KALEIDOSCOPE Tangerine Dream (Fontana (S)TL 5448) 11/67

‘One of the best albums to come from a new group lately. The songs are good and catchy, and given a sophisticated enough treatment to make them sound very current’ (Record Mirror, 01/12/67)

‘A young and widely-praised British group. Title is fitting, as all the self-penned tracks follow a dream pattern. Could easily be labelled pretentious, but nevertheless worth an intent listen’ (Disc & Music Echo, 02/12/67)

‘Lightweight fairytale music and narration, heavily influenced by literature like Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings creations, even down to the sleevenotes’ (Melody Maker, 09/12/67)

‘This is it! Kaleidoscope have presented us with a masterpiece for their first LP. Their fantastic single didn’t make it, but this will set that to rights – quality like this just can’t go unnoticed. Every track would make a better single than 90% of the present Top 30… The sounds on this record are shifting colours, settling for a moment into a beautiful stained-glass pattern, then shifting again into a fresh and still more beautiful pattern. All wondrous stuff’ (Intro, 16/12/67)

Kaleidoscope | Kaleidoscope | Fontana | 1967

Seemingly out of nowhere, Kaleidoscope appeared on the scene with a debut LP that, in retrospect, is one of the masterpieces of Britain’s early psych era. Like the Hollies‘ two great albums from the same period, this is beat music examining the potential of psychedelia with the curiosity of a gifted child, powered by a fearless and upbeat zeitgeist. The album has no weaknesses: the songwriting and arrangements are terrific, the vocals are good, the balance between melody, mood and experiment is ideal, and even the recording quality is top-notch. This is the sound of 1967. (PL)