IMAGINE - Images, Clear Skies & Rainbows

AKARMA DIGIPACK

1.Come Alive
2.City Lights
3.Rock And Roll Man
4.Superstar
5.Images Clear Skies And Rainbows
6.Tomorrow
7.My Golden Lady
8.Castles Of Sand
9.Just A Dream (Bonus Track)
10.Flight 491 To Nowhere (Bonus Track)

"Images, Clear Skies and Rainbows" was an impressive venture into rock-pop teetering on the edge of progressive by a group called Imagine. I could find no indication of when this was released neither on the LP nor in the inner sleeves. I did a protracted search on the Internet and came up short. I do know however who was in the group; Mike Keita (bass lead vocal), Ted Keita (guitar, vocals), Bob Rowland (acoustic percussion), Mike Pritchard (flute, lead vocal), Todd William (lead guitar), Ray Smith (lead guitar), Keith Dickerson (saxophone), M.H. Dickerson (Keyboards). If anyone has information on this group or what happened to all the members I would be interested in knowing.

This is an exceptionally solid effort from start to finish. The first side shows the group in more of a rock-pop vein with several good but abbreviated guitar runs, giving you a taste of what direction the group could actually go in when they decided to. On the second side they bear down and let you see their true colors by stretching out the guitar interludes into longer segments in each song. The best song on the entire LP is "Tomorrow." The bass and guitar team up to give you a tour de force of rock and roll. The flute adds another dimension to the taken as a whole sound, giving it that decidedly progressive edge. Judging from the sound and vocal style I would say this album was recorded in the late sixties or early seventies. This LP is remarkably good considering I have never heard of them and cannot seem to find any history of the group anywhere. This is yet another amazing contribution of lost treasures from the vaults of Akarma Records.