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SUMMARY The End's 2005 studio recording presents the full evolution of the band - a final testament that keyboardist/vocalist F. Scott, guitarist Ben Pape, and drummer Ray Pettis can be proud of. PSYCHEDELICIOUS evidences a level of maturity in songwriting, lyrics, and professionalism that the band has earned through years of musical experience. The roots of this recording are planted deeply in rock music's psychedelic era, but PSYCHEDELICIOUS is a completely modern recording. Rather than simply recreating the sounds of the period 1967-1973, The End took the zeitgeist of that era and extended it into a new millennium - adding new sounds to old musical forms, dark realism to naïve hippie optimism, and paranoid delusions to simple psychedelic visions. PSYCHEDELICIOUS uses both modern instrumentation and digital recording techniques, making it the most contemporary-sounding studio recording that The End ever assembled. Characterized by lengthy tracks that shift timing, tempo, and style, PSYCHEDELICIOUS actually builds on styles from four decades of rock music. Sixties vocal pop, seventies jazz, eighties metal, nineties punk, and even new age influences are all found here. But from beginning to end PSYCHEDELICIOUS leaves no doubt that The End is taking us through a mind-expanding, psychedelic musical experience. Vocals are drenched in reverb, that paragon sound effect of the psychedelic era. Guitars, drums, keyboards, and other unrecognizable sounds weave in and out of the mix. Dreamy soundscapes are suddenly interrupted by screaming blasts of hard rock. Put on your headphones, turn on the black light, and tune in. There's really only one word that accurately describes PSYCHEDELICIOUS: this CD is a trip. PSYCHEDELICIOUS is a recording in which you can really lose yourself. One could listen to it over and over for hours, hearing something new each time. Longtime fans of The End may be surprised at how much uncharacteristically slow and mellifluous music is on this CD. It's more like Pink Floyd than the Doors. But don't worry that The End has gotten comfortable in their middle age. Every few minutes the band delivers another segment of pure energy to remind us that they still know how to rock. |
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SONGS Purple Voice - The opening guitar and synthesizer combination lets you know immediately that this is not going to be a typical The End song. Lyrics describe the personalities of various colors, or more precisely what colors are saying. The music builds with an insistent jangling guitar riff, punctuated by furious choruses during which Scott screams that "the purple voice is talking to me!" The hallucination theme gradually becomes psychosis, until we actually get to hear the synthesized purple voice performing a solo as the song reaches its climax. This is simply a great track. I Saw My Face - Drawing from the late sixties psychedelic pop genre, echo-chamber vocals describe LSD-induced hallucinations in vivid detail while a punchy R&B beat pulses in the background. The music has enough of a traditional feel to make this work well as a pop song, but there can be no question that the lyrics were influenced by pharmaceuticals. This is Ben's favorite song on the album. Love Brigade - This song serves up three minutes of pure hippie pop circa 1967. Rich, multi-part vocal harmonies recall songs by The Association, while 12-string guitar riffs muster up The Byrds. And despite its distinctly retro flavor, this song wouldn't necessarily sound out of place on the radio today. It's also the happiest song on the CD. Missing - The hardest rocking song on PSYCHEDELICIOUS features a pounding rock beat played with a straightforward, medium tempo. Fuzz guitar and a dark bass line accompany a lilting vocal track that alternately sounds right next to you and a mile away. The lyrics seem to describe a love affair gone awry, but there's a shocking twist at the end. You will always hear the song completely differently after your first listen. Edges - This is the first of three long, complex, multi-part tracks. It slowly builds from a four note bass riff, adding a guitar part that sounds like an outtake from a 1966 Jefferson Airplane session. In comes a marching snare drum right out of Ravel's Bolero. Trippy vocals start up, and with considerable wordplay the lyrics describe... uh... some sort of journey... until the music abruptly shifts to a chunky crescendo that explodes into screaming high-speed heavy metal. The words grow darker, even frightening, as the frenetic guitar progresses through punk to Nirvana-inspired grunge noise. In the background, Ben reads from a textbook on the subject of consciousness. Suddenly Scott screams for it all to "stop!" whereupon we are transported to a layered musical landscape where cars have faces and talk. It goes on - nearly eight minutes in all - but you get the idea. While the musical hallucination form has been out of style for thirty years, "Edges" is a track that grows on you with each listening. This track is Ray's favorite on the CD. Pleasant Dreams/Shine On You Crazy Diamond/Mushroom Soup/Acid Bath/Mushroom Soup (Slight Return)/Peyote Place/For Absinthe Friends/Crash Landing - This 21-minute instrumental traverses new musical ground for The End, but it is entirely in keeping with the rest of the PSYCHEDELICIOUS CD. The track launches with a spooky, vaguely middle eastern chant recorded with cathedral-type reverb. Channeling Pink Floyd rather than The Doors, The End then slides into a wonderful cover of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" - part 2, the coolest part. That shifts abruptly into a synthesizer and guitar preamble to "Mushroom Soup," The End's meandering foray into soft jazz. (No, that is not a misprint.) Without a doubt this is the mellowest The End recording ever, but just kick back with the headphones and enjoy the way it all flows seamlessly. The backbeat continues in the "Acid Bath" segment, but the guitar riffs turn hard to accompany a fuzzed out keyboard lead. So what is this genre, acid jazz? The track goes back to the "Mushroom Soup" theme, only this time with an unearthly guitar part that will have your head spinning. The End kicks it up for "Peyote Place," with guitar and keyboard furiously trading jazz-blues licks, until it all dissolves into a slow synthesized fade. What a long, strange trip it's been! The Graveyard - One might not realize it from the rest of the CD, but the closing track reminds us that The End drew its first inspiration from The Doors. This track may sound more like Led Zeppelin than The Doors, but the lyrics could have come straight from Jim Morrison: sex and death. Is it just a story about seduction in a graveyard, or is it "something spooky, summoned up from underground?" The 10-minute song builds slowly, featuring some awesome slide guitar work that we've never heard before from The End. Suddenly, it explodes into a climax of guitar, bass, and drums - the unholy trio of rock and roll. The End rocks us for a while - and yes, they can still kick out the jams - before reverting back to the song's original theme. Gentle drums, keyboards, and slide guitar slowly fade into the cold synthesized winds of the cemetery. Thus ends the CD. The End says that PSYCHEDELICIOUS will be their last studio recording, which is a shame, because if there's more where this came from it deserves to be recorded and heard! But if this really is the end of The End, in PSYCHEDELICIOUS they have truly left a recording that will serve as a terrific legacy. What is consciousness? Fatigue, delirium, hypnosis, meditation, drugs, and ecstasy differ significantly from what might be considered 'normal' awareness. Clairvoyance: The ability to perceive events or gain information in ways that appear unaffected by distance or normal physical barriers. Telepathy: Extrasensory perception of another person's thoughts, or more simply, an ability to read someone else's mind. Precognition: The ability to perceive or accurately predict future events. Precognition may take the form of prophetic dreams which foretell the future. Psychokenesis: The ability to exert influence over inanimate objects by willpower. |
Other The End CD reviews: Final Judgment | Flashback | Psychedelicious
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