Iron Butterfly
Ball

After the worldwide success of "In-a-gadda-da-vida," which is worth remembering as one of the 40 best-selling albums in music history with over 30 million copies, by the end of 1969, Iron Butterfly was one of the most famous groups, competing with the Doors and Jefferson Airplane for leadership in the States. Therefore, they were rightfully enrolled in the Woodstock Festival, which they unfortunately did not attend due to logistical problems. From this context, it is evident how high the expectations were for the release of the subsequent "Ball," which only partially disappointed, probably due to the much more melodic approach clearly evident in some tracks like "In the Crowds" and "Lonely Boys," less so in others like "Belda Beast," a voluntary "reinterpretation" of what was produced by their great rivals, including Brann's Morrison-like polished voice aimed at the British market where it was launched as a single in the early '70s. Conversely, the most successful domestic track was the famous "Soul Experience," which represents a commercial compromise between "In a Gadda da Vida" and the record requirements of ATCO Records, which initially had already insisted on "cutting" the Iron Butterfly masterpiece by a third.........

Nevertheless, the soul of the group meets in the opening track, in "It Must Be Love" and especially in "Filled with Fear," including the "pranks" on the organ, even though everywhere reigns supreme the unmistakable voice of leader Doug Ingle, except in the charming minuet of "Her Favorite Style," where Dorman's bass and Ingle's organ interjections take the lead. To conclude, the rhythm of "Real Fright" is quite "stressful," perfect for a modern-day advertisement.

"Ball" is overall quite enjoyable and was rewarded by sales, reaching the third position in the American chart, which translates to great success, though not equal to the previous LP. Despite this, it was not enough to win the critics' approval and consequently led to discord within the quartet, culminating soon in Brann's departure and the group's death knell with the release of the subsequent "Metamorphosis," orphaned of its distinctive voice. With this in mind, the judgment is quite simple, ample sufficiency, I think of 3 and a half stars, which I round up due to the excellent acoustic performance of an album released when stereophony was still a luxury reserved for the richer and more sponsored groups.

I conclude by merely appreciating the two tracks present in the expanded version, namely "I Can't Help but Deceive You Little Girl" and "To Be Alone," side A and B respectively of the 45 released with still-unreleased material at the time of Brann's departure from Iron, tracks in which it is easy to find the style that made this great group famous.