Bold - Bold 1969

ABC released plenty of psychedelic LPs in the late '60s that were weird, awkward mixtures of West Coast psychedelia, heavy rock, blues, pop, and more, often burdened by subpar songwriting and performers who seemed ill at ease or inexperienced in the studios. The sole Bold album fits into that niche, but if it's any recommendation or consolation, as such records go, it's certainly one of the better ones. Actually it's not bad, and a little lighter and less ponderous than most such efforts, though the lack of outstanding original material or mega-personality limits its appeal to psychedelic collectors. In addition to the trendy psychedelic-age ingredients listed earlier, Bold also added some quasi-classical organ once in a while, particularly on the opening instrumental, "Lullaby Opus Four"; "Free Fogue" even sounds like new-age music. They're also good vocal harmonizers, which lends otherwise generic late-'60s psychedelic hard rockers like "Friendly Smile" a nice buoyancy. And a bent for folk-rock asserts itself once in a while, in the wistful "Changing Seasons," the Buffalo Springfield-flavored "Child of Love" and "Words Don't Make It," and the pretty nice, stretched-out cover of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue." The entire album is included on the Misty Lane CD reissue Lullaby Opus Four, which also adds both sides of the two more garage-oriented singles they recorded prior to the album for Cameo and Dynovoice, as well as both sides of the mid-'60s single by the Esquires, the group that evolved into Bold. AMG.

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