Light Year - Reveal the Fantastic. 1974 USA (archival)

Today we have a real gem. And it's been out there for 4 years now, and I'm just hearing it for the first time!(?) I discovered it the old fashioned way: Research. This is the type of album I'm usually tipped to ahead of time by my loyal friends and researchers. So perhaps today I can return the favor? I hope so. I think all of my readers will adore this one.

An extraordinary find, Light Year were a band from San Francisco circa 1974 that played a cross between heavy fusion and progressive rock, with dominant female vocals. To me it sounds like the Belgian band Cos playing the music of Mahavishnu Orchestra! Yes... I'm serious - Pascale Son fronting John McLaughlin and crew. A 6 piece of guitar, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals, and percussion (much of it tuned). Mixing a Bay Area band with an additional percussionist will call to mind who? Yes, that's right, Santana. And guitarist Randy Sellgren certainly possesses that hyper kinetic electric technique of Mahavishnu John meets Carlos type sound. The music is jazz oriented, but with ferocious rock segments, in the same manner as Santana's "Lotus". And the final track, clocking in at a whopping 20:20, has a distinct space rock element - propelling the album to its greatest height.

And the story doesn't end there. And this is perhaps the most fascinating aspect for me; the liner notes don't mention it. And there's only one reference to it on the label's home page. And (lots of ands on this one...) this is how I discovered it in the first place: I recently bought a second LP copy of Mingo Lewis' "Flight Never Ending" which I have listed in the CDRWL. This copy, however, included a promotional insert, where it says (typing it out literally): "Mingo's band lingo (sic) is a tight, young outfit: Drummer Dave Logemen (22), bassist Eric McCann (17), plus the remains of another San Francisco band called Light Year which includes guitarist Randy Sellgren, synthesizer specialist Michael Kapitan, and keyboardist Kincaid Miller." The latter two are not mentioned in the CD liner notes (Mingo's album came out two years later) - but then again, neither is Mingo Lewis. Holy smokes - who knew??

This album is absolutely essential.

Personal collection
CD: 2010 Green Tree (Germany)

The CD comes in a nice digipak and features newly written liner notes (from 3 of the members), lyrics, and photos. The sound is excellent. The LP is a gatefold, though I haven't possessed one myself. I know that Green Tree has a somewhat checkered past, but this one is clearly legit, and a superb archival album. Buy this one before it gets away. Special thanks is given to Doug Larson, who I presume had something to do with this release.