Samurai. 1971 England

Samurai's sole album is, in effect, the final effort from the group formerly known as Web. And I feel it's much improved from their previous 3 albums. Web themselves had progressed greatly on I Spider, but Samurai takes it to another level. The songwriting here is absolutely incredible. Every song has a memorable melody - and played in a complex progressive rock fashion with fuzz bass, organ, sax, flute, superb vocals. There's really no other album like it. A 5 star masterpiece, and easily one of my favorite albums from England.

Ownership: CD: 1996 Landren (USA); LP: 2010 Guerssen (Spain) Samurai is an album I hadn't heard (but heard of) until the first CD reissue came out (Landren). Purchased online new upon release. It's an odd CD considering the American source, but has full credits. It's been suggested to be unauthorized, but this is the only reissue from the label (Discogs maintains it's legit for now). It's also the only reissue with 5 live bonus tracks, all in great sound. The Guerssen reissue is a recent online acquisition. It's a high quality release that comes in a fine gatefold cover.