Listening to classic Vanilla Fudge is like swimming in quicksand: everything is in slow motion. I\u2019m old enough to remember their birth back in the late 1960s. Their heavy and slowed down versions of such songs as \u201cYou Keep Me Hangin\u2019 On,\u201d \u201cShotgun,\u201d and \u201cSeason Of The Witch\u201d were unique at the time as they bridged the gap between the California psychedelic movement and the burgeoning heavy rock sound.<\/p>\n
Bassist Tim Bogert retired in 2008, but original members Mark Stein (vocals and keyboards), Vince Martell (lead and rhythm guitar), and Carmine Appice (drums) have reunited to release Spirit Of \u201967. <\/i>They are joined by bassist Pete Bremy, who played with Appice in the early 1970s heavy rock band Cactus and has toured with the Fudge since 2008.<\/p>\n
The band had their breakthrough in 1967 and toured with the likes of Cream, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix. They revisit that year by recording 10 songs that were hits 48 years ago. They were always primarily a cover band that took other peoples songs and twisted them all out of shape to fit their own odd vision of the musical world. <\/p>\n
Keyboard-driven tracks such as \u201cWhiter Shade Of Pale\u201d and \u201cThe Letter\u201d are a trip back in time. Vinny Martel\u2019s guitar feedback laden \u201cGimme Some Lovin\u201d is a creative take on the old Spencer Davis Group tune.<\/p>\n
The lightweight \u201cI\u2019m A Believer\u201d is a stretch for the band\u2019s approach and the soul classic \u201cI Heard It Through The Grapevine\u201d is better left alone. They are on more solid ground when they take solid rock songs such as \u201cI Can See For Miles,\u201d \u201cRuby Tuesday,\u201d and \u201cBreak On Through (To The Other Side)\u201d and modernize them in their own unique way.<\/p>\n
The only original track is Stein\u2019s \u201cLet\u2019s Pray For Peace.\u201d\u00a0 It may be a little out of place within the context of the album, but as a standalone track it would have fit \u201cthe summer of love\u201d nicely.<\/p>\n
Spirit Of \u201967 <\/i>revisits a bygone era and the height of Vanilla Fudge\u2019s popularity. They may not break any new ground on this release, but they cover the old very well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":32307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8390],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-44060","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-vanilla-fudge","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=44060"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=44060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}