In 1985 I went to a summer record show in Dallas. It was like many formative music related events in my late teens and early 20s. One dealer had 4 - and only 4 - prog rock related items. All for $2 each. Back then, no one was into these kind of sounds, and it was later in the day by the time I found him. He told me he hadn't sold any prior either. The 4 records were: Magma (1970 Philips), A.R. & Machines (1973 Zebra), Secret Oyster - Furtive Pearl (1974 Peters), and... Tasavallan Presidentti - Milky Way Moses (1974 Janus). On initial impact Secret Oyster was my favorite (now it would be 3rd in this batch). I had a stronger foundation with Krautrock by 1985, so the Achim Reichel album resonated next. Magma was extremely difficult for me but I was drawn to it. Today I consider it the 16th Most Important LP in my entire collection (see page strip above - subject to change). And then there was today's album - yuk, no thanks. And I traded or sold it at some point not that much longer. Probably for $2.
It was many years later that I had an opportunity to repurchase Milky Way Moses at a reasonable price. Since that time, I've given this album 4 full listens over those years (including 2 this year), and I'll be damned if I can remember much about it. But I do like it, far more than on original impact. Like with Made in England, the album is more song based than freewheeling. However, on Milky Way Moses, the music ventures more towards jazz and funk than psychedelic. And I think that's why I didn't go for it at age 20. Song based funk? Are you kidding me? Certainly the fiery fusion of Secret Oyster was to my liking, but not this. It's probably not going to transcend the Gnosis 10 level anytime soon. But given my long history with the album, I'll continue to find room for it.
Ownership: 1974 Sonet (UK). Single sleeve with no insert. Acquired online in 2014. Great eye-catching cover. See above for my full history with the album.
1985; 2014; 1/2/18; 3/27/23 (new entry)
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