If anything holds back Galactic Zoo Dossier it's the name recognition of Arthur Brown. Not that he wasn't an incredible performer, but rather he'll always be associated with the Crazy World and their famous 'Fire' track. The much older 6' 3" inch towering lead singer cobbled together a new progressive rock group called Kingdom Come, and with Brown's distinctive voice, it's hard to disassociate at first. But once you do, you'll realize a couple of things: 1) Galactic Zoo Dossier is very much an English styled progressive rock album from 1971 and 2) Arthur Brown is the perfect lead singer for such an adventure. And he doesn't grab the limelight either, as the 5 piece band behind him goes through multiple iterations combined with excellent songwriting. Michael Harris' organ recalls Vincent Crane while Andrew Dalby lays down some molten guitar leads. And Julian Brown is featured on none other than the VCS, a cool sounding old synthesizer that one usually associates with Franco Battiato or Tangerine Dream. There are 16 tracks here - or segments really - so a lot to digest in one setting. You'll just have to get your head around it first though.
Ownership: LP: 1971 Polydor. First pressing gatefold with giant poster. Recent online acquisition that replaces the basic Voiceprint CD (1993) that I picked up back then.
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