The Luck Of Eden Hall - An Introduction To The Luck Of Eden Hall

 

There are a number of things to celebrate with this release. Firstly, it would be the magnificence of Mr Curvey. We have delighted in the growth and recognition of his current adventures with Custard Flux, but it was The Luck Of Eden Hall that led us there for a period of over 25 years.

Secondly, we can acknowledge the wonderful Fruits De Mer label and its ability to release albums that are consistently more than interesting. This year saw the introduction of the An Introduction To series starting with Us And Them, followed by this and Bevis Frond are soon to follow.

Finally, it is a personal thing for me. For all the types and genres of music that I listen to, my first love is Psych Pop and many think that the genre is just one thing, I am here to assure you that it isn't. There are elements that lean heavily to Pop such as Toytown and the likes of Orgone Box.

There are others in the middle, Cotton Mather being a great example and there are those that lean more towards Psych and The Luck Of Eden Hall are probably the best exponents of this groove. The band had an ability to veer off into spellbinding territory instrumentally, but keep things in an even keel with melodic vocals.

This collection covers appearances on the FdeM label. It is predominantly covers, but these covers have a unique stamp on them. There are songs that you will obviously be aware of such as Something In The Air, SF Sorrow Is Born and Stop Stop Stop.

But there are also great selections that you may not of amongst songs from the likes of The Count Five and The Association. There is even a Beatles cover which of course is not what you would expect ant everyday band to choose.

The centrepiece is a cover of Yes's Starship Trooper. It all starts pretty faithful until the closing Steve Howe riff and then just explodes into Psych, Rock and Prog racking up just under 19 minutes of sheer wonder that you simply do not want to end.

This is a fine place to start with The Luck Of Eden Hall, but you really should investigate their album discography to get the full flavour of what an outstanding band they were. Fortunately we still have Custard Flux, but would we be there without the excellence of this Chicago outfit?

As with all Fruits De Mer albums this is a physical release, only available on CD. FdeM have unexpectedly sold out but copies are still available from The Luck Of Eden Hall site here.

.............................