Aktion	Zweigstelle	Standorte	Status	Frist	Vorbestellungen
Vorbestellen	Zweigstelle: 17., Hormayrg. 2	Standorte: CD.09 Seco / 70er	Status: Verfügbar	Frist:	Vorbestellungen: 0

It's hard to believe these musicians were as young as they say they were, certainly they had a certain natural talent for song-writing. This is not psychedelic pop but more like early progressive rock instrumentally. The vocals and studio effects though mark this out as an album from that short era before prog really took off, when psychedelic bands started experimenting beyond the 4 minute mark. One of the earliest concept albums, it's lyrically biographical, most of the songs fitting to a common, rather dark theme that ends with a drug overdose. It's hardly Shakespeare, but the lyrics fit superbly when sung the way they are to create an appealing overall sound. But it's the sound quality which is my only complaint. It has a bit of the dullness typical of some albums of that period, and I would have accepted that if I hadn't had a copy of Polydor's box set Spirit of Joy, on which they have the song Reality. There's such a world of difference it's hard to believe you're listening to the same song, but it is. Reality on the boxed set sounds like it was recorded yesterday, the sound is very crisp and you can heard more detail when it comes to the more subtle overdubs. In comparison, Reality on the CD sounds like someone has put blankets over the speakers. I have the CD on the Sunbeam and Universum labels and the sound is equally muddy on both. I guess Polydor has the highest generation masters then, my request to Polydor would be to seriously think about doing a full release of the album. Anyone who makes the comparison of the 2 versions of Reality will see what I mean - this will be a truly fantastic album when the whole thing comes out in Spirit of Joy quality. Until then though, my advice would be to add this to your collection anyway, and petition Polydor for a full remaster and rerelease. It is just the result of some unlucky coincidences and a questionable choice of cover art that this album isn't universally acknowledged as a rock classic. If the same album had been released by the Beatles or Kinks, we'd probably be watching documentary films about this album on TV by now.