Flower Travellin' Band - Anywhere (Vinyl)

Description

While not the stunner that their follow-up (Satori) was, Flower Travellin' Band's debut, Anywhere, is a very fun listen. As it is, it's four cover songs between short intro and outro tracks. The cover songs are entertaining interpretations that don't closely adhere to the originals, and that's for the better. This is genuine protometal in the early-Sabbath/Cream vein, but with Asian flavor. The original approach to these covers makes them new songs in their own right. The cover of Muddy Waters's "Louisiana Blues" takes the song into an excellent metallic-blues jam, and fills nearly sixteen minutes with great textures, odd pauses, and plenty of light and shade. The version of "Black Sabbath" is odd in a good way. While it lacks the tension of the original, and drones on mercilessly, it still makes for a great listen. "House of the Rising Sun" does try to echo the Animals' arrangement, but still manages to better that version for raw chutzpah (although Oscar and the Majestics' version remains my favorite of all). "21st Century Schizoid Man," like "Louisiana Blues," uses some basic bones from the original, but turns the affair into a long protometal jam. Excellent stuff.