The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle (1968)

15-02-2025

Reviewing the Big Beat mono reconstruction.

The Zombies channel sunshine from the heavens to craft pop perfection. They nailed the transition into more experimental songs after their debut album, no doubt inspired by The Beatles’ own success doing so from 66 onward. Both groups evolved from more basic Rock n Roll into crafting pop songs that incorporate lush arrangements and psychedelia. This is no doubt the finest piece of sunshine psychedelia put out there, they surpass the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour and sail straight into the sun. Every single track is produced to create a unique psychedelic/classical blend with the incorporation of varied instrumentation used to great effect to differentiate the tracks. Every song could be considered the greatest they ever wrote, even the avant-garde 1914. They just offer so much substance for the amount of time they last, which is typically around three minutes. They are all progressive and develop along organically with tight harmonies throughout the entire album. Definitely not a bombastic rocker, this is a more reserved take on rock, experimenting with song structure and instrumentation to bring a classical/psychedelic vibe. The organ sounds like groovy Scooby-Doo music. The keys are always bright and present in the mix, along the prominent vocal harmonies. The guitar is trebly and bright, complementing the arrangements rather than being the centre of the mix. If anything, this album’s overall glue that holds everything together is the phenomenal bass parts played by Chris White. It feels like the perfect bass line was written for every song, any attempt to improve would result in a worse sounding track. The bass is very present in the mono mix and contributes to the groovy psychedelic vibe they are going for. And the lyrical content revolves around peace and love, man. Really great saccharine stuff that will make you cheese up inside. It really tugs at the heart in ways that most pop songs about love fail to achieve a fraction of their evocative strength. Holy fuck “This Will Be Our Year” has a horn part? This mono mix is incredible, it’s like listening to the album for the first time over again.

My first experience with this album came in a warm September day in senior year of high school, right before clocking into my wagie 5-10 shift. I was so transfixed that time felt as if it stood still and I still had hours before my shift, all of my anxiety about having to work a job I hate lifted for a brief moment, and THAT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN IS THE POWER OF MUSIC MAYNE! Fuck this world and its bullshit. Music lifts the soul from a bare primal nature into the divine man. 1914 is hitting so hard right now you can’t possibly understand unless you listen to it on a hifi setup.

The stereo mix was my first exposure and how I fell in love with this album, so of course I’m familiar with all the tracks’ instrument placements and mix. That being said, I think I’m going to stick to this mono mix for the time being because of just how GREAT IT IS MAYNE! honestly there’s no comparison, whenever there’s an OG mono copy of an album between 65-70, it’s almost always king. The artists engineered the music to sound a specific way when the industry standard was monoaural audio. They expected it to sound the way it was produced, in mono. That being said, the original stereo mix is also pretty damn great and has an incredible psychedelic soundstage and makes full use of the spacious stereo sound.

Regardless of the way you consume this album, shit I was listening to it on my Motorola phone speaker cranked to full inside of a large disposable cup from my wagie job in the dish pit. It’s just a great album with perfectly written songs that sound groovy and psychedelic. It’s just so warm and cuddly, how could you hate this honest piece of art? It’s not pretending to be anything else, it just IS. It’s the time of the season for loving.