LEVIATHAN -US 1974 RARE MASH label PROMO PSYCH PROG LP

$

45

VERY RARE US LP OBSCURE PSYCH PROG album

Leviathan

"Same-self titled"

LEVIATHAN - Excellent US mellotron psych prog LP ORIGINAL on ( MASH records AMA 12501- Stereo -1974 Distributed by LONDON ).

Players

- Wain Bradley / bass, guitars, vocals
- Peter Richardson / organ, vocals
- Don Swearingen / piano
- Grady Trimble / guitars
- John Sadler / mellotron
- Shof Beavers / drums

Long cuts: "Arabesque, Angela, Endless dream, Seagull, Angel of death, Always need you, Quicksilver clay". 

With lyrics sleeve / insert included.

Condition: Vinyl record in VG++ [ few surface light marks, minor flaws. Nothing serious some few minor defaults, has marks, possibly only couple tiny light scratches but no jumps or sticks].

Cover in EX+ condition [ has promo punch hole on top right corner and promo sticker not for sale on back cover.Light aging wear on back cover. NO ring wear on front very clean,NO SPLIT-solid jacket-one light tiny edge wear right down corner, minor light edge wear].

Nice cover art, a sea-monster (dragon-shaped) arises from the waters and is going to attack a little ship which is sailing the vast ocean driven by the wind.

The opening track “Arabesque” is quite promising as prog tune as it is a mellotron-drenched song. Not only that, the mood is also changing as the music flows even though it does not sound like in a cohesive way. The vocal job by Wain Bradley and Peter Richardson represents what vintage rock music is all about. It reminds to the classic rock music like Cactus, Humble Pie, Moxy, early Deep Purple, Tea, Mountain. The guitar riffs and singing style are true representation of classic rock music. “Angela” is a mellow song with heavy mellotron work at background and acoustic guitar serves as main rhythm section. “Endless Dream” is still mellow in style. The opening part with bass guitar reminds to Styx “Castle Walls” but of course this song is longer in duration. The nuance created by this song is dark with mellotron as background and singing style. The music tends to be more complex in the middle with soaring sounds of organ / Hammond. “Seagull” is a song with good melody and nice piano work, combined with mellotron. The vocal work is really like Deep Purple’s Glenn Hughes. “Angel of Death” is a straight classic rocker with good (and classic!) guitar riffs. “Always Need You” opening drum work and nuance reminds me to King Crimson’s “In The Court of The Crimson King”. The album concludes with “Quicksilver Clay” which the organ work reminds me to Uriah Heep’s Ken Hensley.

Leviathan is a sort of mix between american peculiar hard rock and very strong mellotron parts. In a similar vein of the first Deep Purple. This characteristics are self evident since the first few seconds of the opener track titled :

A-1-“Arabesque” (6,14 mns): harder and gentler parts alternate each other, always being an important role for the famous keyboard instrument. You will not hear to complecated and elaborated arrangements, but the results is very good art rock, a convincing album from start to finish.

2-“Angela” (6,42 mns) is a mellow song with the predominance of mellotron and acoustic guitar. Some playing children's voices introduce. A soft ballad for a romantic interlude.

3-“Endless Dream” (10,06 mns) is the great opus here. The most interesting for a prog lover. Varied arrangements for this darker piece. More important role for bass guitar. The voice of the singer (I think he is Wain Bradley) reminds of Erik Bloom of Blue Oyster Cult who, in the same period completed their most considerable release of the so-called “black and white period”: Secret Treaties. In fact Leviathan are a sort of mix between Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin ('for the vocals of another singer') and Blue Oyster Cult (one of the most important american rock band of that time). Yeah, Endless Dream is an excellent track.

B-1-“Seagull” (4,58 mns) is a more conventional hard rock piece. The singer (this time the singer should be Peter Richardson, influenced a lot by Robert Plant way of singing...

2-“Angel of Death” (4,12 mns) continues the riff of the previous track and

3- “Always Need You” (3,26 mns) is another romantic short ballad with a remarkable electric guitar.

4-“Quicksilver Clay” (7,26 mns) is the other highlight of the album with a remarkable organ.

Listening to this album will refresh your memories back to the past. The days when rock music was widely accepted by all types of people, regardless they like or they don’t like rock music. The recording quality represents the vintage of this music.

All in all, Leviathan unique album is a very good one...the band seemed to be very promising, what a pity the split too soon!

Leviathan are a forgotten one-shot American band formed in the early seventies in Memphis, although most of the members hailed from Little Rock, Arkansas. They recorded this album shortly before scoring a major coup as opening act for an Electric Light Orchestra American tour (‘Face the Music’, I believe), then pretty much vanished after that. There was another album recorded with the working title ‘The Life Cycle’, but to my knowledge it was never released.

There are too many influences here to mention all of them, but several are readily apparent: Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, a little Grand Funk Railroad and Uriah Heep, even some Moody Blues.

With their sole, eponymous album, American act Leviathan delivered quite an interesting item for the history of North American prog rock during its seminal stages.

