Cosmic Dealer - 1971 - Crystallization

Cosmic Dealer

1971

Crystallization

01. Daybreak

02. If There Is Nothing Behind The Hills

03. Child Of The Golden Sun

04. Swingin' Joe Brown

05. I Had A Friend

06. Crystallization

07. The Scene

08. The Fly

09. One Night With You

10. Find Your Way

11. Flying In The Winter

12. Head In The Clouds

13. Illusions

Bass Guitar – Angelo Noce Santoro

Drums – Jan Vos (2)

Vocals, Lead Guitar – Jan Reynders

Vocals, Percussion – Frans Poots

Vocals, Rhythm Guitar – Bas v.d. Pol*

First cat.nr. on backcover and spine, second on label.

Eddy Ouwens is credited correctly on the label, but erroneously as ''Eddy Owens'' on the backcover.

Believe it! While Crystallization is an extremely rare 70's rock album, the songwriting is really excellent. "Daybreak" begins this album on a not so exciting note vocally, but soon the pace picks up with flutes and it gives the music a kind of "Captain Beyond meets Jethro Tull" vibe. "If There Is Nothing Behind the Hills" has a song title that sounds like a perfect sequel to the horror classic The Hills Have Eyes. This song is really eerie and psychedelic in an early Pink Floyd kind of way. Again, just like in the previous song, the pace suddenly picks up when it morphs into "Child of the Golden Sun" and rocks in a Santana-like kind of way while the lead singer resembles Roger Chapman from Family fame. Despite all the similarities, this stuff is very solid.

"Swingin' Joe Brown" is not only another excellent song, but a startling early Jethro Tull similarity due to the flutes, electric guitar and even the mysterious rhythm all make me think of Jethro Tull's "Cat's Squirrel" from their This Was album. But guess what? That moment is over all too soon as the song quickly shifts into surf rock-style awesomeness. Love the diversity during the transition. So far I see these guys love utilizing progressive rock tendencies while maintaining a more straight forward approach which is unique.

"I Had a Friend" is an *amazing* song with a familiar chord progression. Yes the sincere vocals sound like a ton of other bands of the time such as the Hollies to name one example, but truthfully these similarities eventually disappear as I focus on the great songwriting over time. These constant comparisons I'm making are more like an expression of initial shock. Eventually I won't compare this stuff to other bands anymore, just so you know. The title song is next. WOW and does it ever sound familiar! Reminds me of too many songs to count. The flutes are very delicate and touching, the constant repeat of the word "crystallization" is memorable and not annoying due to how soothing it sounds, and the guitar playing is appealing spooky like a ship sailing off through the fog and never returning. The flutes give off the same vibes. Great stuff! These guys certainly had the talent for carefully changing the tone of a song on a dime without it feeling forced or unnatural in any way.

Oddly, "The Scene" has vocals that remind me of Tom Jones, however a major difference is that Tom would never rock out as much as THIS song does! Not only does it rock, but the guitar riff is absolutely *amazing* and dare I say, ahead of its time? Seriously Judas Priest used to write guitar riffs like the one here and they get all the credit in the world for taking heavy metal in a different direction. "The Fly" has a distinct "Moondance" (Van Morrison classic) type of catchy rhythm and atmosphere. It contains quite the memorable vocal melody too. I have nothing but good things to say about this band!

"One Night With You" reminds me of the lead singer of Slade quite a bit. It's a ballad though, not the type Slade would ever do. Of course I'm only describing the intro- the guitar riff and heavy rhythm comes in and takes over as the song morphs into "Find Your Way". VERY catchy guitar riff. ZZ Top would be impressed! "Flying in the Winter" (yes, fly me right out of this impossible to deal with cold climate! Thanks a lot climate change for making winter worse!) The verse melody accurately captures the loneliness and depression that I feel every winter. But it's June so no need to dwell on that, right? I agree with the lyrics "Sometimes I just don't know what to do" either. The truth is winter's so awful we *can't* do anything. None of us can. Unless we all move to Florida but then it'd become too cramped down there so yeah, we just persevere it. Anyway I love this song and it's probably the one song that makes the biggest impact on me obviously given my little rant, lol.

"Head in the Clouds" begins with some VERY heavy guitar soloing before the song goes in a, believe it or not, Beatles-like experimental direction. Listen to those vocals with the strings and flutes... I think this is due to the vocals reminding me of "Ahhhhh, look at all the lonely people" from "Eleanor Rigby". Just a little bit. This is one really bizarre song though. Sort of reminds me of a continuation of "The Scene". The only unusual part is that this song does not place my head in the clouds. It places me in a construction zone maybe, or somewhere with lots of fast-moving action. "Illusions" finishes the song on a lullaby-like note with tasty guitar playing.

I absolutely enjoy how *full* this album sounds in terms of the arrangements and diverse styles. Then throw in some really solid songwriting with strong vocal melodies and you have yourself a winning album. Yes more people should be aware of this album.

Crystallization is a real good hard rock heavy psych album with nice guitar work. There is some so-so flute and the singer doesn't do much for me at all.

There is a second compact disc full of out-takes, demos, and different arrangements that, although not up to the sound quality of the original, is a good listen as well. All in all this is a nice package of hard rock heavy psych from 1971, the best year for music ever.