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Rating:
I have seldom had the pleasure of listening to a band capable of mixing psychedelic rock, ballads, and humor like Kaleidoscope, in a unique record of its kind.
"A Beacon From Mars" lacks the refinement of "Forever Changes", it does not have the edginess of "After Bathing At Baxter's", nor the harmony of "Aoxomoxoa". It is not really comparable to something that came out in those years; it is a mixture of blues, traditional, folk, and psychedelic suites that gives the work a great variety of sounds. Lindley, Feldthouse, Vidican, Crill, and Darrow are the characters of this colorful journey between tradition and innovation.
"I Found Out" is the first stop, in some ways an anthem to the flower season, with fresh sounds reminiscent of the Grateful Dead, a deep voice akin to Skip Spence, and ties to their roots that recall the Incredible String Band (obviously we are not referring to American culture in this case). The folk guitars become increasingly incisive on the following "Greenwood Sidee", the percussion takes on an almost tribal tone, the arrangement is sparse and well-defined. "Life Will Pass You By", "Louisiana Man", and "Baldheaded End Of A Broom" evoke country/western atmospheres. "You Don't Love Me" is a distorted blues, a precursor to future hard rock (the Bloomfield and Kooper version on "Supersession" is completely different).
The tension is about to explode on "Taxim", a long mix of folk raga, jazz, psychedelia, and traditional, and on the concluding "A Beacon From Mars".
Anyone who wants to listen to this record should not expect either a work as complex as it might seem from my comment or a completely organic album. Fragmentation is Kaleidoscope's calling card, a succession of flights of fancy through the main genres of American culture. I leave the rest of the considerations to you.
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