Moby Grape - "8:05" [Mono] 1967

Redtelephone66 Rip From the 1967 Columbia Lp "Moby Grape" CL 2698 MONO This album is a prime example of why the radio is evil. Has anybody ever heard any of these songs on any radio station worldwide? The answer is no. Here's another question; why? Probably because they weren't among any of the other famous San Francisco bands like, Grateful Dead or Jefferson Airplane, but who cares! In fact, I'm almost going to venture in saying that Moby grapes songs are even more radio friendly than the most of the San Francisco groups. One would assume that this album has the same hippie philosophies, banal psychedelic overtones, sprawling jams, and all of the other characteristics of a typical frisco band, but it doesn't. This album may come across as stoner music, but it really has so much more than just that. Moby Grape played with style rather than substance. This album sounds almost Beatles-eque in parts; with its choir harmonies, catchy pop melodies, and its occasional folk rock ditties. Another highlight is how stunning Skip Spence's guitar work is, some of the licks from this album are some of the most melodically gifted sounds I have ever heard. The other thing I liked best about it is the fact that they kept all of their songs concise and focused. They never meandered with jams longer than they should've played, and never came across as pretentious or preachy. I could pin this album down to a multitude of genres like folk-rock, pop-rock, psychedelic-rock, etc. Though some of this album can be considered psychedelia, the scarce amount that had shades of psychedelia was a nice change of pace, and was only light psychedelia at most. Whoever overlooks this album because it wasn't popular is really judging it for the wrong reasons. To put this all in perspective I would have to say, boldly but honestly, that this is the most underrated album by the most underrated band out of the 60's to date. Get this album and find out for yourself exactly what we, unfortunately, seemed to never hear (RYM Review)