SPACE OPERA / SPACE OPERA 1972

Digitized from the original vinyl, released in 1972 on Epic records.
ALBUM INFO:
Produced, Arranged and Performed entirely by Space Opera
Recorded At: Manta Sound, Toronto, Ontario
Engineered By: Lee DeCarlo, Rick Capreol
Format: Mp3
Bit Rate - 320 Kbps
TRACK LISTING:
County Max
Holy River
Outlines
Guitar Suite
My Telephone Artist (Has Come And Gone)
Riddle
Prelude No. 4
Lookout
Blue Ridge Mountains
Over And Over
THE BAND:
Brett Wilson - Drums, Percussion
Philip White - Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Scott Fraser - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
David Bullock - Guitar, Flute, Harmonica, Vocals
WEBSITE:
http://www.spaceopera.net/
REVIEW:

Blast off with one of the true cult classic albums of the '70s! After woodshedding in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area during the '60s (and recording with high school buddy T-Bone Burnett), Scott Fraser, David Bullock, Phil White and Brett Wilson landed as Space Opera in New York, where the already-legendary Clive Davis offered to sign them on Columbia. Much to the music biz's amazement, they turned him down, opting for more creative control by signing with Epic's Canadian arm, for whom they recorded this excellent but little-promoted album in 1972. An inspired blend of Frank Zappa, the Band, Steely Dan and especially the Byrds, this record is still talked about in hushed tones by 12-string guitarists, as Scott Fraser's unique tuning technique (each string-pair is tuned to 5ths instead of octaves) resulted in a truly monumental sound. Add to that their ample harmonies, and you can hear why Space Opera is considered by some to be the Byrds' natural heirs, or at least their prog-rock cousins! Includes 'Country Max; Holy River; Outlines; Guitar Suite; My Telephone Artist (Has Come and Gone); RIddle; Prelude No. 4; Lookout; Blue Ridge Mountain', and 'Over and Over'.
http://www.goodnewmusic.com/index.html

The criminally underexposed Space Opera were anything but progressive rock, contrary to the “12-String Prog Rock!” sticker on the outside of this three-year-old reissue Good New Music is bending the rules to review.The Texas quartet did have a spacey edge to their country-rock-classical-jazz mix, though, and multitracked electric 12-string guitars were a major part of it. They were cosmic cowboys in a truer sense than, say, Michael Murphey or New Riders of the Purple Sage.How their eponymous release flew under most people’s radar in 1973 is a mystery. The music is so good it doesn’t just vibrate the tympanic membrane, it envelops the listener in an electro-acoustic bubble that renders its happy passenger weightless and drifts off into the ether.The band had an integrity possessed by few: Never compromising in pursuit of their muse, they turned down Clive Davis and signed with Epic’s Canadian division to retain creative control. It’s as if the members were born to make this album, and everything in life up to that point was secondary. For an idea of what level they were operating at, imagine a parallel-universe Byrds that took “Eight Miles High” as a starting point and ran with it.

CONTACT:
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Tom