Saturday, December 1, 2012

The Human Beast - Volume One (1970 uk, hypnotic and hard driving with intense guitar workouts in a classic psych mould, 2007 remaster)



This short-lived psychedelic pop outfit was formed in the UK at the end of the 60s. Featuring Gillies Buchan (guitar/vocals), Edward Jones (bass/vocals), David McNiven (clarinet) and John Romsey (drums), the group was originally known as Skin but did not record as such. Human Beast signed to Decca Records in 1970 and made their debut with Volume One (Instinct). Though it sold poorly at the time, it has subsequently become the subject of collector’s interest. Typical of its contents were songs with expansive titles such as ‘Brush With The Midnight Butterfly’, ‘Reality Presented As An Alternative’ and ‘Appearance Is Everything Style Is A Way Of Living’. Fittingly, each featured similarly ponderous lyrics. In common with other progressive bands of the period, there was also a degree of experimentation with Eastern melodies and rhythms, resulting in the best track, ‘Maybe Someday’. However, the group never recorded again and disappeared from the music business thereafter. 
All Music
Tracks
1. Mystic Man (Gillies Buchan) - 6:50
2. Appearance Is Everything, Style Is A Way Of Living (Gillies Buchan) - 4:35
3. Brush With The Midnight Butterfly (Gillies Buchan) - 5:24
4. Maybe Someday (Mike Heron) - 6:22
5. Reality Presented As An Alternative (Gillies Buchan) - 5:00
6. Naked Breakfast (Gillies Buchan) - 3:09
7. Circle Of The Night (Gillies Buchan, David McNiven) - 3:11

The Human Beast
*John Romsey - Drums, Percussion
*Ed Jones - Bass, Vocals
*Gillies Buchan - Guitar, Vocals
With
*David McNiven - Clarinet

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12 comments:

  1. Many thank you for another masterpiece, Marios!

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  2. A very interesting review. It is unusual to find somebody who as actually listened to the tracks rather than just added the object to their collection :)
    I am sure Gillies will like it.
    John Ramsay (drummer on the album)

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    1. hi john im a big fan of your music from italy since mid 90s . there are demo recordings or live from the period of your band? thanks my best regards

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  3. Great album had this years ago sold mine in excellent condition to a collector.manage to find a copy on cd .still hard to find .

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    Replies
    1. Unknown, The Human Beast - Volume One reup...

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  4. I've got a 1970 original UK press... what's it worth?

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    1. Evcpt, that's good for you, according to discogs and the condition of the copy you have, it worth from 1.100,00 euros to 2.000,00 euros..

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  5. Thanks Marios. The Lps is in perfect condition but the cover have my Dads name written across the front 🤣

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  6. Does anybody know why there are two different covers on the original UK release from 1970? There are one with black frame on the front cover, another one with white frame. Which one is the original of the originals?

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    Replies
    1. couldn't find any differences, the original front cover is the same as here.

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    2. Here you can see the black frame https://www.barnebys.se/auktioner/objekt/the-human-beast-volume-one-lp-decca-skl-5053-stereo-z9utahffd2

      Here is the white frame https://www.popsike.com/THE-HUMAN-BEASTVOL-1ORIG-1stUKMONSTERDECCAEX-EX/140480010493.html

      I personally owns one with black frame and a friend of mine owns a white one...both UK 1970.

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