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- CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE
WEEK
- Klaatu "Hope" 1977 (Canada)
This
year for the Hippie Xmas bargain bin vinyl special I dug really deep
for ultra-obscure albums of the classic rock era. The most famous
artist being played on the show this week could be our CAOTW though Klaatu was never more than a cult
curiosity. (Or else
it's probably Lalo Schifrin, who scored an incredible number of groovy old movies and TV shows, including classics like Mission: Impossible, Cool Hand Luke, Dirty Harry, and Enter The Dragon.) Three anonymous studio musician/engineers from Toronto
recorded five albums between 1976 and 1981 which show their love for Beatles-style psychedelic pop, Pink Floydian space epics and concept albums, and Moody Bluesoid narration and orchestration. There was a brief "Beatles reunion rumour" attached to the release of their debut album, which made that their best-selling and most well-known album. Hope
was their second record, and is much more ambitious - being a
full-blown "sci fi rock opera" and including sessions with the London
Symphony Orchestra - but it sold a lot less than the first one. Their third album
was a return to the more pop-oriented (Beatles-like) debut album,
and it's my favorite of all their records - though it sold even more
poorly than the second album. You guessed it, albums #4 (tragically
awful 80's lamestream Top 40 attempt) and #5 (back to Beatles sounds
but on a limited budget and not released outside of Canada) continued
the downward slide in record sales.
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