Paice Ashton Lord
Malice In Wonderland

THE REVIEW

A more unique album, in the sense of the only LP by this band, than rare.

MALICE IN WONDERLAND from 1976.

Ian Paice and Jon Lord, drummer and keyboardist of DEEP PURPLE, decided to part from the band to start a new project. They contacted an old friend, Tony Ashton, a great pianist who had collaborated with the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis, Eric Clapton, George Harrison. Together with Lord, they had already worked on the soundtrack for The Last Rebel in 1970.

Ashton would handle the arrangements and the management of the vocals, the sung parts.

MIW is a rather unconventional album due to its sounds that recall blues, rock, and psychedelia still in vogue in those years.

They created an air of mystery around this band and the album that was about to be released, but the album sold poorly, and the relative European tour was reduced to only 5 dates in the United Kingdom.

In short, it was a semi-FLOP. However, the album is worth listening to; the sound is refined, not the usual “rock.”

The first track is the one that immediately gets stuck in your head and is perhaps the most beautiful of the album.

As for the rest, yes, interesting in my opinion but also weak. I don't know, it lacks something, a spark, a glimmer.

The album is truly rare. I discovered it thanks to a music-cassette that was passed to me by a guy who, if he were still alive, would be around sixty years old.

I believe that if someone in Italy has the original 33 RPM... well, I think it's worth something.

It deserves a listen.

Let me know what you think, okay?