#383: Moby Grape - Moby Grape (1967)

Emily: A recent trend that's popped up on this blog is '60s psychedelic-rock bands named after fruit. First the Electric Prunes, and now Moby Grape. I didn't even plan it that way! I wonder if they ever shared a stage in 1967, because that pairing is ripe (heh) for so many branding opportunities. And it's not like sharing a stage would just be a novelty because of their names. Both bands emerged around the same time into an emerging psychedelic rock scene that drew on rock and roll, blues, country, and so many other influences and created something uniquely of that moment. Here, Moby Grape draws on all of that, creating links among all of these influences and starting to shape the psychedelic rock sound that defined that year and that era. I can only hope that there's a third band to round out a psychedelic fruit trifecta, but it'd be hard for that band to stand up against the Prunes and Grapes of the day.
Favorite Tracks: Mr. Blues; Omaha; Come in the Morning

Zack: Remember like 10 albums ago when I ranted about Beau Brummels? If not, go read that review, because it’s like a paragraph and the site navigation on Blogspot isn’t THAT bad. Basically, I found it preposterous that an album as weak as Triangle should be included, especially considering that the musical scheme around that album (the year 1967) was so lush. Triangle’s one claim to fame was that it tried to merge a lot of different genres (folk, country, psychedelic, rock, etc.), but I was confident that there had to be a better example out there. Turns out I was prophetic, because Moby Grape is exactly that. Coming from the same year (Triangle was released about a month later), Moby Grape successfully blended a bunch of different musical styles being practiced by their contemporaries into a single cohesive sound that is actually interesting and worth listening to. While I wouldn’t say I was particularly blown away by it, I enjoyed it enough that I think you can make a great case that it’s worth listening to.

Favorite Tracks:  Changes; Mr. Blues; Indifference