Blond

In January, I posted about Studio, a record by Swedish group the Tages. A reminder: Studio should be on your list of records to hear - it's holds up nicely against contemporaneous offerings by the Kinks, Pretty Things, and Zombies, among others. I still think it's criminal that the album never charted in the UK or the States.

In 1968, the Tages broke up when lead singer Tommy Blom left the group. The remaining members formed Blond and rushed into the studio to record an album. The result was 1969's The Lilac Years, a record that would be the band's only statement. In comparison to Studio, The Lilac Years is somewhat evolved - while the band retained its impeccable melodic sense and songwriting in Blom's absence, the general sound of the group became slightly more progressive. There was a greater prevalence of piano, and the arrangements were generally bigger and more adventurous. Furthermore, The Lilac Years was not as stylistically consistent - whereas Studio sat firmly in the mod rock camp, the sole Blond album had great diversity. There are tracks with arrangements reminiscent of Scott Walker ("Deep Inside My Heart," "The Lilac Years"), proto-glam (the opening "Six White Horses"), and "brass rock" in the vein of early Blood, Sweat & Tears ("Don't You Forget the Lady"). Apparently, the band had something of an identity crisis in the wake of the Tages split. As testament to this, here's a clip of Blond covering "The Weight" by the Band. Actually pretty decent:





Today, I'm posting two tracks. First, "Like A Woman" off of Studio - it gives you a nice Tages/Blond point of comparison, and it's also one hell of a song. Second, "Sailing Across the Ocean" from The Lilac Years.

I cannot reiterate enough: find yourself a copy of Studio. And while you're at it, why not give The Lilac Years a look as well?

Like A Woman

Sailing Across the Ocean