ANDROMEDA

Original released on LP RCA Victor SF-8031

(UK, 1969)

Andromeda was a late 60's band that had John Cann (later he joined Atomic Rooster) in their line-up. They only released one album, this self-titled and amazing "Andromeda". It comes absolutelly soaked in Blues Rock, Proto Prog and Psychedelia and is, in many ways, the precursor of some bands. Andromeda is completely Proto Prog in songs like the amazing opener "Too Old", "Gold and Silver Turns To Dust", "Return To Sanity" and "When To Stop". In other hand tracks like "Day Of The Change" and "Return To Sanity" sounds as Black Sabbath. But remember that Black Sabbath only released their first album in 1970. I could say that Tony Iommi was very aware of this band/album while Black Sabbath was writting their first album. "Andromeda" also comes with high psychedelic colors of course (just look at the cover) in tracks like "And Now The Sun Shines", the Cream influenced "The Reason" and the folk driven "I Can Stop The Sun". What we have in "Andromeda" is a beautiful and raw (recorded in less than a month) Proto Prog album with Blues Rock and Psychedelic colors. Everything packed with an amazing bass playing by Mick Hawksworth (that also played with Fuzzy Duck), solid drums by Ian McLane and loads of great guitars by John Cann and good vocals. (in RateYourMusic)

Andromeda's sole album was heavy guitar psychedelia that leaned far more toward the lurking hard rock, progressive, and occasionally metal movements than it did toward more pop and song oriented psych. There were some impressive guitar exchanges, and as songwriters they certainly didn't lack ambition. No less than three of the eight tracks are three-part epics, clocking in at around seven or eight minutes each. Obviously they took care to vary the tempos and shadings; grandstanding solos and freakouts are alternated with quieter, slower passages. At one point in "Gold and Silver Turns to Dust," for instance, they sound rather like Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac; in "When to Stop," a painfully frenzied bit of guitar skronk is followed by pretty flamenco-ish acoustic guitar that subtly quotes from the Yardbirds' "Still I'm Sad." But the songs are meandering and forgettable, for the most part, sometimes bearing passing similarity to Cream at their most indulgent, or looking ahead to the crunch of Led Zeppelin. It's too bombastic, although the absence of a screeching high-voiced singer, as so many bands of this type boast, does help. (Richie Unterberger in AllMusic)