The Electric Prunes — Mass In F Minor / Release Of An Oath
The Electric Prunes came about in 1965 in the San Fernando Valley, near Los Angeles. To start with the band’s sound was very much run-of-the-mill mix of 60's garage & psychedelic rock. In 1966 they had a hit with the track “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)” which reached no 11 in the US chart, and no 49 in the UK chart. And this led onto their self titled debut album in 1967- this first album is still a fairly well respected slice of late 60’s US garage & psychedelic rock music, but it was hardly mould breaking…unlike the two releases that are on offer here.
First up we have January 1968’s “Mass in F Minor”- this was the bands third album, and it saw them presenting the catholic mass sang in both Latin & Greek over a dramatic mix of Psychedelic rock & early symphonic rock. I guess it’s safe to say that this was one of the first albums to utilize classical orchestration in major compositional way with-in rock music. The album is fairly short( even by 1960’s standards), and comes in at the 26.26 mark. The original album featured six tracks in all, and on this reissue we get no extra tracks. The album opens up with “Kyrie Eleison"(which also appeared on the Easy Rider soundtrack), the track starts off with a fairly normal 'n' shimmering psychedelic rock riff, but then out of no-where come the monk like male voices chanting the mass- it really is quite a surprise when you first hear it. This first track is really based mostly around fairly standard rock based foundations with a mix of guitar, bass, drums & organs under the mass chants. But later on tracks take in more orchestrated elements, along with church organ simmer, though it still squarely remains rock with often the tracks drifting off into searing if at times shapeless guitar soloing/ band jam-outs. Really if you could criticizer one element on this album it would be the more free style & wondering rock elements, as they feel a little unfocused & at times they take away from the grandeur of the more pined down & composed elements here.
Up next we have the bands fourth album, November 1968’s “Release of an Oath”. And this saw the bands sound become more complex, more orchestrated & much more focused with hints of Jewish tinged jazz/ Klezmer, early jazz rock, and orchestrated pop been mixed into the sonic brew. Once again this was a very short album coming in at 24.56 minute mark, and this album presented a mix of Jewish & Christian Masses/ Liturgy put into a much more symphonic/ early prog rock setting, though there are still psychedelic rock elements present here from time to time. The original released album featured seven tracks, and once again we just get only the original tracks & no extras here. Really this album is rewarding from start to finish, creating a very blanced & rewarding mix of rock & orchestrated with of course the words & chants of ancient praise.
So this is a rather bare bones reissue of these two releases, as both albums are put onto one disc with a total running time of just over fifty one minutes for both albums. But I guess you could argue that if extras were to be added it would rather dilute the original context & feel of these two highly distinctive & unique releases. This will appeal to those who enjoy religious music put into unusual context, & of course fans of progressive & symphonic rock.