to appreciate this group and style of funk/psychedelic music for the time. It isn't supposed to be Bach, Chopin, Lennon and McCartney, and certainly not Burt (Bachrach) It was a group of people's attempts to express themselves for a part of the "counter culture revolution" of the time. Don't take these three albums for anything else other than that. Put these songs and this group in the historical perspective they should be in and maybe you can appreciate the music a little more."

C'mon, it ain't that bad!

Jason Penick | Oakland, CA | 08/12/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Wow, I've never seen a band elicit quite the variety of critical responses Ultimate Spinach has. If you look at the reviews of their 3 individual albums here on Amazon, they all merit four stars. But if you look at this collection or the box set, they rank about 1 1/2 stars each. What gives? Maybe the point here is you have to appreciate wierd, dated psychedelia to get into a band like this. Most of my friends who dig Hendrix, Sgt. Pepper etc. would not like this record. The male vocalist Brice-Davies can barely sing on key, which is a big turn off to many folks. When he shuts his mouth, however, I find myself appreciating the music on some strange level. The first six tracks or so (the ones from the first record) are especially good in my mind. They conjure up an aural acid trip that is as good or better than most of the of the second-rate psych bands U.S. are generally lumped in with. The female singer is good, and the group has a knack for pop song structures. Plus, they aren't afraid to get gentle at times... a fine quality when it comes to music such as this. Yes, the lyrics aren't exactly poetry, but the plethora of wierd and unique sounds and pretty melodies here more than make up for it. I would recommend this CD to fans of the genre, no question."

Unique album, but a bit misunderstood.

mixer | Spring City, USA | 12/06/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The band "Ultimate Spinach" was a band whom had used a unique blend of psychedelia, anti-war/establishment music, and baroque pop styles. To elaborate, let's examine some of the songs.

The first song "Ego Trip" has a nice trippy motif to it. The band leader and primary songwriter, Ian Bruce Douglas,uses lyrics like:"Your head is filled with drugs and dreams and orange colored sounds"(notice the weird reference to LSD)and "You think of flying high but you are coming down"(a matter of interpretation). Instrumentally, the use of a d r e a r y organ and a cool instrument called a theremin is incorporated here. The theremin is the instrument that creates the soaring, space-like sound that you hear.Of course, it is no secret that references to drugs was commonplace in the music of the 1960s, and Ultimate Spinach was no exception.

The next track has some of the most bizarre song structures and tempos that could be made into a song. Notice the various styles (psychedelic, Celtic-folk like, folk, baroque pop).

The next song, "Ballad of the Hip Death Goddess," in my opinion, is the best song on this album- as far as warpy, trippy psychedelia is concerned. Here, singer/guitarist Barbara Hudson, sings a few lines in a harsh and cold-yet beautiful voice. during the instrumental section, you are treated to a psychedelic motherlode. With a steady drumbeat and subtle bass, you hear a zooming theremin and frequent guitar feedback. At certain parts of the song, you hear slide guitar-reverberating style, weaving in and out. Just think of THC-cubed.

Unlike the latter, the song "Your Head is Reeling" is an anti-establishment song. IBD uses lurics like: "Plastic masses don't know what to say,They just want to make the flowers go away" and "Flower children dressed in shrowd, look out big brother is looking at you," You can sense the paranoia and rebellion that this song may relect.

This album also has some more unique songs with some tinges of psychedelia and orchestration-some good, some bad.A true example of the latter is "Visions of Your Reality." Here, IBD goes from one verse to the next-each verse is not related to one other(HORRIBLE SONGWRITING and HORRIBLE SINGING). Very dissapointing. Also, the song "Pamela," though has ok piano and organ work, contains lyrics that don't make sense.

The song "Mind Flowers," is a slowed-down composition with involves phased vocals, some fuzz guitar chords and echo-like sound effects. Good psychedelic piece, but bad use of poetics by IBD.
The next track, has a somber approach. Part 1 involves a pleasant blend of beautiful voices and gospel-like piano. Parts 2 and 3, involves a more deeper and trippy motif- just think of the Doors' song "Riders on the Storm." Though IBD sang bad, at least he maintained a theme. Part 4 sounds almost identical to Part 1- picks up where Part 1 left off. Nice.

The song "Fragmentary March of Green" has a common theme: a man tries to tries desperately to be the perfect husband and father, but in reality cannot deal with the real world(He ends up becoming insane-literally). The last 3 cuts on this album come from the band's 3rd and last album- Ian Bruce Douglas is not involved here, since he left the band after their second album was released.The song "Just Like Romeo And Juliet" has a peppy, upbeat motif to it- with cool organ. Of course, there are other tracks in this album that were not mentioned. You must consider that the music from this album is from the late 60s.Like some reviewers mentioned- you have to take into perspective the era which this music was created. Now, I agree that Ian Bruce Douglas was no Pavoratti by any means. However, if the listener would just put history and the music styles that existed in the 60s into perspective, then he or she could decipher what kind of music that is on this CD. Personally, this CD is a great source of psychedelia and also reflects the musical genres that existed at the time. After all, it is just a matter of perception."