Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express - A Better Land 1971 (UK, Prog Folk, Prog Jazz Rock) Full Lp 5.1 ch

Tracks: 01. Dawn Of Another Day (Brian Auger, Jim Mullen) - 00:00 02. Marai’s Wedding (Traditional, Jim Mullen) - 04:35 03. Trouble (Brian Auger, Jim Mullen) - 09:00 04. Women Of The Seasons (Jim Mullen, John Mackie) -12:14 05. Fill Your Head With Laughter (Jim Mullen, Alan Gorrie) - 17:17 06. On Thinking It Over (Jim Mullen, Brian Auger) - 21:11 07. Tomorrow City (Brian Auger) - 26:37 08. All The Time There Is (Jim Mullen, John Mackie) - 30:10 09. A Better Land (Jim Mullen, Alan Gorrie) - 33:46 Personnel: - Brian Auger - organ, electric piano, piano, vocals, producer - Jim Mullen - electric & acoustic guitars, vocals - Barry Dean - bass, vocals - Robbie McIntosh (Robert Brodrick James McIntosh) - drums, percussion Brian Auger Oblivion Express was originally conceived as a musical research project, a music research institute. Auger wanted to attract everyone who wanted to do something new. Brian Auger: “After problems with management and Trinity, I decided to take a break and went on vacation with my wife and son named Karma. When I returned, I was ready to do something new with a new band. Among the musicians who came to audition was guitarist Jim Mullen. I I knew him from a band called Pete Brown and Piblokto and immediately took him on. Then we found bassist Barry Dean. The last to join the band was drummer Robbie McIntosh. I met him in a casino in Nice, he was playing there with the French group The Piranhas (Piranhas) This wasn’t the only drummer I borrowed from them. Later, when Robbie left, I borrowed a guy named Steve Ferrone from them. Both of those drummers later ended up in the Average White Band. I always looked at this “Oblivion Express“ as some kind of school. You can know the direction, but you don’t know where it will lead. I told everyone: “I’m going to develop here. Everything will be open with us. I won’t tell anyone anything unless they stop working or start ruining the groove. You can write melodies and we will play them on stage. If they don’t go, fine, but if they go, great. Let’s evolve as composers, arrangers and musicians, and see if we can do better than what we’ve already achieved and take it further.“ A Better Land is the band’s second album, released the same year as their debut. If in the debut album most of the material was written by Oger himself, then here the main author was guitarist Jim Mullen. His name appears on 8 of the 9 album numbers, co-written by Auger, Alan Gorrie and John Mackey. This is probably why this album differs significantly from the first Oblivion Express with its semi-acoustic sound and the spirit of country and folk, especially on the first side of the record. The A-side plays nice, pure guitar country-folk with friendly singing and without the usual heavy Hammond... Brian Auger makes a slight appearance here on piano. And on the B-side there is more Brian and an organ, but the music remains transparent in sound, but smells more like jazz than folk. Tomorrow City is the only purely Oger number on this album, and even then Brian with the organ prefers to stay in the shadows, creates the lining and main mood of the song, but gives everything to the solo guitar. Auger plays organ on just the last two tracks, including the title track, A Better Land. Otherwise, this is a very unusual album for Auger, which shows that Oblivion Express is not an accompanying team for him, but a full-fledged group whose independent creativity he respects. The record was not a commercial success and fell into oblivion. But here no one is forgotten... And if someone has forgotten something, I will remind you, don’t hesitate. #28 in the 40 Cosmic Rock Albums rating.