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35 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lysergic heaven, 23 Jan 2001
Sadly, there are only a handful of great English psychedelic albums of the 1960s (as opposed to those of the 1970s - Man, Gong etc, before you ask). If you're new to the genre, forget Pepper, it isn't that great a trip, really. The ones you want are Ogden, The End's "Introspection" (difficult to get hold of, but probably the best of the lot), Pink Floyd's "Piper At the Gates of Dawn", Kaleidoscope's "Tangerine Dream" and Rainbow Ffolly's "Sallies Fforth". Yep, it's a wasteland out there. Except for the Floyd, none of these are particularly brain-frazzling - for that you'll have to look to Germany or Holland (hint: start with Group 1850's "Agemo's Trip to Mother Earth") but all of them enhance a good trip appreciably. And that's what they're for, ain't it?What's so good about Ogden is its good humour. There are literally no dark edges whatsoever. This puts it in the same league as The End's album (have I recommended it enough yet?) and the psychedelia of the US, most notably Country Joe and the Fish ("Electric Music" and "I-Feel-Like..."). On the first side there are a clutch of great psychedelic pop songs, the title track being an amazing instrumental, "Song of the Baker" about as good as britpop gets, but "Renee" drags a bit and "Lazy Sunday" is the least interesting of the lot. However, the meat of Ogden is the second side, an untitled concept (no, don't switch off) in which they tell the hilarious story of one Happiness Stan, narrated with-tongue-firmly-in-cheek by that Cockney intellectual, Stanley Unwin. And what a wonderful journey this is. Happiness Stan, living in his multicoloured dreamworld, looks up one night and sees that half the moon has disappeared. Oh blow your cool man! So off he sets on a voyage of discovery. Stopping for a bit of lunch, he encounters a hungry looking fly, with whom he shares his shepherd's pie. This act of kindness (ah, the deep symbolism) pays great dividends, for the fly magically increases in size until it's big enough for Stan to ride on its back. And off they go. After a beautifully weird aerial sequence, and after flying for seven whole days and nights (must have had more than just one shepherd's pie, then), they land in a forest where Stan encounters Mad John, a character I'd guess was nicked from the Donovan song. John fills Stan in on the disappearance of the moon - it's back again now, look! - and they alll have a freak out in celebration. Yeah, it's simple, stupid, naive, childish. But when you're off your face on acid, it's the most wonderful cartoon you've ever been in. And that's the point. No bad moments and we all have a fantastic time. For that, the Small Faces deserve some kind of medal. And for that, Ogden is one of the best-loved and highest-revered albums among trippers. The concept - a journey into the other world - was nothing new, even in 1968. They probably stole bits of it from Nirvana's "Story of Simon Simopath" the previous year (a psychedelic concept album about a journey into space, but too wimpy to be recommended). Later the same journey would be taken to its lysergic peak in Gong's peerless "Radio Gnome Invisible" trilogy (Flying Teapot, Angel's Egg and You) in which the acid experience is spread out over three disks, from dropping the stuff, to the wild ride, to coping with the aftermath! You'll love Ogden. But if you're only after something to drink beer to, you'll probably be left somewhat bemused. But forget Leary -- as a companion on your great adventure, this is one of the essential texts. Oh what a mind blast. NOTE: drugs are bad. Really bad. So ignore everything I just said.
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