SIGNED re- (1970) HEAVY GUITAR BEAST "POPULATION II" Randy Holden ACID PSYCH LP

$

33

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• 1970 HEAVY PSYCH BEAST

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• RANDY HOLDEN

  POPULATION II

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• USA - EASY RIDE
  

1. STILL FACTORY SEALED /
   

2. NUMBERED / LIMITED EDITION
   

3. SIGNED BY THE HAND OF RANDY HOLDEN 
   

4. Perfect edition in THICK old style cardboard cover - it's ALL quality here folks ... the same looking & sounding deal as the $800+ valued first issue.

   If you can't/don't want to wait for the treasure hunt, here, the next best thing... nowadays hard to find...and looks/sounds exact to the original!

   Randy Holden is one of the great guitar heroes of the late '60s underground rock era. A true devotee of the guitar, to him it was all about the music. He spent the first part of the 60's playing in surf band Fender IV and 60's psychedelic bands Sons of Adam and The Other Half. His most high profile gig was replacing Leigh Stephens on guitar in the legendary Blue Cheer. He played with Blue Cheer for roughly a year, although he only recorded on half of their 3rd album "New! Improved! Blue Cheer" before quitting the band. It seems he decided to leave the band partly because the rest of the band was more interested in getting stoned than creating music together. The "New! Improved!" album clearly shows a lack of direction that made the first to albums,Vincebus Eruptum and Outsideinside, heavy psych classics. The lone exception being Randy's side II work with the band that includes "Fruit and Icebergs" which he re-does on Population II to devastating effect.
   
   Leaving Blue Cheer in 1969, Randy ventured out on his own. Armed with 20 new Sunn amps and drummer Chris Lockheed, he rented an opera house and recorded the underground heavy rock classic Population II. This is a dark, heavy, brooding record that was ahead of it's time conceptually. This is way before doom metal and features lots of overdubbed guitar parts. Mostly slow Sabbathy dark rock full of Randy's tasteful, gutsy yet restrained lead guitar. This record is all about the HEAVY PSYCH guitar. The guitars are up front in the mix over the drums and the vocals, but not so much that it ruins the record. Randy's got a great tough mid-rangey tone with his wall of Sunn amps and the mix is kind of cool because it feels like you're straining to hear his tortured vocals over the Guitar-zilla that is destroying your sound-room. In fact the first song is entitled, what else but Guitar Song. Kicking the record off with a series of slow stoned guitar breaks, the first lyrics we hear are "I love the sound of a guitar playin'." This song sets the tone for the album: Randy's vaguely Hendrix-like half spoken vocals, heavy duty rhythm guitar riffage and swaggering, wobbly, sustain-to-infinty soloing. The vocals definitely just serve as an excuse for rocking. The second song is the aformentioned "Fruit and Icebergs", an evil Sabbathy tritone-blues dirge complete with a spacey theremin-esque whammy bar guitar. Sandwiched between Fruit and Icebergs Parts 1 and 2 is "Between Time" which is probably the most accessible song on the record. It's a straight ahead rocker that picks up the pace a little.... just a little. It's only flaw is that it's way too short. Then the "Fruit and Icebergs" monster from space is back for a brief violent reprise that leads us to the 2 final and best songs of the whole trip. "Blue My Mind" fades in with guitar chaos that you later find out was lifted from the end of the song and then goes into some serious lower mid tempo psyched-out rock. Killer arena sized guitar fills and soloing on this one with the usual minimal lyrical content, build up to the chaotic multiple lead guitar ending. The album closer, "Keeper of My Flame," has probably the fastest tempo of the whole album (which still is just a driving medium tempo). Tribal tom tom/bluesy war cry-guitar, heavy riffing verse and chorus lead up to a breakdown where the guitar solo starts. Just when it's about to really start rocking everything stops...another tribal war cry, then the kicking of the ass by guitar ensues over a Tales of Brave Ulysses groove that goes on for several minutes. Then when you think it's over out comes a half time, yes half time, version of the verse riff for more Sunn pyrotechnics. Sadly, the record label at the time of release went bankrupt and the Lp was never commercially released. Then Randy's equipment manager joined in and sold off his gear and left Randy guitarless and bankrupt. Bootleg copies of the album were released, which is how it's underground cult status has spread. In an interview with Randy Holden, he said he listened to Population II (in 1990) for the first time since doing it and said "It's almost like quicksand, in a sense. It pulls you into it....but it's difficult to get back out." So true. It's great intriguing piece of work that really is unlike anything else. It's a tough album to find but well worth it.

   SIDE ONE

   GUITAR SONG

   FRUIT & ICEBURGS

   BETWEEN TIME

   FRUIT & ICEBURGS (CONCLUSION)

   
   SIDE TWO

   BLUE MY MIND

   KEEPER OF MY FLAME

    

5.                  CONDITION:
6. 
   
7. RATED: STILL FACTORY SEALED (never opened) Limited edition SIGNED IN GOLD INK BY RANDY HOLDEN ...there are no delete marks, no split seams, no bends, and no writing  ...
8. numbered limited edition

• RANDY HOLDEN

  POPULATION II