Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the truly great rock albums, 19 Nov 1999
This album was released in 1968 and was a major hit in the UK and US. The first side is a suite of songs that are concerned with the general theme of 'fire'; they are totally unique and portray Arthur's incredible voice at its very best. Each song flows directly into the next one, telling a kind of story. From soft whispers to screams, Arthur shows that his voice is unrivalled in rock music. The second side also contains some excellent numbers, particularly 'I put a spell on you' which has remained a favourite of Arthur and his fans for over thirty years. Amazingly, there is no guitar on this album; the lead is provided by the Hammond organ sound of the late great Vincent Crane. He never played better. There is an alternative version of this CD which also contains so-called 'mono' versions of the 'fire' songs; in fact, these are not really mono versions at all, but are in fact a totally different studio mix with different links between the songs. That's something for those deep in Arthurian matters to delve into; the CD reviewed here is categorically the version to start with. If you don't know Arthur's music, start with this album - and take it from there!
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unique psychedelic blues, 5 Mar 2003
Many classic 1960s albums lose their shine over time. Brown's masterpiece doesn't (except possibly 'Spontaneous Apple Creation'). It's just a shame that the success of 'Fire' (a UK No1) gave Brown a reputation as a one-hit wonder, because this is brilliant and hugely influential album.
'Nightmare', 'Fire' and 'I Put A Spell On You' all display Brown's incredible voice to full effect, from a deep rumble to a piercing scream. Vince Crane's manic keyboards complement it beautifully, such that you hardly notice that here's a blues-based album with no guitarist.
What was the first side of the vinyl album (Nightmare to Time/Confusion) is a kind of early rock opera on man's search for Hell ("The price / Of your entry / Is sin"), given added menace by a fanfaring brass section. Producer Pete Townshend later borrowed the sound on his own Quadrophenia.
There is also the thunderous genius of 'I Put A Spell On You', which is probably the best version of this classic anywhere. If Brown never made a better album, nor have many others. Every home should have one.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
one of the greats, 11 Dec 2006
Known to most of the planet, if at all, as the man who had a number 1 hit with Fire, wore a flaming helmet and never troubled the bestseller lists again, Arthur Brown's musical career actually started in earnest a couple of years before this, his debut album, and continues to this day. If all you know is Fire, and you like it, be assured that it's not even the best thing on this brilliant record. The format is organ trio, with Arthur Brown's incredible voice superbly supported by the late Vincent Crane's Hammond organ and occasional piano. What was side 1 of the original lp is a sort of "concept half album" on the subject of fire, hell and the devil, though neither hell nor the devil are mentioned in so many words. The music is right on the cusp between psychedelia and early prog rock, strongly arranged (with horns and strings added at times), well recorded and powerfully played. The opening Nightmare is one of Arthur's greatest efforts but completely failed to chart when issued as a follow-up single to Fire. It's a fine example of his vocal range, featuring some incredibly powerful falsetto, culminating in some awesome screams, always perfectly in tune. Fire Poem is a spoken piece over funky organ detailing a pleasant sojourn on a river bank suddenly turning into a screaming nightmare of fire, and the extraordinary and quite unique Fire itself follows. Come And Buy keeps up the excellent standard set so far and is the most obvious pointer to prog rock and reprises the "why is it so cold out here, let me in - the price of your entry is sin" refrain from the end of Nightmare. Time is a ballad where Arthur shows he has a gentler side, and then Confusion ends the mini-opera with yet another reprise from Nightmare. The second half of the album is just a collection of songs, and patchier, but mostly very fine - the opening cover of I Put A Spell On You is sheer genius, I wouldn't say it out-does Screamin' Jay Hawkins or Nina Simone, but it certainly equals them, and that's huge praise, and doesn't have the novelty aspect of Screamin' Jay's original. Spontaneous Apple Creation is a very silly psychedelic novelty, quite charming in its way and I guess he just about gets away with it. Rest Cure ventures into soul territory, somewhere Arthur Brown evidently feels completely at home, further illustrated by the blistering uptempo cover of James Brown's I've Got Money. And the closing Child Of My Kingdom has a kind of religious vibe to it before hitting a superb middle 8 where Vincent Crane unleashes a fabulous boogie piano solo, then returns to the original theme and gradually wanders off into the ether.
Despite not a squeak from a guitar anywhere on the album, this is one of the greatest rock albums of the late 60s - it blew me away on first hearing it 35 years ago and has never paled since, unlike many of the other records I liked in my early teens. The stereo mix of the original album is preceded on CD by what the track listing describes as "mono versions" of the first half of the album. But these tracks aren't from the original mono mix of the album as issued on the 1968 lp, they're actually from a discarded alternate mix of the album and not previously issued, apart from Nightmare, of which this mix was issued as a single, minus the Prelude that precedes it on the album. They feature different or absent orchestrations, different editing, more gimmicky effects and even sections of vocal not on the released album but are not, ultimately, quite as good.
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