ALAN BOWN - Outward Bown (First Album) +14 - SWE Flawed Gems Expanded Edition - LISTEN - VERY RARE

Remastered (the old See For Miles edition had distorted and slightly 'wobbly' sound) and considerably expanded Swedish edition of the excellent debut album by the British formation The Alan Bown! (with an exclamation mark). This album, released at the end of 1968 by the label Music Factory, unfortunately somewhat forgotten today, certainly belongs among the best achievements of British psychedelic rock! Seriously! This excellent and criminally underrated record contains twelve unconventional, psychedelic, melodic compositions (sometimes lighter, sometimes heavier...) in a fairly "fairy-tale" mood - with the addition of a brass section. Particularly striking are the sophisticated arrangements and catchy melodies. I especially recommend the originally arranged cover of "All Along The Watchtower" (it was this very version that inspired Hendrix!), the decidedly pop-psychedelic "Toyland", and the heavy, guitar-riff-based "Penny For Your Thoughts" or the dynamic "My Girl The Month Of May". In fact it is hard to single out this or that track, because all the recordings are simply superb! In addition, it is worth paying attention to the excellent vocalist Jess Roden - later in Bronco and the Butts Band! Besides this, as many as fourteen bonus tracks are included here, among them 10 ultra-rare recordings made for the BBC! An absolute must!!! (JL)