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Klaatu - Klaatu (1976)

Track listing:
  1. Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft 7:12
  2. California Jam 3:03
  3. Anus of Uranus 3:18
  4. Sub-Rosa Subway 4:34
  5. True Life Hero 3:23
  6. Doctor Marvello 3:34
  7. Sir Bodsworth Rugglesby III 3:25
  8. Little Neutrino 8:07

Notes

This album was a total enigma when it was first released in 1976. Each song had its own eccentric personality, and the entirety sounded like the concoction of some strange rock orchestra from the netherworld. The Beatles tag nailed to this band may have helped album sales, but in actuality only the song "Sub Rosa Subway" sounded anything like them (it's a convoluted "It's All Too Much" melody with McCartney-esque vocals). The rest of the tunes politely exploited surf music, '70s progressive rock, and children's novelty songs. "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" and "Little Neutrino" are the standout tracks besides "Subway." The former is the band's signature song, later covered by the Carpenters, while "Neutrino" utilizes phase-shifting and vocal effects to help jettison it into deep space. The overall impression left by this curio is that, no, the Fab Four weren't involved, but there was surely a spark of genius (other than George Martin) behind the myriad of instruments and sounds.

Once all of the hype about Klaatu being the Beatles is disregarded, 3:47 EST (aka Klaatu) surfaces as an entertaining debut album made up of light, harmonic pop songs which harbor a little bit of a progressive rock feel in a few spots. Because the album revealed no information about the band whatsoever, this fueled accusations by newspaper reporter Steve Smith that the band was actually the Beatles' pseudo group, and there's no denying that the similarities are bewildering. But Klaatu was actually three studio musicians from Toronto, fronted by drummer and singer Terry Draper. Klaatu's "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" became a Top 40 hit for the Carpenters in 1977, but the other tracks from the band's debut are just as congenial if not more compelling. Composed of poppy horn work and inventive instrumentation, tracks like "California Jam" and the quaint- sounding "Sir Bodsworth Rugglesby" (which sounds like an early Genesis title) offer up a unique blend of bright, glistening strings and placid vocals. The lengthy and progressively cosmic "Little Neutrino" is a an entertaining instrumental stew that beautifully wanders about in almost free-formed style, while "Anus of Uranus" and the most commercial-sounding track, "Sub Rosa Subway," reveal Draper's songwriting prowess. While 3:47 EST is Klaatu's strongest release from nearly every aspect, their second album, entitled Hope, contains less of a pop-infused recipe but has greater progressive depth and leans toward more of an experimental sound, especially where the instruments are concerned.