Orpheus - Joyful 1969

Orpheus' final MGM album is softer and poppier than the other LPs the group had done for the label, but not that much softer and poppier, as Orpheus were already pretty piffling at the outset. Like their other albums, it's full of lushly orchestrated original material that strives to be grand and important, but is much closer to mushy, sunshine pop than art. The feel-good bounciness of the harmonies and lyrics is incessant. It's one thing to be airy, another to be airheaded, and the group often treads perilously close to the latter trait. In order for pop/rock this light and romantic to work, the melodies have to be damn good; on this album, however, they're not close to being good enough, though the disc might find favor with sunshine pop cultists after something with a little more pretension than is common in the style. All of the songs are included on the Big Beat double-CD compilation The Best of Orpheus. AMG.

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Orpheus - Ascending 1968

On this, their second album, Orpheus has created more rococo, orchestrated sunshine pop. It's different from their debut only in the virtual absence of the occasional psychedelic flourishes. This release is also distinguishable from the first by some uncharacteristic departures into good-time folk-rock ("Borneo") and straightforward, late-'60s rock (the cover of "She's Not There"). Otherwise, it offers harmony and sunshine pop with lyrics and arrangements suggestive of a fairyland where lovers perpetually walk on air, best heard on "I'll Fly," which sounds a bit like a Jimmy Webb outtake that missed out on getting onto a Fifth Dimension LP. The group and producer Alan Lorber often seem to be trying to create elegant chamber rock, but the music could use a lot more guts and realism. The melodies prove that Orpheus is no Left Banke, although they give "Walk Away Renee" a try, launching their cover with harmonies ripped off from the Association's "Never My Love." With the exception of "Don't Be So Serious," all of the album's tracks are included on the double-CD Big Beat compilation The Best of Orpheus. AMG.

listen here

Orpheus - Joyful 1969

Orpheus' final MGM album is softer and poppier than the other LPs the group had done for the label, but not that much softer and poppier, as Orpheus were already pretty piffling at the outset. Like their other albums, it's full of lushly orchestrated original material that strives to be grand and important, but is much closer to mushy, sunshine pop than art. The feel-good bounciness of the harmonies and lyrics is incessant. It's one thing to be airy, another to be airheaded, and the group often treads perilously close to the latter trait. In order for pop/rock this light and romantic to work, the melodies have to be damn good; on this album, however, they're not close to being good enough, though the disc might find favor with sunshine pop cultists after something with a little more pretension than is common in the style. All of the songs are included on the Big Beat double-CD compilation The Best of Orpheus. AMG.

listen here