Miracle Mirror

F'n great but I like On the Double even more.

love it

This is a great psych album that is enjoyable in it's own right regardless of the fact that it was recorded by a band which later achieved world fame. If this were a newly-discovered album it would probably be hailed as a 'lost psych classic'. But it's been overlooked a bit because Golden Earring are not known for this style of music. They do a good job of it though, and almost every track has something to offer, with good vocals and instrumentation, and well-written songs. Typical for the era, several tracks have echo effects on the vocals, there's a little backwards guitar and phased drums, and the new stereo technology was put to good use. This will probably appeal to many people who don't particularly like the later more famous Golden Earring era, but like late 60s rock with a psych pop flavour of the likes of Kaleidoscope or Tages. The sound quality is extremely good, better than most albums I have from 1968. I got this on the off-chance that it might be interesting, but was half expecting to get burnt with some pop throwaway from earlier unsuccessful days. However, after a couple of songs I realized I'd discovered a fantastic album into which a lot of effort must have been put. Amazingly, it was only released in Holland, and I think in the US too, where it flopped. Since then it seems to have been forgotten, but this rerelease will hopefully put it in it's deserved place as an album worthy of consideration.