Leviathan...that ancestral monstrum which is told about in ancient legends...Leviathan, the well known monstrum uopon whose characters philosopher Thomas Hobbes build up his description of the STATE's (governement) concept. A horrible monster which has concentrated all the rights of man. The statual government is pure strenght and violence: the Great Leviathan! Men are fighting each other and no one has dues or obligation toward anybody else: HOMO HOMINI LUPUS. Man tries always to dominate other persons and so there is the need of a PACT between them. Every man abandons all his powers and gives them to the State. After the pact is signed, man has no power or right against the State, all is concentrated in it!

 “...the magic minstrel tells of ages old, of man and his soul; the endless flight, dark against the light, it makes your blood run cold...”

it's more 'sky blue' label-showing grey because of the light..!

KEYWORDS: psych rock prog psychedelic jam garage nuggets fuzz acid flowers hippy hippie pokora

More interesting , obscure and rare original Records of the past ( Psych-Kraut-Electronic-U.K. / US-Progressive-Psychedelic, Garage, Acid-Folk & Classic Rock Originals as well as Jazz & Blues,Metal...) you can see in my other auctions....      

                                                           A surprise every day!!!

                                        Records are graded visually.

                         IF YOU HAVE LESS THAN 3 POSITIVE FEEDBACKS E- MAIL ME BEFORE YOU BID

                      Please  DO NOT bid if you don't plan to follow through with the transaction

********BIDDERS FROM ITALY, PLEASE NOTE******** Beginning March,2009 we will only ship EXPRESS MAIL INTERNATIONAL to ITALY. The cost is $ 50 PER ITEM from Canada.[Or regular international airmail just like evrywhere in the world for 15$ AT YOUR OWN RISK,I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST PACKAGE IN ITALY!] We, and MANY fellow Ebayers have been having much difficulty with the Italian Post and Customs over the past few months. Seemingly, people have been claiming that their packages are not arriving, even though the Post confirms that they have arrived in Italy. So, either it's a scam, or many more packages are being held up at Customs. Either way, I refuse to pay reimbursement for items the we have receipted proof of  having been shipped. Please KNOW THIS BEFORE YOU BID, because there will be NO excuses accepted. SIGNATURE EXPRESS MAIL ONLY TO ITALY. No excuses, no exceptions. If you didn't contact me and attempt check-out without paying EXPRESS MAIL FEES, your item(s) will NOT be shipped.

CONCERNING THE SHIPPING EITHER TO US OR CANADA OR REST OF THE WORLD COULD BE CHEAPER OR COULD BE MORE I HAVE TO RE-CHECK THE COST WITH THE POST OFFICE BECAUSE OF THE NEW PRICES AT CANADA POST,I NEVER OVER CHARGE FOR POSTAGE AND I OFFER THE BEST RATES POSSIBLE,IF POSTAGE ENDS UP BEING LESS I WILL REFUND THE DIFFERENCE!!

                              I COMBINE SHIPPING & HANDLING COSTS FOR MULTIPLE ITEMS.

                    All items will be packed with great care and dispatched promptly.

  The payment must be sent within 5 DAYS of auction closing date,i accept PAYPAL ,please e-mail for  any questions you have!

               Thank you for shopping !  and don't forget to check out my other auction!

                                                                     GOOD LUCK !

** ** ** S H I P P I N G   I N F O R M A T I O N ** ** **

Number of Records/Weight
(including mailer)

CANADA:

QUEBEC: $7.99 (1 LP) - $9.99 (2-6 RECORDS)

ONTARIO: $8.99 (1 LP) - $11.99 (2-6 RECORDS)

ALL OTHER PROVENCES: $8.99 (1 LP) - $14.99 (2-6 RECORDS)

U.S. 

 (Air): $8.99 (1 LP - under .500kg) - $14.99 (2-3 RECORDS - under 1kg)

Expedited (with Tracking #): $16.99 (1 LP - under .500kg) - $17.99 (2-6 RECORDS 2-3: under 1kg)

INTERNATIONAL

(Air): $14.99 (1 LP - under .500kg) - $33.99 (2-3 RECORDS - under 1kg)

Please note that some heavier vinyl, gate-fold jackets, inserts, etc. may increase weight equivalent to 2records.     

I also use +/- if I feel a record comes between a grade  

LP condition GRADING system:

M (MINT) : Sealed, never opened or played, new in original package.

NM (NEAR MINT) : Near perfect copy, played only a few times. At worst it may have one or two insignificant flaws. This is the highest grade I give for a non-sealed (used) record.

EX (EXCELLENT) : Clean copy, slight surface marks/hairlines, cover has minor defaults.

VG++ (VERY GOOD++) : More surface marks, minor flaws, or cover wear, minor edge wear (cover). Nothing serious but is not graded EX because of few minor defaults.

VG+ (VERY GOOD +) : Played a lot, will show signs of handling, has marks, possibly few light scratches but no jumps or sticks. Cover wear (light ring wear, heavier corner or edge wear on cover).

VG (VERY GOOD) : Used record, played a lot, has marks, few scratches, some crackling while playing and but no jumps or sticks. Still quite listenable. Cover may have heavy corner, edge wear or split seams.

G (GOOD) : Played a lot and more (but still playable), lot of scratches, crackles a lot while playing, may have jump or sticks and cover is damaged...so not so good ! This record must be very rare to be proposed in this state !!!

All shipping is carefully prepared
using a hard box specifically designed for LPs.