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The Move

Shazam

Review by Gary Hill

This is a reissue of an album from The Move. This is pre-Jeff Lynne days. It’s not really all that proggy either, but I’m including it in prog because the group would later become ELO, and that qualifies it. There are some bits of proto prog. Some of this is sort of run-of-the-mill, but it’s still pretty good even at that. It’s also a great disc in terms of being a historical document.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2016  Volume 4 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review
Hello Susie

I love the guitar sound on this. The cut is a bit raw. It’s hard edged. It’s psychedelic. It’s also very cool. It’s part glam rock for sure. It also shows signs of some the things that would later be common in the music of ELO.

Beautiful Daughter
A weird bit of interview starts this. The cut moves out from there to a great 60s styled rocker. The strings lend hints of what was to come with ELO. This also has some definite Beatles like things in place.
Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited
The intro on this is in a balladic mode with someone talking about being committed to an institution. Then it fires out into a killer psychedelic rock section. This has some weird little excursions, but overall lands nicely in the vein of psychedelic rocker. Mid-track it even works to a classical kind of excursion. That really evolves in to a full on proto prog journey. It gets into some unique territory as it continues without vocals. As non-lyrical vocals join comparisons to Focus are not out of the question. The piece works back toward the song proper beyond that. It doesn’t get back to the sung section, but feels very similar in the end.
Fields of People
This is very much a folk rock excursion in a lot of ways. It gets plenty of psychedelia built into it, too, though. It’s theatrical and rather fun. There are some really proggy things as the cut evolves. There’s a cool instrumental section at the end. Sitar based, that starts very much as a 60s styled psychedelic folk type piece. This becomes a really powered up world music jam. It’s definitely quite prog rock in nature. It just keeps getting faster and faster as it goes along, too.
Don't Make My Baby Blue
More street interview stuff starts this song. As it moves out to the actual song part this is hard edged and bluesy. It’s very much like early heavy metal. Yet it’s also psychedelic rock at the same time. This is cool stuff. It’s more mainstream than some of the other things here, but still suitably out of the “normal” zone.
The Last Thing on My Mind

Folk rock and pyschedelia merge on this tasty musical excursion. It’s not anything really out of the ordinary for the 60s, but it’s classy stuff. The instrumental section mid-track definitely gets into spacey proto-prog territory.

Bonus Tracks
                                
Wild Tiger Woman

High energy and fun, this is a pretty basic 60s styled rocker. While it’s not all that unique, it is pretty cool.

Omnibus
This is a cool and rather high energy psychedelic rocker. Now, this one really has a lot of the kind of sound that would later be heard in ELO.
Blackberry Way
A rather bouncy number, this definitely reminds me of the Beatles. It’s psychedelic and a cool rocker.
A Certain Something
Somehow this little rocker makes me think of Procol Harum a bit. It’s a cool tune, and one that’s a bit proggier than some of the rest. It’s definitely a bit of variety. The string stuff later in the song definitely makes me think of what this act would later do under the name of Electric Light Orchestra.
Curly
Folk music, psychedelia and some proto prog merge on this rather Beatles-like number. Come on, it even mentions Liverpool.
This Time Tomorrow
A much mellower acoustic guitar and percussion based piece, this is a ballad. It’s also very much like something The Beatles would have done. It does work out into some psychedelic stuff later with some backwards tracked electric guitar.
Hello Susie (Abridged US Single Version)

A shortened version of the opening cut from the album, It works well in this form.

Second Class (She's Too Good for Me)
There is a spoken bit at the start here. Then acoustic guitar brings in an energized pop rock jam. It doesn’t really take off, though. Instead it stops and there is some conversation. Next we get a cool high energy jam. The bass drives it in cool ways. This instrumental is bouncy and intriguing, if a bit odd.
 
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