Leviathan The Legendary Lost Elektra Album Review by Gary Hill
No, this is really not prog rock. It is, however, for the most part proto prog. Progressive rock, to a large degree, came from psychedelic rock. This is kind of the bridging type of music. This album was recorded in 1969. Shortly before release, the disc was dropped by the label. Leading up to the album, these guys had released three singles. For years those singles were the only thing the band had ever had released. A few years ago, a vinyl version of this album showed up. This, though, is the first CD release of it.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2017 Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Remember the Times
This comes in energetic and catchy. I love the psychedelia meets proto prog of the instrumental arrangement. The multiple layers of vocals at times are great, too. While this is very much a definite product of the 1960s, it was really ahead of its time in so many ways.
Second Production Landing more in the pure psychedelic rock end of the spectrum, this is more dated than the opener was. It's still quite a cool track, though. I dig the jam later in the track a lot. It's all psychedelia, but also exceptional.
The War Machine I love the mellower, rather balladic, psychedelic rock sound of this cut. It's one of the trippier things here. Yet, it also has some dramatically heavy stuff built into it. This is another that's quite proto prog in nature. It's very theatrical in places, too. This is quite a complex tune.
Through the Looking Glass There are some crazy bits of instrumental work on this thing. Although this is very much psychedelic rock, there are definitely ties to the sounds that would later become progressive rock. I really love some of the guitar soloing here.
Blue Day In a lot of ways this is a blues rocker. That fits with the title. I love the cool walking bass line. This is an intriguing cut really. It's the least proggy and even least psychedelic stuff here.
Time This is more of a psychedelic ballad styled piece. It's great stuff, and a nice change.
Flames There is plenty of psychedelic rock built into this thing. It's a cool rocker with a lot of proto prog, too. I love the balance between mellower and more rocking stuff. I love the guitar soloing on this, too. This is one of my favorites of the set, really.
World in My Head Although in a lot of ways this more of a straightforward rocker, there is enough psychedelia here to keep it really interesting. It's a cool jam with some nice melodic guitar soloing built into it.
Evil Woman No, this is not a cover of the Santana tune. Instead, this is a classy bluesy psychedelic rocker that works pretty well. The bass guitar features prominently on this thing.
Bonus Tracks
Flames (single version)
As you might guess from the title and parenthetical, this is a single version of the song we heard on the song proper. I think I might like this version better than the full album treatment.
Just Forget Tomorrow (single) This is an intriguing cut. It's is more of a balladic kind of tune, but has more rocking sections, too. Yes, it's a psychedelic rocker, but there are definitely elements here that are tied to what would later become folk prog.
Remember the Times (Australian single version) Now, this time around I prefer the full album version of this tune. This one is still classy stuff. The other one is just more involved and more proggy.
