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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

The Move Live at the Fillmore 1969 Review by Gary Hill This is a cool live album. It’s got the Fillmore performance plus several songs from a different show and a short interview with Bev Bevan. Keep in mind, this doesn’t fit under progressive rock in a traditional sense. It’s closer to psychedelic rock. But, given The Move’s proggy sort of sound later and the connections to ELO, I figured it should go under prog. In terms of this disc, a lot of the sound here at times makes me think of Grand Funk Railroad. The Fillmore recordings are good, but the sound quality isn’t up to modern standards. Still, I’ve heard much worse. This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2014 Volume 3 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review

Disc 1

Open My Eyes This riff driven rocker has a lot of psychedelia in it. It’s also a bit like Cream meets The Beatles at times. There are some proggier moments here, too. This is a cool proto-prog rocker, but the mix and audio quality both leave a bit to be desired.

Don't Make My Baby Blue This pounds in a bit like Black Sabbath. The cut has an almost 1950 rock and roll sound on the vocal arrangement, though. They work this through several changes. It’s a cool rocker.

Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited This rocker has a lot of psychedelia in it. Imagine mixing early Pink Floyd with the Beatles and the Who and you might have a good idea of the sound of this. There is a great section later that alternates between delicate, mellow psychedelia and harder rocking, heavier stuff. I love the super heavy bass in this segment. After it comes out of that there is an odd non-lyrical vocal section. This piece really does land pretty firmly in progressive rock. It’s a bit weird, too.

The Last Thing on My Mind A little mellower, this is more of a melodic prog meets psychedelic rock jam. The psychedelic elements dominate, though. There is almost more of a classic rock vibe to this than there is anything else. The guitar soloing later is quite tasty.

I Can Hear the Grass Grow This extended number has plenty of psychedelia built into it. It’s also got a lot of early progressive rock in the mix. It’s a real powerhouse tune with some cool shifts and changes. There is a fairly short drum solo built into the piece. There is also a jam later that makes me think of Cheap Trick does ELO.


Disc 2

Fields of People This piece is a massive one, weighing in at over 16 and a half minutes. It has a lot of hard rocking progressive rock with psychedelic elements built in for the early song proper. We’re taken out into a Celtic meets psychedelia and folk jam later in the track. They energize that as they continue and it becomes a real stomper. The section (another that makes me think of The Who) takes the tune to its end.

Goin' Back The vocal arrangement on this reminds me of H.P. Lovecraft (the band, not the writer). This is a mid-tempo melodic rocker that’s got a lot of psychedelia built into it along with some progressive rock.

Hello Susie This is more of a powerpop meets prog and psychedelic rocker. It’s a good tune, but not one of the best here.

Under the Ice Hard rocking prog is the main concept to the early sections of this. After a while, though, it turns out into an extensive instrumental section. That touches on progressive rock, psychedelia and a lot more.

Introduction This is just a short introduction, as the title suggests.

Don't Make My Baby Blue The recording quality on this performance is definitely better than on the first one. Somehow this doesn’t seem as heavy as that one, either. It reminds me quite a bit of Grand Funk Railroad, really.

Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited Here we get another version of the earlier tune. This one again is better in terms of sound quality. Beyond that it seems pretty close.

The Last Thing on My Mind This is the last repeat customer of the set.

The Move's 1969 USA Tour Recalled by Bev Bevan As one might guess, this is just what it says it is. It’s quite a cool story, really.

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