*. Day of Phoenix .* (Remaster 2012 + Bonus)

Album: Wide Open N-Way (1970)(Remaster 2012 + 2 Bonus)
Genre: Prog Rock (Psychedelic/Folk/Jazz)  /  Denmark

As you can expect from an album the title song should be a highlight. Not true in every case - but this time by all means. When listening to Wide Open N-Way you're first immediately forced to believe that this is an american westcoast psych band. Accent-free vocals and a very cool straightforward sound with acoustic guitar. But then they are showing another second sight right away with a weird piano and guitar echoes dominated krautrocked interlude. And that's nowhere near enough - we also have high speed guitar jamming (with some slight technical problems) - and then surprisingly coming back to the main theme in between. Very complex what can be stated for nearly the whole album by the way. The two Cellophane parts are noticeably headed by Karsten Lyng and Ole Prehn delivering an excellent accentuated virtuoso twin guitar work. And then Mind Funeral has to be mentioned - they didn't take the song title literally by the way - as for the compositional aspect at least. The song consists of two different moods - first the solid westcoast psych touch. And then the band takes a deep breath in the second half and offers a wonderful jamming jazzy part which you may not have expected when listening for the first time. 'Wide Open N-Way' is not plain psych/space music - you should brace yourself for sophisticated psychedelic based rock with some jazz elements by contrast - sometimes even eclectic and ahead of the times in 1970. Highly recommended because absolutely enjoyable even nearly 40 years later! Review by "Rivertree" (Prog Archives).

RATING:  8 / 10

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