Friendship Time - s/t. 1976 Sweden (archival)

Holy Moly, these are the kind of unreleased recordings collectors live for. A full blown professional recording that was slated for release on Virgin (I mean Virgin? That's BIG time for a rural Swedish group). Reminded me of the day that the Norwegian post-Host group Deja-Vu was discovered in the mid 90s. Friendship Time play an English inspired brand of progressive rock, not necessarily the big 3, but a cousin of that: Flash. I always felt Flash were highly neglected, perhaps not meeting the lofty standards of the mothership band - nor the keyboard heavy approach. There's also a distinct Swedish rock sound found here, notably Trettioariga Kriget (especially at the time of the second album) and the laissez-faire melodicism of the first Lotus album. Beautiful digipak release with histories and photos. No brainer pick up for Euro progressive rock heads (like me).

CD: 2007 Mellotronen