Search - Creation :: Our Music Is Red-With Purple Flashes

The Greatest Band that Never Was...

S. E. Shepherd | Chicago, IL United States | 10/23/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Creation was an excellent, excellent band! It's a shame they never managed to keep it together. Comparisons to the Kinks and Who are both accurate and unfair. Because they had the same producer (Shel Talmy) as the early Who and Kinks, their sound is similar, but the Creation is distinct enough to be uniquely their own. And the music is incredibly memorable! I had never heard of the Creation before, and saw them locally on a whim. I wanted to get their CD immediately, but held off for about a month. It is amazing how many songs I recognized from their concert, having only heard them once!There really isn't a bad song on the CD, save for a few poorly chosen covers ("Mercy, Mercy," "Hey Joe"), and one could almost hear the evolution and emergence of a great band, had they stuck it out. As sad as it is that this band had such a brief recording career, what's even more tragic is how virtually unknown they are. Surely, they were as good as any other band in the mid-sixties, and deserve to be part of classic rock stations' play list as much as the Zombies, the Animals, and any other of the lesser British Invasion bands.If you like the Kinks and Who circa 1966-67, then you need to include the Creation into your collection. They're that good!"

Some gem discoveries but definitely more for the 60s fanatic

Greg Brady | Capital City | 02/04/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"If you're a HUGE Creation fan, look no further: this collection gathers all the recorded output of the late 60s U.K. "freakbeat" (insider record fan genre that basically means power pop with psych touches) band in 1 disc. As an extra, you also get rare singles "Ostrich Man" and "Sweet Helen".



The band did innovate in its guitarist's use of viola bow to play and the use of "paint bombs" in their onstage performances. Performance art, though, translates to video and DVD...not CDs. What they'll be judged on HERE is their music.



HIGHLIGHTS:

"Making Time" comes charging out of the gate with an insistent riff. The Who-like "Painter Man" details the saga of an art school grad who discovers no ones cares about his work. (That is, until he begins to draw nude postcards.) "Try and Stop Me" is in the Hollies mode..a nifty pop nugget, while "Can I Join Your Band?" is a witty Brit version of "So You Want to be a Rock and Roll Star" featuring this lyrical gem: "Can I join your band?/My new guitar/my coat is suede...I'm a hippie guy/Always stoned and 8 miles high."



LOWS:

The biggest curse of albums of this vintage is a profusion of cover songs to pad out albums. Often, this was done without regard to whether the tunes fit the band well. On here, the most egregious examples are the pallid remake of "Like a Rolling Stone" and the limp "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" which won't have anyone getting rid of their Buckinghams CD.



BOTTOM LINE:

Diehard 60s "acid/garage rock" heads will probably find this a must but for the rest of us, it's hit and miss. If you find it in a bargain bin (as I did), definitely get it...the great stuff is worth having. But do NOT pay the hefty import price."

Forgotten Pop Gems

Chet Fakir | DC | 06/02/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you like mid '60s garage, freakbeat, Mod, British Invasion stuff, get this. Its something of a must have for aficionados of '60s mod rock. I've been in many bands that covered Creation songs and really feel at home with much of this material. Most people will recognize "Making Time" from the movie Rushmore.
Not every song works but there are enough good ones to merit the price. It has the first use of a bowed guitar, before Jimmy Page even. Lots o fun."