Pyramid - 1976 - Pyramid

Quality: 3.75 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.25 out of 5

This space rock opus was reissued (or issued) in the 90's after have been lost for 20 years. At least that's what the packaging claims. It's perfectly possible that this is a forgery. There are a few synth sweeps that sound a little too modern, and everything seems cosmically in the right place, which could be that these unknown musicians were extremely talented, or that maybe they had the benefit of 20 years of hindsight. There's also the fact that the album is one 33 minute track, which as we know couldn't possibly work on vinyl (although it certainly could have been split for that medium). Regardless of the album's origin, it is a very satisfying slab of cosmic rock that recalls both the better parts of early 70's krautrock and the improvisational sound of Meddle-era Pink Floyd.

"Dawn Defender" is the title of our lone track, although it cycles through a wide variety of moods and sections. We hear some very Nick Mason-style drum pounding, cool bass chords, sliding, delayed guitar, and spaced-out keyboards throughout the piece. I'm guessing that Pyramid was a four-person collective. The keyboards feature what the credits claim is a mellotron, but I'd swear that we're hearing a latter-day digital equivalent of that psychedelic keystone. The basic construction of the track is that it takes a few minutes to gain momentum, rocks out epically for about 12 minutes, and then takes another 13 fading away into the interstellar dust.

So this may or may not be a legit document of 70's space rock. It's still a fine album, so does anyone really care? I feel very comfortable recommending that you spend half hour of your life with these anonymous, tripped-out musicians.