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Odessey and Oracle [VINYL] | ![Odessey and Oracle [VINYL]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KuSDbf7sL._SL500_.jpg)
| Artist: Zombies
Label: Big Beat
Category: Music
List Price: £13.99
Buy New: £13.69
You Save: £0.30 (2%)
New (1) Used (5) Collectible (1) from £9.25
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 75262
Media: Vinyl
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 12.2 x 11.4 x 0.2
UPC: 029667418119
EAN: 0029667418119
ASIN: B00004WNE4
Release Date: April 27, 1998
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Care Of Cell 44 | | • | Rose For Emily | | • | Maybe After He's Gone | | • | Beechwood Park | | • | Brief Candles | | • | Hung Up On A Dream | | • | Changes | | • | I Want Her She Wants Me | | • | This Will Be Our Year | | • | Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914) | | • | Friends Of Mine | | • | Time Of The Season |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Absolutely stunning album August 23, 2008
After hearing glowing reports, I purchased this album and was rather pleased upon the first few hearings. Quality, catchy Sixties pop. The thing was that after a few more listens the songs began to get right into my mind and emotions, the album opened up and revealed itself to be a far more beautiful, pure and uplifting piece than it first appeared. Deeply indebted to the Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" this may be, but for sheer quality of songwriting and production it deserves to be considered as an equal to that album. I can't recommend it highly enough, and no fan of late Sixties pop or psychedelia should be without it. Brilliant.
 Listen before you buy! November 18, 2006
7 out of 30 found this review helpful
This was high in my wants list of then deleted albums for years! While I could see the merits of most so called classic albums, the reputation of this one baffles me. For a start, despite its intriguing title and reputation, its not psychedelic at all, more a late 1965 beat group sound. Secondly the sound of the album is curiously inert and anaemic as if it it has all the life sucked out of it (the sound picture seems processed and unnatural). The Zombies were the 60's kings of wimp-rock only (British) Nirvana come close for thin wimped-out sounds (but Nirvana did record the glorious 'Tiny Godess' which is better than anything the Zombies ever cut!). Even the hooks on Time of the Season seems wafer thin. Rod Argent used loads of diminished / augmented chords etc and the songs seem superficially very well constructed. They had the theory down but in practice, the Zombies had no gift for melody (or lyrics) and could never land a killer punch. Even the excellent She's Not There seems to be based on Billy Fury's Wondrous Place. If you are hoping for a psychedelic masterpiece or high energy, atmospheric avant garde late-sixties sounds, listen before you buy!
Take an Odessey January 18, 2006
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
Many bands (the Beatles, the Beach Boys) at least dabbled in psychedelica, but the Zombies are often overlooked. For the 30th anniversary of "Odessey and Oracles," the Zombies' best album was rereleased in a new form, proving that their enchanting psychedelic pop has aged exceeedingly well.
The Zombies were unusually good at taking perky, sweet, lush music and wrapping it around a more serious song, such as the upbeat "Care of Cell 44" (guy writing to his jailed girlfriend), or the lovely "A Rose For Emily," a poignant little song that tells of a lonely woman doomed to stay lonely. "And as the years go by/she will grow old and die/The roses in her garden fade away/Not one left for her grave..."
But the Zombies aren't all sadness wrapped in happy music. There are perky songs about being happy in love, losing a love and hoping she'll return, and reminiscing about "golden days and golden summer nights." The album ends on a reassuring note with the laid-back "Time of the Season," which sounds like the ultimate hippie anthem.
I have no memories of the 60s, since I was only born in the eighties. But "Odessey and Oracle" gives a rosy glow to that era,. Psychedelic flair minus the hazy, and every song is a gem. Though "Time of the Season" was the sleeper hit from the album, it's not the best or catchiest song on here -- it's just one of many excellent ones.
Rod Argent was definitely an outstanding songwriter. He was able to create atmospheric and beautiful songs with very simple writing ("Brief candles in her mind/bright and tiny gems of memory"). Perhaps his finest moment here is "I knew he when summer was her crown/and autumn sad/how brown her eyes," as a kick-off to a colorful look at a woman compared to all the seasons.
Colin Blunstone's vocals were well-suited to the music: a bit husky, quite pleasant and mellow. The music itself was generally based on guitar, gentle drums, pretty piano, and wavering Mellotron, with a bit of accordian coming in in one song. There's a rich interweaving of many instruments, in all sorts of pop music. Some is almost classical in tone, some is uptempo stuff that is perfect for the radio.
The Zombies were in peak form in "Odessey and Oracle," churning out some of the purest pop music ever. As sweet and exquisite as it was in the 1960s.
Stunning last will and testament September 12, 2005
10 out of 13 found this review helpful
Judging by other reviews, this is an album that polarises opinion. For those who hate it, the problem is probably their expectation of it as a psychedelic job. I prefer to avoid the term as not everyone has the same idea of what that is. In any case, "Odessey and Oracle" is straightforward British pop dressed up in colourful, atmospheric harmonies, based largely around Rod Argent's various keyboards and Colin Blunstone's breathy vocals. Those who get their kicks solely from acid-fuelled trickery and the avant-garde won't find anything of interest here.On the other hand, "A Rose For Emily" recalls Paul McCartney's more reserved moments at the piano, e.g. "For No One", while "Beechwood Park" is in the same area as "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" without being as memorable. There are also songs that sound like leftovers from the beat era. I love the melodies and textures right across this album however with the emotional "Hung Up On A Dream" and the U.S. hit "Time Of The Season" personal favourites. I once owned a compilation of The Zombies' earlier singles and, "She's Not There" apart, thought it third-rate. It's ironic that they did this, the bulk of their best work, when they knew that they'd break up without promoting it.
Dissapointing July 7, 2005
3 out of 44 found this review helpful
LOts of people who's musical opinion i respect rave about this album.
I cant see why. It is very run of the mill. Nothing more to say really.
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