I had the below review previously combined with the debut on one UMR entry. I'm now separating those apart since I just got in the LP for Triad. I didn't relisten to it, so these notes remain nine years old. A recent relisten (2024) confirms these findings.
Triad, released later in the same year of 1972, picks up where Spontaneous Combustion leaves off, and is more in line with that era's music. There is still some psychedelia left in the recipe, but Triad is geared more towards hard rock, as well as showcasing their progressive compositional acumen. It would seem that Spontaneous Combustion's Achilles' heel was their inability to focus on what they did best, and their albums can be confusing to listeners. Perhaps that's what they hoped to achieve, but history tells us they failed to gain an audience - and only were later discovered by curious collectors of early 70s UK underground rock. Many consider Triad the better of the two albums, and I'm inclined to agree, though they grade out roughly the same regardless. Three years later, the band reformed into the group Time, and it was there the group showed their true colors of being an all-out progressive rock outfit. Though it too never caught an audience.
Ownership: LP: 1972 Harvest (USA). Single large holed sleeve where you can mix and match the front and back covers in a variety of ways. Recent acquisition (2023) from a friend in Los Angeles.
11/24/14 (first listen / review / new entry); 2/12/24
