JOHN NATCHEZ:Private Hard Prog Concept LP Acid Archives

$

70

JOHN NATCHEZ: Listen (Atropos JS-0005/1977)

Only a handful of copies are known in collecting circles for this private prog gem. My review in The Acid Archives (for which this copy was used) describes this best:

Hard progressive rock concept album about North American Indians. Natchez is the composer, producer, arranger (he is credited for vocal arrangements though he doesn’t sing), band leader and drummer. The last means that he also often tries to be the lead instrument (though there are many guitar leads). There are male and female vocals. The music is mostly hard rocking, but there are a couple of softer tracks. It is quite reminiscent of early Renaissance, the female vocalist often sounding like Annie Haslam. Each song has a very irregular rhythmic structure. There are many tempo changes and metric shifts. Much of the latter in particular are due to Natchez’s attempts to bring his often frenetic drumming to the forefront. Most songs’ continuities are broken by fragmented short drum fills and solos. If you are a serious proghead or hard rocker, this may become a major annoyance as the LP grinds on. If you like your music with an off-kilter edge, then the cumulative effect could be devastating (in a great way). Of course, none of this would work if Natchez wasn’t an excellent lyricist and composer (which I believe he shows he is here despite his “indulgence”).

The cover is VG+ (ringwear on both sides, more noticeable on back; small sticker stain in upper right corner; some creasing on paper in covers near spine).

The record is VG+. There are a few light scuffs on a couple of songs; heavier scuffs on second song on side 1, but not deep enough to be felt by touch. That song plays with crackling throughout, but the rest of the album plays cleanly without any surface noise.

See my other auctions for more LP's featured in the Acid Archives books. Many of the ones included are the actual review copies. 

GENERAL INFO

SHIPPING: Shipping costs will be quoted based on cost for estimated weight plus $1.00 to cover most of the cost of packing materials.

All records are packed in in between two cardboard filler pads and shipped in professional cardboard mailing boxes. All unsealed  12" records are taken out of their covers to prevent seam splitting. If there is a custom inner sleeve, the record will be put in a separate white inner. If a 7" record comes in a picture sleeve, the same procedure is followed.

GRADING: I grade records both visually and audibly. As grading is so imprecise and subjective, I don't have a set grading description like you see listed in many auction and collector magazines. My grades for  records and covers are based on the overall conditions I describe in each auction; I will note any visual defects and (for the vinyl) any non-musical sounds (pops, clicks, skips, etc.).