Earlier in the year, March in fact, I picked up an original copy of Faithful Breath's second release Back on My Hill. An album that I was very pleasantly surprised by. In my notes for that, I said the following: "Faithful Breath's reputation begins and ends with their debut. At least in the prog world. And I never liked that album. Always thought it a bit snoozy myself. Maybe a revisit is in order."
That day has now come, only a few months later. I decided to pick up the latest CD from Garden of Delights (important distinction here, see Ownership section). I was not familiar this album when The Laser's Edge first reissued it in 1991. It came with a lot of hype, and I was prepared to hear one of the greatest prog rock albums of our time. So I bought it right away - and felt a betrayal had occurred. I thought it boring, as noted above. The original album is made up of 2 long tracks, and it seemed to take forever to get through each one. As a listener, especially back then, I could be categorized as "driven by rhythm", and there's not a lot of that on Fading Beauty. From that perspective, the word "plodding" comes to mind. But what of the layered music on top? Ah, that's where the magic lies. In the 31 years since I first heard Fading Beauty, my patience has grown immensely and I tend to listen to music in a different manner. I found myself engrossed with the contents. One could make the argument that Fading Beauty was ahead of its time, predicting the slower moving late 70s German symphonic prog groups that seemed more enthralled with mid 70s Pink Floyd than anyone else. The sounds are so wonderfully analog and slightly dirty. I experienced a +3 listen, which happens (at most) once a year. Not too many albums that I once had no use for, that I suddenly think are great. But I'm sure this isn't the last album like that either.
Ownership: CD: 2007 Garden of Delights. Recent online acquisition (2022). Another great release from one of my favorite (if not absolute favorite) reissue labels. Tons of history and photos. As noted above, this later release has a key distinction: 5 bonus tracks from 1972, totaling about 22 minutes. I didn't realize until now that the original GoD reissue (2005) did not yet have these tracks to present. And certainly the old Laser's Edge release did not either. I'm not sure of the date of this release, but there's a note in Discogs that says "post 2007". But back to these bonus tracks, as it's important to cover. I would not want to own this album any other way. Because hearing an earlier incarnation of Faithful Breath is fascinating. It's pure Krautrock in the same way as the Erna Schmidt we just talked about. I also hear a band like Out of Focus in these tapes. Faithful Breath, perhaps infamously, later became a banal hard rock/metal group - of the stupid kind. But Fading Beauty is so laid back, how did that happen? Well, when you hear these bonus tracks, it will all come together. As it's an energetic set. So considering the entire package, it's icing on the cake. Be sure to obtain this version.
8/6/22 (new entry)
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